What Is Truth?

Sometimes it's hard for me to think about the truth. Throughout this term, Who am I? which was considered a term where we talked about philosophy. We went back into the start of philosophy, that's right, Ancient Greece where we explored one of the firsts, Socrates and Plato. We explored the Allegory of the Cave, we talked about natural philosophers such as Heraclitus, Parmenides, etc. We even went back to exploring our name and learning its history. At the end, we were assigned to create a podcast inspired by NPR, What is Truth?, in this podcast we had to give a brief explanation of what the truth is to us. What you are about to hear is my explanation of how I find the truth in this day and age.


Transcript:
You should get to know me more, i’m a daughter of immigrants, My father coming from Kenitra, Morocco and my mother coming from Ocotlan, Jalisco. I am a Muslim-American woman living in the U.S. Also, I live on the northside of Chicago in Bucktown which I find to be a diverse part of Chicago which makes me who I am today. Being an immigrant for me, means you would have to find who you are in order to make a decision, for example, leave your country for a better one.

I am usually comfortable in the fact that I know what I believe in. Because I am a Muslim in the U.S., you might think with the current political climate that I would be thinking more about who I am and how and if I am going to change. I know what I believe to be true and that lies within my beliefs such as religion. Because I follow the religion of Islam so strongly,


I believe in finding the truth within my religion. I find that if I didn’t find the truth in my religion, religion wouldn’t play a huge factor in my life and the way that I live daily. I have a conscience of my own. I know what is right from wrong. People believe that religious believers have a conscience of God and the way that we view things is strictly due to religion, but the fact of the matter is that it comes from the person that we have grown into. Our experiences have a great deal to do with the way that we view things. That is why finding the truth in something you believe in for example, religion plays a role in finding the truth.

There was a moment in my life where I doubted a lot of what was true and what was fake. I wondered if what was being told to me was a lie and what people wanted me to believe in coming from a family who was strict and knew what I should be believing in, and I think that it’s not just something that I went through for example, growing up and every night of ramadan having a whole arrangement of food set for 8:30 which was time where I knew my father had to break his fast, or waking up the day of eid and seeing presents for me but I didn’t really know why I only knew that it was for religion but at the same time I didn’t know what my religion had to do with fasting. but it’s also something that every child goes through when their parents have a religious background. Wanting their child to grow up believing in something when the child himself doesn’t know exactly what they are believing in.

Now that I was turning 15, my mexican side is telling me that I am turning from a child to a young adult. Things are not the same for me anymore, I have more independence now to figure out who I am and where i’m going in life. Making these life changes will allow me to figure out who I am. On the other hand, I have my father being muslim. At that time, I was wondering a lot of what I believed in. Now that I was trying to find out who she is, there is a role I need to play as I am a muslim woman. Wearing the hijab is a decision that is made between you and Allah.

Don’t get me wrong, of course there were moments like before I turned 15 where I strictly believed in my religion, yet I didn’t really know why. I thought that I was just supposed to believe in a higher power and that higher power was supposed to be with me and protect me. Until one day, I was watching a muslim youtuber, Subhi Taha, where he was talking about “Allah doesn’t need us” we need God in order to grow and to be safe and protected when we are out, wherever we are in the world. That really stuck to me because it’s all about the actions and the way that we think that the Quran can relate to philosophy. In class, we were talking about different philosophers, what they believed. Natural philosophers, one of my favorites Heraclitus because he used the natural material around him in order to gain knowledge. These natural philosophers. used nature around them in order to connect with the beginnings of the world related a lot to Islam. I think I see myself as being more observant and maybe more interactive with the natural things around me because Islam can connect to a lot of science. Big Bang theory is covered, Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, mentioned the atom’s, the formation of clouds, the water cycle, etc. were all mentioned before these were proven to be true.

I started to think about God. When I think about God I think a lot about doubt. Many ideas come to my head; I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder when I was in third grade. There are moments where a thought can come to my head and I will dissect it and think about it until I start to believe that the thought is true. I starting to think that God wasn’t real which made me very nervous because I was thinking about what my parents would think. I’m a person to not give up, and I don’t want my thoughts to control the person who I was or thought I was. I started to read into the Quran. There were nights where I would cry just reading because our book is relatable to all the moments in our life including the parts where you are feeling doubt and worry. The way that I can connect to my religion at a time that I needed it most when I was separating from it, yet at the same time I was becoming closer to it was an eye opening experience for me.

Overall, I believe the truth lies within yourself, and within yourself you can find your ethnicity, gender identity, but most importantly something that you follow, for me it would be Islam. Having something that you are strongly connected to creates a strong feeling and also highers your self esteem. When you believe in something so strongly you are able to use it in all of life. Finding something that you believe in will not come out of nowhere, just how God doesn’t need us, more like we the people need God or in any scenario whatever we believe in to be true. In order to believe in something you must find it.

