For My Kids.

My Dear Children:

There are no words I can say that will make any of this better, make sense of it, or make you forget what has happened.  My heart aches for you in ways I hope you never have to feel for people you love.  But, I know you do.  And in times like these, I tend to seek out words from others that may help me cope with whatever I feel.  These are a few of my favorites.  Perhaps, this week, if you are feeling up to it, you can post some of your favorites, or even some of your own. This space is for whatever you need.  I am always around, never far that I won't hear if you call.  For now, though, read on and I hope you find some small measure of comfort, at least for a few minutes.

Love always,

Bunj

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there.  I do not die.

--Mary Frye

For a second you were flying
Like you always wanted to
Now you’ll fly forever
In skies of azure blue
We’ll see your smile in every ray
Of sunshine after rain
And hear the echo of your laughter
Over all the pain
The world’s a little quieter now
The colours have lost their hue
The birds are singing softly
And our hearts are missing you
Each time we see a little cloud
Or a rainbow soaring high
We’ll think of you and gently
Wipe a tear from our eye

--Victoria Bruce

10 things

Every once in a while, I like to "take stock" of who I am, and whether or not my actions and ambitions are remaining true to whoever that is. I have many days where I just feel "off" and reflecting on what I am doing helps.
 And when this happens, in order to get myself  back on track, I make a list.
 The "lists" always have a title--"10 things I've always wanted to do but couldn't afford," or "10 things I love about Oak," etc.
It helps.  Every time, it always helps.

So, in the spirit of that, let's give it a try.

Your 10 things category is:

Ten Things I (meaning you, not me) Know to Be True.  (yes, this is a pre-write of sorts for your THIS I BELIEVE essay)

Part 2 of Being Informed and Entering the Conversation

This is the second part of a blog that you either love or hate at this point.  This part will be due on SUNDAY, March 24th, 2019.

Go back and read some of the posts from Part 1.

 Pick 2-3--you agree AND disagree with to begin a conversation.  Copy and paste the part of the comment you want to respond to, set it off with italics, and respond respectfully.

Part 1 of Being Informed and Entering the Conversation

A long time ago, before you guys were born, people would watch or listen to broadcast news to get information about the world, the country, their hometowns, etc.

Each night, around 6ish, families would gather around whatever medium--tv or radio depending on wealth--and listen to folks tell them exactly what was happening that day, that week, etc.
They would talk about it, form opinions, maybe argue, and then, when it was over, go back to their lives.  But, they were informed.

 For about an hour a day, without any thought to politics or sides or personal interests (which was only possible because there were no paying commercials back then to influence what anyone heard), people just listened to the facts as they happened, and somehow, some way, they were intelligent enough all on their own to make decisions about what they heard, and act accordingly.
What a time to be alive.

Alas,
this is not the case any longer (unless you listen exclusively to NPR which can get tedious after a while), and when we read about things--especially politically divisive things like BLM, or #metoo, or the Thin Blue Line--we are usually getting the facts from a slant.
 This means that whichever network is delivering information is doing so from a selfish perspective--they have more at stake to show you this story rather than that story because that story will make advertisers not want to pay for a lot of commercials during the time slot. Switch channels and the opposite will be true.

Most of you get your news from media (social or news) sites.  That is not a criticism--I do, too--probably just different ones.  But they fall into the same trap I described above.  And that is bad because in order to have a truly informed, truly intellectual conversation, we need ALL the facts.  This is hyperbole and kind of a pipe dream--nobody really ever has ALL THE FACTS.  Please remember that.
So, the best we can do is read vastly different perspectives on the same subject and see where we fall.  So, for this week's blog we are going to do two things--which means there will be 2 due dates.  Skkkkkkkkkkrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt.
Really, Bunj?
Yes. Sorry.

In addition to being informed and entering the conversation, this should also show us how different mediums present the same information.
So, I have copied a documents with several links related to 2 different topics.  You choose which one you want to learn more about and read or view some of the links about that topic.  Then, answer the following:
What did you learn that you didn't know before?
What did you find valuable enough to want to share with someone else?
What issues did you have with anything you read?  What did you disagree with or feel passionately about?
Did anything make you uncomfortable?
Were there things you read that you feel you wouldn't want to talk about in a public forum?  Why?
Any other comments or ideas or thoughts or opinions or questions you want to share?

