Letter to Lauryn

In just the past few weeks I have become obssessed with Lauryn Hill's MTV Unplugged albulm. I listen to it religiously. Up until now I had never been so inspired by an artist, so for my final presentation in English class I decided to write a letter to Lauryn Hill.

Dear Lauryn,

I have no idea why it took me so long to listen to your albulm, but now that I have I am forever changed. Your songs spoke to me in ways I cannot even begin to explain. And every night before I close my eyes I think about what you said. It was just you, your voice, and your guitar. Nothing else was needed. I enjoyed yor simplicity. You told that things were not okay in our world today and that the time had come to rebel.  You wrote songs of spirituality that were not so religious that the point became unclear. You told me to find peace of mind even though the say its impossible. And you shed light on the lies that society tell. You advised me to get out of all the boxes that the system puts me and you reminded me to remember what is real. You stirred up a spirit of revolt in my soul Lauryn, but what I felt next was fear. I mean right after you sspoke this truth, they started shutting you down. But now I understand. I get why you left the game. It would be selfish of me to have asked you to stay. But I just wanted to let you know that I heard what you say and I will try my best to break the mold.

Jah Bless,
Keyera Lucas

Dear Oakland community,


I am a proud native to  the City of Oakland. Although I have gone to off to Howard in the District of Columbia, my heart still resides in Oakland, California, along with family and friends.  Lately it seems as if there has been a resurgence of violence among the youth in our community. My generation is crying out for help and it is time that Oakland listened.

In the time that has passed since I have been D.C, I have lost good friends to violence. I understand that violence is not a new issue and Oakland. It saddens me that we have continueed to let violence spread in our own community. The police are not adequate enough to handle this alone. Our community must take a stand against violence. According to the Oakland Police Department there have been 62 murders this year. 62.

I am making a call out to the citizens of the city of Oakland. We must fight hate with love. the love of our city. Thank you for reading my thoughts. i hope I inspire you to make change.

Sincerely,
Keyera Lucas

Self Assessment

Blogging has honestly been a struggle for me in this first part of the semester. My late start put me behind initially and I never was truly able to keep up. Another impairment was the deterioration of my laptop. I no longer had access to the Internet or even a computer to post my blog; and, my hectic schedule never permitted me to get any work at the iLab for Howard students. It literally has been one obstacle after a another. However, on another note, I think that I might become more accustomed to blogging after this class. It feels nice to let out my thoughts and opinions. Although many people may not read my blogs, I still feel has though I am leaving my imprint on the world.

My experiences in the English course overall has been better than my blogging experience. Although I have been struggling with buying all the books I need, I believe that I have become a valuable asset to the class. I always voice my thoughts and opinions. I have learned to become a more critical reader and I have also begun to connect specific topics to the issues of the larger world. I believe my writing will improve by the end of this course. I am excited to see how it will evolve. I plan on perfecting certain writing strategies like causal analysis and definition.

Plummeting Graduation Rates for Black Youth

It seems as if today, equal education opportunity for all races is not a priority in this country. It is all in the staistics. Most black youth live in under-privileged neighborhoods, which gets all to nothing when it comes to school funding. And a lack of resources generates an extremely low graduation rate. According to a new study of all the black male students who entered high school in 2003, only 47% graduated in 2008. This number is ridiculous. I believe that the government is deserting education in its totality and the poorer negiborhoods are suffering the most because the depend on the government. An educational reform is needed now. It this situation is not helped then more and more black males will go straight from the school system to the jail system.

Change Begins Internally

The improvement of race relations may be a strenuous process, but it is not impossible. The first step for us is to begin working on ourselves as African Americans. The plight of our race results from cycles of poverty and neglect from the government through the generations. As Barack Obama states in his “A More Perfect Union Speech”, “The lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us”. If our black youth had more access to parks and recreational facilities, so that they might be able to build positive relationships with other youth, then there would not be so many of them joining gangs in search of friendship. Obama also realizes that discrimination and segregation has brought misfortune for black people. He says “Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.” A lack of education for black people is a major reason why we cannot succeed as a whole. The way to keep a culture from advancing is to stop them from learning. This tactic has been used since slavery, and now in our supposed “post-racial” time, our race has lost its will to learn. There is a recurrent theme of hardship in the African American race, which has caused us to isolate ourselves from other. But we must realize that we are not the only race suffering from injustice in America. It is time for us to reconnect with other races, but it will be impossible for us to mend our relationships with other races unless we fix ourselves first. And once we overcome our issues, then it will not be as difficult to overcome our differences with other races.