I lay here among scattered clothes, hanging flags, taped pictures, loose papers, and so much more and try to sleep. I close my eyes and wait for the dreams to come. I do that and then, energy sweeps across me, and I start to think about one of the realities that has become a part of my life. I mentioned before how I stand here now at a crossroads in my life, and with every passing day here in Chicago, more and more roads seem to appear. The reality that sooner rather then later I will wake up and be graduating from college, looking into a world that seems endless. I have no idea what I want to do in my life, I really don't, I mean I am interested in law, I love the idea of me standing in a courtroom, love the idea of going to work every day and just loving what I do, going to work every day with passion and love that I bring to so many other aspects of my life. This program has been a long reflection, a reflection on my life, my past, present and future, and a reflection of who I am.
I know I haven't been good at keeping up on posting for this blog, so this is a new start, and I promise to those select few that may glance at this once in a while that I will start writing more, and start sharing the reflection and amazing experience that has been my time here in Chicago.
I mean it's almost half-way over!!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
One Day
This is a poem I wrote for an assignment in class. The assignment was to write a poem about Chicago using "artifacts" that we have collected from our experiences. By artifacts I mean phrases that we have heard, or observations that we have made during our time so far. I feel like it is stronger when read, but I hope you might enjoy it nonetheless.
I came to this city to learn,
I came to this city to experience,
I came to this city to see its brilliance,
I came to this city to be amazed,
I came to this city knowing nothing.
And so began the journey;
Of a young man,
Wanting,
Craving,
Longing to learn;
To Learn about the “city of neighborhoods” ,
The “windy city” ,
This bustling city,
The “Paris of the United States”,
“This is Chicago; this,
This is America” .
So what is this city?
“Is it a city of contention?”
A city with an unmatched skyline?
“A raised city?”
A utopian city?
Or is there a darker reality to it?
Is this reality filled with fear?
Fear of the police,
Fear of a name,
A name that has ruled this city for over forty years,
A name that never seems to go away,
Richard Daley,
Richard J. Daley,
Richard M. Daley,
It doesn’t matter,
For “Daley is King,”
And we,
“We are all victims” .
It doesn’t matter;
It doesn’t matter if were “black, white, yellow, or green” ,
We are all victims,
Victims of the reality of the city,
Victims of the violence,
The racism
The corruption,
Where does it end?
Yet, there is beauty in this city,
Beauty hidden in the darkness,
Shown in the green of the grass at Wrigley,
Shown in the fire in the heart of the many,
The fire in Marc Clements,
In Darryl Cannon, Ronnie Kitchen and Marvin Reeves.
The beauty in the water,
As far as the eyes can see,
An ocean of a lake.
There is beauty in the uniqueness of the modern buildings,
In a city “revolutionary in their architecture, ”
In the height of the “Sears tower, “
In a “Ferris wheel that stands 14 stories tall, ”
In the bustle of the city,
In the “superstitions” of cubs fans,
There is beauty in this “feudal state”,
Beauty that for moments,
Overshadows the darkness,
Overshadows the fear,
And for those moments,
The “Code of Silence” seems “Derailed,”
Its as if a “Dark Knight” descends,
And protects,
Protects the city from the “Bad Boys,”
The “Public Enemies” who are not “Wanted,”
For those moments,
The “Ordinary People,” are in a “League of their Own,”
And there is nothing Daley can do,
Nothing Jon Burge can force you to say,
For in those moments of beauty,
This is a utopian society,
This is a city filled with possibility,
Filled with hope,
“Because hope belongs in Chicago.”
I don’t know quite what to think about this city,
I mean there are these “flashes of hope,”
Yet they seem to be just that;
Flashes,
Which, like the flash of a camera,
Vanish in an instant,
And are once again replaced by the shadow,
The shadow of a family that rules this poor feudal state.
One might wonder how he did it,
How he “became the guy?”
