Blog #5

This rap was inspired by Danez Smith’s Dinosaurs in the Hood

Dinosaurs in the hood, they aint up to no good

Hunting the streets, looking for fresh meat

Come on top of your car, take you right out of your seat

No your gonna be the dinosaur’s feast

They terrorize the streets, they don’t care what your think

They will take you and eat you in the time it takes to blink

They don’t care for your color, black, brown yellow, or pink

And with what is left they’ll spit you out in the sink

Dinosaurs in the hood looking for dinner

With every round they make our numbers get slimmer

Hopefully they only took the sinners

Since there can be only one winner                    

Dinosaurs in the hood, they aint up to no good

It is time for us to test our manhood

Time to dig deep and test our strength

We have to win the battle no matter the length

Grandma’s on the porch doing their part

This war is a battle and will become art

With all we got we can win the fight

We’ll be ready to go day or night

If we dream it, we can believe it

Then this fight will be won

It will take all of us together, not just one

And in the end, the only thing that will come up is the sun.

Blog 4/8

Today our world is living in crisis. People say the phrase “everyday is a new day and a chance to start over”, but these days it’s not. Everyday the news channels broadcast the number of new cases in deaths in just our state alone. Everyday more and more people are dying due to this terrible disease that we cannot stop. Everyday, nurses and doctors are putting themselves and their families at risk as they go to work to help save lives. People are losing hope and faith that this will ever end because at this rate, it only looks like it’s going to get worse.
The poem called “The Church of Michael Jordan” takes a simple topic, basketball, and adds in a religious element to shift the entire meaning of the poem. Throughout the poem, the speaker sees various aspects of his sport as religious elements. The very beginning he says how he sees that his basketball is an orange prayer, and the hoop is the arms of God. These little details that the author adds to the story add this element of wonder as the author believes that prayer and faith can be found in our everyday lives.
Having reminders in our daily life that there is faith and hope for our future is imperative in our world today. This poem by Jeffrey McDaniel offers us this outlook that prayer and faith can be found in everything we do in our daily lives. We simply have to believe in the hope that is to come, and look for the chance of prayer and the good in each day.

Blog #4

Jaime Hynes

The poem “The Church of Michael Jordan” by Jeffery McDaniel makes the game of basketball into a metaphor for the Church and for faith according to the author. He compares the hoop to God’s outstretched arms and says the ball is an “orange prayer” that he is offering to God. All of the players playing defense on the author serve as temptations and obstacles “between me and the Lord’s light.” McDaniel continues to judge the way priests look for public affirmation and do not focus their attention on “leading with their feet” and “teaching by example”, much like Jesus once did. Then, at the end of the poem, the author describes the shot into the basket and how the Lord’s truth is visible to the audience, who will swear they witnessed a miracle. He also mentions that this shot converts the nonbelievers, who also take form as the opposing team playing defense.

This elaborate metaphor for faith offers a clear image of the intensity and suspense of a basketball game and how difficult it is for players to make a shot into the hoop with all of the distractions in their way. This metaphor can be relatable for the reader no matter what their faith might be because the craziness of life will always serve as an obstacle or temptation, as McDaniel describes it. This metaphor also supports his claim that priests should “work in disguise” rather than look for public affirmation because he describes God and prayer in a very everyday situation, a basketball game. He shows that he is using his actions, not words, to pursue and further his faith. Through his actions, he claims the “Lord’s truth” is visible and the audience and players who may be nonbelievers will be moved to convert and start to believe.

Reading this poem at this point in my life is interesting because we are currently in the middle of Holy Week, but also in the middle of a pandemic and possibly one of the deathliest weeks of that pandemic. There is a sort of depressing irony in these two events occurring at the same time and many faithful people might be questioning why this is happening. The answer to this question, like many questions people have during this time, is very unclear. However, this poem reminded me of what is most important about any faith, which is to lead by example and use your actions to live out your faith. This concept has been so relevant in our world today as we see health care workers putting their health and the health of their loved ones at risk, in order to help patients and our country and world at large. I always get upset watching the interviews and videos of these people working so hard to fight what seems like a never-ending battle.

