me at the end

WOW… It has been such a long year. It feels like time is flying and I wish it would slow down. When a person is having a good time they don’t want it to end. High school has been great to me, of course I have had my ups and downs but that time is over and it is time to get our caps and gowns. I came into this class questioning whether or not taking this course was the right decision and it turns out that it was. I have become such a different person. This class has shaped me as a person and I am now enlightened. I have learned a lot. I have gained morals, as well as values. I have learned that there s more to art than that that is displayed in museums. There is something called street art, although illegal, it without a doubt is still art and shouldn’t be questioned. The books we have read are books that are so powerful. The words in the books spoke to me, mainly the words from the Malcolm x book. The way he changed his life around and became such an icon was historic. Well now it’s the end, what am I going to do? Am I going to turn my mind off and let this information learned go to waste?... of course not I am going to apply what I have learned and pass it on to the next person willing to learn.. at the end... i didnt recognize myself, and it was a good thing.. because it was a new me. 

letter to the prospective philosophy student

Dear prospective philosophy student,

I am going to get straight to the point. Taking this course is not easy. It is a lot of work, not written work but you will have to put your minds to work. Your brains will be tested… don’t be discouraged by this, don’t run, take on this task. It is well worth it and you will have a good time.  You will learn things essential to life, learning to be reasonable is of utmost importance because we all have to make choices and accomplish goals. Being reasonable enables us make good choices, accomplish our goals, live a better life, and become better people. We all have either a friend or family member that is an unreasonable person, and we look at the decisions that they make and we are disappointed and we judge them based on their lack of ability to be reasonable but without this course that Can… and will be you.

Morality is another of the important traits that will/should be learned because our decisions can have a powerful impact on ourselves and others. Our decisions can help or hurt people. A perfect example of this is the movie “Crash.” This movie depicts how the decisions and lives of one individual can tie in and affect the lives of so many more. IT’S A MOVIE TO BE SEEN. Just like philosophy is a course to be taken

Thoughts about Earlier Thinking

Many people don’t usually sit down to think, or let alone write a blog about their earlier thinking. but as a student of philosophy this is something that has to be done.

Before coming into this philosophy class I was the average basketball player. Whose mind was limited. I honestly thought about basketball, money, and girls most of the time. And it was sad now that I get to look back on it. Prior to this class I didn’t apply myself as I should have been doing. i didn’t push myself… as I should have been doing. I didn’t challenge my mind, as I should have been challenging it. I wasn’t a deep thinker at all. And I am ashamed of what I used my mind for. When presented with a potential argument/debate I wouldn’t engage in it, I was a coward and I didn’t trust my mind to engage in such an activity. Now I have the confidence to take on that task. I am no coward. And I am not inferior to anyone. I am superior. I am a philosopher and I will forever apply myself and apply what was learned in this class over the course of this year.

Surrounded by Cuckoos, but I was the crazy one

Growing up in the Woodlawn area has not always been so good to me. As a young child I started my education at James McCosh Elementary School, now known as Emmitt Till. It was the ABSOLUTE worst!! And I hated every minute that I had to spend in that hell hole. In pre-school I got into fights almost every day. I always felt like I was doing something wrong, but after a while it became routine. One day changed my life, I can vividly remember getting my ASS BEAT and that is what made me realize that “1I should be doing this.” The kid in my class told his bigger brother who was in 1^st grade that I beat him up… then he beat me up. I was to never fight without a purpose again. In the next year and a half that I spent at James McCosh I spent a great deal of my time trying to figure out why everyone was so angry and why they fought so much (It bewildered me and to this day I still have no answer for that question). As times passed and still no answer, I came to the conclusion that they were just “some crazy niggas…” Cuckoos if you may say.

As I sit ALONE and reflect on my past, I ask myself the question, why did I allow myself to be surrounded by such “Cuckoos? But it hit me… what wasn’t normal to me was normal to them. I thought I was surrounded by Cuckoos, but I was the crazy one… damn…..

TOGETHER

North

There was once a man named Kobe Bryant. While in high school he earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career Lower Marion. As a freshman, he played for the varsity basketball team. Bryant led the Aces to their first state championship in 53 years. During the run, he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals, and 3.8 blocked shots in leading the Aces to a 31–3 record. He ended his career as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points, surpassing both Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons. With these stats he decides to go straight to the NBA.

