Poverty In America:

Rates of violent crime in the United States have declined significantly over the past two decades, but disparities persist. Violence is still a recurring issue we face in our society. Many of the crimes that occur tend to happen in an area that is socio-economically disadvantaged. It could be said that violence is associated with poverty. The rate of poverty has been linked to the rate of violence in many ways. There is a correlation between violent crimes and poverty because of the unemployment rates in major cities, the culture of poor areas, and the list continues. There are many examples of poverty that can contribute to this violence yet there is still a debate as to which factor are the most significant. There will always be a crime, but urban crime tends to always be located in high poverty areas.

Violence can be described as behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. Since we have cleared the meaning of violence we can see how this can be easily related to poverty. If people are violent, it’s usually because they are poor, because when you are poor, your opportunities to escape poverty are limited.  When you are faced with the lack of funds to pay rent, buy groceries for your family, or you yourself. You're faced with a decision. Due to the circumstances, you want to find a way to provide. This usually means turning to crime, and more often than not this usually means selling drugs. The chart below shows the types of crimes based on annual income.

In each category, the people that fall into the category of 15,000 or less were more likely to be victims. They took the lead dramatically in each category. This example proves the point that they are more likely to experience this thing because they more exposed to this rather those who make 75,000 or more annually.  Persons in poor households at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) (39.8 per 1,000) had more than double the rate of violent victimization as persons in high-income households (16.9 per 1,000). This not because they choose this but this. this is the life they were born into. It could be said that people use this as an outlet. individuals living in poverty see the benefits of committing a crime to meet their basic needs is worth the risk of getting caught

There is a counter agreement. People with higher income also experience violence. Just at a different level. They experience less of crime because there was more focus placed on this social class. In an article about the crime rate in America it states “when someone receives more education, they are less likely to commit a crime” this brings us back to the cycle that has been created. They placed people in these social class and provide them with little resources and still expect them to rise above it. Leading them to decide how to make ends meet, therefore, turning to crime. In higher income housing this is more of an emphasis on education rather than a lower income neighbor and that plays a huge factor. A neighborhood starts to get a reputation all because they were neglected from the beginning.

In Donald Trump’s run for president, he makes many speeches giving his opinion. In one speech he talks about future plans when he becomes president. In this speech, he talks about tactics he has planned for the next four years. He specifically talks about addressing violent crime and poverty. he states that his administration would be more than willing to pour resources into battling both crime and poverty. He then continues to say “But to break the cycle of poverty, we must also break the cycle of violence.” (Donald J. Trump’s, 2017) when he says this it is almost as if he is blaming them when he creates this relation between the two things he says that there is one because of another. Which is true but it seems as though he is not willing to help us he address both our hand and hand which I don't think would be perfect. If in fact, the two go hand and why would you not want to help the poverty rate in America so that the crime rate in America would go down as well. If you know that they consider why not take the initiative to fix this. Instead if just stating the problem that is at hand, do something about it.  

To end, when we have this poverty vs. violence debate there is always room for other opinions. There will always be bias against lower-income neighborhoods due to their relationship and thus the reason why the cycle continues. Individuals living in poverty see the benefits of committing a crime to meet their basic needs is worth the risk of getting caught. Violence can occur in both high and low-income housing it is just more publicized in the lower. They do not go hand and hand but instead one leads to another. Faced with signs of poverty this leading you to commit violent crimes. This does not mean that the person is violent.

The purpose of my essay was to not only explain my emotions during this time period but to be able to explain to myself what happened in this situation. I am very proud of myself for just even getting the paper done because this was a very stressful thing to write and not a very easy process. But also my analysis and how in-depth I went. In the future I see myself getting way better in my writing process by asking for more peer edits because that's what really helps the essay, by one getting more than one opinion.

I´d consider myself raised in a respected home and as my mother would say ¨ We had good home training¨. We were very traditional in many aspects. My parents wanted us to know where we came from a part of that was knowing the language. I was thankful for that even though sometimes it didn't show. One thing that they wanted us to know was there was a God and he was above any other. We were Christians. But we were also Nigerian. We were Nigerian Christian. Christians that went to church each Sunday and they made sure we were rooted in the word of God. I was considered a good Christian child up until a certain point. Then I decide to be different, I decided I didn't want to be this idea of Nigerian Christian. Where the thought are going to church seem more like a punishment instead of something to look forward to.

