The IVC Borderline Literary Journal

Jackie Robinson: Persevering Against All Odds - Research Paper Excerpt - by Tristan Vargas - English 110

Tristan's essay on Jackie Robinson focuses on the man's courage.  We all know that Jackie could play with the best of the best in the major leagues, if only given the chance!  But could any of the other players match his determination to overcome the fierce racism of the times?  Not only did Jackie become a star player, but he became a national hero.   According  to Tristan, we all have something to learn from the spirit of Jackie Robinson.  

Jackie Robinson: Persevering Against All Odds

    When Jackie Robinson debuted in Major League Baseball, he received criticism from opposing players and managers everywhere he went. Some of Robinson’s own teammates in the Dodgers, all from the South, wanted to boycott the team because they didn’t want to see a black player in the team. Pee Wee Reese, the Dodgers’ captain, refused to sign the petition, which made it the turning point in the Dodgers clubhouse. Reese accepted Robinson as a player, and stood up for him at all times. At first, some of the Dodgers players were hesitant to accept Robinson in the clubhouse, but they eventually did and everyone was there for him, becoming brothers on and off the field. One time, Reese was playing cards in the clubhouse with Robinson, and a fellow teammate, Dixie Walker, pulled Reese aside and confronted him for playing cards with Robinson. Reese replied, “Look, Dixie, you and Stell travel with a black woman who takes care of your kids, who cooks your food, who you trust -- isn't that even more than playing cards with a black?'’ (“Reese”). Reese quickly managed to point out Walker’s hypocrisy; he got upset at Reese playing cards with Robinson when Walker himself had a black woman who took care of his family life while the Dodgers were playing. It’s very important to notice Reese’s courageous action in a time where the country was heavily segregated and black people were heavily looked down upon. If it wasn’t for Reese, Robinson probably wouldn’t have been accepted by his own teammates and his courage, determination and hustle for baseball wouldn’t be noticed nowadays.

    There wouldn’t have been many black players in baseball nowadays, which means that we wouldn’t have seen legendary black players in baseball, such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr.  When Robinson debuted in the MLB, he instantly received criticism from everyone. The idea of an African-American playing professional baseball was seen as unethical since segregation was seen everywhere in the country, and Jim Crow laws were especially noticed in the South. Besides, some of Robinson’s own teammates threatened to boycott if he played with the Dodgers. Although Jackie Robinson managed to break baseball’s color barrier, he first had to break through to his fans and teammates. In 1947, the Dodgers traveled to Cincinnati to play the Reds. There, Robinson endured so much racial abuse from the crowd and opposing players. In an act of solidarity, Reese put his hand on Robinson’s shoulder (“Reese”). It was an enormous gesture for Reese to befriend Robinson, especially when he was criticized by the media and even his own teammates for doing it. 

    At the time, segregation was seen in the country and the idea of a white person to befriend a black person was widely frowned upon. Since Reese grew up in segregated times, he never went to school or played baseball with African-Americans. So, when he shook Robinson's hand for the first time, it was the first time he had ever shaken the hand of an African-American, so it was a huge step in his career and his life (“Reese”). As captain of the Dodgers, Reese encouraged his fellow teammates to accept Robinson as a player and not look down at him since he was African-American. If Reese never accepted Robinson as a teammate, Robinson’s impact on baseball as well as his fight for civil rights probably wouldn’t have existed. It’s very important that Pee Wee Reese managed to befriend Robinson and accept him as a teammate to let everyone know that racism has no place in sports. Robinson’s impact in the civil rights movement was huge in not just normal life, but in sports as well because it allowed teams to accept their players, regardless of their race or skin color.

• To see Tristan's complete Film History Research Paper,  please click on the following link: 42
• To learn more of Jackie's determination and story, please click on the video below:

 

Frida Kahlo: Artist, Feminist, Revolutionary, Unibrow - Research Paper Excerpt with Mind Map - Bertha Gonzalez - English 110

In her English 110 historical research paper, Bertha explores the passion, pain and art of Frida Kahlo.  Where and how did Frida develop her incredible spirit?  How can we learn from her?  Unfortunately,  Bertha says, Frida’s legacy is being chipped away and faded by mass commercialism.  More people know her from T-shirts than they do from her courageous art. Bertha does her best to set  the record straight.

Frida Kahlo: Artist, Feminist, Revolutionary, Unibrow

    Frida Kahlo made herself known through the art she created.  Some knew of the health problems she had dealt with in her life, such as polio and injuries from a bus incident. Later in her life, people learned of her politics and her views on feminism. Still,  there are many people in the present who don’t know much about Frida.  One writer put it this way: “There’s Frida the feminist, Frida the communist, Frida the Mexican, Frida the folk hero, Frida the controversial Barbie Doll, and on and on” ("Impossible to  Label  Frida").  Most people recognize the Mexican painter first by her unibrow and last by her artwork. Her life work is being forgotten due to people focusing on superficial aspects of her being.  Although a lot of people know of Frida Kahlo, they only know that she was a painter and had a unibrow.  They know this because of items that have been sold that use her face. This doesn't take into account everything that she did when she was alive or accurately describe her legacy. Frida Kahlo was a feminist and political figure who expressed her tragedies and love through art,  and yet not many people know of the legacy she left behind.