Not only are the health care workers a perfect example of expressing faith through action, but it is also visible in the actions of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help out during this time. For example, my uncle has been supporting local businesses and buying food for the workers at multiple different hospitals and health centers. His generosity during this stressful time is inspiring to me and hopefully to others who see or are impacted by his actions. Another example I’ve seen is the many people who are working to make masks for hospitals and health care centers that are running low on supplies. My mom is a second-grade teacher and one of her students just learned to sew, so she has been actively making masks and donating them. Another example I’ve experienced is the surprise drive-by birthday party my dad and I planned for my mom’s 50^th this past Saturday. The love she felt from all of her new friends, old friends, family, colleagues, and even her students that drove by that day to simply say happy birthday was incredible. It’s truly a moment I will never forget, and I’m sure she won’t forget it either. During this difficult time, it is extremely important that everyone does their part by not only following the rules of social distancing but making sure that everyone is doing okay and feels supported and loved.

Blog 4/8

This current time in everyone's lives is one that most of us probably never imagined we would experience in our lifetime. At the beginning of my time spent in quarantine, I had yet to allow the reality of the situation to truly sinks in. However, once about a week went by and the news on the television began to worsen, I felt the stress and anxiety rush over me, all at once. When we talked about The Fourth Sense of Matter by Jo Ann Beard, in class, some points from the discussion and Dr. Ellis truly resonated with me and our current circumstances. The story written by Jo Ann Beard reflects upon the devastating shooting that occurred at the University of Iowa in 1991. Beard was a colleague of the victims in the shooting, as well as good friends with a few of them. This a significant and traumatic event in her life that led her to reflect and address everything she knows. At first, when she hears of the shooting, she is in denial and shock. The end of the story shows her initial processing of grief and pain. In our discussion, we concluded that her main purpose for writing this piece was so that she could show others that you do not know what you have until it is gone. She wants her readers to know that you need to appreciate what you have and find a way to be grateful for that, every single day. Although this situation she writes about is different than what the world is currently facing, the same message is valid. We are all in a position where it feels like life has stopped. We are missing what we had before everything was frozen in time. For myself and my friends, we lost our first year of college. So many people are out of work. Many people are completely alone and isolated. We know want things that, before, we found irritating or not worthy of our time. Not only that, but the reason that we must lose all of these things is that the outside world, right now, is dangerous. It is all very scary and uncertain. So, it is important that we remember the good things in our lives and not take them for granted anymore when this is all over.

