The Freedom Riders 

Link

The Freedom Riders were a group of black and white most activists whose goal was to desegregate the bus transit system in the south. Segregation was a regular part of African Americans lives, especially if they lived in the south. Black people were forced to ride at the back of the bus even if there wasn't any room. They also had separate bus station areas that were the opposite of luxurious. White supremacy was growing stronger and actions needed to be taken. On May 4th, 1961, 13 activists chosen by the CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) boarded Greyhound and Trailway buses. They rode all the way from Washington to New Orleans with blacks and whites sitting together. Not many people took notice until they got down to southern states where violence took place. On May 14th, the group of riders faced a white mob in Anniston, Alabama  The mob chased down the bus and beat the people inside. Bombs were also thrown onto the bus forcing the people inside to flee.

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The Freedom Riders had to endure two more attacks in Alabama. One was in Birmingham. The public safety commissioner, Bull Connor, claimed that he knew the freedom riders would be coming, but he decided not to set up any measures of protection because it was mother's day. CORE members on the buss backed out from going further because it was too violent. However, the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) took their place. These students had to face the horrible mob in Montgomery, Alabama. Later on, many African Americans were arrested of "disturbing the peace". They were sent to Parchman Penitentiary and stayed there for 39 days. Finally, the supreme court recognized the problem and regulations were put in place forbidding the segregation of the bus systems.

I wanted to compose a piece of music inspired by the bravery and the story of the Freedom Riders. I knew that I wanted to have a section in the music that had a lot of motion. The progression of the buses and the civil rights movement was the reason that I wanted that motion in the music. Next, I wanted to include music that the Freedom Riders sang while on the bus. Music played a very important role in the civil rights movement. It unified everyone when they were in jail, and it kept them going through hard times. I have always loved some of the gospel songs that came out of African American culture. Something about singing them is therapeutic and healing. I wanted to create a similar comforting feeling when including one of the songs in my piece. I chose "Hallelujah I'm a Traveling". When I listened to it,  it was being sung with no harmony, but I was able to hear the potential and power it could have. I placed it following an intense sounding part of the piece because its purpose was to comfort the people who were riding on the bus. Finally, I wanted to include the famous song "America the Beautiful", but change the harmonies to make it sound like something wasn't quite right. The irony of it points to the glaring racism that was going on in America at the time.  When putting the whole piece together, I took inspiration from "A Movement For Rosa" by Mark Camphouse and "City Trees" by Michael Markowski.



Link to score and playback:

https://musescore.com/user/19237061/scores/5520984

National Public Radio

Sources:

https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/afam/2012/montgomery_greyhound_bus_station.htm

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1605

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-rides

https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/music-in-the-civil-rights-movement/

https://musicedmasters.kent.edu/the-role-of-music-in-the-civil-rights-movement/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p2TcmXveOo

The Lynching Memorial was very powerful. It was also interesting to see how much thought went into the planning. Everything seemed deliberately placed in order to convey their emotions through physical structures. The first museum we went to has lots of information and it really made me angry looking at the wall full of signs that said: "whites only".

Link

One, in particular, was an add for a place that listed good things on one side like good weather, nice beaches, and then on the other side, it said no black people. It is a horrible thing to feel unwanted and for black people, or any other person who wasn't white and Christian, it was thrown in their faces. 

2.7: Mid-Semester 2 Reflection

1. The most important thing I learned about immigration in the 19th century was the push and pull factor and why immigrants decided to leave their home country. Understanding why people immigrate might help to get a better idea of what's going on in the country and what people value.

2. The most important thing I learned about immigration today is that the US government does not care about the well being of immigrants. I already knew this in a way, but I also learned that they aren't really hiding this fact. I'm not talking about the Trump administrations belief on immigrants and how we need a stricter border, I'm talking about how they treat them as people. I learned that it is an official policy of immigration to use kids as bait to catch illegal immigrants. No matter what a person believes about immigration, they are still people too and they don't deserve to be treated like that. Separating families is not ok on any level.

3. The two most challenging aspects of living in the 19th century are the overcrowded cities and bad sanitation. People were rapidly moving to cities and they had not figured out a good sanitation system in any regard, so health was an issue. In the 19th century. In the late 19th century, there were highly successful people like Carnegie and Rockefeller. Based on data we looked at, the richest people to live were born in the 19th century.

Link

4. The progressive movement wanted to fight poverty, preserve environmental resources, and get the government more involved in the economy. The Highline does all of these things. It might not directly fight poverty, but it improved a bad neighborhood in New York City which could attract new businesses and stimulated the economy. It preserves the environment because they incorporated so much greenery, and the government provided a service to people by allowing this. There was a lot of clap back when the idea was presented to make the Highline. People wanted the railroad gone.       