    Frida Kahlo was a troubled soul. So much she endured in her forty-seven years of life that both contributed to the heaviness in her heart and served to inspire passion. Frida dealt with a lot of inner struggles. She had a hard time believing her paintings and drawings were good. In turn, she found it hard to believe that others would like her art. In particular, she sought the approval of Diego Rivera. Furthermore, Frida's entire life was filled with tragedies. She had to deal with health issues, including the polio she had when she was a child and the bus incident when she was a teen that left her with multiple injuries that would affect her the rest of her life. Additionally, she had problems having a baby, a result of the bus incident. She also had a great conflict in her marriage to Diego Rivera. Rivera's infidelity caused many problems including a strained relationship with her sister because of their affair. Although these struggles caused great pain, they were the inspirations for many of her works. Kahlo, as a person, was very complicated.  Not only did she have great talent, but the actions she took throughout her life showed the type of person she was. She was a socialist and took an active part in her country's politics. She often reflected these views in her paintings. Frida was also a feminist. Her paintings often depicted real struggles of women. She defied gender stereotypes, which at the time she was alive, was a difficult thing to do. Even with the many great things about Frida, she did have some negative qualities. Among those is her infidelity to her husband. She had done it because her husband had been unfaithful to her in the first place but she did decide to do it as well. She had trouble understanding that Rivera would never be monogamous but she loved him deeply. The events that occurred throughout her life as well as her reactions and feelings towards those events helped shape who she was. It helped to form a complicated artist whose legacy would be left behind for many to admire.

• To read Bertha's entire research paper, please click on the following link:  Frida.
• To learn more about the "Real" Frida, please click on the following video:

Harvey Milk: A Pioneer of the Gay Rights Movement - Film History Research Paper Excerpt with Mind Map - by Catherine Carmona - English 110

Can you explain sacrifice? –  In English 110, Catherine Carmona chose to write her historical research paper on Harvey Milk, this country’s first openly-gay politician.  For his relentless advocacy of a better and more equitable society, he was murdered in cold blood.  “Hope will never be silent,” he famously said.

Harvey Milk: A Pioneer of the Gay Rights Movement 

    In the ‘70s things in San Francisco were not as liberal as they are today. Gay men and women were still establishing themselves in the Castro District of San Francisco and Harvey Milk and his lover had just moved to the city from New York to escape his uptight, Wall Street, conservative life. Upon moving to San Francisco though, Milk was disappointed with the progress gay people had made in what was supposed to be the most liberal city in America, so he decided to take things into his own hands and run for public office. He didn't win the first or the second time or even the third time, but in 1977 he was finally elected to the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, reigning over the Castro District (Patterson).  

    At this time, the gay rights movement was especially serious with Anita Bryant and John Briggs gaining a following of people who wanted to strip gays and lesbians of their civil rights. Harvey Milk, in turn received many death threats on a regular basis because he was openly, and flamboyantly gay, and never tried to censor himself to anyone. He had a deep-seated feeling that he would be assassinated. He believed this so fervently that he once said,  "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door." Milk believed that to really end prejudice against gay people everyone should 'come out' because that would show heterosexual people that gay people are just like them. That gay people are people they know and interact with on a regular basis. It would show heterosexual people that gay people aren't the boogeyman that is waiting to abduct their children and convert them to their deviant lifestyles, as the Anita Bryants and John Briggs' of the world attempted to have society believe. In the end, Harvey Milk did get assassinated, and his death was widely publicized, and it caused a HUGE uproar in the gay community. In San Francisco specifically there were riots in the streets, but there was also a lot of unnecessary violence that I know Milk, sadly, would not have approved of.  

    Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. He sponsored a bill that banned discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation in housing, employment, and public accommodations. He also helped defeat the Briggs Initiative, which was a Proposition that would've banned gays, lesbians, and their allies from working in the public school system. In the 1970s Harvey Milk’s courageous fight for gay rights led to ugly political opposition and his tragic murder. 

• To read Catherine's complete research paper, please click on the following link:  Milk.  
• To learn about the life and tragic death of gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, please click on the following video:

 

Jim Crow Laws in the 1960s: The Legalization of Discrimination and Segregation - Film History Research Paper and Mind Map - by Gianna Sidhu - English 110

We are proud to publish Gianna’s Jim Crow Research Paper smack in the middle of Black History Month.  As I type this intro, I listen to news reports that our democracy is in crisis.  Anti-voter legislation is being passed in many states to limit the rights for people of color.  They are calling it “Jim Crow 2.0.”  Gianna writes about racial segregation in the 1960s.  Her paper focuses upon three Black women mathematicians who were forced to fight for their respect each and every day at NASA Space Center in Houston.  Take it from Gianna, we don’t want to return to those times.  Please remember to VOTE!

