I’ve never really played baseball, but I’ve always been a fan. I inherited my baseball allegiances from my Mets-fan father and from my surroundings. I grew up in the two-team city of New York, which I’ve always thought has some of the most passionate fans in baseball. Except for an easily-ignored minority, if you were a baseball fan, you supported the Mets or the Yankees. In this eternal war there was no middle ground. I chose my side and defended it, and I still remain faithful even after I moved here to the bay area eight years ago. Like a lot of other Mets fans, my hopes for 2007 were high. The previous season they had come within one game of reaching the World Series, and in my mind there didn’t seem to be any reason for them not to repeat their performance. and in early September I seemed to be right—the Mets had a seven-game lead in their division. no way they can mess that up, I thought, as did many other people. boy was i wrong. in only seventeen games the Mets blew that lead and ruined their playoff hopes in one of the worst collapses in history, beating out 500-1 odds. Watching it—or listening—was painful. They have to win this one, I thought, day after day, and day after day they failed to do so. I still don’t understand how they managed to do this. The manager and owners hadn’t made any stupid decisions recently. Maybe they just lost their momentum, lost one game and then just kept on losing. It can happen. But I don’t think I’ll ever understand how one team could have magically transformed itself into such a laughingstock in the blink of an eye. Despite this catastrophe, I will continue to keep the faith. After all, there’s always next year.
Archive for November, 2007
Teen Pregnancy by Lorena Cuevas
Have you noticed an increase in teen pregnancy?
I have, I see more teenage girls getting pregnant now than when I was younger. When I was a little girl I would never hear about young girls getting pregnant around my neighborhood. I used to see my sister go out with her friends but never realized that she was going to be a teenage mother at the age of 16. It was hard for her to tell my parents she was pregnant we all found out the day the baby’s father and his parents were going to talk to my parents. My parents were not happy about it but were supportive towards her. I was both sad and mad because I knew my parents were going to get mad at her. I didn’t want her to get in trouble but I couldn’t do anything about the situation. She was already 3 in half months pregnant. But it wasn’t just my sister; some of my friends were getting pregnant too. Four of my close friends have kids now. Even though it’s becoming more common being to be a teen mother it’s something I wouldn’t want to experience any time soon. I have my whole life ahead of me to learn and explore. I wouldn’t want to go through what my sister went through because I have learned from her experiences.
New Form of Racism by Justin Fossett
I look in the mirror double take on my faceRunning cold water over my scalp, questioning the true meaning of raceAfricans were really captured from Africa with no traceSlavery trapped human beings no way to escapeAnd it still goes on today but my question isWhy? and What for? I stress the message with emphasisWhat is institution, oppression, what about white supremacy?No answers mister governor, what is you givin meTell me why is it a sin to me to be a young black male? So much negative energy directin me straight to the jail cellJena 6 students locked up lost hope when they found out bailYou wanna talk about progress but we move no faster than snailsAnd I can’t talk about this in a song because I’m afraid it won’t sellMake it seem like I can’t walk in an all black community and not worry about gun shots empty clipse hot shells45 pistols on top of family book shelvesIn the kitchen cookin up hero or crack to sellWaitin for the first check of the month, that’s my only hope for mailPeople have a story to tell but the people in power are like oh wellNow a days it isn’t just black folks that fall victimYou can be a target just because your skin color is differentSo again I ask about race hopin to get some answers no lienAsk the teachers and cops about trackin an racial profilingAsk about how we claim to be DEsegregated knowin that aint the caseYou never get answers because they always got some excuses to makeAND WHEN I SAY “THEY” I MEAN THE RACIST COWARDSFIND THE CONNECTION Racism equals prejudice plus power
Tethered Cord by Tiara Williams
tethered cord sydrome is when the nerves at the end of a person’s spinal cord is bundled up. doctors diagnosed me at age 13 which meant that damage had already been done. my legs were uneven and i would sometimes have back pain. with different people, different things happen. but for me these were the only problems. because of these problems i wasn’t able to do a lot of things such as physical education and playing sports. the pain would come if i walked too far or ran too fast. as i was growing up i thought i was the only one with a birth defect, but my mother used to always tell me “nobody is perfect”. i never really believed her until i got to high school and saw that everone had problems that couldn’t be cured. that’s when i truly realized nobody is perfect. at the age of 13 i had my first surgery; it was to release the bunlded up nerves. at the age of 14 i had my second surgery; this was done because i had finished growing and it would stop some of the pain i was having. it was also to make my legs even, so they cut the bone in my right leg and put a rod in it so the bone would not twist. at the age of 15 i had to have the rod removed because when the weather would change i would have pain.personally i didn’t want the surgeries because of the ugly scars and because i thought it was dumb. but as i grew older i relized that the scars show the pain i went therw and if i wouldn’t have had the surgery, later on in life i would need a knee replacement and hip replacement. overall, everything has gotten better and i have become a stronger person.
