To Kill A Mockingbird- Perspectives on one books influence

On Friday April 9th I went to a celebration of 50 years of "To Kill A Mockingbird". First there was a discussion panel at the 16th Street Baptist Church on how the book has influenced people individually and also Birmingham and the State of Alabama as a whole. This was followed by an art exhibition based on the novels themes which was shown at the civil rights institute. I was interested in going not only because "To Kill A Mockingbird" is one of my favorite books, but also because I wanted to find out how this book has influenced people who grew up during segregated times in Alabama. For those of you who do not know much about the book I will give you a brief summary. The book was written by a woman, Harper Lee, and published in 1960. It is based during the great depression and based on people that were in Harper Lee's life when she was a child. "To Kill A Mockingbird" mainly deals with racial injustice, gender roles, and innocence lost. Some other issues that are faced in the book are mental illnesses, social class, abuse, and the fear of the unknown. For those of you who have read this novel you all know that after reading it you walk away with a sense of inspiration to be a better person...to be more accepting of others and to learn to walk in other peoples shoes.
So, I walked in to the 16th Street Baptist Church, which I am ashamed to say I had never been to before. Knowing the historical value this church has here in Birmingham I felt just by walking through the doors of that building that we are still breaking down barriers today. Once I got situated into a pew i had a few minutes to look around before the discussion panel started. I noticed the beautiful stained glass windows that went from the floor to the ceiling and there was even stained glass tiles in the ceiling. I also couldn't help noticing that all to familiar smell of moth balls...that strange smell that overwhelms you as you enter into many grandparents houses. Haha...anyway...Another feature of the church that I thought was interesting was a huge organ along the wall of the church behind the pulpit. All of these things truly set my mind into a historical state. I was definitely ready to learn. So, the discussion panel started and they introduced the 4 panelists: Dean of the Cumberland school of law John Carroll, A black female lawyer who was a child during the 60s Delores Boyd, Jonathan Bass, and literary critic Susan Swagler. Each of the panelists discussed what they thought of the book and how they thought it influenced each of them as individuals and how they thought it influenced our society then and still influences our society today. Ill be honest though, those women did a lot more talking than the men, but i guess us women just love when we get to talk all we want!
So here are a mixture of their opinions and a little bit of mine:
"To Kill A Mockingbird" is definitely part of our historical imagination here in Alabama. When the book came out in 1960 Birmingham was still a war zone for the civil rights movement. Segregation was still an issue in our city. It is truly hard to believe that such a short time ago there were so many issues here in Birmingham. The novel was originally meant to be a tribute to Harper Lee's father but it quickly became a symbol for civil rights. One of the issues in the novel (the trial of Tom Robinson) is loosely based on an event that happened near Harper Lee's home town of Monroeville Alabama. A black man, Walter Lett was accused of raping a white woman near Monroeville in 1934. Also, her father was a lawyer and defended two black boys who were wrongly accused of rape. They lost the case and the boys were hanged. One panelist said "To Kill A Mockingbird" is a story of conflict of the human soul and one mans conscious. The book revealed a harsh and painful reality...the perception of black inferiority infiltrated even our courts. Back then it was law that no black man or woman could have any rights. I can not imagine living in a time when a person was not able to have rights just because of the color of their skin. Just think...this all happened in the last century. So in saying that another spark or influence of the novel was that it inspired people to go to law school so they too could stand up for what is right and to make a difference in the justice system.
Another issue addressed in the book is mental illnesses. Boo Radley, the next door neighbor to Scout is a very strange man who the children of the neighborhood are fascinated with yet still terrified of. Throughout the novel the children exchange gifts with him and the children come to find that Boo is not harmful but that he is just a person like the rest of us who needed to be respected yet protected. She never understood Boo Radley until the end when she finally could learn to see things through his eyes. Also, Scout, being a young child has an inability to understand why the town disapproves of her and she is made fun of because of her father representing a black man. Her father tells her just to ignore it. All of this shows us that it is not just about black people and white people. It is about how you treat every person you meet every single day.
So this brings us to the influences of the novel today. I believe that in Alabama we are still dealing with the above issues, but on a milder scale. As Harper Lee said herself "People just don't understand the south". One panelist said that if we put our children today around other children of different races then they would see how alike they are and possibly treat people other than them equally as they grew up. I completely agree with this. When i was in elementary school I was a minority, but I never remember being judged or mistreated for who I was or the color of my skin. Then in the sixth grade I moved to a majority white school in a different school system and suddenly there were cliques everywhere. Not only was every race separated but there were cliques in every racial group. I had no clue where to fit in. I made the decision to be friends with whoever I felt like being friends with but I did get comments made behind my back for being this way. Then in college I decided to come to UAB which is now rated the third most diversified university in America. Fortunately I am a part of the art program here so pretty much everyone is accepting of everyone over here. But when I branch out to other parts of the campus I do notice that people are still separating themselves. It is strange to me why everyone doesn't intermingle. I hope that UAB continues to become more diversified but at the same time finds a way to help students break down barriers and discover that we are all the same. SO...I believe that everyone should read "To Kill A Mockingbird" because it teaches you to be a citizen of the world and respect the person next to you...no matter what race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, political view, or any other difference they may have.

