It is raining here in LA and that means that I can finally wear some of the 13 coats that I own. Eventhough I have been cold for a while, I feel retarded wearing a coat when everyone is waliking around in sweatshirts. Do people here never get cold?
The rain is a nice aural distraction from outlining and studying. I can't believe that I have to soak up so much info in a very serious way in less than 2 weeks. I'm scared, but not scared enough. I am half studying and half putzing about, roasting squash for tomorrow's soup and reading Above the Law and not really worrying about the dearth of law jobs these days.
As we hit the final days of our classes, I am a bit sad because I really like some of my profs and am sad that I will not get to continue to study with them. I think that I will always, always, always remember the three very outsized personalities that have been my intro to the law.
We are having dinner tomorrow with a friend of BitterNY's from something like 1996 when they tended bar together in NYC. Dude has an 8 year old and a vegetarian wife. In honor of them, I am making a vegan version of my stuffing (I reserve the right to pour chicken broth all over it if it sucks) and I vetoed artichokes from the menu -- I ate them as a kid, but you never know. I'm looking forward to the distraction but, most of all, I am looking forward to a few uninterrupted hours of playing civilization after they leave.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
wait, there's still class?
So the graded memo is in. I have no idea how I did on it. Not great, I think. I just did not have enough time to spend on it. I worked and worked on my tests and rules, but the analysis did not flow smoothly from there as it had in the past. Half of me is haoping that I was just overthinking things and I'll do just fine. Pretty much everyone gets a B, so I should be in that group. But, I have to be in the top 30% or I lose my scholarship (not that big a deal next year cause it's just basically spending money -- not actually paying for anything). I was hoping to ace this law school thing, but as of now, I am off to a pertty bad start. NOw I will settle for keeping my head above water.
Outlining -- I started it a few weeeks ago. Trouble is, I hardly remember what I have gone over so far, so I have to do it again. The only course I really have a grasp of is property, and I have really let my grip loosten this last half of the semester. There is just so muh damn info in that class!
I've also bee nreally beat lately. I only have energy for sleeping -- i have a good reason and its a long story, but no one that is going to boost my gpa.
well, back to Crim for another 45 minutes of so, and here's to hoping some of it sticks!
Outlining -- I started it a few weeeks ago. Trouble is, I hardly remember what I have gone over so far, so I have to do it again. The only course I really have a grasp of is property, and I have really let my grip loosten this last half of the semester. There is just so muh damn info in that class!
I've also bee nreally beat lately. I only have energy for sleeping -- i have a good reason and its a long story, but no one that is going to boost my gpa.
well, back to Crim for another 45 minutes of so, and here's to hoping some of it sticks!
Friday, November 21, 2008
memo meetings
I feel like I am a lost little girl all over again. I thought that I knew how to do this. I've written memos before. Like 2 and the first one I had no idea what I was doing but anyway.
So we have been having lots of memo pow wows. Today was a good one. I got to catch the knowledge dripping from the lips of a Very Smart Man. Maybe I sound like him a lot too -- I hope not, gotta work on that. VSM was so arrogant that even though he had good things to say, I wanted to jab him with a pencil! Such is law school.
I often find myself being thankful for the small section that I have. Evidently, lots of other sections are filled with arrogant assholes. Mine is not. We have lots of different view points, but we have never actually had an argument in class (like another section. They argued about how to divide or not divide some explanations of elements in the memo. Why would anyone have a heated argument over that? If people don't agree and you think that you are right -- good for you, you should get an A!)
I also heard that one section has a student that has some sort of physical illness and had to drop out last year. Some in his class felt threatened that he might have an unfair advantage, having gone through this memo thing before. The man has a freaking illness and is obviously not good. Like, almost passes out in classes. What jerks!! Is anyone who has written a memo before a threat? What about people who have worked in law firms? Should we not allow them to come to law school and throw off the curve? GAHHHH!!
There is a sense of entitlement that some people seem to have that is ridiculous. I am not part of the group prone to a sense of entitlement and neither are my, uh, people. I, we, many of us, know that the world is not fair. Some people really are smarter, faster, richer or luckier and if you really want to succeed in life, one must realize this and get over it. And get to work.
