A Month to Remember

          Today wrapped up the month of February, also known as Black History Month. After watching the interview with Morgan Freeman on CNN News, I completely agree with his opinions and beliefs. He made the point that Black History should not be narrowed down just to one month; it should be studied year round. Practically every single school around has a history class, and for a good majority of the class, only white history is studied. When black history is studied, it is only for a short period of time, and the stories are often watered down to what the writers want us to see. Personally, I believe that black culture should be studied more often in schools so students gain a more diverse mind and opinions of the world.

          When famous people are thought of by most people nowadays, the most common answer will be a white man such as George Washington or Stephen Curry. African American people who have made great strides for humanity are often forgotten, or their stories are messed up. Specifically, men like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are often seen as peaceful black rights leaders. However, what many people are not told is how these protests were actually put into action. Dr. King often instigated the white men around him to do bad things so the African American's would look like the good guys. He is just one of the famous black men who have done things for society, but many other figures are often forgotten for what they did.
          Men like Mahatma Gandhi are often not known by the majority of today's society because they are just not talked about. He was able to lead India into independence from Great Britain and also inspire other independence and civil rights movements across the world. Overall, black culture needs to be studied more often in schools, so people can learn of the great African American's who influenced the world we live in today.

Black History Curriculum?

Opinions regarding black history month and the value of learning of other cultures varies. Black history month celebrates all the accomplishments the black community has made and is vital to creating a better future. As time goes on, people are given equal laws and regulations. Black people are finally being treated fairly and equally. I believe that there should not be separation between races, skin colors, etc. Humans need to get past skin color in order to see the human being that withholds the body. As generations go on, children and youth should be taught to be accepting and fair to everybody and anybody.

Rosa Parks was an African American woman who wanted to sit in the front of the bus which was supposedly the "white" section. After not moving for a white man, she was arrested and put in prison.

Why does one race have to be superior to the other?

What advantage will that really bring?

Black history month should be part of the learning curriculum because it is a part of history, too. Children should be proud because living on earth will not be fun if everyone looked the same and acted the same. I am proud to have friends of every race, skin color, hair color, etc. I would not trade them for anything because I could have not met better people. Cultures should not be contained; they should be cherished and proudly spoken of.

When will the whole world learn all human beings are similar?

When will everybody learn best friends are more important than the color of their skin?

Freedom after Hell

My Dreams, My Works, Must Wait Till After Hell by Gwendolyn Brooks

1 I hold my honey and I store my bread

2 In little jars and cabinets of my will.

3 I label clearly, and each latch and lid

4 I bid, Be firm till I return from hell.

5 I am very hungry. I am incomplete.

6 And none can give me any word but Wait,

7 The puny light. I keep my eyes pointed in;

8 Hoping that, when the devil days of my hurt

9 Drag out to their last dregs and I resume

10 On such legs as are left me, in such heart

11 As I can manage, remember to go home,

12 My taste will not have turned insensitive

13 To honey and bread old purity could love.

Gwendolyn Brooks is a famous black poet most known for being the first black person to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. She passionately wrote about the civil right issues of the time and became a much known figure. She was also poetry consultant to the Library of Congress; the first black woman to hold that position

This poem discusses the speaker's longing for freedom. The speaker is in a personal hell. The honey and bread are both metaphors for spiritual sustenance, the strength to continue persevering through ‘hell’. The speaker takes their hopes and dreams, sequestering them away in a far off corner of their find until such a time when the speaker can return from hell. The speaker ‘hungers’ and yearns to let their feelings free. These feelings are kept locked up, waiting until the perceived time is right, as shown in line 6. The ‘puny light’ in line 7 shows how the speaker is waiting on an unreliable source. The light may flicker or die. The speaker then continues to say that when their ‘hell’ and struggle is finally over, they hope that they will still be able to appreciate freedom and content. In line 12 the speaker says that they hope their ‘taste’, referring to their longing, has not turned insensitive. For if this had happened, there would have been no point in waiting so patiently for the right time to release these feelings.

History of Black History Month

       Black History Month was first officially recognized in 1926 when the Association for the Study of African American Life and History sponsored a National Negro History Week in February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas. It was the brainchild of black historian, Carter G. Woodson, and was organized in order to celebrate and display all that black culture had to offer. During the Civil Rights Movement, the holiday grew to encompass a whole month in recognition of African American Culture. However, at this point it was celebrated unofficially at many college campuses and various schools. It was made a national holiday by President Ford in 1976 and since then it has been recognized by every American president.