In his own words,
“Well my dad was the mayor;”
It really is a kingdom
And Daley is King,
And we,
We are the victims,
But there is Hope,
For the King is stepping down,
He is stepping down from his throne and offering a chance,
A chance of renewal,
A chance of reform.
We are at a “crossroads,”
So what is to come next?
Is it a “century of progress,”
Or a century of the same?
I say “give the lady what she wants”
Give the city “ accountability, transparency, engagement, vision”
Give the city a protector,
Sometimes I ask myself,
“What if Batman was real?”
But then reality sits in.
We need a Harvey Dent,
A Harvey Dent pre-explosion,
Pre-Corruption;
A man who will stand for Justice,
A man with courage,
A man who will stray from the norm,
We don’t need a king,
We need a mayor.
We need someone who knows their place,
We want someone who will “fight for justice;”
Someone who will stand for what is right,
Someone who will see those flashes of hope,
See those moments of brilliance,
Someone who will “change the social order”
The social culture,
And create a new culture;
A culture of expectation,
A culture of opportunity,
A culture of reform.
We need someone to lead the way,
Because if another king arises from this madness,
It will be like “going through a door with no return,”
If we choose that door there will be no “rainbow city”
No “utopian society,”
Instead more of the same,
Leaders who “beg for forgiveness instead of ask for permission,”
Leaders who deny the freedoms that are supposed to be god given,
The freedoms people have fought so long for,
If we elect another king,
There will be no light at the end of the tunnel,
No justice,
Just a continued “division of power,”
A division made up of lords,
Who will always follow their king.
We must not fall back into the “relationships formed in our separate communities” ,
We must step forward as one,
Step forward as a city,
Step forward as one community,
“You have to want it,”
We have to want it.
But this can happen,
We must fight for that justice,
We must fight for that hope,
Because Chicago;
Chicago does deserve hope,
Chicago does deserve justice,
Chicago does deserve that freedom.
So we keep fighting,
We keep praying that one of our brothers and sisters,
That one of our community doesn’t end up in the “death seat,”
And repeat the vicious cycle;
The cycle of violence that has destroyed families,
That has destroyed communities,
And left them full of holes.
So we keep fighting,
We keep fighting because one day,
One day this culture will change,
One day this city will rise,
And Chicago will once again become a leading light in this country,
One day,
One day.
I came to this city to learn,
I came to this city to experience,
I came to this city to see its brilliance,
I came to this city to be amazed,
I came to this city knowing nothing.
And so began the journey;
Of a young man,
Wanting,
Craving,
Longing to learn;
To Learn about the “city of neighborhoods” ,
The “windy city” ,
This bustling city,
The “Paris of the United States”,
“This is Chicago; this,
This is America” .
So what is this city?
“Is it a city of contention?”
A city with an unmatched skyline?
“A raised city?”
A utopian city?
Or is there a darker reality to it?
Is this reality filled with fear?
Fear of the police,
Fear of a name,
A name that has ruled this city for over forty years,
A name that never seems to go away,
Richard Daley,
Richard J. Daley,
Richard M. Daley,
It doesn’t matter,
For “Daley is King,”
And we,
“We are all victims” .
It doesn’t matter;
It doesn’t matter if were “black, white, yellow, or green” ,
We are all victims,
Victims of the reality of the city,
Victims of the violence,
The racism
The corruption,
Where does it end?
Yet, there is beauty in this city,
Beauty hidden in the darkness,
Shown in the green of the grass at Wrigley,
Shown in the fire in the heart of the many,
The fire in Marc Clements,
In Darryl Cannon, Ronnie Kitchen and Marvin Reeves.
The beauty in the water,
As far as the eyes can see,
An ocean of a lake.
