#WritingWednesdays with Richard Blanco: Calling all Americans Together
One Today - Richard Blanco
One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.
My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper—
bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives—
to teach geometry, or ring-up groceries as my mother did
for twenty years, so I could write this poem.
All of us as vital as the one light we move through,
the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:
equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined,
the “I have a dream” we keep dreaming,
or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain
the empty desks of twenty children marked absent
today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light
breathing color into stained glass windows,
life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth
onto the steps of our museums and park benches
as mothers watch children slide into the day.
One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk
of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat
and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills
in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands
digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands
as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.
The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.
Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across café tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello / shalom,
buon giorno / howdy / namaste / or buenos días
in the language my mother taught me—in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.
One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.
One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
tired from work: some days guessing at the weather
of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love
that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother
who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
who couldn’t give what you wanted.
We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country—all of us—
facing the stars
hope—a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it—together
(Written for Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration
January 21, 2013)
Richard Blanco
“made in Cuba, assembled in Spain, and imported to the United States,” Richard Blanco was born in Madrid and immigrated to the United States, his family exiles from Cuba. Blanco is a civil engineer, writer, and poet. His collections of poetry include City of a Hundred Fires (1998), winner of the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize; Directions to the Beach of the Dead (2005), winner of the PEN/American Beyond Margins Award; Looking for the Gulf Motel (2012), winner of the Thom Gunn Award, the Maine Literary Award, and the Paterson Prize; the inaugural poem One Today (2013); Boston Strong (2013); and How to Love a Country (coming in 2019).
When Blanco was chosen to serve as the fifth inaugural poet of the United States, he became the youngest, first Latino, immigrant, and openly gay poet with that honour.
Sources and Further Reading
Recognized for her passion, knowledge, and support of her clients’ individual journeys toward their best selves, Frances Mulinix brings over 20 years of experience in coaching, voice, movement, and performance to support her clients in breaking down blocks, opening the voice, and reaching achievements they had previously not thought possible. Transform your relationship to your mind, body, and voice, bringing new confidence and creativity to your life.
A Star is Born - Thoughts on a Physically Painful Voice
I was reading this article today about how Bradley Cooper created the voice for his character in A Star is Born and I feel upset.
Please, please don't read stuff like this and think this is how voice training is done. Please don't read stuff like this and try to emulate anything described.
Some takeaways:
1. Pain is a message. Pain when vocalizing is a major message!
If your voice hurts or you are losing your voice, that is a sign that there are some training and vocal health strategies you need to enact. When using vocal technique and support, you should be able to speak for hours, perform for days without strain or pain. And yes, you can come back from strain, polyps, etc.
2. Are you training? Who is on your team?
Anyone who uses their voice for a living should have vocal training and a personal practice. Your voice is the result of a bunch of muscles working together in coordination. You wouldn't compete in a triathlon or in the NFL without prior training, regular practice, and having a warm-up and cool-down on days when you need to be "on."
3. Training Matters
A vocal coach that isn't teaching clients how to speak without strain (and hasn't taught a client that your oesophagus is where the food goes, not the voice) scares me. I don't know this one, they aren't interviewed, and I'm certainly not here to criticise their approach. It seems Cooper missed something - or the interviewer did- which then promotes misperceptions to readers.
4. Good technique increases your options
You can create a voice for your character that is lower, higher, and otherwise different from your optimum voice. Your voice must be supported by your body, not ripping your vocal folds - and not "physically painful to create".
If you watch A Star Is Born (or watch the preview), keep in mind how painful Cooper's chosen voice is - and that there are other choices available to you. Suffering and intentionally creating injury is needless - even for us masochists.
Takeaways:
Have a regular vocal practice. Get a voice teacher as part of your team. I want you to reflect now on who constitutes your team to support your profession and what practices you have daily, weekly, monthly, and annually to keep you growing and going.
Your industry is difficult enough. Longevity matters.
