11/15 Voices from the Storm/ Underground America

Summary: The first interview was on a man named Dan Bright who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dan Bright was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and was released in 2004. Bright grew up in the projects, 'the real projects' where guys got killed everyday he even had a brother that was killed. He was put on death row but he kept fighting and finally got a new trial from the court. Now that he is out its hard for him to get a job because everyone just sees him as an ex-convict that was on death row. One night Dan was stopped by the police and taken into custody, there was a warrant out for his arrest but it was a misdemeanor so he shouldn't have been taken in. He was in lock up during Hurricane Katrina and he said it felt as if he were on death row all over again, and he hated the feeling. He was left in prison in the cell during Hurricane Katrina, all the prisoners were trying to escape in order to save their own lives. All the prisoners were placed on one football field at another prison and were treated like animals and had to pretty much fend for themselves. The sheriff lied and said that he got the prisoners out but he didn't.
The second interviewee was Lorena, who was born in Puebla, Mexico. Lorena crossed over to the united states with her mother, step father and two brothers at the age of six. Her father was an alcoholic and used to beat her mom. One day her father kidnapped her in order to get back at her mom. The first time Lorena and her family attempted to cross the border it was unsuccessful but then they tried again not even a day later and they made it across. When they first got there they were really poor and could barely afford to eat. She started school the day after she arrived to the U.S. She attended Fresno state in 2002. She continued to fight for people's rights even when she came back from her trip.
The third interview was Mr.Lai, who was born in Fujian, China. Mr.Lai had many problems because his family broke the one-child policy.

Comment: These stories were very sad but also in a way very inspiring. The story I can relate to the most is Lorena's story. When reading her story it reminded me a lot about my mom and what she had to go through. She came to the united states at a very young age and she had to work, go to school, and pay for her own things. Lorena talks about how she continued to go to school because she felt as if that was the least she could do in order to repay her mom for helping her. She wanted to make something out of her life and actually make a difference. I am some what similar to Lorena as well. Although I did not have to cross the border in order to get to the U.S I consider myself Mexican because my mom was born there. My mom although she has lived in the United States for many years and is a U.S citizen she is still very proud of being Mexican and loves  her culture. Reading these stories also just gives me a different view on people's lives and makes me think about all the things that they go through.

Palestine Speaks 11/8

Summary: The first interview was of a women named Ibtisam Ilzghayyer who was born in Battir, West Bank. She is the director of Ghirass Cultural Center, Ghirass serves more than a thousand youth annually and also provides literacy programs for women. Living in Battir most of her neighbors were farmers, her parents farmed as well but her father was also a chef. There were nine people in her family and she explained how there was no tv's no computers and there wasn't even any toys. She likes this because she felt that everyone was pretty equal. At two years of age she got Polio which caused her to have to wear a brace in order to be able to walk properly. People looked at her differently and she was excluded from a lot at school because of her disability. Her parents wanted her to do well in school so that when she grew up she would be able to be independent regardless her disability. She did not do well in school until one day she succeeded on a test and she said " I tasted success just that one time, and I realized I loved it." Then she continued to do well in school and loved attending the University of Jordan in Amman. When she returned home she wasn't able to find a job with her economics degree, so she ended up working with people that had disabilities. At first she wasn't too happy about that but later realized that she actually enjoyed it. When she went to school she learned a lot of history but nothing related to Palestine and her own culture. They wanted to start the center during the first intifada, in order to teach children the Palestinian culture, but it was hard because it was forbidden for them to read any books about Palestine. The way she was treated at the Palestinian checkpoints was indescribable. She fights everyday for her rights and for the rights of the young children in Palestine. 
The second interview was of Jamal Bakr who was born in Ganza City, Ganza. Both times that they saw Jamal he was not fishing, he was just watching the boats come in with all the sardines that they had caught that day. There are about 4,000 Gazan fisherman that make a living from catching fish in the Mediterranean, but the distance that they can travel has been very restricted. Jamal always wanted to be a fisherman ever since he was a young kid, it was like a family job that was passed down. During the blockades Jamal wasn't able to make a single penny and there were even days when he owed money to the gas stations, so when he did find fish he still wouldn't make any money. He would some days just feed his family with the sardines that he was able to catch and they would eat them for dinner, sometimes even for lunch. Jamal was scared for his life every single day because fisherman would be shot to death everyday for no reason. One day he was scared that he almost lost his son, and the soldiers even destroyed his new boat. "But I never feel discouraged. I'm always hoping for the best."

