As the Keystone Project comes up, I know that I want to have a moral to the story. Many people do their Keystone Project just because they need to finish it. I want my Keystone Project to mean something. Not only to mean something to me, but to the people that see it. I want to inspire the people who see my project. I want to inspire them so much that they go out and do something to change the outcome. Whether it be for my topic or a topic of their choice, I want to spark their interest so that instead of accepting what is going on, they can question what is going on.

For my Keystone Project, I want to open my viewers eyes to what is really going on in the world. I feel that we know what is going on and we see some evidence, but it really does not go anywhere. We tend to forget it or feel like our voice cannot be heard.

For my project, I want to achieve people actually going out and making a difference. Living in an urban area, I feel that there is not as much diversity as their should be. People claim that New York is “one of the most diverse places in the world” or that it is the “melting pot.” Unfortunately, stereotypes and racism occurs which impedes diversity from actually happen.

Through project I hope not only to achieve awareness for the topic that I am doing, but to also inspire people to do a project that would help them inspire other people as well.

For the second part of my partner responses, my partner gave me ideas that I could pursue in the future as well as including it in my Keystone Project. I feel that I should look into psychology because I believe that I can include it into my Keystone Project. If I want to do my project on a social issue, learning some basic psychology 101 would be helpful for me to do my project.

“For example: you could study various conflicts hich minorities face as an unfortunate part of reality (i.e what effects does “living in th hood” have vs. living in a suburban area have upon an individual, their education metal state, outlook on life etc).”

Her example has given me examples for doing my project. I have many ideas to for my Keystone Project that I might not know what to do for it.

“…it seems like you are interested in a universal “peace” and a level of understanding and acceptance to be unveiled amongst all ethnic groups.”

When I was reading my partner’s reponse to my blog, I was thinkin the same exact way that she was. I felt that I wanted tofo a topic that related to me in a personal way but that can also benefit the community around me.

“From here, I would suggest that you research/continue to research the treatment of miniorities throughout society because this seems to be a topic which greatly intrigues you.”

The feedback that I got from my partner helped me out a lot. She gave me ideas on how I would able to approach my Keystone Project. I found her suggestions helpful and informative and I will look into her suggestions. I will look into these suggestions when I am working on my Keystone Project.

Everyone has a weakness. For Achilles it was his heel. For me, it was seeing an old mentally challenged blind man singing to himself on the train. I was not sad that he was singing or because he was blind and mentally challenged. I was sad because he was alone. He seemed to be having the time of his life when he sang. He was loud and everyone stared at him (which is nothing new on the 6 train in Manhattan). He was air drumming and I could not make out the words he was saying. It was more like gibberish than actual words.

The people sitting next to him watched in horror as he was singing. As they got off, two other girls got on the train. They were the typical New York girls who were scared to sit next to someone that was not like them. One girl made sure that she was not close to him and the other squeezed herself between me and some other passenger.

When the guy was singing, the last thought on my brain was to laugh. Unfortunately, he did something that would make me laugh. I was not laughing at him. I was laughing at the girl who tried to sit far away from him. As he was singing, he got so into the song that he picked up his cane as if he was going to hit somebody with it. The girl jumped so high, that I could not help but laugh. The man only wanted attention, even if it was from strangers.

The guy would stop singing for a couple of minutes and then start again singing louder. The two girls had already gotten off the train. The train was relatively empty because it was only 2:10 in the afternoon and the train was past 96st street.

On the opposite side of the man, there was this kid sitting down. The blind man got so into his song, he accidently hit the kid. A man who worked for the MTA told the man that he could sing as loud as he wants but he could not hit the passengers. The man apologized and then stopped singing. After that, the man did not sing again. He was sad that he did something wrong. Instead of helping the man, the MTA worker laughed at him.