Recognized for her passion, knowledge, and support of her clients’ individual journeys toward their best selves, Frances Mulinix brings over 20 years of experience in coaching, voice, movement, and performance to support her clients in breaking down blocks, opening the voice, and reaching achievements they had previously not thought possible. Transform your relationship to your mind, body, and voice, bringing new confidence and creativity to your life.
#WritingWednesdays with José Olivarez: "people are overrated. give me avocados."
now i’m bologna - José Olivarez
my parents were born from a car. they climbed out
& kissed the car on its cheek. my grandmother.
to be a first generation person. 23 and Me reports
i am descendant of pistons & drive trains. 33%
irrigation tools. you are what you do. my first job
was in a lunch meat factory. now i’m bologna.
it’s not so bad being a person. the front seat of a car
is more comfortable than the trunk. when they were babies
my parents dreamt of being Lamborghinis. not
people. you are what your children grow up to do.
if i put my parents’ names on papers, what happens?
the answer is no comment. the answer is quién sabe.
the answer is yo no sé, pero no es abogado.
people are overrated. give me avocados.
I Walk Into Every Room and Yell Where the Mexicans At - José Olivarez
i know we exist because of what we make. my dad works at a steel mill. he worked at a steel mill my whole life. at the party, the liberal white woman tells me she voted for hillary & wishes bernie won the nomination. i stare in the mirror if i get too lonely. thirsty to see myself i once walked into the lake until i almost drowned. the white woman at the party who might be liberal but might have voted for trump smiles when she tells me how lucky i am. how many automotive components do you think my dad has made. you might drive a car that goes and stops because of something my dad makes. when i watch the news i hear my name, but never see my face. every other commercial is for taco bell. all my people fold into a $2 crunchwrap supreme. the white woman means lucky to be here and not mexico. my dad sings por tu maldito amor & i’m sure he sings to america. y yo caí en tu trampa ilusionado. the white woman at the party who may or may not have voted for trump tells me she doesn’t meet too many mexicans in this part of new york city. my mouth makes an oh, but i don’t make a sound. a waiter pushes his brown self through the kitchen door carrying hors d’oeuvres. a song escapes through the swinging door. selena sings pero ay como me duele & the good white woman waits for me to thank her.
About José Olivarez
The son of Mexican immigrants, José Olivarez is the author of the book of poems, Citizen Illegal (Haymarket Books, 2018). He is co-editing the forthcoming anthology, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT with Felicia Chavez and Willie Perdomo. Co-host of the poetry podcast, The Poetry Gods and a recipient of fellowships from CantoMundo, Poets House, the Bronx Council on the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, & the Conversation Literary Festival. He lives in Chicago. He leads writing workshops and diversity trainings, teaches, and creates curriculum for you writers in Chicago, IL.
Further Reading
Recognized for her passion, knowledge, and support of her clients’ individual journeys toward their best selves, Frances Mulinix brings over 20 years of experience in coaching, voice, movement, and performance to support her clients in breaking down blocks, opening the voice, and reaching achievements they had previously not thought possible. Transform your relationship to your mind, body, and voice, bringing new confidence and creativity to your life.
#WritingWednesday - Resilience with Ada Limón
I have been reflecting quite a bit about resiliency. A thought that I am sitting with is that resiliency requires one to face their mortality, their fallibility, in order to cope with each difficulty encountered. I even struggle to come up with the right words regarding how one deals with difficulties. Some are survived, some are confronted, some are passed through. Resilience looks different depending on the person, their resources, and situation. Sometimes resilience is trying to maintain stasis - or finding a new reality.