Natural by Asha Richardson
If you have ever met me or even seen me, one of the first things you will notice is my hair. My hair is naturally big, a combination of nappy and curly. Even as a young girl I was known for having big hair. In the end of my freshmen year I was pressured to straighten my hair for the first time. Although it felt foreign to me, I started receiving a lot more attention. Even this boy who I had a crush on told me “Dang, you look better with your hair straight”. But this wasn’t me, so after a long shower I returned to my natural look, but it became so unmanageable. Out of frustration I wasn’t taking enough care of it. Often I couldn’t style it in the way I wanted or it would dry and shrink by the end of the day. I was constantly frustrated trying to find someway to genuinely express myself with my hair. At the point when I was about to completely stop caring; my mother suggested I textures it. A texturizer is basically a weaker version of a perm that makes your kinky curls stretch out. At first I was shocked my hair looked exactly the way I wanted, and then I noticed some parts of my hair were straight. I tried to rinse it out but my hair errantly remained straightened. At this point I realized I was completely contradicting myself. I just sat and thought about it. I put chemicals in my hair to achieve a natural look, when that’s exactly the opposite of what a natural look means. I felt so ashamed. My mom said I shouldn’t worry about it, and that it looked cute. Even with all this guilt a month later I did it again out of pressure to be accepted. I feel extremely hypocritical. Today I’ve decided that if I want to have a natural look it will truly be natural, no chemicals involved. I’ve realized that there is no standard for real beauty, and no matter what my hair looks like I will always be beautiful.
My Sister and Me by Tiara Williams
MY OLDER SISTER PLAYS A BIG ROLE IN MY LIFE; SHE MADE ME WHO I AM TODAY. I KNOW THAT SOME PEOPLE AREN’T LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE A SISTER BUT IM GLAD I DO. SHE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE WHEN I NEEDED HER.
MY SISTER AND I ARE BESTFRIENDS FOREVER. EVEN THOUGH WE ARE ALIKE WE ARE DIFFERENT IN SO MANY WAYS. MY SISTER IS FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN ME AND IN COLLEGE. SHE LIKES TO PARTY ALL DAY EVERYDAY. UNLIKE ME, I LIKE TO GET THE JOB DONE, AND THEN PARTY.
WE HAD AN ARGUMENT LAST WEEK. WE ARGUED ABOUT THE SMALLEST THING. IT WAS BECAUSE I HAD WORN HER JACKET WITHOUT PERMISSION. WE SCREAMED AT THE TOP OF OUR LUNGS. THEN THE ARGUMENT LEAD TO ME TELLING HER SHE IS TOO OLD TO ARGUE WITH A MINOR OVER SOMETHING STUPID. THEN SHE TOLD ME I NEEDED TO LISTEN TO HER AND START DOING WHAT SHE SAID.
IN THE END OUR MOTHER TOLD US THAT LIFE IS TOO SHOT AND WE SHOULD NOT HOLD GRUDGES TOWARDS EACHOTHER. WE KNEW WHAT OUR MOM SAID WAS RIGHT.
EVEN THOUGH WE ARGURE I LOVE MY SISTER, AND IF I WOULD HAVE TO CHOOSE ANYBODY IN THE WORLD TO BE MY SISTER I WOULD STILL CHOOSE HER.
Life Around My Struggles By Brandy Guevara
IT’S HARD GROWING KNOWING YOU’RE ADOPTED. LIVING A LIFE & NOT KNOWING MY BIRTH MOTHER AT FIRST IT WAS HARD KNOWING THAT I HAVE A MOTHER AND ANOTHER FAMILY SOME WHERE OUT IN THE WORLD. ITS STRESSFUL. I ALWAYS THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF PERSON SHE WOULD BE OR WHAT SHE LOOKED LIKE. I LOVE MY PARENTS WHO ADOPTED ME AT 2 MONTHS OLD, BUT I KNEW DEEP DOWN INSIDE SOMETHING WAS MISSING. WHEN I WAS YOUNGER I WANTED MY BIOLOGICAL MOTHER TO BE IN MY LIFE, BUT SHE WAS ON DRUGS AND NO WHERE TO BE FOUND.
