Standing Up To Authority

Imagine growing up and being raised up with violence constantly lurking behind you. Police roaming the streets 24/7, with deadly guns strapped to their belts. Police are normally seen as ‘protection’, but sometimes the police are seen as a danger. Living in a town which is always violent, it implies that the violence will increase making the area even more dangerous than it already is. Innocent victims can get caught between this conflict as some may not be aware of what is going on outside their homes. According to the National Center for Children Exposed To Violence, current studies show that more than 33% of children are direct victims of violence and more than 75% are reported being exposed to community violence. Of the 7 billion people in the world, there are millions living in violent environments, and some are even victims of violence. In Brazil, there are many favelas (slums) that are considered to be the most violent of all. A civil war between the police and drug cartels is the root of this problem. Hundreds of children, with violated rights, are growing up with violence as a routine, deprived of peace and proper facilities. Successfully, there is one individual who has heard the voices of the children. Mayra, a 15-year-old girl from Rio De Janeiro, is working towards helping the children in her hometown who have been exposed to cruelty. After growing up in one of the most disturbed favelas in the country, Mayra Avellar Neves was awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize for her heroic actions and successful battle against extreme violence. By using her dangerous childhood as a drive, Mayra was inspired to improve the lives of other children by persuading the drug cartels and police to lay down their weapons and to enhance their favela’s facilities.

After growing up in one of the most violent favelas of Brazil, Mayra makes a difference by persuading the police and drug cartels to cease fire. Due to the fact Mayra was raised in a dangerous society, she did not want others to experience the pain she had. As a result, she organized campaigns and protests to express her concern and opinion about her favela’s environment. “At 15 years old, Mayra mobilised hundreds of children and youths to take part in a protest march, demanding that the police cease their patrols during school hours” (Children’s Peace Prize). A civil war had eventually broken out between the drug cartels and the police in Mayra’s favela. This event has caused her favela to have a reputation of struggling and as one of the most dangerous favelas in Brazil. Mayra’s favela was always being swarmed by police and ongoing violence, which eliminated the education for the children of the favela. Because Mayra knew how serious this war was going to be, she decided to take matters into her own hands. By organizing a protest and by appealing to a younger crowd as participants, Mayra was not only making a difference by persuading the police to cease fire, but she also made the decision for the future of her favela. Although Mayra knew that taking on this challenge was a risk, she could only hope for the best outcome possible. “This took great courage...As a result of this action, the police agreed to the demands, and children started coming back to school again – a great achievement...” (Children’s Peace Prize). Provided that Mayra’s favela is known as one of the most violent ones in Brazil, police are constantly patrolling the school which hindered the children’s education. With police stomping up and down hallways, classes are disrupted and students are not able to pay attention to their lessons. Children were eventually not allowed to attend school as police with guns by their side is seen as danger. Even though Mayra knew that standing up to the police was going to take an immense amount of courage, she stood still and powered through it. As a successful outcome, the police caved in to her appeal which shows how Mayra improved the future for her favela.

By taking risks like standing up to high authorities, Mayra was inspired to not only help herself, but to also help others like her as well by enhancing facilities in her favela. Mayra is a very generous person and she knew there were others like her, with a violent and dangerous experience of growing up. Mayra realized that she could help herself and others by organising an event that could benefit others too. “Last year she organised another march, this time appealing to everybody in the favela and elsewhere to stand up for the fundamental rights of slum dwellers” (Children’s Peace Prize). A majority of the population of  Mayra’s favela did not have the rights they may have deserved. By organising a protest march, Mayra was standing up for the rights of her fellow peers as well, she did not just think of herself. Specifically, Mayra was standing up for the enhancement of her favela’s facilities, which can also be thought of as standing up for the population’s rights for the best facilities they can have. Even though Mayra has taken the chance of expressing her opinion, not everything is possible as her favela is still violent and her local facilities remained regressive. “However, Mayra’s fight goes on, as life in the favela’s remains extremely dangerous and the local facilities are poor.” (Children’s Peace Prize). Mayra exemplifies peace as she keeps trying to make the favela better. She fought for what she thought was right, which was keeping the children in the slums safe. Due to Mayra’s fight still being continuous, it shows that the fight against poverty can never be solved immediately.

