“The Rich and the Rest of Us” – What is the Real Divide?

There are nearly 150 million poor and near poor people in America who are not responsible for the damage done by the Great Recession. Yet they pay the price. The poor did not create the deindustrialization of America, unmatched corporate profiteering and greed, more than a decade of foreign wars, and unregulatedtax benefits for the wealthy. When the largest economic institutions in the world were brought to their collective knees, they went crawling to the government’s doorstep in search of salvation. The government obliged, allowing Wall Street to socialize its failure on the backs of Main Street Americans. The housing and jobs crisis they created fostered a poverty unseen in generations—not just in inner-city ghettos and barrios, but also in suburbs and rural areas crossing racial, age, and gender lines. Nearly one-third of the American middle class—mostly families with children—have fallen into poverty.”

—Tavis Smiley and Cornel West

“Class warfare” is the claim that Republican conservatives have spouted when the issue of economic inequality is brought by advocates like Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley.  What does that mean? It means that when the truth about the rules and rights of the rich versus the poor is exposed, the argument is that these advocates are discriminating against people who are rich, creating a “war” against people who are wealthy.

Does that make sense?

This becomes an argument of between facts and impressions.  People with facts tend to stand on more solid ground in this kind of argument.  Why is that? Could it be because FACTS can’t be subjective?

The excerpt above is an example of using logic and facts to support the rationale behind financial and economic instability.

I am not a political debater.  I actually get a little disinterested in the extended cable commentary that reiterates the same 5 minute soundbite over and over and over.  I just want truth to be spoken to power in an authentic and genuine way.

People like Dr. West and Mr. Smiley tend to cut through the political, pontificating rhetoric to get at the truth of the matter. In this case, it’s dealing with why only a small amount people stay rich while the majority live in poverty.  It mirrors the educational gap between majority students  and minority students in varying communities. The frustrated adults and commentators question why the gap remains; the everyday victims of this crime sadly become immune to its destructive results.

How do we change this? How do you fix this problem? Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as taking a pill to take the pain away.

It requires community involvement on a local, state, and federal level.  It requires pointed activism from the Occupy Wall Street movement.  It requires re-calibrating the opportunity scales so that EVERYONE has a fair shake at the American Dream of getting a good education, getting a good job, buying a house, having a family, saving money for your own kids to go to college, etc.

What do you think about this “class warfare”? Is it really a battle or just one-sided argument?

Making Your Own “Happily Ever After” – Titanic Returns April 4, 2012

As I contemplate the end of my 20′s, I realize how the positive and negative experiences have shaped my personal philosophy of life and love.  For a career, I need to feel like I am making a difference in the world and be passionate about my pursuits.

For my social life, I need real friends to comfort me in times of strife and tragedy and are consistent in their concern which only empowers me to be the same for them.  In dating relationships, I need the companionship of a best friend, the intimacy of a lover, and the empathy of a passionate philanthropist so that I feel safe enough to be the same thing for my partner.

Being a romantic, I have been reflecting on what elements are necessary to make my current relationship work through cinema-therapy (I know how that sounds but I am an unabashed romantic).  My favorite films I have been “revisiting” is a classic from high school – Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Besides the epic tragedy of lives lost, the film centers around the love story between a penniless but ambitious artist and a privileged yet fearless debutante defying the odds to be together.

They meet at a very sensitive time for the young woman – she is contemplating suicide so that she can escape her life of strict expectation and family obligation.  At that moment, Jack (Leo’s character) sees through the fine clothes and fancy jewels to who Rose really is – a trapped canary in a bejeweled cage who has lost her song.  It isn’t until he challenges her to fight for the life she wants that she sees him as the lifelong companion she needs and deserves.

When I saw the film in theaters, I remember yearning to have the intimate connection that Rose had with Jack; they knew each other as individuals outside of their disparate, social classes.  Rose and Jack had the courage to support one another no matter what obstacles came their way – threats of being shot, arrested, beat up, called ugly names, even a sinking ship.  How did they know that they were supported? It was innate.  When Jack was arrested for allegedly stealing the “Heart of the Ocean” necklace, Rose was stunned by the accusation.  But when she listened to her intuition, she realized that Jack would never steal from her – that was not the kind of man he was.