       Despite its status as a national holiday, many Americans are still oblivious to most of the achievements of African Americans. I myself only recently discovered the work of black poets such as Maya Angelou and Gwendolyn Brooks. This is partly because black culture is not fully encompassed in the curriculum of American schools. Only the parts that relate to white history are included; we learn about slavery and the civil rights movements, but because it is also important to white culture and history. I did not know about the Harlem renaissance until middle school, whereas we were taught about the Renaissance in Italy in elementary school. Both had exceptional innovations and none of them deserve to be belittled in history. This further proves the need for a Black History Month, but it also shows that maybe there is more that could be done for black equality.

Who Defines What Humanity Is?

On page 49, a significant question is raised: "Who is anybody?"  This has so many so many possible interpretations. One interpretation involves the simple yet complicated question, "What is the meaning of life?" Depending on who one asks, each response is different. The subjective qualities of the meaning of life makes it a difficult question to answer. It can be argued that asking the identity of anyone is even more meaningful.  Many people in the Road are violent and would be considered in humane by the reader. In a post-apocalyptic society such as the one of The Road, where almost no one is "humane" by our society's definition, who is to judge what a human is? There is no more "humanity" as people know it. That might be why the violence in the novel is so normal to the characters. The man and others traveling the Road may be horrified,  but are clinging to their humanity. It is doubtful that they would inflict judgement upon the violent people; they probably only acknowledge that the violence exists and acknowledge the threat the violence poses to their survival. If there are no characters to inflict their judgement on the violence, is there a point to deeming whether the violence is unjustified or justified?
                 If people actually went through an apocalypse, our definition of humanity would change, and nobody should be judged for what extremes they would go to in order to survive. In different ways,  everybody is trying to survive in The Road, but the reader judges the characters by his or her standards. The reader makes a definition for humanity, inflicting his or her judgement on the characters. But if there weren't people in our society to define what makes a person "humane", there would be no point in judgement. That is what makes something subjective. One might argue that the wife's suicide is inhumane, yet another may say that she is more in touch with her emotions than any other character introduced so far.
          The author uses the narrator to ask these questions, which in itself is significant. The narrator is depicting the lives of the characters to the reader. The reader knows the story through the narrator's perceptions. Even the narrator questions what "humanity" is, proving one of the main themes of the novel so far: hopelessness. But does not having hope make one inhumane? Maybe clinging to whatever trace of hope one has is a natural human quality. Do the violent people lack hope? Is that why they survive in the way that they do? Again, all of these questions' answers would vary depending on who one asks. Such is the value of perception. That is how the novel contradicts itself. When there are no "humane" people to make judgements, does their depiction of life really matter? Are they so out of touch with their "humanity" that they cease to become human? How can a narrator tell a story when he or she him or herself may not even be a "human", as our society defines one?

Trust No One

In the novel, the boy and the man are continuing walking on the road when they notice a set of tracks in the road.  In The Road it states, “He squatted and studied them.  Someone had come out of the woods in the night and continued down the melted roadway.  Who is it? said the boy.  I dont know.  Who is anybody?” (McCarthy 49).  They continue to follow him when the father realizes that the man was struck by lightning.  The boy wants to help the man but the father says there is nothing they can do for him.  This is important for the boy to understand because no one can be trusted.  If the father dies before the boy, he must know not to trust anyone.  Also, the father and son are trying to survive with barely any food and materials so an ill person will only slow them down.  I also believe the boy wants to help the man because if he is struck by lightning or sick he will want someone to help him.  He does not like the idea of every man for himself.

The statement, “Who is anybody?” raises a lot of questions.  In this world, there may not be an “anybody” much longer.  Soon everyone may either be dead or one of the blood cults.  Each time the boy and the father come across a house or town they have no idea who is living in it.  This question is hard to answer when you do not know what other beings or life forms there are in the world.  So when the boy asks his father, he cannot give an answer because he does not know who or what they will encounter next.

Jacknifed Tractor-Trailer

While heading south, the father and son come across a tractor trailer that is jackknifed in the center of the bridge, blocking the road. The trailer "was jammed against the railing of the bridge and the trailer had sheared forward off the top plate and jammed up against the back of the cab" (McCartney 44).
This tractor trailer seems to have been in its current position for several years. It is clear that at one point there was a driver in this vehicle who lived in it for a period of time, yet now he/she is nowhere to be seen. Where did the driver go? Is it possible that he was killed? Did he jump off the bridge to his death because he had nothing left to live for? It is impossible to tell. Other questions that come to mind are: how did the trailer get into this position, and why are there dead bodies in the back? It seems that something very shocking or threatening caused the driver to jackknife his vehicle.  It could have been an earthquake, a group of bandits, or even just bad weather that could have caused the wheels to spin out of control. However, the driver could be sending a message. Blocking the road might be the driver's way of warning people not to carry on in that direction. Lastly, I believe that the bodies in the back were people being transported. In this broken world violence is commonplace. It seems that the driver was trying to protect the people inside. When the driver was removed, the people, unable to get out, suffocated and died. This seems logical because it is unlikely that the driver would be able to capture all of these people and hold them hostage to eat them.

