Patricia Muench
9/28/08
Prof. Lecker
Recognize!
Russell Simmons once said, “The thing about hip-hop is that it's from the underground, ideas
from the underbelly, from people who have mostly been locked out, who have not
been recognized.” Hip hop is a culture that developed through Kool Herc,
Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, and many other DJ’s. The exhibit from
the Smithsonian Institution called “Recognize”, displays many of the origins
from which hip hop developed because the many aspects of hip hop have not been
recognized. Throughout the exhibit, the four main aspects of hip hop; graffiti,
b-boying, mixing, and rapping; were greatly represented. These aspects were
represented through photography, paintings, graffiti, film, poetry, and
installion.
The
different photographs taken by David Scheinbaum throughout the exhibit,
expressed distinct moments throughout the growth of hip hop culture. His
photographs displayed the style of clothing in hip hop, the stance of hip hop
performers, the setting of hip hop, and the different musical aspects of hip
hop. To see the X-ecutioners was amazing because it showed the group mixing on
stage. Then, their style of clothing was sportswear warm-up suits and baseball
caps. This photograph really gave me a feel for the hip hop culture. Another
photograph that really stood out to me was The Roots picture. I found this
picture strange because I don’t normally see in the hip hop culture, someone
playing the drum set. It made me recognize that hip hop really needs a
percussion section too. The photography
section included some of the facts I knew about hip hop, but it also introduced
me to facts I never knew.
The large
canvas paintings by Kehinde Wiley were very attracting to me. These paintings
showed off the style of some of the major DJ’s, like Grandmaster Flash. The
paintings were very attractive because Wiley made them look very royal and good
looking. Also, the colors that Wiley used made the paintings pop out, which
made them catch my eye. My favorite painting was of LL Cool J because he was
dressed in white, looked classy, and yet had an attitude. This made me look at
every single detail in this photo. All of the paintings mixed themes together,
which was interesting. Some of the guys in the paintings, were in sportswear,
but placed in a royal setting. A great example of this was the painting of Ice
T because he was sitting in a king’s chair with a robe, but at the same time,
had on a warm-up suit with sneakers and a baseball cap. For me, these large
canvas paintings really brought out the hip-hop culture. Because they were in a
more royal setting, the styles of the hip hop artists really stood out.
Graffiti is
something I normally see on a train, a street wall, or a truck. When seeing
graffiti in an art museum, it made me really focus on what the graffiti was
trying to express. The vivid colors that were used made the artwork within the
graffiti really stand out. The one that I felt was most eye-catching was the
graffiti named CON. To take two totally different themes and mix them together
was amazing. The idea of cards mixed with hip hop culture art seemed odd.
However, when I looked into each letter and found more artwork, it showed me
that graffiti has a lot of detail to it. The kings holding a microphone and a
spray can was a very cool concept that I felt would have been hard to pull off.
When graffiti is on the street, I would normally ignore it. When I saw the
graffiti in this exhibit, it really made me focus on every little detail that
goes into painting graffiti.
The film
aspect of the exhibit was a room with a looping video of three shorts. This was
my least favorite area of the exhibit because there were too many flashing
lights in the video. Jefferson Pinder, the artist of this video, used many neon
colors. When I watched these videos, it felt like a was in a disco ball, and
the colors hurt my eyes. The concept behind the video was what I enjoyed. The
story I liked the most was from the Car Wash Meditations short piece. The way I
interpreted the short piece was that someone was listening to music as the
world was slowing down around them. They really took in the concept that it was
cool to have everything moving quickly around you, while you are moving slowly.
After the car wash, then they have to go back into reality again. The
background music was the part that expressed hip hop culture the most, and the
music did flow smoothly with the video. I felt that the video part of the
exhibit should have had more to it.
Lastly, the
poetry and the installation piece, by Nikki Giovanni and Shinique Smith, were
truly pieces of art. There were so many meanings behind this part. Within the
installion piece, the materials used, mostly came from items that you may have
around the house or on the street. The part that really stood out was the
collection of pictures that portrayed artists with unexplainable deaths. There
was such a deep meaning to that, which also taught me about the hip hop
culture, and how those people really affected it. To have the poem linked to
the installation piece was also amazing. When the poem talked about having
spray cans, and the reasons of why certain colors are chosen, it really helped
me understand the situation. It’s not just about those reasons, but much more,
of why people choose to make a piece of art such as this. It helped me
understand the installation piece when the poem was being read to me. When
something was mentioned in the poem, it made my eyes focus on the aspect
mentioned. Overall, the meaning behind the installation piece and the poem came
from the heart, which expressed a powerful message about hip hop.
The Recognize Exhibit really pointed out
information on the history behind hip hop. This exhibit expressed to me that
hip hop is a whole culture within itself with many different aspects to it.
