Opinionated Post #1

This is the monthly aspect of the program where I, your adorable teenage activist, state my opinions on issues occurring within the world, country, or even just my community and try and spread the word. If this becomes big enough and y'all love the concept, I'll make a poll with ideas for my next Opinionated Page. Now, this is November's Post and I realize it is December. I was incredibly busy within the past few months so I am only now getting to discuss the issue that plagued November and has unfortunately dragged throughout this month as well.

November: Police Brutality

Courtesy of Tumblr

I know, I know I should have started off with something that isn't so controversial for my first "Opinionated Post"... but I didn't. Police brutality has been occurring within the world for an incredibly long time, yet within the United States, many are just beginning to realize the proportion of these events in history. What if I told you that in my home state of Utah within the past year there thirteen homicides due to law enforcement? This statistic also shows that within the past five years, 15% of homicides in the state were caused by law enforcement. You may think to  yourself, it must be justifiable! But what if it isn't? Recent incidents like the murder of Michael Brown, the brutalization and murder of Eric Garner, the murder of Antonio Martin, the murders of fourteen other teenagers , and the ongoing protests against the lack of indictments towards police officers beg to differ that everyone in this nation is safe from harm. Police officers have gotten away with murder, rape, assault, sexual harassment, and many other heinous crimes with self-defense claims and complete denial. 

In My Opinion:  Let me say this very clearly, I am a straight, white, middle-class female who comes from an affluent town that is primarily white as well. I recognize the privileges I receive because I am of a certain socioeconomic standing as well as my racial background. I say this only because recently the correlation of police brutality and race have grown quite close. This has left many to believe that institutionalized racism and other forms of discrimination are still entirely real within the United States. 

Courtesy of Dream Defenders

Honestly, at first when I heard about cases such as Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, I was shocked. Absolutely shocked by the fact that young teenagers almost the same age as me were dying across the country by the police. I put myself in their shoes whenever I heard a new case, which let me tell you is more than just a few. Could you imagine walking down the street with your friends, your significant other, or even just by yourself and feel like someone was watching you and feared you? Could you imagine playing with a nerf gun or a plastic sword as a kid and get shot by the police for it? Could you imagine telling your children not to "look suspicious" or like "thugs" even when they may be incredibly kind and intelligent kids? To me, it sounds like the plot of a dystopian novel. 

Courtesy of Huffington Post

What scares me the most about an issue like this is the believability of every event. I am no longer surprised when I hear about someone being beaten to a pulp by the NYPD or a protestor murdered because they seek the end of police brutality. It's unsettling to say the least that I have become desensitized by police brutality because it is constantly occurring. Say all reports of police brutality were actually submitted, including the ones that were unjustifiable, perhaps people would take a stand against this. This doesn't mean to discredit those that already have, there are loads of organizations, protests, and discussions about police brutality occurring at the moment. Yet there seems to be no punishment for these heinous crimes, and as long as there is no change in our executive branch, more lives will be taken, more people will be scarred, and more people will feel afraid in this nation.

Need more evidence? Check out the links on my new archive for Opinionated Posts: My Monthly Issues. 

The Darkness After... The End

I'll admit, I'm not the most reliable author when it comes to reviewing books. My emotions get in the way most of the time and my overall opinion can become quite biased. Since this is my last post discussing The Darkness After, I decided that I will try and remain as positive as possible. So in this final blog post I will discuss what I think I would do in the situation of a post-apocalyptic world, specifically one affected by solar flares like in The Darkness After. Now, just to put myself in the shoes of the characters I will be unable to use electricity, cars made after 1980, and any form of communication. 

And so it begins...

