Mockingbird: In-class 4/29

Early in morning she is

Not ecstatic but rather tired

Where’s coffee?


How will she survive?

A mockingbird quietly flies intently

Towards the window

Determined to fulfill destiny


Will it succeed?

What purpose compels flight?

Mockingbirds have no intentions

But to do morning awakenings

She still sleeps soundly


With anger said mockingbird,

Refuse failure continue mocking

Woman does not awaken

Spray with hose…retreat

Part B: "The Lakota People" Responses

In December of 2007 the Lakota Indians successfully succeeded from the United States, and went almost completely unnoticed within the realms of the United States. No U.S. press devoted their time or effort to reporting this cause, yet three different nations recognized the Lakota as independent from the U.S. They declared themselves to not be citizens of the U.S. and laid claims to the land which they owned in parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. They had been drafting this declaration stating their independence from the U.S. since 1974, and just now released it. This just shows how the media controls what the public hears.


Response 1: The Lakota people are completely justified in their actions. They were not satisfied with the actions of the United States government, and according Lockean philosophy, if a government is not protecting the rights of its constituency, then they have every right to rebel. In fact, he even claims that it is their duty to rebel in order to protect their rights. Now, in the United States Government, there are 2 checks that the people have on the government in order to assure that their individual rights are protected. These checks are: 1; the people are the ones who elect the officials into their offices. Thus the people can choose to not reelect an official if he or she fails to fully represent the voice of their constituency. 2: if the government fails to do their job properly, the people can rebel, and succeed from the nation. The rights of the Lakota people have been trampled on ever since the killing of Sitting Bull, and the Massacre at Wounded Knee. They have the obligation to ensure that their rights are protected, and if that means leaving the U.S. and creating their own country then so be it.

Response 2: The main purpose behind this notion, in relationship to our English 104 course is most obviously the power of the media expressed in this passage. This passage expresses that these Lakota Native American's have been drafting their succession from the United States for over 30 years and the press just gave word. This is a dangerous lesson for our citizen's because, if the media is able to keep things under wraps for that long a period of time, what else are we unaware of that is occuring in our country? or even, what else are we unaware of that's occuring overseas? The war in Iraq is one that has been held in a negative light from day one, but still, the media doesn't provide the citizens of this country with full information. Many people of this country are still unaware of what we are even "fighting" for, which provides us with the scary realization that there could be far more corrupt actions occuring that the media isn't educating us about.

Response 3: The Lakota Indians succeeding from the United States and being un-noticed by the media and general public shows two things; 1, the government must have not been taking care of its’ people must if the Indians were happy in the United States and how they were being treated then they would not have succeeded, and 2, either the media was told not to blow this story out of proportion because other Native Americans might follow suit, or they are not doing their job. The Lakota succeeding gives the feeling that the government has ignored them and has not treated them the way they wanted. The lack of Americans knowing of this succession shows how the news either reports on wars happening in far away lands or on local stories about a dog finding its owners. As Americans we need to know real news about what is happening within our country and the first way to do that is to tell the media what we want to hear.

Response 4: It is interesting how the Indians often get forgotten. Americans like to think of the United States as a virtuous country built on pure ideals, but no one ever remembers how we acquired this 'pure' land. Old treaties made, even if forgotten, still exist. If the Lakota community feels that the United States has not upheld their end of the contract, then they have every right to break away. Wouldn't it be strange if they did though? Can you imagine only 45 stars on the American flag? I think it is hard to imagine the US growing any more, and even harder to think of it getting smaller. I also wonder if there are similar treaties with other Indian tribes, and do those Native Americans also feel that the United States has not fulfilled its part of the agreement?

Racism: The war at home (Part A Due 4/25)

In the film American History X, Edward Norton plays Derek Vinyard, a former neo-nazi skinhead who is trying to prevent his younger brother from following the same dark path of hate. During the film, there are black and white flashbacks to times before Derek's reincarnation, as well as his time served in prison. A specific flashback that truly show's Derek's low point in the photo scene here. This photo shows Derek right before he is incarcerated for murdering a black gang member.  This image is a complete depiction of Derek at the time of his arrest, angry and ridden with hatred; completely lost from the humanity he once had. It's apparent through this photo that Derek is a confused man, a brain-washed soldier of hatred. This mentality is thus addressed in prison, where he received clarity, a soldier no more.

