Together We Stand.

     The Beaumont Bulls youth football team followed Colin Kaepernick's protest in taking a knee during the national anthem. It became a problem to the board of the league and they decided to fire the head coach, Rah-Rah Barber. They believed he was the one behind the decision of the anthem protest when in reality it was the player's decision. Once the players found out their coach had been fired they decided to protest that as well causing the league to make up the excuse that the team "didn't have enough players to continue the season" and they cut the football team's season short by cancelling it. They would have been on their way to the playoffs if the league wouldn't have fired their coach causing them to protest the wrongful firing.
     This is educational to me because I believe that if it was an all white football team there'd be no problem and they'd be able to continue on with their season no problem. It's also a little emotional in a way. Emotional because it's sad that we have a first amendment but when we exercise it we get punished for it. They were on their way to the playoffs and preferred to stand behind their coach then to continue their season. It's enlightening as well because it's enlightening us on the way the world is set up. Yes, you have a right to protest as you please but from the world's perspective if you're protesting for black lives your protest is automatically wrong.

Title of Article: Ex-Youth Football Coach Discusses Canceled Season Over Anthem Protests


http://newsone.com/3570182/beaumont-bulls-coach-anthem-protest/

Homeless Valedictorian.

       Orayne Williams was abandoned by his family during his high school career making him a homeless Jamaican immigrant. He graduated high school in 2010 as valedictorian of his class on a full college scholarship. Today he helps out more than 82,000 homeless high school students. Studies show that the rate of homeless high school students is increasing yearly. He started a nonprofit that's helping to raise scholarship money for these homeless high school students. Williams says, "I want young people to know they don't have to do it alone." Money is also being raised to buy school supplies and he also is going to provide tutoring to those who want to head to college after high school.
     Out of the 4 Es, I see this article as enlightening. It's enlightening to me because it shows that not everybody gives up on these students who are always absent and have low grades because they understand where they're coming from. It shows that everybody can make it somewhere no matter their background. Also, this article is very educational. It educates those who feel like giving up that giving up isn't what they should do and that striving for greatness is the best route for them. Who knows the ones with the most baggage are the ones who can make it farther in life.

Title of Article: Former Homeless Valedictorian Reaches Back To Help Others

http://newsone.com/3485675/former-homeless-valedictorian-reaches-back-to-help-others/

When "Walk a Mile in my Shoes" Becomes a Reality.

     In Toronto black community members have voiced their opinions based on police racism and discrimination. Recently the police have started a new thing called 'carding' which is officers' question individuals on the street without cause and that was seen as racial profiling by the members of the black community. The policeman believe they don't racially profile anybody. CBC News asked a young black male and a white police officer to switch places with one another only for a day to get a closer look at the many different opinions. Lance Constantine is a 28 year old African American male who attends Humber College, is a musician and a motivational speaker in the Malton neighborhood. He says he is often racially profiled and fears the police such as other young black males. Adam Marshall is a 31 year old police officer who acknowledges that there is miscommunication between the black community and the policemen. These two have never met before until September 9th when they switched lives to see what it is like walking in the shoes of one another. Constantine had dinner with Marshall's family which led to a heated conversation between him and Scott Milne, Marshall's uncle. Scott referred to Malton as "a place like that." Constantine says "that's the issue, though. It's the perception that this are is bad. I went to school in that area. I became who I am because of that area." Scott admitted that he had racist ideas about black people and he's trying to change. Marshall went to Bampton where Constantine mentored students. "I've had a family member that was killed by police back in 2011-- Junior Alexander Manon ... And it was shocking, you know, because growing up ... you look up to police, and it was rough," 17 year old Shawn Cadena said. Constantine suited up with a bulletproof vest to prepare for patrolling the streets with the police Sgt. Josh Colley. Constantine told Colley about his experience with the police; he was leaving McDonald's with his little sister when officers stopped him and cuffed him for no reason. Chipping his tooth when thrown against the police car. He said this was a "scarring moment." Meanwhile, Marshall is playing basketball with Constantine's friends in Bampton. Denying police targeting certain people or neighborhoods and said they show up when they're called. Constantine's friends keep a clear message that they feel they get treated way differently because of the color of their skin. The next day Constantine and Marshall met for the first time since the life swap. "Do you feel that young black males are treated differently?" Constantine asks. "I could tell you that certainly did used to exist ... It used to exist in a big way. Am I saying it doesn't exist in some small way now? It's possible. It's definitely possible. But I think it's getting better, and for me, I want it to get better." Marshall replies.
       This was educational because you probably couldn't truly get a police officer to do something like that. This shows what it's like for African Americans and how they fear for their lives everyday. The part that really stood out was all of the statements from black people and how they all are so scared to just be living.

Article Title: In his shoes: White police officer and young black man swap lives for a day.

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=true&displayGroupName=News&currPage=&scanId=&query=&prodId=OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CA465468354&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=true&source=Bookmark&u=dayt30401&jsid=3cb569628e057ce893f62bbfc03c062a

It was Only a Message.