NOT SO FAST NATURAL GAS

  My STEAM course this term is called Fuel. Throughout this course, we are exploring how we as a universe use fuel and the positive and negative effects that it has on the environment. We have three units, this one being our first where we explored nonrenewable and renewable resources. We explored the benefits and drawbacks that it had to the environment. For this AP, we chose a nonrenewable resource. I decided to choose natural gas, and I am basically trying to sell natural gas as being the most positive nonrenewable resource out of all of them. I chose a country in the world, Turkey, and compared their consumption of natural gas to our consumption in the U.S.

                        

Overall, this project has made me change my views on the consumption of fuel that we use in the U.S. compared to other countries in the world. This has definitely made me think about U.S. consumption not just in gas but in other things. The U.S. tends to use a big quantity of different substances that are effecting our planet, especially with our president who doesn't believe in global warming.

Get Offended: Poem & Performance

Throughout my poem, I spoke about who holds the power in the United States. I feel that this is an important political issue, due to our president speaking about kicking these immigrants out of the country when this country which isn’t his. None of us should be given the power to control our one country that isn’t ours. I try to make the connection with myself and the the topic by having me speak as all of the immigrants by saying “we” as the refugees of Syria, Mexicans, Native Americans, and African immigrants.

The poetic devices that I used were metaphors comparing “we” to the president. For example, “you call us rapists...your father raped the Africans and the Indians and the Arabs and then you get the alluring Puerto Rico.” I use repetition in order to prove my stance, “United States of America… United States of Terror.” I decided not to use alliteration as much through my poem only because I’m not too good at using it. I do like the alliteration of “terra” because you can see how that could lead to so many outcomes in wordplay. If I had more time, I would have liked to have used some more rhyme so that when I would perform I had more cadence.

While I was performing my poem, I did raise and lower my voice at times. I felt like getting louder people would understand the stance that I am taking and my frustration with this situation. I usually feel like no one will listen to what I have to say because I am a teenager and it will not be taken seriously. As I would get, louder I would also increase in speed to let my anger out. If there were points where I was making a remark to our president, I would look down to seem confused, but in a way that I’m saying something where people will realize, “Oh, I didn’t even think of that” or “Exactly, you understand”. If I could improve, it would be improving my hand gestures because I would use them to point to something or to myself but I would have like to have used them for purposes of imagery.

NBE Performs Get Offended from GCE Lab School on Vimeo.

We are the refugees you call terrorists

We are the mexicans you call rapists

We are the Africans you call slaves

We are the founders of YOUR country that you call pocahontas.

We’ve heard

We ’ve tasted

We’ve seen

We've felt the wounds

That are now scars

That become beautiful

Just like how a seed gets planted

Still grows

And as the plant grows

The flower blossoms into something beautiful

Then the flower gets abducted by the soil she grew up in

Terra

Torture

Torment

Territory

Terror

Terrorism

Terrorist
For god's sake
You cause the tears to be drawn by the strongest of people
Tears

He made them cry tears of blood

The founding fathers that founded the “new world”

“They shouldn’t be worried”

“They came here illegally”

Just how YOUR people just came across a country

The goal was to trade

But at the end they traded the people

The people who are MY ancestors

Who are also YOUR ancestors

It even says it in the name
United States of America
United States of Terror

Broken by boundaries

Tethered by territories

Terrified of terrorists

My people.
They keep coming
And they keep going back
They go back because you say we are taking your jobs away

YOUR founding father was the one who stumbled upon America

who assaulted the natives and killed them with the hidden gems

You call us homeless
But it was your  forefathers,

founders of the “New World” who took us  out of Our  land and made US homeless
You
Intoxicated US
Raped US
Sold US
Lynched US
Because your people found out we were useless

Useless

Used

Use

You used US

History repeats itself,
But don’t you learn from your mistakes?
Oh wait
Your people haven’t learned that one yet

So how do you expect me to learn something that your people wrote for me.

You call us rapists

“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. But some, I assume, are good people.”

You say we’re your favorite mexicans
YOUR father raped the Africans and the Indians and the Arabs and then you get the alluring Puerto Rico.
And you STILL call it U.S. territory

A part of the United States

Part of the United States of Terror

You

terrorist.
You call us terrorists?
We’re dangerous you say
YOU were the one who used used for the oil that you need to provide for your nation
At the end we just want to provide.
So doesn’t that just make YOU the terrorist?

