Most recent public comments by Aiyana Shaw https://nowcomment.com/users/83626 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146438 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146438 This isn't even the half of it. There was more that was going on and it amazes me that I didn't learn any of this in history class. I didn't learn that people used to crowd around and watch people be burned alive. I didn't learn that white Americans used to skin black Americans alive. And even more... Wed, 21 Oct 2020 01:21:48 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146432 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146432 This is what was going on in Bigger's time. Not only this but in the "Lynchings in America" text that we were to read it talked about the same thing. Although it went more in-depth about how white people used to sell the dead remains. A black persons ear, foot, toe, even their skin. And still just like in Native Son white people fail to address the problem with what they were doing. They only viewed black people as wrong even if they were innocent Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:50:00 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146426 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146426 This is the same in Native Son because Bigger also went through racism ever since he was younger. Or having to hear people telling him that he was nothing his whole life. That he was a monster, black, an ape, a rapist, a killer, that his people were savages. Not only this but when he was smaller his father passed from a protest against racial inequalities. That was most likely hard for him especially because he lost his father to racial discrimination. In the book Bigger's lawyer is trying to reveal this fact when talking to the courtroom about why Bigger did why he did. And some counseling would have helped Bigger as there were treatments that could heal the brain from past traumas.But no one back then cared black Male mentality. If they did it only pertained to the fact that they were "rapists", "killers", "threats", and etc. Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:46:21 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146405 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146405 This is what inspires me to be a psychologist. People go through things and the only way to put them on the right track is by helping them not by making them feel crazy. Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:40:57 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146383 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146383 This video relates to Native Son because Bigger grew up poor. He was a high-school drop out, he lacked a steady job. He spent his early years of adulthood living in poverty. Which kind of gave him this bad frame of mind. Bigger went through toxic stress most likely growing up seeing as how he had to be the man of the house at an early age when his father died. Which left a negative affect on his future. Explaining why he always seemed to have a certain attitude about him. Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:30:32 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146381 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146381 I am glad that this video was made. It tells the truth about discrimination against young black males which is and has been a really big problem in the US. Being that I have a 13 year old brother about to go into middle school where there is a lot more exposure to certain things I fear for him. I fear for my father who has to go out sometimes and has been stopped by the police once before and racially profiled. Not only this but it's just a big problem in the US. Which is why I will push for change each and every day of my life for my race. I may have a son one day and a husband who have to face that. I see things like this day in and day out and it's scary to think that your own brother could be killed by someone who is supposed to protect him. Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:27:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146364 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146364 I was the same way for Bigger. He wasn't given a chance, the school system automatically dropped him. He had to leave school because he couldn't pay for it. He didn't have access to a good quality school, meaning he didn't even have a chance in college. Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:36:57 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146351 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146351 This explains why we people who go through trauma in certain shows that I have watched may grow up and become an alcoholic. Or a drug addict, it's because of their negative childhood experiences. Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:05:43 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146334 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146334 Just like said in this video in Native Son Bigger found a way to cope with his toxic stress by smoking, joining the gang, stealing, having sex, being mean around everyone. Just things to help him take the sting off of his life. Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:33:01 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146316 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2146316 I honestly already knew what this video was talking about. My father went through this. And so did my grandparents and their parents. It was like a train effect,and my father and uncles were able to make it out of poverty but it is not common for many people. Growing up in DC for both of my parents they explained to me that it was hard, which is why they teach me and my siblings to be appreciative of even the little things because sometimes my father didn't even get a meal, or a decent pair of clothes for a couple of months, or even a nice warm bed to sleep in. Mon, 19 Oct 2020 20:58:19 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2141139 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2141139 I personally do not agree with Mathis' views. Before the article even starts she claims that she doesn't imagine that "many black people would have embraced such a grotesque portrait of themselves". I don't think she fully interpreted Wright's purpose in what she calls a "grotesque portrait". I feel as though many people may feel similarly in this way. But if you think about everything that Bigger had went through in his lifetime you would see his purpose. Many called Bigger "wrong" for being so proud of killing Mary and Bessie, but I don't see it that way. He wasn't happy because he killed them, it is even stated in the text that he had a conscience and he felt remorse and bad about doing it, as one was accidental. The only reason why he felt so raised about it was because for the first time in his life he didn't have the fear of white people controlling him. He had actually gotten away with killing Mary for a certain period of time. He felt free from that lifelong burden that pushed him to believe he was nothing. He felt smart for the first time, he had this drive and so it's not that Wright was depicting Bigger as this monstrous character instead he was conveying just how much white superiority effected Bigger. It pushed him to where he talked about his own self, he believed that being black was bad all his life through his living conditions, his social class, his education. So when you have been controlled all your life by someone who can instantly get rid of you, in seconds flat, without hesitation, and no remorse, but instead of doing that leading you to be hopeless all your life and guiding you either to jail or your death, there is nothing else that you can feel but free. Sat, 17 Oct 2020 02:16:01 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2141133 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2141133 I am glad that I read this because it gives me a better understanding of how well Wright