To this day, Mayra is still continuing her hope of improving the lives of many in her hometown because she understands what those children are experiencing. She knows about the dangerous living conditions and the lack of good facilities for these children. By persuading the police and the drug cartels to cease-fire, Mayra is insuring a good education for the children, and by fighting for the facilities they deserve, she is also insuring a good and healthy future for these children. It was because of her heroic and daring actions, that she was awarded the Children’s International Peace Prize in 2008. Mayra is an inspiration to children living in violent surroundings, and hopes to inspire others to follow in her footsteps. No one’s rights should be violated, and Mayra has decided to not fight for herself, but for others as well.

Where I'm From

Where I'm From

I am from Reese’s and M’n’Ms.
From dates and fasting
I am from Mexican and Japanese food too.
I am from ‘Drink your soup!’ and ‘Only 1 more!’
I’m from Nasi Lemak and chicken rice.
And kuih lapis: both the cake and the pink.
From flip turns, trophies, medals, and coaches, 
a change from “Huan Ying, Huan Ying!” to “Selamat Datang.”
I am from dedication and hard work:
I am from Rio 2016.

I am from baju kurung and chiong sam. From bowls of rice to bowls of noodles, from the ‘oh so good’ Pho.
I am from fort making, transforming it into my little heaven. 
From forgetting email passwords to Club Penguin,
I’m from a very happy and stressed out family.

I’m from Bop-It and Barney,
from Teletubbies and Glee.
I’m from fortune telling with paper pyramids and Dora The Explorer.
From Blue saying, “Follow me!”
to Handy Manny teaching me Spanish.
I’m from Mambo No. 5 and “I’m finished!”
From living in a place called Leman Lake, where everyone knew each other and a playground right across the street.

I’m from hot sun and polluted skies.
At first with 4 seasons but then no winters, just summer all year long.
I’m from diverse cultures and crowded areas in KLCC.
I’m from the dirty snow on my garden swing, to blasting Lizzie McGuire in my garage.
From dancing in the sun with umbrellas, with laughing and giggling at smoky barbeques.
I am from “Don’t tell anyone!” and “Are you serious?”

Yet from cows that decorate our shelves, to sudden cats found underneath our cars,
From kuih lapis and the Teletubbies,
to John Grisham and James Patterson: 
One thing that we can unravel from this story, is the awkward history known as the Redzas.

Victory. By Sonia Weitz.

This poem is about how Sonia Weitz, a holocaust survivor, was able to sneak into the men's barracks of the concentration camp to see her father, who at that time was about to be killed. Her father's inmate then started to play a song on his harmonica and Sonia's father then said, "Little one, let us dance. We may not have another chance." She had the courage to break the rules even though the consequences were terrible. To me, this poem means that anything can be victorious. In this case, victory for Sonia was the fact that she could have that dance with her father. I was very curious as to what the victory Sonia was talking about in the first place, but after re-reading the poem, I realized what her point was.

The Degree Of Choices.

"Some people say that what makes a person a victim is they have limited or NO options about how to act."

This statement is a very general and simple, but it has a lot of meaning. This relates to many situations, and generally speaking, I agree with with this statement. Victims don't have many options on how they can act, and with the options that are available, they have the choice of using them or not. For me, I do believe that limited options is what makes a victim. To support my judgement, I have related this statement to the unit we are studying now in Humanities.

http://www.elegantsimplelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/choices_web.jpg

In Humanities, we have recently learned about Kristallnacht, which translates loosely to "Night of Broken Glass". The Jewish refugees trapped in Germany were victims of Adolf Hitler's hatred and Kristallnacht. Stormtroopers, SS men and SA men go around Germany, invading Jewish-populated areas.The Jews have been recognized worldwide as victims, and I have related this statement to them. The Jews did not have many choices They first had the option of moving, but after many countries did not open up their doors to let Jewish refugees in, the only other choice they had was to hide. Once they were stuck in Germany without any options, they basically had no options. Their right were taken away from them even if they were innocent. The Jews just did not have a place in this jigsaw puzzle known as the world. In summary, I do agree with this statement.

The Eternal Jew

The Eternal Jew

When I first looked at "The Eternal Jew", I had absolutely no clue as to what this picture's point was. But after a few moments of analyzing and observing, I finally figured out what this picture was trying to get through. In this picture, a man dressed in black is featured and this man has a long beard and a hat on his head. This man has his hand thrust out with coins in it. This man also has a rock tucked under his arm. This man is enlarged and is obviously the main feature of this picture. There is some text on the lower-left corner of the page. I realized that the background of this picture is very bright and stands out, while the main pointof the picture is wearing dark clothing which is a sign on contrast.

