Marina McKeown
EN 101 17
Blog 3/21/13
“The Post Racial Blues: Martin Luther King’s Jailhouse Intervention” was
the Humanities Symposium Keynote event in conclusion of the Humanities
symposium week discussing “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. The guest speaker,
J.Kameron Carter, PhD, Associate Professor in
Theology and Black Church Studies of Duke Divinity School, helped shed light on
the historical work of literature. Martin Luther King Jr. writes about just and
unjust laws, nonviolent campaigns, and the oppressed. King’s powerfully writes,
“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of
extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?” King’s
question can be applied in every aspect of life, as shown through various works
of literature.
“A Father” by Bharati
Mukherjee is a story about an Indian man’s disappoint with his life and family.
An immigrant from India, married to a woman he never loved, and a daughter that
was a heir disappointment, the man is obviously unhappy. His prayers consumer
more and more of his day and he is very superstitious. It is interesting that
the father is prepared to find out that his daughter is pregnant, that perhaps
his son in-law will even be American. But, the father is not prepared for the
pregnancy to be the result of a donor, and as a result he goes from defending
his daughter to beating her. The reader can assume that the father’s brutality
was enormous when the author writes, “ In the end, it was his wife who called
the police”. The father is an extremist of hate and injustice, he hates that
his daughter has broken tradition and is not the perfect feminine child. The
father might think his reaction is fit because of what he believes, but he is
only advocating hatred and injustice. According to people such as Martin Luther
King Jr., the father will only continue in his disillusionment and unhappiness
until he can discover peaceful reactions to his daughter, even if it is
disappointment.
Stephanie
Shapiro’s “Serving up Hope” highlights the importance of giving back and
putting your faith in others. The Sampsons, a couple from Hampden,
Baltimore is the owner of the Dogwood Deli. The deli helps former drug users
and convicts a clean slate at work and life. Chef Galen Sampeson, a talented
chef, shares his culinary skills to
help people with troubled pasts. The Dogwood Deli practices exactly what Martin
Luther King Jr. preached, the Sampeson’s are extremist of love and justice.
They actively help better the world and restore people’s will to be better and
do better. Instead of turning away from people who need help, they embrace them
and help them achieve more with their life. They advocate justice for those who
have previously made mistakes and incorporate love and support, not hate and
cruelty, to help people with troubled pasts to continue on the right path.
Richard Hague’s poem, “Directions fro
Resisting the SAT”, can relate to every potential college student. The
countless hours and stress related to the SAT can be resisted, as humorously
advised by Hague. Hague goes against the status quo, forgetting about “Saturday
morning with pencils” and saying to, “Resign all clubs and committees”, crucial
to a high school resume. At first the idea sounds liberating, but then the poet
writes, “Desire to live whole, like an oyster or snail, and follow no
directions. Listen to no one”. But is a life lived to it’s fullest without the
advice and knowledge of others to listen to? Hague writes, “Make your marks on
everything”, as in go outside the tiny circles that the SAT only wants filled
in perfectly. Hague’s message isn’t bomb the SAT but to look at life outside
the norm, to “follow no direction”, and to make sure you are living life beyond
one test score, to the fullest. King’s letter applies to Hague’s poem because
it is up to the individual to be an extremist in what they believe. If no one
ever looked to believe in desegregation, love, and justice, than no change
would have occurred from the norm at the time. The SAT is obviously not a
hurtful and prejudice act such as segregation, but “Make your marks on
everything” represents the importance of being your on person in the world.
“First Practice” by Gary Gildner, recalls
an extremely intimidating first day of practice. The coach, a “man with a short
cigar”, appears to be over-bearing and hostile, a no nonsense man. The coach said
he was “Clifford Hill” and “had once killed for his country”. The poem suggests the practice will be
physical, for instance it is held where the students would normally retire to
“in case of attack or storm”. The boys are suddenly and abruptly thrown into a
practice beyond what they had been used to. The poet’s tone of the recollection
portrays his shock when lined up against each other from the “man they hate
most in the world”. The poem’s word choice and tone reflects military style or
that of a drill sergeant. Gildner’s coach in the poem connects sports to
oppression. “If we are to win that title…” the title will not be handed to the
boys, just as freedom is never handed from the oppressors. The poem compares
the practice almost to preparation for a battle, the ability to go face to face
with a man across you.
The “Post Racial
Blues: Martin Luther King’s Jailhouse Intervention” event helped wrap up
discussions about “A Letter from a Birmingtam Jail” and the importance of
King’s message. Bharati Mukherjee’s short story, “A Father,” and Stephanie
Shapiro’s “Serving up Hope” represent the two different kinds of extremist,
extremist of hate and extremists of love. Richard Hague’s poem, “Directions for
Resisting the SAT,” Gary Gildner’s poem, “First Practice”, relate more to
King’s message of being yourself despite society’s norms and not allowing
yourself to be oppressed even if it is on the sports field.
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