Lightening Strikes a Decision

In the book The Road I found it interesting when the man and boy came across an individual being struck by lightening. When the father and son saw the man being struck, the father and son did not try to help the struggling man.  This particular event proposed many questions to me. The father must have had specific intentions in his choice of not wanting to help this man being struck by lightening. On page 49 the text states, "Can't we help him? Papa? No. We can’t help him... Can’t we help him Papa? No. We can’t help him. There's nothing to be done for him"(McCarthy 49). This quote stuck out to me compared to the rest. I was surprised after reading this that the father did not try to help the man being struck. Being that the father is potentially sick, I thought he would have more of a heart to helping the other people around him. Especially in their case where there are not any other humans around them on the road.

One reason that the father did not want to help the man is that he wanted to teach his son about trust. On the journey that they are on, trusting an individual could be the matters between life and death. The father wants to make sure the boy understands not to put anyone else's needs before his own. The father is trying to prepare his son to live on his own after he passes away. The father seems knowledgeable and very set on his decision to not help the struggling man. The other potential reason the father did not want to help the man is because he did not want to risk another individual replacing his status with his son. Maybe the father knows he is soon going to pass away and that if he helped the individual being struck then he would have stuck around and grown close to his son. Maybe the father did not want to risk another man taking his spot after he passes. 

Lesson of Trust

     While reading The Road one of the more preeminent events was the boys first swim lesson. This was a true time of bonding between the two of them. This moment was small but significant. It acted as a huge mood enlightener for both the boy and the father. In a world where there is no reason to live and struggle is a constant reality it is a necessity for an occasional fun or enjoyable moment. It is also important to have these kind of moments in a world with no hope or definite future. In the long run either the dad or son will die and the one who survives will have this moment to relish. This is an example of true reality of an apocalypse. Today every TV show or movie glorifies the end of the world. Somehow the hero has just enough bullets to kill the zombies attacking him or her. The Road brings a sad but real aspect to the end of the world. The swim lesson is just an example that times have to be cherished, especially in the end of the world scenario.

 

    

      This event was not simply a mood enlightener or satire. It also establishes the idea of trust. The boy and the father have conversations that sound as if they are foreign to each other, "Is it cold? Yes. It's freezing. Do you want to go in? I don't Know. Sure you do. Is it okay? Come on."(McCarthy 33). Their conversations seem so quick and elementary. The swim lesson allowed for a bond of trust to be created. The creation of this trust is truly important because it allows for a stronger relationship. The book does not provide much in the case of a back story, this means we don't know the type of ties that the boy and father have. This lesson may have been one of the first times the father truly shows the boy he can trust him and that he will be there for him and protect him. This is also important because in an apocalyptic world you need someone you can trust.

   Do you have someone you trust in the case of an apocalypse or in a doomsday scenario?

   How would you feel in a end of the world scenario?

The Mysterious Tractor-Trailer

In this weeks reading of The Road, the man and the boy come across a tractor-trailer on a bridge. This tractor is blocking their journey south. It seems as the tractor had been there for years. Does this mean no one else had taken this bridge considering its blocking the entire span of the passageway? The two sleep the night in the truck, not realizing what is embedded inside. Dried and shrunken human bodies rotting in this abandoned tractor. What happened to these people? What caused their death?

 This truck may have been a form of shelter that was used as a safe-house from the treacherous conditions of the disaster that wiped everything out. It may have seemed better to stay and die inside the tractor than to go out into the open air. Was it because the air was full of radiation or some other type of harmful toxin that they stayed inside the truck instead of leaving? Another possibility is that the large truck was used to store bodies. Was someone bringing dead bodies to this tractor, so they could dry and be eaten at a later time? Is there even anyone left in the U.S or the planet Earth? Is this truck a dangerous place to be at for the man and the boy? What significance does this tractor-trailer have to the story?

This mysterious tractor rises many questions about what actually happened to the world before everyone disappeared and everything died.