Towards a new beauty.. beyond the ballot.

Writing Prompt:
Describe where you were and what you felt when you found out Barack Obama had been elected the 44th president of the United States, and the 1st one ever who was a person of color?


1) Share Out (10 minutes

2) Watch the following Video
Click on Letter to History
(Excerpt… from video)
Dear History,
For too long have I pondered your meaning, memorized dates of battles, years of servitude, decades of injustice, named eras after movements, mourned the extinction of species, cursed founding fathers, worn vintage suits and cloaked myself with references of your hold on me.
I have walked through museums wondering how it is that greatness had lived and died all before my time. Parts of me feared becoming great because it seemed to include a price of death and a postmortem glory that my memory could never resurrect. I've stared at paintings dying to catch glimpses of the painter, closed my eyes to listen to songs that drunken ghosts dance to, and all the while I've fought to FREE the present to BECOME.

1. What was Saul William’s letter to history about?
2. How has history enslaved the present and held hostage the future?


Watch Nas's: "Black President":
1. How has the world changed since when Tupac wrote his rhyme?
2. How has Barack challenged what "they say"?


READ
There is an energy in the air. While the problems in our communities have not changed overnight, and many still struggle, live homeless, or are killed, there is a sense that times are changing. People are waking up, speaking out, moving forward, and demanding a world that meets their basic needs and rights.

Your ASSIGNMENT.. (If typed, Write in font size 12, times new roman)
Write your own letter with the folllowing idea in mind
a) A letter to History letting him know what you would like to lay to rest. It could be the history of your people, your gender, your sexuality; it could be your family history, your love history, or any combination of the previous. BE CREATIVE!

b) A Letter to Barack Obama. Let him know your feelings on yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Offer up ideas and hopes, even suggestions. Let him know that you do not expect him to change everything, but what YOU are willing to do. Also, hold him accountable. Many people offer promises but do not fufill them. What are issues that matter to you that you do NOT want him to fail on (funding, prisons, war... changes in community).

c) EMAIL to gonzales@a4ra,com