Author: Ahmed Muharram

Quarter Rican

On Sunday, May 7th, we visited the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater and sat through the “Quarter Rican” play and musical. It is about this newly fresh father, Daniel, who is Puerto Rican married to his white girlfriend and he is in a dilemma because he wants his son to grow up embracing Puerto Rican culture and not be white-washed. He spends all his time worrying about this racial complex and forcing the baby to lean towards his father’s side more than his mother’s side, but what he doesn’t realize is that time is better spent teaching and raising the kid to be a good person. ‘As long as you raise a good man who becomes a good person.” and “as long as the kid knows where he comes from,” but doesn’t necessarily have to adopt all the norms and ways because maybe some might not work for him. 

I think that sometimes identity is not claimed but rather instilled in one when they’re little and they have the choice of expanding it or suppressing it. I compare it to religion because it’s something sacred and there is a saying and a question at the same time, “do you belong because you believe or you believe because you belong.” It basically means that when it comes to beliefs, most likely were influenced by those who raised us and we adopt their beliefs so we believe because we belong but as we grow older then that has the possibility of changing completely. We start to belong because we believe as sometimes people choose to change religions and convert. The same goes with identity, you are born into the world pure and innocent and personality-less and the environment around you develops you as a person so you have to perform accordingly if you would like to stay in that same environment. However, as you grow older you start to become more independent and realize you can make decisions for yourself so you have a choice to either remain in the same environment or distance yourself away from it.  

Museum of the City of New York

On Thursday, March 30th, we visited the Museum of the City of New York as a class. We were taken around to see different exhibits from different time periods but before the tour began, we made to look at the poster below, which speaks volumes about stereotypes and how often they can either make or break you if you try to adopt them. It lists stereotypes such as the future doctor, the quiet kid, the computer hacker, and the dragon lady. We also looked at street vendors like tricycle pieces set by artist Miguel Luciano who captions it, “Pimp My Piragua is a mobile public art project that commemorates the innovations of Latinx street vendors, transforming a traditional pushcart for selling shaved ice (piraguas) into a hyper-customized tricycle-pushcart with a high-powered sound system, flat screen monitors, and LED underbody lights – all while still fully functional as a piragua cart.” It just goes to show you how in desperate times and when   

one needs to go out there and make a living, innovation becomes a given instead of a luxury. People create the most simple yet creative and high/multi functional things. There happens to be 20,000 street vendors or food carts in New York City at the moment and only 5,000 are licensed meaning that majority fly under the radar but when noticed, they face severe fines and possibly dispossession which means an end to their only sources of income sometimes. 

We visited multiple exhibits beginning from even before slavery, into the 1920s, then Civil Rights, and the Cold War in the 1980s, and now modern day. But the one that stood out the most to me was the “Prohibition and Prejudice” one because it was shocking to learn that primarily Prohibition took place because there was a demand for sober workers during World War I and it wasn’t because of domestic violence towards women and children. Although women did make up a large portion of the working class during WWI since the men were sent to fight in Europe and women stayed behind to raise the children and work in the factories. It wasn’t until 1976 that women were able to apply and be approved for credit cards because before then they couldn’t and that hindered their ability to file for divorces due to the domestic violence since they couldn’t fund it and rather had to remain in those abusive relationships. Below you see 

 

events that took place during the early 20th century and which led to the Women’s Suffrage Movement where it all started with the outbreak of WWI and women being needed in the workplace and their growing demand for voting rights since they’ve established themselves as a big player publicly. All that time before they’ve been limited to just domestic duties.  

Sam Pollard/Herman Program Event

On Thursday, April 20th, we attended the Sam Pollard/Herman Program Event. It was a talk hosted by Baruch College inviting back its alumni, Sam Pollard (class of 19730, an Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker whose career spans over more than forty years. He has released three new films in just the past few months, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, Bill Russell: Legend, and Max Roach: The Drum also Waltzes. There was a lot covered during the talk as the conversation was very intriguing and inspiring in the sense that many of us in the class will soon be Baruch graduates. 

Sam Pollard mentioned how he grew up in the 50s and 60s and how he used to live on 99th street on 2nd avenue, just a few stops away from Baruch College on the 6 train. He transferred from BMCC to Baruch and within the first months here he was lost and unsure of the area he wanted to major in so he went to his advisor. Many students who come to Baruch often play it safe and go the Zicklin school route and so did Mr.Pollard but he hated his marketing and finance courses. When asked about his interests and hobbies, he answered, “I like to read and watch old films” so his advisor recommended a one-year film program that he should look into. He applied and got in and the rest is history. During Mr.Pollard’s teenage years, media consumption was happening from 5 channels only while now there is just so much stuff to watch and read about that we often take it for granted and our brains just can’t handle the excessive amount of information. It was at an early age and specifically at 14 years old that he came to realize how much power lies within those who control media and information flow. It was when he joined New York City Military Society and was introduced to cultural icons like Malcolm X, Frederick Douglas, and James Baldwin. He became aware of the duty he had to fulfill of making films about unheard stories and “showing the shades of gray because when you make a film you have to make sure you show all sides of a person and even the not so pretty.” 

