An Anticipated Night of Poetry- Under or Over-Whelming?

Tonight I attended Louise Gluck's poetry reading. Just a few days ago I got back from Mississippi and Memphis for the Civil Rights trip. The reason I am mentioning this is because on the trip, although it was wonderful and education, I noticed that the majority of the speakers we listened to and the majority of the first-hand stories we heard came from male speakers, so it was a relief listening to a female tonight. I know that preface might seem random, but it truly was nice to be sitting in the stands listening to a wise woman tonight after the experience I just had, (not that there was anything wrong with all of the male speakers at all). I know that Gluck is an incredible accomplished poet, but to be honest, when she started to read her books out loud I was a little bit underwhelmed. She said before she began reading that she wanted to read her poems and some of her prose straight through without commenting about each one before she read it. So she read and read in this slow, soft voice. I could barely understand what the poems were about--I comprehend things better when I can see the words and frankly I just did not understand what she was talking about in her poems, although I wish I did more. I feel like it's important to be honest when reflecting on public events, and so far out of all 8 that I have attended, this was my last one and it was the ONLY one that did not resonate with me in any way, that I was not inspired by really. However, I can touch on the few parts that stood out to me a little bit. She integrated a line of french into one of her poems, which I appreciated because I have been taking French for all 4 years of high school. She referenced a Hebrew poem that is read when people pass away, and I appreciated that as well because I went to a Jewish school for 11 years where I learned all of the Hebrew prayers. Lastly, I liked the honesty in her poems and the use of descriptive detail for example how she smokes cigarettes or how tightly her hair was braided as a child. It is admirable that Gluck has been so successful in what she does and has made such a name for herself as a female poet. I like how she taught at Williams College for 20 years and how she continues to go around and use her knowledge to educate and help others. People like Gluck who can share their wisdom and express it in such a way as she does are extremely valuable to push the female community, and to society as a whole

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My First ADL Educational Experience--Especially Before College

The other night I attended an Anti-Defamation League event, mostly focused on anti-semitism on college campuses. Essentially, this was an event just for kids my age who are off to college next year, so as to prepare them for how to face certain realities. All of the kids at the event happened to be people I went to middle school with at Anshe Emet, my current peers at Parker, or other Chicago students that I know from Synagogue, etc-- this was relevant for me in the sense that I felt comfortable at this event, confident to actively participate, and honored to be around people that I have fondly grown up with. Anyway, the ADL is an organization that "imagines a world without hate;" the things they focus on are anti-semitism, civil rights, education/outreach, and combating hate in general. This made me think of the feminism strand because women have historically been oppressed, stripped of basic civil rights, and so I related this event to the hate that women have faced. I appreciated this public event because it made me reflect on my identity as a Jew, as well as my identity as a woman. I learned that there is a difference between ignorance toward issues like anti-semitism as opposed to outright, intentional, aggressive, hatred. To mend the hate or ignorance, the two situations must be tackled differently. At this event, one of the things we did was read aloud various scenarios of what might occur on college campus, and learned tools/phrases that we could use in those situations in order to have our voice heard, stick up for a certain belief, and hopefully educate others. I felt this was important because being prepared for what might be an uncomfortable situation, makes the outcome of whatever happens hopefully that much more effective for the person standing up for themselves, and for the recipient. Being of the minority in the Jewish community, on top of being a woman, I might face double stereotyping or outward comments, but now I know how to better handle that reality. Just because I am a girl or because on the surface I seem quiet, I am always entitled to voice how I feel. Another aspect of this event that I appreciated was the history that was integrated. In order to make a stronger point and to form a more concrete opinion, I believe we must know the history of what has previously happened whether that be about how jews have historically been treated (the Holocaust, the creation of Israel, the Palestinian conflicts, etc) or how women have been treated (didn't have the right to vote, domestic labour, sexual assault victims, etc). Understanding the basis of women's oppression and the basis of anti-semitism and the basis of many other issues that exist today is valuable to me, in order to be the best citizen/person that I can.

