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Take a stock of your experience in this class. What did you learn? What did you enjoy? What would you have liked to see more of? Write a reflection of your growth, as a student/thinker/writer in the past 15 weeks. What are you walking away with from this class?

In this class, I have learned a lot about stepping out of my comfort zone and talking about  topics that you normally would not talk about outside of a safe spot and that it is okay if something disappoints you. Some other things that I learned are that there is a lot of history built behind what words we do not typically use and that it is very offensive to say certain things out in the world. I would have liked to have the third unit more as a class rather than dividing up and being all alone on the last one. I would have liked to see more of the visuals of life that we talked about like we did with the America unit one. I grew a lot during the duration of this semester. I think I grew with the mindset of stepping out of my comfort zone the most rather than staying put in my spot in my brain and exploring more. As a student, I learned that there is more than just learning in a class, there is emotion involved in it as well; when you become emotionally bonded to a subject, it is so much easier to elaborate on it, on a personal level that nobody can write the way you do. A thinker, thinking outside the box and making the better point out of critical thinking and putting myself in the shoes of the people that went through the major changes that they did. My writing was improved as well because I was pushed out of my comfort zone with the way of writing the essay with the template that was provided from Professor Rudham. I am walking away with a lot more experience from this class and a lot more of the history in my heart, learning a lot about America's heart and why it is the way it is now.

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Why Did I Choose the Gender Unit? What do I want to cover in this unit?

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Why Did I Choose the Gender Unit? What do I want to cover in this unit?

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The gender unit is something that is very important to me. Coming from a very conservative Indian family, they expect a lot from me as a woman. They expect me to marry who they wish for me to marry a man with a high status and someone that I could just be a stay at home wife with. Someone being in my Religon.  I feel like a lot of people do not understand how hard it is to be an Indian woman.
Women Leaders
Women Prisons
Why are women considered inferior
Gender Roles
Expectations
Leading up to your family's expectation

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When I was using twitter a few days ago, I saw that some people were exposed on the fact that the ivy league schools give them space in their school because of the social class that they belong to, not because of how smart they may be or how hard they work in their education. This was something so interesting to me because I feel like nobody really knew about what the ivy league schools really did in order to admit students into their institution. They have the lowest acceptance rates and maybe this is why, because they only care for the upper class society.

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INDIAN
women's and children's right activist
worked against child marriages, empowered girls between 14-18 using multiple approaches such as savings schemes, awareness-building programs and vocational training to raise self-worth of their marriages and to just stop child marriages for power.

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An American civil rights activist and an editorial writer from Oakland, California. Has organized around the issues of health, student services and just general rights along with rights for domestic workers ending police brutality, anti-racism and violence against trans and gender non-conforming people of color. Her editorial writing has been published by many. Mainly, what I find important is that she co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement. Garza wrote a quote that got to be known. "Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter, Black Lives Matter" and Cullors shared with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter
She was referred as a queer.

Khan-Cullors repeated mental health again and again and how it is overlooked, it isnt treated the same way. There is racism in school systems, education is not equal just because of skin color.

