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Hi!
Please post your name, favorite genre of music, and favorite song from that genre!!

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Hi!
Please explain why you chose this book and what made it seem interesting to you!!

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Hi!
Please write about what you think this books communities are about!!

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Hi!
Please write about the communities you belong to (can be locations, interests, and or identities!)

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Hi!
What do you already know about the communities/ topics/ and ideas in this book?

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Hi!
What do you hope to learn/ What do you want to know at the end of reading this book about the communities/topics and ideas in this book?

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Do you think this book will be difficult to read, or easy to read, and why?

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Hey guys! There are 18 chapters in this book and we are to complete it in five weeks from week 4-8. I thought for weeks 4, 5, & 6 we could read four chapters each week and for weeks 7 & 8 we could read 3! (Week 4: 4 chapters/ Week 5: 4 chapters/ Week 6: 4 chapters/ Week 7: 3 chapters/ Week 8: 3 chapters). Thank you!

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"If it Hadn't been for the Volkswagen that didn't work, we never would have looked for the mechanic who became the husband... who became the man who tortured us for years and put a bullet in the back of my mother's head--I'll take the new car with the warranty every time. "
Chapter 1 Page 9

Right when opening the book you can tell that Noah writes how he speaks, and his humor carries through while he narrates. Something I didn't expect was how dark the book would get in so quickly a time. Right out of the gate, as Noah is making humorous statements about a situation, he describes the vile conditions of apartheid and a terrible thing that happened to him specifically. The humorous tone of the writing is definitely something that is catching me a bit off guard.

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As I took notes for the first four chapters, I found there was a common theme throughout Noah's interpretations of the different communities he belonged to. One theme/topic we touched on in this course was the idea that just because you share the same space and "community" does not mean you share the same experiences as your neighbors. Noah grew up in a strict, religious, woman-ran household in a primarily black community, but was always viewed as the "white boy" among his peers.  He was raised by his Xhosa mother, but learned to adopt different languages to fit in with his peers so he would be more accepted. The theme I got from these chapters was that just because you share the same space, it doesn't mean you belong to the same community and share the same experiences.

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I am going to be completely honest, but I have only been able to get through the first chapter thus far. I am planning to get through the first four by the end of this week because I was unaware that all the chapters were supposed to be read by Thursday. I will really try to be on top of it next week, it's just I am still trying to balance everything out right now. But one thing that stood out to me in chapter one was the love Trevor's mom had for church and Jesus, that no matter what she wasn't scared. Personally for me, I relate with having that love for church and feeling that necessity to be at church on Sunday's. I felt a slight annoyance to seeing how Trevor had slightly ridiculed the church at certain parts (I could also simply be taking his words in the wrong way), and I understand that those emotions are understandable from someone who has dedicated her life to Christ. But I just could not help but admire his mother, because in certain degrees she reminds me of my mom who is an avid lover of Christ as well. I felt that connection with how he had described his mom, and the verse she lived by...just all of who she was, it was admirable of her love for Christ. I am unsure if I needed to quote text or simply summarize my connection. So I do hope this works :)
Have a blessed rest of your night and weekend everyone!

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An image that I though of while reading his book was a flower. This may sound cheesy but I couldn't stop picturing it while reading his story. I pictured an orchid for a metaphor of how he is opening up about his childhood experiences. However there were parts of his story (hence the close flower buds) that were obviously yet to be told along with deeper feelings he has regarding his family, the church, and other feelings that we are yet to see.

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How do you perceive the community Trevor Noah grew up in?

What influence does the communities we interact with have on our view of the rest of the world?

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An image of someone protesting gentrification in Chicago. 

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"The government seized her home and bulldozed the whole area to build a fancy, new white suburb. " Chapter 5 page 63.

In the beginning of chapter 5 Noah describes how his grandmother was forcibly removed from her home and a new neighbor hood was built on the top of her old house. This reminded me of how many cities in America are becoming gentrified and the inhabitants of the city are becoming displaced. Obviously the example in the book is much faster and more violent, but it is still and example of how many institutions have no problem displacing large amounts of people.