It’s not just the mixing, the b-boying, the rapping, or the graffiti. Hip-Hop
is something that started from the underground and then up. If this exhibit
wasn’t put in the museum, the origins of hip hop probably would have not been
recognized by the people of society. This exhibit makes you honor the message
that hip hop is trying to express.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Patricia Muench
Prof. Lecker
9/22/08
Grandmas Rock
“I never thought about these things
for a long time.” was one of the first statements Mary Carlsen said to me
(Carlsen 8 September 2008). Mary Carlsen has been through some of the most
important events in American History. From the roaring twenties, to the new
millenium, she has been surrounded by some of the best and worst times. Some of
the events were the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the crashing of the glass
Zeppelin from Germany, and World War II. During these times, caring was always
a major part of her life. From the moment she was born on June 1st,
1923, she always strived to care for anything and everything.
Born as Mary Francis Valentine, my
grandmother was born at her grandmother’s house in Glendale, NY. During her
birth, her mother had placenta previa (Carlsen 9/8/08). Placenta previa is when
the placenta gets moved to an improper place in the body, causing the cervix to
be blocked. It can cause much bleeding and maybe even death of the baby (“Mayoclinic”).
According to Mary’s mother, the doctor told her that she was supposed to
deliver a dead baby. The remarkable fact
is that Mary is currently eighty-five years old, standing six feet tall.
Growing up was very difficult
because Mary’s childhood was during the Great Depression. It was also hard for Mary’s family because at
that time everyone was poor. Everyone became poor because of the stock market
crash, which happened on October 27th, 1929. On this date, she was
also only six years old. When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933,
the unemployment rate went up from eight million to fifteen million. The Great
Depression affected, not just America, but the rest of the world too (“ELRO”). Even when Mary was in her early years of
childhood, she was able to care for something. For example, she would eat a
dinner of bread and butter, so that her family would also have something to
eat. Mary knew, at the age of six, that
her family wasn’t able to afford much. However, being a child, Mary didn’t
understand much of what was happening, and other than what her father told her.
Her father always provided her with some type of food to eat and clothes to
wear. She had her basic necessities, so she didn’t ask for anything more.
Towards the later years of the Great Depression and her teenage years, she also
took on a job to make extra cash for the family. Overall, the Great Depression
made her have a limited childhood.
As Mary grew up and went into high
school, she was faced with taking care of her mom for about six years. She had
to keep her going by giving her the medicine she needed to take. Taking care of
her mom, made her decide, that she wanted to become a nurse. After graduating
high school, my grandma attended St. John’s University for a year to start nurses
classes. After St. John’s University, she went into nurse’s training at St.
Catherine’s Nursing School for two and a half years. She then became, at the
time right before the end of the war, a nurse in the army for thirteen months.
During her time in the army, she was stationed in many different places, but
two that examples were Fort Belvar and Atlantic City. When she was stationed in
Atlantic City, she helped out at an army hospital. Her patients were mostly
blind patients that couldn’t do the basic everyday actions. Some activities
that she helped them with were bathing the patients and giving them their
medicine. Another problem that many of her patients were dealing with on top of
physical injuries was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and its effects. To help
them cope with this disorder, she would just talk to them, and also listen to
their stories just for support, not as a doctor. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
is a mental disorder that develops after a terrifying experience that results in physical harm or the threat of
physical harm. Suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can result in
being startled easily, becoming emotionally numb, lose interest in things they
used to enjoy, having trouble being affectionate, becoming irritable, becoming
more aggressive, and maybe even becoming violent (“NIMH”). She would talk to
them, not just because she felt sorry for them, but also because she knew that
they needed some support. She knew that
sometimes, post-traumatic stress disorder can be followed with depression,
substance abuse, or an anxiety disorder (“NIMH”). Helping these soldiers cope with this disorder
also made her feel good inside. She knew she had done her job when she did more
than just what was expected of her. It also felt good to be congratulated by a
passing bus when she arrived at her home after her assigned tour. After the war
was over, she moved on to be a nurse for twenty one years at St. John’s hospital.
During her career as a nurse, she
developed a passion and love for animals. She started showing her passion
towards taking care of animals by helping out her friend Sally at an animal
shelter during her work at St. John’s Hospital. She would be able to help out
with the animals because the shelter was close to work. She still continues
this passion today with helping out animals. She has three cats at her house,
but she sometimes provides shelter for stray cats in her garage. Because stray
cats come to use her garage as shelter, she ends up feeding them some of the
cat food she has in her house. She will especially either help them herself, or
find the appropriate help, if she finds a cat that is pregnant or suffering
from hunger. The peak of kitten season
is from late April to early September, which is where many unwanted or homeless
cats are born. Many shelters around the nation even kill unwanted or abandoned
cats at the rate of one per minute (“SPAY”). Because of so many kittens being
born, she would definitely take in another cat if she could. Reasons like this
are why she tries to take care of the cats as much as she can sometimes, even
though she knows not every shelter is like that. Overall, she tries to be a
good samaritan with animals, by showing her compassionate side.
