I Am An American.

I am an American
I have the right to remain silent.
I wish to refuse that right-
And if you refuse that right
Everything you say can and will be used
Against you.
Well, I am a poet also...
So that is what I want.
I am of the opinion
That words are not mine until
I am accountable to them.
I am of the opinion that words are the greatest
power
Man can have,
And if I don't have words that are mine then I
am powerless.
I will not be powerless
And I will not be silent.
I have that right
I am an American.

I am an American.
I have the right to say whatever I want,
And I am a poet
So I can say that shit well.
And you have been warned.

In the mouths of poets
Words are like actions:
They define you.

And if your words don't define you,
Then why are you talking?
If you're not trying to go forward,
Then why are you walking?
You should sit down and shut up
And you have that right
But I'm a poet and an American
And my pencil sparks light
With each word that I write;
And I will stand here and fight
To the dawns early light;
As the bombs burst in air
I will stand right there
And I will speak my mind.
I have that right.

I am an American.

I, truthfully, am the truth
You never fully told.
And still don't tell,
But I tell the truthof who you are,
Because I am who you are--
I am an American...
And I tell the truth.

I am old women in department stores
Built atop the consecrated bones
Of Crazy Horse.
I sign credit cards receipts like treaties I don't
intend to honor.
A legacy of debt that can never be repayed.
I am restitution
For the sweet dreams that can't come
To the children who die
Beacuse...
Hush-little baby, don't say a word
And you can't say a word...
Because we built Sears atop your grave
So you can't talk about the blankets soaked with
smallpox
That the government gave.
I am the dead Iroquois babies swaddled in
smallpox
Who watched the chickens come home.
I, Malcom X I-
"I am not here to condemn America
I am here to tell the truth
And if the truth condemns America,
She stands condemned."
I am the so many bones, of the so many balck
men and women,
That fell to ocean bottoms like tracks of the
underwater railroad
That led the wrong way to freedom.
I am all the blank walls standing tall
A middle passage memorial
To the names we do mot know.
I am Japanese-American families
Standing in US internment camps
Concentrating on blank walls,
Remembering Harriet Tubman,
And slow dancing with the ghosts of Cherokees
Imprisoned in Alcatraz
Before they admitted Alcatraz was a prison
And they called it a reservation.
I am all the people imprisoned by the lies we
don't admit to
I am all the people trapped inside the history
that never happened
I am the skeletons in the closet of the people who
died waitng for their
Truth to come out.
I am the truth coming out

I am America.

And if you say that I am wrong,
That if we are not our history,
IF there is nothing but our present
Then we must re-examine our scriptures with an
eye for histroical context
And look at our constitution with a mind to
reaffirm.
For we are not created equal until we say so,
And no commandments are contractually
binding,
And all rights are alienable again.
And freedom isn't certain
But this is-
I am an American
And I pledge allegiance to no flag
And our States are not United.
And to the republic for which it stands
One nation under God,
I say to you this:
There is no one nation under God,
Unless that nation is the world.
For God made
the world
And man made
Nations,
And if God were to honor man-made nations
He would do so under this condition...
That he would honor them all equally,
The way he made them.
So to pledge to one
Is to pledge against others
And to pledge against others
Is to pledge against God
And I'm not ready to go to war with God.
And despite the fact that I think war is wrong...
I am an American.

And I pledge to no flag
But to the people...
Who made it,
Who wave it,
Who salute it,
Who burn it,
Who hide behind it,
I pledge to you.
I pledge to see you clearly
And love you dearly
Like people,
Like mortals,
Like flawed individuals
Who bring your flaws to my America
And sometimes make mistakes.
And when you doI will tell you,
And if you do not hear me
I will not get silent
I will do the opposite:
I will make noise.
You are wrong to go to war
You are wrong to ignore the homeless,
To exploit the poor.
You are wrong to put money
Above life on this earth.
You are wrong to judge people
By how much they are worth.
You are wrong to think
You are entirely free,
If you want me to be silent because you don't
agree.
I am an American
And I will not be silent.

I will not be silent because you will be
Or because you want me to be
Or because you think it wrong to disaree with
my country.
You should read the Bill of Rights and
understand...
This poem was my country's idea.
I am an American
And I will not be silent
I will not be silent
I will not be silent
And you should use these words against me.
--Steve Connell (2003)--

Creative Commons

1. A good technique to use when interviewing a guest is to prepare the questions ahead of time and make as less background noise as possible. Rerecord the questions so if they are not perfect you can go back to the podcast and make new ones.

2. The ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) are the owners of the main royalty collections for music catalogs.

3. Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Work, and Share Alike are some of the licenses for Creative Common

Reflection

I enjoy being in this class. I love how we can have open free conversations and grow from that as a family. I have learned different styles of writing and structure and use of vocabulary. I would like to learn more about how to structure my essays better and word choices; diction. I feel I am doing well although I could be doing better. I could dedicate more study hours into this class and work up to my full upmost potential.

Science Fiction Outline

OUTLINE.

Girl gets injected with poison that turns her into a mutant

when she looks at someone it makes the other persons eyes bleed and they blow up

mutant hunters are out to get her because it shows up on their mutant radar detector

they find her and shes dead

try to find out how she died and why

died because of them

Adapting Books Into Movies

Can you think of a movie adaptation that was better than the book? Is the movie version of Fahrenheit 451 better than the book? Give specific examples to support your opinion.

I cannot think of a movie version that is better than the book although I know for me and I am sure other people can relate, movies help me understand the book better although the book will always have more detail then the movie and it is more precise because it was specifically written by the author.

Utopia vs Dystopia

1.Do you believe the future will be better or worse than the present?
I believe that in the future, there are a lot of things that will become better, but in other aspects, things will worsen so then it will even out.

2.How do movies and books usually portray the future?
In books and movies, they tend to portray the future has an already utopian society, or is corrupt and the hero is correcting the world.

3.What will the future be like?
Regardless on who wins the current presidential election, because Obama is for the U.S. economy and reforming it will probably cause other countries economies to fail first, but we can then help others after we start to prosper again. McCain on the other hand, is for global stability, which will cause our current failing economy to completely break down. But that will then help everyone build up. All and all, whoever wins the presidential debate, there will still be pros and cons in the future, and it is impossible to achieve utopia because there always has to be an opposite.

October 2, 2008 12:23 a.m

THESE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS HAVE BEEN HECTIC!
the skit is slowly makings its way to the finish line the dance is being perfected the float is on its way and the decorations are planned. man oh man I cannot wait until homecoming is over!


TO MY DANCERS,
I AM SO PROUD OF YOU GUYS! you guys are doing a fantastic job. Do not take my bitchassness as an insult I need to step up my game to get this done. My only wish is for you guys to take this just as serious as I am because I don't know about you guys but I want to CRUSH THE SENIORS!! Tibein thank you so much I dont know where I would be without you girl great job on everything and the dedication you bring to this group. Thuong thank you for staying loyal to this group and pushing everyone to do their best. Gurjant, Stephanie, Emily, Ayuantu, Dylan, Martha, Thank you for pulling through with everything. I know practice is tiring and you guys have extracurricular activities to take care of and I want to send out my love for you guys who are making the time and effort to come and practice with me after school. I am very proud of you guys and keep up the good work I cannot wait to see the look on everyones faces when we rule homecoming week :]

CLASS OF 2010; ONE OH YOU KNOW