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This week’s chapters tell the crazy stories of Trevor Noah’s upbringing and how they have shaped him into who he is today. One chapter and lesson that specifically stood out to me was the end of “Fufi” when Noah expressed that just because you love something/someone it does not mean you are entitled to that thing or person. I believe this is applicable to myself and the world because we get so caught up in possessing what we want or love instead of appreciating things for what they are, which is an individual/or thing with their own values and emotions. I think this lesson is related to other relationships in Noah’s life like with his father and how he expects him to show affection in the way he wants without appreciating how his father expresses himself.

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On page 64 there was a word used that I was totally not aware of! It was shebeens and I was so confused when I first saw it and so I looked it up. Apparently (according to google's definition) it is a private home or business selling alcohol, but they are unlicensed to sell it. Which is super interesting! Because was it used a lot during apartheid to welcome in blacks? Or what was the supposed reason as to why they had them? Or was it for underage people?

Have a blessed week everyone!

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This week’s chapters had me focused on the theme of belonging, as it was prevalent for both Noah and his mother throughout. At the beginning of chapter 5, Noah iterates how his mother never felt like she belonged, but she finally did with her son. Belonging was indefinite between the two of them, and they made their way in South Africa with that.

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within the last few chapters did anything deeply connect with you? Or could you relate to some of Noahs experiences?

It's shown that Noahs family is very important to him and they have a deep connection. If you were to write a biography what community would you write about that helped you the most/ impacted your life?

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1. A prominent part of this book describes how the powers the be in South Africa systematically dehumanize black people in order to justify the abhorrent actions they take against them. This dehumanization is not completely relegated to apartheid South Africa, however. Has there been anything in the book so far that has reminded you of something the American government has done in the past, or something happening in contemporary American society?
2. There is a reference to private schools being where all the rich non-black students go on page 137. In your opinion, how does the existence of private schooling effect racial equality and differences in wealth?

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“But I’m consumed with regret for the things I didn’t do, the choices I didn’t make, the things I didn’t say. We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear the most.” (p 143)

I have found there have been many awe-inspiring quotes from Noah in the little subsections between chapters. I feel he includes these excerpts to express things he did not get to say in the main chapters, and this particular quote stuck out to me because it is a message he wanted to share with his readers. I think as he reflected over his life by writing this book, he wanted to express what he wished he knew sooner to help his audience not make the same mistakes. Even though we mess up a multitude of times throughout our lives, the failures and tribulations shape us into who we are today and ultimately make us stronger.

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I was going to draw something but due to time I decided to find a GIF of something that would have been similar. 

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The whole valentines day story from Trevor was kind of sad (for part one of his story) and then shocking (for part two). The illustration is for part one, because I just imagined that when the girl he liked went for someone else and "dumped" him (even after taking the things he had saved up to buy for her) that he initially was dumbfounded, and then realized what had happened (resulting in the heart break). I believe this was in chapter 9 (I do not have the book with me at the moment I am writing this).

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When looking at chapter 10 Noah tells a valentines story. It made me so sad to think of young Noah being broken up with/ not being someone's valentine based on her "social script" and how she views how her partner is supposed to look. I feel that this added to the chapters theme of displacement.

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Noah’s first experience with Valentines day highlights how deeply one can internalize racism. His experience of being expected to like the other colored girl, and then her choosing the white boy, is a perfect example of internalized racism. This is relatable for so many who have been oppressed in South Africa and America.

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I found that this weeks reading had a lot to do with peoples search for belonging. It is a natural thing for people to seek some kind of community to belong to. This is pretty evident early on in chapter 16 where Noah describes him and his peers finding belonging through the aesthetic of popular movies at the time, namely Menace II Society and Boyz n the Hood. Generating communities around popular culture like this, especially for younger people, is pretty commonplace.