PS-We were also told a story of how Harper Lee had the final draft of the novel and was so frustrated she threw the entire thing out of the window onto the snow covered ground. When she called her editor and told him he made her go pick it all back up. Just think...what would have happened if she would not have gone to get those pages...what would have happened if we were without such an amazing novel that made such a difference in all our lives?!

Holi Hai- an Indian Festival of Colour

The Birmingham Museum of Art put on a traditional festival of colour to celebrate the day of Holi in India. The literal meaining of "Holi" is "burning". The ancient festival of India was originally known as Holika referencing the daughter of the demon king Hiranyakashyap. The legend says that Hiranyakashap won over the kingdom of earth and demanded everyone to worship him. His son, Prahlad, decided to worship Lord Naarayana and refused to worship his father. Hiranyakashyap tried to kill his son but Lord Vishnu saved him every time. Finally Hiranyakshyap convinced his daughter Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika was able to enter a fire unharmed but what she did not know is that she was only safe from the fire if she entered it alone. When she coaxed Prahlad to sit in the fire with her Prahlad chanted the name of Lord Naarayana. The lord blessed him for his devotion and he came out of the fire unharmed. So Holi is derived from Holika and is celebrated as the triumph of good over evil. There are many other legends behind why Holi is celebrated and how it started. In earlier years it was a special rite performed by married women for happiness and well being of their families and the full moon was worshiped, but over the years the meaning has changed. Also, different places in India also have developed different versions of how Holi was first started. Now it is more known as the festival for the arrival of spring marking the end of the gloom of winter.
During Holi each year the streets of India are filled with powdered colour know as gulal and abeer. They traditionally use red, magenta, pink, green, and blue. Everyone runs around throwing the powdered colour at anyone and everyone. There are traditional dances and songs taking place in the streets with beautifully colored costuming. At the festival at BMA we were served some traditional Holi food. One thing I tried was called Dahi Badas which is similar to a hush puppy. It is full of spices which created a very rich flavor. It was very good but I could only handle one. There was also a sweet that I cant remember the name of :o/ but it was not very sweet. It was very flowery and had a peach/pink tint to it and was rolled into a ball. Since I am a lover a sweets the thickness and lack of sugar made it hard for me to finish a whole one. My favorite treat was a drink called thandai. Thandai is made of butter milk with pistachio and other spices. Traditionally in India cannabis is added. I was shocked that this drink was so smooth and creamy but not thick like I imagined buttermilk to be. They also had traditional dancing which was the most mezmarizing thing I have ever seen. The way the women and men moved with their colorful costumes was beautiful. The last thing and my favorite part of the entire day was when we walked out. They set up bowl full of the gulul and abeer (powdered colour) and everyone went wild! i felt like a child running in between people throwing the colour at people I have never met before. Every single person there, young chilren and older men and women had huge smiles on their faces. When we left we were covered from head to toe in all of the colors. I only wish I could go to India and experience the real thing!!