So we have been having lots of memo pow wows. Today was a good one. I got to catch the knowledge dripping from the lips of a Very Smart Man. Maybe I sound like him a lot too -- I hope not, gotta work on that. VSM was so arrogant that even though he had good things to say, I wanted to jab him with a pencil! Such is law school.
I often find myself being thankful for the small section that I have. Evidently, lots of other sections are filled with arrogant assholes. Mine is not. We have lots of different view points, but we have never actually had an argument in class (like another section. They argued about how to divide or not divide some explanations of elements in the memo. Why would anyone have a heated argument over that? If people don't agree and you think that you are right -- good for you, you should get an A!)
I also heard that one section has a student that has some sort of physical illness and had to drop out last year. Some in his class felt threatened that he might have an unfair advantage, having gone through this memo thing before. The man has a freaking illness and is obviously not good. Like, almost passes out in classes. What jerks!! Is anyone who has written a memo before a threat? What about people who have worked in law firms? Should we not allow them to come to law school and throw off the curve? GAHHHH!!
There is a sense of entitlement that some people seem to have that is ridiculous. I am not part of the group prone to a sense of entitlement and neither are my, uh, people. I, we, many of us, know that the world is not fair. Some people really are smarter, faster, richer or luckier and if you really want to succeed in life, one must realize this and get over it. And get to work.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wow -- this memo thing is really a crazy time drain. I am finally sitting down to write it, but this blog was calling me. I've had such an exciting week. I went to panel last night entitled Is Gay Really the New Black? We had had a huge debate raging on the BLSA mail list all day about the title. Personally, I found it mega offensive. To conflate the two movements together trivializes the efforts of those in the Civil Rights Movement. As Dan Savage said (I'll get back to him in a minute) the gay marriage movement is a small c, small r civil rights movement.
Why am I making this distinction? Well slavery, lynching, being 3/4 ths of a person, something like that.
Any how, I have a memo to write. I was very happy to attend a talk in which the objective was to talk about people of color, gay people and gay people of color (who sometimes get lost in the mix/intersection). Lots of good panelists. I took some notes and I will paste them here. It's just a record of some of the issues that were touched on. That's all that Ihave time for.
Oh, and that I hope Prop 8 will be a catalyst for change in the LGBTQ community as well as in communities of color. I think that there are lots of LGBTQ people of color who are still looking for ways to get necessities like food, health care, drug treatment, and shelter -- the same issuse facing many communities of color. I we didn't manage to come together on the marriage issue, too bad, but I see lots of other areas that we can address together for the benefit of us all.
Jennifer Pizer – lambda
Kim Pearson –UCLA
Melissa Murray – UCBerkeley recent cal review article on gay marriage
Cleo Manago
Ryan Dunn- UCLA Outlaw leadership
Javier Angelo
Saul Sarabia and Russell Robinson
What do the exit polls really mean? What is the true percentage of voters who responded to the polls?
What really cost no on 8 the election?
• Other demographic groups – older voters, protestants, catholics
Why do we accept homophobia in other groups but call out Blacks as portraying gays
- 50% white vote is ok as homophobia base line, since blacks were above that they are to blame?
- Must revisit this flawed equation
What does black as the new gay mean for people who are in the intersection of black and gay?
• It assumes that gay does not equal black?
Unconscious racism in gay community -- things like “we let you have a black president”
Manago – I voted, I don’t remember you letting me have anything
Black president releasing racist tensions in queer and rest of world
Black people are monolithic
What has actually been done in communities of color?
Was there outreach, was it effective?
• It’s a movement that just happens to have a campaign
• Movement has not been incorporating people of color in main infrastructure
• Exclusion by mostly white leaders
• When latinos have approached LGBT community on issues affecting them (education, immigration) they hear that “It’s not our priority”
• No cross collaboration
• Where is this expectation that blacks and latinos will support gay rights coming from?