Watching Youth Empowered Through Theater

On Saturday I attended the play “Spring Awakening” at the Fearless Theater. This theater held about 50 people and the seats were basically on the stage, so it was an intimate and intense experience. The play was confusing at parts, yet perfectly vivid at others. There were monologues by both female and male characters, there were relationships between a young boy and girl as well as a relationship between two young men. Focusing on the women (hence the focus of this group), there were several different female characters. The two that stick out in my mind were very opposite from each other. One of the girls was outgoing and lively. She said something along the lines of, “just because I look like a flower, doesn’t mean I am gentle.” This quote resonated with me because I think a lot of times in our world women are seen as fragile or weak because of the way we look or because women are “supposed’ to be physically smaller and less aggressive than men—what’s on the outside is not always what is on the inside. This same character was supposedly in love with a boy. Essentially, she asked the boy to hit her because she had never been hit before. She literally said, “hit me,”  and the boy initially refused, but finally complied. This scene also stuck out to me because she felt that she had had her life too good and had never been abused or hit like other girls she knew. This was a controversial scene/notion for me because physical abuse on women is such a problem, and here, ironically, the girl was ASKNING for it. Was it because she knows that so many girls get beat, and she felt that she should too? Was it because society’s pressures made her feel like she didn’t deserve the good life she was living? Anyways, another female character not similar to the one I just described was extremely quiet and soft-spoken. Other teenagers in the play made outward comments to her about how she never speaks. I felt that I could relate to this character because people have often told me that I am quiet, introverted, and don’t chatter as much as a lot of other people, so I could sympathize with this girl. Then toward the middle of the play, this seemingly quiet character broke out into a beautiful song and she had an incredible stunning, memorable voice. This shows that just because a girl (or boy) is quieter, they might just be still finding themselves and there’s always something good inside of everyone, just waiting to come out. I really enjoyed this play because the issues are prevalent to the stage in my life right now (adolescence, partying, relationships, maintaining school work, being a strong woman, etc) and it was very necessarily to this feminism strand, seeing that the women in the play went through a lot (beatings by their fathers, pressure from boys to drink, even rape). 

BLOG REFLECTION INQUIRY STRAND

I selected the feminist strand for many reasons. One, subconsciously the events that I have chosen so far thus year have overwhelmingly fallen under that umbrella, so obviously I have an inclination toward this subject. Two, I am genuinely the most passionate and interested about this issue. Right now I am taking an elective called "Issues of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation" and we cover many of the details and questions that fall in the gender category and we focus on womens' roles (and lack thereof) in society. As a woman, I feel obliged but also excited to focus on this strand for the rest of the year. There are organizations that I have previously been involved in that I plan to continue with such as the Courage Campaign and/or Women's Health Center. I also look forward to finding new events to go to. 

Flash Mob (Also Courage Campaign)

As part of my volunteering (more like desire to be involved) with the Courage Campaign, our leader, Kara Crutcher, decided to orchestrate a flash mob. We met at the Starbucks on Clark and Belmont, unsure of who was going to show up and how many people we would get. We ended up having a small crew of 7 people, but it all still worked out. What we did first was come up with lyrics to a song that we would burst out singing on the CTA. We changed the lyrics of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" song to:
"What you want
Baby I got it
What you need?
You know I got it.
All I'm askin, is for a little Courage, Baby
Just a little bit
C-O-U-R-A-G-E find out what it means to me
C-O-U-R-A-G-E all for our safety
We have the courage to stop harassment on the CTA. Do you?"