When asked how he was able to produce five films in one year, Mr.Pollard responded, “I have a lot of work but I also have a lot of support.” He reiterated over and over again that he’s not alone in this journey and hasn’t been because he is surrounded by a great team that helps him be better everyday. Also, he jokingly emphasized that “when you have the freedom to do something it takes longer to produce films but when you take other people’s money then it becomes easier because they give you suggestions sometimes.” Mr.Pollard does fund himself sometimes and he looks for people to do it for him the other times and perhaps the con to that might be being under supervision or watch. Those who finance the whole thing obviously care about the success of the project so they will be attentive to the work and express their ideas and opinions on major aspects at least if not everything all together.     

Welcome to the Week: Stonewall Uprising

The Stonewall incident was an UPRISING and not a riot, I emphasize that and the reason being is because police like to label protests and other form of gatherings as “riots” when they want more people to get discouraged from participating in them and justify their use of force. “While the events of Stonewall are often referred to as “riots,” Stonewall veterans have explicitly stated that they prefer the term Stonewall uprising or rebellion.” The Stonewall Uprising being on June 28th of 1969 and lasted for six days. Stonewall was a gay bar owned by the mafia and all they carried about is making profit so constant raids of police didn’t result in closure because as long as clientele kept coming and also the mafia were aware in advance of some of the raids so they prepared for them. The idea is that there were plenty of uprisings in support of the LGBTQ+ rights around NYC and the rest of the country as well, but Stonewall received a lot of media attention and continues to be remembered as paving the way for more members of the LGBTQ+ community taking pride in who they are. The video, “Gay and Proud,” mentions how there was nothing more shameful and hurting more than a gay person hiding their love affairs and having to lie about them when venting to their close ones. Exactly a year later, the first Pride march in New York City was held in commemoration of the Stonewall Uprising. “By all estimates, there were upwards of 3-5,000 marchers at the inaugural Pride in New York City, and today NYC marchers number in the millions.” We can see how much of an impact the previous uprisings and Stonewall contributed to the progression of LGBTQ+ rights as 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of the Pride Traditions in the US and in 1980 same-sex marriage was legalized in NYC.

 

I can’t help but notice the parallels of the response of police during the Stonewall Uprising to the response of police during the crack epidemic which taking place around the same time during the late 1970s and early 1980s and into Bush and Clinton’s presidency. But the peak of it was during the Reagan Era since between 1982 and 1984, there were an increase of 50% in cocaine shipment into the US (according to the “Crack, Cocaine, Corruption, and Conspiracy” documentary). But what nobody knew at the time was that the US government had a secret hand in all of this because at the time a small country in South America called “Nicaragua” was going through a revolution and the Reagan administration was interested in supporting the rebel groups. However, federal funding for Nicaragua was prohibited so what the Reagan administration did was that it sold arms illegally to Iran and money from there was used to support rebel groups but it wasn’t enough so in addition the Reagan administration loosed up on the smuggling operations of Cocaine coming from Nicaragua. What made things even worse is that there were harsh regulation laws and punishments on small-scaled dealers or VICTIMS instead of frequent users of the drug. The police targeted low-income communities and people of color although they didn’t even account for more than 1/3 of consumers. An interesting fact is, “while 2/3 of crack-cocaine users were white, not a single white person was convicted of drug offense.” This just goes to tell you how much of “on the surface firm and attentive” the US government are to real problems faced by the American people. In the Stonewall Uprising, they were also arresting people for trying to survive with who they are and under the ongoing circumstances (laws, advocacy, advancement) that they themselves cannot control.

 

QUESTIONS:

  1. Are performative actions like the Stonewall Uprising enough to invoke change or we can do so through art and literature as well? Or do we need both to combine forces?
  2. Will systemic racism and prejudice continue to exist forever in the United States? What would it take for it to be completely dismantled?
  3. They say a person is a product of their circumstances and that what separates liberals and conservatives is that liberals insist on social reforms while conservatives completely deny the existence of structural factors escalating poverty, crime, and disenfranchisement of groups. However, liberals still aren’t doing much to address issues we care about like abortion and climate change, so what would it take for them to do more. Is it more uprisings and rebellions or can it just be by voting for the right people and always trying to keep them in check?