Jim Crow Laws in the 1960s: The Legalization of Discrimination and Segregation

 

    In the film, Hidden Figures, Katherine Johnson is the only Black woman working in the Space Task Group, which means she is constantly in a room surrounded by white men. This film takes place in the 1960s when segregation was legally allowed and enforced due to the Jim Crow laws. In one of the most emotional and intense scenes of the film Hidden Figures, Al Harrison asks Katherine why she is gone for forty minutes a day when she should be working. She exclaims, “There are no colored bathrooms in this building or any building outside the West Campus, which is half a mile away. Did you know that? I have to walk to Timbuktu just to relieve myself. And I can’t use one of the handy bikes. Picture that, Mr. Harrison.” Katherine’s frustration and anger at the racist circumstances show in this scene as she explains how segregation has led her to wasting time just to use the restroom. In another scene from this film, Katherine is trying to get a cup of coffee from the coffee pot while all of her coworkers watch her and look at her strangely. The next day, there is a coffee pot labeled “COLORED.” Katherine explains her struggles working there as an African-American woman as she states, “And I work like a dog, day and night, living off of coffee from a pot none of you wanna touch! So, excuse me if I have to go to the restroom a few times a day.” The coffee pot is a symbol of segregation  and discrimination that Black people experienced everyday in education, work opportunities, or in simple services. Katherine experiences this everyday in the workplace, and she expresses how she cannot help that it affects her work and her emotions.  Katherine's words represent an era of Jim Crow -- her working in NASA as a Black woman in the 1960s, surrounded by white ignorant men.

 

    In the 1960s, Jim Crow era laws limited African-American rights and resources. The History article titled “Jim Crow Laws” defines these laws as a “collection of state and local statutes that legalized segregation” which marginalized Black people and led to inequality in job opportunities, education, and voting. The Jim Crow laws affected African-American people heavily from the post-Civil War era to 1968, as these laws enforced segregation for hospitals, schools, theaters, restaurants, and even public parks. These laws claimed to hold the standard of “separate but equal”; however, these laws only enforced separation of the races with no equality. These laws legalized discrimination and allowed racism in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In workplaces that consisted of Black and white workers, Black workers usually were separated from their white counterparts. They could also not use the same facilities or resources as the other workers, which prevented Black people from having all of the tools they needed to succeed in some cases. In modern society, voter suppression is now being compared to the legal segregation in the 1960s as both disadvantaged and disenfranchised people of color.

 

    In her article, “94-year-old Battles N.C. Voter ID Law: Woman Had Faced Jim Crow Laws Early in Her Life” Jenny Jarvie interviews Rosanell Eaton who believes voter ID laws are similar to Jim Crow era laws that disenfranchise people of color. Jarvie spotlights this inspirational Black woman who has experienced changes of voting laws and Black rights throughout her life. Rosanell Eaton grew up in rural North Carolina, where she was one of the
first Black people to register to vote. Eaton was the granddaughter of a slave and has experienced racism, discrimination, and segregation throughout her life. Jarvie states, “Eaton, who has voted in every election since the 1940s and helped to register over 4,000 people to cast their own ballots, said the struggle to obtain ID is a hurdle that might prevent some from voting.” Jarvie expresses Eaton’s passion for helping other people of color vote for years, however, Eaton acknowledges that the new voter laws are affecting minorities and leading to voter suppression. New voter ID laws have been made in hopes of preventing voter fraud, but instead are impacting people of color more than fulfilling their purpose.

• To read Gianna's complete Film History Research Paper, please click on the following link:  Jim Crow.
• To visit the Jim Crow Museum, please click on the following video:
  

The Civil Rights Movement: The Help Must Change - Film History Research Paper Excerpt with Mind Map - by Isabella Vasquez - English 110

In English 110, Isabella chose to explore story behind the story of The Help.  Her research took her on a path to explore Mississippi’s Jim Crow laws in the 1960s.  On the screen, she measured how people of different races were portrayed. She identified how racial stereotypes were reinforced or undermined. Her writing reflects upon how far we have come as a society and/or how much work we still have ahead of us.

The Civil Rights Movement: The Help Must Change

In the film The Help, Aibileen is a wise and weathered black maid who has raised seven white children. She works for Elizabeth    Leefolt and adores toddler Mae Mobley Leefolt, even though she knows that the loving    relationship could hurt them both. Aibileen has changed since her son's death, and she finds    that she cannot accept the way things are so easily now. The book she writes with Skeeter andthe other maids empowers her to stand up for injustices. She teaches the children she raises that    the color of skin does not matter but love and kindness do but she often feels that the message is countered by the racism in Jackson. Aibileen realizes she has more to offer in life than being a maid and finding the courage to try something new. When talking to Skeeter, she at one point  says, "I thought I might write my stories down or read 'em to  you. Ain't no different in writin'  down my prayers." Her identity is determined by her place in society as a maid, but she    embraces a central role in the writing project with Skeeter and finds a new identity as a writer,   too. Aibileen realizes the danger that could result from her decisions, but she embraces the risk and relies on her faith for guidance. In the end, Aibileen discovers her own courage and talents,  which leads her to leave her job as a maid and accept an undetermined path that will lead to more independence.The Help is about African Americans working in white households where they face racial backlash. The early 1960s were turbulent times for Mississippi. Society was strictly segregated along racial lines, and the social, political, and economic rights of blacks were suppressed through violence. Although slavery had ended 100 years earlier, African Americans in Mississippi had been kept in subjugation for decades through a system known as "Jim Crow." This film shows the discriminatory policies that African Americans had the worst jobs, lowest pay, poorest schools, and harshest living conditions.

