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. 

Can I Build an AI?

 Hello and welcome to the first Action Project of my class, Computer Science. In Computer Science we are studying a coding language called Python and learning how to write simple code. I have been having a blast experimenting with code. For this AP, we were asked to create a code for solving a math problem and a code for writing a letter to an Alderman. I hope you enjoy these codes

Farenheight to Celcius Letter to the Alderman   

Hello and welcome to the first Action Project of my Senior humanities class, Journalism. In Journalism, we have been reading from a book called Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago by Lealan Jones and Lloyd Newman. Our America takes a deep dive into the housing project where Lealan Jones and Lloyd Newman lived. We also had the opportunity to virtually attend two Northwestern University panels on journalism. These panels prepared us for our Action project, where we interviewed people who understand the issues in our world. Our America has been our first step into taking on the role of journalistic reporters for this AP. For this AP we were asked to take an issue that is present in our respective "Americas" and turn it into an article. I decided to use the racist and sexist culture around social media as my issue. I hope you enjoy this AP.

          CNN "Breonna Taylor" 2020 @megantheestallion Instagram @thedigitaldash Twitter 

      Misogynoir in My America

On August 8th, 2020 Dash uploaded a selfie to Twitter, and immediately they were met with a mixed reception. The post became a topic of discussion because Dash, in their own words, doesn’t meet the standard of beauty that is usually accepted by the masses on the internet.

“Of course my girls were hyping me up as always, but then the post started getting more attention.” People began to compare Dash to Gunna, a male rapper. Dash didn’t bat an eye at first. Until the posts comparing them became relentless, then Dash spoke up. “I know that the hate was coming because I am a dark skin femme, and I’m not skinny.” In 2010, queer black feminist Moya Bailey coined the term Misogynoir. Misogynoir is the hatred, dislike, distrust, and prejudice of black women. “It does break you down, to see black women and girls torn apart on the internet everyday… especially when it's black men doing the most”, says Dash (@thedigitaldash on twitter)

Incidents like this happen all of the time on Twitter, a social media platform that is mostly text-based. Due to Twitter’s algorithm, it is relatively easy to go viral. If a post is getting a lot of attention, the racist, colorist, and sexist trolls are not far from attacking. Even extremely famous and popular black women are not protected from the hate that comes from this platform.

Megan Thee Stallion is arguably one of the most influential female rappers of 2020. Tragically, on July 12, she was verbally attacked and shot by a Canadian male rapper, Tory Lanez. Her fans instantly poured support for her. However, people (mostly men) flooded her comments with hate. “The worst part of it [the hate] is that young girls are seeing these comments and they will think they have to do the most just to prove that they were attacked,” says Rachelle, an avid fan of Megan Thee Stallion. People accused Megan of attacking the Canadian rapper first because of her size. The biggest problem with the attacks were the claims that Megan Thee Stallion was not a cis woman. This statement is rooted in transphobia. It villainizes trans women making it seem like their goal is to trick men into being with them. And that is extremely far from the truth.

Recently, The Daily Mail released images of Breonna Taylor holding her boyfriend’s guns that were owned legally. These images were purposely released to villainize Breonna Taylor and justify her murder. According to US News and World Report, Black girls are twice as likely to be suspended from school than white girls in every state. Black girls are seen to be loud, angry, and overdramatic in most situations. Microaggressions plague the everyday life of black women and when these microaggressions are confronted head-on is when the harmful stereotypes are brought up.

The way black women are treated in our America is harmful and deplorable. It is imperative that people speak up and start protecting black women.