If the solar flare occurred at school:

The solar flare hit the world of The Darkness After in the middle of the weekday so I would most likely be at school when this occurred. At first, everything would be just fine, no internet = no online homework, no printers = no paper homework... so I would have no homework. It would be a lovely change! Now not all of the changes would be lovely in a school setting, take for instance the fact that there would be no heating, no cooling, and definitely no light going throughout the entire school. If you thought school was a dungeon before the solar flare your definition of horrible would change drastically. Many high schoolers who could drive legally wouldn't be able to due to the fact that most have cars built prior to 1990 and wouldn't be able to function. Yay for human power! Since there would be no bus systems, walking, biking, and other alternative forms of transportation would see a rise. 

What would Grace do?

Funny you asked! In this circumstance I think I would actually end up eating my entire lunch rather than the one or two bites I usually get in. Why is this weird you may ask? Well, if I have to buy enough food to last until the world recovered I would need to walk at least a mile in order to get to the nearest grocery store. 

That's right people, I'm actually getting cardio!
It may have taken an apocalypse but hey I'm getting in shape!

After I had entered said grocery store, I would buy as many unperishable items my poor high school student budget could afford. I would then store these in my bag as well as pepper spray, a hunting knife, and a roll of duct tape. I mean, c'mon you never know when you'll need duct tape. It can be used for all sorts of things, including shoes if you dare to wear them. It would be impervious to pack or purchase rope, matches, lighters, blankets, and a change of clothing/shoes in case of an emergency. Yes, blankets can be used in an emergency not just for bed time.

Now, if you expect me to attempt this journey alone, you are quite mistaken. I would grab my closest friends (names to remain disclosed) and head towards our houses. The issue here would be whether or not to live in the homes until we ran out of food. Another decision to be made is whether to break up and go alone. This is when a young and emotional Grace would ask herself, "Do I value my friendships enough to save them as well as me?" And as every horror movie ever has taught me, I would make the good decision (hopefully) and choose to stick with a small group of friends. But I mean, the chances of me making a well thought out decision in this circumstance is quite unlikely.

I'm assuming on behalf of the group that we would stay in the house with the most food and transition with or without families to other houses until all food resources were empty. From this point we would need to break out our imperishable items we bought at the beginning and go on a small post-apocalyptic camping trip!

Even the thought of camping is exciting!

Considering that I live in a highly recreational area, nearly everyone I know would have camping materials. We would need to stock up on gallons of water, whatever food we had, resources to built and keep us safe, and backpack up to the top of the mountains. Animals tend to live towards the lower areas of the forest (minus say birds and squirrels) as there are more resources by water which tends to flow in valleys. The animals we would need to watch out for would be mountain lions and bobcats, in which case the hunting abilities of my friends would come into play. I mean, I'd help of course but they can handle the beast whilst I paint my nails in serenity.

Now that I think about it, the possibilities of me surviving without electricity are much higher than I would have suspected. Even as I sit underneath lights, next to my phone, typing on my laptop, my faith in myself has increased a lot. Actually, in retrospect that was one of my goals to find out more about survival and conquering the world. I guess you could say The Darkness After has proved me wrong about my own abilities! Ha ha! So I did learn something from this experience! 

It's been a rad time, even though I was mainly complaining and moaning about the book most of the time. I'll see you when I see you, or I'll see the page views when you read my blog... nope that doesn't have the same ring to it. Well, whenever we meet again, get ready for another round of awesome blog posts!

The Darkness After I Read More of the Book

Sooo... remember how last time I was complimenting this book like no other and was really trying to remain unbiased and pretty positive? Well, about that, the seas of change are upon us and everything has differed now that I've truly gotten the feel about what this book truly is, or even better, what it isn't. Now I'm not going to say I hate it, not even loathe, despise, or ultimately abhor The Darkness After, but if I am to remain the transparent author I wish to be I might as well say...

I can't stand this book.

Don't get me wrong or anything, it is an okay novel, but that is all it is. It is a mediocre tale of something that could be much more memorable and how should I put it, exciting. The plot has gone static which is the equivalent of rye toast going stale. It's crunchy in all the wrong places and you just want to regurgitate the pages you've read in the hopes you'd get some time back for the time you spent eating it all up. It would definitely not be on my "Best Books Ever" list nor would it be on the "You Must Read This NOW!" list, hell The Darkness After is only on one list right now and it's the "I Wouldn't Mind If You "Borrowed" This From Me and Never Gave It Back" list. 