        The 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi, marked the peak of injustice in the Jim Crow South and on the brink of the Civil Rights Movement. During the 1960's, the era was covered in legal segregation and economic inequalities,which limited black women's employment opportunities. Up to 90 percent of working black women in the South labored as domestic servants in white homes. During this time, the Ku Klux Klan also known as the KKK were starting to form. These groups were made up of white men, mostly middle and upper class, and formed in cities and small towns throughout the South in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They wanted to spread and share Klan's ideology and worked to preserve the system of segregation. White supremacist politicians, police, and business leaders worked together to keep African Americans "in their place." People who were the color black that lived in Mississippi who challenged the system were arrested and jailed, punished by white employers, or attacked by the terrorist group Ku Klux Klan. Some were even killed for trying too vote or improve their lives.

• To read  Isabella's complete Film History Research Paper, please click on the following link:  The Help.
• To learn more about Jim Crow, please click on the video below:

 

 

Hunter S Thompson: Riding with Hell’s Angels - Film History Research Paper Excerpt with Mind Map - by Cristian Morse - English 110

I enjoy reading about the writing life.  My bookshelves here in  Mexicali are filled with writer biographies.  I was happy to see Christian research the emergence of Gonzo journalism of Hunter S. Thompson who brought this writing style to the forefront of the 1960s.  Cristian caught both the spirit  of the man and his writing.  Our reading has never been the same since.

 

Hunter S Thompson: Riding with Hell’s Angels

 

    Hunter S Thompson was an American gonzo journalist, he also wrote many books, his biggest and best known books were Hell Angels, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. What made him and his writing so popular was that he wrote in “gonzo”which is when the writer is in a first person view, and takes on more of a personal approach to the writing. His writings have made a lasting impact on gonzo journalism and people who looked up to him. ”As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I'm not sure that I'm going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says 'you are nothing', I will be a writer” (Bisbort).   Hunter never let his drug habits, or anything stop him. Hunter wrote what he wanted which separated him from anyone else.   There were not a lot of people like him who wanted to be the rebellious person,  do things no one wanted to do and speak to people who were different - this was his art .

 

    In the article "Remembering Gonzo Journalism's Founding Father"  Elaine Woo spells out  Hunter's legacy, and more about his life. Hunter S Thompson was a " gonzo" journalist, he first started to write his own newspaper at age 10,he later wrote for his high school newspaper and then after he got out of the air force he would write for Rolling Stones. Hunter was a very interesting person to say the least, but that is what set him apart from other people, he would have a great influence on a lot of journalists, and people like Joe Rogan and Johnny Depp. Hunter's writing has become known as "gonzo journalism" where the person is writing in a first person view, which he didn't invent but he certainly made it more popular because of how he did it. You can't go without talking about Hunter's drug habits, which is pretty crazy to say the least, for a regular person that will affect them in their daily life, but Hunter it didn't because he loved and was dedicated to writing. When it comes to Hunter that was his thing he was super dedicated to his writing, and some great examples would be when he wrote "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", Hells Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga" and my personal favorite would be "Kingdom of Fear" if you would read his writing you will understand why he is such a great writer. Hunters have and will always have a huge impact on journalism, there will be future journalists who will want to following his footsteps.

 

    A rebel is a person who goes against the norm of what people do or say and go against their government. Someone who is a rebel breaks the rules, dresses differently than everyone else. A rebel is someone who is an outcast of normal society but they don't care about what people think of them because they don't want to be normal. There are different types of rebels, there are ones when a young person rebels against their parents because of chores, there are people who try to stop the government by protesting. When it comes to Hunter he was considered to be the rebel of literature, by the way he was writing, but holding this bad man who doesn't care about who and where he wrote about. An example of Hunter being a rebel would be when he wrote Hell's Angel: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, Hunter spent some time with them, when no one wanted to be around them at all. Hunter loved to be the rebel and carry this rebel image. Hunter Thompson is always going to be known for being a super influential journalist, but yet there is a mystery to what he was thinking. One of Hunter's problems throughout his life was with drugs. He had a routine where he did a lot of drugs, which throughout his life was destroying him and his health. With all his bad heath it lead to his suicide, it doesn’t all have to be due to the drugs but yet was a big role. Hunter had written a book Hell’s Angel: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang where we interviewed them, talked to them and drank with them. After we had published it grew and the hells angels had confronted Hunter on live television. As Hunter started his career he wanted his career to grow and his writings to get out more, during that time there wasn’t any internet so it was harder. Hunter had written his biggest book of his career which was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. This is what made him well known and ultimately made more people want him to write for their company.

 

• To read Cristian's complete Film History Research Paper, please click on the  following link:  Hunter S. Thompson
•  To learn more of Hunter S. Thompson's "Edge," please click on the following video:

 

D-Day: Allies and the Turnaround of WWII - Film History Research Excerpt with Mind Map - by Yahir Beltran - English 110

The first minutes of Saving Private Ryan is a bloodbath. Steen Spielberg provides us with a frightening look at the violence of war.  Yahir  provides us with historical perspective. His paper gives us the story behind the story.  When the Allied forces  came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches, it would become known as the largest amphibious military operation in history.  Every man there knew that a successful invasion of the continent was central to winning the war.

