Aria Richard Rodriguez

Reflection of Rodriguez

This powerful essay is a story about how a young man's life has changed through the power of language. 

A young Mexican immigrant, Richard Rodriguez, is the person whose language translated to English is very difficult to him. Despite his struggles in speaking the right language, he could not speak up in front of the classroom and was on danger of failing his academics. This all changes in the moment of practicing the English language at home. One time in that moment, Rodriguez's teachers came in to his family home and talked to Rodriguez's parents about starting to practice speaking English at home. Once Rodriguez and his siblings learned a lot about speaking English, there was understandably a division between the Rodriguez kids and their parents.

If I was Rodriguez, I would feel shocked of how power of language can destroy a family's relationship. For example, I think that the struggling concept of Rodriguez speaking English is a main target for the downfall of his family's heritage. This quote I chose from Rodriguez's essay is the part that he is describing "special feeling of closeness at home [which] was diminished by then" (Rodriguez 36). I feel that this quote chosen by me is the start of dividing a family based on power of language. Rodriguez's parents still don't understand how to speak English as much as the kids and Rodriguez himself. This is a good example chosen by me because of the way how families can sometimes split due to the power of language.




Connecting to how I feel about Rodriguez, I chose this cartoon of the person trying to understand cat language while the cat is still not understanding his language.









In conclusion, my feelings toward Rodriguez are shocking and interesting because Rodriguez's language translated to English as a Mexican-American is a story. Although Rodriguez is still alive at 75 years old, he can still tell childhood stories that connects to the power of language. To sum this reflection up, I advise people to understand more about speaking english rather than speaking at home.

Kozol and McIntosh

Kozol and McIntosh

A group of powerful essays from two authors talk about how there is an unequal distribution of power  towards students based on their gender, race, etc. This conflict spreads anywhere in the country such as a school, workplace, etc. 

Jonathan Kozol, a civil rights activist and a Massachusetts Native (Boston, MA), wrote a powerful essay called Amazing Grace (1995). He wrote this essay to persuade others that Bronx, NY is not a place to live and not a place to have good education. He examines a school in Bronx and talks to the principal of that school. While discussing with the principal, Kozol examined that "there are many students who bring to the school physical evidence of pain and hardship" (Kozol 2). This means that many other students went into school with medical problems and accidents like asthma, body burns from fires, and many more. From Kozol's point of view, he believes that school should be a safe environment to learn, not for injury warning signs.

Peggy McIntosh, an American anti-racism feminist from Brooklyn, NY, wrote a powerful essay called White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (1989). McIntosh wrote this essay to persuade that it is unfair to discriminate between African American females and white females. She says in her essay that she "was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group" (McIntosh 1). This quote expresses unstoppable hatred and racial injustice toward all American females. White Privilege is supposed to balance with every American's privilege, not to be discriminated.



Both of these articles have a connection because both authors, Kozol and McIntosh, wanted to make sure everyone is included in a familiar environment whether it will be at a school, a work place, etc. Kozol best exemplifies how education can be a time of inclusion for all while McIntosh best exemplifies how inclusion can be a principle term for all Americans. Connecting to their agreement, Lisa Delpit's The Silenced Dialogue explains that "there are code or rules for participating in power, that is there is a 'culture of power'" (Delpit 282).

In conclusion, Kozol and McIntosh taught us how to not only become good educators, but to become good people. If I was Mcintosh and/or Kozol, I would feel interested about this because I was once discriminated due to my disability up until my higher education (Late Middle School//Early High School). Remember, inclusion is definitely a power force for all Americans and my advice to all is to stay humble and kind.

Kozol Article:

https://sentry.rmu.edu/SentryHTML/research/29384.pdf

McIntosh Article:

https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf

TALKING POINTS:

• EDUCATION AFFECTED HORRIBLY BY THESE CHILDREN -- INJURIES RELATED
• RACISM IS A DIRTY WORD FOR MCINTOSH TO EXPERIENCE
• INCLUSION FOR ALL

Kristof Land of Limitations

TALKING POINTS

• LAND OF OPPORTUNITY: A REAL THING FOR AMERICA?
• HOW THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY INCOMES RELATE TO THE WORLD?
• EDUCATION - HOW WILL STUDENTS WHO ARE STRUGGLING FINANCIALLY GET A GOOD EDUCATION

Where are Strong Economics now, America?

Economics in United States (up to 2016 Election

A powerful argument questioned the role of economics in the United States. In the mid-2010s, many Americans had face economics struggles in their lifetime that affects many of their children from different cultures, race, etc. 

In 2015, Nicholas Kristof, an American Journalist and a political commentator from Chicago, publishes this article to inform politicians, who were running for President in 2016, to debate about the economic issues going on. If I was an American, I would feel worried about our country because I feel bad for those Americans who are poor and into poverty. 

Poor Families

Senator Marco Rubio

I read Kristof's article and this is really interesting relating to American parents being poor and kids being raised as poor human beings. Senator Marco Rubio declared that America is "a nation of haves and soon-to-haves" (Kristof 1). Apparently, I think that wasn't a right declaration from Senator Rubio to many Americans because these poor families have nothing on their plate to pay for school, foods, and shelters. Not only that families are poor, but their incomes and insurances are slowly declining due to the fact that they tend to be homeless. According to Kristof's resources, the economic incomes are less in the United States because their "'intergenerational income elasticity' social mobility is twice as great for Canada" (Kristof 1). This means that the Canadian Government has a more comprehensive social mobility plan than the American Government. 


Finally, I am worried about education for many students. Connecting to Kristof's Article, I found an another online article from the ChildFund Website. In this article, many students, who go to school for free, are financially poor and don't have enough money to get supplies they desperately need for school. All education challenges. This ChildFund website article connects to Kristof's article because children are poor and homeless and couldn't afford to even buy anything for school, but, they have free and reduced lunch programs based on their incomes.

To wrap it up, my feelings and condolences toward poor people are aggressive and powerful. From my opinion, I believe these poor people don't belong on the streets and should belong in homes and school where they can get jobs themselves. Due to the financial struggles, the economy in America is struggling to balance the inequality and kids won't get proper educations and/or jobs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-usa-land-of-limitations.html

This Is Me!

THIS IS ME!!!!!

Hello everyone! My Name is Ryan Fleming and I am in FNED 346 Class! I am very excited to take this course. I want to take this course as an opportunity and a learning experience to help young people become not only good learners, but to become good people.

Recently from last year up till present day, I dedicated my passions from Best Buddies in High School by creating a RI College chapter for Best Buddies. Best Buddies at RIC represents the meaning of inclusion and friendships throughout not only your college years, but also as you move on in the real world.

I help coach Unified Sports at Lincoln High School. I help coach Unified Volleyball in the Fall and Unified Basketball in the Spring. Along with Unified Sports, I am the team manager of the Lincoln Little League Challenger Team.

My job. I work as a Lifeguard at the Maccoll YMCA. 

I love to swim. I am currently a "player-coach" swimmer for Special Olympics. While at Special Olympics, I represented Team RI in 2018 USA Games in Seattle and it was an unbelievable experience.