I became  less interested in my culture and an even more hatred for my religion. When the topic of culture was brought up I would always switch it up, or when they would call on me to pray I´d say I didn't want to. Three was a disconnect. With those around me telling me that I had to pick side, I started to believe it. In the novel Americanah written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she speaks about the judgment foreigners receive when they migrate to America. In the sections she explains her move to America and the different situations she had to endure to order to aline with the social norms. She writes, “Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black. Stop arguing. Stop saying I'm Jamaican or I'm Ghanaian. America doesn't care.¨(187). With this, we start to see a larger idea of how immigrants of really viewed in society. We are often called a boiling pot but in reality, we are more like a salad because everything goes separately, each group has a group of their own. You can either find a middle ground or just or just lose part of yourself in order to gain from another. People feel the need to do this for acceptance; If they don't act like everyone else than can they really belong. This is very important because everyone wants to belong even someone like me. We live in a society that forces you to leave your own ideas in order to conform to the ideas of others. Society is afraid of the possibility that someone can ever be different so they stripe your labels, your identity and try to give you new ones.

It started to feel like I was living a double life. I was a different person depending on who was around. Like any normal teenager, I was going through a ¨midlife crisis teen edition¨. In the novel The Lies That Bind Rethinking Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah, he speaks on the practice of his religion and the stages in which there are beliefs or even doubt in your faith. He says, “Every religion can be said to have three dimensions. Sure, there is a body of belief. But there’s also what you do-- call that the practice,” (36). This was the problem with religion and the reasons so many people stray from it because of these things called rules. There was a rule for everything there was a guildless you had to follow in order for you to even call yourself a Christian you have to live a certain lifestyle. The word half Christian is what I was. I began to pick and choose with rules I would follow and which rules to break. When we begin to break down this quote we see that you can't do one without the other. Yes, I would say I was Christians when people asked but I wasn't living the life a Christian would. This is where it hit me if I wanted to live a certain life I would have to make changes.

To end my story, it wasn’t easy on the journey to find not only who I was but also who I wanted to believe in. There was a process of self-discovery. In not only who I wanted to be but what was allowed of me. See that's the thing with the society we are so afraid of being different that we feel the need to be put into a box and if that box doesn't find correctly we find another because that's just the way society is. Society tells you, you are not normal until you have a label because we are so afraid of being different we feel we have to listen to them. But with knowledge comes understanding with that, I was able to understand that I didn't have to conform to these beliefs. It was only then that I was able to see why I was a Christian. A Nigerian Christian.

Fear may be one of the most paralyzing experiences, not because it can physically kill human beings, but because it can damage them emotionally. Human beings are afraid of being outcasts, and therefore, they attempt to join groups so that they do not feel so isolated. The fear of not being accepted forces human beings to adopt behaviors and personalities that are not our own. In a society where people are heavily influenced by one another, it is easy for human beings’ overwhelming fear of being alone impacts who they choose to be and how they choose to act. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding challenges readers to witness the many ways young boys, such as the littluns, follow the sometimes irrational leads of the older boys because they fear they will not survive otherwise. Humans will change their behavior and follow group trends when the fear of being an outcast outweighs all other factors.

