Ghetto Is a Mindset

One of my many current undertakings is Ghetto Nation by Cora Daniels. Through the introduction and the prologue, she asserts that ghetto has moved from being a place, most notorious for housing Jews during the Holocaust then for being where the poor Blacks lived, to being a mindset - a set of thought processes that cross cultural boundaries and has eeped into the mainstream.

People use the phrase "that's so ghetto" with the same frequency that they use "that's so gay." I think because ghetto doesn't refer to a specific group of people anymore, that it's become part of everyone's everyday, people aren't insulted by they derogatory use of the word as frequently as they are for the other assertion.

When I think "ghetto", I think AAE but it's called Ebonics. I think Kool-Ade on the front steps either in cups or on popsicle sticks. I think streetball and trash talk. When I think "ghetto" I think going to the movies with my sister and my cousin or being in a theatre with a whole slew of Black folk and how they holler at the movie the entire time. I think fried chicken and bar-b-qs.

And it's interesting to live in a small town and hear them talk about ghetto. Daniels says that every area has "ghetto" on lock. Theirs is what ghetto really is. Everywhere, it's the same and it's different, even though Atlanta gave us crunk.

Eli Reader's Confessions

My intention, when I created this blog, was to write every day about the things I have been reading, most notably the books on my long list of things to read. Obviously, I have failed in this endeavor. That isn't to say that I haven't been reading. Quite the contrary. I am currently reading Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, and this interesting book that I really want to blog about called Ghetto Nation by Cora Daniels. In addition to that, and what takes up the majority of my reading time, I'm reading about how to best teach reading to students for whom English is not their first language, about language and literacy acquisition (my graduate degree) and educational philosophy. As I was sure these topics would bore whatever readers I actually have, I have decided to post my responses to my master's studies here as well. At least then I will have faster access to these essays than if I have to find them on my external harddrive.

Eli Reader's readers be told, I am going to make a concerted effort to blog about the other things I'm reading, especially this Ghetto Nation. When I finish the introduction, which gives the author's premise for the book, there will be a post from me. Quite possibly this evening. Keep an eye out.

Yours, and attempting to be more faithful,

Eli Reader

Alice In Wonderland: Down the Rabbit Hole

I read this chapter a couple of days ago and didn't have time to blog about it. Seeing as I'm avoiding both my homework and my grading, I figured now would be the perfect time.

The chapter opens and Alice is lounging outside with her sister, who is reading a book that is thoroughly displeasing to Alice as it has neither pictures nor dialogue. The rabbit runs by, she thinks she hears it talking, all the while mentioning that the heat outside is making her "very sleepy and stupid" (1). Out of curiousity, this genius follows the rabbit down the hole then falls ever so

s
l
0
w
l
y.

Slow enough to examine the contents of the shelves along the sides of the hole, pick things up, examine those things, and place them back on other shelves. She then lands on her bum without so much a scratch. There's something rather surreal about this, and I know that I'm supposed to reasonably suspend disbelief, but there's a point where situations become incredibly ridiculous.

Cakes, and potions and poisons, oh, my. Who taught this girl her decision making skills? She says, let me look at this bottle and see if it's marked poison, because if someone wanted to kill me, they'd be sure to mark the bottle containing said elixer, "poison." Genius! And to add to her applicaition for Mensa, she left the key to the door she was shrinking to get to on the table. Agh!

Stay tuned next time for Attack of the Giant Alice.

The End of IT, (or IT Part II)

I have to admit, when my friend told me that the end of the film disappointed him, I was skeptical. I thought, "Usually the book is better than the movie, anyway, so it doesn't matter." Well, while the build-up to the end of the book was fabulous, (no extraneous information, all the details drove the plot along), I felt like the heroes' triumph over the antagonist was, while well deserved, a little juvenile. Yes, they had to revert to their childish selves to "beat the devil" as the last chapter was so aptly named, but a spider? Or a shape roughly resembling a spider? Not only does King contribute to people's fear of clowns, but the fear of spiders as well.

I can't decide whether or not I was set up to be disappointed. If I hadn't discussed the end of the novel with someone else, would I feel the same way I do about the way it ended? Or at least about the defeat of the monster.

I thought how Bill Denborough used Silver to revive his wife was interesting. But then, Big Bill always knew what to do to make things right. Using the bike in the way King did eliminated the red herring I thought the bike was going to be. And just think. At that point in his life, he probably actually fit on it. But what are the odds that bike would have been in that shop after twenty seven years?

A Believer Aside

My latest trip down film lane led me to The Believer, a film about a young, Jewish, anti-semitist who was hell-bent on killing all the Jews. He spends the movie trying to reconcile his beliefs with his heritage. It's one of those movies that forces one to examine his or her own conflicting behaviors. Thinking, "I can't believe that guy wants to kill his own people," thinking it makes sense that Blacks end up in jail since I'm preconditioned to think that my own people are no more than less-than.

The film forced me to think about how I am going to teach the atrocities of the Holocaust to my students who have no frame of reference. Shindler's List wouldn't do it. People are so desensitized by film anymore.

What always gets me, and there was a character who said this, is when people say that the Holocaust didn't happen. That there weren''t as many people discovered buried in mass graves in the concentration camps as actually claimed. I've been to the museum in Washington, D.C. On the outside of the building is this poster. I think about it a lot. Maybe because I've got my own string of "other-ness" that is discriminated against. I don't know. Since I saw this movie and since I'm starting Anne Frank next week.

I have to encourage all you (non-existant) readers out there to, "The next time you see injustice... the next time you witness hatred... the next time you hear about genocide... Think about what you saw."

IT by Stephen King (Part I)

On picking up this book, I'd never read any Stephen King before. At this point, I'm about halfway through. I've never read a book over 1000 pages that I haven't gotten bored with at some point. I have to say, as loquacious as King is, he's held my attention thus far.

As of right now, I don't have many comments on the text. At first, it was a little confusing trying to navigate through the flashbacks, but once the story really gets going, it's an awesome way to present the background information that the reader needs to understand the story.

I also must admit that the whole idea of Pennywise has me a little freaked out. There was one night, after a particularly creepy passage, where I had to go find my dog so I wouldn't be sleeping alone.

I saw this on a shirt once and now it makes sense...

"Can't sleep, the clown will eat me..."

This is Eli, signing off.