There is beauty in the uniqueness of the modern buildings,
In a city “revolutionary in their architecture, ”
In the height of the “Sears tower, “
In a “Ferris wheel that stands 14 stories tall, ”
In the bustle of the city,
In the “superstitions” of cubs fans,
There is beauty in this “feudal state”,
Beauty that for moments,
Overshadows the darkness,
Overshadows the fear,
And for those moments,
The “Code of Silence” seems “Derailed,”
Its as if a “Dark Knight” descends,
And protects,
Protects the city from the “Bad Boys,”
The “Public Enemies” who are not “Wanted,”
For those moments,
The “Ordinary People,” are in a “League of their Own,”
And there is nothing Daley can do,
Nothing Jon Burge can force you to say,
For in those moments of beauty,
This is a utopian society,
This is a city filled with possibility,
Filled with hope,
“Because hope belongs in Chicago.”
I don’t know quite what to think about this city,
I mean there are these “flashes of hope,”
Yet they seem to be just that;
Flashes,
Which, like the flash of a camera,
Vanish in an instant,
And are once again replaced by the shadow,
The shadow of a family that rules this poor feudal state.
One might wonder how he did it,
How he “became the guy?”
In his own words,
“Well my dad was the mayor;”
It really is a kingdom
And Daley is King,
And we,
We are the victims,
But there is Hope,
For the King is stepping down,
He is stepping down from his throne and offering a chance,
A chance of renewal,
A chance of reform.
We are at a “crossroads,”
So what is to come next?
Is it a “century of progress,”
Or a century of the same?
I say “give the lady what she wants”
Give the city “ accountability, transparency, engagement, vision”
Give the city a protector,
Sometimes I ask myself,
“What if Batman was real?”
But then reality sits in.
We need a Harvey Dent,
A Harvey Dent pre-explosion,
Pre-Corruption;
A man who will stand for Justice,
A man with courage,
A man who will stray from the norm,
We don’t need a king,
We need a mayor.
We need someone who knows their place,
We want someone who will “fight for justice;”
Someone who will stand for what is right,
Someone who will see those flashes of hope,
See those moments of brilliance,
Someone who will “change the social order”
The social culture,
And create a new culture;
A culture of expectation,
A culture of opportunity,
A culture of reform.
We need someone to lead the way,
Because if another king arises from this madness,
It will be like “going through a door with no return,”
If we choose that door there will be no “rainbow city”
No “utopian society,”
Instead more of the same,
Leaders who “beg for forgiveness instead of ask for permission,”
Leaders who deny the freedoms that are supposed to be god given,
The freedoms people have fought so long for,
If we elect another king,
There will be no light at the end of the tunnel,
No justice,
Just a continued “division of power,”
A division made up of lords,
Who will always follow their king.
We must not fall back into the “relationships formed in our separate communities” ,
We must step forward as one,
Step forward as a city,
Step forward as one community,
“You have to want it,”
We have to want it.
But this can happen,
We must fight for that justice,
We must fight for that hope,
Because Chicago;
Chicago does deserve hope,
Chicago does deserve justice,
Chicago does deserve that freedom.
So we keep fighting,
We keep praying that one of our brothers and sisters,
That one of our community doesn’t end up in the “death seat,”
And repeat the vicious cycle;
The cycle of violence that has destroyed families,
That has destroyed communities,
And left them full of holes.