Human beings often feel the need to fit in, and throughout each generation, the need to follow others’ lead grows stronger. In the case of Lord of the Flies is we see the younger boys try to follow the older ones in the means of finding a place to belong. In the beginning of the chapter, readers have limited access to the histories  of the different characters in the novel. Before the boys elect a chief,they begin to figure different things out. In this moment they are learning each other names and when they boys call piggy ¨Fatty¨ Ralph is quick to correct them and tell him his name is Piggy when we all know that is not his actually name. It than states ¨A storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in. For a moment they boys were a closed circuit of sympathy with Piggy outside¨ (21)  Here, even the tiniest of the boys laughs, but we do not know the child’s intention. Because everyone else is laughing, the littlun joins in. He at the time may have not knew what was going on because they were so little but because they saw others laughing they decided to join in. If the child had chosen to ignore the laughter and remain quiet, he would have served as an outcast,image if he had not joined in with the others and then he too would be next to be the joke of the island. There was this fear of better him than me and that was the compelling reason for them to join in with the laughter rather than stick up for Piggy. In what we are trying to address it’s natural to want to belong and there will always and forever will be a need to belong. This behavior is also exhibited in the real world as well. According to Today’s Psychology, there is psychological evidence for the reasoning behind us wanting to follow the crowd. One reason others influence us is because humans are social. Based on several studies we have survived because of our ability to band together, seeing how early humans who formed groups were more likely to survive than those who went solo. Both the real world situation and the book corealate, in the way they go about join the groups. It is as if they are not willy joins the groups but are doing it by force because they fear the outcome if they don't.

In chapter seven of the novel, the boys have been on the island for quite some time now and learn that in order for them to survive they need to hunt for their food. At this point the boys are already losing faith in their hopes to go back home. That afternoon while wondering the island looking for the beast, the boys find pig droppings. It is then Jack suggests they hunt the pig while also looking for the beast. It then continues to say “Well. We shan’t find what we're looking for at this rate. One by one they stood twitching rags into place.” (135) In a decision that is made by the chief they  they now go out and hunt for food in the hopes that they will find what they are looking for, but instead it causes for the boys to bring a side of themselves they have not seen before. The boys decide to follow the lead of their chief and side with best the decision they believe is best at the time, though they did not have any other choice at the time I believe they did this out of pressure, because if one were to go against the rules of society.  the one that was placed on time being on this island alone. It would not only leave that person a stray but also be harmful for that person because they would turn on him as well. This forces them to do thing they have never done before and this solely because they don't want to be an outcast. I image not everyone was comfortable with the idea of killing, but to say if they did not help than the would not receive any food.there would be consequences if the boys did not follow after Jack, but there is also the conquest of knolling that they have lost their insconces. An example of this behavior is represented in the reaklworld as well. There was a case of a man who did not want to be muslim anymore and for that reason he was banished from his home and was forced to move away. If there a family member that felt the same balfieds that would not speak up after witnessing this because them too would become an outcast.

In conclusion, though there are a myriad reasons why our brains tell us that we need to be like one another, there is also a part that tells us we should be different. Just as it shows us from what is right and wrong. In a world that is fixated  on following other people’s lead, r it is only a hope that we will break free from this pattern.We know there is such a thing as a leader and a follower, but followers can also serve as leaders.

Hello, I need to talk to you, it's important.  I wanted to tell you in person but I can't wait any longer.There’s something I need to tell you. Something about my past. You know me as Amanda  but that’s not my original name. My name used to be Ama. It means the one who was born on saturday. I changed it when I was sixteen. I figured I should tell  tell you now that we are getting  married. There is only a month left till the wedding and I figured I couldn’t hold it off any longer.  Better late than never right?  I am sorry for waiting so long but  I was trying to figure out a way to tell you. I just want everything to be out in the open.

Why? Because No more secrets.

How much time do you have?

My mother was a cultured woman. My family was very big on tradition. My mother and father were so used to their costumes so even when we came here to the u.s they kept true to those traditions. I was so little when we moved that I had no loyalty to those tradition as they did. My name was Ama. This three letter is what defined me. My name was the only thing I knew that would never change I took comfort in knowing this. All my life I was kept in this little box with my life all planned out for me. I did as I was told. I was to act as a lady and grow up to be doctor. Any Kind of doctor how kind of them to let me pick my own speciality although now thinking of it they had input on that aswell. I was to wear hijab everyday and not ask any questions or even complain at the smallest detail even with the acute pain of the pin throbbing at my scalp.

There was a time that would have done anything for my parents. When I turned sixteen instead of having a normal sweet sixteen we went  to Ghana and celebrated it with family. OH because we were  everything but normal. You would think that would be the best time of my life, image you get to spend your birthday outside the country but in fact it was the exact opposite. I had grew to learn that my grandmother was ill and that was the only reason we had came. We were not here to celebrate but instead here to mourn. I had been lied to.  My grandmother had been sick for a while so I had to have known it was was coming. She was second mother. Before she fell ill she was the one that took care me. Her and  I were close and I could tell her everything even if was about boys. When her illness became worse they sent her back to Ghana for herbal treatment since our western medicine had failed us. I had prayed over and over for Allah to help me heal her.  He ignored me.  After she died I no longer believed in the words of Allah. He had not been there for me when I need him and that my reason for abounding him. I just was returning the favor as you would say.

