"Do The Right Thing" Movie Response

Q. What similarities / differences do you see between Do The Right Thing and "How Bigger Was Born"?  What are the specific ideas and examples used by each text to make their points?  What conclusions can be made as a result of this comparison / contrast? 

1. In both of these pieces, media is used to connect the community. Wright had said in "How Bigger Was Born?", "First, through some quirk of circumstance, he had become estranged from the religion and the folk culture of his race. Second, he was trying to react to and answer the call of the dominant civilization whose glitter came to him through the newspapers, magazines, radios, movies, and the mere imposing site and sound of daily American Life" (439). Bigger Thomas had left his morals and had been accustomed to living his everyday life as a response to the media. When he read newspapers regarding himself and Mary Dalton's murder his emotions changed, when he watched movies about whites he stereotyped them as having perfect lives. The "glitter" that Wright talked about was his emotions and reactions to the media. In Do The Right Thing   Senor Love Daddy (a.k.a. Mr. Rigler) strongly influences the community. He connects them through describing events that are going on around town, or describing what he sees. Throughout the movie, he is constantly narrorating what is going on in the community, which allows the community to be closer like a family. On one hand the media gives way to make assumptions that may not be true, but on the other hand the media acts as the community mediator, uniting those who follow media by informing community members what is going on within the neighborhood. Therefore the media can act in a positive way, or a negative way depending on who or what the source is.

Q. What are your personal (emotional, critical) responses? What are your feelings, at the movie's end, for Mookie, for Sal, for the police, for the community, for Radio Raheem? Who does--and who does not do--"the right thing"? Whose actions seem meaningful, purposeful, humane? What has been earned, learned, or lost?

There was so much tension between the racial groups, but there was tension internally within each group as well. For example, the blacks had tension with eachother and with people of races such as Asian and Latino. I was surprised about how much violence could occur within 24 hours in one neighborhood, but I think it is because of this internal tension. In order to bring peace the tension would have to go away internally within one particular groups such as the African Americans, before the tension between the groups of the Latinos, Asians and African Americans would go away. At the end of this movie I felt that Sal was a good person. Even though he may have seemed hot headed at times he treated Mooky with respect and cared for him like he was his own son. He never violently hurt anyone, he just verbally abused or offended blacks like Radio Raheem when he asked to turn the volume on his radio down. So Sal was did not cause the violence directly but he had influence it, as after he talked to Radio Raheem about the volume, Radio Raheem threw his radio at the counter of the Pizzeria. This did not help the situation it made the tension worse; Radio Raheem did not do the right thing with his response to Sal. However, Da Mayor seemed as though he tried to do the right thing throughout the movie. He was an alchololic who had messed up his life, and he tried to learn from his mistakes by telling others to do the right thing. Within the 24 hour period, he bought flowers for Mother Sister and saved a boy's life. Through these actions he was trying to be a good person to make up the fact that he had messed up his life with his dependence on alcohol. One of the officers did not do the right thing, as he (the officer) overreacted to Radio Raheem's fight with Sal. Even though it was his duty to break the fight up and restore the peace of the community, he did not need to go to the extent of killing Radio Raheem. Through killing him, the rest of the black community would never respect police officers again, holding a grudge against them. Even though Sal's Pizzeria was lost, something within the community was gained. As Buggin' Out asked others to join a boycott towards Sal's, others in the community would say "No I grew up on Sal's" and positive comments as such. You never know what you got until it is gone and I believe that will happen in this situation. People will realize how great of an impact Sal's was. It brought people together not just to eat, but to communicate as a community should.

Response to "Power"- "The End of The Experiment"

Summary:
When so many more black teachers were hired in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, suspicions began to grow as 19 white teachers and administrators needed to be transfered. These teachers were white and Jewish, being replaced by black teachers. Tension grew as a result. A committee was then formed called the Special Committee on Racial and Religious Prejudice in order to ease the tension. This tension is ironic though. In the past Jews and Blacks used to get along together. This experiment may have helped students in the classroom, but it brought bigger problems between races in the community.

What was the goal of the experimental school district? The teachers’ union was initially supportive of

the district’s goals; how do you explain the escalation of the conflict?
The goal of the experimental school district was to foccus on the educational process that students of different races undergo in order to better it. According to Jordan's opinion, the students benefited as they were able connect to teachers of their own race. However tension began to grow amongst races in the communtiy- blacks and Jews. Blacks began to form an anti-white prejudice as a result of their being a lack of white teachers in the school, and education amonst black students improving. Their predjudice though when compared to the prejudice whites had for blacks was far less violent, yet still exists.

Response to "Power"- "Schools for the Community"

Summary:
New York City Officials allowed a small community in Ocean Hill-Brownsville to control their own scool district as an experiment. Rhody McCoy, a black school district superintendent, became head of the experiment. He was concerned about how we educate young ones in the world today. He believed that we need to focus more on the process rather than the product. Teachers should not get caught up with scores on tests and such, they should be foccussed on how the child learns and what he or she learns. A black girl who attended the school that this experiment was under, Karriema Jordan, described the effect of the changes that were made in the curriculum to focus more on that process to help better educate the black community. Ultimately she believed that with black teachers she was able to learn better because she could identify with them more easily than with white teachers.