A cycling accident four weeks ago started me on this line of thought. A subarachnoid hemorrhage and fractures of my temporal bone and clavicle and a lot can change at once. After my head hit the pavement, I spent 45 minutes with my eyes open and talking, but I have no memory of doing so. Suddenly, my brain came back online, my husband was over me, talking to me and checking my bones for fractures, I was sobbing. Had I not been wearing a helmet, I would be dead. As things go, my healing has been remarkably quick, but this experience put me in touch with my frailty and fallibility
We can imagine the way we will behave when things go wrong. We can wonder how our loved ones will react. I can honestly say I know the answer to those questions. Such an experience brought out surprising moments of kindness and understanding in others. Learning to slow down, heal, and accept others' generosity has been my lesson - and I have failed quite a few times. Initially, I was in shock. I had to give my nervous system a while to calm down. I also tried to skip the healing process and go right to rehabilitation, but bones heal on their own terms.
I have neither patience nor grace naturally, I have to practice them, and it has been a challenge not being able to charge my way through these challenges. Survival doesn't always mean developing empathy. In fact, sometimes it makes a person more rigid and judgemental ("I survived X and I still fulfilled my commitments. What is your excuse?")
I went to Point Roberts to visit my Godfather and his wife. They are telling me how in the face of an aging population and limited resources, the community bands together to care for each other. Humans evolved because they grew together not in spite of it. Sometimes having to band together means we can come out better. As a defiantly independent person, asking for help doesn't come easily
In a way, we are all heliographs. What we reflect at others can be our choice, and sends a powerful message to others.
Instructions on Not Giving Up - Ada Limón
More than the fuchsia funnels breaking out
of the crabapple tree, more than the neighbor’s
almost obscene display of cherry limbs shoving
their cotton candy-colored blossoms to the slate
sky of Spring rains, it’s the greening of the trees
that really gets to me. When all the shock of white
and taffy, the world’s baubles and trinkets, leave
the pavement strewn with the confetti of aftermath,
the leaves come. Patient, plodding, a green skin
growing over whatever winter did to us, a return
to the strange idea of continuous living despite
the mess of us, the hurt, the empty. Fine then,
I’ll take it, the tree seems to say, a new slick leaf
unfurling like a fist to an open palm, I’ll take it all.
How to Triumph Like a Girl - Ada Limón
I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour
is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.
I like their lady horse swagger,
after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!
But mainly, let’s be honest, I like
that they’re ladies. As if this big
dangerous animal is also a part of me,
that somewhere inside the delicate
skin of my body, there pumps
an 8-pound female horse heart,
giant with power, heavy with blood.
Don’t you want to believe it?
Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see
the huge beating genius machine
that thinks, no, it knows,
it’s going to come in first.
Further Reading
Ada Limón on Poets.org
Recognized for her passion, knowledge, and support of her clients’ individual journeys toward their best selves, Frances Mulinix brings over 20 years of experience in coaching, voice, movement, writing, and performance to support her clients in breaking down blocks and reaching achievements they had previously not thought possible. Transform your relationship toyour mind, body, and voice, bringing new confidence and creativity to your life.
New Vibrance Group Class Being Offered
Exciting news!
A new group class is being offered:
The first weekly session commences Thursday, September 6, 5:30 - 6:30 pm at Planet Chiropractic at 2173 Fairburn Rd, Douglasville
Discounted rates for those who purchase a 10-week pass and for Planet Chiropractic clients.
Frances Mulinix is excited to bring her unique and effective group and private coaching sessions to Douglasville.
Access the body’s innate ability to heal at Vibrance group classes.
Reduce stress, increase awareness, navigate emotions, and improve the mind-body connection through a combination of meditation, breath work, and gentle stretches.
Recognized for her passion, knowledge, and support of her clients’ individual journeys toward their best selves, Frances Mulinix brings over 20 years of experience in coaching, voice, movement, writing, and performance to support her clients in breaking down blocks and reaching achievements they had previously not thought possible. Transform your relationship to your mind, body, and voice, bringing new confidence and creativity to your life.
#WritingWednesday: Summer in the South
As this is my second summer in the American South, I am still very much a newbie. I am new to the humidity, the crickets at night coming out of the dark on a wave of sound, the extreme air conditioning that has me wearing layers indoors and then wholly unprepared to walk out my front door! I have started to go on walks in my local park and the trees provide a welcome respite from the heat, but I am learning that getting up very early before the heat is a good idea.
