The Blues

I think it is quite easy for people to say that they have the blues. In our society people are often thrown by the slightest inconveniences. There are different aspects to the blues though. Typically when people say they have the blues it is a fleeting feeling caused when things don't quite go their way. When thinking about the true depth of blues music it is something entirely different. All of the pain, sorrow and anguish built into this one genre of music comprises so much more meaning than if you have the "blues" because you don't feel like getting up for work on Monday morning. It is easy to get annoyed by things that are in fact very trivial. I think it's important to step back and truly think of the real meaning behind the blues.

For instance, I remember being annoyed during spring break because I didn't have the money to go with my friends to Florida. In retrospect there are so many greater problems in this world than not being able to go to Florida for spring break. It was a rather shallow thing to have the blues about but I still was annoyed nonetheless. When one has the blues, the best thing is usually to reflect and then move on. There is such a yearning in blues music that cannot really be expressed in words.

I agree with many of the other posters, there are most definitely varying degrees of "the blues". I think the everyday blues are manageable but, sometimes, you get hit with something hard. Something that affects how you feel and view the world for weeks, months, or even, forever. These kind of blues, obviously, are harder to deal with and more emotionally draining. Someone once told me, however, that it is easy to be in control when things are going well but when things are hard you show your true character. I continually think about this when something that seriously saddens me happens. Although it may be difficult, maybe the most difficult thing you've done, the hard times, the blues, give you a chance to be a better person. I don't mean to sound cliche with the whole "rise above" mentality but times in which you must actively work to keep your life together help you grow and develop into the person you hope to be.

Blues

In my day to day life there aren't too many things that make me blue. Sure there are days that I'd rather not go to class or I'd like to call in to work but over all I have a rather happy life. The things that tend to make me blue are that many of my friends don't get to experience the same kind of care free life that I live while at college. Many of my friends have joined the Marines since graduation and their day to day lives are drastically different from mine. A few of them are currently deployed in Iraq and one of my best friends is being sent next month. It gives me the blues that many of my friends felt like they had to join the Marines because they had no other choices. Many of them came from unstable families that couldn't help them attend college, and some of them joined just to get out of their current situations. I guess that it gives me the blues that the people I care so much about haven't had the same fortune that I have and that they risk their lives everyday while I live my life rather care free. Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair.

Blue Blue Blue

I’m going to be honest in this blog and admit upfront that the things that give me the blues are pretty shallow and trivial when looking them over in retrospect. I’m a pretty chipper person most of the time, and the fact that I’m pretty thick-skinned so it takes a lot to get me down, in part, contribute to the hollowness of my Blues list. The fact that my life remains pretty “drama-free,” for lack of a better phrase, also accounts for my lack of Blues material. For the most part, I get, what has been categorized by many of the other students in the class as the “everyday blues” – the stuff everyone is down about at point or another. Too little sleep, cold, rainy weather, people who are rude and inconsiderate, feeling stressed – these are all things that each and every one of us gets the Blues about from time to time, myself included. Rarely a day has come where I have felt extremely depressed or down to a point where I have something heartfelt to say like the many African-Americans who sang /played the actual blues. African Americans during the first half of the twentieth century faced some significant racial dilemmas that impacted their self-esteem and self-image. Simply put, African American Blues and jazz singers, as well as poets such as Langston Hughes, really had something to be blue about. A listener can really hear the genuine heartache and suffering in many of these Blues singer’s voices. Likewise, one can get a sense of the strong, Blues-like emotion Hughes must have been feeling when he composed his poem. Basically, what many African-American singers, songwriters, writers, and poets experienced and gave them inspiration was usually a weighty issue, or what Erin M. has deemed a Blues of “humanity.” While we as mostly white students coming from affluent or privileged backgrounds seem to get the Blues most of the time over things that impact us individually, African-Americans for the greater portion of the twentieth century sang the Blues about issues that affected their entire race. In other words, we’re just complaining about trivial stuff most of the time when we get the Blues while African-Americans felt genuine heartache and sorrow for the injustices they were being forced to endure. That, I see as the major difference between our (the students’) Blues and the Blues which African-Americans have experienced throughout history.

The Blues

When thinking about having the blues, the first thing that comes to my mind is when I reminisce about my childhood and how getting older involves more responsibility and issues. When I look back on being younger, I realize how much different things were. Growing up we are faced with "adult issues". Thinking about having to grow up even more and be faced with more of these issues gives me the blues. Sometimes I wish I could go back to being a child. I am going to be 20 in a few months, and this makes me blue because I will be older and no longer considered a teenager, or even a child. I do not want to be more grown up, I love the age I am at right now and everything associated with it. I am not afraid of the responsibility and what the future brings, I just do not want to move onto other experiences, I am happy with the ones I have now.