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but once an author mistakes "its" for "it's" or "were" for "wear" I'm already close to shutting the book forever. Perhaps it's an editor's mistake, maybe the publisher didn't notice, whatever excuse I don't want to hear it because it shouldn't happen over three times. That's right, call me a snob, but it is perfectly fine for any reasonable person to expect meticulous grammar from something they waited two weeks and spent around twenty dollars in total for.

I started this book optimistically until my friend Julia warned me of the road ahead, I took heed of the warning, yet I didn't expect this road to be so bumpy. If you truly want an unbiased (and probably less dramatized) version of this story, look for the Superwoman, bright and cheery blog of Madame Molly. Jules' warnings were simple, like "oh the plot gets stationary" and "April becomes a cry-baby" (we book nerds are blunt in our character analysis) but at least I didn't go into this book expecting a miracle child. Unfortunately, I gave this book more hope that I should have leaving me disappointed. Here are a few of my reasons:

1. Badass or Just Stereotypical Teenage Mom?
• April Gibbs started off as a dynamic, strong, and mysterious character whom the readers were interested in. I mean, c'mon, who wouldn't be interested in a gal who kills a guy with only a knife and her pure courage within the first few chapters? Unfortunately her motives seemed to be holding her back. She needs to get to her baby. Oh yep she has a baby to get to. Oh did you hear about April? She has a baby to save! I. Get. It. Already. Maybe it's a lack of empathy considering I am no teenage mother, but do you really have to say "I need to get to my Kimberley" in every other sentence? I think not Scott B. Williams!
• April was strong! She was almost at a Katniss level of emotional detachment... but the writing style has made her seem basic and almost prepared for a post-apocalyptic world? Who is truly ready for a solar flare hitting the earth? Not me, that's for sure but that doesn't give the writer any right to make her static just because she knows how to wield a knife.
2. Just Kiss The Girl!
• Do you ever read something or watch a TV show and you just want to shove two characters together and make them kiss because they have so much unnecessary sexual tension? Yeah, that's Mitch in a nutshell with his one-sided relationship with April. Buddy, either you get over it and realize you'll never be a thing (so I don't have to hear the same whining over and over again) or kiss her already. It shouldn't be this hard just to tell a girl who you're practically rooming the apocalypse with that you have feelings for. It isn't middle school Mitchy-poo, if you're strong enough to kill two men with a bow you can build up the courage to talk to her about your feelings.
3. The <shudder> Writing Style

   

   My reaction to unrealistic dialogue

• I read monologues and dialogues all the time, it's an actor thing I guess, but that's what I do! I've read plays kids have written and some of the pros of the industry. But what really gets me is when dialogue doesn't sound even slightly realistic. You want proof? I handed the book over to my eleven year old brother and even he agreed with me that it didn't sound human, "slightly robotic" were his words. He said he'd probably read it for a while, but it would bug him too. Humans need to sound human. Period.

I guess I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to reading whether it be assigned or not. Either way, I hate to say it, but I'm rushing through this novel in the hopes of finishing it. I started off optimistic, but now it just can't get any worse. Perhaps you could say I'm heartbroken with all the opportunities this book missed. Maybe even a bit disheartened, but overall I'm just disappointed <insert disapproving parental look> but I will still maintain that slight sliver of hope that it will get better!

The Darkness After Checkpoint #1

In a post-apocalyptic world, who would you be? Would you be a leader who ruthlessly, and courageously defends your group? Or would you be a solo survivor, constantly looking out for yourself and only yourself? Or, would you be a surprising twist of a character who has more skills than one would imagine? If you said the last answer, you're probably a lot like April from The Darkness After. The novel tells of a world that has lost electricity due to a spontaneous power surge and narrates the story of a young secretive girl named April and the daring archer, Mitch.

