Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Martin Luther King Jr. - Are you living up to the Dream?

I'll start with a story that left me with a lasting memory...
It was almost three years ago now when I was in my last year teaching English conversation in Japan. I decided to do a session on Black History Month. I thought that for the most basic of lessons I should begin with the Civil Rights Movement and have it revolve around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So, I thought about it: If I were a Japanese kid in junior high school and didn't know anything about American History, let alone Black History Month, what would I want to know about? Long story short, I bought a video documentary on Dr. King and chose a few clips that might fill in those quick points of interest on the Civil Rights Movement. My Japanese Teacher of English was quite helpful and took the time to translate my synopsis of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King's work and then gave out his I Have A Dream speech in translation. The 50-minute package of information was complete: Talk a bit about Black History Month, the climate of the U.S. during a very tense era in race relations in the 60s, throw out a few English language vocab words and then show a few snippets of the video of some of his work, the I Have A Dream speech and then his assassination....

Since I taught a max of 20 students in each class (I taught a total of 520), it took me a two week rotation to see all of the students. By the end of the first week, I saw nearly half of my students and still had a week to go. In any case, I had one class where I had some very good girls who always paid attention in my class and picked up the lessons I taught them. I did the discussion, gave points for the vocab and when I got around to the assassination portion of the video, one of my students (whom I noticed too late was silently crying) burst out in tears and ran to the bathroom. For most Americans, we have been used to seeing the images of Dr. King laying on the balcony in a pool of his own blood and several men pointing in one direction toward the building across from them. For this one Japanese student, the images were simply too overwhelming for her. I was moved that SHE was moved and I told the students that if they wanted to leave earlier (since the class was over) to avoid seeing that scene they could. None of them moved. They were ALL entranced by the video. They wanted to know if anyone had been punished for it. They were inquisitive and wanted to know more.

All this to say, I come full circle since that time in my life where I am seeing the images of Dr. King all over the television today and his name being said by presidential candidates that hope to stir up the spirit of Dr. King himself, and I ask myself: Am I living the dream?

I am now 28 years old and I am still finding my way through my career. I'm still striving to make a difference in my own life and then my family's and then I tell myself I'll go out and help people. Yes, that's the best way for me to make a difference: to help myself. To see my reflection and know that I am living the best life that I can live and taking advantage of EVERY opportunity that Dr. King and the Freedom Fighters fought and died for. By the time Dr. King was 34, he had gone as far as he could in his education and had marched on Washington and spoke to several thousand people. Those people were there with him and they were emboldened to take action. Can we blame them? Can we now blame most of us for having a slight sparkle in our eyes and get that strange chill down our spine when we hear Barack Obama speak? I don't think so. It's an amazing thing to see an African American reach for the White House. It's good to see a woman do that too, but we'll always look back on these days and see Obama and think to ourselves: There is Dr. King's Dream speaking to millions of blacks and whites and begging them to do the very same thing: to Dream, to demand change and to live the dream.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

2008: A New Year

(Kwanzaa Ceremony led by Israel's father)

This year, I went to me and Amy's friend, Israel's, house for New Year's Eve. There were a lot of his family and friends there. His father decided to have a Kwanzaa ceremony before the start of the New Year. This is the first of, I'm sure, memorable moments of 2008.

Cultural Connections Moment:

Kwanzaa is a week-long festival celebrated primarily in the United States, honoring African-American heritage. It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. Even though I'm African American, I had never celebrated Kwanzaa, nor was I educated on the meaning of each candle, songs, etc. It was very refreshing to hold hands with "folk" and sings songs and pass love and talk about the meaning of each candle/symbol. For more information: www.wikipedia.org .

I thought a serial killer hitched a ride with me moment in 5,4,3, 2.....

Partying Moment:

I started the holidays off with my birthday party with about 10 of my friends on Dec. 28th. I went to this house party and it was amazing. I'm thinking that I'm going to host more house parties instead of always going out and spending money to line someone else's pockets. (I also can't sit down in a restaurant for longer than 2 hours or I'm looking for an exit).

Good Samaritain Moment:

Ok, so I'm going home from the party at 4AM and I see this little guy waving me down. I looked back to see if he was trying to hail a cab, but he wasn't, he was waving at me! Ok, I was at the stop light for an extra minute or two, but I felt SO bad ignoring him. I had a split second decision: so I rolled my window down a crack to see what he wanted.

Turns out the poor thing went to a party that got a little crazier than he thought and then he figured he'd walk back to his hotel. Until he realized it was several miles in the other direction that he was walking.

Ok, I call this my good Samaritan moment, because I totally could've followed my common sensical mind and kept it moving or I could've ignored it and trusted my gut instinct that he was not a serial killer. He was a country boy from North Carolina and he didn't have ANY cash to get him anywhere. Didn't know where the nearest subway was or that it was closed and he didn't even know the address to his hotel. All this to say, I took him to his hotel (a well-known one) and he was SO grateful.

Warning: Kids NEVER do this! I was totally lucky!

Overall, I have a good feeling about the New Year and I hope that you do too! I hear that it's the year of change, which is much needed right now.

Peace and Love,

Gina

Ringing in the New Year

Amy, Israel and his sister
Me, Ashe and another friend of the family


Amy and Ashe