The Blues

While none of the blues that I feel could even come close to the blues that were felt growing up as an African-American during the early 1900s, there are still things that can get me down or give me the blues. Because I am lucky and my life is fairly uncomplicated, the things that get me down are usually pretty simple to solve and try to get over. The main thing that can give me the blues is when there are conflicts between me and the people that I am close to. Any kind of conflict with my family or friends, whether it is big or small, can always give me the blues and disrupt my life. A perfect world for me would be one wher ethere was never any conflict between me and the people that I'm close with and we could live together peacefully. Unfortunately, I know that this is impossible because disagreements will always arise between people who spend a lot of time together and know a lot about each other. Whether the disagreements are little arguments over problems that are easily fixed, or big blow-outs over major issues, they all have a way of getting under my skin and giving me the blues.

Like a contagious cold that spreads in the dark, dead months of winter, the "blues" infect indiscriminately and are eventually caught by everyone. Sometimes they last only a day, and other times they are more severe- lasting weeks upon weeks. Like a cold, the blues are never truly the same each time they come, and there are all different strains of blues: the "I don't know what I am doing with my life" blues, the "I just got dumped by my boyfriend" blues, the "I spent two days studying and still failed my exam" blues, or even the "just really frazzled and stressed out" blues. Lately, I get the blues when I think about all the years with my family I should spent cherishing, instead of wishing I could get away; it gives me the blues to think that it one day might be rare to spend a day, let alone a whole summer, with my three siblings. But like the cold, cured with rest, medicine, and some tea with honey, the blues are eventually healed. Though there is a good chance I will catch the blues again, I know that, as always, I will bounce back strong and ready to experience life.

End the War

Read the paper everyday,
all I see is news of an unjust war.
Read the paper everyday,
all I see is news of an unjust war.
There's a lot of rich people in this world
Who keep profiting off the suffering of the poor.

The Iraq War was a lie,
to believe otherwise is to forget reason.
The Iraq War was a lie,
to believe otherwise is to forget reason.
But forget the constitution, cause to speak differently
is now considered high treason.

Its been five years of occupation,
without an end in sight.
Its been five years of occupation,
without an end in sight.
When will we put down our guns
and learn which is the warranted fight?

There's power in the people
if we would just get up and take a stance.
Yes there is power in the people
if we would just get up and take a stance.
War didn't work,
Its time to just GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.



-Kristen Antolini

The Blues

I think there are two kinds of blues that this world causes: the everyday blues and the humanity blues. I get the everyday blues when I’m working as hard as I can yet I can’t seem to make any progress, whether it’s writing a paper or learning a concept or practicing a new song, or finding a job. I get the everyday blues when everything is frustrating my attempts at a good day: the snow’s turned to slush, the caf closes just as I’m walking in to grab some food, the milk is sour and my umbrella keeps inverting. Those things are just little dissonant twangs in my good song.
The other blues, though, those blues you get from being human and being alive and living in the world, now those are something different. To tell the truth, sometimes I just block those out. Sometimes I only get them from watching the news. But when I see pictures of people hurting and nobody caring, when I see dying in spite of how hard peace is trying to break into those places of discord and suffering that’s when I get humanity’s blues. The tamping-down-earth-over-the-coffin drumbeat blues, the wailing infant saxophone blues, the back-breaking-strain guitar string blues. Those are the real blues.

crash landing

i asked what if you catch me
where would we land
i asked what if you catch me
where would we land
you said nothing
just held my heart in hand

i was the girl
who had no fears
i was the girl
who knew no tears
thought i was invincible
turns out i've been wrong all these years

i fell in love with
a boy who set my heart on fire
i fell in love with
a boy who set my heart on fire
all-consumed
something i never felt prior

you broke my heart
don't know if i can find the pieces
you broke my heart
so scared to lose even one piece
just want you back
i'm not ready to release



tatiana,

I's gats de blues

Vacant Dreams and Distant Stars

When I was a young boy
I had the whole world ahead of me
I was a young boy
I had the whole world ahead of me
But now I'm a young man
The world aint what I thought it'd be

I had much aspirations
I wanted to go real far
Too many aspirations
I thought I could go far
But dreams are liars
I drown them away in a bar