Philanthropy is defined as the desire to promote the welfare of others, especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. Charity is similar to philanthropy but there is a difference. Charity is a short term response. Charity doesn't solve any problems in the long run. Philanthropy is more about solving problems. link

Carnegie donated money for projects that helped teachers and education. He gave 125 million dollars to help colleges and schools. He also gave money to over 2000 libraries. By 1911, he had given away 90% of his money. He believed that the rich had an obligation to help others less fortunate than they were. Link

Rockefeller gave away 540 million dollars in his lifetime. link Carnegie gave away 350 million dollars. link

Carnegie foundation branches include council for ethics in international affairs, Dunfermline trust, the endowment for international peace, the foundation for the advancement of teaching, Carnegie Hall, the institution for science, the library of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, trust of the universities of Scotland, the UK trust, The Hero fund commission, and other international foundations. link

Warren Buffett is a major philanthropist today. He pledged to give 99% of his wealth away to churches and schools. Link

If I was a Philanthropist, I would definitely give money to help the arts departments in schools in lower income areas. The arts are very important and there is a lot of research that supports this. Some schools don't have a budget to foster a good band or theatre program. Money isn't everything, but it helps these departments to grow and exist. Without a substantial budget, it is harder to expand a band program and get more people to join. Instruments and equipment have to be paid for along with trips and festivals. The arts can provide a wonderful experience for kids in schools. 

Progressive

Link

Leadbelly

Big Bill Broonzy

Louis Armstrong

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200033252

http://hubguitar.com/music-theory/blues-harmony-and-theory

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/history_of_jazz.htm

https://www.stlmag.com/The-Best-St-Louis-Ragtime-Musicians-of-All-Time/


https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200035811/


https://interactive.wttw.com/dusable-to-obama/jazz-and-blues

John Richardson

Immigration


Mexican immigrants make up a large part of the US population and contribute much to the lower class. However, many of these immigrants are in the country illegally. Many people are against having them in the country illegally and think they should be deported. It is against the law after all, so why would they enter the country illegally in the first place? The truth is, they are in danger of gang violence and harsh conditions that come with the poverty of their corrupt country. It isn't an easy task to just immigrate to the US. That takes time and there is no guarantee that they will be allowed in. So because of the immediate danger people from Mexico enter the country illegally. A large part of immigrants end up entering the country legally, but they overstay their visas. Departments in immigration are of course trying to stop this, but some of there methods may not be very humane.

There have been many debates on what the best plan of action for keeping immigrants out should be. Building a wall is one of the most talked about, however, that doesn't take care of the illegal immigrants that are already in the county. In 2014 illegal immigrants made up about 3.5-3.8 percent of the population. That translates to roughly 12.1 million people. In order to try to catch them, there is an official policy to use children trying to enter the country as "bait".

When children attempt to enter the country they are detained in a shelter. A family member from the US has to come and sponsor the child in order to let them in. For this reason, the government is deliberately keeping children in these shelters for an extended period of time until their family comes to get them. Here is the worst part. As soon as they scan the family members fingerprint and find that they are an illegal immigrant, they are arrested, deported, and separated from their child. It's like immigration is holding children hostage to lure illegal immigrants into a trap and they are still separated from each other. This very situation happened to a 17-year-old boy trying to reconnect with his father. When his father got there, he was immediately deported, and the 17-year-old attempted suicide. Immigration does not care about the effects separating families have on people. 

Studies show that separating children from their parents can be psychologically harmful, especially in young children. It is believed that because the children are in these shelters, they are far better off than being back in Mexico. This may not be true. The shelters are in bad condition, and not have a parent makes it even worse. When put under stress, kids need someone to entrust and talk to. Because they don't have this, they don't know how to cope. This affects the development of the brain and puts these kids a high risk of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. This is especially harmful because a lot of the children already have PTSD from bad experiences like gang violence and sexual abuse back home. Stacking all three of these disorders on top of each other can be so difficult to deal with, especially without a family. 

Mexicans immigrate to the US for a better life. This includes a job or an education. However, this is no easy task. Even when one has money, resources, and speaks English, getting an education requires a lot of effort. It becomes increasingly difficult for immigrants who may not speak English very well. Having the kind of money to pay for a college education is very rare among Mexican immigrants as well. as you can see in figure 1, some immigrants get by with high school education, but figure two shows that the number of immigrants in or near poverty is very high. When you put the language barrier, money barrier, and the fact that many of these children could have PTSD, depression, and anxiety, the chances of even the slightest bit of success seems very small. Separating children from their families has a lasting effect on them. It is already extremely difficult for these immigrants to support themselves, so taking their family away in despicable, no matter the situation. Mexican immigrants are an important part of the US population and we should be uplifting and helping them, not separating them from their families.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Huffington Post
Buissnes inisder 
link 
Link : figures 1 and 2
USA Today