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.