Not only is this poem perfect for the season, Paul Laurence Dunbar's is in many ways quintessentially American. While he is ultimately viewed as a success, his story is one of hard work, determination, prejudice, grievance, and the importance of support from the community.
Summer in the South - By Paul Laurence Dunbar
The oriole sings in the greening grove
As if he were half-way waiting,
The rosebuds peep from their hoods of green,
Timid and hesitating.
The rain comes down in a torrent sweep
And the nights smell warm and piney,
The garden thrives, but the tender shoots
Are yellow-green and tiny.
Then a flash of sun on a waiting hill,
Streams laugh that erst were quiet,
The sky smiles down with a dazzling blue
And the woods run mad with riot.
About the Poet
Born on June 27, 1872, Dunbar was the son of Joshua and Matilda Murphy Dunbar, two freed slaves from Kentucky. Dunbar is one of the first African American poets to be recognized by his country for his literary contributions.
Dunbar was a hit with the local Dayton community before he received wider recognition. By the age of fourteen, his poems could be found in the Dayton Herald and, as a high school student, he edited a newspaper published by peer Orville Wright, the Dayton Tattler. Dunbar was the only black student in his graduating class at Central High School in Dayton.
Unable to afford college and encountering barriers due to his race, Dunbar worked as an elevator operator. Luckily, a former teacher invited him to read his poems to the Western Association of Writers. An instant favorite he received support from popular poets such as James Whitcomb Riley. This encouraged Dunbar to self-publish a collection of poetry called Oak and Ivy in 1893. He sold his book for one dollar to the people who rode his elevator in order to offset the publishing costs.
Called by a desire to work at the first World's Fair, Dunbar moved to Chicago. There, he befriended Frederick Douglass. Douglass, calling Dunbar “the most promising young colored man in America,” assisted Dunbar in finding a job as a clerk and organized opportunities for Dunbar to read his poetry. His poems began to reach a wider audience by 1895 with major national magazines and newspapers publishing his works. His second collection was the result of further assistance from friends, Majors and Minors (Hadley & Hadley, 1895). The "minor" poems were those written in dialect and earned his greater attention while the "major" poems were in standard English and greater in number. At this time, writing in a Southern dialect was often contrived to mock blacks. Instead, Dunbar used dialect to make social commentary, drawing in his parents' backgrounds.
Paul Laurence Dunbar with his mother, Matilda Burton Murphy Dunbar, c. 1900.
While on a six-month reading tour of England in 1897 with a third poetry collection, Lyrics of Lowly Life (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1896), Dunbar met the Queen of England. With his return to America, Dunbar was hired as a clerk at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. He married Alice Ruth Moore who was also a writer and published Folks from Dixie (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1898), a collection of short stories, the novel The Uncalled (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1898), then two further collections of poetry, Lyrics of the Hearthside (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1899) and Poems of Cabin and Field (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1899). During this time Dunbar also wrote lyrics for several musical reviews.
By 1898 Dunbar had become very ill with tuberculosis and left his position as clerk, spending his time fully on writing and giving readings. The following five years saw Dunbar write three further novels and three collections of short stories. His separation from his wife in 1902 was followed by what is considered a nervous breakdown and pneumonia. Over this period he produced several collections of poetry such as Lyrics of Love and Laughter (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1903), Howdy, Howdy, Howdy (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1905), and Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1903). However, Dunbar suffered from depression and, while successful, experienced many frustrations with his career.
Dunbar passed away in his mother's house in Dayton Ohio on February 9, 1906, at the age of thirty-three. He died held by his mother as the 23rd Psalm ("Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death") was recited, witnessed by doctors, neighbors, and his secretary. Recognized as the greatest African-American poet of his day, the state of Ohio purchased his mother's house after her death to make it the first state memorial to an African-American in the country. At a time when African-Americans were considered to have little of value to say, Dunbar was the first black writer to be accepted by American literary establishment.