I know what you're thinking, oh look another teenage dystopian romance! Nope. Not even close. April is a tough, independent, and sharp girl who is desperately trying to get back to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and won't mess around doing so. She's admirable in the sense that she doesn't give into fear, rather April shows her fierceness within the first chapter when she escapes being attacked, and kills one of her attackers, and nearly runs out one of her other attackers! She seems a bit distanced from the world, allowing her to have the secrets that she foreshadows to in the first few chapters. Mainly, April is fierce and resilient making her definitely my first choice for a favorite character but we will discuss Mitch later!

My only issue with April, or maybe just the writing style of the author so far is the static and almost predictable inner monologues April has and the decisions she chooses. Although I applaud her for not showing weakness too often, the lack of emotional connection between the reader and the character of April is unsettling. By the time I got half way through the book her major secret of being a mother was a shock, but the narrative of getting to her baby was just laborious. Call it a lack of spontaneity, emotional connection, whatever you choose April gives the readers a cold shoulder.

Now, I can't speak too much about what I dislike about April because if I was in The Darkness After, I probably wouldn't last that long anyways. Considering that April had her first kill within the first chapter and Mitch had his in the prologue, there's a ability I lack that they all have. I don't think I could truly kill a person unless it was out of self defense. So I guess in that circumstance, maybe I could survive the ruthless world April and Mitch face, but I don't have that much faith in my self.

I mean, c'mon Grace in a dystopia just wouldn't work out.

Although I've always thought of myself as comic relief, I realize I overanalyze things to a point that I'm definitely more of a Hermione than a Ron Weasley. Yep, there's some Harry Potter referencing for you! I feel that I would be a death (I mean we've already stated I wouldn't last long) that people would remember and cherish, something The Fault in Our Stars heartbreaking enough. So if you've understood my multiple book references, I feel like I would be a comedic yet intelligent member of the group who would eventually screw up and wind up dead somehow.

Death by pun is truly a noble way to die in my opinion.

So far, I'm enjoying The Darkness After even though I sense a stationary plot beginning. I hope that the plot will remain spontaneous and that the characters won't dull out and become the teenage post-apocalyptic cliche we all know and moderately despise. I mean, c'mon you can only pull the Hunger Games plot out of so many books before it gets old. Although, the fact that April has a secret besides the fact that she has a baby and the ambiguity of Mitch's past and his motives leaves much room for character development and the makings of a great story! You can infer that April's mysterious past will be revealed, most likely to her dismay when most secrets are discovered, and that this will probably negatively affect her future. Mitch is a bit of a wild card; so far we know he's on his own, but he's searching for his sister. The fact that he's already killed a few people proves that he's willing to take risks to get what he needs. His sister may or may not even be alive, same circumstance with April and her child, but the hope that they have makes them act spontaneously. Get ready for some surprises folks!

How Did I Get Here

Ever wonder how Grace got to Utah? Well... this is kind of the gist of it all!

A Summer Analyzing Immigration Comes to a Close

As this summer slowly bids ado to millions of students around the world, the topic on every child's mind is about the upcoming school year. Concerns over classes, friends, and even arbitrary things like the perfect outfit to wear have been floating through the mind's of youth all over for the past few weeks. These petty concerns are the last thing on the mind of immigrants beginning school this year. In the past year, over 60,000 unaccompanied youth have entered the United States, most of which will join the American education system this year as well. The worries these upcoming students face are a trifle more frightening than walking into the wrong class on the first day. Say for example, not having parents to come home to, not speaking the language, and even never having an education in their lifetime. Talk about a reason for anxiety.

A chart describing the cities across the U.S. facing the highest net total migration.
Courtesy of citylab.com

A report on MSNBC's NewsNation with USA Today Columnist and attorney Raul Reyes discussed the issues immigrant children across the country will be facing this school year. As there has been a massive influx of children immigrating to the United States, many states are preparing larger classroom sizes and higher education budgets for this school year. This all stems from the fact that any American child, regardless of immigration status, is entitled to a free public education according to federal law. So this means that upwards of 50,000 children will be entering the school system this year, impacting classes across the country.