knew about black struggles. Which makes me realize why what he wrote was so intense, in-depth, reasonable, relatable, and real. It was all real, there was no covering up how certain things were said, so that other people were comfortable. No it told the cold-hard truth about how scary it was and still is for a black person living in America. Especially because of the fact that he was BLACK and a MAN in the 1930s where jim crow was still going on. When I learn about those times and see how things were I get really scared. I mean I have faced small simple, and minor acts of racial discrimination in the 16 years that I have been alive but that is nothing compared to what Wright, Bigger, and other black Americans faced in the 1930s. That forces me to understand their views, points, feelings, and actions in living during those times. Sat, 17 Oct 2020 01:58:57 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2141128 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2141128 I have seen this episode before now that I think about it. It really surprised me all over again how white people thought about black people. They really believed that they would bring down the property values on white houses. And the thing that is really messed up is that black Americans had no control over their income. They weren't given enough money even though they worked hard. And they were redlined over something that they couldn't even control. Which makes me think that this was how the stereotypes of how black people are "poor" started. The story that was told about how the man who set up the white realtor or landlord was really crazy. That just proves that this racial wealth gap is real and true and isn't just something black people made up for more money. Which often times in different situations it is the case where black people are seen as trying to be "superior" or are "racist" for wanting equality. Sat, 17 Oct 2020 01:39:46 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139074 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139074 It helps me understand that many black Americans have faced different experiences. The author of this article clearly has faced a different life than Wright. Wright grew up in the 1900's where segregation was still going on and it was harder back then than now which takes a toll on how bad black people felt during that time. This article was made in 2015, when times were a lot more easier and the stress of black people wasn't that bad. Segregation wasn't even going on in 2015. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:56:48 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139071 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139071 It relates in how it talks about Bigger's actions but while in this article she interprets the text one way, the book is made to be interpreted way differently. The book isn't trying to portray Bigger as this monstrous character rather the psychological effects of the world on a young black male. In the text the author feels Bigger isn't a good representation of Black life because he is monstrous. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:53:29 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139067 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139067 Well seeing as how this is someone's personal interpretation of "Native Son" it is based on opinion and not fact to I would say that it isn't credible. It's bias, and personally how this woman sees it. She wonders why Wright would make the character Bigger so inhumane. Was he right for it? But in other people's eyes he isn't. So I don't think this would be a credible source. It definitely makes me think, but everyone has different views. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:49:32 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139066 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139066 Grotesque portrait, Exaggeration Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:46:17 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139063 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139063 "Wright is a bleak ungenerous depiction of Black life", this makes me think. It shows me how some people view him which is ironic to how award winning his texts are. There must be a reason behind it. And does this therefore make his texts unreliable? Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:36:49 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139061 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139061 I would say that this may be credible. This is biography.com so further research would have to be done in order to view it's sources used. But it tells Wright's story so there wouldn't necessarily be any biases. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:33:30 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139057 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139057 It relates in which in this and in "Native Son" and "Black Boy" they all face racial discrimination. I wouldn't say that there are any differences because all of those characters were based off of Wright and his experiences. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:30:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139056 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139056 The fact that Wright was alive and actually living during Jim Crow. This makes me understand that he went through his own injustices. He even claimed that in him writing "Black Boy" it offered a "moving account of his childhood youth in the South". So everything in "Native Son" he really related to Bigger, he knew the pain. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:24:03 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139053 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139053 Single Mother, Education, Jim Crow South, Dreams Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:18:29 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139052 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139052 I plan to incorporate the two words, Roxie, Mississippi. This was a Southern State, and in the south racism was a still is a really big thing that occured. Meaning that Wright possibly faced his own racial inequalities especially because he was born in 1908. So in him writing his pieces of work he understood the struggle. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:16:22 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139051 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139051 I feel as though this would be credible source. It included not just black Americans but also white Americans who have been on the other side of things and still see the racial inequalities. Not only this, but the speakers were actually experts who talked about the US as a whole and not just people who live in one specific place. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:12:48 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139049 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139049 In both this video and "Ballad of the Landlord" by Langston Hughes,they share this idea of black Americans living in poor houses compared to white environments. They differ in while the poem describes how that put the character in jail,the video only talks about the wealth gap. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:10:32 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139044 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139044 Like said in my first response it made me realize why in "Native Son" black Americans stayed in one bedroom apartments with big families. In "Black Boy" it made me understand why the little boy and his family just couldn't move when she found that her son kept getting robbed. Instead she had to toughen him up. Another example is in "Ballad of the Landlord" by Langston Hughes, his white landlord didn't care that he lived in an apartment with a leaky roof, and broken stairs. Black Americans were placed in poor living conditions. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:06:01 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139027 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139027 The racial gap in wealth, unemployment, redlining,subprime loans, Fri, 16 Oct 2020 01:50:59 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139026 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139026 A phrase that I plan to incorporate into my discussions now is "Federally Enforced Segregation". This is when say for instance "redlining" was created and black Americans were excluded from certain living areas. That would be considered Federally Enforced Segregation as it was legal for this to happen and black Americans stayed in these positions for years. White Americans actually felt like Black people shouldn't move into houses in white areas because they felt as if they would bring down the property value. So black Americans were forced to live in poor living conditions. This explains to me why in "Native Son" so many families had to live in one-bedroom apartments and couldn't leave. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 01:47:47 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139025 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139025 Some potential biases are that all of the speakers are black. So because they are going through the struggle they are more than likely going to advocate for change regardless if the facts are wrong or right. The speakers' only credibility is that they live in that area. So they face the struggle, or see their people day in and day out going through the pain. It isn't seen from different perspectives. Therefore it may not be entirely correct as the whole-spectrum isn't seen it's instead very one-sided. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 01:38:34 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139023 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139023 It is different because times were different. In this video, everything is modernized while in "Native Son" and "Black Boy" those were during the 1930's. In the 1930's regardless of your schooling you still weren't going to be given a good position in the workforce. While in today's times you could partially get somewhere. But they are the same in which the housing segregation has a train affect in your life. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 01:35:12 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139018 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139018 I learned how the racial discrimination just within housing can have a large impact on black lives. It made me see in "Native Son" even further how hard Bigger's mother was struggling to keep everything together. To make sure that her children succeeded even though they had poor education. To make ends meet and provide for her three children even though she got paid very little. To keep her family alive while living in those poor conditions. For "Black Boy" it made me see even more why it was a must for the young boy to defend himself from the gangsters on the corner. It made me understand why they were on the corner other than just because they may have been hopeless. There was a reason behind it. So it really opened my eyes up to a variety of meanings behind the characters' actions. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 01:24:17 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139015 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139015 Redlining, redlining effects in schools,health,family wealth, and policing, Fair Housing Act of 1968 Fri, 16 Oct 2020 01:17:42 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139010 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2139010 Based off of what I have seen in the video I plan to incorporate specific words/phrases into my discussions. I plan on incorporating the phrase "Redlining". This is because this specific term plays a big role in why many black Americans in the texts like "Native Son" and "Black Boy" lived in poor homes, had rough neighborhoods, and had bad schools. Redlining started when the Home Owners Loan Corp. was created.This was an act ensuring that low-class Americans were not defaulting on their new mortgages from the National Housing Act (1934). Maps were drawn and they had four specific areas. These areas included green,blue,yellow, and red. If you lived in the red areas this meant that you had "detrimental influences" or that you were "hazardous".Meaning that you couldn't pay your mortgages, and most of the people that lived in these areas were either foreign-born, low-class whites, or negroes. Redlining made it difficult to buy homes or refinance. Based on these restrictions and conditions as time went on and "white people [were] moving to new suburbs that [were] popping up all over the country" black people [were] stuck. Not only this but some "covenants" didn't sell homes to black people and this was legal. So being this fact black Americans didn't have any chance of moving. The primary way that Americans pay for public schools is by paying property taxes. Meaning the more valuable your house, the better schools that you have. So if you are redlined and your house is not valuable you don't have good schools, therefore children only have access to little or no education at all. Just like in "Native Son", Bigger was not able to finish school because he couldn't pay for it. Which made him resort to doing the only thing that he could do to make money which was stealing. This is also shown in "Black Boy" when the young boy kept getting robbed by the gangsters that stayed on the streets by his house. Fri, 16 Oct 2020 01:11:28 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2136073 https://nowcomment.com/documents/235789?scroll_to=2136073 Thu, 15 Oct 2020 08:54:59 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/208004?scroll_to=1940382 https://nowcomment.com/documents/208004?scroll_to=1940382 This satisfies the parenting theme, this mother has to do whatever it takes for her to raise her black son to be fearless. Living in a society where black males are rapidly becoming an endangered species she has to take certain risks in order to teach her son things. This includes doing what he is asked without question, be scared of no man regardless of their level of authority, and to do whatever he needs to do to provide for himself and his family. Which then also moves to satisfy the theme of manhood. Wed, 22 Jul 2020 15:44:26 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/208004?scroll_to=1940381 https://nowcomment.com/documents/208004?scroll_to=1940381 The imagery here helps to convey how fearful he is for his life, how fearful he is of a butt whooping from both the gang and his mother. Which pushes him to overcome it and learn how to stand up for himself from here on out. Which is something that he is gonna need being that his father has left and both his brother and mother are dependent on him. Wed, 22 Jul 2020 15:45:24 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/208004?scroll_to=1940380 https://nowcomment.com/documents/208004?scroll_to=1940380 This is very true. But not only that, this also has a lot to do with the fact that this is a black family. During these times fathers had to be hard on their sons because the black man is always seen as a threat. So if he does not raise his son to be quiet, to keep his head down, or to only speak when spoken to he would be killed. Wed, 22 Jul 2020 15:25:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/208004?scroll_to=1940379 https://nowcomment.com/documents/208004?scroll_to=1940379 From what this boy is saying about his father always shouting out his restrictions at him, I can understand why. Being a black man at the time with a black son was dangerous for them because they were seen as a threat. So always being hard on your son and keeping them quiet was common because if the son were to open his mouth to, or even look at someone of the white race they were killed or beaten. Wed, 22 Jul 2020 15:20:57 -0400