Snapshots of Civil Unrest

It is the end of the spring term at GCE which means it is the end of my junior year. Next year I will be applying for colleges and thinking about the rest of my life from high school. People always say that junior year is the hardest year and it was, but not for the academic reasons people may expect. In April the world began to shut down due to the pandemic we were rushed out of school not really getting the goodbye we all wanted. We have celebrated birthdays, mother's days, and veteran's day through Zoom calls and facetime. Now we celebrate graduation 

The past two weeks has been full of emotions. Anger, Sadness, Grief, Joy, Vindication. It's hard to put into words all of the ways that people have felt at this time.  This has been the first time that I've seen Black Lives Matter so widely accepted in the mainstream media. Its the first time that I've seen musical artists and influencers recognize the impact that black culture has on them. And for that I am happy. It seems like a cultural reset. It seems like something is changing for the better. And yet when I leave the echo chamber of my social media, I still see blatant racism spewed everywhere. Below is a collage of images that remind me of the Black Lives Matter protests. In these pictures, I see beauty, depth, and joy behind all of the pain people are feeling. 

In conclusion, although this is not what we expected out of 2020 I think that a new revolution was bound to happen with my generation of changemakers. I am no longer sad that we missed out on a lot of this school year, I am glad that we had the experience of distanced learning. However, I can't wait to get back into school albeit maybe in a mask!

On My Block| Reimagining a space for good

Hello and welcome to the final action project of my Junior year! For this action project, we were asked to take space from any city in the world (including our own) and imagine it. I decided to use a closed/abandoned school in my own neighborhood. This used to be a special needs elementary school that was also a place for neighborhood kids to sled on snowy days. Ever since the school shut down no one has been allowed to use the space for anything. I wanted to design the space so we can give it back to the kids of the neighborhood and I also made some age-appropriate changes since everyone that used to sled there has grown up.

TN Sketch 2020

This is my rough draft sketch of what I feel like the area should be turned into. The unused buildings from the school can be turned into a cafe, a restaurant, and a bookstore and the playground in the back can be upgraded to a skate park to fit with the growing ages of the neighborhood teens.


Below are images of a 3D model I built using the Sims 4. I thought using sims would replicate the feel of the future construction billboards that you see at construction sites

TN park 2020

                             

TN park 2020

TN park 2020

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this project. To begin I sketched out an idea for the empty space in my neighborhood. Then I made a 3D model and made my slideshow. The hardest part of this project was finding a medium for my 3D model. I started out in Minecraft but quickly realized that I did not have enough time to place each block piece by piece. That's when I came up with the idea to build my model in The Sims. In The Sims, it is easier to build because you are able to place a whole wall in one click. The hardest part of that was posing the models. I think that this was a perfect AP to end off my Junior year. See you all in Senior year!

How Shocking! | Ideas for an Energy Efficient Home

Hello and welcome to the second action project for my STEAM course, Urban Planning. In this unit, we discussed electricity, circuits, and energy-efficient appliances. The goal of this action project is to share and explain SDG 7. I hope that you enjoy this action project and can take some of the ideas into consideration!

Who Polices the Police?

Hello and welcome to the first action project of my humanities course, Policy. In this unit, we've talked about policing and legislation. We had the opportunity to speak with Connie Jordan again. Connie Jordan is a public defender for Illinois. It is always amazing and informative to talk with her and I am so glad that she has chosen to speak with us twice. For this action project, we were supposed to take a piece of pending legislation and lobby for it. Meaning we were to write a letter in support of the legislation in order to show public need and want. I hope you enjoy this action project. 

Tymony

1535 N Dayton

Chicago IL 60642

May 5th, 2020

Senator Emil Jones

507 West 111th street

Chicago IL, 60628



Dear Senator Jones,

On April 29th, 1992, four police officers were acquitted for the use of excessive force on a man named Rodney King. What came after the acquittal? Riots around Los Angeles mimicking the violent beating of Rodney King. This is a story we as people of color are all too accustomed to hearing. Unrest and protesting calling for action and begging the question: who polices the police?

It is a known fact that the data surrounding police officers’ use of deadly force towards black men and women, in particular, is grossly underreported or misreported if at all. Only 35 officers have been convicted of fatal use of deadly force since 2005. Just by looking at the news, we can see that this is grossly disproportionate to the number of unarmed people losing their lives to misuse of police power. Since I’ve started high school in 2017, there have been 1,196 killings of black and Hispanic people by police. That is approximately one killing per day. Just one shift.