The man in the picture, is most likely to be a Jew, as he has a traditional Jewish hat on. He seems very old and this picture could be trying to say that Jews are old and disgusting. The creators of this poster is most likely to be the Nazi Party Platform, which could be used to promote their political party. The intended audience for this picture would most probably be the genuine "German citizens" with "German pure blood". This poster could be used to show that the Jews were greedy, as indicated by the coins in the Jew's hand, and that they wanted to take over Germany and to have an communist government. I think the creator of the poster is trying to say that the Nazis generalize the Jews and is saying that all Jews want a communist government and that all Jews are greedy.

I believe this poster interprets both lies and misleading information as not all Jews are like this Jew. Maybe NO Jews are like this one. But all people do in those days, is just look on the outside of people and judge them through what they see on the outside. I also believe that the Nazi Party Platform may have expressed their thoughts with more exaggeration because, as I stated before, not all Jews are like this Jew. The Nazis made it seem like all Jews are like this one and that all Jews are horrible. But the thing is, the Nazis were the horrible ones by generalizing all people of either the same race or religion. The Nazis are trying to say that the Jews are greedy, and that they want to take over Germany with a communist government.

The Treaty Of Versailles-Fair or Unfair?

The Treaty of Versailles was created to end WWI, but this treaty was specifically harsh on one country, Germany. The different articles that were found in this treaty included Germany taking full responsibilities for the damage to the Allied Powers, Germany surrendering all of their overseas countries and Germany paying for all of the damages caused to the Allied Powers. As you can see, this obviously seems unfair. And I agree with this statement.

One example of why the Treaty Of Versailles seemed unfair to me was because all the blame went to Germany even though it wasn't entirely their fault. According to fact, the United States of America declared war on Germany in April 1917. They had ignored the concerns of this specific conflict because they didn't want to be in the middle of a fight. After they had declared war,

Woodrow Wilson vowed that this would be the 'war to end all wars'. Though Europe had been at war for many years, the United States of America seemed to have made it more public when they declared war.

Another example on why the Treaty Of Versailles seems unfair to me is because after this was signed, Germany was led to a whole lot of failure. They felt betrayed by the treaty, and they will not slack off until they have found justice. This led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The Germans expressed their rage on something they thought was an easy target, the Jews. This led to the holocaust. As you can see, this treaty is the head of a cause-and-effect situation.

There are many pros and cons about the Treaty Of Versailles and in this case, the unfairness of the situation was obviously a con. After many years, the results of the Treaty Of Versailles was unsuccessful.

I'm JJ...again.

Today's blogpost is a reflection on Learning Profiles, and now that you have a better understanding of your profile we would like you to write and share the information with the class. In a well structured response, (using the information you gained in class ) please reflect upon and answer the following ....

1) I learn best when I'm moving because I don't prefer to follow step-by-step instructions. I focus on the big picture. For example, when we were taking the DBQ, one of the questions was to annotate a picture of "The Fall of Icarus". I didn't pay attention to detail at first and I was focusing on the overall product. I also learn best when I imagine end results first and then by instinct, do what seems right.

2) I need to try to not be stressed often. I normally get stressed if I have a lot of homework. I am a procrastinator and if I have a lot of things to do, I will normally do it the day before they're due. When I am stressed, my technique gets worse as I continue with this headache. I should also be encouraged to work with aspects of life and learning.

3) The strategies that would help me in my learning would be that I could also sit on the right side of the classroom several rows back so I can hear easily. Another good strategy would be to do Lazy 8's which could help me in tests. Cross-hand and foot play lateral like writing or drawing with my non dominant hand is helpful. Tasks using the brain like word-searches, sudoku or crosswords involving math or linguistics will be highly beneficial.

4) I would like my teachers to know that I work well when I sit with/work with my friends. It seems as though I'm distracted and not doing work, but I actually am doing work because I know I have some people I can relate to and know very well. I would also like my teachers to know that I usually draw/doodle or play with something while they are talking. I still am listening as I am an auditory learner, even though it may seem like I am not paying attention.

Hope this helps a lot on how I learn!

-Nadia