Promises.

As the first semester draws near its end, our Academic Leadership class has been engaged in the analysis of Academy Award winning documentary Promises, directed by Carlos Bolado and B.Z. Goldberg released in 2001. Promises revolves around the lives of several different Palestinian and Jewish children living in Jerusalem and communities in the West Bank.

Release poster of Promises, featuring Daniel and Faraj

It examines the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the thoughts, opinions, and views of mainly these children: brothers Daniel and Yarko, Shlomo, and Moishe (Israeli's) along with Faraj, Mahmoud, and Sanabel (Arabs). Their opinions about the other group varies according to the child; for example, Shlomo is an Orthodox Jew, and says he'd never want to "be friends" with an Arab. Mahmoud, for example, states that the more Jews that are killed, the Arabs will become more powerful, hoping in his homeland to be freed. Their contrary opinions, probably influenced heavily from their parents and what they have been taught, makes a meeting between them rather difficult. 

This was not the case, as director Goldberg managed to have the families of the Jewish brothers and Faraj arrange a meeting between them and some of the other Arab children including Sanabel. It begins with B.Z. (as he is commonly referred to by the children) having Daniel and Yarko call Faraj and have a brief discussion with him, ranging from general feelings about the conflict to football (soccer, since it was filmed around the period of the 2002 World Cup, which both parties agree that Brazil would be the victor) and that they would have no problem in meeting each other, if all the difficulties such as the checkpoints would be dealt with. Daniel and Yarko convince their parents in allowing them to go to the Dheisheh refugee camp located near Bethlehem, where Faraj and the others are located, and to take them there. A day is finally picked for the children to spend together. With little nervousness from both sides, they meet with friendly handshakes and have traditional Arab foods in one of the children's home. After, they play a simple game with their hands, in which everyone sits in a circle and after counting off to a certain number, the last one must quickly slap the hand of the one to his or her side. Later, they gather outside and play ball games and other commonly-known games. Finally, after sunset, they gather again in the house and B.Z. guides an emotional conversation between the kids, who are desolated when they think about everything going back to normal after this magnificent day with a people they never would have though they'd meet. They know it won't be easy to keep meeting each other and spending time together, knowing that even if they have become friends, after B.Z. leaves their lives will go on. 

This communication was essential to the children's understanding of the other group so despised by their own people.  The experience allowed them to open their minds and realize that the people they once thought were all terrible from actions taken by few, aren't all like what they had been taught since birth. Playing games with each other also made them understand that their beliefs and past wasn't such an important matter, that in the end they are all just children who enjoy the same things. A broadened mind from their behalf will make them adults who will definitely accept the other group and try to interact with it with no problem in such a case. 

Reflection on Racism

During the last couple weeks, in Academic Leadership, we devoutedly discussed and learned about the heavy topic of racism. We saw PowerPoint presentations, read news articles, and even watched a movie all related to racism. As hard as it may sound to learn about the levels of such an inhumane form of behavior, we actually learned that it is there and how to deal with it. Apart from learning about the horrible events in history (such as the Holocaust or Rwandan Genocide) that involved millions of deaths only because of sad hatred and power we also were enlightened on what it actually means to be racist and how to analyze it.

Pyramid representing the general levels racism is displayed at. 

The movie mentioned earlier is named American History X, by director Tony Kaye starring Edward Norton. The theme of this film is obviously racism, specifically the kind demonstrated by a group of skinheads in California. The story revolves around the life of Danny and Derek Vinyard, where Derek is the older brother who is a large figure in the local skinhead group and Danny is the little brother preparing to follow his brothers footsteps. A whole backstory is settled and throughout the movie Derek assasinates a colored man and is sent to jail, where he learns that his neo-nazi behavior has never returned anything good to him or his family. (Click here for a full sinopsis and here for a trailer)  

Official poster for American History X

Our task in this post was to answer the following question:

"What does it take for someone to move from a position of hate and racism to a position of tolerance and respect like the transformation that occurred in Derek?" 

When Derek enters the penitentiary, he quickly forms a bond with fellow neo-nazi also in jail. The group shares the same ideals of racism and display them throughout the movie. As it moves on, Derek comes to learn that some of the group members are involved in drug dealing with Mexican inmates, who supposedly are supposed to be hated and unaccepted by these skinheads. Derek slowly begins to understand that everything he believed in was nonsense, since people who had the same ideals as him literally broke the "rules" that are involved in being such kind of a person, and that everyone else in the group seemed fine with it. In addition to this event, Derek also forms a decent friendship with a colored inmate whom he begins to respect and appreciate. When he realizes he has made an "impossible friend" Derek realizes that hate was meaningless. To sum, I believe that by experiencing his beliefs being broken by comrades and the fact that he forms a relationship with a supposed enemy, Derek passes form hate to tolerance. That is what it could take to transform any truly racist person into a respectful one. 

Racism is a sad part of human nature, and definately something I want to avoid for the rest of my life time. Even with that, it is important to understand how to deal with it and learn about what its true meaning is, just like Derek did throughout his character transformation. 

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Response to Seattle MAP Test Boycott

Earlier this week we were introduced to a piece of news that we never could have imagined as students used to quarterly MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) testing: a school in Seattle, Washington has completely boycotted the test many schools take regularly. The MAP test is a tool created by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) issued to a large number of schools in the US and international ones abroad. It helps educational institutions evaluate the success their curriculum has according to the results presented by the students.

40-50 minutes of click, click, click, click...

Garfield High School of Seattle has rejected the taking of this program, causing a slight disturbance in the company and between educators from other schools. Teachers, students, and parents came together to decide that their school would no longer force the kids to take these tests. Following is a YouTube video thoroughly describing the situation.

 News Report of the Situation (YouTube)

In my opinion, MAP tests should be totally optional for students to take. If not optional, then they should not even be issued to schools who do not wish to take them. Personally, I don't appreciate taking MAP tests and I do not see the educational value they have towards the student. Concluding, I think they're a waste of valuable school time. 

Of course, if every school who previously took the tests stopped, the company would loose money, causing an issue. I know this will never happen, though. Even though students don't benefit from this test, schools use it as a key tool in developing their curriculums to improve the results of their teachings.