Aside from Mary’s nurse life, she
has been through many of the best and worst times of American History. Some
examples are World War II, the crashing of the Zeppelin from Germany, the
invention of computers, the building of bridges, the assassination of John F.
Kennedy, and the horrifying events of September 11th, 2001. One that
stands out for her is the Civil Rights Movement that started in 1954. Groups
like the Ku Klux Klan made it extremely difficult for black people to get
rights at this time. They also made it hard for black people to survive in a
regular society. Something that Mary would do towards the end of the movement
was allowing black people to sit next to her. She wouldn’t say anything, but
she also thought it was wrong when people made comments like, “I’m glad I’m
sitting next to you and not one of them.” (Carlsen 22 September 2008) Mary said
that a white person said this to her, with “one of them” referring to a black
person. Situations on buses with black people were very influential at the time
because black people weren’t allowed to sit in the front of the bus with the
white people. Until Rosa Parks came, that situations with black people on buses
were starting to be resolved. Rosa Parks was an icon for this time during the
Civil Rights Movement because she sat in front of the bus, and refused to give
up her seat on December 1st, 1955 (“NPR”). Mary would make life
easier for people like Rosa Parks to ride a bus. She also worked with many
black people that were aides in St. John’s Hospital. She would talk to many of
them, but one in particular named Sue. She would talk to her about family and
other various topics. She would make a concerted effort to make black people
feel comfortable around her. She cared more for them than white people
sometimes. Throughout times like this, family became very important to her.
Mary would work twice as hard to support her family.
Family was always an important
aspect of Mary’s life. The start of her own family happened on June 1st
when she married Raymond Francis Carlsen. Mary has always been very caring, and
this is where she started to spread what she learned about caring throughout
her life. Mary and Raymond ended up having four children named Christopher,
Steven, Claire, and Regina. Mary started off showing that she cared for her
children by sending all of them to Catholic school to get a better education.
After Mary had her first child Steven, the doctor said that she wasn’t going to
be able to have babies because of demitriosis. Mary refused to accept that
statement because she cared for Raymond’s wishes of having a big family. Mary
was determined to have more children, so she kept going to the doctor for ten
years. After all of the consistent doctor visits, she was able to have three
more kids; Claire, Christopher, then Regina. Mary did a very nice job at
keeping her family happy. For example, my mother Regina burnt her elbow when
she was younger. She ran up to the bathroom where Mary was because she knew
what to do. Mary was able to bandage her elbow and cleanse it properly. Also
for Regina, Mary would take her dolls to the “doll hospital”. Christopher would
steal her dolls and put them upside down in the garbage cans, which would break
the dolls. Mary said that Regina’s dolls would be back to normal the next day,
so she went to the store and just bought brand new dolls. She would never let
Regina know that though. Another example can be when Claire got sunburn.
Because of the conditions of the sunburn, Mary took her to the hospital. The
doctors said to Mary that Claire would need to be in the hospital for a few
days, so Mary stayed with her. Chris also had a problem of his own. Because
Chris wore glasses, many of the kids at the school would make fun of him. Mary
would solve his problem by going to pick him up from school every day so that
way the kids wouldn’t bother him. She also signed him up for boxing classes and
boy scouts so that he could learn his about his resources, and so that he could
learn how to defend himself. Lastly, one of the hardest times for the family
was when Raymond, her husband, went on strike for nine months with the
telephone company. Mary worked extra hours, along with the help of her mother’s
money also, to keep the family supported. With the extra work, Mary was able to
provide nice clothes, makeup, toys, and school books for all of her children.
Her main focus has always been to keep the family happy.
As Mary’s children started to have
children, her main focus was to make sure their families would live a good
life, and that they would have enough money to support their families.
According to my mother, Regina, “Grandma is very frugal. She doesn’t use the
microwave and other normal appliances. She is very fruitful…and resourceful. If
someone had an old t-shirt, she would use it as a rag or something for the
house. She taught all my siblings and I how to drive.” (Muench 25 September
2008) Mary is always trying to save money, and use things she already has to
accomplish her everyday tasks. This statement proves that Mary reuses the
everyday items for a different use every time, and that she tries to save money
everywhere she can. Mary provides money to everyone in the family. She gave
money to my uncle to refurnish his kitchen. When my cousin David had a drinking
problem, she provided money for him to get back on track. Most importantly,
since my brother passed away, economic difficulties were made easier because of
Mary. She gave my family money, so that we can start to get our lives back on
track. Still to this day, Mary realizes that my family doesn’t have enough
money to pay for me for college. She is providing as much money as she can for
me to go to school. She even paid for my laptop. If there is one memory that
everyone can keep in their mind about Mary is that she will always support her
family, no matter what.
