Reflection
Breakfree to me is a movement; It's a project that doesn't end in the classroom. Stereotypes are something that affect everyone everywhere and if everyone began to breakfree I believe the world could achieve incredible things. We could end racism, prejudice and discrimination. At the beginning of this project I really did not like it, I did not like that we were going to be forced to talk about and expose our emotions. This was a huge struggle for me, becoming vulnerable and telling everyone my deepest insecurities, fears and struggles. This was super hard for me but I am thankful for Joanne pushing me to "get there." After I read my spoken word at exhibition I had so many people come up to me and say they were inspired and they went through the same things. It was nice to know I was not alone in my struggles and my vulnerability got to someone and changed their mind about their situation. I was able to help them, even if it was in the smallest way. It made all of the discomfort worth it. Throughout this project we learned so much insightful history about a variety of races such as, White, Black, Mexican, Asian, and Native Americans. We began with the story of the early colonists, the beginning of America, and their encounters with the Native Americans. We then went on to learn about slavery, the immigration and wars between Mexico and the immigration of Asians as well. We were fortunate enough that Joanne did not limit us from the true and sad realities that occurred in American history. These lessons taught us about how racism and social hierarchy became institutionalized and we are still feeling the reprecussions of our American history today. My hopes for breakfree are that I can continue to do this type of work outside of class. I can continue the movement, with my own personal projects such as my music. I also realized I actually really enjoy writing and performing spoken words. I also hope that I would be able to be conscious of my actions/ words now and become an ally to help other people breakfree as well. |
Exhibition at Queen Bee's
This has definitely been one of my favorite exhibitions. The venue located in North Park looked amazing. Usually exhibitions are just us standing behind a table showcasing our product, but this exhibition was so free flowing, we had musical performances, art galleries and spoken words. It didn't feel like a school exhibition it felt like a coffee shop art gallery. The setup of the place had a very classy coffee shop feel to it. We had one giant room with a main stage where our musical performances and some spoken words occurred. Then in the next room was another stage area where personal music performances and more spoken words happened. We also had our video's displayed in that room for people to view. This exhibition was amazing, all the work we did really played off and the awesome outcome made it all worth it.