Hesitation to use words discrimination and civil rights in beginning of movement
• Didn’t want to offend black people
• Hesitant to use sexual orientation aspect and label it as discrimination when talking about prop 8
LAMBDA legal – campaign steering committee
• Difference b/c trying to reach voters in the middle and not necessarily groups of color
• Can’t change hearts and mind with a 20 second tv spot
Yes on 8 ads
• Fed parental fear that state will impose values on children
• Tapped into thread of anxiety that is seen in family law al the time
Betrayal
• Assumption that there has been solidarity and now there is discord
• Has such solidarity actually existed between black and gay (again erasing black gay people)
• R. Dunn – how is gay identity seen as white?
o Dan Savage --- homophobic blacks bigger problem than racist white gays
o The gay identity is a white identity
o Some of those people are racist
o Is there any surprise the people of color are not behind the movement?
West Hollywood is more white than Beverly hills (86% white, LA county 48% white)
White gay identity – examples
• Circuit parties – influenced queer as folk
• Gay cruises – white white white
• Affluence as gayness – doesn't resonate with lots of black and brown people
• Gay websites – connexion white – tracks most popular profiles white
• HRC – supported al D’amato despite his racist remarks
• Racial preferences on dating websites
• Discrimination in the castro
• Shirley Q Liquor – played by Chuck Nip gay white man – performs in blackface as a woman-- Performing at circuit parties Oh my fucking word
• Dan Savage, which problem is bigger???
Manago –There are blacks who resent racism in gay community and don’t even want to hear from them
Attempts to compare homophobia with racism from white gay community with no discussion
Same with gay is the new Black
Protesting against prop 8 but not protesting against prop white
Blacks often discouraged from affirming ourselves culturally
Same gender loving not gay b/c there is racism in that framework and is not just accepting a label
Critics of gay marriage say it is mimicking the oppressor
Is marriage the last frontier? Maybe for affluent, white gays
Blacks and mormons demonized by marriage
• Mormon polygamists are not the same ones as the ones with the money
• Polygamists no longer recognized as part of the church
• Black history of marriage – used after civil war to discipline and control former slaves
• Has been used to push people in traditional ways of being a family
LGBT community trying to validate family diversity – neither govnt nor majority should tell people how to structure families
Language of marriage connotes respect for family -- sought by those who have been denied respect
Many different groups filing lawsuits against prop 8 – those against sex or race discrimination , religious groups
Language – often white by default
Coalitions are temporary b/c there are parallel universes – one that cares about the issue and that includes racism because of language
Language can cause a lack of solidarity
What about co-opting the Civil Rights movement?
Campaign discouraged using civil rights movements words
Samuel L. Jackson ad -- toward end of campaign
Hard to maintain clear distinction between constitutional principle and social history -- Pizer
Trouble of boiling down an entire movement to one case, soundbite, people fail to realize the magnitude of social organizing that went into the changes
Trivializes black history/struggle
Black Civil Rights movements began in churches!
Why aren’t we upset about the 50% of white people who voted yes?
Is it ok because it is the norm? That’s what we accept
Is the black community more homophobic than other communities?
Few hate crimes against gays by black people, mostly by white people
Issues in black communities about manhood and masculinity and some of that anxiety looks like homophobia
Racial battle fatigue for gay people of color
Cannot forget that same sex marriage mvt is a white middle class movement
UCLA black student told not longer welcome in west Hollywood
White lesbian – look at how intense racist backlash has been
white racism has had a devastating impact on it’s passage, leaving LGBT of color to swamped to respond
What about gender politics of this movement?
Too many assumptions made in this campaign -- Angelo
heard that Blacks and latinos cannot be moved
state of Mexico was one of the first in the world to recognize gay marriage
so why were latinos considered nonmoveable?
People of color must work on own leadership
Latinos had to open own east la office to fight 8
Must find opportunities to merge latino and gay agendas
Recognition that straight allies must build bridges as well
Sarabia – it’s how we think about every issue
the same govt that denies a gay marriage license is denying immigrant licenses – build coalitions
same people who walked out after 187 know how to mobilize are young and can build bridges with
Why am I making this distinction? Well slavery, lynching, being 3/4 ths of a person, something like that.
Any how, I have a memo to write. I was very happy to attend a talk in which the objective was to talk about people of color, gay people and gay people of color (who sometimes get lost in the mix/intersection). Lots of good panelists. I took some notes and I will paste them here. It's just a record of some of the issues that were touched on. That's all that Ihave time for.