I wanted to be Rose in my own life – having the courage to love someone fearlessly and get that same love in return.  I think I have found it.

Trust is vital – without it, you are rowing the lifeboat by yourself.  That can be pretty tiring and emotionally frustrating.  Luckily, I have a partner-in-crime. I also realized that I need more quality time and romance from my significant other (and I am pretty sure he knows it too).

The advantage to being in a secure and trusting relationship is that it gives you space to focus on your own life and interests.  I plunge into new activities and interests that my partner may not be as passionate about as I am.  Then I get to recount the fun to him later.

To be clear, I understand that real life is not a fairytale nor one of Disney’s classic films.  There is no Prince Charming and no Hollywood “happy ending.”  What there is are real people making personal connections, establishing emotional boundaries, and making the leap to loving someone without restraint for the sake of being human.  I would rather leap with Love’s courage than be afraid to fall.

A New Adventure: Reflecting on Destiny and Stanley Ann Dunham

It’s a bright and sunny Sunday morning – my favorite time of day.

Despite it being Easter Sunday (which is sacred in itself for spiritual rebirth and family fellowship), this time of day offers my favorite reading material of the week – the Sunday Edition. Today, I was lucky enough to be given today’s New York Times paper with an interesting magazine cover on top of the piling. The cover was a vintage picture of a young white mother with black shorts with her adorable son dressed up as a pirate in brown sandals for Halloween with the title “Why She Went: When Barry Obama was 6 years old, his mother moved him to Indonesia. It was a decision that would define his life and hers.” That adorable pirate and that Barry Obama are one in the same – he would later become our President Barack Obama.

His life story is the stuff of folklore almost – absent father, caring and supportive grandparents and mother raising him, having to figure out where he belongs as a teenager and young adult, finding his footing to go to Columbia for undergrad, law school, working as a community organizer only to ascend even higher and higher as a senator and finally, the President of the United States. If you haven’t read his memoir, it is definitely a requirement for any educated person. But little is known about his mother, the woman who fell in love with and married a charismatic and articulate Kenyan from the University of Hawaii, producing a baby boy that would be “king” so to speak.

After the divorce, she met and married a grad student named Lolo Soetoro from the Indonesian island of Java. She later moved to Indonesia with her young son in tow to begin her international adventure of raising children, working, and travelling the world. It’s kind of incredible to have a mother like that.

All the while, she was instilling in her six-year-old son the manners, morals, and widened, world perspective that would be his signature persona as an adult. The new Mrs. Soetoro had her son reading from workbooks, encouraging him to be “a combination of Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and Harry Belafonte.” High standards for sure but somehow I think she succeeded in her task.

What internal strength it must have taken to move away from everyone and everything you know to submerge yourself in a completely new culture and country to marry the man you love. Bravery and courage almost seem too simple to use in describing such a feat. It was something steely and powerful inside of this “mild-mannered” Kansas native – almost like Clark Kent with the heart and soul of Superman.

I reflect on this chapter of her life with relief, relief to know that my new adventure has been travelled by one of the most influential people in American history. Okay, this is just MY OPINION but the mother of President Barack Obama was the person that shaped him to be the man, leader, father, husband, brother, and human being that we all have the privilege to know and respect. Therefore, she is a part of American history, one of the many stories from the American Dream.

I’m not going to say that I am not afraid of this new adventure that I am on in a week but I will say that I am more calm and even resolute to this new chapter. I think I have that travelling spirit of Stanley Ann Dunham, ready to meet my destiny no matter where it takes me. I pray that God will lead my heart to that destination and that I will trust in His plan for me.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Finishing Out the Week – Is Senioritis Contractable?

