2020 Vision- Three Historical Events from the Turn of The Decade

 Hello and welcome to the first Action Project of my senior humanities class Equality. In Equality, we have discussed marginalized groups and their impact on American society. Today, people are grouped based on race, gender, and class. While discrimination is usually looked down on, people's inherit biases still exist and we must work in order to not let our biases inhibit connections with people across different demographics. In this AP, we were asked to choose a moment in history and make a text book from a marginalized perspective. I chose to cover three of what are, in my opinion, the most historic events of 2020 and early 2021. I hope you enjoy this action project. 

                             

Citations 

“Did Bat Soup Cause the New Coronavirus? Rumors and What We Know.” Healthline, 11 Dec. 2020, Fausset, Richard. “What We Know About the Shooting Death of Ahmaud Arbery.” The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2020. Jr, Richard A. Oppel, et al. “What to Know About Breonna Taylor’s Death.” The New York Times, 6 Jan. 2021. Otterman, Sharon. “‘I Trust Science,’ Says Nurse Who Is First to Get Vaccine in U.S.” The New York Times, 14 Dec. 2020. Tan, Rebecca. “A Black Officer Faced down a Mostly White Mob at the Capitol. Meet Eugene Goodman.” Washington Post. “‘They Set Us up’: US Police Arrested over 10,000 Protesters, Many Non-Violent.” The Guardian, 8 June 2020,

Health and Wellness at GCE

 Hello and welcome to the first AP of my senior STEAM class, Entrepreneurship. In this unit, we have been exploring personality and how it influences the economic world. For this AP, we were asked to take an aspect from our school that we would like to change and make an analysis of that aspect. I chose health and wellness, which is a graduation requirement but I and many other students believe that the system can be improved. I hope you enjoy this action project. 

   

Citations 

About the Commons | On the Commons. 

“Common Characteristics of the ESTP Myers-Briggs Personality Type.” Verywell Mind, 

“Know the Characteristics of the INTJ Personality Type.” Verywell Mind, 

Mcleod, Saul. “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology, 

“Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: The 16 Personality Types.” Verywell Mind, 

Music that Matters Just Like I Do

Hello and welcome to my action project for my civic term course, Music That Matters. In this course, we are learning about music that has made an impact and how to analyze it. We have had three amazing field experience guests. Faiz Razi, Conan Neutron, Fransisco Ramirez. These guests are all active in the music community and talked to us about the music that matters to them. For this action project, we were asked to create a proposal for My Block, My Hood, My City's newest project that asks "How can you make a positive impact on your neighborhood?" I hope you enjoy this action project.

Hello, my name is Tymony and I live in the Beverly neighborhood in Chicago. If you are not familiar, Beverly is a neighborhood on the far south side of Chicago near Roseland. The racial makeup of my community is imbalanced and while some people can just ignore this fact, I notice it every day. Before Covid-19 I would take the Metra train home from school almost every day. Sometimes I would get off at 111th which is closer to Morgan Park, a majority-black part of Beverly. Mostly, I would get off at 107th and the difference of people is astounding. From who walks to their destination vs who drives to who has a shiny briefcase vs a tattered tote bag. I would walk home next to white men who seemed to fear me more than I did them. It is a familiar feeling for people of color, the stares that sear through your skin or watching people almost run across the street just to avoid you. As time moved on I've learned to try to shrink down and blend in just to make it through the walk home.

I was a bit nervous to begin a project that would disrupt this invisible way of life that I had adapted to, so when Faiz Razi joined our Zoom class I asked "... do you ever feel out of place when making and installation in a place that is mostly white?'' He smiled, laughed, and said, "of course, whenever I even have a conversation with white folks it feels performative." This stuck out to me more than anything an FE guest has said before and that's because he put into words the feeling of "other" that I had tried for so long to suppress and make invisible. But I literally cannot make my skin invisible. So, with those words, I decided to put my installation in two places one on 107th street and one on 111th street.

This video is a sample of what it would be like to experience my installation once you get off at either train stop. The remixes that I made portray blackness in a way that cannot be ignored. The entire point of this installation is exclusivity. When most people hear the word exclusivity they think of it as a negative thing. However in this case I am using exclusivity to create a community. What my neighborhood desperately needs is racial diversity and diversity in thought. My installation will benefit the community by offering a new way of thinking for some and fostering a feeling of belonging for others.