Adapted from Academy of American Poets.com and Dayton.com.
Your Turn
Go for a walk in your neighbourhood. What do you see? What do you hear? How do you know it is summer? What says "summer" in your community? What is the vernacular of your area? Are there ways of speaking that are unique where you live? Tune your ear.
Write a poem painting a picture using the sounds and images you collect on your walk.
Recognized for her passion, knowledge, and support of her clients’ individual journeys toward their best selves, Frances Mulinix brings over 20 years of experience in coaching, voice, movement, writing, and performance to support her clients in breaking down blocks and reaching achievements they had previously not thought possible. Transform your relationship to your mind, body, and voice, bringing new confidence and creativity to your life.
#LGBTMonth: When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
For LGBT Month, we are focussing on the works of lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, transgender, and queer poets:
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
- Chen Chen
To be a good
ex/current friend for R. To be one last
inspired way to get back at R. To be relationship
advice for L. To be advice
for my mother. To be a more comfortable
hospital bed for my mother. To be
no more hospital beds. To be, in my spare time,
America for my uncle, who wants to be China
for me. To be a country of trafficless roads
& a sports car for my aunt, who likes to go
fast. To be a cyclone
of laughter when my parents say
their new coworker is like that, they can tell
because he wears pink socks, see, you don’t, so you can’t,
can’t be one of them. To be the one
my parents raised me to be—
a season from the planet
of planet-sized storms.
To be a backpack of PB&J & every
thing I know, for my brothers, who are becoming
their own storms. To be, for me, nobody,
homebody, body in bed watching TV. To go 2D
& be a painting, an amateur’s hilltop & stars,
simple decoration for the new apartment
with you. To be close, J.,
to everything that is close to you—
blue blanket, red cup, green shoes
with pink laces.
To be the blue & the red.
The green, the hot pink.
Illustration by Peter Urkowitz!
About Chen Chen
Born in Xiamen, China, Chen Chen grew up in Massachusetts. A PhD student at Texas University, Chen Chen is the author of When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017), Kissing the Sphinx (Two of Cups Press, 2016), and Set the Garden on Fire (Porkbelly Press, 2015).
When I Grow Up won the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize and was long-listed for the National Book Award. He is a Kundiman Fellow. He is the winner of the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize (2014), New Delta Review's Matt Clark Award in Poetry (2014), the Joyce Carol Oates Award (2011), and a finalist of Narrative's 30 Below Contest (2014).
Further Reading
Recognized for her passion, knowledge, and support of her clients’ individual journeys toward their best selves, Frances Mulinix brings over 20 years of experience in coaching, voice, movement, writing, and performance to support her clients in breaking down blocks and reaching achievements they had previously not thought possible. Transform your relationship to your mind, body, and voice, bringing new confidence and creativity to your life.
Own Your Narrative
Source: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/new-york-city
This past week has been very packed. I was in New York training in Fitzmaurice Voicework. I have never been to New York before, and I very much enjoyed the visit. I didn't have enough time to make the most of it as my time and energy was focussed on training and learning as much as I could to take back to my own clients. I did, however, stumble into Times Square by accident, and discover that I had been going to a gym just 2 blocks from the Empire State Building (good thing I decided to look to my right on my second-to-last day or I would have missed it)!
While I was in New York, I trained under many incredible teachers including Catherine Fitzmaurice, Micha Espinosa, Barbara Karger, Julie Foh, Joseph Bates, Ilse Pfeifer, and Professor He Yan from Shanghai Theatre Academy. I spent my week working with many incredible performers, having wonderful conversations, and building friendships.
Sunrise on the Rails by Ray Cunningham
Upon my return to Atlanta, I immediately dashed off to teach a class. We focussed on what builds muscle tension and how to release it, learned about chronic pain and what the current research says about healing it, and how to own the narrative of our lives.