You call us the names of our past

But what you don’t know is that you had a past

Your past as a rapist

Your past as a terrorist

Your past as an intoxicator

The past of MY people were affected by you

I wonder

Is the pot cracking because there are too many tongues?

Or is it cracking because of the defiance of my people?

The melting pot is cracking

With the roars of the americans you call immigrants

With the punches of frustration that is interrogating the minds of the immigrants

With the mouths of a foreign language although

At one point

Your ancestors’ language was the foreign one

You can take us out

But you must take yourself out first

You’re superior for now

But with the defiance of MY people you will not take us out “your” America

Sobek Has Launched!

  The name of this term was Rocket science. Throughout this term we were able to learn about the history of space exploration. The class got to go to the Adler Planetarium where we found inspiration for our rockets, what were were exploring through space exploration. We got to visit the Museum of Science and Industry where we explored aerodynamics by looking at the transpiration gallery that the museum had.  We were able to explore the different people and their diverse minds who were able to help throughout these different space missions. We were able to look into interior designers like, Galina Balashova, Katherine Johnson, who was a female African American mathematician in her field, and the list goes on. Throughout this term, we created our own fire rockets, looked into aerodynamics, and at the end we created our own water rockets. At the end, for our final action project we were given a budget of $1,000,000 where we could create our own water rockets. We came into this project with experience because before this we were working with other mini-missions that our teacher created foe us where we explored pitch,yaw,and roll which is important in aerodynamics, we tried out different mathematical equations like a parabolic formula, etc. These are my overall results of the water rocket launch!

                   

In conclusion, I become fascinated by the different fields that made up NASA. NASA has made it more and more possible to explore space and has connected all of us even throughout the hard times. Times of the Cold War we still managed to be together even throughout the space race.

Get Offended

I remember starting off my first poem talking about my mother and how she came to America. The DACA act is one thing that has effected my life not only for my mom, but just in the mix of all this chaos that has been going on in the news. I always try to put myself in the other persons shoes and try to relate to certain issues. Something that I had encountered as I was doing my first poem was that I realized that this isn't my story to tell. My mother has gone through so much that she would have needed to put it into her own perspective. I decided to write my own poem from an outsiders perspective. I think white supremacy is something that we all think about but are cautious to talk about it. I basically decided to write my poem in the way where I combined the majorities opinions into one. I realized that some of these lines in my poem are quite offensive, which actually made me quite hesitant to write my poem in the first place. That is why I decided to call my poem" "Get Offended" in order to get into that mindset. I used a lot of poetic devices in order to get my point across. I used personification like, "the flower gets abducted by the soil she grew up in" in order to talk about slavery. I also added in imagery while I was explaining how the U.S. is like a melting pot, "With the roars of the Americans you call immigrants,With the punches of frustration that is interrogating the minds of the immigrants ,With the mouths of a foreign language although

At one point, Your ancestors language was the foreign one" I like to use imagery when explaining these kinds of things because it transform you into this mindset that I want you to keep throughout the poem.

  

We are the refugees you call terrorists
We are the Mexicans you call rapists
We are the Africans you call slaves
We are the founders of YOUR country that you call Pocahontas.
We’ve heard
We ’ve tasted
We’ve seen
We've felt the wounds
That are now scars
That become beautiful
Just like how a seed gets planted
Still grows

And as the plant grows 

The flower blossoms into something beautiful
Then the flower gets abducted by the soil she grew up in

Terra
Torture
Torment
Territory
Terror
Terrorism
Terrorist
For god's sake
You cause the tears to be drawn by the strongest of people
Tears
He made them cry tears of blood
The founding fathers that founded the “new world”
“They shouldn’t be worried”
“They came here illegally”
Just how YOUR people just came across a country
The goal was to trade
But at the end they traded the people
The people who are MY ancestors
Who are also YOUR ancestors 

It even says it in the name

United States of America
United States of Terror
Broken by boundaries
Tethered by territories 

Terrified of terrorists

My people.
They keep coming
And they keep going back
They go back because you say we are taking your jobs away
YOUR founding father was the one who stumbled upon America
who assaulted the natives and killed them with the hidden gems

You call us homeless
But it was your forefathers, 

founders of the “New World” who took us out of Our land and made US homeless
You
Intoxicated US
Raped US
Sold US
Lynched US
Because your people found out we were useless
Useless
Used
Use
You used US
History repeats itself,
But don’t you learn from your mistakes?
Oh wait
Your people haven’t learned that one yet
So how do you expect me to learn something that your people wrote for me.
You call us rapists
“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. But some, I assume, are good people.”
You say we’re your favorite Mexicans
YOUR father raped the Africans and the Indians and the Arabs and then you get the alluring Puerto Rico.
And you STILL call it U.S. territory
A part of the United States
Part of the United States of Terror
You terrorist.

