Out Of The Ordinary

 It is rare for anyone from a poor upbringing to grow up and make it big.  In a way to make it big they have to break the glass barrier.  The glass barrier is any barrier that stops someone from achieving what he or she want to, often time it is completely unseen just felt.  Two successful African Americans who broke their own glass barrier are Michael Oher and Lebron James.  

Michael Oher’s incredible story was recently made into the uplifting movie “The Blindside” starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw.  Michael was born to a father who was in jail for most of his life and a mother addicted to cocaine.  He struggled with school growing up; finally transferring to a private Christen school with the help of the man he was staying with at the time.  White at this school he meets the Touy family who takes him in and eventually adopts him.  They hire a tutor who helps him raise his grades enough to receive a scholarship to the University of Mississippi, which was the alma mater of both his adoptive parents.  After playing college football he went on to play in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens, where he still plays to this day.  It is amazing that Michael was able to come from the home and the family situation that he did and become as successful as he is today.

Michael Oher

Lebron James was born December 30, 1984 to his sixteen-year-old mother.  His mother constantly struggled with finding steady work when he was younger.  They were always moving to different apartments and eventually landed in Akron in one of the seedier neighborhoods.  Lebron showed incredible talent at a young age in football and basketball.  Lebron ended up dropping out of school in the fourth grade.  When his Pee Wee football coach Frankie Walker found out, he invited Lebron to move into his home.  Lebron flourished in the stable environment that the Walkers provided him, including his school.  He went on to be the number 1 NBA draft pick in 2003 at the age of just 18.  He also signed a show contract with Nike before his professional debut.  He is still considered one of the most successful NBA stars, and is often compared to the great Michael Jordan. 

Both of these stories show that it is possible to break the glass barrier.  It can help be an inspiration to children that regardless of their home life and their surroundings that they can become what they want.  However I think it is interesting that both Michael and Lebron has to use assimilation before they made it.  They had to give up their culture and what they had known to adopt a different life so they could make it.  Once they assimilated they were extremely successful.  The power of their stories lies in where they were and where they are now.  As a teacher it is important for me to remember that all my students have the potential to be great, regardless of where they come from.  All they truly need is one person on their team.       

Information gathered from Wikipedia (Lebron, James; Michael, Oher)

Information gather from movie "The Blindslide"

Image of Michael Oher obtained from togetherforadoption.org

Image of Lebron James obtained from thefastertimes.com

       

Rap and the Hip-Hop Nation

As a society we are living in the age of Hip-Hop and Rap.  These two styles of music are constantly surrounding us.  What began in the Bronx at an after school party is now a worldwide phenomenon.  When one hears hip-hop or rap images come to mind of celebrities like Jay-Z, Puff Daddy, and 50 cent along with a vast number of other African American Artists.  While it is true that there are some white rappers like Eminem and the Beastie Boys, rap and hip-hop is predominately African American. Hip-hop has given a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass.  In a TIME 1999 article 15-year-old Sean Fleming says “I can relate more and get a better understanding of what urban blacks have to go through.”  In the movie Freedom Writers a students says to Miss G “I don’t see anyone who looks like me with pockets full unless they’re rapping lyrics or dribbling a ball.”  Although this student was from inner city Los Angels I think that this either represents what a majority of African Americans believe or white people believe.   

Puff Daddy 

I think that we need to be careful when dealing with rap and hip-hop.  The danger lies in the belief that all African Americans have lives like these, as well as a tendency to believe that they are dangerous and only have sex.  Although music is a form of art and expression I think that the intense content of many rap and hip-hop songs give a lot of people an incorrect image of the life of an African American.  As a teacher I know how important it is to separate my students from the labels that society puts on them.  I think that making jokes or assuming that every African American student relates to the message in a rap song is just an example of passive and individual racism.  The power in being a teacher lies in seeing our students for who they truly are not how society wants us to see each other.     