D-Day: Allies and the Turn-around of WWII

 

    The movie Saving Private Ryan is based on an event during  time the German forces were on the coast of Normandy France defending this major state for Germany.  The most important part of the war in my opinion was the invasion of Normandy. This meant the loss of supplies for the Germans and a way for the Allies to strike against German forces located in nearby countries. The attack in Normandy was something really difficult, the plan consisted of several elements such as a “ghost army”, fake radios, and more, we get to see how soldiers felt during and after the war. Most of this trauma happens due to seeing a friend die or comrade next to them or even in their arms. “The noise of war does more than deafen you,” War is something that soldiers will remember. Soldiers may get a trauma from the idea of war; this will change the way they live from day to day. We as civilians see a war victory as an achievement but soldiers see war as hell -  it stays with them forever.

 

    During the war the Allies were searching for ways to deceive the German forces so that they could attack other countries such as Normandy. The United States came up with a great plan called Quicksilver I, which was the first U.S. army group called the FUSAG, they were stationed in south-east England and commanded by Gen. George Patton. General Patton was the worst fear for the Germans, they saw him as someone who knew what he was doing and seeing him do this plan was their biggest concern. Formerly, Patton was asked what he believed when they introduced the last-minute plan, this is what he had to say, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week” (Patton 1945). This made sense in many ways, the
group and plan Quicksilver were something used to deceive the German Forces and help the Allies attack Normandy. This plan contributed to the victory of D-Day. The way Patton and his soldiers were able to get into character and fool the Germans was something amazing. The plan, Quicksilver created a fake army which the Germans will begin to observe in detail, making Hitler believe that the Allies were going to attack from Belgium instead of Normandy. Overall general Patton was able to fool the Germans and help the Allies win the war.

 

    The beginning of the movie introduces the attack of Normandy. The soldiers are transported by boat while there are planes flying by and attacking the beach before the boats land. As the soldiers are getting closer, we can see how the German forces are found and how they will defend this part of the beach. As soldiers arrive, they are being shot by German forces found on the beach, we get to see how the attack began before the Allied soldiers were able to reach the beach. Some soldiers were forced to jump out of the boats they were being transported to, then the attack began. Many soldiers were killed before they could get off the boat, the beach was full of holes, there were Czech hedgehogs, mines all over the beach. It seemed like a nightmare to be there, some soldiers were helping others who were injured, this was what it felt to be in Normandy when D-Day started, chaos everywhere you looked. This was one of the most historically exact scenes we get to see during the whole movie. One of the few survivors had said that he does not see beaches the same, we can see how he feels when he says, “Where tourists and vacationers see pleasant waves, I see the faces of drowning men,”. Soldiers had to go through hell and can see how Lambert feels about war when he wrote, “The noise of war does more than deafen you it’s worse than shock, more physical than something thumping against your chest. It pounds your bones, rumbling through your organs, counter-beating your heart. Your skull vibrates. You feel the noise as if it’s inside you, a demonic parasite pushing at every inch of skin to get out.”

•  To see Yadir's complete Research Paper, please click on the following link: D-Day.
•  To learn more of "D-Day: The Taking of Omaha Beach," please click on the following video:

 

Monuments Men and Women: The Search for Stolen Art - Research Paper Excerpt - Perla de la Cruz - English 110

Perla has chosen to focus her English 110 historical research paper on a group of fairly anonymous historians, architects, museum curators and professors who helped defeat the Nazis.  During World War II, Adolph Hitler had called for the confiscation – plunder – of tens of thousands of priceless works of art that would have been lost to the world forever. The Monuments Men and Women brought them home safely.

 

    Monuments Men and Women: The Search for Stolen Art    

  In the movie, The Monuments Men, Frank Stokes, the leader of one of the groups from Roberts Commission (also known as Monuments Men) is having a conversation with Colonel Wegner.  Wegner is a German who is accused of running a Jewish concentration camp. Frank Stokes asks the colonel if the rumor is true, and he denies it. Frank then lights a smoke and tells Colonel Wegner it's "my first cigarette."   Afterwards he tells him when he returns home he'll see his picture on the paper with his name and how his crimes got him    hanged. Only then, he will think about his first cigarette and Colonels "stupid look" on his face  and never think of him again. I think the cigarette has a deeper symbolic meaning. The cigarette stands for power. At this point in the film, Frank Stokes and his men have one-upped Hitler and the Nazis who were ordered to destroyed and steal art and the war is almost over. Colonel Wegner thinks he is in a higher position to Frank Stokes and tries to talk down to him. He is instantly brought down and looks weak and terrified at the end of the conversation.  Throughout history of WWll, every Nazi, every colonel, lieutenant, etc. has thought they were powerful and unstoppable until a force fought against them.  For Hitler, the historical oppression he caused was about power, and in the end he lost it all.