Illinois does not have legislation protecting or providing justice from these acts.
There is an act that has been stagnant since 2017. The act calls for a thorough review of police activity after a police related shooting. It is labeled session sine die. The people who have seen this legislation have no intention of giving it a second glance.
Why not when in Chicago, a city where in the past 3 months there have been 3 unjust police shootings, have legislation like this in place?  That is why I am lobbying to give this act life once again. It is so important to have accountability not only for the officer who committed the crime but also for the CPD in general.

There are counter-arguments that cite cases like Laquan McDonald or Eric Garner who say that since they were doing something technically that the officers should be vindicated. To that I ask, should death be the price of a mistake?

Senator Jones,
I am black, I take the red line home, I hang out in groups of 3 or more, and I carry a backpack. These are all reasons, according to CPD, that I am threatening to the public and especially to the officers.
In 20 years, I plan on having children. I hope that by then I can tell them that there is protection for them if they ever encounter the police and feel unsafe. I hope that this letter has convinced you to push forward to give this legislation new light.


Sincerely,

Tymony 

Mind The Gap

Hello, and welcome to my first action project in the STEAM class Urban Planning. In these unprecedented times, we have been moved to an online school experience this has led to many challenges that our class has had to overcome. For this AP, we were given the task of building a popsicle stick bridge that is able to hold up 8.5 pounds of water. At first, my bridge did not hold up due to the top and the bottom connections. In the end, I was able to overcome this. I hope you enjoy my AP.



 

This was a very time consuming action project. Due to the times we are facing currently we were not able to build our bridges in school so we didn't get the assistance we usually do from our peers. In the end, I'm glad that I have finished this AP.

An Argument Louder than Bombs

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first digital final presentations! For this FP we were asked to create our own guiding question based on one of our core classes. My guiding question for this presentation is...

What is an argument that is important to me? 

One of my answers to this question lies in my poem: Snakes. 

I wrote this poem to perform in the Louder Than a Bomb Poetry festival. LTAB is one of my favorite extracurriculars that I participate in. LTAB has one of the most supportive communities that I know of and it is a very exhilarating experience. 

My Poem 

A syllogism is what an argument is made up of, premises and a conclusion. I went through my poem, stanza by stanza, in order to pull specific ideas that supported my conclusion.

Premise 1 people make fun of what they do not know
Premise 2 attributes that were once made fun of are now trends
Premise 3 making people's cultures into trends hurts them in the long run
Premise 4 the more popular a cultural trend is the more likely people are to "want in" on it

Conclusion There is a very fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation. Appropriation comes from people stepping on the culture and appreciation happens from a distance.


I was a part of a team of amazingly talented poets. I created a montage of our poems to give an example of all of our arguments.




Thank you for viewing my digital final presentation!

Flower Power!

Hello and welcome to my final action project for my STEAM class, Light, Sound, and Time. In this unit, Time, we looked at the different ways to tell time as well as thinking about time in a more existential way. We looked at sundials, sextants, as well as longitude and latitude. For this action project, we were asked to look at different time-telling devices, then we created our own based on these ancestors.

My flower calendar is for people who love nature and keeping track of the months. Since plants need sunlight to grow, the flower calendar needs light in order to tell time.
Here are my preliminary sketches 

TN "calendar sketches" 2020

Here are my calculations 

All in all, I really enjoyed this action project. I like any project where I edit videos!

Excuse Me!

 Hello and welcome to my final action project in the winter term of my humanities class, Argument.
In this unit, Antithesis, we discussed the contradictions in the US constitution and its amendments. We had the opportunity to go to immigration court and see many cases introduced. This brought the question "what makes a person illegal? What line do they have to cross to go to a detention center?" We also watched the documentary 13th which brought up even more questions for us. Our final FE and my favorite was our meeting with state's lawyer Latoya Hughes and Connie Jordan. We discussed many pressing issues and had our questions from 13th answered. For this action project, we were asked to make an amendment to our school's student and family handbook. I decided to amend a rule that many students find unjust and that brings on a very heated discussion at our school's morning meetings. I hope you enjoy.
                                                       

TN "Sick at School" 2020

                                       

  Excuse Me!