Comment: Both of these interviews were very interesting and very heart felt. While reading these interviews I just thought to myself that it's absolutely crazy that people treat each other like this, it is completely inhumane. Everyone deserves to be equal and deserves to get an equal chance at everything. Living in Palestine was very difficult, I don't think I would have been able to keep living my life normally with everything that was going on. It is amazing to me how in most of these interviews people do not seem to lose any hope. They continue to do what they love and fight for what they believe is right. When reading these interviews it makes me happy to know that people did not give up and it sort of in a way gives me hope and motivates me to do well because I have a lot of freedom in my life which they did not have.

Position on Capital Punishment

I think Capital Punishment is a very sensitive topic and I do not think I can choose a side on whether or not I believe it is ok. There are some situations where I would agree that the death sentence is the best option, but then when I really take the time to think about it I really do not believe that it's the right thing to do. It is very, very hard to give my side on capital punishment because of many many reasons. Some reasons are a little more personal than others. One example where I believe capital punishment is 100% reasonable is the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where twenty-year old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between the ages 6-7 as well as 6 adult staff members. He also killed his own mother before heading to the school. This is someone who I think would have deserved the capital punishment if he had not committed suicide before the police got to him. My views on the death penalty are on going and I can argue about it forever. I can not say I am completely for capital punishment, but I am definitely not completely against it.

The Voice of Witness Reader pg.9-84

Summary:The introduction of this book explains how they interviewed people and asked them about their experiences during the civil war. They listened to their stories and they were completely astonished. They explain how important oral history was, and how we don't have it written down in actual history books. Studs Terkel was mentioned as the person that's the best able to bring oral history to a large. The introduction also just informs us and gives us examples of the interviews that we will read throughout the book. The first interviewee was Chris Ochoa who was born in El Paso, Texas. Ochoa was wrongly convicted of raping and murdering Nancy DePriest who was his manager at Pizza Hut where he worked. Chris talks about his childhood, his teen years in school, and eventually the future and how he ended up being convicted for a horrific crime. Chris Ochoa gave us specific details about the interview and the things that the officers were doing in order to get him to plead guilty to the crime. On Christmas eve Chris had been in jail for 10 years and he had thoughts of ending his own life but then he decided not to. His life in prison was really hard, he felt as if he were completely alone. When Ochoa was finally released from prison he was not angry and not bitter, he was just happy that he was finally out. When Ochoa was released from prison he had a fresh new start and got accepted into the University of Wisconsin Law School. The next person interviewed was Beverly Monroe, born in Marion, North Carolina. Beverly found her companion Roger Zygmunt de la Burde dead in his house and the medical examiner concluded it suicide. Eventually Beverly was forced into confessing to her husbands murder even thought it really wasn't her.

Comment: Reading about these interviews was very interesting. It is very hard to believe that they were both falsely convicted of a crime that they did not commit. If this were to happen to me or someone in my family I would be absolutely devastated. When I was reading the interviews I was in complete shock. The stories were very interesting, they both made me want to keep reading and know more about what went on. One thing that really surprised me especially about Chris Ochoa is that he never lost hope in himself and he was never angry when he got out. He was just happy that he was out and he was able to start fresh. If I were in his place I would be very mad, I don't think I would be able to forgive the people that locked me up for more than 10 years of my life. I am very interesting in reading more stories in this book.

The Voice of Witness 10/27

          The Voice of Witness website is a very interesting and informative website. I opened the website and first just took a little bit of time on the home screen, I read a few of the little posts that were on the home page. Then I clicked on the 'About' column, and that is where I found their mission, their history, and the programs that they have. The website also shows us that they have books that are available for us to read. There are a series of books that all look very very interesting. After that i went to the  'Get Involved' column. When I clicked on this it showed a few different ways that we could get involved and help out. You could either subscribe, volunteer or donate. After I looked through the website I decided to take a little bit more time playing with the map. Not sure if I used the map correctly but I clicked on the name ' Yasir Aladdin Afifi' and it took me to a page that talked about the book "Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post- 9/11 Injustice". Reading the summaries of the stories that are in that book are really surprising/sad.


          In the book Patriot Acts named above there were some stories that made me feel sad. In the book there is a girl named Adama and it states, "a sixteen-year-old Muslim American who was abruptly seized from her home by the FBI on suspicion of being a suicide bomber. Even after her release from detention, she was forced to wear a tracking bracelet for the next three years." This is crazy to just think that at such a young age she had to go through all those things that she went through. There was also a story about Rana who's a Sikh man whose brother Balbir was gunned down outside the gas station where he worked. Balbir’s death was the first reported hate murder after 9/11. This is another thing that is just unbelievable. It crazy to me how badly people are treated. It is honestly very sad. It is something we should all step up to change and make a difference in.