Wednesday, April 27, 2016

R.I.P. Amy Joyner

The violence in America is never ending. After I heard about the death of 16 year old girl because of a fight over a boy, I was extremely devastated. 16 year old Amy Joyner had an altercation with another student over a boy. The altercation then escalated to a fight on Thursday morning at 8 am in the bathroom of Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, Delaware. The one on one fight quickly turned into a jumping when 2 other girls hopped in the fight. As the fight was going on, another student was recording the assault on 16 year old Amy. After Amy had hit her head on the sink and been knocked unconscious the girls continued to beat her, having no regard for her life at the moment.


It's true that fights happen everyday and there is no way to prevent that. Sometimes people fight over meaningless things and sometimes people get jumped. None of this is rare. However, we rarely hear about someone losing their life in due to a fist fight. Although fights are common in our society, there were multiple things that were wrong about the fight at Howard High School. Accidents do happen and Amy hitting her head on the sink could have been one of those accidents but the problem is that they continued to beat her after she had been knocked unconscious. It's one thing to fight somebody if they are able to fight you back but the girls that jumped Amy seemed to have no sympathy for someone who was unable to defend themselves. Another problem with this fight is that no one stopped it. Even after Amy lost consciousness, no one broke it up and the girls recording continued recording the fight. Social Media and websites like WorldStar have had a huge effect on this generation because now every fight is recorded to show to hundreds and thousands of people.



Although the fight, in general, was wrong, the biggest problem is that the girls behind the camera chose to keep recording while defenseless Amy Joyner lay on the floor unconscious being beaten. This tragedy could have been prevented if even just one of these girls would have been more aware or caring. In that moment, no one cared about the lives at stake or the possibilities of what could happen. Amy Joyner would still be alive if this fight wouldn't have gone on so long to the point where someone got terribly injured. The girls' focus on "capturing the moment" and recording the action resulted in the loss of a life. This senseless act of violence is a wake up call and it shows the worst possible outcome of these situations. The next time someone decides to fight, I would hope that after this, the people standing around would break it up before it gets out of hand instead of taking a video or walking a way. Now we know, that simply doing this could actually save someone's life.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Carry-out: The DC Version

When people hear the word carry-out they think of fast food places or restaurants where you order your food and take it home. This is completely correct but when you hear the word carry-out in DC, you think of something kind of different. Although it's still food that you order and "carry out" of the restaurant the food served is different from the food in carry-out restaurants that aren't located in the District. A typical carry-out in DC consist of a combination of Chinese and American cuisines, from everything like burgers, chicken wings, and fries to shrimp fried rice, Singapore noodles, and egg rolls. However, what really sets DC apart from a carry-out in any other city is our famous mumbo sauce. Mumbo sauce is a sweet red sauce found in DC carry-outs that people usually put on chicken wings and fries.

From my knowledge, I know that chicken wings and mumbo sauce are what DC kids and teenagers usually order. I did a survey of 45 McKinley Tech students to find out where the best carry-outs are. When Christian Bryant, a senior at McKinley did the survey he told me "it's all about the mumbo sauce and if it's not red then it's not good". The food obviously plays a big role in what makes the best carry-out but in a city known for its special sauce, the mumbo sauce plays an even bigger role. I asked students of McKinley if the best carry-outs were in the Northeast part of the city, Northwest better known as "uptown" and Southeast better known as the "Southside" of DC. Out of 45 students, 18 said the best carry-outs are in Northeast, 6 said Uptown, and 21 said the best carry-outs are on the Southside. For most of these students, the mumbo sauce was their deciding factor in this survey. For the residents of DC and DC visitors, if you're looking for the best place to get chicken wings and mumbo sauce, you'll find it in Southeast.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Black Privilege

Although I understand why some may mistake black empowerment for black privilege, let me explain the distinction between the two. The difference is that black privilege simply does not exist. Black privilege is a concept that has been invented by the racists in America to keep black people beneath them so that they remain superior. These people are scared that the organizations that empower black people are assisting in the disappearance of the social hierarchy that has existed in America for so long to uphold white supremacy.

I will agree that black people are given advantages that people of other races do not have. But isn't it fair that the black community receive some sort of recognition or compensation for the decades of oppression that we have endured. If the organizations made for the black community offend certain people, and by certain people I mean white supremacists, then I suggest you open your mind and accept that these organizations only serve the sole purpose of giving black people hope. In a society where our race has been discriminated against and put down because of the color of our skin, hope was our only way out. Organizations like the NAACP gave us hope that we could rise from oppression and advance in an America whose foundation was built upon the advancement of only white men.

It's my opinion that a White History Month shouldn't even be thought of. The months that belong to certain cultures and races are a celebration of our history and our ancestors who fought for where we are now. Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Asian Heritage Month are all examples of this. Months that are made into holidays are for these  people from  different cultures who are labeled as "minorities". They are made so they know where they came from. It's a celebration that says I'm proud to be black, I'm proud to be Hispanic, or I'm proud to be Asian even though America was not made to help us prosper. They are merely a representation of the struggles we've faced and obstacles we've overcome as minorities in America. Therefore the recognition of a White History Month would be an insult to our cultures who have struggled because of White supremacists. What struggles will a White History Month represent? The struggle of being born with better opportunities?  Or the struggle of being superior to other races ? If we're talking about privilege it is clear that it only belongs to the white race in America. So when discussing privilege be more conscious of what the word means and remember that the difference between black privilege and white privilege are their existence.