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.

Female=Future

For this Humanities term, we were focused on the 17 SDGs. For each unit we had to write a different essay focusing on a specific SDG. For my first SDG essay, I wrote on SDG #16 which was Peace and Justice. Equality plays a huge role in our society so I decided to talk about it. I described the differences in different countries, how different countries are supposed to focus on specific issues such as violence. Second unit, we focused on gender inequality. We were able to meet with someone from the Women's Health Center, where they discussed issues on women's healthcare. For the last unit, we were supposed to tie both issues like SDG #16 and domestic behaviors, and figuring which SDG combines both essays.

All in all, these SDGs really taught me about how our world is changing. Although, before some people living in the U.S. thought after the presidential election everything will change for the worse. But, we have these organizations and foundations like the U.N. that will make society better by creating these SDGs.

Works Cited:

United Nations,Goal 3 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform,United Nations,October 30, 2017

 
Vox,California decided it was tired of women bleeding to death Vox,June 29, 2017
, October 30, 2017, Julia Belluz 

NPR, U.S. Has The Worst Rate Of Maternal Deaths In The Developed NPR, May 12, 2017
,October 30, 2017, ProPublica Nina Martin, Renee Montagne

If You Can't Stand the Heat- It's Probably Global Warming

Climate change is an issue. What we did this unit was we spoke about temperature conversions, the carbon cycle, the difference in weather and climate, natural disasters, watersheds, number line, and atmospheric layers. "We had in house guests, like Mark Mesle who has observed climate change."We also had an environmental engineer from the EPA who spoke more about what she does and what she is building to help with floods across the U.S. Lastly, "we had a Skype session with a meteorologist from Florida where he spoke about his job, and how there are three different jobs that go into being a meteorologist: graphic designer, presenter, and scientist." We were assigned to choose a specific city where we would find the annual temperature change, based on the rise of CO2 in our atmosphere. I decided to choose Paris, France as my city and found results on what the temperature and global temperature change will be like in the year 2100.


                     

To conclude, global change will be affecting us, and as you can see by the results that I received climate change will even be controlling the way we live day by day. As I was doing my calculations and learning more on climate change I began to come to the realization that we must act upon this issue now. It's only in a matter of time that we will see more and more changes put into this world. As a developing country, we are finding more and more ideas, but these ideas may be effecting our environment in a negative way.

Can You Filter Filthy Water at Home?

In this course, we have been talking about when and how water came to Earth. Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, but how was water brought to Earth? We learned that due to the amount of volcanoes during this era, the evaporation of volcanoes made clouds which formed rain. In outer space, comets consist of ice, so what we learned was that a comet had hit our planet which brought the other half of our current 71% of water on earth. At GCE we were able to construct water filters. How you may ask? Well, we went down to the Jardine Water Purification Plant, around Navy Pier in order to get a better idea of how water filters are used and how we can make our water filters possibly the best. Now when I say the best I don't mean an ideal moneymaker, I mean something that would be easy for someone who is going through a water crisis. Usually it is preferred for someone who is in need of potable water to boil the non potable water, but many people don't know that the lead samples in the water will rise, which will cause a hazard. In order to change the pH sample, I made sure that my filter went through many processes before finally coming out. My main question I had was: How does water get filtered using sand, gravel, and activated carbon? Many of the sources that I had looked up on "How to Filter Water at Home?" had led me to using these three main ingredients such as: Hermit Crab Sand, Aquarium Gravel, and Activated Carbon.


MATERIALS USED:

Coffee filters
Hermit Crab Sand
Gravel
Activated Carbon
Jar
Plastic Bottle
Cloth
STEP BY STEP PROCESS:

Punch a hole through the cap
Cut the plastic bottle in half
Coffee filter to cover the opening of spigot.
Tighten the cap back onto the filter with coffee filter
Put the activated carbon inside the plastic bottle
Put gravel
Put coarse sand
Get a jar
Put the dirty water into the filter
Have filtered water come out, clean and fresh!

My hypothesis was if I use activated carbon, aquarium gravel, and hermit crab sand then, the dirtiest water will get filtered into clean, drinkable water. This is similar to the ground water filters because. usually ground water filters use natural resources such as gravel, natural sand, and minerals. These natural resources are used to filter water which is exactly what my filter is used for. The activated carbon is a replicant of what the underwater volcanoes release.

I created a spigot on the cap of the water bottle, where I poked holes through the cap in order for the water to come out. Then, I put cloth from a t-shirt on top of the mason jar so that before the water comes out it can go through an extra process. Then, before I covered the bottle, I decided to put two coffee filters inside of the plastic bottle. For the natural part of the filtration process, I decided to use the biggest rock that was available for me, so I used aquarium gravel. I also used Hermit Crab sand which is a finer sand compared to other sand. Lastly, I used activated carbon since it’s used to have a clean scent and turn the pH levels from acidic to basic levels.


Sketch of Filter:

 

NB(2017) Can You Filter Filthy Water at Home?

Inspiration for filter
My Water Filter:

                                            NB(2017) Can You Filter Filthy Water at Home?

Results:

	Before	After
Look	Mulch, soil, leaves, cloudy, dark brown water.	Cloudy, slightly yellow
Smell	Garden, earthy, playground scent.	Earthy
pH	5.4	6.0
H +	3.981 x 10^-7	1 x 10^-6

I decided to use the water from the tap at GCE, but I decided to throw in some soil, mulch, and leaves that were outside in order to see if my filter will change in color.

Before: Before the water smelled like a playground or a garden. It really did have an earthy scent to it. For looks, I put mulch, rock, and dry leaves inside of the water from our school garden. The water looked dark brown because of the mulch and dirt that was in the water before.

