Group Project

This week my group finally made some headway when it felt we were at a stand still.  It is primarily interesting to us how the administration is so against us (UT students) from visiting the school, especially when it could help promote education in some of their student.  That will be another topic for another day though.  As far as our project goes, we plan on visiting the school to get an idea of how the school is separated and the benefits of the regular LBJ school is much less resourced than the magnet school that is just upstairs.  Also our main goal is to give them idea about what it is like to be in college but primarily what it is like to be a minority in college.  Talking to them we will break down in groups and give them information about what types of resources they have available for them to prepare for college and what types of resources they have available once they get in college.  These programs are especially important when you are a part of a minority group that is a small percentage at a PWI.  Hopefully this discussion will spark a light in some of these kids minds that college is an option and having learned about these resources, hopefully it will make things feel a bit more easier.  Another thing we are hoping for, is that after we meet with the children, that this project can become an annual project, where LBJ can partner with another organization or class on campus that will be willing to do this on a yearly/ semesterly basis.

Hip Hop and the Black Image

The movie Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes was a real eye opener to me.  I am not naïve to negative messages the videos and lyrics that the artist put out into mainstream media but at the same time this is the same music that I find myself dancing to and playing in my iPod.  This does not mean that I agree with the message, it is just something I pay no attention to unless brought up in discussion.  For the African American culture, it will be very hard to find a solution to help with the negative impact hip hop has on girl’s sexual health.  As a black community, we have sadly adopted the idea that these images are acceptable.  Parents are unaware of the images that are being portrayed and when they are aware they can do little to promote a positive image.  With little help at home, it is almost impossible to really monitor what is being portrayed over the television to their children when they are not home.   Also children today are heavily influenced by the ones around them.  If these girls are spending 5 days out of the week with other peers that are heavily influenced by these images, it is more than likely that it will still be showcased at some point.  

Boys of Baraka & Acting White

It was interesting to see while watching the film how different people’s lives are even though we live in a country that has one government.  You would think that education would be education and it would be the same for everybody in every state but sadly this is not the case.  Although my education system was not the best, I feel privileged that it was adequate enough to supply me with enough knowledge to continue my education at one of the top tier institutions in Texas.  It was interesting to see how dependent the families were on their school system and the future of their children.  The resources were low but in such a bad neighborhood, it was great yet sad to see that the only positive influences they have are in a education system that is essentially failing them. 

The factors that effect the achievement gap are very different between blacks and whites but in examining the article it appeared that blacks were negatively reflected throughout.  In most school systems there is rarely a case where blacks are the minority of the school. This is only the case if the institution is in a predominately black neighborhood.  Also, considering this is the case, it is very rare to see a school dominated by black teachers.  This can have many negative effects on a black student.  Where whites are in classrooms with several of their peers that have similar demographic commonalities, Blacks are less inclined to feel comfortable because there are very few students that resemble them and also there is no person of “power” that looks like them that they can confide in. 

Coming from a biracial family of a white mother, I grew up definitely on the border line of “acting white.” It was not because my mother was half white and my dad a quarter but because I did not “behave” as other blacks did.  It was also easier for me to pointed out as acting white because my skin was much fairer than most.  When people characterized me as acting white, I had to really understand their idea of what white was.  It appeared that because I pronunciated my words and surrounded myself with all types of ethnicities as opposed to grouping myself in a clan of all blacks that I was pretending to be something I was not.  Also it was said because I chose to wear “white” brand name clothes like American Eagle, Abercrombie, and Express.  I would have never thought that my preference in clothing would strip me of my ethnicity.