Raul Reyes pointed out that besides acculturating and assimilating to the American education system that many migrant students will have barely begun to do the same in their homes. Reyes stated that not only will these students need an education, they will also require counseling, social support, and even mental health services due to the chaos they faced coming to the United States. This is an additional ton of stress placed onto their shoulders as they begin the school year this fall.

In The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande wasn't educated until she was about ten years old. In Mexico she learned the basics of living, but nothing like a true school could teach her. In Iguala it was very rare for children to go to school unless they were from highly affluent families. Since Reyna and her siblings were nothing of the sort, they didn't get an education until they arrived in the United States in 1985. Like the children coming from Honduras and other Central American countries with poor education systems, assimilating into the daily routine of schooling was no easy task for Reyna and her siblings. Reyna's name was changed on her first day of school from Reyna Grande Rodriguez to simply Reyna Grande, a simple alteration that began her acculturation. Her sister Mago even began calling herself Maggie as it was easier for the teachers and students to pronounce. In order to become a part of the system, they had to give up small things that made them special in Mexico.

The process of acculturation
Courtesy of hispanic-marketing

Acculturation is one of the longest processes immigrants face once entering a new country. Once you enter a country it seems as if the culture is thrust upon you, either you catch on immediately or you eventually pick it up. For immigrants, the transition can be shorter than desired. By having to cross language barriers, economic differences, and ethnic characteristics many give up their previous culture in order to become one of the country they now reside. Whether it be simple things like last names in Reyna's case, or larger alterations like they way one dresses, assimilation often has immigrants leaving behind their culture for something new. Children coming into the country in the past year have to face the stress of finding their identity in a new country as well as finding a sense of belonging at school, which is often an unheard of system for them as well.

Many of the children coming into the United States at the moment are coming from countries with poor to no public education what so ever. According to the report on NewsNation, thousands of immigrants have come from Honduras, a country that the UN reports has the lowest ranking education in Central American countries. Yet, the integration of immigrants hasn't been a problem before in the school system, especially in states like California, New York, Florida, and Texas. These states have seen immigrants coming from all over the world in the last fifty years joining the school system.

As a student currently enrolled in federally required public school, it's easy to see the difficulties it takes to join public school. The city I live in is fairly affluent and advanced, so we have wonderful programs that help children become the best and brightest they can be. Every year there are new students, especially Hispanic newcomers to the school. This is no surprise, living in Utah immigrants find their way to my home state often. It's not hard to notice those who fall behind because of the language barrier, no matter how hard English learning programs try to enforce the language. It's an interesting predicament because the students can see the elephant in the room, but we tend to avoid it. That's where the stereotypes and lower pathways spurt from, avoiding the situation at hand.

Courtesy of thelifedivine

Although thousands of students must acculturate to the new society they'll be living in, we cannot have a stigma about these newcomers. It's important to help the modern immigrants of today into our society, whether they choose to assimilate or not. Many are fleeing violence, drugs, economic insecurity, and are just hoping for a better life in the lovely country many of us take for granted. Like our ancestors who immigrated here, the modern immigrant comes with a dream. These dreams are to be taken seriously, and never sidetracked just because of their status. Stigmas, bias, and stereotyping has only led us so far, and no one wants to find themselves on the wrong side of history years later. Perhaps my series has made you change your perspective on immigration, because it sure has altered mine.

We are all humans, and we are all dreamers, and that should be reason enough to let anyone achieve their dreams regardless of the status of their citizenship. 

Placing a Stay on Passion

Think of your passion. What drives you? What moves you to go the extra mile even if nobody notices? Is it playing a sport? Is it documenting events in order to become a journalist? Is it caring for people? Whatever it is, I would like to state that your passion is valid no matter who you are or what it may be as long as it is within good intentions. Now imagine having this desire, this dream, this passion of yours ripped from your hands for one and only one reason: you are an undocumented citizen.