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Moving into these last few chapters left of the book I have realized how even after apartheid happened there was still so much racial segregation. One thing that Noah had mentioned that stood out to me was the idea that the reason we remember the impact of the Holocaust was because the Jews were counted. That really stood out to me and I pose a question to you. Should being counted matter? In the grand scheme of things, should being counted define you as a person? Another question I pose, moving forward, is how do you think this book will close? Will it be a satisfying end? Or one where it will make us become even more aware of racial segregation and even strive to make a difference? God bless!

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Something that stuck out to me in this weeks reading was Trevors class learning about the holocaust versus slavery. It made me think about my own experience when learning about these subjects. And I had never thought about how we learn about the holocaust and are ashamed and humiliated. However, we don't learn about slavery in the same way nor (at least for me) was it a big part of our curricular. It was interesting to read Noahs thoughts and how he connected it with apartheid.

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A theme I thought related to this week’s reading was “growing up”. Noah begins to experience real life consequences of controllable and uncontrollable events that occur in his life from people other than his mother. As he grows older, he is exposed to the harshness of the real world and learns the cruel realities of being a black man in America.

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I found it very interesting when Trevor talks about how South Africans would kill their colonizers before Hitler, and the Native Americans taking out ChristopherColombus. The Native Hawaiians were able to successfully kill Captain Cook in battle although that did not prevent the fall of their kingdom. I wanted to look up the name of other minorities groups oppressor because as Noah put it, everyone finds their own history most important. In the NY Times article "A Brief History of Brazil" Pedro Álvares Cabral is mentioned to have discovered Brazil. I find it interesting how our culture shapes not only our interests, but strong feelings of hatred too.

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A theme I had seen in these last few chapters was discrimination towards Noah's mom. This discrimination was largely seen from Abel but even from his family when they had gone to visit after the birth of Andrew. The fact that in his family culture it was custom to have the women do everything inside (housework, cleaning, cooking, etc.) and the men were not allowed too. I mean even for me I find that just wrong. I personally don't mind the idea of cleaning, cooking, etc. for a family but when it is forced upon me and is something that is expected because I am a woman then I have issues. I mean even Abel treated Noah's mom wrong and felt embarrassed when people would say she was running the shop or something similar. It just was not (at least I felt) okay for her to be treated like that BUT I also had an eye opener when Noah had said all of that was her choice. She had chosen to marry Abel and to be with him and I just think that really changed my perspective from one of feeling bad to one of having questions as to why? I did finish the book and it made me tear up at the end like with what happened to the mom and I really just felt inspired of Noah with how he treated the whole situation. Hope Y'all enjoyed the book as much as I did and literally if it was not for this course I would have never read this book because it was just a topic I never felt for but now I really want to find more books that are similar to it because it was really eye opening and I must say I feel very happy to have learned his story and just knowing all he went through and seeing him so proud and happy now just warms my heart.

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I think Noah's experience with a very strict mother has a lot of similarities with the experiences of African American people in America. He references the fact that the reason she is so hard on him is to prepare him to interact with systems that will be, and historically have been, terrible to them. I'd venture to guess a lot of black people here in the states have heard similar things from their parents growing up.

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“My mom never gave me an inch. Anytime I got in trouble it was tough love, lectures, punishment, and hidings. Every time. For every infraction. You get that with a lot of black parents. They’re trying to discipline you before the system does.” ch 17 pg. 442

This text really stood out to me. This entire book is helping me see a new perspective, but this quote really set in how different cultures react and have to be more aware of their actions. I have a very close relationship with my mom so hearing Noahs relationship with his mom was hard for me to grasp in the beginning. I appreciate Noahs honesty throughout the book and teaching others, including myself.

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Noah clearly has a strong relationship with his mother and appreciates her strength through hard times. Is there anyone in your life that has impacted/influenced you in the way Noah’s mother has with him?

What was your main takeaway or message from this book? How do you think Noah wanted his readers to feel after learning his life story?

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All that I could imagine was the chaos felt by Andrew and Trevor during the hospital visit for their mom. Abel shooting her in the face was shocking to me and I can only think of the ways their mother turned it into a lesson. From just this part of Trevor's story alone, I can tell a lot has shaped him into a respectful young man.