Finishing out this week is a welcome ending to a very chaotic series of events, both personal and professional. The best news of the week is getting an offer to be a full-time instructor over the summer in my beloved New Orleans. So now the frenzy begins – moving, checking out the summer rentals, working on when to officially leave road trip-style. It’s enough to make anyone feel completely overwhelmed!

But as you know, life never just hands you one thing to fret/get frustrated over. I had to grade huge piles of MLA research papers from my TWO Composition classes, totalling about 25-30 papers ranging from 5-10 pages in length. You do the math. But it wasn’t the fact that I had to grade these papers that made me feel discouraged, it was the overall content and organization of a certain set of papers that made me want to cry.

Let me explain. As an educator, I try to be as transparent as possible with my expectations for class participation, class discussions, homework, and essays. That is why I hand out very detailed syllabi with the breakdown of course material that will be covered every week of the semester. I painstakendly sculpted course material to advance gradually so students could steadily improve in their writing and critical content. Because a MLA research paper is chronically much more intense and difficult for students, I took great care in assigning simpler papers at the beginning of the semester, gradually intensifying the material to prepare students for this major assignment. I make myself completely available to students during office hours and via email. I spent many class meetings outlining the paper’s guidelines and offered MANY resources that students can refer to to help them in their endeavor. In short, I did EVERYTHING I was supposed to do.

Despite all of this active precautions and preparation, I have had to read papers that lack the basic guidelines I have outlined since the beginning of the semester in January. Essay headings are deformed, typos and spelling errors run amuck, in-text citations and peer-viewed drafts are missing in action, and repetition makes the reading stale.

I have been talking to my colleagues in the office and they are experiencing the same frustration with their own students. Somehow some students have forgotten the work ethic and professionalism they had learned from their college classes this semester. Is senioritis contagious? Can it be contracted through the campus air conditioning, drinking fountains or cafeteria food? I am afraid for everyone!

I think the reason why we educators take this so hard is because we care WAY TOO MUCH. I mean, this isn’t a profession known for its lucrative paychecks. You get into this profession because you genuinely LOVE what you do – you love mentoring and helping students ascend to their best selves “by any means necessary.” And that is why you stay up late crafting interesting course material, writing syllabi, and finding supplementary materials that we get you and your students excited about learning.

So to see the bright side of the situation, I refer to my students who really “GET IT” – the students who see what you see in the importance of this class and its material. They are the people I work for and give selflessly to. They are the light at the end of this very dark tunnel. Thank you for seeing ME the way I see YOU – empathetic critical learners, writers, and citizens of the global community.

“All You Need is Love” – An Innate Awareness and Direct Action of Human Events

This past Thursday, I had the wonderful privilege of planning a film screening of 2009′s Across the Universe at a college’s theater.  I set this event up for my two Composition classes as a diversion from regular classwork (even though the ulterior motive was to foster critical thinking and connecting the dots of human experience from 1960s to 2011).

While it was a meager showing (only 13 students came),  it was a beautiful showing.  A few students even brought cookies for the event.  I was touched because I wasn’t planning to have food at all.  I suggested bringing enough food for “the class” (of 15-20) but I know my students are strapped for cash (even more than me).  I didn’t want to push the issue.  Despite that, there was a great showing of fellowship snacks and shockingly, DINNER!

One of the students who worked as a pizza delivery driver donated six pies of pizza to the event, saying that his manager even donated an extra pie because the event was “for college kids and they sure will be hungry.”  I almost cried!  This generosity was the embodiment of the film’s theme (and the students didn’t even know it yet).

I also thought about how I can make the theme of the film have practical applications to our world now.  The morning before the screening I was listening to my playlist on shuffle and my MP3 player played a song I haven’t heard a few years at least – “We Are The World” of 1985.  As I listened the lyrics (which I know by heart), I realized that this event could be more than just a diversion from class; it had the potential to make history (even if it is just for these classes and this college).