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America, you are a dream, but your dream is only accessible to people that are accepted in your country. You are not accessible to all of the people around the world, as you are cruel to some cultures. As a person living on your land, I believe that you have given me the American Dream, but you are not as easy to earn (as easy as it was just handed to me). People just like my mother and father had to earn you, the only way they came to America was being rich enough to show you that they were worthy of you. The American Dream, it means to be successful, to have enough money and not live on week by week paid checks, it means to have a complete traditional family. Many people around the world are not as blessed as I am in America. Although I have not had a problem with the immigration, I know that this is a major issue, even to me, an 18-year-old girl that is from here. There are many people in my life that are affected by your immigration laws, which is quite unfair to me because they are great people--but they did not come into you the correct way. The way that would make you feel a little more content and not make you close yourself down. Immigration is a different animal, even I know that it is unfair and it is very biased; when I mean biased, I mean that the immigration system picks and choose people based on where they are from and they love to see if a family is rich. They take too long to even let a family of mine attain travelers Visa to come to visit me. Some of my family did not get their Visa from you, because they did not have as much money, that is what they told me. It is very hard to get into America, they said. It takes a year or two, I believe based on what my aunt said. What I think you may not understand is that: Immigrants are a great factor of the American Dream, they make a part of life different just because being a part of America, different in a way that would change the entire experience of you(as a country). Immigrants help make you more diverse and freer, it is actually amazing to me. You may be the most diverse country in the world to me, America. You are a dream, my dream and you make my life seem so easy, but that does not mean that you always make it easy for my mom and dad or even my friends who have moved to you for opportunities of a lifetime. I believe that you are more of a struggle than you are a dream. My family means the world to me, and I know that your family means the world to you too, the people that live on you, that are legal citizens of you are your family. My family is a part of my dream, but dreams have bumps as well. My dream shifted when my parents got divorced and when my family had financial trouble when the market crashed. The American Dream is not easily accessible, as I still haven't accessed it, as much as I thought I did. Even Martin Luther King Jr told his dream to you, but he never got to live it after he expressed it. He told the world that his dream was to be treated equally and to help the world realize that "all men are created equal" that ethnicity and sex of a person did not matter. My ultimate dream is to see that as well, to see that all races are being treated equal and to see that America is changing for the better so that we could be more successful united as our name says. "The United States of America".  Making America may have been a challenge for your creators, but you have come such a long way, but believe me, I think you still have a long way to go. There is still so much pain, struggle, and a lot of changes that you need to go through America. You are amazing. You are a Dream, but you are not my American Dream just yet. You have to open up your walls a little bit, be more welcoming and be fairer to the people that look up to you. That will help you get one step closer to The Dream I wish to see one day. Just like MLK, I have a dream for you.

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Dear America,

About 18 years ago, an Indian girl was born in your country, a girl whose parents were foreign to you, you would call them immigrants, looking for an opportunity of a lifetime. America, the land of hopes and dreams, the land of magical possibilities, as my mom would say back then. That little Indian girl who was born in Takoma Park, Maryland was me, Ashka Talati. I was born on your soil, I have learned your native language even before I learned my family's native language, you are my home. This is where our relationship began. America, you have been through so many changes throughout the time that I have been alive, for the past 18 years there has been so much history that has been made. You are amazing! From breaking records of snow storms to having a recession that began in December of 2007. I am proud to be a part of you. I want to talk about how I currently feel about you. Since President Trump has come into office, you have been very unfair to people that are from neighboring countries. You are trying to block everyone out of you, you are shutting yourself down, I understand that you are upset that people are just coming to our land without being here legally, but there are certain steps that we, as a nation should plan out if you are unhappy. People do not deserve to be dehumanized, they are just like me and my family. Kids should not be separated from their parents, while their parents get sent back to their home country and their kids are stuck here. I feel like there is a certain way that you need to take care of yourself and the people that live on you. It is not right to be so closed minded, America. You are wonderful, filled with so many opportunities for everyone. Even the education that you give is top notch, which is why the entire world looks up to you, even I look up to you.  Some days you may not be the place that I want to live in, but that's only because you can be ignorant and just mean, but America,  I still love you on those days too. Our relationship is very simple to me, even though you have to share me with East Asia sometimes, it is okay because you are still my home, I was born here. Our relationship may have ups and downs as well, sometimes I blamed you for being so hard to survive here, people that live here can be mean, they can be ignorant and most of all filled up of themselves,- thinking that they are better than me, but America,  I know that is not true. Our relationship will never change, I plan on remaining on your soil for the rest of my life. You are a country leading with success, everyone comes to you because of how successful you are. I take pride in you, and you should take pride in yourself too, only because you are The United States. You have beautiful islands that I cannot wait to explore, you have California which people travel across the world to visit and you have Washington D.C. which has the nicest museums located with a history that goes back through many decades. I never thought I would be expressing myself to you, America. Just like when Vince Lombardi said, "Winners never quit, and quitters never Win". America, do your best to keep yourself held high, you have been amazing for as long as I have lived. This was my letter to you.