I needed a new start. It was time for change. It was the moment I had dreamed for years was here. I had never expressed my desire to practice a new religion I went to the mirror and look at myself with the hijab one last time. I took each pin out one by one. It was finally off and I was finally free. I was doing this for myself and no one else. I was tired of living in my parents shadow and having to do everything they asked of me because they knew what was best and hearing  “We are doing this for you Ama” everytime I questioned them.  Once I showed my parents that I had taken off my hijab they did not speak to me. We have not spoken since that day. I was sixteen then.

I figured I should reached out to her being with the wedding being a month away and all. I mean how would it look like not not having the mother of the bride at the wedding. I agree even though we don't get along I still would like her to be there. I know she will want me to go back to using my original name but I guess it's worth it if it means having her there. You’re right I’ll should call her.

I am Ama nothing more nothing less.

The task was to create an rubber stamp that described you as a person, now this might seem like an easy task but in reality it was the exact opposite. For me personally , I would consider myself a variety of things so to dim that down to little was a struggle for me. The fact that also can not draw was another struggle for me.

I started off trying to be very complex. I wanted to  make it different that was when my difficulties started. I had some many things that described and could not choose one, That is when I came up with the idea of combining some of them. Which to lead to my first stamp which was an emoji. A mixture of me being funny and outgoing.  After drawing my image finish it was then  I knew I would have trouble with cutting out the positive and  negative space so decided to go with a second approach. After going back to the drawing board a couple times I decided that I would be simple. I decided I would find a way to do my initials in a creative way. This is my final design as you can see above. The picture above symbolizes me in many ways. When to start of it is my. An I have such connection with this because it was not the name given my birth but I  identify with this more than the one given to me.

Both positive and negative space was very important when designing my stamp. I wanted to make my stamp visually interesting and made sure something stood out so I cut out certain parts that connect my initials. Instead of making one of my letters positive and the other negative I thought it would be best if both were positive so it has some type of unison to it.

Mi nombre es Tobi.

Vengo desde muy lejos un lagar ocupado, enérgico

Vibrante y muy caliente. Esta es hogar, mi cierto hogar.

Soy de Nigeria.

Aquí está el suelo donde se plantaron mis raíces

Veo muchas personas.

Saboreo jollof arroz, Este es mi favorito.

Huelo Las especias.

Oigo la música y lengua.

Taco  las caras De esos ásperos y suaves.

Bailo afrobeat.

Hablo con dignidad en Yoruba y Ingles.

Como Muchas.

Escucho musica todo los dias.

Somos Nigerianos

Hablamos en Ingles y Yoruba .

Hablamos con rapidez y enojo Una inmigrante y la hija y nieta de inmigrantes.

Soy nueva

Somos Completos

Somos nosotros.

Some things I learned is that there is a guideline to follow in creating a visual display. To make sure you take take all the rules into consideration when creating a billboard. Another thing is you must not to clutter your space with many things because then your audience will start to lose focus of the message you want to get to them. Lasly, things I took away from doing this project was that not everything is going to be perfect you wanna play with it. Also things like color choice, empty space and tangents are like a no no when creating a billboard.

The changes I made I feel were all necessary for my process. From looking at my old slide one can tell that I started fresh and used nothing from my old slide. Being that I wanted someone to see this and know exactly what my billboard was about I decide to have less things. The big change I made was the fact that I added a border so it emphasises the picture in the middle. I also decided to change the gymnastics move that the girl was doing. Being that my slide now is very basic I decide that I would use this picture to show the complex within the slide. The last change I added was playing more with the empty space.

It is important to do research  when beginning a project because it gives you a sense of knowledge on the task at hand. In doing this project it would not be what it is today if not for research. Also in doing this feel like research helped me to put my thoughts all together.