 

I used Tinkercad to make a mockup of the giant boombox that will be placed at the 111th and 107th street Metra Stations. The real version is meant to be colorful, vibrant, and eye-catching. 

For the remixes, I decided to use two topics that I am very familiar with. Being a woman and being Black.

The first remix, The Black People Mix, uses clips from Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, James Brown, and N.W.A. I used repetition and stubbornness to highlight some parts of each song. The Black People Mix is intentionally more ambiguous than The Black Woman Mix and is up to interpretation by the listener. I decided to go with ambiguity because it allows a listener to be more engaged by using their own thoughts rather than having an idea pushed into your lap. TBPM has a rhythmic tempo that is unique because of the mixing of different songs from different genres. Today's popular music is very formulaic and predictable, both of the mixes are the opposite. When you listen for the first time it is meant to be very difficult to predict the next note or word coming. 

Tymony · The Black People Mix

The second remix, The Black Woman Mix, uses clips from the news, Queen Latifah, Beyonce,
Noname, The Woman's March and Betty Wright. I used quiet and space in this peace to accentuate
the pain that is constant but was extreme in June and July of 2020. In fact, the Noname clip was a
response to the erasure of the Say Her Name movement. I decided to be more intentional with the
message of this peace because all women are often forced into compliance and silence. We are often forced to be the submissive ones to take on and listen to the world's problems when many dismiss our problems. TBWM isn't as strict as The Black People Mix when it comes to tempo. Because of the extreme contrast of genres in this mix, the tempo changes drastically from the beginning to the end.

Tymony · The Black Woman Mix'

This installation is meant to Teach, Inspire, and Ignite here's how it will do this.
My installation will teach people to listen, each time they hear the mixes on the way to their destination
I hope that they will listen for something different.
By fostering a community this installation will inspire and ignite people to engage
with our neighborhood more.
Hopefully, with this installation, the people of color in Beverly will be
empowered to be comfortable to live life without worrying about stares or people avoiding them.

All in all, I would love to make this installation a reality. I truly believe that this installation could make a big impact in my neighborhood. I enjoyed working on this project, I was able to try something I've never done before (music mixing) and combine it with something I really love (video editing). 

The Average Human

                                                 “The Average Human”

The Average Human

Consider “The Average Human” to be the adult millennial child of the economic man. 

As we all know, humans have their minds consumed by many different things at once. 

Unlike the economic man, the average human has incentives other than money. The average human has children, pets, needs, and even wants. Like Raworth says in chapter 3 of Doughnut Economics “A new economic self-portrait must reflect the way that we see humanity’s place in the world.” This includes, as much as people may not want to admit, nonessential spending. According to USA Today, “the average adult in the USA spends $1,497 a month on nonessential items.” That is 26% of the average American’s monthly salary according to ZipRecruiter.

I believe that economics needs to be reformed to think about its participants in a way that is realistic and not hypothetical. Others have found fault with the “the economic man” idea. At a panel of economists, David Eastburn said, “I see this conflict not only within society but also within individuals.- Economic Man is at war with Social Man.” 

He also made a T-chart that showed the differences between the economic man and the social man (or the average human). His T-chart represents the stark difference of what the two models would prioritize and in turn what will influence them in the economy. For example, the economic man would rather produce goods and services quickly and in great amounts; where the average human would rather make a quality product that may have taken more time and care. 

The economic man	The social man (The average human)
Production	Distribution
Quantity	Quality
Goods and services	People
Money Values	Human Values
Work and discipline	Self-realization
Competition	Cooperation

 

This T-chart represents the stark difference of what the two models would prioritize and in turn what will influence them in the economy. The average human model should replace the economic man model because if we change the rigid model the people who do not fit the mold could be better suited in the economy. 

Citations 

Backman, Maurie. “You Don't Need That: Average American Spends Almost $18,000 a Year on Nonessentials.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 7 May 2019,

“Q: How Much Do Average Jobs Pay per Month in 2020?” ZipRecruiter

Raworth, Kate. Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist. Random House Business Books, 2017. 

Thought Bubble by Alex Muravev from the Noun Project

Person by Valerie Lamm from the Noun Project

GifterBot 1.0

 Hello and welcome to my second AP for my class Computer Science. In Computer Science we have been learning the coding language Python. In this action project we were asked to look at a popular online chatbot, then make one of our own. For my chatbot, I decided to implement a cool fashion element that allows you to receive a "gift" from the chatbot. 