I was in love once
With a girl mighty sweet
Yes I was in love once
With a girl mighty sweet
Tuesday she up and left me
And now my heart is incomplete

Now I'm sick and tired
Of all this talk of the American Dreams
So damn sick and tired
Of people telling me to reach those Dreams
It's all one big fat lie
Life aint never what it seems

Double Consciousness, or a Lack of One

I do not even really know what my specific ethnic background is, nor am I from a specific religious background, and so I do not experience a conflict with double consciousness, as Du Bois suggest of African Americans. My conflict lies in that I feel like a have no national identity at all, and as for a specific national American culture which other backgrounds can melt into, I believe none really exists. I think it's important that immigrants maintain a strong sense of national identity once they enter America because as a nation, we should not surrender our identity to create a new homogeneous community, but rather draw significance from the "patchwork" of national/cultural differences which the U.S. has become.

Reflecting on my life and experiences dealing with my ethnicity and religious background, I really can’t say that there have been any conflicts with my American identity. The background from which I was raised is predominantly French-Canadian – like most of the people I grew up around. Because of this, I don’t see myself as anything but American and my ethnicity plays little role in the conflicts of my life.

I agree with DuBois’ promotion of “double consciousness” and pluralism and feel it is important for immigrants to retain their identities and cultures. However, it is impossible for them to not assimilate at least somewhat into American culture; the important thing, I feel, is for immigrants to hold onto some aspects of their homeland while becoming familiar with some of the American culture. America is essentially a nation of immigrants who have ultimately formed the “American identity,” so it would seem contradictory for new immigrants to abandon their own cultures rather than enriching what has already been developed here.

the melting pot... sounds promising, right? america prides itself on this, but do we really want a nation that is completely homogenized? a nation with complete assimilation? ...boring much? granted, it probably would cut out a lot of racial/ethnic conflict, but ultimately i believe we grow from hardships so....

personally i pride myself on my culture. i am american [technically] but my nationality is much deeper than that. my family comes from the dr and although i was not born there i embrace all that is dominican. in this country there is pressure to be "all american" but what does this even mean??? i constantly find that my ethic background comes into conflict with my "american nationality." its as simple as feeling uncomfortable when a reggaeton song comes on the radio when you are with a group of friends instead of bob dylan or something. its like there is no room for anything foreign.

i feel like america should just be a place of residence. to be completely frank i dont even consider the fact that i am american when the topic of nationality is brought up. its seems like institutions everywhere seek diversity and america "home of the brave, land of the free" isn't on the same page.

when immigrants come to this country they are expected to leave their culture behind. its like we are inadvertantly trying to erase america's personality. this all makes sense in my head and im not sure if i am doing my thoughts any justice, but i think we should embrace different cultures rather than trying to sweep them under the carpet.



tatiana.

Duality of Identity

Personally, I’ve never really felt that my ethnic background has ever come into conflict with my American nationality. Technically, I am a third generation Italian-Lithuanian-American, and chances are no one would know this simply by looking at me or even by talking to me (unless, of course, if I were to tell a person my ethnic background directly). Of course, I do get the occasional “Gallotta? What kind of name is that? Italian?” type(s) of question(s) every once in a while, but not so often or to such an extent that I feel that this recognition of cultural heritage has undermined my American identity.

As far as immigrants are concerned, I do not believe that they should be forced to give up their ethnic or cultural heritage. Difference is what makes this country beautiful. With the exception of people of Native American descent, every one of us is either an immigrant or the descendent of immigrants. The amount of diversity found in this country exceeds that of almost every other nation on earth. In what other country can you ask the average citizen the commonplace question “what nationality are you?” and receive a response that typically includes several different ethnic, racial, or religious backgrounds?

That said, a person’s identity should never be jeopardized by the will of someone else, whether that someone be a person or society. A person should sever ties with their cultural heritage only if they willingly want to. Personally, I think it’s a good thing for immigrants (or even descendents of immigrants) to preserve their cultural heritage and keep their traditions alive. I think it’s so cool when I see people practicing their own cultural traditions. It brings diversity and interest to society, and is often times a valuable learning experience for most.

However, I do not believe that it is wise for immigrants to adopt an absolute cultural isolationist attitude either. By cultural isolationist I mean someone who immigrates to this country and does all they can to keep his or herself from interacting or immersing themselves in the culture of other groups within the country. This is often accomplished by restricting oneself to interacting only with people of their own ethnic group (although this is an ideal way for to ensure that their culture will be preserved), thus isolating his or herself from the greater population. In no way am I saying that immigrants should be forced to give up all or any of their cultural heritage, nor am I saying that they must adopt American attitudes, all I am trying to say is that once a person immigrates to America, they take on a pluralist identity whether they like it or not. A person is no longer German, but German-American; not Irish, but Irish American; not African, but African-American, etc. The identity of an immigrant is no longer attached to one nation or one pure race. Rather, an immigrant’s identity is one stuck in limbo; one is not accepted as being completely American, but at the same time one finds himself no longer able to identify wholly with their nation of origin. This is demonstrative of W.E.B. Du Bois’s notion of double consciousness. Like it or not, one leaves part of their cultural identity behind when they immigrate to the U.S. Furthermore, upon immigrating to the U.S., one no longer resides in their native land, which, by placing such great distance between oneself and one’s native land, further dilutes one’s cultural identity and makes one more “Americanized.” If a person is already becoming more American just by living in this nation, why try to restrict oneself to one’s native culture? Part of the experience of America or the whole “melting pot” scenario is interacting with and learning about different cultures. Furthermore, one is not forced to lose or give up anything from one’s own culture simply by exposing oneself to another culture or ethnic group; they can only gain from that experience, and I think that the new knowledge gained is something that is worth becoming more homogenized over.

What It Means to Be American

During high school, I worked at a Boys and Girls Club in central Massachusetts. Many of the kids that came to the club after school were from families that had just immigrated from Brazil or Portugal or who were of this ethnicity. When talking to the kids, it was always very interesting to see how they treated the issue of nationality: not one child claimed “to be American” or “to be from America,” despite the fact that all of these children now lived in America and that the majority were born here. Without exception, each one insisted on being “Brazilian” or “Portuguese.”

Though America is coined “the melting pot,” it seems that ethnic identities never really melt away. The concept of “ethnicity” is ingrained in our minds from a very young age. In grade school it is typical to explore the various ways that different ethnicities celebrate holidays and to share our own “family traditions” with our peers. And as we learn to associate surnames with certain nationalities, it is impossible to ignore the variety of ethnicities that surround us (with a last name like ‘Jakubowicz’ it was impossible to deny my Polish background, and it was just as difficult for my best friend to hide her Irish background with a name like Boyle). However, I believe that to some extent we are conditioned to believe that we are more our ethnicities than we are American.

For most Americans, it becomes a kind of fascination or fetish to hold so strongly onto our ancestors’ ethnic origins. While studying in England this past semester, we American students were teased for this nation-wide habit: to assert that we were “Italian” or “Irish” or “German” was obviously false because we were not born in Italy, Ireland, or Germany- we were born in America. What the English students inadvertently struck at, through good-humored yet earnest gibes, was that Americans should not give more weight to the combination of their ancestors’ ethnicities than they do to their own. In other words, as Americans born in the melting pot, we must consider ourselves equally a mixture of ethnicity and American.

American heritage is rooted in many ethnicities, and it is my opinion that no person should be required to abandon their cultural identities in order to melt into a “homogeneous” American identity, mainly because I do not believe that a “homogeneous” America exists. To be American presupposes ethnic diversity. Therefore, we should continue to celebrate our many ethnicities. But, at the same time, we must also learn to identify ourselves as simply “American.”

The American Identity

It is both unrealistic and undesirable to hope for immigrants to shed their culture and assimilate into one homogeneous "American" identity. Furthermore, given the United States' history, I would find it impossible to conform to any one single national identity. The notion of cultural pluralists, mentioned by Du Bois, is one of the great and unique aspects of America - to try and gather, synthesize, and enforce a universal identity would be both futile and extremely backwards.

Du Bois mentions the great things both American and Africa offer which begs the need for a harmony between the two cultures. The same is true for the other diverse cultures represented in America. Although I personally am predominantly Irish I don't necessarily identify myself as an Irish-American. However, this culture and heritage greatly affects my life. It hasn't caused specific conflicts with American identity but has added to it. To be asked to forfeit this history, or for African-Americans to be asked to surrender either their American-ness or their African-ness creates a culture that is inevitably blind to the rest of the world, new experiences, different possibilities, and, ultimately the consensus that race is in fact constructed. What we do all share is the experience of the human condition, history and all, rather than what soil our ancestors happened to be born on.