Bars 4/8

I’m sleep in the house

I’m sleep in the house sleepin

Rona got me in the house wheepin

Can we find a cure so we can start competin 

We can’t see our friends for a bit 

Leaving grandma just to knit 

While everyone has a fit and is just gonna quit

Feeling lonely just give them a call

Until you realize you were on pause all along 

Getting out of bed was tough your not wrong 

I know right, it’s been so so long 

Staying in the house is oh so limiting 

Been sitting around to find shows that are interesting

Where walls are thin and everyone is listening

Feeling numb to all this social distancing

Because I’m sleep in the house

I’m sleep in the house sleepin

Camouflage Blog 4/8

Have you ever woken up, looked in the mirror, and became embarrassed by what you saw? This is how I felt in middle and high school; I hated the way I looked and would have given anything besides a trip to the gym to be stick thin. I never thought of myself as attractive and even though I can barely finish a meal I still felt like I ate too much. I never developed an eating disorder but I just never thought of myself as attractive, especially when I ate food.
Kara Jackson definitely explained that feeling of forcing yourself to camouflage with society when you force your bowl-shaped stomach into a pair of skinny jeans aka a "fashionable prison".  I always thought I looked my best when I felt pain while wearing tight pants because it gave that illusion of perfection. When I reflect on some of the other silly measures I would go to feel skinny and pretty, I realized that none of it really mattered nor shaped who I am today.
Like Jackson, I was always thinking about how my body would be seen by others as I went outside, and not just my form but the way my natural hair is styled too. If my hair was not straight then I didn't feel attractive nor a valid member of society. I wish the old me could have the same mindset that I have now and be informed that the way I look and dress myself is no one's worry but mine, and that if society won't accept then I should not camouflage myself to conform to their likings. A quote by Jackson that really stuck out to me because of its truth and relatability is “I think that black women are often left out of those conversations about our bodies, maybe because of the way our bodies are idolized, but they’re not idolized on us. They’re not idolized with our skins.” I feel like many black women attempt to express this concept to others, but not enough people are willing to listen. For example, our usually curvy body types open a door for us to become objectified and sexualized beginning at young ages, and when we wear clothes that emphasize our form in the slightest, we are viewed as “hoes” and “ratchet”. Then when a white woman gets surgery done to look like us she is glorified and “can do whatever she wants with her body”. That may not be the best example to express my point but another one would be how Michelle Obama was constantly criticized on what she wore but the first lady Melania Trump was a model that posed in provocative photos and did not receive as much backlash like Michelle did. A black woman wearing braids in her hair is seen as ghetto and trashy, but when a non-black person wears the same style it is praised and seen as exotic.  The list goes on and further reveals how slow our society is moving towards annihilating social discrimination and acceptance.

Blog Post 4/8

Cordy Albanese
Dr. Ellis
ENG-101
8 April 2020
                                                                       Blog Post 

              As I continue my new lifestyle in quarantine I have started to pick up new habits. These habits are ones I consider to be beneficial for my well-being and have made me challenge the person I was before. It has been a tough adjustment going from constant social interaction to just seeing immediate family 24/7. So I have decided that I can either dwell on the negatives of this situation or I can realize that it is an opportunity to self-serve and focus on my mental and physical health. I loved every minute of my service learning at the Bridges Program and I hope I taught the students there a thing or two, but two kinds of growth can come from service to others, and service to yourself. This quarantine has given me the time and comfort that I did not have back at school, and as hard as it is sometimes I feel better when I have the opportunity to just stay home. I do not have to feel the guilt of declining plans or feel the pressure to be doing something extravagant with my time. I have my whole life ahead of me and this may be the only socially acceptable time to focus on just me. Sometimes life can be so crazy when it comes to putting others before yourself and constantly moving around that you forget what it’s like to just live for yourself and do the little things that you enjoy. One thing I picked up recently that I had a hard time finding time or motivation for is working out. I find myself happier and having a clearer mind after I work out. I sleep better and feel better about myself. After watching the video on Kara Jackson’s poem it opened my thoughts up about myself and how I view myself as a woman. She talks about the struggles she as an African American woman faces. I will never understand those struggles or what she goes through daily. I can as a woman understand the challenges that come with social media and the certain “look” that one wants to achieve after scrolling through their Instagram feed. Particularly the lines “Americans love excess but we also love jeans and refuse to make excess comfortable in them”, spoke to me when I think about these challenges. As I spend my time in quarantine trying to see the positives it can be hard when I see things on social media (which I have more time for) of what is “beautiful”. With this being said, I took Kara’s words and realized that although these struggles of inner beauty exist, they do not define me. I am happy with myself and the way I look, even if sometimes I wish to look a different way after seeing a picture. It is up to me to see the good in life and take care of myself the way I have been with physical activity and eating healthy. Putting these two together with healthy thoughts ultimately makes a great mindset for what we are all going through. In life you face many challenges, as an African American woman, Kara faces many more than I will ever have to. She takes these challenges and uses her poetry and her voice to march through and accept whatever may come her way with gratitude. I admire this thought process and hope that my time spent bettering myself over the next few weeks will lead me to a powerful mindset like hers.