    Why would anyone risk their lives to save materialistic art pieces? During WW2, Hitler ordered his men to rob Jewish homes and destroy their memories. He also demanded they steal paintings, statues, sculptures, etc. from famous or local museums for his own personal museum, Führermuseum. Hundreds of men and women joined the cause and have risked their lives for these collections and to this day are returning each item back to its home. These men and women joined the war to rescue, restore, and return the stolen art from museums and Jewish homes for the preservation of Jewish culture in Germany and the history of art in Europe.

    David D'Arcy's  article "True Story Behind 'The Monuments Men' and Nazi Art Looting" presens factual information on the Monuments Men and the art that was stolen. D'Arcy  talks about Robert Edsel who wrote books and a documentary about these men and their honorable work. The action takes place during WW2 between 1933 and 1945 and after the Nazis surrendered. The location of the Monuments Men work was Germany. The men were distributed through Europe:Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany. The details important to the setting are that about 5 million objects were returned to their countries and owners." This was happening between 1933 to 1945. The biggest and most famous art recovery was about 12,000 art pieces found in one apartment belonging to the son of an art dealer. The article detail  the amount of military these men had. Some had been in previous wars, for others WW2 was their first war, and other Monuments Men only joined for the recovery of art and just barely passed basic training.

• To see Perla's complete Film History Research Paper, please click on the following link: The Monuments Men.
• To find out who were the real "Monuments Men," please click on the following video:

 

 

Harvey Milk: A Pioneer of the Gay Rights Movement - Complete Essay - by Catherine Carmona - English 110

Catherine Carmona 

Professor Lewenstein 

English 110 

19 Jan. 2022 

 

Harvey Milk: A Pioneer of the Gay Rights Movement 

    In the ‘70s things in San Francisco were not as liberal as they are today. Gay men and women were still establishing themselves in the Castro District of San Francisco and Harvey Milk and his lover had just moved to the city from New York to escape his uptight, Wall Street, conservative life. Upon moving to San Francisco though, Milk was disappointed with the progress gay people had made in what was supposed to be the most liberal city in America, so he decided to take things into his own hands and run for public office. He didn't win the first or the second time or even the third time, but in 1977 he was finally elected to the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, reigning over the Castro District (Patterson).  

    At this time, the gay rights movement was especially serious with Anita Bryant and John Briggs gaining a following of people who wanted to strip gays and lesbians of their civil rights. Harvey Milk, in turn received many death threats on a regular basis because he was openly, and flamboyantly gay, and never tried to censor himself to anyone. He had a deep-seated feeling that he would be assassinated. He believed this so fervently that he once said,  "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door." Milk believed that to really end prejudice against gay people everyone should 'come out' because that would show heterosexual people that gay people are just like them. That gay people are people they know and interact with on a regular basis. It would show heterosexual people that gay people aren't the boogeyman that is waiting to abduct their children and convert them to their deviant lifestyles, as the Anita Bryants and John Briggs' of the world attempted to have society believe. In the end, Harvey Milk did get assassinated, and his death was widely publicized, and it caused a HUGE uproar in the gay community. In San Francisco specifically there were riots in the streets, but there was also a lot of unnecessary violence that I know Milk, sadly, would not have approved of.  

    Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. He sponsored a bill that banned discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation in housing, employment, and public accommodations. He also helped defeat the Briggs Initiative, which was a Proposition that would've banned gays, lesbians, and their allies from working in the public school system. In the 1970s Harvey Milk’s courageous fight for gay rights led to ugly political opposition and his tragic murder. 

    In the article "The Briggs Initiative Goes National" the author discusses the Briggs Initiative and celebrates 30 years since its proposal. The article gives background on the Briggs Initiative, which was the proposal of a law preventing gays and lesbians, and allies of gays and lesbians, from working in the public school system. The initiative was sponsored by senator John Briggs and was publicly supported by Anita Bryant who was the spokesperson for Florida Orange Juice and a former Miss America runner-up. The thesis of the essay poses the question "if lesbians and gay men were no longer viewed as a minority deserving of protection against discrimination, what was their status in American society?" (Fejes). The Briggs Initiative was compared to Jim Crowe laws in that it was biggest in the southern states and because it wanted to "recriminalize homosexuality and further restrict the rights of lesbians and gay men” (Fejes). In early polls the prop was shown to be supported by 60% of the population. Luckily, because the prop was worded so broadly, too many people would've been affected if it passed, not just gays and lesbians. Known conservatives like Ronald Reagan publicly came out as against the prop and it did not pass, this was now a matter of civil rights. To this day gays and lesbians are still not recognized officially as minorities so they are not fully protected in all states, but much progress has been made since the 1970s. The article compares the movement to the civil rights movement and the formation of the NAACP in 1909 and how many decades it took before African American people were recognized as being equal to White people by the law. In this respect there are still about a half a century to go before gay people will be anywhere near the amount of progress that Black people have been able to make in the eyes of the law.  

