Young and looking for a role model. - Monster 5

When we are young we all look for a role model. Weather it’s a superheroes, a TV character, an athlete or even an older sibling. I personally didn’t have any other sibling but I can imagine at what point I would look up to my older brother if I had one.

When your older sibling is on trial for felony murder you can see at what point he would not be a very good role model but he can still be one for his little brother. How? You may ask. By giving him advice on how to not end up in that position. If you look at someone for who he is and not for who he has been you can learn many things. If I was in Steve Harmon’s position what would I tell little Jerry?

First off, I would tell Jerry to watch who he is friends with. Not to be friends with the badass ‘’Cool’’ kids…. Your not very ‘’cool’’ when your about to go to jail for something now are you? Being friends with law breakers even if you’re not one yourself will end you up in trouble anyways just because you are with them. Second, I would tell him to never drop out of school. Although I, as Steve Harmon have not dropped out of school I am smart enough to see at what point my life would take a turn for the worst if I did. School is very important. Not only does it give you an education but it keeps us out of drugs, stealing and any other thing related to gangs. Ah, yes…gangs. I would also tell my little brother NEVER to try/enter a gang. It might seem like something fun and exciting at first but dealing with the Diablo’s is no joke as you can see by looking at James King sitting on the bench over there, handcuffed to a medal bar.

To some it up, in this case. Jerry should have his older brother as a role model for one simple reason. Yes he has messed up but Jerry can learn from these mistakes and not have to do them for himself. All and all, this is the advice I would give if I was in Steve’s place.

On Stand, 16 and black - Monster 4

On Stand, 16 and black….His hands shake profusely but I see in his eyes that he can’t stop it. He’s scared. He knows better then I do what kind of discrimination he is going to face.

Hello, my name is Jackie Robinson. I know all to well what this man is feeling. In 1944 I was arrested because I refused to move to the back of a segregated bus during training camp. At the time Baseball was also segregated like that bus. I played in the Negro Leagues but was drafted by Branch Rickey to play for the all-white Montreal Royals. I was confronted with a lot of racial abuse during the seasons, mostly during away games. In 1947 I was the first African American to play in the MLB (Major League Baseball).

Steve Harmon is starting at a disadvantage in this trial, just like I did playing baseball. The jury does not see an innocent young man but they see a GUILTY black man. Furthermore he grew up in the ‘’getto’’ of New York so that automatically make him a piece of scum…. Right off the go, it doesn’t matter what Steve has or has not done. The discrimination found in this case alone will most likely be enough to but him away.

If I get a chance to speak to this young boy I will tell him not to give up. Don’t let people judge you based on what you look like, based on where you grew up or even based on how you talk. MAKE them judge you based on who you are and how you think. Show the jury who Steve Harmon is and who Steve Harmon wants to be. Never back down from no one and always prove them wrong. You need to believe in yourself before you can convince others to do so.

On Stand, 16 and black - Monster

On Stand, 16 and black….His hands shake profusely but I see in his eyes that he can’t stop it. He’s scared. He knows better then I do what kind of discrimination he is going to face.

Hello, my name is Jackie Robinson. I know all to well what this man is feeling. In 1944 I was arrested because I refused to move to the back of a segregated bus during training camp. At the time Baseball was also segregated like that bus. I played in the Negro Leagues but was drafted by Branch Rickey to play for the all-white Montreal Royals. I was confronted with a lot of racial abuse during the seasons, mostly during away games. In 1947 I was the first African American to play in the MLB (Major League Baseball).

Steve Harmon is starting at a disadvantage in this trial, just like I did playing baseball. The jury does not see an innocent young man but they see a GUILTY black man. Furthermore he grew up in the ‘’getto’’ of New York so that automatically make him a piece of scum…. Right off the go, it doesn’t matter what Steve has or has not done. The discrimination found in this case alone will most likely be enough to but him away.

If I get a chance to speak to this young boy I will tell him not to give up. Don’t let people judge you based on what you look like, based on where you grew up or even based on how you talk. MAKE them judge you based on who you are and how you think. Show the jury who Steve Harmon is and who Steve Harmon wants to be. Never back down from know one and always prove them wrong.

Steve Harmon - Monster 3

Steve Harmon, main character in Walter Dean Myers, Monster. The young 16 year old is on trial for murder. He is worried mainly of what the jury thinks of him. As said from attorney Kathy O'Brien ''My job is to make sure the law works for you as well as against you, and to make you a human being in the eyes of the jury.'' (P.16, Monster) The jury is who will decide the faith of Steve Harmon. As seen in the similar movie, A Time To Kill, they must show to the jury that Steve is not a criminal. He is a young boy who still has lots to do in life. Much better things then sit around in a penitentiary wasting away a perfect life. That is why Steve Harmon is so worried about what the jury thinks of him. If they think he is a no good criminal then they will have no problem sending him to his death. Steve isn’t only concern with the jury though. As seen in his notes ‘’Miss O’Brien looked at me- I didn’t see her looking at me but I knew she was. She wanted to know who I was. Who was Steve Harmon? I wanted to open my shirt and tell her to look into my heart to see who I really was, who the real Steve Harmon was.’’ (P.92, Monster) Maybe if the attorney’s and prosecutor knew the real Steve Harmon they would think a little differently.