So we keep fighting,
We keep fighting because one day,
One day this culture will change,
One day this city will rise,
And Chicago will once again become a leading light in this country,
One day,
One day.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
"You have to stand for something or you will fall for everything"
Very seldom in life is there a time when one feels truly inspried. When there is that moment when you know that a part of you has changed forever, and that you will think about the world and your life in a different way. Well I was fortunate enough to have one of those moments last night when attending a town meeting held by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Going into it I knew very little about the Jon Burge case, or the police tortures that went on in Chicago in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. For those who don't know much about it, Jon Burge became a police officer in the early 70's after her served in Vietnam. He would eventually work his way up to being the police chief. During that time, Burge along with other officers tortured over 110 individuals, using techniques such as shock therapy, suffocation, violence, etc in order to get false confessions. Many of this torture victims were found guilty solely based upon their flase confessions, and were sentenced to life w/o parole, or death row. The states attorneys office, the judges, and the rest of the legal system chose to ignore these victims when they said they were tortured, making them in many ways as guilty as Burge himself. If you are interested in the case and want to know more, you can find it at
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-police-torture-scandal-a-whos-who/Content?oid=1921098
So back to last night, the panel at the meeting was made up of four of the torture victims who have since been released from prison after 20-30 years in jail, two of whom were even on death row. They told us their stories, and how there are still 23 torture victims still on death row, and about how important this fight was. The eloquence they spoke with blew me away, and you could see in their eyes how hard it was to speak about what had happened. Yet here they were, because to them it was worth revisiting that pain, and those memories if it meant spreading the importance of the issue. These individuals are some of the bravest people I have met, and I left the meeting feeling just completely inspired.
After that I knew that I needed to do something soon, and so I believe now that my internship is going to either be working with these individuals, and helping with this cause, or working at the center for wrongful convictions at the Bluhm Clinic with northwestern. Either way I am just so excited that I had that moment where it clicked and I figured out what I wanted to do with this semester.
The four of them also talked about all the people who have been activists for the cause and they said something that stuck with me till this moment.
"These people gave us faces in the world outside of the classroom"
Anyways, without going on for to much longer, it was a experience that will last with me forever, and I encourage everyone to look into the cause and hopefully feel as inspired by it as I did.
Going into it I knew very little about the Jon Burge case, or the police tortures that went on in Chicago in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. For those who don't know much about it, Jon Burge became a police officer in the early 70's after her served in Vietnam. He would eventually work his way up to being the police chief. During that time, Burge along with other officers tortured over 110 individuals, using techniques such as shock therapy, suffocation, violence, etc in order to get false confessions. Many of this torture victims were found guilty solely based upon their flase confessions, and were sentenced to life w/o parole, or death row. The states attorneys office, the judges, and the rest of the legal system chose to ignore these victims when they said they were tortured, making them in many ways as guilty as Burge himself. If you are interested in the case and want to know more, you can find it at
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-police-torture-scandal-a-whos-who/Content?oid=1921098
So back to last night, the panel at the meeting was made up of four of the torture victims who have since been released from prison after 20-30 years in jail, two of whom were even on death row. They told us their stories, and how there are still 23 torture victims still on death row, and about how important this fight was. The eloquence they spoke with blew me away, and you could see in their eyes how hard it was to speak about what had happened. Yet here they were, because to them it was worth revisiting that pain, and those memories if it meant spreading the importance of the issue. These individuals are some of the bravest people I have met, and I left the meeting feeling just completely inspired.
After that I knew that I needed to do something soon, and so I believe now that my internship is going to either be working with these individuals, and helping with this cause, or working at the center for wrongful convictions at the Bluhm Clinic with northwestern. Either way I am just so excited that I had that moment where it clicked and I figured out what I wanted to do with this semester.
The four of them also talked about all the people who have been activists for the cause and they said something that stuck with me till this moment.
"These people gave us faces in the world outside of the classroom"
Anyways, without going on for to much longer, it was a experience that will last with me forever, and I encourage everyone to look into the cause and hopefully feel as inspired by it as I did.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The "In" Group
Who are the oppressors and who are the oppressed?
Today in class today, we were asked to look at the 7 major groups that are often talked about in terms of having an oppressor and oppressed, and asked to put on group as the "in" group, or group with most institutional power, and then list the out groups.
The 7 major groups were,
1.Race
2.Gender
3.Religion
4.Socio-Economic Class
5.Age
6.Sexual Orientation
7.Physical Ability
Now for the first two we almost instantly were able to say that the white male is a group that in the United States is the oppressor, and the "in" group, with access and opportunity to obtain this institutional power. Religion, we debated over two points, whether Judaism has access, and whether we can say Christian, or do we need to be more specific and say Protestant. However, after deciding on Christian, we moved on and quickly breezed through number 4, by admitting that the wealthy are the "in" group.
