Advocating for Peace in the Middle East

Out of all the topics to choose from I wanted to choose something that was linked more to my community and to myself. I live in Dearborn, which is one of the most Arabic populated cities and I am of Arabic ethnicity. I chose to advocate for peace in the Middle East. Currently there is a war in Iraq and a war in Palestine, which affect my community and myself.
My community has already begun to advocate for both wars. In the summer of 2008, there was a protest of the war in Iraq in the streets of Dearborn and this last week there was a protest at University of Michigan Ann Arbor against the war in Palestine.
My audience for advocating peace in the middle east will be people that are unaware. The things that are happening in the middle east aren't always talked about on the news or realized by the "average Joe".
A challenge that I will have during this project is that there may never be peace. I think that because the middle east is so far away it may not do anything to stop fighting there but I think it will help people here realize what is going on. Then maybe the more people advocating peace, the more likeliness of something being done about it.

Screen Shot

Although we live in a generation of technology, I haven't really been the person to know much about it. I'm more of an old fashioned girl when it comes to computers. Don't get me wrong once I'm on, I'll be on for awhile, cruising facebook or ordering items on amazon. But, take this assignment for example, I had no idea how to make a screen shot. I'm glad that I took this class because apparently it will help me come up to speed with technology.

As shown on my screen shot, there is a picture of Lil Wayne. I'm a huge fan of his and no matter what computer I'm on, if its mine my background will be something of Lil Wayne.

My Music

Music to me is more than just lyrics and beat, its culture. Music makes the culture we live in today. Music is basically my life. Everywhere I go I'm listening to music, whether I'm in the car or my phone is ringing. I am a HUGE fan of Lil Wayne. /1.bp. I know your first thought is "Oh my God she's so ghettho," I'm really not. I love his rhymes. If you sit and listen closely he has some of the sickest rhymes. I also love the beat of his songs. I think that majority of people can say that this summer they were jammin to his hit single "Lollipop".http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIG1Vr0h_aE

I'm also a big fan of Kanye West. I like Kanye because he is different than all the others. He's always has a fresh style. His glasses became a huge hit. Two of my favorite songs by Kanye are, "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless". The lyrics are nothing like you heard before and the beats can have you humming all day.
As I previously stated, music is a culture, another one of my musical preferences comes from my culture. I love Arabic music. My overall favorite Arabic singer is Amr Diab. I like his songs because he sings all the love songs. I first fell in love with his music when I went to Lebanon two years ago. Some of the words I didn't understand at first, but I sang along anyway and no matter what CD is in my car now, you'll always find at least one track with him.

Speaking the Unspeakable

I think the reason that he had to sign the paper was ridiculous. I think that he should have every right to speak about what happened because he lived it first hand. I can agree when they wanted him to sign to protect what happened but 50 years later I think that he should be able to talk about it. Now teachers are teaching about things that happened during this time and he would be a perfect first hand help.

Genocide: Chechnya

September 30, 1999 was the beginning of a Genocide for Chechnya. Chechnya was invaded by Russian Military through air and artillery. Russians invaded Chechnya to denominize it as a Russian society. The invasion caused massive amounts of violence towards the Chechen people. Chechen people were hit hardest when their capital, Grozny, was completely destroyed. Then in the Spring of 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin pacified Chechnya. The pacification didn't change much. Russian officials were still taking advantage of Chechen citizens and abusing with extortion, torture, murder and more. Chechens aren't succeeding because they have no efforts to rebuild their home, and along with the abuse from Russian officials the abuse was now being brought on by their own Chechen citizens.

Genocide is not something that should be taken lightly. I believe that Genocide is one of the most ignored crimes. Honestly, I had never heard of half the places on the list. I think people ignore because they feel like there is nothing that they can do, and that thought, in my opinion, is ignorant. Whether crimes like Genocide happen around us or half way around the world, we should all help each other because one day we might need a helping hand.

MAUS

After reading the story "MAUS", my opinion of the purpose of art has not changed. I still believe that art is to show self expression and show someone's feelings. In "MAUS" the narrator's feelings of his mother and father and even of the Holocaust are brought up. I believe that art has no obligations. Although art has no obligations, I do believe that some pieces have the power to lift people up and bring them down, depending on the way that the pieces are perceived.

Art Response

After watching sculptor Theo Jansen's presentation, I was astonished. I knew things like "Animari" would soon be invented by someone but not this soon. I think that the fact that he believes they will survive on their own one day is fascinating. The animals move themselves along gracefully just with the use of wind. They move like completely real animals. "Animali" is quite the break through in science.
The purpose of art is self expression yet a way to show others about you. My grandmother has been an artist for 60 years and everytime I look at any piece, I can see a piece of her. I also believe that the purpose of art can mean many things as well as self expression. Art could be to express feeling or as Theo Jansen used it to show his research. The way Theo used art was to show new technology to society. I don't think art has one meaning. I think the meaning of the art comes from the artist and their piece.