Disappointed

–adjective
1. depressed or discouraged by the failure of one's hopes or expectations

My trip to Honduras wad canceled due to the coupe and the uncertainty of safety for travelers.

Now, I'm left in Columbia with no plans of any kind. Going from something to absolutely nothing is a spirit killer.

Random Family and Nuyorican Dream

Random Family is one of my favorite books, and a good representation of the evolution of my taste in literature and my other interests in general. It is about culture, an ethnography in a sense.

Random Family tells the American outlaw saga lurking behind the headlines of gangsta glamour, gold-drenched drug dealers, and street-corner society. With an immediacy made possible only after ten years of reporting, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc immerses the reader in the mind-boggling intricacies of the little-known ghetto world. She charts the tumultuous cycle of the generations, as girls become mothers, mothers become grandmothers, boys become criminals, and hope struggles against deprivation.

I then watched Nuyorican Dream on Netflix. It pretty much is the same situation but in Brooklyn and presented using a different medium. One brother, Robert, went away to college, while his siblings failed to finish middle school. His sisters' having babies and his younger brother spending the majority of his life in prison, only at the age of 23. All of Robert's siblings have issues with drugs that ultimately interfere with the care of their children, ability to hold a job, and stay out of jail.

Robert's mother must take care of her grandchildren and house her adult children (similar to Lourdes, the mother, in Random Family). She struggles to keep the household above water, especially ensuring her grandson's medical issues are handled appropriately.

Robert works diligently to make sure his youngest sister, Millie, does not fulfill the lifestyles of his older sisters and his nieces and nephews avoid that fate as well.

Both the book and the movie portray the vicious cycle that impacts many families, in many cultures. Nuyorican Dream, I think, puts emphasis on the idea that education is the opportunity out of the lifestyle.

I do believe that the documentary and the book are limited portrayals of group of people, but nonetheless a truth and reality for individuals.

"I don't steal nothing but a b****'s mind"

My sister got Netflix recently, and I've been watching a lot of the online documentaries, and today I watched American Pimp. I had my ideas of what a pimp was, most of which I thought was a stereotype, but, I soon found out that those stereotypes were true. After a while I was laughing. Laughing, because these men have made this lifestyle a reality. They are not fictional characters from 1970s movies, but they are fulfilled stereotypes. They are men who control women and use them for money.

Some quotes...

• [In reference to how much money their prostitutes make]"0% percentage...life ain't fair...you know what I'm sayin'"

"It's exciting for her [to make a lot of money]....because it's us against the world"

"B asked me if she could take Mother's Day off...I said for what...yeah, she got a baby...so what...she got a pimp to pay too"


According to a prostitute: "It doesn't matter how special you think you are to them, because you're not."

"Anybody who exploits women for profit could be called a pimp"

"A pimp is somebody who lives off the earnings of what a woman does"

The documentary seemed almost like a glorification of the lifestyle. There was not a lot of questioning of the pimp's beliefs, more of a you tell us how it is. The biggest stereotype that I think most of these pimps met, were the clothing. The alligator suits, shoes, jewelry, gold teeth, hats, etc., and each each had catchy phrases and lines they used.

The pimps spoke highly of the mentor/mentee relationships they had built over time with older pimps. Since women are they product, they don't believe in unnecessary abuse, but just enough to keep the prostitutes in line. There were a wide array of pimps from all areas of the US. Since there was a variety of pimps, as a viewer, I became informed on how prostitutes have to learn to be most productive in different areas. For example, in Hawaii, a prostitute must be proactive because she cannot stand on a corner, she must walk constantly and not be a [and I quote] lazy bitch. Whereas in Las Vegas it would be simpler for her to get a trick by standing on the street corning.

It's almost surreal to me that I spent about an hour and a half of my life watching this documentary, and almost surreal to me that this is their truth.

Adele

I just finished listening to her album, 19, for the second time. She describes her style of music heartbroken soul. I think I would agree. There's a bit of everything for everyone on it, to relate to that is.

Wait, do you see my heart on my sleeve?
It's been there for days on end and
It's been waiting for you to open up
yours too baby, come on now
I'm trying to tell you just how
I'd like to hear the words roll out of your mouth finally
Say that it's always been me

This song is one of my favorites, but there are so many others.

The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs

I was reading this article from the New York Times, and it caught my eye. I think because of the recent murder of Dr. Tiller, who I knew nothing about until his murder. The article pertains to abortions in African, Tanzania, specifically. It basically covers how unprofessional abortions are dangerous.

In Tanzania, abortion is illegal, nonetheless, women still seek the procedure. The article quotes a Dr. Bdoe frequently who is over a clinic in a city called Berega. Women come to his clinic to fix issues that have been caused due to botched abortions. He states that "the steady stream of cases reflects widespread ignorance about contraception. Young people in the region do not seem to know much or care much about birth control or safe sex."

The article continues to say that "in most countries the rates of abortion, whether legal or illegal — and abortion-related deaths — tend to decrease when the use of birth control increases."

Although the article highlighed abortion in developing countries, I find that in and out of context, the quotes can be applied to the United States. In South Carolina public schools are only allowed to teach abstinence, which obviously does not work. Instead of adapting with the times, sex education does not advance with the idea that young people are actively, and often times ignorantly having sex. When I say ignorantly, I mean young people are having sex without recognizing the consequences or how to prevent unwanted consequences that do not suite the lifestyle they are hoping/wanting to lead. I honestly believe that by providing accuarate information, choice (I prefer option), and education (because that can never be taken from an individual) unwanted pregnancy, specifically with teenagers, can be decreased. Barak Obama said in his commencement at Notre Dame that we need to "work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term." To meet that goal, contraception and education would be a good start.

In South Carolina, as of September 2006, there were 25,860 pregnancies in girls under the age of 20, and out of those pregnancies, 6000 ended in abortion.
U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics
National and State Trends and
Trends by Race and Ethnicity
Guttmacher Institute

Just Can't Get Enough

I would have to say that this piece is one of my favorites of the favorites. The message is amazing. The metaphors, etc. Brilliant minds these poets have, brilliant.

Colbert Cut

Watching the rerun, made me smile.

My job <3

It's not all fun and games, but this is what I really love about my job. I can't help but smile looking at this picture, it reminds me of why I like working with kids and in the community.