45th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Thinking back to Bloody Sunday we see how racism and discrimination was so vivid only 45 years ago. The fact that such violent discrimination took place less than 50 years ago sends chills up my spine. Knowing that my grandma, my mom, and my aunt had to endure such discrimination which was especially strong because they grew up in the south, makes me look at them which so much respect because even though white people abused them they don't generalize and dislike all white people. I know this can be hard for some people but now we black Americans aren't letting our traumatizing past haunt us anymore; we're now trying to move forward.
People think that we've come so far because we have a black president, but if Obama was really dark skinned it probably would be even harder for some white people to respect his authority. Some white may not like the feeling that some that is a minority and supposedly "beneath" them is now above them and they must answer to them.
We've took some pretty big steps, but we have a long way to go.

From Mouth to Pen

From mouth to pen,
Pouring onto the page like water.

Nouns, calling out to you,
Screaming fir your attention.

Verbs, running towards you,
Trying to grab onto you.

Adjectives, trying to describe the way I feel,
Hoping to make you interested to stay.

From mouth to pen,
Pouring onto the page like water,
For I can not say these words to you.

I try and try but you never give me a chance to speak.
You shove your words down my throat,
And as I begin to choke,
You never know what I was trying to say.

So I write it down...
From mouth to pen,

"I love you"

Is SOTA Achieving Their Mission?

School of the Arts mission motto-
OUR MISSION IS STUDENT SUCCESS... ACADEMIC, ARTISTIC, AND HUMANISTIC.

Has School of the Arts achieved these mission? Well I think that we are more academically successful than a great majority of other city schools. We definitely have an artistic advantage because we are an art school. Our art is an actual grade and something that could actually hold you back from graduating which is definitely not like other schools where an art or music class is just an extracurricular class or an elective; but does SOTA achieve humanistic success? I think not.
Humanism is when different aspects of humans, such as interests and values, are looked as the center of life. But a lot of students at SOTA don't respect this idea. Students here at SOTA don't respect others because they do not fit into the norm and at an art there are a lot of people who look different because they are so creative and they incorporate these "unique" ideas into their appearance. Students also have to learn how to repsect other's beliefs and try not to belittle someone's faith. Another essential thing that SOTA students (and even some teachers) need to respect because it is ever so evident at here is homosexuality. It's something we cant run from because its every around every corner. So when we learn to accept these difference we may be a school who actually fulfills our mission motto.

What Does a Teenager Spend Money On?

Have you ever gotten back from the mall and noticed you didn't have that many bags but your wallet was completely empty? What could you have possibly spent your money on? Well if you're a teenager it probably was a lot of unnecessary things that you didn't realize at the time of your purchase.
As a teen myself I know that money seems to go pretty fast. About 20%-40% lot of it goes to junk food such as chips, soda, snack cakes, and loads of greasy food. With are fast metabolisms we don't pay attention to the damage we're causing inside because it never show...except for the excessive breakouts on our faces from time to time.
But some of our purchases differ depending on your sex. Guys usually spend their money on video games, a few nice fitted's and sneaks to upgrade their gear every now and again, and unfortunately nowadays a lot of our guys are spending a large percent of their money on acquiring "illegal substances".
Our ladies on the other hand spend a lot of money on all the latest clothes, accessories, and make up (enough to hide any blemish we could possibly receive.) We have to pay to get our hair done, nails occasionally, and just keep our appearance up at any cost. A hard task but something we try our best to accomplish.
So the next time you try to think of all the things you waste your money look at yourself in the mirror...there goes 45%. Think of what you ate today...another 40%. And then finally think about that "special gift" you brought yourself that made you increase your normal junk food percentile by an extra 10%...there goes the final 5%-15%.

Are teens sexual activities really that surprising?

It seems that now children are a lot more “informed” about inappropriate things way earlier then we all assume. Parents of teenagers seem to be surprised that their children are having sex but what they didn’t know is that we teens have been fully exposed to most aspects of sex since elementary school. Surprising fact isn’t?
I attended a charter school so it was suppose to be one of the “better” public schools but this is where all my hardcore sexual education came from. When I was in first grade I learned about kissing and found out this new thing called “French kissing”. In second grade I saw some of my classmates perform this act on the bus. Now that I think back on it I’m sure that it wasn’t performed correctly but still a seven or eight year old’s tongue should be licking the cream off an Oreo not caressing another child’s tongue.
When I was in third grade I found out that having sex was way more than just lying naked with a guy and humping each other. Most parents would be surprised that any child under ten was that close, but I learned that it actually involved a guy entering a certain "shaft" into a woman. Thankfully this image made me squeamish so my mother had nothing to worry about. So many parents are surprised that their teens are having sex but they knew about it like 8 years prior to them actually performing the activity so many teens have “held out” for quite some time.
I remember in the fifth grade my school sent out a letter saying that people on my bus were acting inappropriately and they encouraged our parents to talk to us about sex and things associated with that. People on my bus were playing spin the bottle in the back of the bus, where I sat at as well because that’s where we “upperclassmen” sat. Well our spin the bottle wasn’t just a simple kiss, it included lap dances, flashes, 7 minutes I heaven, and things along that line but if you didn’t want to do any of those things you could play “rock, papers, scissors, shoot” and opt out for a handshake or a hug if you won. The surprising thing about this that caught our principals attention was that kids in first grade were playing this game as well, and they never opted out for the more “friendlier” gestures.
After about a month of playing this game the little kids talked about it in class and gave out everyone’s name who played. Of course I got pulled out and surprisingly I was the one that a lot of the older kids balmed even though I was a good student and most teacher’s favorite. I felt betrayed that people would say that about me and I could tell that some teachers believed them but me and my friend Amber never played, we just watched. But that didn’t stop my second grade teacher from calling me a whore.
Just because some teen, including me, may be highly educated in sex by the streets doesn’t mean they’re all participating in such acts. I’m 15 and I’m still a virgin and that’s something I’m very proud to say. Another thing I can add to my list that makes me a unique teen.

Conformity

"Our desire to conform is greater than our respect for objective facts." -Margaret Drabble

Conformity is when people allow their actions to be influenced by others so in other words conformity is just a sophisticated way of saying "peer pressure." Conformity effects people of all ages. It allows us to follow the social standards set by society. What Drabble is trying to say about conformity is that since people try so hard to blend in with others we ignore obvious facts that go against something believed by the majority of society. Conformity is a trait that we probably don't know we have, but we can't help but continue using it. it's just like they say, when in Rome do as the Romans do.

Tom Tancredo wants to bring back the literacy tests!!

I can't believe that Tom Tancredo suggested that literacy test should be brought back. This is utterly ridiculous because why would we bring back something that people gave their lives to end? Do you know how much we would backslide if we reverted back to this racial discrimination? It seems that a lot of hiding rasicts are now coming out with the election of Obama. There seemed to be less public racial ideas while a white man was in the office but now that a Black man has stepped in people begin to feel inferior because someone who once was "below them" is now above them and they must answer to him. Obama did receive a lot of votes from the Black communtity because they saw that one of their own had a chance to become president and they what they could to improve his chance of winning. but saying that if a literacy test was given to gain the right to vote many Obama wouldn't have been elected president is basically saying that he believes minorities shouldn't be given the right to vote. If we are Americans citizens we should be given the right to vote without question. Its our right and it shouldn't be taken away because of our race, religion or any other differences we may have,