Jay-Z

Information about Hip-Hop obtained from TIME Magazine article "Hip-Hop Nation", Feb. 08, 1999

Image of Jay-Z obtained from shoptradition.com

Image of Puff Daddy received from papermag.com

The President

Barack Obama defeated Senator John McCain in November 2008 to become the 44^th president of the United States.  He was inaugurated on January 20, 2009.  He became the first African American president of the United States.  His election was unprecedented.  Besides being the first African American president, during campaigning he took advantage of the Internet and the power of text messaging to appeal to young voters.  Although the civil war has long ended we as a society and a country are still feeling the beliefs that started it.  During the election President Obama received the most votes from people who’s household income was at or under 50k.  President Obama received 94% of all African American Votes, as well as a majority of Latinos and Asians.  During the election McCain received 55% of the white vote. Hundreds of years after the civil war, we are still facing some of the same problems and beliefs.  It seemed as if we were more divided than ever on the issue of race as opposed to beliefs on who would be a better presdient.  

The message is that anyone regardless of his or her color can be elected to the office of President of the United States.  It shows young African American students that they in fact become anything they want to be. How the student is treated in the classroom can be affected by the home life of the other students.  Some students might have racist parents who say negative things about having an African American president when their child is present.  That child then comes to school with the biased background that they have grown up with.  Now the African American student might be faced with the belief of some people that African Americans shouldn’t be elected as President.

As a teacher I think it is incredibly important to be aware of the different beliefs of children.  A classroom needs to be a safe environment for all students, meaning regardless of their own personal, political beliefs.  As a teacher I need to be careful to watch for when students say racial or biased comments and stop them from continuing.  The belief that any person of any color can be elected as President is one of the best messages as a teacher I can give to my students.  I can tell my African American students that they can be anything they want to be, including the President of the United States.

Information about the elections gathered from  Famous Firsts by African Americans (Inventors, Government, Law, Literature, Film) /title> http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html#ixzz12AnY47iw
Image of President Obama from jewsonfirst.org 

The Power of Sprite

Advertisement companies spend billions of dollars each year to promote various products in the hopes that we the consumer will by them.  These ad companies also know that one of the best groups to target is a child.  Children still live with their parents and their parents are usually willing to buy them the things they want.  They know that if they can get a consumer in their youth than that consumer is more than likely to stay loyal to that company throughout their life.  In my life I have grown up drinking diet coke because that is what everyone in my family drinks.  It is without doubt my favorite drink, has been for many years and will likely be for the rest of my life.  Coca-Cola therefore knows they have a loyal consumer as long as they continue making it.  Based off of this information it is no surprise that the soft drink Sprite would use NBA stars and rap artist to endorse their product in the hopes that children will become loyal consumers. 

Sprite’s commercials have practically been centered in appealing to the African American child.  In the 1990s Sprite introduced a number of commercials involving NBA star Grant Hill.  Now their commercials have spread to involve NBA stars Tim Duncan and Lebron James, as well as being a sponsor of the NBA itself.  In 2004 Sprite then began introducing Rap and Hip-Hop artists’ in their commercials.  The one that is most famous right now involves rap artist Drake. The people in charge of Sprites’ advertisements know that many African American children aspire to be a famous athlete or rap singer like the ones featured in their commercial.  They have the kids hooked on the idea that if this person drinks Sprite then I can drink it and become like them.

The message is that these advertisement people feel like they can easily create an ad that appeals to all African American children.  All they need to do is involve African American NBA and rap stars that they children aspire to be like.   As racist as it might sound when thinking about what African American children like seems to be easier to find topics than what White children like or Hispanic children.  Our society has invented stereotypes about each other and then sells us products based on those stereotypes.  If these stereotypes are not addressed and corrected then I feel like a majority of American children will grow up labeling each other, for example labeling African American people as all liking Sprite.  Instead of seeing one another we only see the label, we need to look past that as a society.     

Information on Sprite gathered from Wikipedia

Drakes Sprite Commercial (Extended)