Safe Zone

This week in cultural anthropology we broke off into small groups and met with safe zone. Safe zone is a group at UAB that is active in creating a safe place for all different kinds of people to feel comfortable being exactly who they are. When you join the group you agree to be supportive of cultural diversity and the needs of GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender). Although I have several friends who are gay, this experience with class taught me a lot. We got to meet with a student, Shibli, who is gay and a woman, Amy, who works in admissions who has been married to a woman for 9 years. Everyone was allowed to ask questions to the two panelists and they responded with what they thought. One question was about gay marriage and whether or not Amy and Shibli thought that the majority of Americans supported gay marriage and were just afraid to admit it openly. Amy and Shibli both agreed that they thought that this was true...it seems that when confronted, many Americans will say that they support gay marriage and even adoption by gay couples but then they will deny this to others. I learned also that some gay couples decide that instead of adoption they will use a surrogate to carry a baby for them. Amy said the only issue she sees with this is that only one person in the couple can have a biological connection to the child and this may bother some couples. Another question asked was how does being in the GLBT community affect your religion. Shibli explained that it has affected how he feels about his religion. He has not yet come out to his parents and is not sure how they will react. They are Muslim and he has felt disconnected with his religion since he figured out that he was gay. Amy said that it has had no affect on her spirituality. I know from having gone to many different churches that the GLBT is only accepted certain places. We learned in our sessions that statistically educated people re more tolerant of GLBT than uneducated people.
Another huge topic that we talked about was if we thought the gay rights movement now is equivalent to the civil rights movement of the 60's. I think that the two are very similar but at the same time they are very different. Obviously the civil rights movement was about race and the gay rights movement is about sexual preference. Another difference is the severity of physical abuse that the people of the civil rights movement went through was much worse than the violence toward GLBT today. However this is not to say that the GLBT does not have to face violence toward their community on a regular basis. Amy told us of several instances of violence against students at UAB. It is truly sad and appalling that one student would lash out on another student simply because they have a different sexual preference. Also another disturbing fact of intolerance toward GLBT are places called conversion camps. These conversion camps are set up to turn gay kids straight again. Obviously these people who created the camps and the parents who send their children to them do not understand that some people are just made different than others. Those people do not see that it is no big deal. They see embarrassment, shame, and confusion as to why their child is not like them.
What I hope for this world is tolerance among people. A person should not be defined by their sexual preference, their color, or anything like that. A person should be defined by their personality, the things they love, the things that make them who they are. Yes a persons sexual preference and also their color is a part of them too but someone should not be known as "Ted the gay guy". I hope that as students at UAB, the 3rd most diverse collage in the country, that we can set an example of tolerance and create a place where every person feels accepted.

Machu Picchu

No, not the place in Peru (I wish!). Machu Picchu is a traditional Peruvian Restaurant on Valley Avenue next to The Great Wall and Starz. I chose to go to a Peruvian restaurant because it was something completely different than anything I have ever had. I'm not sure really what I was expecting but I was definitely surprised by what I got. When my boyfriend, Ben, and I got there the place was virtually empty aside from the 2 or 3 Latin men in the back playing a game of pool. I heard the place actually turns into a Latin dance club at night so I guess that's when their busy time is. They had Latin music playing in the background and there were decorations on the walls made of llama hair. Also on the walls were pictures of Peru and a few flashy decorations. The 2 women who served us spoke decent English and I loved how excited they got when I used the tiny bit of Spanish that I know. First they bring out the best salsa I have ever had in a restaurant along with tortillas and banana chips (which were also awesome). For an appetizer Ben and I chose Cebiche de Comarones, which is shrimp in lemon and red chile. From what i understand about cibiche is that it is cooked by the marinade and not by heat. It was incredible. It was some of the best shrimp I have had in Birmingham. It was lite, fresh, and zesty. Then for our entrees, since I was doing this to try something new Ben decided he would try something new as well. I chose Cabrito ala Nortena, which is goat with rice and beans. I knew nothing about goat meat before so i was expecting a lighter colored meat with a lite taste. It was actually a very dark color with a very strong rich flavor. It was served over the rice and white beans. This was a mean that I saw was recommended in a review and was well worth trying. To be honest I don't think i will be a regular there but i definitely enjoyed trying something new. So, i can't leave out what Ben ate because I tried it too...Ben had something called Cau-Cau which is Tripe stewed with potatoes and vegetables in yellow sauce. Tripe is cow stomach. Haha yes, COW STOMACH!! I told Ben since I had to try soemthing new that it would be good for him to try something new and different also. Well, that was definitely interesting...I took one bite of this tripe that looked like chopped up bits of fat and I'm sorry to say that I could not even bring myself to swallow it, so I tried to discretely spit in into my napkin. Whats even more sad is that I thought it would actually taste good because the women serving us said they liked it! So basically it was very gelatinous, chewy on the outside and the inside tasted like chewing on a washcloth. Its bizarre taste is indescribable in a nice way. It just wasn't for me! But over all it was a great experience and everything but the tripe was great.