One of my clients, a retired flight attendant shared with me the secret of her unflappability on the job. She is always a warm and beautiful human being, but, when dealing with upset travelers she was unfazed. She explained that she had the mindset that they did not get to ruin her day. This allowed her to exercise a healthy boundary between her personal self and those she encountered as her professional self. It meant that she wouldn't allow herself open to strangers. In this way, she demonstrates an internal locus of control, knowing that she created her own destiny and refused to allow others to have control over her.
Stories are powerful and the ones we tell about ourselves are vital. Is your narrative one of Agency where you are in control of your life, Redemption where the challenges you faced brought an improved attitude or insight, or Communion where your focus is on forming and evolving meaningful relationships?
Own your narrative and take ownership of your life.
Whatever your aims, we can aid you in achieving your goals with our individualised approach and flexible sessions. Contact us:
#VibranceNews: The Art, The Science of Success & Resilience Course
I have some very exciting news:
I am currently looking for 5-7 participants to attend a new 8-session personal development program. We will use neuroscience-based strategies and practice to facilitate intra- and interpersonal development. Such skills improve our professional and personal lives, increasing well-being, presence, and resilience.
As this program is still in development, the course is free in exchange for attendance, constructive feedback, patience with any hiccups, and writing a testimonial. Sessions will be interrupted during June/July, but there will always be home practice in the meantime to maintain momentum.
I am looking for expressions of interest in order to draw up a schedule that works for the group and space availability.
Location: Planet Chiropractic, 2173 Fairburn Rd, Douglasville
Sessions will comprise of presentations intermixed with writing, standing, speaking, and lying activities (mats, chairs, pillows etc. provided). Participants will need to practice strategies at home between sessions.
I think Thursdays may be ideal as Planet Chiropractic is closed that day. Otherwise Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday outside of Planet Chiropractic’s hours. Sessions should run no longer than 2 hours.
Please contact me with your availability and any questions: contact@vibrancecentre.com
About me: I am a speech teacher and trained Occupational Therapist from Vancouver, Canada. I work with adults experiencing transitions in their lives and careers: job interviews, promotions, presentations, relationships, work-life balance, and conflict management.
Whatever your aims, we can aid you in achieving your goals with our individualised approach and flexible sessions. Contact us:
#PoetryMonth High School Training Ground
Here's a treat for April, poetry month, Malcolm London performing his piece about the school system in which he grew up.
High School Training Ground
At 7:45 a.m., I open the doors to a building dedicated to building, yet only breaks me down. I march down hallways cleaned up after me every day by regular janitors, but I never have the decency to honor their names. Lockers left open like teenage boys' mouths when teenage girls wear clothes that covers their insecurities but exposes everything else. Masculinity mimicked by men who grew up with no fathers, camouflage worn by bullies who are dangerously armed but need hugs. Teachers paid less than what it costs them to be here. Oceans of adolescents come here to receive lessons but never learn to swim, part like the Red Sea when the bell rings.
This is a training ground. My high school is Chicago, diverse and segregated on purpose. Social lines are barbed wire. Labels like "Regulars" and "Honors" resonate. I am an Honors but go home with Regular students who are soldiers in territory that owns them. This is a training ground to sort out the Regulars from the Honors, a reoccurring cycle built to recycle the trash of this system.
Trained at a young age to capitalize, letters taught now that capitalism raises you but you have to step on someone else to get there. This is a training ground where one group is taught to lead and the other is made to follow. No wonder so many of my people spit bars, because the truth is hard to swallow. The need for degrees has left so many people frozen.
Homework is stressful, but when you go home every day and your home is work, you don't want to pick up any assignments. Reading textbooks is stressful, but reading does not matter when you feel your story is already written, either dead or getting booked. Taking tests is stressful, but bubbling in a Scantron does not stop bullets from bursting.
I hear education systems are failing, but I believe they're succeeding at what they're built to do --to train you, to keep you on track, to track down an American dream that has failed so many of us all.
Whatever your aims, we can aid you in achieving your goals with our individualised approach and flexible sessions. Contact us: