Document 4: The Black Panthers' ten point platform

The ten point platform is the Black Panthers delcleration of what they need from the government. As summarized in the tenth point they wanted " We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace".  They wanted to see what the Constitiution (and other documents) had promised realted to them and their needs. Just like Sam Cook said in his song A change gonna' come  it was the time for change and black power , the time for a differnece to be made in the lives of black people.  In the last pargaraph the text taken directly from the Decleration of Indepence was interpreted by the men to mean that they could change the government, and in fact had the right to.

whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to

alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such

principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to

effect their safety and happiness

Document 3: The origins of the Black Panther party for self defense

The speaker and main person explained in this article is Heuy Newton, who along with Bobby Seale formed the Black Panther party in 1966. In the article Newton decribes his town, and others around the nation being controled not by institutions in the community but by the police. Newton said " The police...throught the black communities in the country, were really the government" (139).  By saying this Newton suggested that the only way to bring change into the community was to change the force of the police. The community did not have control. Newton and Seale decided the solution was to create the Black Panther party for self defense. Semi following the black muslim ideas of Malcom X (without the muslim religion) the men aimed to drive out police and regain control of instituitons.  Newton explained " So we were trying to increase the conflict that was already happening and that was between the white racism, the police forces in the various

communities, and the black communities in the country. And we felt that we would take

the conflict to so high a level that some change had to come". Just like Martin Luther King Jr. focused attention on Selma, AL with his march the Black Panthers felt their action would futrther increase tension among the community and eventually other similar communites. The thighter the struggle became, the closer it was to an end (in their opinion) . His strategy was to overcome the police force,  and get to the community, and to do so self defense and a strong will power was necessary.

Beloved ~ Chapter 9

In this chapter of  Beloved  Sethe confronts her memories of Baby Suggs, and returns to the Clearing. After dealing with the picture of Halle with butter smeared all over his face she needs "some fixing ceremony" (101). Sethe tries to put the pain of the past behind her by remembering what she misses. She thinks about Baby Sugss voice, her heart, and her touch. Sethe remembers " the thouch of those fingers, that she know better han her own" (115). Where as Sethe tries to keep herself gaurded, in her secrets and self she thinks about opening up to Baby Suggs. This is beacuse she trused Baby Suggs with her and her children. She imagines the calming touch of fingers because she has no one to comfort her after Paul D tells her about Halle. Sethe's role as the protector leads her to remember the feeling of being comforted an protected by Baby Suggs.

"Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

To my understanding, what Emerson is saying is people tend to define themeslves in society by their actions, to which group or church they belong, to their "ranking" of how they mentally compare to others. We tend to base our ranking in society on how we think others see us and we are even swayed to change our habits if we feel unaccepted. However, Emerson belives that only foolish people who don't trust their insticits behave this way. He goes as far as to say that "whoso would be a man must a nonconformist"( 21) and  to "Trust thyself" (20). If one rejects their true beliefs to feel higher in society they are no man, they are spineless. Letting others mold one's character would be completley unacceptable in his opinion. Emerson says that the great man is he who " in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" (23). We don't always need to find a palce to fit in.

Quran Nonsense

After reading the article Obama implores minster to call of Quran burning the issue of the Quran burning could have a much higher potential impact than I originally thought. At first I thought that the Floridian minister, Terry Jones was just a "right wing nut job" who decided to do something controversial to bring more attention to himself.  I think that the reason this issue has expanded to national news is because it is a question of both morals and ethics of conduct. Of course this minister (and anyone who chooses to follow him ) have a constitutional right under the first amendment to assemble and protest and have their own freedom of opinion but this act is just so distasteful. I certainly as an American still am upset about the terrorist attacks of 9-11 but in the words of Mahatma Gandhi  "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". This demonstration is simply to show vengeance for what we lost that day but the effects will resonate beyond the Church . As President Obama said "this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women who are in uniform". Obama brings about an aspect that I had not considered before, that there will be (and already have been) demonstrations by Muslim people against the demonstration. If this minster intends to say that he stands for  protecting the U.S. he is terribly ignorant.

The American Crisis by Thomas Paine

In this text, Paine like so many other revolutionists defends the need to protect America from the forces of Great Britian. He calls once again upon the people of the colonies saying that the fight cannot be won without support from all . He states " on every state; up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better to have too much force than too little when so great an object is at stake"(52). Paine's argument calls to my mind what some people have said about elections, that not voting is as to giving away a vote to the victor. He in producing the pamphlet Common Sense means to tell people not to get comfortable living in America, but that they must support whatever needs to be done to protect their freedoms. What is at stake is future of the country and the colonists. Paine's arugument also recalls to my mind The Prince by  Machiavelli, in which he argues the difference of being and seeming. - To Be Continued