Oh, and that I hope Prop 8 will be a catalyst for change in the LGBTQ community as well as in communities of color. I think that there are lots of LGBTQ people of color who are still looking for ways to get necessities like food, health care, drug treatment, and shelter -- the same issuse facing many communities of color. I we didn't manage to come together on the marriage issue, too bad, but I see lots of other areas that we can address together for the benefit of us all.
Jennifer Pizer – lambda
Kim Pearson –UCLA
Melissa Murray – UCBerkeley recent cal review article on gay marriage
Cleo Manago
Ryan Dunn- UCLA Outlaw leadership
Javier Angelo
Saul Sarabia and Russell Robinson
What do the exit polls really mean? What is the true percentage of voters who responded to the polls?
What really cost no on 8 the election?
• Other demographic groups – older voters, protestants, catholics
Why do we accept homophobia in other groups but call out Blacks as portraying gays
- 50% white vote is ok as homophobia base line, since blacks were above that they are to blame?
- Must revisit this flawed equation
What does black as the new gay mean for people who are in the intersection of black and gay?
• It assumes that gay does not equal black?
Unconscious racism in gay community -- things like “we let you have a black president”
Manago – I voted, I don’t remember you letting me have anything
Black president releasing racist tensions in queer and rest of world
Black people are monolithic
What has actually been done in communities of color?
Was there outreach, was it effective?
• It’s a movement that just happens to have a campaign
• Movement has not been incorporating people of color in main infrastructure
• Exclusion by mostly white leaders
• When latinos have approached LGBT community on issues affecting them (education, immigration) they hear that “It’s not our priority”
• No cross collaboration
• Where is this expectation that blacks and latinos will support gay rights coming from?
Hesitation to use words discrimination and civil rights in beginning of movement
• Didn’t want to offend black people
• Hesitant to use sexual orientation aspect and label it as discrimination when talking about prop 8
LAMBDA legal – campaign steering committee
• Difference b/c trying to reach voters in the middle and not necessarily groups of color
• Can’t change hearts and mind with a 20 second tv spot
Yes on 8 ads
• Fed parental fear that state will impose values on children
• Tapped into thread of anxiety that is seen in family law al the time
Betrayal
• Assumption that there has been solidarity and now there is discord
• Has such solidarity actually existed between black and gay (again erasing black gay people)
• R. Dunn – how is gay identity seen as white?
o Dan Savage --- homophobic blacks bigger problem than racist white gays
o The gay identity is a white identity
o Some of those people are racist
o Is there any surprise the people of color are not behind the movement?
West Hollywood is more white than Beverly hills (86% white, LA county 48% white)
White gay identity – examples
• Circuit parties – influenced queer as folk
• Gay cruises – white white white
• Affluence as gayness – doesn't resonate with lots of black and brown people
• Gay websites – connexion white – tracks most popular profiles white
• HRC – supported al D’amato despite his racist remarks
• Racial preferences on dating websites
• Discrimination in the castro
• Shirley Q Liquor – played by Chuck Nip gay white man – performs in blackface as a woman-- Performing at circuit parties Oh my fucking word
• Dan Savage, which problem is bigger???
Manago –There are blacks who resent racism in gay community and don’t even want to hear from them
Attempts to compare homophobia with racism from white gay community with no discussion
Same with gay is the new Black
Protesting against prop 8 but not protesting against prop white
Blacks often discouraged from affirming ourselves culturally
Same gender loving not gay b/c there is racism in that framework and is not just accepting a label
Critics of gay marriage say it is mimicking the oppressor
Is marriage the last frontier? Maybe for affluent, white gays
Blacks and mormons demonized by marriage
• Mormon polygamists are not the same ones as the ones with the money
• Polygamists no longer recognized as part of the church
• Black history of marriage – used after civil war to discipline and control former slaves
• Has been used to push people in traditional ways of being a family
LGBT community trying to validate family diversity – neither govnt nor majority should tell people how to structure families
Language of marriage connotes respect for family -- sought by those who have been denied respect
Many different groups filing lawsuits against prop 8 – those against sex or race discrimination , religious groups
Language – often white by default
Coalitions are temporary b/c there are parallel universes – one that cares about the issue and that includes racism because of language
Language can cause a lack of solidarity
What about co-opting the Civil Rights movement?