       In Maryland Tidani Epps Jr., an 11 year old boy, had drew a picture for class depicting his view of the world. He drew a black man hanging with two Ku Klux Klan members nearby. The title being "Black Lives Matter" showing the racism of the world. His teacher assumed he was suicidal and had him sent to therapy and told his mother he couldn't return to school until he was cleared that he was okay. He said "in this picture, I was trying to describe what was going on in the world, and what happened back then. It's what happened back then, and a piece of what happened back then is still here today in the present, like racism. His purpose of drawing the picture was because he wants and end to the recent police shootings of black men that have dominated the news. "I just want it to stop, I don't want to see this anymore. Young black people get killed for no reason. It's not fair or right." His mother was livid because the school suggested he did something wrong or had mental problems. "They think just because they're kids, they're not paying attention but they are. Their eyes are open to everything going on around them." Tidani's mother said.
      This article was educational in my opinion. It taught that when you exercise your beliefs you're "suicidal" or "mental" when you aren't, you're right. The thing about this article is that people don't understand what's truly going on in the world because they aren't paying as close attention as the race it's happening to. I believe Tidani's picture brightened the eyes and that's why they made him out to be wrong. We all need to start realizing what he was trying to tell through his picture, it's the honest truth and some people just refuse to believe.


Title of Article: Contention over 'Black Lives Matter' drawing



http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=true&displayGroupName=News&currPage=&scanId=&query=&prodId=OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CA465265627&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=true&source=Bookmark&u=dayt30401&jsid=615f8ea4e4178e6d90465941181b328e 

We Thought...

      On September 28, 2016, an unarmed black man was shot and killed in San Diego. The San Diego police got reports of an uncooperative person walking through traffic. When arriving on scene, the man held his hands in a gun position pointing it at the policeman. The policeman took it as a threat, reached for his firearm but changed and fired his firearm instead. They tried aiding the man at the scene and took him to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead. In the police reports they stated that the man did not have a weapon on him.
    This article was enlightening to me because it goes to show that policeman don't really act before they react. I believe race to be a big part in the decisions made by higher authority and this case specifically showed what policeman look for when coming across a situation pertaining to an African American individual.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-shoot-kill-man-san-diego-area-protesters-42411018

It Was a Book.

   On September 21st Keith Scott was shot and killed by Charlotte police officer, Brently Vinson. Hours before his death, an unarmed black man in Tulsa was shot by the police. Also, last Wednesday 13 year-old Tyre King was shot and killed by police in Columbus. Keith's wife was at the scene recording the incident, telling the police that he didn't have a gun but the Quran (the Islamic bible). The police officers said Keith posed a threat but it was unclear whether he at any point pointed his gun at the police. This shooting caused a community uproar breaking out in protest. The protest caused cops to bring out riot gear and teargas. Charlotte mayor in defense with the protestors said "the community deserves answers."
    The article is entertaining to me. I was entertained because the BLM movement means a lot to me, considering I'm huge on black history and racial diversity. It informs us on police brutality and how segregation is still a thing in America.

Title of Article: Keith Scott shooting: Charlotte police say they warned him to drop handgun

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/21/Keith-scott-schooting-Charlotte-police-drop-gun

This Nation.

    Have you guys heard of the movie Birth of a Nation? Well, I have and the background to the development of the movie is very interesting. We all know the star of the movie is Nate Parker, he was the leading male in Beyond the Lights. Not only was he the star, he was the writer, producer, and director. Picture that huh? An African American leading character combined with an African American director, producer, and writer... That will never sell, some may say but it took a different toll due to persistence and determination given by Parker.
   After the filming of the romance Beyond the Lights, Nate Parker said he wouldn't be acting anymore or not again until he got the chance to play the "American revolutionary" Nat Turner. Education was the one E that stood out the me the most when I read this part of the article. It was educational because he was willing to take a break for a while before starting back up again or even stop all together just to play someone who made a huge difference to history that maybe a lot of us do not know about. It gave me the idea that you can come back stronger even when you take a break. He stopped working for a total of two years giving all his time and money to this movie. Considering, he's been writing the script for seven years. He grew up in Virginia where they didn't teach him the story of Nat Turner but an African American studies class in college did, giving him inspiration. That also stood out to me as educational because my school never put in the time to teach us on African American history; I believe they just didn't know much about it. Also, the name of the film was the title of D.W. Griffith's 1915 KKK propaganda film.
    The enlightening portion of the article was when he went to meet with investors, they knocked the idea down. What was said to Parker was "movies with black leads don't play internationally; a period film with big fight scenes would be too expensive; it was too violent; it wouldn't work without a big box-office star leading it' Turner was too controversial - after all, he was responsible for the deaths of dozens of well-off white landowners." This enlightened me on the controversy of the world; it shows how quick someone will deny making a film based off of race and background.
     Entertaining all together, from the background of the development to the finishing product. It took 27 days to shoot the film which included a lot of various emotions on set because of the time period of the story line. Parker is a wrestling coach for undeserved kids and he knew how to keep the spirits high on set. He believes that anybody who watches it should be able to see what this country was built on, rebellion.

Title of article: 'Birth of Nation': The Slave-Revolt Movie That Will Have Sundance Talking
By: Rebecca Ford

 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/birth-a-nation-slave-revolt-857177