The HOOD

THE HOOD: IS IT AN ABBREVIATION WORD NEIGHBORHOOD OR THE BLACK GHETTO?

The definition of the hood varies from person to person or place to place. I believe that the hood is a negative term used to describe low-income communities that are populated densely by African-Americans and Hispanics. It is a place where you see a lot of violence and drugs and whose inhabitants esp. males are constantly running into trouble with the law and facing police brutality.

-Nzinga Hyacinthe



DEFINITIONS OF THE HOOD

Positive:

• The Hood is the part of the city where you grew up.

• Derived from "neighborhood". An area which one lives/lived/ or is in

Negative

• Usually refers to an undesirable area: gangsters are from the “hood”
• A gangster slang word derived from neighborhood, usually talking about the ghetto or where all the gangsters and thugs live.
• The hood is a lower income crime riddled area. An unsafe place to live. Residents usually live in fear of life from day to day. Not a 'nice' place to live.
• slang for a neighborhood,
  usually refers to a depressed community,
  most often used in reference to the neighborhood that the speaker is from.
• ghetto place usually rough where people sell drugs or get shot
• The "Hood" means a place that is very crappy or ghetto. The ghetto is in Detroit, Brooklyn, Compton, Etc. The "Hood" is usually filled with blacks and some whites. It is sometimes a good place to live because it is cheaper. The "Hood" can also be in a trailer park or bad public housing apartment complex.

Definitions from urban dictionary.com

The Video Interviews

THE BAD DEFINITIONS SEEM TO OUTWEIGH THE GOOD BUT THE PEOPLE I INTERVIEWED SHED A NEW LIGHT ON WHAT THEY DEFINED THE HOOD AS IN THERE OWN WORDS.

SONG ABOUT LIFE IN THE HOOD(HIP HOP STEREOTYPE)

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My Community: Canarsie

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• The L train of the New York City Subway runs and ends in Canarsie, it connects the neighborhood to Manhattan. The "L" train is a local only subway that starts at street level and proceeds above ground and then down into the interconnecting tunnels of the New York City Subway. Bus service such as the B6, B17, B42, B60, B82, B103 and BM2 also run through Canarsie.The principal commercial streets are Rockaway Parkway and Flatlands Avenue. However, Avenue L is also fairly commercial.

• Canarsie has many one and two family homes, although there are three large public housing developments and a number of small apartment buildings scattered throughout the neighborhood. The neighborhood has many parks, including a large park commonly referred to as Seaview Park, but it is officially named Canarsie Beach Park. On Jamaica Bay, beyond the Belt Parkway, lies the Canarsie Pier section of Gateway National Recreation Area.

• Canarsie is home to two high schools, Canarsie High School and South Shore High School, and several junior high schools and elementary schools. In late fall 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that five troubled high schools will close by 2010. Among these five is Canarsie’s South Shore.

• The Canarsie Courier, located at 1142 East 92 Street and published every Thursday, is the oldest weekly publication in Brooklyn and is still in publication today.
  
  
  
  I live in district 46 and my City Council member is Lewis A. Fidler he is a Democrat

• Councilman Fidler has fought to provide funding for the numerous projects that benefit the diverse population of his district. For our youth, he has restored funding to the Summer Youth Employment Program and youth programs at several community centers.
• He Represents: Bergen Beach, Canarsie, Georgetowne, Starrett City, Flatlands, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Mill Island, Gerritsen Beach, Madison and Sheepshead Bay
• Is a Part of Committees: Youth Services (Chair); Education; Finance; Housing & Buildings; Rules, Privileges & Elections; State & Federal Legislation; Veterans
  

Black History Month - Historical Figure: Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

Timeline

• 1928: Born Marguerite Johnson, in St. Louis Missouri.
• 1931: Her parents divorced and she was sent to racially divided Stamps, Arkansas to live with her grandmother.
• 1936: She was sent back to her mother, but was raped by her mother's boyfriend and went into a state of shock. The rape caused Maya to be nearly mute for about 5 years. During which her mother sent her back to Arkansas because of the difficulty she had dealing with Maya's condition.
• 1940: She and her brother reunited with her mother in San Francisco. Her relationship with her mother soon became terribly dysfunctional and she ran away to live with her father. Living with him was just as problematic, so she left again and lived on the streets for a month until she finally returned to her mother.
  
• 1945: Shortly after graduating from high school, Angelou gave birth to her son, Clyde “Guy” Johnson at the age of 16.
• 1959-1960: At the request of Dr. Martin Luther King she became the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
• 1961-1962: Associate editor of an English language news weekly in Cairo, Egypt called The Arab Observer.
• 1963-1966: Teacher and assistant administrator of the School of Music & Drama at the University of Ghana.
• 1964 to 1966: Was the feature editor of the African Review in Accra, Ghana.
• 1970: Writer-in-resistance for the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
• 1974: Was a distinguished visiting professor at Wake Forest University, Wichita State University, and California State University of Sacramento.
• 1975-1976: Appointed by Gerald Ford to the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission.