FINALLY AT THE AGE OF 14 I REALLY MET HER FACE TO FACE. WE LOOKED JUST A LIKE, IT WAS CRAZY. I TRIED TO GET TO KNOW HER BUT IT WAS TOO HARD. I THOUGHT SHE WOULD TURN OUT TO BE A BETTER PERSON BUT SHE WASNT. SHE WAS NOTHING THAT I IMAGINED. IT WAS LIKE SHE BRIBED ME WITH MONEY. EVERY SINGLE STEP WAS DO YOU WANT THIS DO YOU WANT THAT. IT WAS LIKE WHERE IS THE LOVE AT? FINALLY I STARTED TO GET TIRED OF HER AND ALL THE DRAMA. IT WAS LIKE SHE WAS TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR ALL THE YEARS THAT SHE MISSED WITH ME. AFTER SOME MONTHS SHE WENT HER OWN WAY AND STOP CALLING ME. THANK GOD I MET MY FATHER’S SIDE OF THE FAMILY . THEY’RE COOL. I THINK LATER ON IN LIFE OUR DIFFERENCES WILL COME TOGETHER AND WE WOULD FINALLY BECOME MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.
The Hood By, Stephon Simpkins
i was sitting at home thinking about how life is messed up in the hood so i wrote a rap about it. Being raised in the hood causes people to think you have to stay in the hood, and live your life the way the hood raises you. but, i don’t agree with that, i think if you were raised in the hood you don’t have to let it rub off on you. the hood is not always bad for you, some people will love to see you get out of the ghetto and do something with your life. it’s like the in crowd and the out crowd, if you choose the in crowd you might end up at a dead end. the in crowd will tell you to do wrong things like sell drugs, join gangs, or other illegal activities which could lead to jail. the out crowd is the people that don’t particapate in any of those things. i’m in the out crowd im trying to stayaway from the in crowd because jail is not the place for me. Some people don’t like me because i don’t want to do bad things with them, but i don’t care because i already see my future and messing with the in crowd might get in the way. so i’m goin to pick the right thing to do, and that’s my way
From Milwaukee to Oakland By Elisha Colas
I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN MILLWAUKEE, WISCONSIN AND I RECENTLY MOVED OUT HERE IN OAKLAND CALIFONIA. I MOVED HERE A MONTH AGO TO LIVE WITH MY DAD, AND I LIKE IT IN CALIFORNIA BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES SUCH AS YOUTH RADIO WHICH I JUST STARTED. IM 14 YEARS OLD AND I SPENT BASICLY ALL MY LIFE IN MILWAUKEE SO IT IS A BIG CHANGE IN LIFESTYLE WISE. THE PEOPLE ARE BASICLY THE SAME EXCEPT THEIR CHOICE OF WORDS LIKE HOW IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THEY SAY HELLA WHICH WE DON’T SAY IN MILLWAUKEE. THE LAND SCAPE IN CALIFORNIA IS VERY DIFFERENT BECAUSE MILWAUKEE IS ALL FLAT LAND AND THERE IS MOUNTAINS EVERY WHERE OUT HERE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. ALSO HERE IT DOESN’T SNOW BUT BACK IN MY HOME TOWN IT SNOWS EVERY WINTER. EVEN THOUGH I ONLY MOVED OUT HERE A MONTH AGO I PLAN ON FINISHING HIGH SCHOOL AND STARTING MY CAREER OUT HERE IN CALIFORNIA. I’M INTO ARTICHECTURE AND I LOVE TO DRAW, SO MAYBE BEING A TATTOO ARTIST CAN WORK FOR ME TOO. BUT BEFORE I THINK ABOUT MY CAREER I’M GOING TO ENJOY MY YOUTH IN SUNNY CALIFORNIA.
Money By, Abraham McElmore
M.i.a.m.i. Or money is a major issue. Making money can cause people to do some crazy things. Money seems to be the only thing anybody thinks about these days. To make a profit some people will do anything, even if it means selling drugs, stealing, and killing innocent people. I used to kick it with people who didn’t care about anything but money. They would do what ever it takes to get their hands on it even if it means taking money from their own family members…I never thought that was cool, but I did whatever else it took like selling drugs, stealing and a lot more. I did it because it was getting me what I wanted; everything was good until my friends started hating on me. They wanted the things I had, every other day something of mine was missing. It made me want more money and it made me do more until I got arrested. Once I lost my freedom I realized that’s not the type of life I wanted. So I thought about it and quit doing whatever it took to get money. I decided to get a job that can support my needs financially, as well as keeping me away from breaking anymore penal codes.