Campaign discouraged using civil rights movements words
Samuel L. Jackson ad -- toward end of campaign
Hard to maintain clear distinction between constitutional principle and social history -- Pizer
Trouble of boiling down an entire movement to one case, soundbite, people fail to realize the magnitude of social organizing that went into the changes
Trivializes black history/struggle
Black Civil Rights movements began in churches!
Why aren’t we upset about the 50% of white people who voted yes?
Is it ok because it is the norm? That’s what we accept
Is the black community more homophobic than other communities?
Few hate crimes against gays by black people, mostly by white people
Issues in black communities about manhood and masculinity and some of that anxiety looks like homophobia
Racial battle fatigue for gay people of color
Cannot forget that same sex marriage mvt is a white middle class movement
UCLA black student told not longer welcome in west Hollywood
White lesbian – look at how intense racist backlash has been
white racism has had a devastating impact on it’s passage, leaving LGBT of color to swamped to respond
What about gender politics of this movement?
Too many assumptions made in this campaign -- Angelo
heard that Blacks and latinos cannot be moved
state of Mexico was one of the first in the world to recognize gay marriage
so why were latinos considered nonmoveable?
People of color must work on own leadership
Latinos had to open own east la office to fight 8
Must find opportunities to merge latino and gay agendas
Recognition that straight allies must build bridges as well
Sarabia – it’s how we think about every issue
the same govt that denies a gay marriage license is denying immigrant licenses – build coalitions
same people who walked out after 187 know how to mobilize are young and can build bridges with
Thursday, November 13, 2008
overpowered
I'm officially overwhelmed. I have spent so much time doing lots of nothing and it feels like I've learned nothing. At this point, there are not enough hours in the day for everything.
When am I ever going to get this memo written? Outline the rest of my subjects and learn the material?
I'm just too tired at night, like right now at 9 pm. I think I have screwed this semester up by not putting in enough hours. And now, I'll never be able to make them up.
Officially overwhelmed.
And I had my first put on a suit interview today. Not the best. I haven't done enough community service work for the scholarship, I think. The experience was good -- answering questions, getting dressed up. I'm glad that there wasn't a real job riding on this interview.
Gonna go do nothing now I think. Or I will listen to LEEWS, read for crim and read some E&E.
When am I ever going to get this memo written? Outline the rest of my subjects and learn the material?
I'm just too tired at night, like right now at 9 pm. I think I have screwed this semester up by not putting in enough hours. And now, I'll never be able to make them up.
Officially overwhelmed.
And I had my first put on a suit interview today. Not the best. I haven't done enough community service work for the scholarship, I think. The experience was good -- answering questions, getting dressed up. I'm glad that there wasn't a real job riding on this interview.
Gonna go do nothing now I think. Or I will listen to LEEWS, read for crim and read some E&E.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Profugos
A good friend of mine pointed put to me that I may be too skeptical about the importance of our President-elect. Probably. At the very least, I agree that symbols have meaning and having a Black President is a very big symbol. I was also persuaded by these pictures of the reaction in Harlem.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/05/nyregion/1105-HARLEMREAX_index.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
I'm working like a mad dog to go through my contract's notes and try to understand them. I'm not going to have time to make my own outline by scratch -- too much distillation I think. Well, I have 3 (oh my freaking gawd, only 3!!!!!) weeks until finals. I have been a little lax in my preparations, but now I have things under control (I think). I have been sitting here at my desk like a ninja warrior today, getting the work done with a minimum of distractions.
I also lucked out this week. I did a straight C job on the pre memo research. To make things worse, what I turned in was a barely edited draft of my notes -- not at all suitable for someone else's eyes. How did that happen? First, I went to a movie the night before the work was do. Not really a big problem, I had time to get the work done. And I did it. I have 40 minute between my last class and the assignment due time, so I waited till then to edit (well, I forgot that I had left most of it in a really raw form). 14 minutes before the due time, I emailed the paper to myself and rushed downstairs to print it out. I waited the 1.5 minutes for my "Preferences to boot" , changed the heading, and printed and stapled. As I was making my way up the stairs, I looked and say my rough draft with what might as well have been scribbles because they were not complete sentences. Shit!