Legacy

One of the most important Civil, Human, and Women's Rights activists. Maya Angelou wrote about her life and the many things she had seen through her years. Much had to do about discrimination and battles that African Americans have overcome through the years. Now because of Maya's thirst for more we women, we African American women, are a step further in the world. Maya also wrote about rights as blacks, and also rights as black women living the cold world of American Sexism and Racism. I discovered that Maya Angelou has over come many obstacles in her life to become the great woman that she is today.

Achievements

The world Maya Angelou grew up in was hard but made her the person she is today. She can speak Spanish, Italian, Arabic, West African Fanti, and English fluently. Along with being a writer of books, she has also written 6 plays and 2 screenplays. Her writings have been honored with nominations for the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize. Maya is also an accomplished thespian, appearing in 9 plays and films including Roots and Look Away. Maya was nominated for a Tony Award in 1973 for "Look Away," and her work in Roots received an Emmy Award nomination.

Quote: Poem Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size But when I start to tell them, They think I'm telling lies. I say, It's in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It's the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can't touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can't see. I say, It's in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. Now you understand Just why my head's not bowed. I don't shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say, It's in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need of my care, 'Cause I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me.

Citatons
Angelou, Maya. Maya Angelou Official Page. 08 Feb 2008. 03 Mar 2008 .

Why Question

Why do do some Americans view Affirmative Action as reverse discrimination?

I believe that affirmative action can not be reverse discrimination because African Americans are the minority and have been oppressed in the United States of America for over 500 years. Affirmative action was set in place to give African Americans a fair chance at getting into schools and getting jobs it in no way was meant to discriminate against Whites. For example, how can you be discriminated against if 5% of admissions for a college is set aside for African Americans the other 95% will most likely be White middle class Americans so in my opinion that is not discrimination.

The Experts
A liberal essay rebutting the myth
that affirmative action is reverse discrimination.
Friday, March 19, 1999 6:16:40 AM

Affirmative Action is not meant to help blacks because of the color of their skin, but because they deserve compensation for past and continuing injustices. Opponents may criticize the wisdom of how this compensation is meted out, but they cannot question the principle of compensatory damages, which enjoys a long tradition in our society.

Pros
The pros of Affirmative Action is that it gave African Americans the chance to excel that they were denied since the days of slavery. With Affirmative Action African Americans were able to go to universities and attain professional positions that their grandparents had only dreamed of.

Cons:
Many White Americans feel that Affirmative is reverse racism and that they are being discriminated against.

Hate Is A Cancer

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."

-MartinLuther King Jr.
US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 - 1968)
From the Speech Strength To Love, 1963.

• My Opinion- Today, on Presidents Day I think of Martin Luther King Jr., A man who did more for me than any President of The united States.Hate allows for the human psyche to justify evil action. I feel that hate not money is the root of all evil and until the human race comes to term with that there will be NO peace and the oppressed with never truly be free.
  

Questions

• What do you think about this quote?
• Do you agree or disagree with this quote?
• What are your thoughts on what I said?

Yes The King was MVP...DreadFulZ's Coverage of the AllStar Weekend

2008 NBA Top 10 Highlights

Rookie vs. Sophmores....

Daniel 'Boobie' Gibson hits 11 3-pointers!!!! need I say anymore?

Dunk Contest

He blew out the Candle!!!!...Lol did you see that..I wonder If he ate it after. And Superman is in the Building...HE was Flying. Dwight Howard....The Last dunk was beautiful off the glass.

Top 10 Plays of The All Star Game

Lebron James is the King...thats why they call him King James because hes great they need to trade him to the Spurs and make my Day...wed Kill the Celtics!! STOP HATING HES REAL

My RandomThoughts on Valentines Day

From my short time on this earth I have learned that people are fake. Some more then others but it is safe to say that everyone is hiding something from the outside world, afraid to get hurt. Afraid to be Judged. Afraid to be different. Eventually even those that claim they love you hurt you in one way or another. I do not judge you it is human nature to want to do for self, but is there not a time when one should try to help their neighbor? I don't cite palms from the bible because I'm not sure I believe in your god. I do believe in myself and that I will some how make a difference in this world in this lifetime or the next. I do not give you the words of Jesus I give to you my own genuine thoughts. I have seen brother and sister fight over nothing then go on living as if they are not missing a part of themselves. I have been blessed with something most people today lack. LOVE. It is a blessing and a curse for you have made me weak yet day by day as our love grows so does my strength. At times I think to myself “what would I do without you?”, the answer to that question brings fear to my heart and I have been known to be fearless. You have turned me into a contradiction of myself and I love you for it. You drive me crazy but at the same time when I feel the world has my back against the wall you keep me sane. You are my everything It has come to a point that you are my air, baby I breathe you. I have never needed something as much as I need you in my life and that scares me. Just the thought of you drives away all my sorrows and your smile warms me through the coldest weather. I am no saint nor am I evil but being with you has brought me one step closer to perfection.