I woke up today, after dreaming the weirdest dream ever. (Well maybe not ever but it was totally weird. It was a good weird.) I was in a bit of a hurry. Dad took me to the Chamber. Yesterday, my sister went back to MTSU so my parents are my main source of transportation. Before she left, she gave me a Starfield CD(in which I am listening to right now,"Spirit draw me to my knees") I listened to it on my way to the Chamber. It sounded different. Maybe it was the bass. Genie's car didn't have any bass it seemed at times and the volume was kind of low. I bothered not to turn it up because Dad was in the car with me and I didn't want him to have a fit over the loud music. I wanted so much to sing "Captivate" in Liberty Idol with someone but I'm way too shy and afraid.
I arrived at the chamber kind of mad but my spirits quickly rose when I was greeted at the door. I signed in and sat in my assigned seat in the back of the room. I was out of my comfort level a little but I was cool. I was on the right of "Megan Cuddihee" and Brittany Reeves. I laughed when I saw this guy at the end of my table who had said something ever so racist at COPE. We began with a word from Mrs. Judy.
Mrs. Renshaw introduced Mrs. Mary Anne Poe. She made us play a game of where she asked us a question and we separated ourselves according to what our answer was. She asked us questions like "if you are the oldest child" or " if you are the youngest child",' If you attend private or public school', and 'If you lived in Jackson your entire life', and 'If you have ever traveled out of the U.S. She also asked who liked chocolate or not'(after I asked who liked ice cream) Cameron asked' if you have ever thought about even once dropping out of High School'. It was very interesting to see who did what and who went where. I thought that the private school kids thought of themselves superior to the public school kids but in my mind I was thinking more CEO and politics and higher people in U.S government come from public schools. We are more well rounded and have a larger perspective than the private school kids. The learning environment is different also. We have to learn a lot on our own with out much "hands teacher help" and in less time.
Mrs. Poe then went on to say that she could have gone more specific like who has ever tried drugs or not. I could just feel the sceptics in the air . She then made us play a game called Queen Anne which is a word game. It was very thought provoking. Then we played a game where Mrs. Poe gave us our own card and told us not to look at it. We were then instructed to put the card on our for head. She told us to treat people by the card on their head( Ace being the lowest , King being the highest). I shook the hands of those who were 8's on up and gave them much appreciation. Some people took it too literally. Someone called me middle class. She then asked us to arrange ourselves by what numbers we think we are. I didn't think I was high up so I went for the 7's. One guy was a 5 among the 7's and I asked" People treated you nicely didn't they?"He replied with no.This too was thought provoking.
Next, she showed us a video called "Angry Eyes" with Jane Elliot. Jane Elliot is a human rights activist who's work should live on and transcend time, age, race, countries, and background. Racism is a worldwide problem. The Video can be summed up as powerful. Some remarks after the video was,"do ya'll really feel that way?" ("Ya'll"referring to blacks.) The young girl was asking does this really happen. The answer was a resounding yes. I responded by saying that racism is a learned behavior. It can happen even when you don't realize it. Mrs. Poe said some fancy word I can't remember. I thought of the Tiger Woods lynching incident that happened maybe a year or two ago. All of the blacks in the room could tell of experiences of racism. One kid was saying he didn't feel that way about it was that bad. Others came out and said the same thing.( I stood concrete on how it is is still here) As we examined the thought more, we realized that it indeed is still in America and racism is not eliminated.
As I looked around the room I noticed that their were no Hispanics or Asian. I was thinking then about Haywood and how there were so many more Hispanics in the town. One girl in the class was half Hispanic and was telling how that when she went to Rose Hill, they asked for her parents' green card number. The were other good stories like Dominique( wrong change story at her job)Kai, ( her story about her own experience of people thinking she is incompetent because of her color) Jaszmine,(Miss Rosehill Story and Aunt) and Jade ( Dad's presentation), Cameron( basketball prejudice) Emily( adopted siblings of color).
Other people of other races spoke out also. They told us how they felt about the video. Megan even said that she felt that Kai was one of smartest people that you'll ever meet when you speak to her.
