Overview
I
chose to do the news immersion, create a poem and write a reading response for
this project. In the project, my focus was Israel and the Ferguson case. My
poem was a collaboration of the two. The news immersion was based mainly on the
Ferguson case. Then the reading response was based on Israel. I felt that these
subjects were suitable for the social awareness project because they both
brought up very important matters recently.
Poem
The people they
fight for ethnic rights
But the
government doesn’t indict
The trials they
don’t even happen
When the people
want justice to be done
To lock up those
doing wrong
The people of
the world are at war
And we fight for
a cure
For the diseases
that procure
Sadness and
distress
Although these
diseases are regressing
And the world is
almost at peace
We fight for the
feat of defeating
All those who
wish to hurt our neighbors
And wish for
peace at last
My process for writing this poem was
very basic. I took problems around me and then I put them on paper. I then took
these problems and tried to put them into a poetic form. Mainly I based the
poem on the Ferguson trial as well as problems in Israel. I tried to use some
figurative language because some of my words I wanted to mean multiple
different things depending on the reader. The process was interesting although
the poem itself was grim.
News Immersion
November 22
The
article “In Ferguson, Preparation and Anticipation as Grand Jury Decision
Nears” by: Julie Bossman and Monica Davey is about the case in Ferguson where
an 18 year old unarmed black teenager (Michael Brown) was shot by a white
police officer (Darren Wilson) on August 9th. This article shed some light on the
case as well as what has happened in Ferguson since the killing. The article
stated that there had been protesting ever since the teenager Michael Brown was
shot and that schools were being shut down early as anticipation of the
protests that might ensue. The article spoke about how the police are preparing
for the decision, changing traffic patterns and erecting barriers around the
police headquarters. Julie Bossman and Monica Davey also spoke on the case,
saying that the fact that there has been no court decision yet is not abnormal
and backed this up after talking with Mark O’Mara who was the criminal defense
lawyer who represented George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin.
This
article makes me think about the Ferguson case in a very different light. I’m
shocked that the police went to the extreme of changing traffic patterns and
putting up barriers. I’m shocked because this means that the police believe
that Darren Wilson probably wont be indicted. Considering he killed a man this
surprises me. Now I know why the Ferguson case could be taking so long after
reading this article. This article helped me understand the Ferguson case much
better, which is important considering this is a very controversial topic.
November
23
The article “Israeli Cabinet backs
Nationality Bill That Risks Wider Rift With Arab Minority” by: Isabel Kershner
is an article about the Israeli cabinet proposing a bill that, “emphasized
Israel’s Jewish character above its democratic nature.” The article speaks on
how this bill could possibly make an international rift between Israel and it’s
allies, considering that more then 20% of Israel is Arabic. The article does
state that the Prime Minister is expected to amend the bill before the final
reading in parliament to give equal rights to all citizens. The author then
talks to Ahmed Tibi a veteran Arab member of the Israeli parliament, he
confirmed that the Jewish Democratic state is fake and that the government
would never recognize the rights of a minority. One of the main points of the
draft was that it changed Arabic from an official language to a language with
special status. The president of the Jewish Democracy Institute said even that
there is no need for the bill and that it merely addresses political need. The
article explains Israel’s constitution saying that it’s made up of basic laws
and judgements as well as their Declaration of Independence of 1948. The author
goes forward and uses quotes from multiple high ranking people in the
government, some agree with the bill and others disagree. The bill went further
to then deny people any rights if they were to participate in terrorism. The
article goes further after talking about the bill and speaks about the recent
happenings in Israel.
This article made me think about the
conflicts between the Jews and the Palestinians. The article shocked me because
I can’t believe that the Jewish Prime Minister would make a bill that attacked
the Arabs. The reason it shocks me is that there are so many Arabic people I
the nation that it would be ridiculous to even think about attacking them as a
whole. This attacks the Arabs, because it makes it so that their language wont
even be considered a main language, assuming it’s passed. Now that I have read
this article, I know a lot more about the problems between the Palestinians and
Jews and why there is conflict between them.
