Bonqui$h@n@i's Blog

1. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.

So to analyze all four of Harlem’s relationship I can say even though she may start off bad, she ends of in a good note.Ha

So the book I decided to read for Mr.Sutherland's English class this time around was Harlem on Lock by Karen Williams. This book is extremely interesting and I suggest to people who enjoy bold about Black characters going through a struggle and rising up go ahead and read this.

In this book the main characters name is Harlem even though she was born in Harlem she lived in California since she was born. Before she was born he father and mother moved out to California so that they can get away from there heroin addiction, but even back in the projects of L.A they still found heroin. In order for Aja Harlem's mother to upkeep there drug addiction she has to prostitute herself but she becomes very ugly so no man really wants to by her out so then she ask Harlem to perform sexual favors to the landlord for heroin and she does but after that shes still a virgin so she didn't have to have sex with.

Harlem Becuase if her parents addiction doesn't have nice clothes shoes or anything and with that when Christmas rolls around she has no one to spend it with and she doesn't get any presents from anybody so it's like really bad. Then she ends up going shopping with her neighborhood crush Savior who's a couple years older than her. Then savior takes her to a swap me and said to her

"I'm getting out out of here real son. Maybe somewhere like Colorado. Build a life out there. How bout it, Harlem? Would you leave with me?" then she says yes (Page-39).

 When Harlem gets home her dad hits and her and someone jumps her dad which then causes her mom to take them to the hospital so then Harlem has to do a stripper job but then savior comes and saves her from that too. Then Aja the mom dies of a drug overdose than her dad to make money takes her virginity so she can start prostituting out of her house. This time around Savior can't save Harlem becuase he got arrested but she doesnt know that so. The prostituting leads to chief the head drug roller taking care of Harlem for a whole year but that comes with a price, of being his girl but hat comes with pain. After some years of pain and betrayal Savior is released from jail and is back in Harlems life as Chiefs main soldier.

It's weird in most people Vignettes project at some point they talked about there family. Most people either talked about injuries, emotions, past expirences, hair, and the oh-so common topic of family. Most people when they talk about family they talk about how close they are to there family,ot what there fmaily personally means to them. I didn't see alot of vignettes where there were certain people picked out from others; when looking for some commmon topics to talk about I saw the words Dad in several languages. There was the Tatuszu Kasia's pronuctiation in polish, Papi Christians Dad in Spanish, and Ldazhe in the once again oh-so common language of english; just Dad.

When reading Kasia's vignette she talks about who her father is in my opinion and what he means to her

My Dad, my tatuszu, he’s so conservative. Born and raised in Polish communism in the 60’s, refugee status in the late 80’s- he can’t help himself sometimes, you know. (Kasia)

Now looking at Christian's vignette he uses the words Papi to describe his father instead of saying Dad or Daddy, and when he uses these words to describes this type of  special experience he had with his father.

Come on Cristian, hurry, there’s a neat little smell over by that tree.

PAPI! HOLD ON! (Christian)

See when Ldazhe talks about her father unlike Christian or Kasia she doesn't use a special word to describe her father or a special relationship with her father; it's like becuase she doesn't have this positive realtionship she has no special word; maybe it is becuase she doesn't call her father anything but dad, but it was still kinda crazy.

I knew my dad like I knew the dark scared me. Yet I never knew my dad would become what I was afraid of....I didn’t recognize my dad and his ferocious face, red and swelling. (Ldazhe)

 And instead of saying poring oh "Dad" she adds in this "Tatuszu" I'm not even sure if in Polish Tatuszu means father but it's a ncie descritive word to say father; after I get this point of Tatuszu and a fighter based on Kasia's words I think that Kasia is proud of her father.

I think that Sandra Cisneros book The House on Mango Street is her dedication, or going back to her old House on Mango street. She writes in the last Vignette of her book Throughout the book this character Esperanza travels a lot and lives in many houses, well not in the book. But before Esperanza comes to the house on Mango street; she hoped that when she came to that house it would be her house. Esperanza imagined the House on Mango street being that grand house; but it wasn’t.

Throughout the book she goes through A bunch of stuff that really carves out who Esperanza is, she has her first kiss, she learns about boys, she gains her friends, and most of all she realizes who she is as a person and what she wants to do in life. Esperanza does not like Mango street, and nothing that it brings with it.

So when she’s leaving in the last Vignette she said her own little goodbye to Mango Street .First she went to a fortune teller to try and fight what her future brings and she asked the fortune teller one thing Will I leave mango street? and when she asked this question she said it in her head, not out loud and the response to her question or the fortune tellers message was "when you leave you must remember to come back for the others" (page 105). That’s when Esperanza had her upbringing that she had to come back to Mango street.

“They will not know I have gone away to Come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out” (page 110). I think that Sandra cisneros book the House on Mango street is her coming back to mango, this is her dedication letter to mango. When you really think about it there both from Chicago, in the beginning Esperanza said she wishes she had a different name; maybe she changed it to Sandra Cisneros, and on top of that there’s this constant quote between writers, write what you know; Sandra Cisneros Knows House on Mango street. This is her coming back to the girls or people who couldn’t go to Mango.Sandra Cisneros is Esperanza.