Then came number 5, one that for most people might be simple, or easy. Some might put down a huge age range as some people in our group suggested, by saying that 18-55 is the "in" group, and it was on this question where I found myself and our group in a stand still over an interesting question.
Do 18-25 year olds have institutional power?
I say no, I do not believe that people from the age 18-25 have power, and I believe this for a couple reasons. One is because, when I think about institutional power within the United States two things come to mind, Industry and Power. In both of these situation people below the age of 25 in my opinion have no power. We have limitations on age when it comes to politics, and when it comes to industry, it is a rarity to find someone under the age of 25 in real power.
However, my teacher made the point, 18 year olds, can vote, they can serve in the military, the can have access to education and to the roadways that lead to power and privilege. However, I don't believe that gives us any real power, because woman and people of color can also vote, they can serve in the military, etc. so if we are going to say they are in the "out" crowd then we cant include 18-25 year olds.
Another person brought up the fact that our generation has mastered the use of technology, giving us a voice in a public way that has never been seen before. We use social networking, and other technological tools to gain collective power, and have a strong voice and create change.
However, I believe that the access to the Internet has also has a negative affect on giving 18-25 year olds power. It is because anyone and everyone can have a voice in this forum that I believe at the same time that it gives power, it also limits it. I mean, who is to say that anyone on the Internet is more qualified then anyone else to say something. I mean for example, I am sitting here writing about this, but with what authority? What gives me any real qualification to say something on the Internet of meaning, the simple access to it? And so I continued to voice my opinion, that I believed the right age range for the in group is 25-50, a still large age range, but one which I believe is given great respect and credibility solely based on age. However, I also do find this particular category interesting, because it is the only in which a person will move in and out of the in group naturally, without having to change anything about oneself.
So there it is, the "in" group, the group which for a long time in this country has had complete access to power, and opportunity for success in all sorts of industry without going up against any real obstacles, but then again, I am just a person writing on the Internet, so what do I know?
1.White
2.Men
3.Christians
4.Wealthy
5.25-50
6.Straight
7.Able
Today in class today, we were asked to look at the 7 major groups that are often talked about in terms of having an oppressor and oppressed, and asked to put on group as the "in" group, or group with most institutional power, and then list the out groups.
The 7 major groups were,
1.Race
2.Gender
3.Religion
4.Socio-Economic Class
5.Age
6.Sexual Orientation
7.Physical Ability
Now for the first two we almost instantly were able to say that the white male is a group that in the United States is the oppressor, and the "in" group, with access and opportunity to obtain this institutional power. Religion, we debated over two points, whether Judaism has access, and whether we can say Christian, or do we need to be more specific and say Protestant. However, after deciding on Christian, we moved on and quickly breezed through number 4, by admitting that the wealthy are the "in" group.
Then came number 5, one that for most people might be simple, or easy. Some might put down a huge age range as some people in our group suggested, by saying that 18-55 is the "in" group, and it was on this question where I found myself and our group in a stand still over an interesting question.
Do 18-25 year olds have institutional power?
I say no, I do not believe that people from the age 18-25 have power, and I believe this for a couple reasons. One is because, when I think about institutional power within the United States two things come to mind, Industry and Power. In both of these situation people below the age of 25 in my opinion have no power. We have limitations on age when it comes to politics, and when it comes to industry, it is a rarity to find someone under the age of 25 in real power.
However, my teacher made the point, 18 year olds, can vote, they can serve in the military, the can have access to education and to the roadways that lead to power and privilege. However, I don't believe that gives us any real power, because woman and people of color can also vote, they can serve in the military, etc. so if we are going to say they are in the "out" crowd then we cant include 18-25 year olds.