 GCE's Student and Family Handbook states, "The first of our four commitments is that we will Be Present. It is critical that students attend their obligations whenever reasonably possible. We recognize that some circumstances require that students prioritize their obligations and compel difficult decisions. There are times that we recommend student absence, including cases of student illness, family emergency, and remarkable opportunities. Nevertheless, every absence precludes a student’s full participation in the program at GCE and has consequences for the student’s peers.
We worry that the language of “excused” absence trivializes students’ attendance. Certainly, there are absences consequent to illness or family emergency that recommend our forbearance. Additionally, there are planned absences, as for a college visit, athletic contest, or medical appointment. Other absences may be unplanned or unexplained. In every case, parents are notified. GCE keeps notes regarding the occasion of student absences, which notes may inform relevant disciplinary or academic proceedings."

This rule is unjust because there is a difference between skipping school and missing. After all, you are physically or mentally ill. On the contrary, not excusing an absence trivializes mental illness and mental health days that are extremely necessary for the well being of a student.

EVIDENCE 
A student that I interviewed expressed her anxieties about getting sick with the recent pandemic being announced. Her main anxiety was that she would have to miss school since she has been sick many times already. This feeling spans the student body as shown by the many students showing up to school sick in fear of being against the student handbook.

COMPARISON 
My amendment is very close to the 14th amendment that states "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
This relates to my amendment because my amendment applies to students having the right to miss school when they are sick.

SYLLOGISM 

GCE's argument

Premise 1 the language of excused absences trivializes a students attendance

Premise 2 each absence is equal in the way that it affects the student's attendance

Conclusion GCE should not designate the difference between unexcused and excused absences on a student's transcript.

My Argument 

Premise 1 Students who have responsibilities or problems at home are being misrepresented

Premise 2 there is no indication between truancy and a "real" reason that they are not in school. 

Premise 3 Students who are ill feel pressured into coming to school this either creates more sickness or a student who is not mentally present anyway.

Premise 4  students who are sick take on the identity of a mentally or physically ill person

Conclusion If a student can communicate a sensible reason that they are not in school the absence should be marked excused

Peer Approval
Apposing quote from BA: "Colleges don't really look at the difference between unexcused and excused absence"

My response: "Students need the distinction between unexcused and excused absence because they deserve to be validated for much needed days off."

SR Signature 

NB Signature

SS Signature 

The Misadventures of Diddley Bow

Hello and welcome to my second Action Project for my STEAM course, Light, Sound, and Time. In this unit, Sound, we took a deep dive into human hearing, sound waves, and the Doppler effect. The Doppler effect is the phenomenon of a sound coming towards you sounding higher and then lower when that sound is moving away from you. Human ears hear by collecting sound vibrations into the eardrum, from there it moves through small bones called the ossicles, then the vibrations get converted into nerve impulses by the cochlea. 
 We also took part in some amazing field experiences. One example was an amazing panel with four deaf (and one interpreter) members of The Chicago Hearing Society. There, we discussed the future of American Sign Language and assistive technology. For this action project, we created our own playable guitars called diddley bows. I hope you enjoy this project.

This is an image of my diddley bow with the harmonics marked. The harmonics show where to place the slider in order to shorten or lengthen the soundwave, therefore, changing the pitch of the sound.

TN "DIDDLEY BOW HARMONICS" 2020

In the end, this project was fun, yet challenging. It was a difficult task to build the diddley bow but now that it is all said and done I am very proud of what I built. 

