Friday, December 5, 2008

Troupe

This semester was rough and winter break is much needed. Not only was I busy with school work, but I had rehearsals almost every night since August. I am a captain of the dance team at Manhattanville: Dance Troupe.

I have been on the team since freshman year and was appointed captain my Junior year. It was an honor to be appointed that title and I have had a blast this year. My team consists of 12 girls. We compete in competitions and dance at school events and sports games. Last year, we competed at 2 competitions. At one competition, we left with a first and third place trophy. At the second competition we left with two first place trophies and a bid for nationals. I was also offered a job with the NDA (National Dance Association) based on my performance at the competition.


Not only do we dance, but starting this year we have branched out into hosting our own events. We hosted a Sadie Hawkins in October that was a huge success! President Burman attended along with so many other students! We had a dj, fancy lights and refreshments. Everyone looked classy and danced the night away.


I am so proud of my team and would not trade them for anything. We have the best times and work so well together.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Malcolm X


“Policies change, and programs change, according to time. But objective never changes. You might change your method of achieving the objective, but the objective never changes. Our objective is complete freedom, complete justice, complete equality, by any means necessary.” This was a direct quote from Malcolm X himself in a speech given on December 20, 1964.

With these deeps words, it is easy to see how strong of a man Malcolm was. Malcolm realized that there are differences between people anywhere you go, but for you to be able to make a difference is something you have to work hard at. With the upbringing of Marcus Garvey’s ideas and the different world views Malcolm was exposed to through his mother, he had somewhat of a large sense of problems that occur in the world.

Malcolm X has always been a man of deep, passionate feelings, and strong words. There is no mystery when it comes to his views and goals for his African American brothers and sisters. Malcolm was determined to give his people the rights and lives they were entitled to have. While his people were being deprived of their lives, why give any enthusiasm to any other culture? Malcolm realized that there were many other problems in other cultures and races in the world, but that it was their own duty to take care of them. His relevance for non African Americans was as strong as his relevance for African Americans. As much passion he had for African Americans, he felt just as strong about having no respect for the “white” society.