South

There was once A man named Shaquille O’Neal. He attended LSU. While at LSU, O'Neal was a two-time All-American, two-time SEC player of the year, and received the Adolph Rupp Trophy as NCAA men's basketball player of the year in 1991. After that O'Neal left LSU early to pursue his NBA career.
Out West
The two players joined forces in LA. It took a few years for the players, not only to learn how to play together but to like each other as well. When they finally got it together they were unstoppable, no one could stop them. They went on to win 3 straight championships but they could no longer play together as it was time for shaq to go. When he left they both player mediocre, which shows that TOGETHER they are a force, but apart they are just Shaq and Kobe.

alone

Although I have a big family and many friends, sometimes I feel alone. Sometimes I sit alone and think, I reflect on my life. Is my life significant?, or will I just be another John Doe when my time has expired on this earth. When I say John Doe I don’t mean it literally. I mean will my actions be recognizable.  Being/ feeling alone is not always a bad thing, when I am on the Basketball court I feel alone. I feel like no one can guard me out there. It is like I am on cloud 9, everything is moving at such a slower pace than I am and I use that to my advantage. I see everything before it happens, it is like i am 10 steps ahead of everyone, not just my opponents, my teammates too. I know every move before it is made. It is like a big chess game that i am in total control of. It is like i am a puppet master and i am controlling their every move. It is like i am a Don and i am calling all the shots. No one can stop me when i am alone.

if you want to save the world, do this.

As we all know, global warming is a huge problem today. For those who don’t know what global warming is, it is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans. There are numerous causes for global warming. The causes are split up into two groups, man-made and natural causes. One natural cause is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas. A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Man-made causes probably do the most damage. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called CO2. Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people means more food, and more methods of transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car.

If we were to cut down on pollution then we would be able to help in the cause of global warming. For example, if we were to car pull that would help a little bit. Even though it’s a little, anything helps when it comes to the world we live in. if you want to save the world, do this.

invisible

To be invisible is all in one’s head. It’s a state of mind. In my opinion, one who feels invisible doesn’t necessarily have self esteem problems. I have felt like this before but it was mainly because of the decrease in attention that I was receiving. Being the youngest child, I was always looked at as “the baby” until the day that I would dread for months happened and it was nothing that I could do to prevent it. My little cousin came from Minnesota to live with us because she was basically born into a bad situation and it would have been more beneficial for her to come live with us. The first week was the worst, everyone crowded around her as if she was a new born and I was as jealous as can be. The places that my mom used to take me, she was taking her, the morning breakfast that was usually cooked for me was being cooked for her, the time spent with my mom was being split with her, and the thing that hurt me the most was the money that my mom would spend on me was being split up between the two of us. (yes its petty, but that’s how I felt.) I didn’t want to share my life with her. The following week was also bad. It was bad because I thought I would get used to it but I couldn’t. I couldn’t get used to being ignored, I couldn’t get used to being INVISIBLE…

A book to read

Other than the Autobiography of Malcolm X, a book to read would definitely be There Are No Children Here. There Are No Children Here describes the experiences of two brothers growing up in Chicago's Henry Horner Homes which is one of Chicago's housing projects in the inner city. Lafeyette and Pharoah, aged 11 and 9 years at the start of the book in 1987, come from a lower-class family headed mainly by their mother who rely on welfare and Federal assistance. They are deprived of many necessities, most luxuries, and are in a constant struggle just to survive. As an inner city youth it is very hard to stay on the right track when you have so many negative influences and Lafeyette fell into its trap becoming a part of a back then unofficial gang, the 4 corner hustlers, but they are very official now. This is a book to read because it opens the worlds eyes so we can stop being so naïve about what our children do and for people to see what it is really like to grow up in the projects.

The story presents the idea that the children could succeed if given a chance. Pharaoh exemplifies this by excelling when given the chance to study.

Movie Review

Friday is a film with an all-star cast starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Bernie Mac, Tommy Lister, Jr. and John Witherspoon. The movie revolves around the life of two friends Craig Jones and “Smokey.” Craig has recently been fired from his job while attempting to collect his paycheck, as he was “caught on camera” stealing cardboard boxes from UPS. His father tries to get him to join him in the dog catching business. But that’s dead Craig does not want to be a dog catcher. He gone think of another way to make that money.

Well as time passes and the stress grows he is persuaded to engage in illegal acts. (smoke some loud) as this is his first time getting high he is tweaking. There is nothing really going right in his life, he has girlfriend problems, he got fired, D-BO bully’s them and on top of that he is afraid of big worm because he owes him 200 dollars. Big worm is a drug dealer in the movie with a really bad jerry curl.

This is hands down one of the funniest movies of all time. I have never laughed so hard in my life. I would recommend this movie to everyone. People of all culture would find the funny in this movie.