SOURCES

  • https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era
  • https://www.loc.gov/item/mbrs01991430/?
  • https://www.netflix.com/title/80988518

Trevor Noah & How Millennials Really Think About Climate Change

“I’ve realized that we live in a new age. Millennials oftentimes are marked as lazy, they believe that they’re entitled and they cry about small things which is true, but they’re also driven, they also wish to make change, they believe that they can make a change.” – Trevor Noah

Speech Title: TREVOR NOAH: The Power of Information

Speech Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAn96hY1LGw 

My source is a speech that Comedian Trevor Noah gave in an event hosted by the Goalkeepers, an organization dedicated to sustainable development goals and launched the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2017. Noah was invited to speak and he discussed the issue regarding climate change and how millennials get attacked for not caring much about anything but enjoying life and having fun. They’re lazy and they don’t deserve what they have. But the truth of the matter is millennials are probably the most ambitious, innovative, and driven there ever was. They actually care about climate change more than their predecessors and they want to make a change. They are capable of making change but the problem is that they aren’t allowed to execute their ideas. As we know, those who run the US government are from generations prior to millennials and are stuck in their own ways so they always make it seem like it’s a competition between them and millennials for power. That’s why they belittle or don’t take what millennials suggest into consideration.   

Annotations from “Howl” (1955) by Allen Ginsberg

“who coughed on the sixth floor of Harlem crowned with flame under the tubercular sky surrounded by orange crates of theology…who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge this actually happened and walked away unknown…who journeyed to Denver, who died in Denver, who came back to Denver & waited in vain…who retired to Mexico to cultivate a habit, or Rocky Mount to tender Buddha”

  • The poem’s setting starts off locally in New York City and then expands beyond the state and then into other countries entirely, which goes to show the “nightmare world” Judge Horn’s was talking about in his analysis of the first section doesn’t pertain to city life in general. Allen Ginsberg took us on a journey and we traveled along the borders and saw closure for many things taking place whether it’s life, work, or relationship. Sickness in Harlem, suicidal attempt in Brookly, and death in Denver even in Mexico somebody’s daily routine was disrupted wether willingly or unwillingly. Things weren’t going to be the same anymore after that. I believe that can be some sort of foreshadowing into the future. Ginsberg is warning us of the rapid and ever-lasting change industrialization is going to create and how unsatisfying city life will become and the complexity life will usher. Many will have insatiable desires and may never be content all their lives.

 

“Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!”

 

  • Here, Ginsberg metaphorically personifies the town of Moloch as he describes what it’s like. He says, “Moloch whose blood is running money” which could mean that the working class are affording their livelihood literally through blood, sweat, and tears as they are working continuously hard just like in Packingtown. The hard work of these people is generating millions of dollars for business owners. Also, “Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb” and that could mean the chimney just overwhelms the atmosphere with the smoke from the machinery and that harms the environment. The polluted air with “Moloch whose fingers are ten armies” or overcrowdedness of the town is adding to the horrible living and working conditions of the people. Judge Horn said that this section, “an indictment of those elements in modern society destructive of the best qualities of human nature” and in this case these elements are intensive labor.

 

“I’m with you in Rockland

   where we hug and kiss the United States under our bedsheets the United States that coughs all night and won’t let us sleep”

  • Once again, Ginsberg is attributing human qualities to something non-human and here it’s the United States. I interpreted this line as if despite the United States always stirring things abroad regarding “democracy” but never at home, we still give it the benefit of the doubt and trust it’s doing the right thing. The United States is disruptive and enjoys being the center of attention to the point that most of its major cities never sleep. They are constantly on the move and trying to contribute to the agenda.

Characters casting for The Jungle

In The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, our main characters Jurgis and Ona are immigrants from Lithuania arriving in Chicago for work in the meatpacking industry. They are a recently married couple and just beginning to navigate life in America alone and with other residents of the tenements. Jurgis is pretty much a freak of nature and tall, Sinclair describes him as a young giant with thick black hair and eyebrows possessing  the strength of multiple men (Sinclair, Chapter 2). On the other hand, Ona is presented as this young blue-eyed and very gentle and adorably small in built (Sinclair, Chapter 1). They can be thought of as polar opposites when it comes to physical appearance, however maybe not so much other aspects like personality. Jurgis seems to rely so much on his physical strength and ignores other areas of himself like intelligence. Sinclair sometimes portrays him as an idiot who is just happy to have found a job and content with it not looking to move up. Iona is like a cinderella who is provided for and protected by her prince, while she stays home and is beautiful. Jurgis reminds me of The Rock in his role in the “Central Intelligence” movie with Kevin Hart. The Rock plays this CIA agent who is being accused of murdering his partner and planning to sell satellite codes to foreign countries. He is very good at his job but needs someone who is good with numbers and has exclusive access to financial accounts of certain governments. Kevin Hart, who is his high school mate, is able to help him get that information but is troubled between the CIA’s side of the story and his friend’s version of it. They end up collaborating and revealing the perpetrators. The Rock did all the chasing, the fighting, and shooting at times even crying because behind that impressive physique of his there is a soft heart. Kevin Hart did the tech work and intruded into some systems.  

The Rock & Kevin Hart in Central Intelligence

Cinderella sitting pretty while trying the shoes