After: The water was clearer than it was before, with no leaves, dirt, or mulch, including the materials that I used for the filter. The scent was there at first. The scent at the beginning still smelled like that garden, earthy scent, but then I checked back a bit after and the scent had completely changed. The water was cloudy, and the color was slightly yellow.

To conclude, my hypothesis was right. I was able to filter out my water into semi-clean water compared to before which was a dirty, murky, slimy substance. I was also shocked to find out that my PH levels had risen from a 5.4 to 6.0. My "before" sample had (10^-5.4/10^-6.0 = 3.981) times the H+ as my "after." I wasn’t too sure that my filter would have changed the pH levels. I was able to clear out the mulch, soil, and leaves from the water, and was able to be left with a cloudy yellow substance which is better than what I had before. I enjoyed this project because this project really opened my eyes on how I can help someone out that is going through a water crisis currently. I was a bit doubtful of what my results were going to be before, but once I learned that my pH scale rose then I realized how this could help someone who doesn't have access to potable water like I do. Making a water filter never really came across my mind because for a person who lives in an area where they are able to access potable water everywhere around them, I didn't know how I was able to create one or how it would affect my life in any way.

Works Cited:

Lunney, Dylan, “File:Ohorizons Concrete BioSand Filter.png” Wikimedia Commons, 20,Jul,2015, Wikimedia Commons, 1, Jul, 2013,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ohorizons_Concrete_BioSand_Filter.png
Morgan, Vanessa, WikiHow, “How to Make a Water Filter”, 28, Sep. 2017 https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Water-Filter

Do You Keep Track of Water?

This is for my water class. We are wrapping up the unit 71% where we learned about the water crisis occurring in different parts of the world, we calculated the amount of potable water versus the non potable water in this world. We had a field experience which is basically where we had to go to the local Chicago River, we had to bring buckets in order to carry the water back to the school which was .2 miles apart. I carried approximately 1.5 gallons in 8.84 mins. I now have a project where we make our calculations of our daily usage of water we use in a day, and calculate how long that would take, how many gallons I would carry each trip, etc.  I will also have to explain my own experience in carrying this water and how I feel about these water crisis that are happening globally.

I never really thought about the amount of water that I used on a daily basis, until one day in class my teacher asked me to estimate the amount of water that I used in a day. I estimated about fifteen gallons of water per day, turns out in reality I use about two hundred thirty-nine gallons of water per day. This was really an eye opener for me to finally realize the amount of water we use per day. I use more gallons of water than an average person uses water in liters. It really concerns me because I even use more water per day than an average person in America, around five hundred seventy-five in liters, which is 2213.75 gallons.  We think about the real problems in the world, but we never really put an action into it, we should begin to think more about the change we must make. Even the smallest changes make the biggest impact by just closing the tap while you’re nut using it or taking less time in the shower. Most of my water usage came from taking thirty five minute showers, which I would use one hundred seventy-five gallons of water. I have tried something out where now I will take fifteen minute showers, which cuts me down by one hundred gallons of water, basically means that I am now using seventy five gallons of water per shower. While it looks like quite a lot, by cutting down the amount of time you use the most water it will also lead to a decrease in the amount of water usage per day. This really got me thinking about the phrase, “ A little goes a long way”, the less water you use means more water for the people who need it. Think about being a child in a poverty country. Whatever your daily usage of water might be, think about the amount of trips you would have to take per day. My calculations show me that it would take me about It takes me about 8  mins to carry 1 ½ gallons of water. I would have to carry around 237.5 more gallons of water the whole day in order to get to my score. It would take me 48 hours to collect the amount of water that I need per day. I figured this out by multiplying the amount of minutes which was 8.84 times I would have two days in order to get the amount of water that I only need for one day. Many people think about fetching water as a job because it does take most of your day, and you need to provide the sufficient amount for your family.    Do you ever think about the amount of water you are really using throughout the day? Ever think about the gallons of water you use while taking a shower? Washing Dishes? Or even drinking water? These are all things that I never thought about until I made the calculations. Turns out I use about 239 gallons of water which is more than the amount a person uses water daily in Japan. This certainly was an eye opener for me, I now realize how much water takes a big part of my life. We need to stand up, we need to help these people in Bolivia, Africa, and even such places as Detroit, Michigan. There are many changes that should be made, but for now let’s start by simply just turning off the tap when not using it. I tried this while taking a shower, before I used 175 gallons of water while taking a shower, and I now only take 15 mins to take a shower which is now only 75 gallons of water.

NBE (2017) Do You Keep Track of Water?

Overall, I really enjoyed this project because I got to experience what others are going through day by day. I think everyone should go out and experience something, because I know we think about all these issues going on in the world, but once you experience what's actually happening you get to really connect with the world and actually take action in these problems that are going on.  The more we begin to take action in these issues the faster these problems will get solved. I am proud to have a different mind set of the situation, and that I will now think more about my daily water usage and actually take part in making a change from now on.


CITATIONS

Images: Pixabay, "American Flag Patriotism Symbol Red White Blue" June 13, 2014

NB, "My Daily Usage of Water" Sept. 20, 2017

Pixabay, "Bucket Water Tub" Oct. 12, 2013

Pixabay, Women Ethic African People, Aug. 17, 2016

SF Bright colorful cartoon background green grass river forest blue sky, 2014

Wikimedia Commons, Japan Regions Map, 26 December 2009

H2O: Long Walk to Water and A World Without Water Connection

This summer, we were assigned to read a book that was based on a world without water. Title of the movie was, A Long Walk to Water, where we were told the story of a young lost boy of Sudan and a young girl named Nya. We were told the daily struggle of dealing with life without water. The documentary was called, A World Without Water, where we were told different stories of famiies that were dealing with the issue of limited amount of water around the world, such as, South America, Africa, and even the U.S.


                                                      IMG_1274 from N.B. on Vimeo.