So I decided to make the event a mini-fundraiser for the American Red Cross towards the Japan Disaster Relief.  The suggested donation was $5 but any donation would be accepted.  Before we watched the film, I collected donations that totaled $37.  That might seem small to some people but knowing my students and the financial stresses they carry with them daily, I was very honored that they offered what little they had to such a worthwhile cause.  That is a memory I was always remember.

Who knows what else we’ll do this semester? Visiting the Smithsonian a-la-To Sir, With Love?  Having an End-of-the Semester Party in DC? Get invited to the White House by the President and the First Lady? The President and the First Lady visiting US on-campus?  The sky is the limit! Stay posted!

“Don’t Take My Kindness for Weakness” – Moving “On To The Next One”

So like always (or every couple of days), my roommate and I got into an argument over unwarranted assumptions, arrogance, and general disrespect. But yesterday morning, the argument took a sinister tone.

My roommate needed a ride to work at 11 but I had to go in to work early because I had some clerical work to do before my 9:30AM class. He assumed that since my job is very close by and my work doesn’t really “start” until 9:30AM, he could take as long as HE wanted to get ready. Naturally, that logic was extremely flawed. There is MORE to my job than just teaching and I relayed that to him. I later addressed the fact that if he doesn’t inquire (or seem interested in knowing) about my work life, he will continue to assume a whole lot of flawed logic. The argument intensified where he called me “immature,” that I was “acting like I was better than him,” and that I was not accepting the “fact” that he was “doing the best [he] can do” by working full-time and getting a paycheck.

When you know a person for more than ten years (I have known my roommate for 19 years), you have a stable sense of who this person is and more importantly, you know his/her potential to impact the world. So when you hear excuses from this same person to not tap into that potential, you listen intently but know that those excuses are holding this person back from his/her destiny. That’s what I told him but instead of hearing how much potential I believe he has, all he heard was that he wasn’t trying hard enough and got defensive. Once he gets defensive, he starts yelling and I stop listening (call it a woman thing).

I realized that his emotional maturity is underdeveloped and the “chip on [his] shoulder” will make it impossible to have any honest conversation about his future. I also realized that it wasn’t up to me to “save” him – he has to want to save himself first.

So now he is planning on moving out at the end of the month and personally, I’m relieved. I won’t be tethered to his insecurity anymore. So naturally, I’m “on the next one” as Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter would say in his song. At this point, I am all about self-progression.

To Be Human Is To Be Current on the Latest Developments of Human Events – How To Help the Victims of the Japan Disaster

Last year, the global (and digital) community came together to help the victims of Haiti after the terrible earthquake murdered thousands and displaced even more people from their homes, families,  and friends.  We now have the unfortunate opportunity to do the same for the people of Japan.  Please visit the following link and find out how you can help with this tragedy.  Every little bit helps! Thank you in advance!

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20473235,00.htm

Wisdom From A Former Server – Seeing “Regular” People In Their True Light

Just the other day, I read an article about the four jobs every person needs to have at least once.  One of the jobs was being a waiter/server.  Then an epiphany hit me! I remember doing that only a few months ago and what I learned from that job was invaluable.
This past fall, I was in a financial bind.  I was working but I wasn’t making enough money to sustain myself and my new roommate (who was working but hadn’t gotten a paycheck yet).  So like most people, I went looking for another part-time job to fix my situation.  The problem was the only sustained work experience was in college teaching.  I had some experience in being a retail salesperson (at a bookstore and a department store) but it was less than a year in length.  Then I hear about a new restaurant opening up in my area and I am immediately drawn to it.

Mind you, I had zero experience in serving anyone except my family during holidays, family reunions, and family visits but I figured that I could learn on the job and I was right.  The first week was focused solely on training – being a “marathon” server, having “fun” while you work, and treating the customer like gold or better.  I also was the ONLY person who never served in a restaurant before so I stood out a little.  But to sweeten the deal, I (and all the experienced servers) had opportunities to “win” free food from the menu and was paid for the training.

Once training ended, the real test began.  On the first few days, local businesses and neighbors with coupons came for free meals.  It felt more like intermediate training with live specimen than actual shifts.  Either way, it was a winning bargain – customers got free food and decent service while we new servers got the practice and work experience we needed.  And some of us servers even got tips from the free meals we served.