Banksy art review

Banksy is an anonymous England based graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter. I honestly have never heard of him before this year. But every since I have been introduced to his artwork I have been very interested, I would even call myself a fan or his work. All of his art work is great but there is one piece of work that caught my eye and will forever be engraved in my memory. It is banksy’s art on the wall; a picture that banksy made on a plain wall and to me it says “there is more to life, there is more to the world than the situation that you are in at the moment.” Before banksy made the painting there was nothing but a poverty stricken neighborhood with little hope but he made a painting that gives the illusion of another place that is the complete opposite on the other side… on the other side it is nothing less than beautiful. There are palm trees on a beach and calm waters and it’s just a great picture.  

We have the right

As a student I am more than positive that 100% of the student population has grown tired of teachers demanding respect but not giving it. Some teachers are so disrespectful. They feel like just because they are the authority that they don’t have to give respect but that’s dead…  I demand respect and regardless of age if someone disrespects me I have no reason to respect them. I think that we have the right to treat people… not as we would like to be treated, but treat people as they treat us (and this includes teachers). It should be written in the constitution. I feel like when we were freshmen and sophomores we accepted it because we had no other choice but as juniors and seniors we feel like we are nearing adulthood and we deserve the respect that they would give… say our parents?..

Clearly we don’t have that right though. Sometimes you don’t get everything you want. And when you don’t get what you want you have to sack up and take the loss. Because God forbid you do something stupid and start mouthing off to your teachers… that would get you #nowhere but in summer school. So my advice to the young folks that think they are grown… ummm keep your mouths shut and your books open and maybe you will learn something  and have thoughts deeper than disrespecting an authority figure.

McCarthy’s bday weekend

McCarthy, it is your birthday weekend, first off happy birthday. (Or happy belated birthday since I’m writing this blog late)

I have always wondered what old people do to celebrate their birthdays? Do they go out to the club? Do they throw parties? At these parties what on earth could they do? I really don’t know what a grown man could possibly ask for but some peace and quiet for their birthday... or maybe you could ask for a hall pass… you know, to get your groove back. First you could go to the spa and get your chest hairs waxed or maybe slicked down… either way something should be done to it lol. After that you can go get a nice v neck or a button up that shows off the new you. That’s starting your night off the right way.

After this you and you guy friends can go to a sports bar or you could simply go to your local liquor store and get you some Dranky Drank and chug it, it’s called pregaming… you know, getting ready for what’s to come next.

After you guys are nice and liquored up u can then hit the club up and party. It could be just like the hangover.

x is known

X is known refers to the Autobiography of Malcolm X. it refers to when he is in prison and he finds himself. This is a very important part of the book because for once in his life he finally knows who he is. Many question if this is really who he is and they make the argument that he never would have changed if he hadn’t gone to prison. Many say he would be the same ol’ hustling good-for-nothing scumbag, or as they called him… “Red”. The title of this blog can mean anything, but I think “X marks the spot” is trying to tell us that either Malcolm X or the Autobiography of Malcolm (maybe both) is extremely powerful.

This moment in the book is so important that movie producers have decided to include it in their movies. In the movie “Don’t Be A Menace to Society While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood made a parody of this depicting that there is a message behind it and to show the people who might not have seen Malcolm X but is watching this movie….. that everything has a meaning behind it.

I think this is ho Malcolm X is. I think he has REALLY found himself, not by choice but by force. He was starring death in the face and it was either change his lifestyle or his lifestyle would be the death of him.

X marks the spot

As a child I have always tried to hide certain parts of my life, I have always been secretive and never really opened up to people. There’s a first time for everything…

I can remember things from as far back as 3 years old but the funny thing is I don’t have one memory of my father being in my life. I know my father… well I know who he is and we converse from time to time but is that really a father? What is a father? The guy that fucked your mom and got her pregnant? Ummm NO... One whose isn’t there but tries to discipline you when you make a mistake?... HELL NAW.

 I have come to the conclusion that everyone doesn’t have a father,  I don’t have a “Father”. I have been searching for a father figure in my mother because she is such a strong woman but no matter what people say it isn’t there. No matter how strong a woman is she can’t be both your mom and pops. The closest thing I have to a father figure is my big brother, and its sad that im just now figuring it out. I have spent so much time fighting with him, pushing him away, and telling him that he is wrong and placing a big X on him as a symbol of his being wrong because that’s what an X means…it’s a sign of being incorrect but X marks the spot.