Sincerely,
Ashka Talati

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"Slavery has never been abolished from America's way of thinking" -Nina Simone

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"Slavery has never been abolished from America's way of thinking" -Nina Simone

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What I think about this quote:
I agree, because although it is abolished, it is still used today, people are still racist and the people of America are still racist to the colored people; whether they are black or even brown.
Mass incarceration of colored people and they are worked for lower wages that is completely unfair just because of their skin color.
Why do we not know the real story of Rosa Parks? What about Nina SImone, who is she? Why do we not know about the real stories.
Slavery is universal, it happens everywhere but it started so so so long ago even before we may remember just because the people before we were colonized America probably thought that being lighter is more superior, which is completely wrong. I am from India and that is how it is shown. People that are lighter are considered more beautiful and attractive than those who are not light and are darker of complexion, which is probably shown throughout the world. This is not slavery, but slavery has to do with where a person may be from or the complexion of their skin.

Class Notes:
People not equal
Mass incarceration
Police
Memory of Slavery
Education
Working Jobs
Higher Education = Plantation -> outcomes/completion-> tests/labor/automation

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Any questions/thoughts I have for the video from last class.

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Any questions/thoughts I have for the video from last class.

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How hard it is for people of color to live through what they fought for and did not get justice. Redlining was started by DMV and it is just ridiculous because I had never heard of it before. The black people that were in the military and were out fighting for their country, had to live in the slums and/or they were targeted in the violence while the white people who did nothing for the United States were living luxurious. The fact that we do not hear about the resistance everyday.
Even war was segregated, they could not even fight together.
How can violence stop? Is Redlining still a practice? Can people still be victimized with their postal code?

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Why is my life important? Why are black lives important?

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Why is my life important? Why are black lives important?

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I think this is a funny question because people often say that our lives are different from people's lives that are a different religion or even a culture from us. My life is important because I believe that I was brought into this world with a specific purpose, just like every other life is brought into the world; with love. Everyone deserves to be treated equally, no matter what skin color that they may be or what they may believe in. Like I have said before in this class, all men (and women) are created equal. Everyone's life is important, nobody's life should be more important than another's.

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America is unfair
America is unwelcoming to immigrants
America is racist
America is not "great

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This is America (Music VIdeo) by Childish Gambino

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This is America (Music VIdeo) by Childish Gambino

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The two things that got my attention in the video is that 1) it is a free country and you can do whatever you want, but it couldn't really mean that you are doing the right thing (killing people) "This is America, don't catch me slipping up". 2) Something else that I noticed was that even being free comes with consequences that was shown in the video at the end when Childish Gambino was being chased by many cops for the people he shot dead. The red cloth in the video shows the symbolism of the sacrifice of the black people. Jim Crow was a white man in theatre that acted like a black man, a black clumsy slave. Exaggerating Jim Crow by showing face expressions and the stance that he uses while dancing as well. The guns are being treated more valuable than the bodies that are being killed, the gun is being put into a red cloth and the dead bodies being dragged away.

America is unfair.
America is showing the black community as inferior and not peaceful.
America is behind the black community. (visual of Gambino being chased).
America is gun violence

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Do you think the "Make America Great Again" is a hate symbol?

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Do you think the "Make America Great Again" is a hate symbol?

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To be honest,  I really do not know what the hat is that says "Make America Great Again". Maybe it is a hate symbol for all the people that are happy with whatever has happened to people that come to America illegally and that support President Trump with some of the decisions that I do not believe make as much sense. Maybe it is not meant to be a hate symbol, I believe it all depends on how a supporter uses it. Trump is just trying to use his saying "Make America Great Again" as a way to make people remember what his ultimate goal may be. There are many ways that people can look at the way this symbol is presented. Since 2016, the hate crime percentage has doubled.

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This is one of my hobbies, it actually has been one year since I have started and  I have worked with 5 photographers so far, so I am still a new model.  I hope to do more of this because it is so fun and I feel like it shows me how beautiful  I really am.

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Hello class! My name is Ashka Talati, I just graduated from Perry Hall High School and I plan on graduating from The Community College of Baltimore County this Spring with my Associates Degree in Business Administration!