I ran back down, waited yet again for the preferences boot and had time to fiddle just enough to get a passable draft turned in. It's not graded, but it had to be successfully completed to move on to the next phase of the memo without penalty. Well, looks like my bet paid off -- I did not get penalized! (It was primarily based on the entire class doing a good enough job.)
This is the second time that I have made that bet on this class. I was frank with my Prof. at the meeting for my second ungraded memo. She saw that I just did not put enough time into it. No excuses were made. I hope she doesn't think less of me -- I really dig her and she'll be a goldmine of info (maybe a recommendation too?). I would not be able to get away with this if I did not have an ok understanding of how to do this writing. So, graded memo will be A material. I'm going to start working on it on Wednesday, after I finish transcribing all of my notes.
I wonder when it is due, I forgot.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/05/nyregion/1105-HARLEMREAX_index.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
I'm working like a mad dog to go through my contract's notes and try to understand them. I'm not going to have time to make my own outline by scratch -- too much distillation I think. Well, I have 3 (oh my freaking gawd, only 3!!!!!) weeks until finals. I have been a little lax in my preparations, but now I have things under control (I think). I have been sitting here at my desk like a ninja warrior today, getting the work done with a minimum of distractions.
I also lucked out this week. I did a straight C job on the pre memo research. To make things worse, what I turned in was a barely edited draft of my notes -- not at all suitable for someone else's eyes. How did that happen? First, I went to a movie the night before the work was do. Not really a big problem, I had time to get the work done. And I did it. I have 40 minute between my last class and the assignment due time, so I waited till then to edit (well, I forgot that I had left most of it in a really raw form). 14 minutes before the due time, I emailed the paper to myself and rushed downstairs to print it out. I waited the 1.5 minutes for my "Preferences to boot" , changed the heading, and printed and stapled. As I was making my way up the stairs, I looked and say my rough draft with what might as well have been scribbles because they were not complete sentences. Shit!
I ran back down, waited yet again for the preferences boot and had time to fiddle just enough to get a passable draft turned in. It's not graded, but it had to be successfully completed to move on to the next phase of the memo without penalty. Well, looks like my bet paid off -- I did not get penalized! (It was primarily based on the entire class doing a good enough job.)
This is the second time that I have made that bet on this class. I was frank with my Prof. at the meeting for my second ungraded memo. She saw that I just did not put enough time into it. No excuses were made. I hope she doesn't think less of me -- I really dig her and she'll be a goldmine of info (maybe a recommendation too?). I would not be able to get away with this if I did not have an ok understanding of how to do this writing. So, graded memo will be A material. I'm going to start working on it on Wednesday, after I finish transcribing all of my notes.
I wonder when it is due, I forgot.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Recently Diagnosed Illness
I finally got a diagnosis for my disease, the one that was keeping my down this election cycle -- the NO disease. Right after the election was called last night, one channel (CNN, maybe MSNBC) showed an interview with the First Lady - Elect. She was saying that despite the fact Barak was trailing Hillary, black people would wake up and things would turn around for him. The reason they (we) were throwing our support behind Hillary was our suffering from an acute form of the NO disease. Everyone tells us no we can't, even those who love us for fear that we will get/be hurt, Michelle said. I'd say it's a question of fear, but , personally, it was far too passive of a state -- fear is alive. I was resigned to NO. I am still afraid that Obama will not live to be inaugurated (did I jinx him by buying tickets to DC?). I am still afraid that the white people who I saw on YouTube calling Obama a terrorist will decide that they can't take it and start lynching folks again -- well, maybe not quite that, but the everyday indignities that neighbors can heap upon each other can be enough to send one over the edge, too much.
I didn't really think that it would happen. When BitterNY suggested that we go to the inaguration, I realized that I have been numb to this whole experience. It is amazing that a left handed black man will be the 44th president of the United States. But it is sad that it is amazing. And I am dumb to tell anyone how truly sad it makes me. Sad because in 2008 this is what we have. It was only in 1967 that the Supreme Court struck down anti- miscegenation laws. (Thanks Prop 8 for giving us something to fight for cause we were all getting too cuddly and feel good and isn't the world freaking great now that we are all enlightened, have embraced the truth of global warming, support third world micro lending and occasionally recycle.)