Album review…Roll Up

Over the past couple months wiz khalifa has put out an onslaught of good songs. If you were caught without these songs on your ipod then you were labeled a lame.  These songs were a part of his very popular mixtape “Cabin Fever” which featured rappers such as big sean, too short, rick ross, etc. after releasing this mixtape to the world and watching it be so successful the question of “what’s next” came to mind… well the next thing was the announcement of his engagement to amber rose. Many people thought “such good things are happening to him he can’t do any wrong.” Oh but how wrong we were. His highly anticipated debut album turned out to be… #bootymeat. After listening to about half of the ablum I then thanked myself for not buying it. I have never been so disappointed. I usually don’t judge the artwork of another because all art requires some type of creativity. But he robbed the people of their hard earned money.  

I think the reason his album so bad is because his mixtape was so good, he didn’t leave any room for improvement. That was his major downfall. But we cant out all of the blame on wiz khalifa, there is a rumor out that he wanted his very successful mixtape to be his debut ablum but the record company didn’t allow him to do that. They chose the songs that would be on the ablum. According to this he had no say so.

i know this means something

In November of 2008, we as the United States of America had our first African American president. This exciting event brought tears to my eyes and other African Americans around me. It gave us a sense of pride and confidence to know that all our efforts in the past have paid off. The boycotts, lynching, slavery and any other adversities we have faced as a people were all attributes to this accomplishment on behalf of our people. That moment was a proud moment for me to be an African American and to feel like we were finally recognized as a race and a people. Since the United States has been established African Americans have been behind the rest of the other races and looked at as inferior. I was excited to know they respected him enough to listen to what he had to say and actually lead a country. This means that blacks should no longer be looked at as inferior because that means the American people picked an inferior president which would reflect poorly upon Americans. This means African Americans may be looked at differently and not have bad stigmas preconceived about them.

The Ultimate Recipe

Cheesecake is special to me. It is a dish that I have enjoyed for many years, since I was about 5 years of age. I vividly remember going to the cheesecake factory, not ordering any food, and going straight to desert. When I saw the large selection of cheesecakes to choose from my eyes lit up like a light bulb. I tried to order like seven types of cheesecake but my mom wouldn’t let me so I reluctantly settled for the New York style cheesecake and it was surprisingly delightful. Every since that day New York style cheesecake is my preferred desert and I order it whenever I go to enjoy the delicious… delightful… delectable cuisine/desert that they have to offer.

The Ultimate Recipe

Ingredients

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
•  
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

The merging of these individually disgusting ingredients forms a very creamy and flavorful dish that has found me joy over the years.

good food review

I am going to review a restaurant that I have been eating at for years, Carms. I am sure this is the first time you have witnessed someone doing a restaurant review on Carms but I like their food and I have been a loyal customer for years. The food there is delicious. When I go to Ella’s I order the same dish every time, which is a chicken strip meal with cheese on the fries, and ranch dressing sauce. I get the ranch dressing because it gives my chicken more flavor and that is just how I like my chicken, with lots and lots of flavor. The cheese on the fries is just something I have been getting since I was a child and I have always liked it. The service is also good, u can walk in, order your food, and within five minutes or less you can have your food and be ready to eat. The owner knows us because we have been going to, and eating at his restaurant for just about four years, since freshman year. So since he knows us we can call the restaurant ahead of time and let him know exactly what we want to eat, and when we will be there to pick it up. When you go in it always seems like it is crowded but it is not, they move very fast getting customers in and out in a hurry. , it is a relaxing environment. It just makes one feel like they are eating dinner in the kitchen at home. What really keeps me going back is the location, it is basically around the corner from school, so on my lunch break I can go there and be back at school to sit and actually enjoy my food not having to rush and eat while thinking about being late for my next class.

winter poem

My winter poem does not really have anything to do with winter itself but the prompt just brings back memories. It reminds me of a few winters ago when I wrote a poem called “Love Love.” And I am going to share that poem with you instead…

“Love Love”

A lot of people love love…
But does love love them back?
And sometimes love loves us, but we don’t reciprocate that.
Why can’t we just love love while love is loving us?
And I mean LOVE love and not just simply settle for lust.
Many people search for this tornado of love and many will never find.
Because they are hit with lust's gusts
and are turned back to what's behind.
And while lust leaves us in a bind trying to tend to the wounds and scars.
We forget that love may hurt, but love heals.
So why not love hard?

king still king??

