"Notes of a Native Son"

In the essay entitled, " Notes of a Native Son," by James Baldwin, the author and his father did not have the greatest relationship. He really did not know his father very well. They both shared different fashions and has the vice of stubborn pride. No one, including his father, really knew how old his father was. However, his mother did and was born in the slavery era, and he was the first free generation.

The author was innocent and didn't see the difference between blacks and whites at that time. He had white friends, however his father would tell him that they weren't really his friends and would do anything to keep him down. However, he did admit that some were nice but none were to be treated. His father would advise him to have as little to do with them as possible.

Baldwin and his father were not very close and wouldn't really listen to him. While his father was still alive to Baldwin it was is if he was dead. There was no real communication. But when his father physically died, he realized that he should have listened to him more and talked to him.

Their relationship was like the way it was in those times between the blacks and whites. There was no real relationship between both. Baldwin now wishes to ask his father questions that only the future can answer now.

Reflections

This story called, "The Code," was interesting because it was about respecting adults. I can relate to this story because it was about how the author was raised and I was raised, somewhat, the same way. When I was a little girl my parents were always telling me not to talk back to them, which is the way the author was raised. I remember whenever I would get in trouble I could not say anything back to them. There were many times where I thought my parents were not being fair but I had to respect what they said.

This story also talked about her aunts which were her parent's friends. Since her parents had to go out of town, she had babysitters. When I was younger both my parents were working and they had to leave me with their friends while they were working. I would spend a lot of time with other people that at times I did not know. I really did not have a choice but I learned not to complain.

The other story, called "Plaits," was about how it was when her mother was combing her hair and it was painful. She wanted to have Shirley-hair, which reminded me of my hair and how I wanted it when I was younger. I think back and that is how I told my mother I wanted to have Shirley-hair because by hair was always tangled. I was really able to relate to this story which made it more interesting to read.

My Thoughts

I read an essay entitled, "Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space," which was interesting. It was about how Brent Staples would walk in the night and people would be scared to walk by him, and would rather cross the street. I can relate to him because the only reason people would be scared was due to his race. I too have gone through incidents where I was watched because of my race. One day I was in a clothing store and one of the workers was following me around the store thinking I was going to steal merchandise. But just because a person of a certain race does something wrong doesn't mean everybody of that same race will be the same way.

My Comments

The reason I chose the blog entitled, "Halom" was because the title caught my eye. I have always been fascinated with ghost and enjoy reading stories about them. This blog is really interesting because the author described everything in great detail, for example when he wrote, "he was wearing red and yellow Dashiki, with matching hat..." I can really picture things when he describes them. Reading this blog helped me see how the dream was and where he was because of all the details that were given and it made me enjoy reading this blog even more. The link to the blog is http://thehungryghost.net/2007/11/18/halom/

In the blog site I found anther interesting blog entitled, "lunch with Miriam: A Tale of unforgettable Events." I enjoyed reading this blog because so many things happened to her and it is unbelievable. It described everything that happened to her. This blog also described events in details when it said, "slams the concrete wall, backs up, slams it again..." I can picture and Escalade hitting a concrete wall. It is another well written blog because I was able to picture every event that happened in both blogs.
The link to the blog is http://thehungryghost.net/2007/11/04/lunch-with-miriam-a-tale-of-unforgettable-events/#more-162

September 17, 2008

I felt like yesterday was the worst day that I have had in a long time. There was so many things that I had to do and I couldn't do them because I would miss the bus that I had to take. For example I have to take a shuttle in order to get to school and the shuttle was full, therefore; I had to wait for the next one and got to class late. Then later that day I had to catch another shuttle to go back to the place I was picked up in order to get home, however that shuttle that I needed to take left early and missed it. There was nothing much I could do but to wait for the next one. I had to get home early in order to be able to finish my homework, but since I didn't get home early I didn't have much time to do my homework and just did as much as I could. Also I hadn't had anything to eat and the nearest fast food place to my house was McDonald's however it was closed for construction. The next nearest place was a few blocks away and I was too tired to drive there because I would have to go out of my way to get there. There were more things that went on that day that I would rather not say because I don't want to remember them. Despite my bad day I still was optimistic, when I got home my day got better because my boyfriend cooked some dinner for me and I was able to have a great dinner. After that I did as much homework as I could and I fell asleep.

Writing

One thing about writing I don't always enjoy is classroom writing. Many times I have to write about topics I don't always enjoy writing about. However, I really enjoy writing during my free time because it is a way I can express the way I feel. I keep a journal next to my bed because when I have free time I lay on my bed and write about how my day went. I usually write about how busy my day was or how relaxing it was. When I have a busy day I write about how I had a ton of things to do and didn't really have time for myself. My favorite days are my relaxing days because I get to write about how much I enjoyed that day. I write about how I feel, little things I've accomplished such as: homework, chores, and my emotions. Writing is my escape for the stresses in life. When I feel overwhelmed because of a particular incident I turn to writing.