While he felt bad for what he did, his words actually made me sad. He kept repeating the phrases, “nobody listens to me”, “Why is no one listening to me?”, “nobody cares about me”, “I am all alone” and other phrases that made me feel bad for him. I could not understand how someone could just leave this man alone. Yes, he was loud and yes he has mental problems but he still deserves some type of companionship.

As I got off the train, I wondered about what would happen to this man. Would he be able to get home ok? Since I am in my senior year of high school, it also made me look at possible majors that I would want to take up. This man made me realize that he must not be the only person out there who is like him. There must be people who do not have a person that would listen to them. If there were someone to listen to them, maybe they would not feel so lonely.

As I watched him, I thought about my sister. My sister has this weakness with mentally challenged people. When we were on a cruise a couple of years back, there was this teen bash. There was this group of kids who thought they ran the show. No one was dancing except this mentally challenged kid. The other group was laughing at him because he was not actually dancing. My sister wanted to cry because of his condition but she also wanted to punch the kids for making fun of him. While I felt bad for him, I knew that he was not stuck on his condition because he was the only one having fun.

My weakness is homeless people. I have met some homeless people that have touched my heart. However, this man made me realize how cruel the world is. Since he did not fit the norm, people were staring in disgust or they were laughing at him.

Seeing this man was a revelation to me. It made me wonder, that maybe I can help people out and make a difference even if it small.

I want my Keystone Project to have a solution to the problem that I am working on. I want my project to show how justice plays a part in my topic. I think that I want to focus more on education and how that branches out into other smaller topics.

I noticed that all my blogs had to deal with problems that minorities face. There seems to be no justice or that when justice comes, it comes too late. I would also like to focus on how other racial groups get more preference than minority groups.

I think that the best way to showcase my topic is by a documentary. I could use video clips from news stations and personal videos from youtube. Interviews with random people could also be a part of my project.

I do not know what my topic would be exactly, but I do know that I want my viewers to want to change the problem.

 A lot of the abuse cases are related to women or children. In a household where a child is being abused, the father is usually is the abuser and the mother is usually watching the kid being abused but not doing anything to stop it.  The most famous physical abuse released to the public was in 2006 when the world became aware of Nizxmary Brown. She was a seven-year-old girl abused by her stepfather and her mother. Unfortunately, ACS came to late, and she died from excessive beating since her stepfather slammed her head against the bath tub that had cold water in it.

Nixzmary Brown

The good news is that after her death, the government has been working hard so that other kids would not go through the same thing as Nixzmary. If only the government worked earlier to help Nixzmary out. The NY Daily News posted an article recently about the bill that they want to pass that makes abuse laws more strict than before.

Nixzmary Brown bill targets child abuse

BY Glenn Blain
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU

Saturday, September 12th 2009, 4:00 AM

ALBANY – Legislation that could stop children from suffering the same fate as Brooklyn‘s Nixzmary Brown is headed to Gov. Paterson‘s desk.

The bill, overwhelmingly approved by the state Senate during a late-night session Thursday, makes those who have killed a child in an “especially cruel and wanton manor” eligible for life sentences without parole.

“We have to send a message that this kind of abuse of children has to stop,” said Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx), who sponsored the bill.

Brown was only 7 on Jan. 11, 2006, when she was beaten to death by her stepdad for swiping yogurt from the fridge.

Brown’s mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, was sentenced to 43 years in jail after ignoring her daughter’s plea for help. Stepdad Cesar Rodriguez received a 29-year sentence.

Investigations revealed Nixzmary endured months of torture and starvation and was kept out of school for weeks on end.

The killing led to a shakeup of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services.

In other action, the Senate passed a bill strengthening penalties against protesters who injure patients, staff and volunteers at reproductive health clinics.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/09/12/2009-09-12_nixzmary_brown_bill_targets_child_abuse.html?print=1&page=all#ixzz0TJFA3hAY

I think that this bill would be the beginning of change. Even though the parents are the ones raising the kids, the government should still look out for the children. Her mom and her stepfather were both sent to jail for their crimes. We hope that the governor approves this bill because it may save many children in the future from this same fate.