With little practice, we jumped right onto the CTA, and our goal was to get on as many different crowded carts as possible, going every which direction in the city. We went about this flashmob by us 7 pretending like none of us knew each other, then suddenly the singer of the group, named Eva sang the first line. After that we would all join in, so technically it was a singing flashmob and not a typical dancing one. Some people stared at us like "what the heck are they doing" and others clapped profusely and commended us for our work. I would say what we did was courageous because most people riding the CTA were on their way home from work focus on getting home, or listening to their headphones, or entranced in their phones. We were essentially demanding their attention to raise awareness about a problem that happens right in the midst of where they are sitting! It's not everyday that you are on public transportation and see a random group of people burst out in song. I am not the most outgoing person or someone who loves public performance, but I was able to find a certain genuine enthusiasm and public speaking (singing) presence in order to make this excursion as awesome as possible. After every mini-performance we would pass out flyers, get off the cart, and on to the next one. Although it was a cold Chicago night, the 7 of us, strangers essentially before, became a powerful flashmob bringing attention to an important issue, in a fun and unique way. We had a blast.

Kids for Cash

Last night I attended the screening of "Kids for Cash." The "Kids for Cash" scandal unfolded in 2008 at the Luzerne Couty Court in Pennsylvania. Judge Mark Ciavarella and his partner Michael Conahan were accused of accepting money from two private for-profit juvenile facilities. This exchange of money (for kids) had been going on for (too) many years before it was busted and brought to public attention. As I watched the film, I saw kids being locked up for making a fake myspace page, being in possession of a pipe, and "crimes" that definitely do not deserve any time in juvenile detention center, let alone 4, 5, 6 years there. The parents were interviewed in the film and described how all of a sudden their children were taken away from them and didn't see them again for years. This one girl, who is out of prison now, talked about how she had absolutely nothing to do all day but sit there and get beyond frustrated about how she did nothing to be where she is-- the injustice was overwhelming. She tried to write to a judge, but he never replied and she eventually lost hope. This video made me realize how countless lives, especially youth lives, in this are utterly destroyed and this is heart breaking. One of the boys talked about how he learned rebellious things in jail that he just did not need or want to learn as a 12 year old. These kids are coming out of jail worse than they were before, especially because they didn't even need to be there in the first place. Judge Ciaverella admitted to what he did and said he knows it's immoral, but doesn't think it is against the law. This judge is ridiculous, cruel, and clearly oblivious.  He was sentenced 28 years in prison and his partner sentenced 17.5. Although Ciaverella is to blame for 95% of what happened, something as severe as this would not have been possible without other people involved. This is similar to how like Hitler during the Holocaust could not have done all that he did if it weren't for the other people involved, and the society surrounding him. I did not know about this whole case until this week, which is saddening and I feel that more people should be informed about what happened in order to prevent something like this in the future. 

The Courage Campaign

Last night I attended a meeting for the Courage Campaign. After Kara Crutcher came to talk to our senior class, I was instantly inspired by her passion and knew that I wanted to get involved. I talked with her afterwards and I told her I wanted to do more and definitely keep in touch, so she told me about this meeting she was holding. I went to the meeting by myself, not knowing anyone (except for Kara) and I ended up being the youngest person there, and the only high school student, but it was a really unique experience and I am beyond glad that I went. We talked about surveys (regarding sexual harassment in and around the CTA) that we could create to get our own statistics instead of relying on others. We brainstormed funding ideas such as video promotions, flash mobs, and community outreach in general because the government is not funding these ads for us. I truly felt like I was part of the Chicago community at this meeting because I met people from all over the city who were uniting for this one cause. When thinking about ad ideas, it was unanimous that we wanted something that has to do specifically to Chicago on the ads-- whether that be an outline of skyline or a design from the Chicago flag, and this shows the pride we have in our city. At this meeting I felt like even though we were a relatively small group of people, we are able to make a difference in this big city because we all have voices and we are all passionate. From Kara and from this experience I learned that you do not have to know exactly where you want a project to go when you start it, nor do you have to be 'connected' to anything in order to get the ball rolling. Kara had no idea what she was getting herself into and still does not know exactly where this project will go. That being said, she has already been picked up by news stations and made her face known in Chicago within just a couple weeks. I am looking forward to continuing being a part of this.