Finally, the real world of restaurants collided a week later.  We servers got order books with a mini binder to carry them, aprons, the miniature menu “cheat-sheet,” and finally, table sections (usually 4-6 tables a shift). Then the “real” paying customers started coming to eat.  The real test of my serving competency began.

The majority of customers were very nice and understanding.  They allowed me to go through my server script of opening greeting and appetizer/beverage/entrée suggestions.  I made friends with the kitchen and expo staff so that the right food came out on time and with little hassle.  I learned to coordinate the time it took me to get beverages and input food orders into the touchscreen computer with the time to took for food orders from other tables to be cooked and ready for their customers.  I’m not going to say that it was a simple process but over time, I learned how to do it effectively.

And like new restaurants, more people came and more money was spent.  I would like to say that my tips increased but that would not be the complete truth.  The truth is complicated, like many things in life.   When I first started, I had trouble understanding how to complete a cash transaction for a bill.  Do I give “the house” all the money?  Do I give the bill’s cost to “the house”? Do I keep it and give to my manager after my shift? My training didn’t go over that so I had to learn through trial and error.  That meant I tried to hold on to as much money as I was supposed to, give those earnings to “the house” at the end of my shift, and hopefully, I wouldn’t have given all of my tips to my manager in error.  Some days/nights were better than others.

But what I learned the most was how people can transform when they become restaurant customers (and managers for that matter).  In regular circumstances, mild-mannered people are hospitable, courteous, and accommodating.  But something changes when these “regular” people cross the power barrier to become customers or managers at a restaurant.  The old adage of “absolute power corrupts absolutely” has never been more true in this situation.

Like during our “free meals” sessions, the majority of customers were very understanding and in good spirits when things went well and not so well.  However, the minority sometimes spoiled the bunch of the majority.  This minority of “elite” felt entitled to perfection at every meal.  Now I can understand that expectation.  You go out with your hard-earned money and expect to be treated like a human being (or maybe even royalty) at a restaurant.  I want that too when I go out to eat.

However, behind the curtain, with unreliable food shipping schedules, weather hazards, missing crucial ingredients/supplies, inexperienced kitchen staff, and evasive managers, perfect service may not be a reality in some cases.   Unfortunately, all customers get to see is the server and food.  The server has the uneasy role of being the face of the restaurant and if things behind the curtain shut down, he/she left dealing with it in the presence of the customer.  So naturally, the server has to think logically and quickly in the face of turmoil while looking like he/she is completely in control.  It becomes even more stressful when the problems behind the curtain are not revealed until the order is taken.

This minority of customers may only focus on the obvious – missing/late/cold food/beverages, over-booked restaurant, and slow service.   The manager may be called so the customer can vent his/her frustration out on a person of authority instead of the “inexperienced” server.  The customers may either accept the problem with some grumbling, get bill reduced for the trouble, or get the entire bill paid by the restaurant.  In either case, the tip for that server will be nonexistent.

I say all of this to say that working as a server taught me a great deal about people and myself.  I learned that some people in power will abuse it to make themselves feel better.

History-Making, Academy Award-Winning Film of 2010 – How Teaching and Learning Gets Awarded Gold

It’s kind of extraordinary to make history.  No, I didn’t cure cancer, create a new invention, or discover a new country/continent.  Nevertheless, this weekend, I was part of something truly unique and special.

My roommate and I finally did something together that we had been romanticizing about for weeks, even months – we saw the film The King’s Speech. Let me explain . . . My roommate is very selective on film choices and even more selective on films to see in an actual theater.  Why?  Have you seen how much a movie ticket is these days?  I don’t blame him at all. 

But this weekend, the stars aligned – he had a day off from work, I taught an early morning (yet marathon three hour) class and finished at noon, and more importantly, he got paid!

On this luminous Friday afternoon, he took us out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant which was heavenly.  Then we made our way to the upscale Tyson’s Corner darkened theater.