What did the new environment offer Karriema Jordan?
The new environment offered a lot to Jordan. With the many new black teachers that were hired within the school Jordan said that she learned more. With white teachers she felt as though she could not relate, and that her teachers didn't understand. However, once more black teachers taught she felt as though she could connect to them more and that they were human just like she was. She was accepted into the school and felt less of an outsider. Therefore her emotional problems at school could be set aside as she learned. She learned about many black people in history which made her feel more important and look at things in a new way. Jordan believed that this small change in curriculum made a huge impact. It made her see the community on an international level as opposed to a small one. This gave her more hope and power which overall  could motivate her to do her best in school.

Beloved: Chapter 9 Response

In chapter 9 issues of memory, rememory, and the past are brought up. Memories of Sethe are positive in this chapter and remind her of those whom she loved, "In the Clearing, Sethe found Baby's old preaching rock and remembered the smell of leaves simmering in the sun, thunderous feet and the shouts that ripped pods off the limbs of the chesnuts. With Baby Suggs' heart in charge, the people let go" (111). Sethe is reminded of Baby Suggs powerful impact on the community back when people used to come around to 124. She recalled Baby's days of preaching and many people gathered around for the same reason, to share their beliefs and just "let go" of their troubles. Because of the community feeling that Baby Suggs created, Sethe "...got through the waiting for Halle" (111). This memory reminded Sethe that whatever was presently having a negative impact on her life, she could get through it, just how she got through missing Halle. Rememories are brought up in Sethe's life as well, "She knew Paul D was adding something to her life-- something she wanted to count on but was scared to. Now he had added more: new pictures and old rememories that broke her heart" (112). Even though Sethe had gotten over Halle before, deep down she was scared to move on. Sethe needed the support that her husband could have offered but since he disappeared, Paul D stepped in as Sethe's support. The question on her mind was whether she would be able to move on or not. Sethe was "scared" because she didn't want what happened to Halle to happen to Paul D. She looked at the past in order to make decisions about the future. In her heart, ..."Sethe wanted Paul D. No matter what he told and knew, she wanted him in her life. More than commemorating Halle, that is what she had come to the Clearing to figure out, and now it was figured." (116). Sethe went to the Clearing in order to live her past, but while she was there she experienced memories that could determine her future. She knew Paul D was the one for her, however because of her memories of Halle, she did not know if she could fully depend that Paul D could carry her through just like the community carried her through the waiting for Halle before. "It was figured" meaning that Sethe embraced her decision to move on. She knew that she could because she had before when Baby Suggs was around to bring the community in, therefore she had hope she could do it again.

Self-Reliance Response: Society

Emerson thinks, "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater" (21). He is saying that life is a company. People treat life just like work. In order to get ahead in work, you must make connections and agree with people even if you don't truly agree. Because society forces man to do this, man cannot form his own opinions. The society is pressured by the beliefs and opinions of others so cannot create its own. One has to give up his own liberties and culture to the "boss" in order to be promoted. You have to sacrafice your own opinions and agree with the "boss" so that you can be on friendly terms and recieve a raise or a promotion. This is how life is. People, without realizing it, agree with others so that they can build relationships and get ahead. Peope have gotten ahead in life so keep living this way. They are used to the same "bosses". They do not want to step up and be a leader because they want to rely on the "boss" to get ahead. In other words, they rely on society to get ahead. Instead of following others to get ahead, members of a society should, as Emerson suggests , "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string" (20). Members of a society should rely on themselves and build self confidence so that one day they will have the courage to lead and be their own boss. They should follow their heart to get ahead in life, not follow the opinions of others.

Quran Burning/ Remembering 9-11

I agree with Rauf in that peace needs to be met. In the country we live in, people should respect freedom of religion. By burning the Quran that Muslims use in prayer, Americans are showing disrespect not only for Muslims but for the Constitution as well. Iraq's top Shiite cleric described burning the Quran as an "expression of hatred". On 9-11 we as Americans should not be looked at as expressing hatred on such a significant day in history. We should be mourning those lost in 9-11and acknowledging those who risked their lives in order to save others. Just because Muslim terrorists destroyed the twin towers in New York, is not a reason to fill all other Muslims with hatred. We cannot just focus on the terrorists, we must focus on how this event may impact others. By burning the Quran, we are initiating more tension. Why would we do this when 9-11 has already brought enough tension into our country? We should not go along with the plan to build a mosque either in place of where 9-11 took place. This could potentially bring up more tensions and misunderstandings. Instead we should honor the fire fighters, policemen, and officers who risked their lives to save those captured in the event on that day. A monument for them should be placed there, not a mosque.

The American Crisis

Thomas Paine writes that "...God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish..." (AR 52). Under Great Britain's Laws, colonists were unsure if they should fight or if they should just expect mercy from the British and that everything would work out. I believe that Paine was saying it all came down to your religious beliefs. If you believed that God would save you, you probably would not concentrate on force. However if you did not believe or rely on your religion, you would count on conquering the British and building up force. No matter what your rank in society, your actions were a result of your religious beliefs in God. Even the emotions of the colonists at this time were completely dependent on their beliefs. If they believed that God would step in, they did not completely live in terror. On the other hand, if they did not have this belief, the colonists would constantly be living in fear and hoping that the British would act merciful towards them. I feel that Paine might be trying to get across the idea of equality with his speech. By bringing attention to God, colonists may think deeper into their values and beliefs. Therefore they may come across the idea that in God's eyes we are all equal. Paine connects slavery to British Laws in this same literature about God and I believe that this was to bring to attention the topic that we are all equal and should come together in this time of harship. African Americans, men, and women are all under the same boat. They were all under Great Britain, and in times of trouble people are more likely of coming togther as one.