THIS PART IS DUE WEDNESDAY, AS PER USUAL.

Learn More about Media Representations of Fatal Police Shooting of African Americans

OpEd: How the media smears black victims

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-johnson-black-victim-20170330-story.html

When a police shooting victim is a white woman

https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/7/24/16019440/justine-damond-police-shooting-race

The conversation we need on police shootings

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/27/opinions/law-enforcement-racism-opinion-gagliano/index.html

Learning more about double consciousness, codeswitching, and negotiating multiple identities

Double consciousness from DuBoisopedia

http://scua.library.umass.edu/duboisopedia/doku.php?id=about:double_consciousness

Learning How To Code-Switch: Humbling, But Necessary

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/04/10/176234171/learning-how-to-code-switch-humbling-but-necessary

American Promise: Idris Codeswitches

http://www.pbs.org/pov/americanpromise/video/idris-code-switches/

Being Black—but Not Too Black—in the Workplace

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/being-black-work/409990/

There is No Success Without Hardship

So, I'm at BAM this weekend, and as usual, I become spellbound by all of the collective knowledge that is, literally, at my fingertips as I walk up and down the aisles.
 I find it absolutely mind-boggling that you can be in a single edifice, and hold the keys to the entire known universe- ( I was, coincidentally, in the space-exploration aisle). I suppose the same could be said if you are standing in a library, but there is something about those clear plastic wrappings they put on library books that makes what is contained within seem less accessible. But, as usual, I digress.

So, there I am, walking among the aisles of knowledge and I find myself in the self-help section looking at all the titles: The Success Book, How to Succeed in Business, Politics and Love (seems a bit broad to me), 7 Secrets of Successful Teens (almost picked that one up for our 204 library but I figure--one day one of you will write a way better one. PS--my money's on Vivek) etc.
 All of these books, all dedicated to the notion of success.
And I started thinking about how many of them there were.
And the next thought was--how do these books ever sell? Aren't all individual ideas of what success is dramatically different?

And now, here we are.

So, tell me--what is YOUR definition of success?
What are the hallmarks, again, to YOU, of a successful person?
How do you judge whether or not you are successful?
Are there different levels, different measures of importance tied to levels?
What do you need to have, to own, to acquire in order to feel successful?
What types of things need to happen in order for you to see yourself as a success?

What's In a Name? A lot, actually.

I was thinking about names the other day, because it is something I tend to think about every so often.   I went to school with twin girls named Misty and Summer.
Their last name? Weathers. True Story.  Names are fun.
Shakespeare, through the voice of Juliet, asked us to consider: "What's in a name?" Well, what is?

How many of you were named for other people, specifically, family members?
Does being named after a beloved relative heap unfair pressure on you to be a certain way--act a certain way--love certain things--just because the person you're named after did?

What about those of you who were named for favorite actors or actresses, literary characters or anything that your parents thought was cool at the time?

Do you love your name? Does it suit you? Would you change it if you could? To what?

Do you ever think you might be a different person if you were named something else?

Do you know the origin of your name? How did you come to be a Gabe or a Mason or a Ronique or a Lyanni, Anshruta or a Trey?

For example, my name is Cassandra, which comes from Greek Tragedy, Agamemmnon by Aeschylus, but my mother and father didn't know that. So, I have no idea really, where they got it from, but I often wonder if I would be a completely different person if my name was something simple like Lisa or Diane or something like that. My personality seems suitable for my name, but what if it weren't my name, ya know?

When other people shorten your name does it make you angry? What about when people mispronounce it?

There are a lot of questions here--make sure you hit all of them.

Pride and Glory

Passion. Courage. Conviction (not the word that means convicted of a crime).
These words are largely subjective--which means everybody's definition will be based on their own experiences and personalities.
That said,  I would like you to look them up before you answer this week's blog question. Once you do that, consider the following:

1) What is it in your own life, this life that you have been given, that you would die for?  Is it different than what you live for?

2)  What is your passion; what gives you courage; about what do you hold an unshakable conviction?


After you have considered these two crucial questions it is then time to ask yourself where these notions came from, and when you first noticed them enough to have the awareness to answer this question--and of course, write about that as well.