As the film unfolded, I marveled at its story, and ultimately, its heart.  Being thrashed into an authoritative role as monarch when your family ridicules your flaw (and really don’t believe you REALLY are ready) while your only confidant is your spouse made me want to cry - I felt so empathetic to the Duke of York. What a lonely existence. 

But like any good confidant worth his/her salt, his wife was tireless in finding help for her husband.  That help ultimately came in the form of an Australian speech therapist and former theater actor Lionel Logue.  Match made in heaven, right! Not exactly.

Like all men, there is this period of adjustment and testing limits of this new “arrangement.”  Now throw in social titles and the period becomes more intense and awkward.  How do you address royalty when you need to set up common ground to work with a student?  What can you talk about when the student’s past is such a factor in recovering and he does not want to talk about it?  The dance of sarcasm, humor, wit, and honesty between student and teacher built a stable bridge of trust.

But life never stays the same for long.  The status quo changes and we all are left trying to adjust to the change.  This change turned the Duke into the King (with his living other brother in voluntary exile with the possibility of returning to regain the throne at any time).  Also, the Nazi party was on the rise and war with Germany was eminent.  Talk about pressure!

So what does the new King do?  Like many of us, he FREAKS OUT by assuming that he can do the job on his own and questions Logue’s credibility and credentials as a teacher (sound familiar?).  The King wants to be strong for his people who is understandable but shutting down at times of stress and pressure never helps the situation.  As far as Logue’s credibility, King George VI learns that Logue did not have a formal education (or a doctorate) in his field.  Instead, he had real work experience working with WWI former soldiers on their PTSD that forced them to stammer their words and lose their voice.  It is safe to say that Logue was no longer questioned about his effectiveness nor his credentials after that.

Their work prepared King George VI to deliver the most important speech of his reign – his radio address informing his people that Germany was going to war with England.  But more importantly, the two became and remained close friends for the rest of their lives.  Logue was even appointed to the King’s advisory cabinet.

And the most amazing part of it all . . .  IT REALLY HAPPENED!  How extraordinary!  And what did Oscar do last night? Award the film with GOLD at the Academy Awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Excellence is always awarded and if there is a compelling story attached to it, the sky is the limit.

So I am honored to have been able to see such a powerful film.  As an educator, it’s even more reverential because at the heart of the film is a relationship between a teacher and his student.  It highlights the importance of trust in such a relationship while also challenging the student to greatness.  I believe that greatness can be achieved in every student I teach.  But ultimately, it’s up to the student to WANT to be great.  King George VI met his destiny with the help of his teacher.  I hope I can do the same.

“The homework is tedious and it was frustrating to do homework that is not graded!” –

So I came to my office  after teaching an exciting  College Composition I and ran into  a perfect storm between an instructor and her disgruntled student.

The argument began with the student saying “The homework is tedious and it was frustrating to do homework that is not graded!”  Very interesting.  And unfortunately, the instructor got sucked into the student’s questioning, offering logical explanations to her questions.  The student was not appeased at all.  She went further to discredit the instructor’s teaching ability simply because the instructor does not grade homework but only collects it and grades larger assignments such as essays. 

When the instructor tried to explain further the rationale for this practice,  the student had a temper tantrum, criticizing the class, the instructor, and the class material. 

At the aftermath, I asked the instructor why she allowed that student to talk to her in that way.  I explained that a student like that is not looking for a logical solution; he/she is looking for someone to blame and the instructor is always the target. 

She later explained to me that the student had been added after the drop/add period of spring classes which only really clarified the student’s frustration.  She was frustrated because it was too much work in a short amount of time and she was already behind a month into the semester.

The instructor still had trouble rationalizing the student’s behavior and I could only sympathize with her trouble.  I didn’t want to judge her at all.  After all, we are both in a very demanding profession where few get out alive (or even enlightened).  Is this the current state of college students for the 21st century?

What do you think?  PLEASE send me some feedback.