Monday July 6th - Monster 2

It’s dark, cold and silent. I was just awoken by a bad dream. It’s impossible to tell what time it is. I try to fall back asleep but all I can think about is; am I going to see my mother again…will I ever throw a ball to my father… live a life worth having or will I be stuck in this shit hole my whole life. I hear someone crying from a distance, followed by the sound of a cell door being opened and the sound of someone being beat to death. Soon the yells and cries stop but the sounds of a police baton hitting flesh still go on. I wonder to myself if I will be next... will I break? Will these thoughts that keep me up at night also be the cause of my death?  Will I wake up crying only to find myself beat to death? How can they do this to people? What’s different from James King murdering a man and these guards beating inmates to death for little to no reason at all? If I get out I’m going to make a difference. I will not stop till no man gets beaten in jail ever again. Jail is for punishment and regret, not for dying. I’m going to start by…..zzzzzz

No, Please, No! Why! How can you do this! Ahh!... Yet another bad dream. The sun seems to be coming up. It must be around four or five in the morning. It would seem like the total death count tonight will not be including me. I hope tomorrow the jury see’s my innocents and lets me go. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. Being so scared all the time….its hard. I swear to myself at this very moment that I will never break the law ever again, no one should. This is no place for anyone, let alone a 16 year old boy. What will become of me once I get sent to prison for life….this is just the beginning...

A Time to Kill and the Shawshank Redemption

A Time to Kill and Shawshank Redemption are two movies that examines the American law system in different states at about the same period in time around the 40`s-50`s.

A Time to Kill portrays the life of an African American (Carl Lee Hailey) in a stereo typical world of racism. After the rape and beating of his daughter, he takes the law in to his own hands, killing both men involved in the action. He is then convicted for the murder of the two men, also made out to be rednecks. At this period in time, the Klu Klux Klan was still a reality. They attempted many times to assassinate Carl Lee Hailey’s attorney Mr. Jake Tyler Brigance to stop Carl Lee being pronounced innocent in court.

On the other hand, the other movie, Shawshank Redemption takes place in a penitentiary. After Andy Dufresne is proven guilty for the murder of his wife and her lover, how ever  he did not commit. It shows the injustice in between inmates. Guards can be bribed and bought for special treatment. Inmates are also beaten sometimes even to death by the guards for little to no reason at all. Although this isn’t the reality now a day it is still a injustice to the men who served time in the past.

My favorite of the two movies was Shawshank Redemtion because I liked the ending; Andy dug his way out with the prospecting axe that his prison brother ‘’Red’’ had said would take 500 years. This was very unpredictable.

The invisible death of humanity.

Today, we live our lives day to day, not thinking about what will come next. It would seem like natural disasters are now a normal occurrence in the world. We are told not to fear because soon we will have control.  Well, wake up! Because there is no "controlling" nature. Since records have been held (430 B.C) there has been 223 major natural disasters in the world which 52 of them have occurred since 2001. There has been an increase of 20% in their occurrence in the past 15 years!

So now your sitting at home asking yourself: is that possible? Right? You don't have to look far to find your answer. Just turn on your television and watch the news once in awhile.

….December 21st 2012,  A date so called "The end of the world ". It has its number of believers that seem to consider this end to be more likely every day. If you ask me, its not going to be one thing that contributes to this end but many things added up. Although I must add that I believe it will not be the end of the world for everyone on earth.

Urbanisation. It is what made us and what will kill us. Everyone who lives without technology, who lives far away from any civilisation, will be fine for one reason. They have continued living the way they were naturally created to as to we have not. We can no longer live without technology in peace.

Take a minute to think about it. BAM! No more electricity, no more oil. In a matter of weeks half the worlds population would be gone. How you might ask? We can't pump any oil out and refine it if we have no electricity. No more oil means, no more gas. No more heating, no more food. How do you get food from Texas to Ontario without gas? What do you do when its 30 below and you have to heating in your house? There's not enough wood in Toronto to heat 3 million people now is there?

But hey, that's only the problems we made for ourselves. Let’s not forget that thanks to your car you drive every day, and all those industries that make your beautiful computer your reading this on have increased the temperature of the surface of the earth by 1°C since 2000 and will reach 6.4°C by 2100. Worst part is, we are past the fixing point and no matter what we do this will happen.

All this to say that even if we wake up December 22nd, 2012, in one piece our time clock is still ticking at a rapid rate.