As proven by the many occurrences in her life,
Mary Francis Carlsen has experienced so much, yet she is able to follow her
caring ways. Mary Francis Carlsen showed that she is always looking out for someone
or something, whether it is a soldier, a family member, or an animal. Mary
Francis Carlsen’s life can be summarized by this quote of Tenneva Jordan, “A
mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five
people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” Mary Francis Carlsen
will put everyone in her life before herself.
Annotated Bibliography
Carlsen, Mary.
Personal Interview. 8 September 2008.
Mary Carlsen is a good source
because information for the paper on her is useful when it comes directly from
her. She provided many different ways that she cared about during her life. She
also provided events that occurred in her life. She provided quotes and
specific details about experiences that she had, while caring for others.
Overall, Mary Carlsen gave helpful information on a narrative about herself. (Interview #1)
Carlsen, Mary.
Personal Interview. 22 September 2008.
This interview was different because
Mary Carlsen gave more information that added to her first interview. She also
gave more detail than the first time on topics, such as the Great Depression,
her help towards her mom when she was sick, and her caring ways during the
Civil Rights movement. Overall, Mary Carlsen gave more explanatory descriptions
of the occurrences in her life. (Interview
#2)
Civil Rights
Icon Rosa Parks Dies.
25 October 2005. National Public Radio. 22 June 2008 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4973548
Information on Rosa Parks that came
from this article provided a little bit of background information on why she
was such an icon in the Civil Rights Movement. The article explained the period
of time by summarizing, after her death, why she was so important, especially
for the bus rides for black people in the 1960’s. It helps with the essay
because it gives valid information that relates to what Mary Carlsen did for a
person on the bus. It helps the reader understand that specific time period.
Muench, Regina.
Personal Interview. 25 September 2008.
Regina was a very helpful person in
understanding Mary Carlsen’s story from a different perspective. She provided
many details on how well Mary Carlsen was able to care for her family. Because
Mary Carlsen is 85 years old, she doesn’t remember certain facts, which is why
Regina’s interview was very helpful. She helped me get a better understanding
through her perspective, what Mary Carlsen’s life was like.
National Institute of Mental Health. 26 June 2008.
National Institutes of Health, a component of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 22 June 2008 http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/post-traumatic-stress- disorder.shtml
Coming
straight from the National Institute of Mental Health, this article provides us
with many valid details on post-traumatic stress disorder. It explains its
causes and effects of when it occurs in someone’s life. It says that,
especially after a war, many soldiers suffer from it. It was able to relate to
the situation that the soldiers were going through that Mary Carlsen was
helping. Overall, it provides us with many details that support our explanation
of Mary Carlsen’s caring ways. (Scholarly
Resource #1)
Pet Overpopulation…Are you Guilty?. June 2006.
Spay, Inc.. 22 June 2008 http://www.spay.org/guilty.html
This
article shows many facts about caring for animals. Mary Carlsen loves animals,
and this helps prove how Mary can be very compassionate with animals. This
website tells us many reasons, good and bad, why we should either adopt
kittens, or why we should just put unwanted or abandoned kittens to sleep. It
relates to Mary Carlsen’s caring ways, especially with the stray cats that live
in her garage. Overall, it helps give a better understanding of why Mary
Carlsen’s caring ways are so important for cats.
Placenta Previa. Mayo Clinic
Staff. 1 June 2007. Mayoclinic.com: tools for healthier lives. 22 June 2008 < http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/placenta-previa/DS00588>
A health article that provides us
with exact details is very helpful for this essay. It provides a little bit
more information on what Mary Carlsen’s condition was when she was born. It
gives the definition of placenta previa, and what the effects of it are. It
gives vivid details, such as saying that when placenta previa occurs, there can
be a massive amount of bleeding. Overall, it allows the reader to understand
Mary Carlsen’s story.
The Great Depression (1929-1939). 2003. Eleanor
Roosevelt National Historic Site. 22 June 2008
http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/great-depression.htm
Mary
Carlsen’s childhood was rough, and this article explains how hard it was to
live at the time. It also tells us different facts that were proven by Franklin
D. Roosevelt. It really paints a picture about how unemployment was really
affecting American society economically. It allows us to have a better understanding
of the situation of Mary Carlsen’s family. Overall, it shows us, through a
famous person’s perspective, what exactly was going on at the time. ( Scholarly Resource #2)