Another person brought up the fact that our generation has mastered the use of technology, giving us a voice in a public way that has never been seen before. We use social networking, and other technological tools to gain collective power, and have a strong voice and create change.
However, I believe that the access to the Internet has also has a negative affect on giving 18-25 year olds power. It is because anyone and everyone can have a voice in this forum that I believe at the same time that it gives power, it also limits it. I mean, who is to say that anyone on the Internet is more qualified then anyone else to say something. I mean for example, I am sitting here writing about this, but with what authority? What gives me any real qualification to say something on the Internet of meaning, the simple access to it? And so I continued to voice my opinion, that I believed the right age range for the in group is 25-50, a still large age range, but one which I believe is given great respect and credibility solely based on age. However, I also do find this particular category interesting, because it is the only in which a person will move in and out of the in group naturally, without having to change anything about oneself.
So there it is, the "in" group, the group which for a long time in this country has had complete access to power, and opportunity for success in all sorts of industry without going up against any real obstacles, but then again, I am just a person writing on the Internet, so what do I know?
1.White
2.Men
3.Christians
4.Wealthy
5.25-50
6.Straight
7.Able
Sunday, September 5, 2010
A Weekend in the Windy City
So it is crazy to think about, but I have been here for a week already, and it has just flown by. During the week I helped the program set up the apartments, as well as things like folders for orientation, etc and met everyone in the office along the way. I also got to start to figure out how to get around, taking all different color trains and numbered buses, and started to figure out what I am supposed to do. The city is amazing, I keep describing it to people as the perfect blend between Boston and New York, with it being a little bigger then Boston, but not as overwhelming as New York. The people here are super nice, and everything is great so far. This weekend, my mom came and visited so I got to do a bunch of things that I probably wont be doing on a regular basis, such as go to Wrigley, eat out, etc. We also went to the Jazz festival which was amazing. The contemporary jazz stage was incredible, and I am definitely going to pursue some of the artist more after finding them there. Basically, it was a weekend to splurge and take advantage of having a parental unit here, and just relax. Oh and I got to stay at the luxurious Hard Rock Hotel, which was awesome, and completely relaxing. Overall it was an amazing weekend, and I thought I would provide some picture to all my avid readers and followers out there.
Monday, August 30, 2010
A New Beginning
Many people have asked the question recently; Why Chicago? Why did you choose to go to a program in the United States, when you could go to a program in exotic foreign countries such as Spain, Tanzania, Morocco, New Zealand, etc? In lots of ways I completely understand where these people are coming from, because when you think of college you think of studying abroad somewhere where you have always wanted to travel and having the time of your life. So as my first blog, I thought it would be interesting to tackle that question and really think about why I choose to do this program.
First and foremost I know that I will travel throughout my life. Whether it be to visit long lost friends from United World College, or simply to explore the rest of the world I know I will do it. I know this because it is something I am passionate about, and so even if it breaks the bank later in life I will make it happen. Not only that but I plan on taking at least 1 year and maybe more after college before applying to graduate school. I have decided this both because of the advice I have gotten from lots of people, but also because I now have been in school for 15 straight years, and it will be 17 when I graduate, and I feel like it will be time for a break.
The other aspect of it as well though is that I felt like I wanted to take part in a program that would help me figure out what next path I might want to take after I graduate from CC. I believe that this program will allow me to explore paths and opportunities that are to great to pass up, and that is the main reason why I decided to do it. I am fascinated by urban culture, and love the feeling of having lots going around me at all times. Not only that but I really want to get a real glimpse into a society that has developed tremendously in lots of way, and examine both how the political culture as well as the legal culture have influenced that in both positive and negative ways.
So there it is, the method to my madness, I hope this addresses the question and gives a little glimpse into my thought process on why I chose the journey I did for this semester.
And so to all my friends studying abroad in lots of different exciting countries, I hope you all have an amazing time, and when we meet again in the spring you will have to tell me all the exciting places I need to visit later in life!
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