Table of Contents 
1.       I love my Name!
2.      The Bird’s Nest
3.      Escalators, and Casinos
4.      Squirrel
5.      Nikes

I love my name!

My name is gorgeous I just think that it’s amazing, I don’t mean to sound cocky but my middle name could be the name of like a restaurant “Hi, welcome to Neyyerah’s”. My name in Arabic Ale’ah means Peace, Joy, and Hope. I think that I live up to two of those standards I think that I have a lot of Hope, and I strive for things, and I think that I’m Joyful; I guess.

But I know I’m not Peaceful, I’m very violent like the time when I went off on my math teacher, like a lion pouncing on his prey, or the time I scratched my boyfriends face on accident, and he got a scar like Scar from The Lion King, for like the rest of the year he had this deep cut, it was thick enough to hold a penny, after that I tried stop being violent and being peaceful; but I guess I’m not the most peaceful person. That’s right my name Go!, and everybody is going to know who Ale’ah Neyyerah Bashir-Baaqee is.

Squirrel

I look like a squirrel, and I know it. So I don’t really care when people call me a squirrel because I ‘m very used to being called Squirrel. When I was little I used to play with fire, I liked playing with fire like dogs like playing with bones, I was attached, once I was in the bathroom trying to warm up some water in a plastic bottle, and I was holding the bottle with a napkin, and the napkin caught on fire and I made a big mess, and when my grandma found out she was so appalled.
All the times that there was a fire lit I would come and blow it out. It was me but my grandma thought that it was her adoptive son Herald. Ever since than my grandma called me a squirrel and a fire Bug. Last year I went to a new school, and the first nickname I got was squirrel, at first I didn’t understand why I was being called squirrel, and I didn’t like it but I got used to it.
Purple were calling me Squirrel cuase’ I look like a squirrel
In the last month of school me and all my friends Nokono, crazy Zaleigha,and  Aziza were all sitting in class when my new math teacher was teaching; and she heard some dogs bark; and then she started this story about the movie Up, then she said in the movie Up the dogs yell squirrel! And every looked at me  when she said Squirrel! Everyone in the class laughed and so did I and ever since then I don’t mind if people call me Squirrel!   

Escalators and Casinos

The sky walks quicker, that is what the old bearded man said to my grandma, sister, and I when we standing at light for over 2 minutes.
How we get to the sky-walk, my grandma said.
The bearded man replied go up those stairs, he pointed, then through the upstairs sushi bar and casino and down the escalators then you will be in the Atlantis hotel.
‘Nyah, Leah hurry up we have to go if we want to be awake to go skiing.  So that's what we did we rushed upstairs with our four bags of stuffed animals straight from Circus Circus in the great city of Reno, Nevada.
Therefore, we went up the cold concrete stairs that smelled of rotten urine, through the cigarette-covered alcohol smelling sushi and right around the bright pink and green upstairs Mini-Casino.
Then we saw it.  What looked like an ordinary transportation device wasn’t a simple transportation device.  It was full of death, pain, and screams, and anything else you could think of that is bad.
Then, we went down and everything was normal, until it snuck out and grabbed me.  It was so quick I could not believe it. It grabbed me and it held me and it wouldn’t let me go; I stayed up there and I couldn’t get down.  But the Escalator of death was trying to bring me down but the nail had me, it had my shoelace more specifically it had my ankle; and I was stuck
But that’s when Everyone on the escalator flew. They flew to my rescue people I had never even seen came to my rescue and then we all flew. That thing, that nail had no choose but to let me go, and give my ankle back. Yeah I learned and lived that day; I learned that when we are in need no matter what people size, shape height, color, anything: it doesn’t matter people will always help you.

The Birds Nest

That is what they called it and that is what it looked like, a birds nest.  I’d seen one before in a tree at my home, with little hummingbirds flying in and out of it every year; but this one was different. It was big silver bright, glowing. Anything you can imagine that is what it was.
Most of all it was amazing.  Spectacular even. I wanted to be in the birds nest. But only the best of the best could have ran track in the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing, China. Only the rich could buy a ticket to see these track runners perform, and only the lucky like me could see it. But when I saw it it was amazing. But then again I was in the amazing city of Beijing, China; and I was there to dance.
That’s right dance in  the Chinese festival of international dance  I was, invited me and my dance company of the African Queens to perform. The only African dance troupe there. And me I was there living the life, walking the great wall, dancing in amusement parks, living in five star hotels. Opening pearls, and looking at Jade. Oh and don’t forget shopping at one of the biggest malls in the world. That is right; and walking the forbidden city; that’s right I lived and learned life is short so do it right and do it big.

Shoes

I love shoes, and shoes love me. I have a bunch of shoes Nike's, Jordan's, Air-Nike's, Boots, flats, Uggs, converse, and anything else. My favorite shoes are tennis shoes I can rock with anything else. I love matching I’m always matching so I need enough shoes that I can rock with anything else. My shoes are like my veins, I need my shoes with ought them I'm dead.
My shoes are my world.