In the end, I really enjoyed this AP  and this class in general. I found it very compelling to explore and learn this coding language and I hope I will have the chance to use it again. I am very proud of the work that I did in this project and I wouldn't do it any differently if I had more time. 

The Meaning of Life

 Hello and welcome to the second action project in my senior humanities class, Journalism. In this unit, we have been looking at photojournalism and the ethics behind it. We had many class discussions about dilemmas when photographing intense and negative situations. We also learned about Sebastiao Salgado a photojournalist who focuses on climate change. For this AP, we were asked to choose a person in our life and interview them about their ideas of the meaning of life. We were also asked to conduct a photoshoot using the skills we learned like changing aperture, the rule of thirds, and focus. I hope you enjoy this action project 

Throughout my life, I have always questioned my beliefs and have constantly changed my ideas based on what I have experienced in the world. I have struggled (like most) with controlling my ego and working to better myself as a person. When I’m questioning I often ask myself what is my goal or what is my meaning of life. So, I asked one of my friends. 

Shanet is a senior and loves to paint and create art that represents her Puerto Rican heritage. For as long as I have known Shanet, she has had a very personal relationship with God. We met up on an unusually warm November day, and we laughed and talked as friends do. When Shanet and I hang out, we usually do photoshoots, so this time was not odd. We sat on the bench of a local park, and I asked her, “What is the meaning of life?” She pauses and giggles. It takes a while for her to respond, but when she does, she says, “The meaning of life is selfless and intentionally doing what we are called to do-- if what we do at any moment is good, we are glorifying God.” We both sat with this statement for a while. Usually, when it comes to talking about religion with my other friends, the conversation can be awkward. However, Shanet never judges; she always has a friendly and graceful disposition that makes me more open to chat. “Everything that we have here is temporary. Living with an eternal mindset and setting our eyes on God is how we should be living.”

Our conversation lulled and we decided to take our first set of pictures. We moved to the top of a small hill that was perfectly lit with sunlight. The air was perfectly warm, but also still, and the world around us was silent. I thought it was the perfect atmosphere to take these pictures to go along with such a mindful and grounding conversation.

TN "SR" 2020

I feel that this picture perfectly depicts the stillness and the peacefulness of this day. The aperture (which is called f-stop on my camera) was set to a low setting, and the shutter speed was also at a low value. I made sure to place my subject in the left of the frame which means she is only taking up ⅓ of the frame. I also used a special lens that allows me to take beautiful portraits by hyper-focusing on my subject and blurring the background. You can see the effects of the low aperture because the picture is darker than usual. I like this setting because it brings a certain mood to the image. This “moodiness” allows the viewer to really get a good feeling of how the atmosphere felt on the day. I took this photo subjectively because I knew exactly what I wanted to portray in this photo and how I wanted it to be. I told Shanet where to stand so this means that my own opinions of what looked good influenced my photography.


At the end of the photoshoot, we packed up all of our belongings and got in my car. As I drove, I asked her what advice she had for people who are questioning their beliefs. She quickly responded, “I’d say explore them! Don’t be afraid to not understand things.” I asked her to elaborate on that. “ Well, find a community of people that you can trust and can help guide you and answer your questions.” She went on about how it takes a lot of time to feel secure with your beliefs,, and then she recalled a time when she was questioning. “I felt discouraged and doubtful but then I realized that it’s normal and everyone goes through it. Everyone struggles and everyone has this process of revival.”


On the drive home, I went through everything we talked about in my head. The last thing Shanet said that stuck with me was, “Something that I tell myself when I am going through something is that what I go through or what I am currently experiencing doesn’t matter. What matters is that I continue to seek out my relationship with God, I will be okay.” I think about this quote often because even if someone doesn’t believe in God, they can still look towards whatever grounds them and allows them to feel at peace.

TN "SR Field" 2020

What Will I do With My Life

Hello and welcome to the first action project in my senior STEAM class, Econ. In Econ, we are discussing our future plans and how the economy affects them. For this AP, we were asked to take note of our future plans (college and career) and make a comprehensive document for people to take a look at. I hope you enjoy this project. 

In conclusion, I have made the decision to go to college for acting. When I asked Tirsa Mena for counsel she added that it doesn't matter where I go to school as long as I am happy with what I am doing with my career long term. There are 3 assumptions that I have made in order to compile this information. 

The first is that I get into my top schools, the second is that I stay on the path that I am now and the final one is that I will be living on campus for both school options.