Cesar Vargas, an undocumented immigrant
with dreams of being a New York lawyer
Courtesy of nytimes.com

That is the beginning of thousands of stories just like Cesar Vargas'; a passion temporarily put on hold due to the status of his citizenship. Cesar Vargas came to the United States from Mexico when he was five years old, nearly twenty-five years ago. Since immigrating from Mexico to New York State, Cesar Vargas had dreams of becoming a lawyer for the state. He had all the right credentials; he graduated college and law school with honors, interned for several highly powerful people, and passed the bar exam. The only thing he did not have was a perfect evaluation that checked both his background and his character. He passed the character evaluation with flying colors, the background check not so much. The committee recommended that Vargas not practice law, and sent his case and the cases of many other hopefuls to the Supreme Court and higher legislation.

Within the article the New York Times wrote about Vargas, they also discussed how several states are having issues about allowing undocumented immigrants perform law in the modern day. New York, California, Florida, and a few more states are considering amendments to the rules placed over immigrant status. The largest issues are the fact that under the program of deferred action, immigrants who were brought here illegally as children are authorized to work in any field, including law.

Vargas's focal argument is the fact that there is no clause about immigration in the admission to become a practicing lawyer. According to the New York Times, "The crux of his argument, he said, is a paragraph in state judiciary law that specifically precludes race, color, creed, national origin or “alienage” — being a foreigner — as grounds for prohibiting admission". So why are many like Vargas being denied the grounds to perform their passion over their immigration status? For that answer I suggest you turn to the news. Besides a few recent events, immigration reform is one of the single largest issues in the country. 

It was still a major issue back in the 1980's when Reyna Grande immigrated to the United States. Even as she grew up, it was clear that the dreams of immigrants were different than the dreams of citizens. Her passion for writing was never truly acknowledged until eighth grade. When she was in elementary school she entered in writing contests, but she never even placed. The results of her first competition were down putting to say the least, "Out of the eight books [Mrs. Anderson her teacher] chose, not even one was written by one of the kids at my table, the non-English speakers". Although like Vargas, being told she couldn't perform her passion only made her want to even more.

With the subject of immigration reform being so heated and controversial, it's helpful to take a few steps back and look at a few stories at a time to get a perspective on things. I'll admit, I didn't really start this project with a super open mind about immigration. Having middle class parents who work constantly to maintain that status, I always considered immigrants without green cards and paperwork to be freeloaders. Yet, we're all human, and we can never forget that. I stated that in my first piece and I will reiterate it once more. We all go through struggles, but no one deserves to be told that their passion or dream is invalid or should wait a little while.

In reality, we're all dreamers. From the ones we have subconsciously to the little things that keep us hoping for better, our goals are what make us human. As a teenager with barely a tenth of my life completed, the world seems like an open book. That's why it's so easy for someone like myself to relate to Reyna as she was growing up, optimistic, hopeful, and constantly dreaming. She wouldn't give up till she made her father proud, and writing was her freedom from the dreary horror she lived in. For myself, I adore helping people and trying to make things memorable. I'm quite the sentimental person, so I've always dreamed of becoming a doctor so that others could remember the time they got back on their feet with a little help. Reading tales like Cesar Vargas's make any dreamer gasp, how dare you stop someone from doing what they love because of something as arbitrary as their immigration status.

I know I had stated goals for this blog, one of those to have a goal for each post, but I've realized that each time I write, my perspective changes. Sometimes those goals sound lovely and highly attainable, but your dreams change, and so can your goals. But to all those with a passion, I wish you the greatest amount of luck because people will try to stop you. There will be barriers, some small and some large, but none you can't overcome. Perhaps the one dream we should all share is that in a year, two, or just eventually no one like Cesar Vargas, Reyna Grande, or even ourselves will be told we can't achieve something just because of where we come from.