November 24th
The article, “Rocked by Rape Report,
University of Virginia to Hold Special Meeting” by: Jennifer Steinhauer and
Richard Pénez-Peña is about how at the University of Virginia there have been
multiple sexual assaults that have been concealed and mishandled for years. The
article goes into how children who had admitted to sexual assault had even
escaped expulsion and that no one had been expelled for sexual assault in 7
years. Professors changed their lesson plans to dissecting the problem at hand.
The article goes on to then talk about how the situation of the university had
symbolized many universities in the country. The authors quoted a first year
student from Texas who said that, “The fraternity culture has to change, but I
don’t know how it would, because fraternity culture is such a big part of life
here,” this is very indicative of the culture of the university. The article
then goes on to say that to address this problem The Board of Visitors which
governs the university will meet in an auditorium instead of its usual
board-room to discuss the matters at hand.
This makes me feel like the
University of Virginia was paid to keep quiet about these sexual assaults.
Anyone with a conscience would expel someone who sexually assaulted someone
else, and that didn’t happen. So I feel like the university was either trying
to protect members of the university or it was paid off by someone who wanted
them to keep quiet. Now I know however
that there is a problem with the universities fraternity system, and I’m
interested in seeing how it is fixed. After they fix this, I hope there aren’t
any more sexual assault problems.
November 25th
The article, “A thousand Fergusons
across America” by: Moni Basu and Ann O’Neill is about the case concerning the
killing of Michael Brown and the aftermath of Darren Wilson not being indicted.
People stood outside (both black and white) of the Ferguson police station
waiting for the grand juries decision to indict Darren Wilson or not. When he
wasn’t indicted, the author wrote that the people outside of the police station
surged towards the metal gates in front of the station and were extremely
angry. The crowd was met by a phalanx of policemen in riot gear. CNN said that
they had been tear gassed, but the police denied using tear gas. The author
quoted many people and the general consensus was that the people were scared
because if a cop could get away with killing a teenager, their teenager could
be killed to. The author spoke about how even in Atlanta and St. Louis there
was protesting.
This article makes me think that
maybe the right thing in this situation was to protest, considering that a
teenager was shot dead, and the killer wasn’t even indicted. After reading
this, I feel like protesting was called for and that Darren Wilson should have
been indicted. Because Darren Wilson wasn’t indicted, I’m worried for my
friends sake that they wont get killed in a similar incident because a cop is
protected and feels like he can shoot whoever he wants to. Now I know how bad
our judicial system can be.
November 26th
The article, “Protesters torch
police car in another tense night in Ferguson” by: Moni Basu and Faith Karimi
is about how protesters after Darren Wilson wasn’t indicted did many harsh
things in Ferguson. To start off, the article stated that protesters set a
police cruiser on its side then set it of fire. The protesters were both black
and white, and they were chanting things like, “We just want justice.” The
article talked about how volunteers helped clean up vandalized stores and that
there were armed guards protecting a damaged store called “Beauty World.” The
article also says that authorities are trying to avoid a repeat of the night
before when it came out that Darren Wilson wasn’t going to be indicted and
boosted the amount of national guardsmen from 700 to 2200. The article then
talks about how in Ferguson, buildings were burned, stores were looted and
shots were fired.
This article makes me think that the
protesting may have been taken too far. Non-violent protests are good, but
looting and setting things on fire is too much. This article made me feel like
a revolution might happen soon. The response to Darren Wilson not getting
indicted was worse then I thought it could be. After this I feel a bit worried
for the stability of the country. Now I know more of what happened in Ferguson.
Previously I only heard that there was rioting, now I know it was much worse.
Reflection
After this immersion, I‘ve realized
that there are many problems in the world, happening all the time. During the
immersion I’ve learned a lot about our countries current problems. I’ve learned
from this experience that people do many things that can often be very
unexpected. For example, in Ferguson who would have expected Darren Wilson not
to be indicted? And then who would have expected the aftermath where a police
car was set on fire? I’ve learned that our justice system isn’t always the
best. For example, college kids got away with rape, facing no consequences. It’s
not just our country, through this immersion I’ve even seen in Israel there are
problems between Palestinians and Jews.