You call us terrorists?
We’re dangerous you say
YOU were the one who used used for the oil that you need to provide for your nation
At the end we just want to provide.
So doesn’t that just make YOU the terrorist?
You call us the names of our past
But what you don’t know is that you had a past
Your past as a rapist
Your past as a terrorist
Your past as an intoxicator
The past of MY people were affected by you
I wonder
Is the pot cracking because there are too many tongues?
Or is it cracking because of the defiance of my people?
The melting pot is cracking
With the roars of the Americans you call immigrants
With the punches of frustration that is interrogating the minds of the immigrants
With the mouths of a foreign language although
At one point
Your ancestors’ language was the foreign one
You can take us out
But you must take yourself out first
You’re superior for now
But with the defiance of MY people you will not take us out “your” America

Monarch

Deportation is an issue that needs to get solved. Being a daughter of two immigrated parents is hard. To see my future, I sometimes feel hopeless. This presidential election has made me think more about the actions that even people around me are doing. Makes me also wonder how we could change the world together. There are many ways, but the best way is through poetry.

Migration.

Why do people migrate?

Why do monarchs migrate?

Why do refugees migrate?

Do people feel like monarchs as they fly across their borders?

Feeling free as a butterfly when they step into new territory.

Territory.

Something that is not yours.

Something that has been discovered.

Something that has been taken away from you where you no longer have freedom in the territory you thought you would live in.

Something where you think you are allowed to start new.

Your past

War torn

Oppressed

I knew you could fly

She came here illegally

Leaving her native land

Imagine leaving your own land and having to start new. My mother had to go through this at the age of four where she had no idea where she was going. She stayed with a family, her relatives that lived in California. She was without a mom and dad for about a month.

Everything had changed for little monarch

My little monarch don’t you cry

You will get to where you want to be if you try

Try.

Try by leaving your native land and start fresh

Start somewhere new

Lonely.

Family lost.

Nowhere to sleep

No time to weep

Your family is gone now

*boom

Family gone

*boom

Child lost

*boom

Scurry and run

But where

Where do I run to?

No one wants us

I wish I was a monarch where I communicate with my wings

Where I could be free

Where I could be accepted

Fly

Fly away from here

Run

Runaway

Next destination

Greece

Border patrol

Many Syrian refugees that fled during the times of war. They fled to the nearest destinations which was Greece, Germany, Egypt, Lebanon, etc. Due to the amount of migrants many had to go back to their war torn country, mothers with crying children, depressed mothers and fathers because their family is gone, etc. was becoming too hectic for these countries accepting migrants. 

Go back they say

Go back

Go back to your war torn country

Go back

Go back where you realize you have nothing left

Go back

Go back to scraps

Go back

Go back to dead bodies of your relatives

Go back to see children screaming out names

Hoping to find someone

Go back to see moms sobbing because they realized there was one more child left in that house

Go back

To hear the bombs where you know

You know

You know that their gone

Go back

Go back

2017

USA?

USA

Liberty and justice for all

Start somewhere new she said

Flee

It’s your time

Flee

Run

Dreamers

They call them dreamers

Why

DACA dreamers was assigned for young children who immigrated when they were young and are looking for the same fundamental rights as an american citizen. This was established in times that former President Barack Obama was president and now President Trump is looking to deport DACA recipients.

A person who is unpractical or idealistic

Can they not chase after their dreams?

Dreams to go somewhere new

Dream to experience new life

Do I deserve a new life

Do I deserve to leave my war torn country

Sometimes I wonder

Why do I ask myself

I’m a dreamer

They call us dreamers

Almost seems like the oppressed have dreams

“I had a dream”

Someone who was oppressed was hopeful enough to dream

I dream .

I think to myself.

Why dream if they don’t come true?

But

Why be pessimistic?

Why be a shark that sees blood and fights back?

Fight.

Fight for what’s right they say

Fight.

Seems violent

Speak.

Speak out.

Speak out.

Speak out.

---

We need to go.

Pack up she says.

Pack up.

Pack up her father says.

We must start fresh again.

My isn’t going anywhere.

My job makes me a man in this family.

Provider.

Provide.

Supply

Supply for my wife and daughter

Im 21

I could have earned an education.

But i’m just a provider.

Supply.

So they left

They left

But they did not just leave for a while

They left.

They ran

She ran with her little monarch.

He left.

He left alone.

He left and came back

They said go back

Go back.

Go back.

He was so close.

So close.

Those borders.

Why

Borders.

My life has been created into borders.