Black History For More Than a Month

Hello and welcome to my first Action Project for my humanities course, A Nations Argument. In this unit, we took a look at America's declaration of independence and the syllogisms within it. We also explored other countries' declarations. As for Field Experiences, we went to Alderman Walter Burnett Jr's office and talked with him about his life as an Alderman and his special connection with the community. In this Action Project, we are diving into declaring independence from our typical course structure and looking at independent studies. I hope you enjoy my argument on why we need more black history and literature in our curriculum.

Recently I have noticed that in my school career I have read only four pieces of literature by black or brown writers. Three of those pieces were with my first and (so far) only black teacher. I am declaring independence from only learning about black history in the form of enslavement and Dr. King (only on his birthday).  I declare independence from being the scapegoat in situations where my white teachers feel uncomfortable. I declare independence from only knowing one side of my history.

The purpose of school and learning is to forward students in life. I strongly believe that a school is a place that is meant to allow you to explore and learn. The purpose of learning black history is so that we as black people are able to know that we are more than just the descendants of slaves. That we are able to come together as a community and fight for equality. My unalienable rights are to feel acknowledged in my learning environment and to be able to learn my full history. This is an expression of my rights because this class will be all about black history before and passed slavery.


Syllogism
-P1 Black students are forced to attend institutions created by people who do not understand their experiences
-P2 We as black students have the right to be able to read literature by black folks that seek to educate and also entertain. 

-P3 The American education system has forgotten about people of color’s history aside from the part where white oppressors and saviors are the headlines
-P4 White students are allowed to learn about their history by default without having to seek extracurricular studies. 

Therefore, it is only fair that students of color are allowed the privilege of learning their history inside of their school's curriculum.

Keith Tyler "Power Fist" 2015

                                                     

Course Title: Diving Deeper into Black History, Literature, and Culture 

Guiding Question: What black history has been erased by the whitewashed education system?

Historical Evidence: In 1964, Black Americans founded freedom schools meant to organize and educate Black people to achieve equality. This was a temporary solution to a permanent problem that still looms over the Black community. I strongly believe that the ideals and teachings from the freedom schools should be blended into our education system today.

Resources:
  Books: The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Kindred by Octavia Butler
 
Plays: Simply Heavenly by Langston Hughes
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf -Ntozake Shange

Partnerships: ETA Creative Arts Theater


Course Details

Unit 1: Before and After

• Digs deeper into where enslaved people come from and Africa before colonization
• Dives into life after emancipation and some attempts of liberation

Unit 2: Black Literature

• Students will read and critically discuss books by black writers 
• This unit has a main focus on fiction written by black writers

Unit 3: Black entertainment and Culture

• This unit has a main focus on pop culture, fashion trends, plays and television 
• Students will critique plays and television 

Desired outcomes  

• Students will gain a greater understanding of black history and culture 
• This class will allow students to be inspired by writers who are like them

All in all, I am very excited about this independent study. I hope that I will be able to actually study this, even if it ruffles some feathers. I decided to focus on black writers from the 20th and 21st centuries because I feel that this course will focus more on current black culture. I feel that writers from those centuries touch on the current culture more effectively than the 18th or 19th centuries. 

Put a Pin in it| A PINteresting Experiment With Pinhole Cameras

Hello and welcome to the first Action Project of my winter term STEAM course, Light, Sound and Time. In this unit, Light, we discussed whether light was a wave or particle, similar triangles, sine, cosine, tangent, and how light equals energy. We tried out a really "sweet" experiment with chocolate to show the concept of light equals energy. Finally, we began work on this action project, which is making a pinhole camera. I was very excited to do this project because one of my interests outside of school is photography, and this is a new type of photography that I have never tried before. In order to develop our photos, we took a Field Experience to Harry S. Truman College where we met with Ignacio Alvarez who took us to the darkroom and taught us how to develop photos. Sadly, my photos did not turn out as expected but, I still learned a lot about film photography and its relation to light.



Altogether I really enjoyed this Action Project because of the art element. I love it when I am able to add in my extracurricular interests into my school action projects. The most interesting part of this unit was diving into the human eye. It was cool to me to see the evolution of the human eye and to think about where it will be in another 1000 years.