Through
this immersion I’ve realized that not everything in our country is all peaches
and cream. The reason I say this is that people who have done wrong things are
not facing retribution. For example, Darren Wilson didn’t get indicted and he
killed a teenager. Even though this may have been in self defense, he killed a teenager.
Then in Virginia University, there have been multiple sexual assaults and they
have done nothing. Even after a student admitted to sexually assaulting someone
else, the student wasn’t expelled and didn’t face any consequences. Through
this immersion I’ve realized a lot about problems in our country and the rest
of the world.
Reading Response
Is it really possible for 4 teens to start a war? In the article
“How the MURDER of Four Teens Started a WAR,” author Patricia Smith writes
about the four boys who were killed, how Hamas and Israel fought, and how the
tension between Israeli’s and Palestinians came to be. The author describes how
problems between the Palestinians and Israeli’s started because the U. N. gave
Jewish people land in Jerusalem, with a plan to split the Palestinians and Jews
into two states, which the Palestinians rejected. The Palestinians and
Israeli’s have had run-ins since 1947 but the most recent one was after 3
Israeli boys were found dead, (June 12 they were captured) and a Palestinian boy
was murdered (killed on July second). This prompted Hamas to launch air strikes
at Israel. Then Israel did the same to Gaza. These murders were tragic but the
outcome shouldn’t have been war.
Patricia
Smith tells the story from each side, making it difficult to pick a side to
defend. One example that shows this is after a Palestinian boy is killed, his
brother says, “His life was still ahead of him, and here in one minute,
extremists who hate Arabs, who hate peace, came in and cut short his whole
life.” This quote shows the grief of a brother who’s feeling the strife of his
country in his home and the hatred and disharmony that exists in Israel. This
boy and his family don’t deserve to suffer because someone supposedly from
Palestine killed three Israeli’s. Furthermore, the author quoted the Israeli
Prime Minister in response to the three Israeli boys being abducted and killed,
“They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by beasts, Hamas is responsible
and Hamas will pay.” It’s difficult to defend either group, because Hamas or
some un-connected Palestinian could have killed these three Israeli kids but at
the same time they may not have. There was no clear evidence shown in this
article. Furthermore, this by no means should have started air strikes and
bombings. This was simply tragic.
The
author makes a big point to talk about the “birth of Israel,” and how it came
to be, and more importantly why there is a problem in Israel. Patricia Smith
taught me that the U.N. voted to split Palestine apart writing, “According to
the U.N. plan, the territory, then known as Palestine and governed by Great
Britain, would be divided into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. But the
Arabs rejected this plan.” This shows the main reason why the Arabs and Jews
have been fighting. This makes me think that the Arabs attacking the Jews was
not totally uncalled for, because their land was split in half against their
will. Additionally, the U.N. probably shouldn’t have given away land that
wasn’t theirs to give, although Great Britain did control Palestine at the
time. This shows a very large reason for why there is still a problem in
Palestine.
After reading this article I have begun to understand
that sometimes neither group of people who are fighting are wrong. This article
also makes me want to look more deeply into problems surrounding Palestine and
the Israeli’s. I’m intrigued by why the U.N. just gave away half of Palestine
to the Jews and I want to find out why Hamas was blamed for killing the 3
Israeli boys. I would like to know more about this because at the moment what
it looks like to me is that, three boys were killed by someone or a group, the
reason is fairly unknown and then some Israeli radicals went out and killed a
Palestinian boy for “revenge.” These are terrible, unreasonable actions that should
never have happened.
Works Cited
News
Immersion
The New York
Times, articles from the 22nd to the 24th
CNN, articles
from the 25th and 26th
Reading
Response
Upfront Magazine October 27
2014 issue
