Week Six

Welcome to this Week's Topic - Diversity and Inclusion II - Documented and White People

Free Burritos!

This week was another great week! I have had more free time this week because I have not had as many assignments due. I am excited to go home this weekend to see my family, my friends, and, of course, my dog. I spent a lot of time with my roommates and my friends at school this week, and I am honestly so thankful for all of them. We always have such a great time whenever we hang out. Gracen, Riley, and I decorated the white board outside of our dorm room to celebrate the first day of fall! Despite it being fall, the weather is still very, very hot and humid. Kaylee and I went shopping at TJMaxx, and then we went to free burrito day at Moe's! Gracen, Riley, Kaylee, Carleigh and I ate dinner at our dorm, and then we drove around in the car for a little while. Overall, I have had an amazing week, and I am excited to make more wonderful memories!

This week's FYE class was a continuation of last week's topic. On Monday's class, we talked about Jose Antonio Vargas, an "undocumented immigrant" originally from the Philippines. I found the documentary titled Documented (1) to be very interesting. While I do not appreciate the "pushiness" of Jose's character, I did enjoy listening to some of his ideas. Learning about immigration through his eyes was a bit different than through the eyes of the children from Which Way Home. I was so amazed at how far he was able to get in his life without being "found out" about his undocumented status. I appreciate his passion towards his platform, and I think he is definitely brave for revealing his status.

The most shocking part about Documented to me was Jose's lost relationship with his mother. He left his mother when he was twelve-years-old, and he stopped sending her letters as he grew older. In the documentary, Jose claims that he has not seen his mother in eighteen years. He is unable to travel to visit because he is afraid of not being allowed to return. However, the film crew is able to visit the Philippines to interview Jose's mother. I was absolutely devastated when she begins to talk about how much she misses her son. She talks about how she thinks of him everyday, but Jose says that he does his best to avoid her; he says that their relationship is purely transactional. This part actually made me very angry at Jose. Of course, he claims to have his reasons for disassociating himself with his mother, but I disapprove of his actions. I was very happy to learn that Jose's mother had two more children. It would be very, very sad if she was left alone (Jose's father also is not in the picture) after Jose left her. The situation is a difficult one to interpret, but I feel more sympathy for Jose's mother.

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Define American (2) is a website that recognizes itself to be "a nonprofit media and culture organization that uses the power of story to transcend politics and shift the conversation about immigrants, identity, and citizenship in a changing America." Referencing this website, I looked at two videos. One of the videos that I watched was an interview with an undocumented college student named Gabriela Martinez Chevez (3). In the video, Gabriela gives a brief story about her life. She is originally from El Salvador, but she moved to the United States as a young child. She talks about the fear of being "caught." At college, Gabriela states that she has found a community of people who are supportive of her, and she feels better about revealing her temporary student status. The second video I watched was titled "Dear Undocumented America" (4). The video contains all types of people declaring their support for undocumented immigrants. It is a video that is heavily inspirational rather than informational.

For Wednesday's class, I watched the film White People (5). Personally, I feel as if the film did not present a clear, central message. A few people in the film established clear viewpoints, but the overall film was all over the place, and it was a little difficult to follow. I didn't really like this film, but I didn't strongly dislike it either. In class, Carter, Charlotte, Enysa, and I had a discussion on the worksheet that Dra. gave us. Our conversation was very effective, and we agreed on most of the points. Regarding the question "Where are you FROM from?" I found it interesting how Carter pointed out that humans are from virtually all over the world, whereas most animal species are only in specific parts of the world. Enysa also shared her heritage with the class as well as Matthew. I really enjoyed listening to their stories!

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We have had some very difficult but meaningful discussions in FYE this week, and I am sure they will continue next week. My perspective has broadened because normally I would not expose myself to the topics we have discussed. I am excited for next week! Thanks for reading!

References:
(1)https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UniNteiDdEHqYQ_VjuRH1A8e-hGRURkE/view?usp=sharing
(2) https://defineamerican.com/about/
(3) https://defineamerican.com/stories/view/gabriela-martinez-chevez/
(4) https://defineamerican.com/video/undocumentedamerica/
(5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zjj1PmJcRM
(6) https://images.app.goo.gl/MZJ5GcHuQumW5u2E9
(7) https://images.app.goo.gl/otkZ4vYF2VyY2atR6