After Derek leaves jail, he is a new man. This picture is highly representative of that and is a stark contrast to the photo of his arrest. He has a full head of hair (unlike a skin-head) and is wearing a white shirt (suggestive of a light, angelic nature) which covers the swastika he proudly displayed before. He is surrounded by family, all smiling, which suggests support for his new, more open attitude. (Technically, they don't know about it, but that is still what the picture suggests.)

Homework: Part A & B

Part A: Electronically collaborate on a blog post with your partner. You can post the same thing to both of your blogs. The post does not have to relate to what you did in class today (but it can if you want.)

Due Friday 4/26

Part B: With your partner, electronically collaborate with another partner group to create a collective post. You can all post the same thing. It does not have to relate to Part A of the homework (but it can if you want).

Due Tuesday 4/29

(Group 6+7 work together for part B)

Response to Morgan's Post.

Hubris: It's easy to make mistakes when other people pay for them. This is the "motivational" slogan found in a photo that is accompanied by many soldier's caskets. At first glance, the photo can be found as solum and pretty un-motivational, but I find it's message to be quite the contrary. When looking at this photo, I see inspiration for a change in our way of handling something as homicidal as war. When troops are deployed to a given base, they are no longer seen as individual humans, but as thousands of machines battling for our country. They are suddenly viewed as a big batch of toy soldiers; if we lose a few hundred, or a thousand, it's fine! because there is still a full bucket of more toy soldiers waiting to go to battle.

Hubris is defined as "excessive pride of arrogance;" This thematic word found in this photo most definitely refers to our current administration and their war. It has become apparent through the 5 years at war in Iraq, that the war wasn't what it was meant to be, but that doesn't stop our Commander in Chief. George W. Bush has stood by this greatly disapproved war through and through, letting his arrogant reasoning for battle kill thousands of American soldiers. 

I find this photo very relevant because it makes you think. Usually when you see a poster like this, it gives you irrelevant self-motivation, but this photo provides so much more. It's message is self-motivation, that's for sure, but the self-motivation one finds could make a difference for many.

WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT (HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM JOHN & YOKO) 4/22

 I was quite excited for this week's assignment because it gives me a chance to explain the title of my blog for those whom may not be familiar with the popular anti-war propaganda. This "WAR IS OVER! (IF YOU WANT IT) Happy Christmas from John & Yoko" was a campaign which was started by the couple, and was seen in 11 cities, including NYC, across the world on Dec. 16th, 1969. These campaign billboards, which were personally rented out by John & Yoko, were in protest of the Vietnam war. It's no secret John Lennon was peace-monger, with ballads such as "All you need is love" and "Imagine," But what's truly touching about his antics is that he took his opinion beyond his art, he used his fame to inspire social revolution. Although the war wasn't really over for the United States for several years to come, Lennon's message reached out to the confused teens of '69, giving them inspiration to get out and change what was going on. I feel that this is so relevant to current times in America because it's clear that a change is in order, but too many young people don't think much of it. Who will be the new Lennonin regards to inspiring change? Noone, those are impossible shoes to fill; but imitation is better than silence.

Civil War Photo

In this photo, titled "The four condemned conspirators (Mrs. Surratt, Payne, Herold, Atzerodt) with officers and others on the scaffold- Washington, D.C., July 7, 1865," The content is what really made the photo stand out among the others. The photo is composed of the 4 individuals who conspired against Abraham Lincoln in regards to his assassination; the 4 conspirers are hanging to their death. The action in the photo is startling at first for the viewer because of the depiction of death, paired with the fact that the photo is a documentary piece of art.  Another thing that makes this photo eerie is the intention of the photo, the photo is made solely to depict the death of these individuals who were found to have helped in the assassination of Lincoln, not even the perpetrators. The visual compositional elements help to add to this photo's purpose; Even though the photo is black and white, it's apparent that this is no sunny day, adding to the tone. This photo shows that these people are being severely punished through the exploitation of their death; their deaths are being observed by many, as well as documented through film. In relation to this photo, Lincoln, the man who died because of these individuals, is being exploited to this day. The article "Lincoln's Cottage to Open to Public" (http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/travel/06COMlinc.html?scp=10&sq=lincoln+assassination&st=nyt) explains that this year, Lincoln's Cottage that he lived in up until his assassination is going to be opened for the public to gander through. This is a nice relation to the photo because it shows that both ends of the spectrum are exploited, the media doesn't discriminate against the good or the bad people in our world, everyone is fair game for exploitation.