    Gay rights is a movement that demands equal rights for gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. Gay rights isn't a prejudiced discrimination, it's the belief that everyone should be treated equally regardless of sexual orientation and/ or gender. Gay rights are fought for at protests and marches, Activists are usually gays, lesbians, bisexual and/or non-binary queer people, but also allies of these people. They believe that ALL people deserve equal rights. They can identify as conservative or liberal, but often times they are liberal leaning. Harvey Milk is arguably the most notorious gay rights activist of all time. He was the first openly gay man elected to public office. He was known as "the mayor of Castro Street." Castro Street is known as the "gay neighborhood" of San Francisco. Harvey got death threats on a regular basis and in the movie Milk, he goes in front of a huge crowd and delivers the speech with the famous line "if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.” He delivered that line right after receiving a threat that if he got on stage at all he would be immediately shot and killed. In this speech he encourages all gay people to "come out of the closet" to help fight the Briggs Initiative. To me gay rights are part of being an American. In the Declaration of Independence it says "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" and that is what the movement is based on. As long as prejudice exists, equality will never prevail. Harvey Milk said, "it takes no compromise to give people their rights, it takes no money to respect the individual, it takes no survey to remove repressions." Rights shouldn't be something that needs to be given, they already exist inside every living person, and they must be recognized. 

    Dan White is the villain the the movie Milk. He is the man that shot Harvey Milk and George Moscone in cold blood in San Francisco City Hall on the day of November 27, 1978. It is implied in the movie that he might be struggling with his own sexual orientation. He was an Irish American Catholic and is considered a “good ol boy”. He is working class but and struggling to pay his bills and take care of his own family and on the salary he makes from being on the Board of Supervisors. He is angry at Harvey Milk because Milk doesn’t have his own family to take care of. He also feels like Milk betrayed him by reneging on an agreement to oppose the building of a mental health facility in White’s neighborhood. He seemed to be easily hurt by the “hardscrabble game of politics in which Milk thrived” (Patterson). Dan White is also angry at George Moscone (the mayor of San Francisco) because he won’t give him his job back after White resigned of his own accord. White must consider his wife and kids and his reputation in the city because he is well known as he was a firefighter and a police officer before serving on the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. When White enters city hall of San Francisco through a side window on that fateful day, to by-pass the security because he brings in his service pistol. He brings the firearm in case Moscone refuses to give him his job back. Moscone does refuse, citing “I’m sorry, what's right isn’t always popular, and what's popular isn’t always right” and “my decision is final” (Patterson). White then decides to assassinate Moscone and Milk.  He feels betrayed and disrespected by who he thought were his fellow colleagues and he is stressed out because he can’t take care of his family. He is severely depressed and probably suffers from mental illness that he attributes to eating junk food, specifically Twinkies (“The Jury”). Dan White has strong ties to his community and cares very much about his family. He wants what’s best for his family and his community, he just has the wrong idea about what’s best. He is a Vietnam veteran so I would say he is very loyal to his country, but he is easily overwhelmed and angered/hurt when things don’t go his way. He obviously does not know how to deal with conflict and conflict resolution. He is a Vietnam veteran and probably has PTSD because of this along with other underlying mental illnesses like depression.  Dan White is always referred to as a “good ol boy” which gave him credibility with the other blue-collar people of San Francisco and also with the first responders. This also lets people know that he is a conservative and supporter of traditional family values and religion. It makes him out to be a gentleman who just wants America to “stay American.” I believe this is why he got such a lenient sentence for assassinating two innocent men. Dan White is technically the villain in the movie but if you take the time to think of what he has been through and the way feelings and traumas were dealt with by men of that time, he is just as much a victim as Milk and Moscone. In fact, after getting out of prison, Dan White committed suicide in his ex- wife's garage (Patterson). 

    Harvey Milk was fearless in his fight for equality for all people. In the movie Milk there is a clip where he receives a death threat right before he is to go on stage at a gay pride rally. The threat he receives reads "you get the first bullet the minute you stand at the microphone." He was constantly receiving threats like this, but he continued, fearlessly speaking at any events he was asked to speak. Milk is famously quoted as saying "if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door (Patterson). He fiercely believed that the only way for gays and lesbians to achieve equality would be for every gay and lesbian to come out of the closet. He discusses this in the speech scene I have posted. He wanted people to see that gay and lesbian people are everywhere, and that they are just people. In this scene he also mentions Anita Bryant and John Briggs who were promoting Proposition 6 at this time. Proposition 6 was also known as the Briggs Initiative and it wanted to take away the right of gays, lesbians, and their allies, to work in the public-school systems (Fejes). He also mentions the myths, lies, and distortions that Bryant and Briggs were asserting were true of gays and lesbians. They were saying things like homosexual people should not be around children because since they can't reproduce, they must recruit people to their "deviant lifestyles" (Milk). In other words, they were implying that gays and lesbians had the power to influence children to become gays and lesbians themselves. Harvey Milk was shot and killed not long after giving this speech. He was only in office for 11 months but in those 11 months he made gay and lesbian rights the hot topic of conversation for people all over America. I think it is safe to say that though the bullet that entered his brain didn't destroy every closet door, it did destroy many closet doors. 

                          Fig. 2. Milk “Alternative Movie Poster”, circa 2008. From Jerico, Jeri. pinterest.com, 2008. Accessed 28 Jan. 2022.  