The Melting Pot

I think that for us to sit and consider whether or not our ethic or religious background conflicts with out "Americanness" is very different than Du Bois doing the same. While in my own experience being a "white catholic girl" poses no real conflict with my American nationality. In Du Bois instance, writing in the early 1900s, where black people simply didn't have the same rights as white people and weren't afforded the same rights untill the middle of the century, I can see what he means by "his two-ness." Because of the racism and extreme segregation felt by this group at this time (not that it has totally ended in the present time) I can understand how Du Bois felt that it being black and being an American weren't combinable.
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In reflection to the previous post, I can relate to that experience. All my life I have considered myself an Italian-American. Ya so I was born in America, but my grandparents moved here from Italy and that is just always something I have always held with me. But when I was in Italy for four months this identity that I had was lost, because I wasn't italian-american, I was just American. So I think that in America it is much easier to combine different identities.
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And in response to the immigrant question, NO WAY. Honestly it isn't like myself, two generations later have "given up" everything that might define me as Italian. I think that the melting pot analogy, is great, I mean all different peoples coming together. To all live in one place. And all that sort of idealistic talk, but what kind of country would this be if we were all just the same. The great (or supposed great) thing about this country is people can come from all over and retain their heritage and get along. If everyone just gave up their ethnic background this would totally kill any cultural diversity that Du Bois was striving for.

Race, Identity, and Immigration

My race, Caucasian, and my religion, Catholicism, has never come into quarrel with my identity as an American. Jokes are made sometimes by friends in regards to the fact that I attend a ultra religious school, but they are only jokes. Outside of my friends, nothing has ever been a problem. Also, I feel that sometimes people see being white as the dominant American identity. I've never thought of myself as an Irish-American or Italian-American, mostly because everyone I know is either one or the other. So, that is why I see myself as only American, with no race attached to my identity.

In regards to immigrants, I do not believe they should be forced to give up any of their beliefs, cultural or religious. They should embrace their new American identity, but be allowed to hold onto their own personal beliefs. BUT, when those beliefs or morals conflict with American law, then they must be put aside. For instance, I read about a case where a man killed another man for disrespecting his daughter. In his country it is okay to do this, it is a moral from his homeland, but he is in America. He must abide by the American law, no matter how it conflicts with his own cultural morals.

Language. There are many, many languages out there. And people coming into this country bring their native language with them, and that's okay. BUT, again, this is America. They must learn to speak the American language, English. Some can call this an ignorant view, but in order for society to function properly we need one universal language so we can communicate with one another coherently. Without this unity, miscommunications will occur, whether on a small scale (ie. dispute at the supermarket) or a larger scale (ie. mass trading of products between large corporations). We all need our personal independence and identity, but there must be a strong link between us so that our bonds are not broken.

Conflicting Identities

I can’t recall ever feeling that my ethnic background has come into conflict with my American nationality. This is in part because I am a descendent of those peoples inhabiting Western European countries and thus my white skin and cultural traditions are compatible with mainstream American culture. It is also in part because my actual cultural ethnicity has been diluted and lost in marriages and adoptions etc. However, there have been a few instances in which I have felt that my Catholic identity has come into conflict, not so much with my American-ness (despite the prevailing Protestant culture and control) but with my Northeastern, academic education. I can recall a professor stating that there were very few great Catholic scholars in present day society. His tone seemed to suggest that “great” thought and Catholicism were not compatible. I had a sudden urge to enter into philosophy, somehow write an astounding dissertation and prove him wrong. This instance would seem to reflect that although Catholics have made it far up the social ladder (even into the Presidency), there is still something of a barrier between their thought/ philosophy and philosophy which is considered to be “groundbreaking” or even having great authority.
With regard to the question of immigration I personally do not believe that immigrants entering this country should be forced to give up their identity (religion, cultural practices, dress or even language) in order to assimilate into American culture. However, I believe that they should learn English in addition to their first language and that they should be willing to encounter, examine and understand the peculiarities of American culture, just as Americans should encounter, examine and come to an understanding of the various cultures immigrants bring with them. The beauty that I see American-ness capable of is its ability to encompass rather than obliterate differences between people.
This existence of various manifestations of American culture in different groups of individuals is, I think, a reality that W. B. Du Bois would be happy with. His idea of cultural pluralism suggests exactly this idea. Immigrants are capable of improving American culture and making it richer. Their fresh ideas can prevent it from going stale. Additionally, their “two-ness” is not a threat to American culture or society. Rather it is a expression of American-ness within an individual who comes from (and with) a different cultural mindset.