So today, maybe I am a little angry. I don't understand why some people were crying today at school. Great, we have a Black President. But here, in my lovely --- bubble, I know that there is a professor who thinks that I do not belong at this school because I am Black. I'm not going to be ready to jump p and down until more Black people than not have a fighting chance. Till 1/ 2 of the prison population is on the way to productive citizenship. Till they stop trying to poison us will high fructose corn syrup. Till they stop brain washing us to consume bling. Till they take away Black history month and breast cancer month. Till we think and talk about the things that matter every day. Till they start an affirmative action program for wealth to right all of the no loan redlining , and drive you off your land history of this great nation. This goes deeper than just having a Black man in the White House. That is a superficial change.
We have just changed the color. And, anyone who has been living the struggle knows, color is only skin deep.
I didn't really think that it would happen. When BitterNY suggested that we go to the inaguration, I realized that I have been numb to this whole experience. It is amazing that a left handed black man will be the 44th president of the United States. But it is sad that it is amazing. And I am dumb to tell anyone how truly sad it makes me. Sad because in 2008 this is what we have. It was only in 1967 that the Supreme Court struck down anti- miscegenation laws. (Thanks Prop 8 for giving us something to fight for cause we were all getting too cuddly and feel good and isn't the world freaking great now that we are all enlightened, have embraced the truth of global warming, support third world micro lending and occasionally recycle.)
So today, maybe I am a little angry. I don't understand why some people were crying today at school. Great, we have a Black President. But here, in my lovely --- bubble, I know that there is a professor who thinks that I do not belong at this school because I am Black. I'm not going to be ready to jump p and down until more Black people than not have a fighting chance. Till 1/ 2 of the prison population is on the way to productive citizenship. Till they stop trying to poison us will high fructose corn syrup. Till they stop brain washing us to consume bling. Till they take away Black history month and breast cancer month. Till we think and talk about the things that matter every day. Till they start an affirmative action program for wealth to right all of the no loan redlining , and drive you off your land history of this great nation. This goes deeper than just having a Black man in the White House. That is a superficial change.
We have just changed the color. And, anyone who has been living the struggle knows, color is only skin deep.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
I just don't want to
I'm supposed to be studying. I am not studying. I do not want to be studying.
Now is the time for outlining and intense exam prep. Well, I am a little behind. I take all of my notes by hand, so I am just typing them up and trying to put them into some sort of order. This is good because I have to go back through all of the material and all of the prof's little asides. Now that I have a better idea of what I am supposed to be learning, I can see the holes in my notes. Good thing I have at least 2 supplemental books for each class. When I get lazy, I just read through a new supplement. Kind of passive, but at least I am reinforcing all of the concepts.
I keep saying that this week is the week where I will catch up and the weeks just fly by. Well, I don't want to have a crazy Thanksgiving break, so I will finish my outlining this week. (I wrote it because I hope that will make it come true.)
One thing I do know is that I will be using someone else's outline for my tests. I'll tinker with it, but I just don't think that it is necessary for me to reinvent the wheel. The outline is just a crutch and I need to know the material inside and out. I'm gonna spend that time listening to LEEWS and practicing exams. And maybe playing a little Civilization.
Now is the time for outlining and intense exam prep. Well, I am a little behind. I take all of my notes by hand, so I am just typing them up and trying to put them into some sort of order. This is good because I have to go back through all of the material and all of the prof's little asides. Now that I have a better idea of what I am supposed to be learning, I can see the holes in my notes. Good thing I have at least 2 supplemental books for each class. When I get lazy, I just read through a new supplement. Kind of passive, but at least I am reinforcing all of the concepts.
I keep saying that this week is the week where I will catch up and the weeks just fly by. Well, I don't want to have a crazy Thanksgiving break, so I will finish my outlining this week. (I wrote it because I hope that will make it come true.)
One thing I do know is that I will be using someone else's outline for my tests. I'll tinker with it, but I just don't think that it is necessary for me to reinvent the wheel. The outline is just a crutch and I need to know the material inside and out. I'm gonna spend that time listening to LEEWS and practicing exams. And maybe playing a little Civilization.
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