Pattern of racism

I want to dedicate my third post to the most disturbing subject that still influences millions of people in the United States. Few days ago I read this article in The New York Times   that will prove again that racism is alive and thriving.. We are talking a lot about it in my sociology class and my Professor explains how “patterns of racism have ossified into organizational policy” and statistics show this clearly, these are only few facts that I want to share with you guys:

6.5% –  African-American people in this country

41% – of all incarcerated people in the U.S. are black

If you want to know more facts and have a complete picture of the current situation, I suggest you to watch recent movie that called “13th” on Netflex.

In Prospero’s Daughter by Elizabeth Nunez this topic was vividly represented by Carlos, a mixed race orphan whose house on an outlying island was stolen by Doctor Peter Gardner, after he arrived on the island with his daughter Virginia. Gardner teaches Carlos  “an exclusively European education”, but his natural brilliance far surpasses anything the doctor can impact. Unfortunately for Peter, his daughter falls in love with Carlos and when he learn this painful truth, we can see how much he hates him that even ready to accuse him in crime rather than to accept their union.

Elizabeth Nunez touches bleeding wound of the society that has been reflected in many many masterpieces throughout the American history.

#racism #blacklivesmatter #history #nunez

 

The Tempest

I am  re imagining the scene of The Tempest by making the characters way more sincere and straightforward in expressing themselves by modernizing their language. Miranda’s spirit in my interpretation is more bold and fearless, but still pretty silly about her life choices.

Act 1, Scene 2

Prospero: We need to go and have another talk with Caliban

Miranda: Dad… by the way.. this story was super boring.! And I don’t want to see him ever again.. he smells and ugly like hell! He horrifies me..

Prospero ( opens the door): Yea I know but he get stuff done, that’s what matters!

P. (Yells walking in Caliban’s shelter) : Hey, I need to talk to you for a moment!

Caliban: What else do you want? I’ve done all your chores for today..

Ariel (flying across the room):  What’s up everyone? Hope you enjoying the day!

Prospero – used to hold a lot of power in the city but got caught while gambling and soon after kicked out

Caliban – a young man, mixed race and mysterious origin. Helps Prospero with small errands, hates him but can’t survive without his mentorship.

Miranda – Prospero’s daughter, not so bright but like to fantasize.. mostly about princes, fell in love with the first guy who is not Caliban.

Ariel – right hand of Prospero, helps him to manage dirty deals and keep him in the know.

 

 

 

 

 

Touch the history

While I was browsing on Shelley’s family archive website,  I realized how hard it is to read and interpret the old texts that were written in cursive by genius people many decades ago. Such a challenging job to translate these archival documents made by the people who would never win any significant award for doing this. When I was clicking on one page after another, I was fascinated how talented and educated these researchers should be to do this kind of work.  As it seems almost impossible to understand even one word from these old documents: the ink is vague, and writer’s cursive looks as familiar as if it were written in Japanese. From the video, I found out that one can search this archive by manuscript and work, but also by the keywords. Moreover, I tried to read few pages of Percy Bysshe Shelley translation of Plato’s Ion and learned that each page of the original manuscript is accompanied by essential information about the text: when it was written, by whom, was it a draft or not, and where it was translated.  Before this website, I did not know that her family was so talented and they were even called “England’s First family of writers.”

Bear mountain

It was a frosty morning; the air loaded with the enormous amount of oxygen. After few month in New York City, it was extremely noticeable; I even felt a little bit dizzy that morning. We made a decision to go on our first hike together right after the breakfast and check out the Bear Mountain. The quietness of the lodge was so loud that it even hurting my ears. I have not felt that happy in a long time. The place, the people, nature were too perfect to be true. It seemed like I was dreaming and was afraid to wake up and did not make it to the pick of the mountain that day. The landscape outside was too relaxing and authentic like I was looking at my Microsoft computer screen at work. So we finally finished with our simple breakfast and were about to start our journey into the woods. There were few people, but the area was not crowded at all.. probably because it was still pretty chilly outside, but we were not scared, we were too excited. I was fascinated that only one hour away from New York City you can find such a great hiking trails and mindblowing landscapes with a lake and the hills and whatever you are picturing yourself when you think about a perfect getaway weekend from the concrete city. My father transmitted by genes the love for nature, we used to go on a few hours hike every single weekend when I was a kid, even when it was too cold.. There were never excuses for our hike cancellation. I was blessed by such an amazing parents who always were able to find time for our special weekend routine. So while I was climbing Bear mountain and enjoying the beauty of nature I was thinking about my father that day.

#nature #Bearmountain #getaway #hike