My mind began to widen about a multiple amount of things. Perception, race, dress, and the fuel of all prejudice. The fuel of prejudice is wanting to feel empowered or sovereign. That was it, power. Yes, that defined - it superiority. People want to feel like they are more than someone else so that they feel good about themselves. Whether because of race, intelligence, background, neighborhood, school, clothes. The spark behind bullying, racism, sexism, ageism, is wanting to feel better, more noble, more qualified, more scrupulous, and more religious than another person. We do it every day. We sit by one person or not to another because they are smart or your race or gender. {That's why I got mad the other day when one of my classmate's grandparent thought the solution to school problems is making 8th grade graduation and making a person choose a path for high, whether to attend college in 4 years or not to. 'What if that student changes his or her mind' I thought. That still wouldn't stop a lot of disruptive student from hindering learning(i.e my English III supposed to be honors class)} . We section ourselves by GPA's and color, but what we should do is embrace our differences like the Janet Elliot video suggested. We can learn from all people
At the end, she asked us how we can help eliminate racism. She said by simple speaking against a joke or comment. Cameron said send some of the people from USJ to JCM and Liberty. Others said by exchanging foods and ideas. I said by not excepting a racial joke a comical but as a true problem in the country even if you don't feel that way. Kai said that blacks might pre think that whites are prejudice toward them and in turn be prejudice to the whites. Another girl from Madison people tend to only hang with their race. She suggested that we should venture off into different races and genders. This was very powerful and I could only think about how people were changing or not changing. (There were comments about people "white" or "acting black" after Jaszmine aunt story)
At the lunch break, I still noticed that people were still sectioned off by race even after the talk. I talked to some Caucasians. It was a bit awkward though.
After lunch we were greeted by Sam Mauck. He had us fill out an evaluation form to see what kind of leader we were. The working styles were CE (concrete experience) , RO( Reflective Observant) , AC ( Abstract Conceptinazationl) and AE( Active Experientation). I scored the highest(20) on CE ( RO-18, AC-11, and AE-11)
The different types are a follows:Initiative, Sympathetic, Practical, and Analytical. We had to do the survival experiment next called " Lost at Sea" We were sorted by which type of style we were. I was sympathetic. Mrs Judy said I was a people person. That made me feel less incompetent. He noted that no style was wrong and that we all have some thing to offer. I thought about P Diddy and how he would let some go just because they weren't as out going as others. I thought that if he would just realize the good in each type of person he wouldn't be so quick to send them home. We were sectioned off into groups of six. I was kind of mad. I really liked the people people. Any way I was in group 4. We first did it on our won then we went into it( Jaszmine, Anna, Erin, Emily, ) After that we did it together. I realized that I do observe a lot and that I think before I speak. I was not as practical as others. I still was vocal. We had a lot of vocal people in our group so I could speak over opinions.
He told us what the experts said and also how the different individual styles worked in each group. It was very helpful. I was starting to think about ways this could help me as a leader on the soccer team and become a better player in basketball.
Next he expounded upon the styles. It help me to see which areas I need to improve on( i.e being more active, finishing, being practical, analyzing). It also showed me what I was good at and what I brought to the table. Intuitives were very active and jumped right in, Sympathetic were not as quick to act but thought about a lot of things, Analyticals analyzed more and were thought things through, and practicals practically and are forceful.
The big Finale was organizing a Community center for kids under a budget. We teamed up with our COPE teams. Our group was a bit confrontational but not so much that it was a hinderance. Right a way I started thinking what do we need and what don't we. I began help Megan make decisions along with the others and also cleaning up missed mistakes. I then took charge starting organization of the drawing we did along with Garret and 2 others. Garrett took the design role and we helped.
The other groups presentations were cool but not as cool as ours. We neglected to do a mission statement so Megan thought of one on the fly. Our center was called Victorious. We had a Gym, playground, Library, 2 offices, Rec room, and other accessories. We won the challenge and were awarded candy. My leadership skill started to show the most in this exercise. I saw my sympathetic and a new intuitive side coming in. I observed other people and their styles and I also was active in the experiment. I was certain now that I would be a CEO. I still need to be more practical and analytical about things. I learned that we should look through everyone's eyes even in our homes as Mrs Judy articulated.
At the end she gave us sheets on our next session and community service( group5). We are going to do a mock City Council Meeting . The topic is " Ban cell phone massaging during driving" . I am to against the banning even though I am for it strongly. I began thinking of ways to start. I need to make a plan on how too do this. I am going to ask my AD and Theatre II classes for a poll and ask them why. The mock City Council Members are
D1 Brandon Perry
D2 Jamel Lee
D3 Dominique Bond
D4 Tyler Hines
D5 Hensly Barnes
D6 Jade James-Gist
D7- Will Easley
D8-Chelsea Bell
D9- Jaszmine Farmer
I can't wait. Also we will have some people coming from different occupations who will eat lunch with us and help us find our paths to careers. I was praying for that . GOD is awesome. HE gave me direction just like I asked.
Today I am learning to relax and love life and not let things frustrate me and juist live. Its hard to but I'm getting there one step at a time. With GOD's help I can do anything!
