Feeling impatient walking to the site slipping on the ice there is so much I have to do today this week I don't have any time for leisure how do I have time to walk to this new place I don't even know where it is where am I going why is it so far why does this feel like leisure I can't afford leisure my thoughts are swirling I have to write papers I have to make a post and read and do my petrology homework I have to pack for leaving I have to practice my lines for rehearsals I have to remind myself to eat I have to clean my room do my laundry I have to apply for jobs I need a summer job what if I get no summer jobs what will I do I have to prepare for my phone interview on Wednesday I have to call my parents my mind is not present in the moment all it can think about is the future and d

The background image is "Taboo" by Jacob Lawrence and the text is "Cross" by Langston Hughes. 

Sergio Diaz Luna

Multicultural Ed

Professor Cohen

1 March 2015

The Professor

Tong Tong

Professor Cohen

EDUC B260: Multicultural Education

02/28/2015

Cultural Autobiography

        The word “identity” has been in my dictionary for only 18 months, the time I spent here in America. I have never heard this term, never thought about this idea, and could not even find a translation in Chinese. Berlak wrote: “No one was white before s/he came to America.” This is exactly how I feel. When I was first asked about my identity, I did not know how to answer this question, and neither did I understand how my past had shaped my identity. As I started to take classes involving issues like race, gender and nationality, I began to ask myself the question: “How do you identify yourself?”

            I was on the floor in my two-story house covered with paintings and political figures outlining in bold black letters: “No War on Iraq,” on white poster paper and betting my brother, “I think there are going to be 1,000, not 3,000 people at tomorrow’s rally.” I was trying to decide which shirt I was going to wear- the one that read, “Democracy is not a Spectator Sport” or “Act Against War on Empire.” I was excited about going to Donald Rumsfeld’s house, the Secretary of State at the time, to tell him that he was a war criminal and responsible for thousands of deaths in Iraq.

I decided to visit my assigned partner's site this week after having gone to the Posse Plus Retreat 2015 on Crime and Punishment. I have never really questioned or challenged the space around me on campus. I have never really considered how every student on campus uses and utilize this space differently. I have never really imagined all the different interactions this space holds. I have never thought that this space could be considered unsafe for some people. I have never seen how much this space could stir up so many hurt, anger and pain.

I GO DOWN TO THE SHORE

I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.

-Mary Oliver

Voice Recording of my Response: https://soundcloud.com/saragladwin/interruptions-3-1-15-909-pm

I was born in New York City in 1995.  My father is a professor of economics at the NYU Stern School of Business and my mother is a family therapist.  Even though my mother was Protestant and father was Jewish, we celebrated Christmas with my mom’s side of the family and Passover and Hanukkah with my dad’s side.  I actually asked them at one point, “Dad, you’re Jewish, and Mom, you’re Christian.  So what does that make me?”  They responded, “Sweetie, you can choose whatever you want to be.”  Looking back that really meant a lot, because religion wasn’t a big role in our lives, and frankly I liked that.