    Milk is a movie that depicts the rise and fall and subsequent death of Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man to be elected to office. This poster is not the the one that was shared at most theaters or even on DVD boxes. I chose this poster because I like the way it is simplistic and invites the viewer to question what the movie is even about. The main focus is obviously the whistle with blood on in and that is because Harvey Milk encouraged the other gay men that lived among him in the Castro District of San Francisco to wear whistles and to use them if they were in danger. This was important because at this time in San Francisco, gays were the victims of a lot of violence and attacks. The whistle signaled to whoever heard it, to drop everything and run to help out a fellow gay. This poster invites to view to ask questions and seek information about this movie and about what was going on during this time period. I also find it interesting that all the colors are cool colors (blue, white, and grey) except for the blood droplet so that makes it stand out in the poster. This poster appeals to the pathos of the viewer because it is so basic, there are not many words or pictures establishing authority or appealing to reason. This picture of a simple "rape whistle" with a droplet of blood on it is meant to evoke feelings or anger (hopefully) and sympathy or empathy for the plight of the gays in San Francisco in the 1970s. The only part of the poster that would be more ethos would have to be where Sean Penn's name is inscribed largely over the title of the movie. This is clearly to let the viewers know that Sean Penn is in this movie, and we all know he is a phenomenal actor.  

    Upon watching the movie Milk, acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert marvels at the acting talent of Sean Penn but also at how relatable Harvey Milk is as a character in the movie and also in real life. Ebert mentions that Milk is the first "openly gay" man to be elected to public office but wonders why that needs to be pointed out at all. He wonders why we can't all just be who we are without having to "publicly" state our sexual orientation. I agree with this, and I think it is a great question to ask ourselves. I understand that this was in a different time, and we have made great strides in this department, but it is still not where it should be. He also talks about how Harvey Milk didn't so much choose to enter politics as it chose him because he could not stand by and watch as his people were systemically persecuted by law enforcement. The part I loved the most of about this review is the title, which is "A Man Who Decided He Wanted To Make A Difference With His Life" because this is what Harvey Milk did. He literally gave his life for the cause when he was assassinated at 48 years old. Harvey Milk and his death was the beginning of a movement so powerful and strong. He did get his wish of people being free to love who they want to love. Gay marriage is legal, and you can turn on the tv to basically any channel and see one of his LGTBQ+ brothers and sisters on the screen portrayed by someone who, for the most part, actually identifies as LGTBQ+. The most powerful fact about this movie is that it is about an ordinary man. An ordinary man was able to accomplish all of these things and make such huge strides in civil rights for a group of people who were never really recognized or accepted by society. He was able to do all of this in less than a year of serving in public office. If this one ordinary man can accomplish such things, then can't any one of us accomplish them, or more, as well? 

 Works Cited 

Fejes, Fred. "The Briggs Initiative Goes National." The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, vol. 15, no. 4, Jul. 2008, pp. 21-22. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/briggs-initiative-goes-national/docview/198682347/se-2?accountid=38876. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022. 

“Milk (2008)- Gay Pride Rally Speech Clip.” YouTube, uploaded by Focus Features, 6 Jul. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEskuSbTKo. 

Milk. Dir. Gus Van Sant. Focus Features, 2008. Film. 

Patterson, John. "Weekend: 'IF I'M KILLED , LET THAT BULLET DESTROY EVERY CLOSET DOOR': Liberal Hero, Political Pioneer, Assassination Target - Harvey Milk was the Barack Obama of His Day. in 1977, He was the First Openly Gay Man Elected to US Public Office. A Year Later, He was Shot Dead. as a New Film Documents His Life, John Patterson Tells His Story." The Guardian, 6 Dec. 2008, pp. 62. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/weekend-if-im-killed-let-that-bullet-destroy/docview/244334484/se-2?accountid=38876. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022. 

  Polly Summar Journal, Staff W. "TWO WINDOWS on HISTORY: Friends' Pasts Touch both Sides of Gay Rights Movement." Albuquerque Journal, 1 Feb. 2009, pp. 1. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/two-windows-on-history/docview/324449451/se-2?accountid=38876. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022.  

"The Jury did Buy the `Twinkie Defense': [FINAL Edition]." The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext), 31 Dec. 1988, pp. a17. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/jury-did-buy-twinkie-defense/docview/307078132/se-2?accountid=38876. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022. 

 

Cesar Chavez: Beyond the Fields - by Gala G. Leon - English 201

I work on several campuses where you can see workers toiling in the fields right outside our classroom windows.  Many of my students come from farmworker families, so  writing about Cesar Chavez is an exciting proposition.  His stance on education is the reason many of them are in class.   Understanding and comprehension often depends more on what is located behind the eyes than what is in front of them.  Our students have rich and meaningful ideas experiences that we need to tap into. Below, Gala G. Leon writes of Cesar’s leadership a long, tough strike against the grape industry.    For his union, he demanded better pay and working conditions.  However, it was a difficult road.  His farmworkers were poor.  The growers were rich.  Gala’s writing delves beyond the politics and money.  She focuses upon the people.  She writes about sacrifice.

To read Jessica's entire essay on Cesar Chavez, please CLICK on the following link: http://www.ivcborderline.org/2018/01/cesar-chavez-beyond-the-fields-complete-essay-by-gala-g-leon-english-201.html

To view a vivid example of Cesar's leadership, please CLICK of the video below. In March of 1966, Cesar led his farmworkers on a 350 mile "marcha" to Sacramento.