Prevent Child Abuse

I understand how an abusive home can be hard for a child to talk about, but I feel that schools should also be more open about these types of issues. Coming from an emotional abusive home, I know that all anyone wants is for someone to listen to them and to give them advice. With the right advice, the kid can overcome the problems that they are facing and move on with their lives. This is the goal of the future.

There have been many cases where people have used Facebook as a weapon against other people. There has been many conflicts against hate groups such as the skinheads, the KKK, and other hate groups. Even though I do not agree with the ideals that these groups have, they have the right to their own opinion and I respect that. It is sad that we so much time has pasted by we have not been able to stop hating one another.  Martin Luther King Jr. said it best:

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. … The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

Shakespeare also talked about hate in Romeo & Juliet:

171   Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still,
172   Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will!
173   Where shall we dine? O me! What fray was here?
174   Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all.
175   Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love.
176   Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
177   O any thing, of nothing first create!
178   O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
179   Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!

Two different men, from two different eras talk about the importance of love over hate. I never really understood why people bully people over facebook. Yes it is entertaining, but can’t we do something more productive? I am not saying that I never made fun of someone but I want to change that. I usually stay away from drama but I had to address this problem. I approached this method wrong and the person technically threatened me. Was that really necessary? I decided to respond but after I posted it, I took it off. I realized that I should not fuel the argument because it would not go anywhere. If that person wants to talk about me, then it okay because I will be the bigger person and ignore them.

I decided to take Martin Luther King Jr.’s words to heart. While it may be fun to start a fight on facebook with a person, hate doesn’t take a person very far. Being the person and showing love, is what makes a person human. It has worked for people like King and Gandhi, so I know that this is the correct way to handle my problems. Maybe people will follow my direction and be the bigger person so that the world can reach peace.

The use of slang has created new phrases such as lol (laughing out loud) to nmjc (nothing much just chilling). Even though these abbreviations are good for messaging friends, the constant use of these phrases would eventually damage a students academic career.

I have known many people who have used slang to write their essays for class. Instead of the phrase “what’s up”, people write, “wat ^”. Not knowing the mistakes that they are making on their essays, the daily habit of writing in slang can damage a persons grade and affect their academic career.

Even though slang can damage a persons academic career, it also has its perks. Writing abbreviations instead of complete sentences saves time and is easy to understand.

While its convenient to use slang, one must use caution because if slang is used too much without restraint, slang would become the dominant language (which is not a good thing).

People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids?…It’s just not right. It’s not right. It’s not, it’s not going to change anything. We’ll, we’ll get our justice….Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to work it out. (Rodney King)

On May 1, 1992, Rodney King made this speech to implore the LA public to stop the riots that were going on after King’s public beating by cops as well as his arrest afterwards.

King’s fight with the cops sparked a riot within LA that would make many people scared to walk the streets. The reason to why people were rioting. Some say that the police were overly brutal with King and beat him without care. Other people believed that it was a race issue. The race issue would be the main reason for many fights in history.

As I look back on history today, many fights are due to race. Some people believe that they are better than another race because of the color of their skin. Even today, the color of your skin matters.

When applying to college, your race can help you get into a college because of your social demographic. I was not offended by it before but now that I look at it, I am really offended because it makes me believe that colleges care about ones race only to have an equally balanced school.

In my own high school, diversity is one of the principles that the school supposedly go by. Unfortunately the school has a majority of white and Asian students while there are only a handfull of minority students. In my grade alone there are only 30 to 25 minority students out of 140 students. In my AP English class there were only 2 black students and 2 Hispanic students. For a school to say that the fundamentals of the school is based on diversity, the lack of diversity is what causes conflicts in the school.

The lack of understanding ones culture and race leads to other problems in my school. People tend to stereotype on certain races and the end result always ends in violence.

Maybe if we understood each others races, then we could all get along. Maybe we need to read into King’s speech to finally be able to accept one another for who we are not where we are from.