There is no doubt that Dr. Martin Luther King was a great man. No one is questioning what he did for us, and when I say us I am not just talking about the African American people, he helped everyone in some sort of way. But is he still “the king”?... I honestly do not think he is still “the king.” It is not because I am belittling what he did because that is not the case at all. But there are many people In this world that do not even know who he is, and today’s youth does not make it any better because not only do they not know who he is or what he did, but of course there are some individuals that are curious and are interested in knowing facts about Dr. Martin Luther King but there are those who don’t even care to know what he did to help the people back in the day even though him helping them ultimately opened doors for them to be whatever they want to be in life. Many of todays youth look up to the wrong people. Instead of wanting to know about Dr. Martin Luther King, they want to know when Gucci Mane and Lil Wayne are getting out of jail and when are they coming out with a new mixtape. It is sad that many children today can recite every word in a song but they don’t even know what Dr. king’s most famous speech was.

if i was a shoe

If I was a shoe I would have to be something of style, something nice. Not too cheap but not too expensive. I would not be anything that I would not wear myself some that means a lot of shoes are now ruled out.  I think I would be some type of retro Jordan’s, probably the space jams or the cool greys. I think I would be one of these hoes because they are really flashy and they draw a lot of attention as I tend to do at times. It is kind of weird that I chose those particular shoes because of course I own a few pair, who does not but I usually don’t wear Jordan’s.  I usually wear canvas shoes like vans or Ralph Lauren shoes, kind of like vans but they look better to me.

I would be canvas shoes because they are all purpose. You can wear them to school, out with your friends and many other places. Just like me. I am not one of those friends that you can only talk to at school; you can hang with me anywhere.  They are also very sturdy shoes, but you have to wear them the right way. If you tie your shoes too tight they don’t look right and you will crease them. So when dealing with this type of shoe you have to either know how to wear them or don’t wear them at all.ni compare my shoes to all my friends, if you do not treat them right they will not treat you right

globalization

Globalization… what is globalization?

Globalization describes the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas.
Globalization does not only effect economies but they also effect cultures. Culture is what people eat, how they dress, the beliefs they hold, and the activities they practice. Culinary culture has become extremely globalized. For example, Japanese Noodles, Swedish Meatballs, Indian Curry, French Cheese, and American Burgers nad Fries have all become popular outside their countries of origin. There are two American companies (Mcdonalds and Starbucks) that are often cited as examples of globalization, with over 31,000 and 18,000 locations operating worldwide. Another common practice that has been brought about by globalization is the usage of Chinese characters in tattoos. These tattoos are popular with today's youth despite the lack of social acceptance of tattoos in China.

In many poorer nations, globalization is the result of foreign businesses utilizing workers in a country to take advantage of the lower wage rates... we call these sweat shops. Sweat shops are most commonly used by sports shoe manufacturers, mostly NIKE. There are factories set up in the poor countries where employees agree to work for low wages and if labor laws alter in those countries and stricter rules govern the manufacturing process the factories are closed down and relocated to other nations with more business favorable policies. It depends how you look at this. Seeing how this is a capitalist country that idea is genius but it is morally wrong.

sports in my life

Sports (basketball) have played a huge role in my life since the second grade; that is when I started playing. I was not very good but just like everyone else, if you want to become good at something you have to practice and put in a lot of hard work. Over the years as I put in countless hours of work and fought through the blood sweat and tears I became one of the best. This was around 4^th grade. ironically that is when basketball became competitive for me. I earned a starting spot on my grammar school team playing alongside my good friend Anthony Davis. Day in and day out we imposed our will on everyone our age until our coaches decided to test our abilities on older competition. In 6^th grade we were playing u on the 8^th grade team so basketball then became very time consuming. Entering high school I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was not that different from any other grade level of basketball, just faster. As I entered the AAU circuit that is when I met real competition, playing with and against the best players in the country. This is when I met back up with an old friend that I played with in grammar school but he was the number one player in the nation and me on the other hand, I was having a hard time getting in the game on my school team. This obviously made me jealous but it just makes me work harder. And that is what basketball has done for me; it has taught me the values of hard work.

open letter to cormac

Dear Cormac McCarthy,

I really liked your book. I can honestly say it was the first book I actually enjoyed reading in a long time. It was surprisingly interesting to me. You know the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” well that is exactly what I did. When I saw the book for the first time I did not want to read it, the cover was so dull to me but when I started reading it i grew more and more interested, so I kept reading. Although I liked the book, the setting and the whole atmosphere was saddening. When we watched the movie on the book I never saw the sun once. Neither did I see any animals. Well, you rarely saw other people in the movie so should I be surprised that I did not see animals or the sun?

Many people talk about love, but what is love? Do they really know what love is?...  I know what love is. Love is not what most people think it is. It is not, “I love my girlfriend/boyfriend” or I love those jeans on you girl.” Love is what the father and son have for each other. True love is when you are willing to die for something or someone. A question was posed, and it was would you kill your son/daughter to protect them from being raped and eaten. This was by far the toughest question ever. One side of me wanted to say yes, because who would want a loved one to suffer like that. But the other part of me wanted to say no because who could kill a loved one, and most importantly who could live knowing that they killed one that they love.