Side Note

On Friday, the Dalai Lama was given the Democarcy Service Award from the United States. He gave a speach from the library of congress in the white house and I thought his speach was fantastic. He addressed sevral issues and how Democracy is the best government to deal with those problems. He was also asked a few questions from the audience that he answered in the end. Dalai Lama for those of you who do not know is a spiritual leader and teacher in Tibette. "Dalai" means "ocean" in Mongolian and "Lama" is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru". So, he is the "Ocean Teacher" which means he is a techer who is spiritually as great as the ocean. So, anyway...He was speaking on what he thought democracy was about and he said it is important to listen and respect other people. He said individual freedom and equality is important. He explained that he thinks it is best in his ideal government to rely on the ancient texts of the masters. Also that buddhism teaches you to have respect for others, how to keep calm, to devote human strangth, and how to tell right from wrong. He was asked how he felt about China and he responded by saying that China does not care about Marxism. They are only concerned with money money money. He called China corrupt and said they are a communist body with no communist ideals. The Dalai Lama said he looks at things with a Holistic view to see if something can be done. Lastly he said "WE ALL HAVE SOME CAPACITY, SOME POTENTIAL, IT'S AL IN HOW WE DEDICATE OUR BODY, SPIRIT, AND MIND."

Culture Shock

In class last week we talked about culture shock and how we have all experienced it at some time or another. I have only been out of the country one time and it was to the Bahamas, but suprisingly it was not there where I experienced culture shock. Ill tell you a little bit about it though...I went to the market there not sure what to expect and found an exciting bustling place full of people and color and noise. I became very caught up in the moment and bartered away all of my money, but it was worth it!

So anyway, my first experience with culture shock actually happened on a trip to New York City. Keep in mind I was born and raised in Alabama, and you know wht they say about the south...everything is slower. I never actually believed this until we went to New York. My family and I were at a resturant in Chinatown which was so small we were practically bumping elbows with the people at all of the tables around us. We had about 5 minutes or less to look at the menu when our waiter hurredly approached the table and quickly said "What do you want". What do you want?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?! Are you kidding me!?!?! I was in so much shock i didnt even know what to say! What I had forgotten was that we were not in the south anymore and that things are different in a busy city than they are in the south. I guess the good thing about resturants in the north is that they can get you in and out of a place super quick!

My second experience with culture shock was just a couple weeks ago. I was in Nashville visiting my best friend. We decided that we should get a little wacky and do something we have never done before. So, we went to a monster truck rally!! Im not sure what any of us were expecting but it sure was in interesting experience. Everyone around us were hoopin' and hollerin' at these massive trucks rolling over cars and vans. One man behind us was telling his very small child that when they got home he would teach his kid how to jump his dirt bike off a ramp. All I could think was oh good lord where is DHR! It was quite hillarious. So, we decided 'when in rome' and shouted like the rest of the crowd. I guess even though I was raised in the south I wasnt raised out in the country. Maybe things are different there. All I know is it was an experience i will never forget!

Hello World

I am a nature nerd, a writer, and a sculptor. I haven't traveled many places but one day I will. Ive grown up and lived in Alabama all my life, but that will soon change!...in the time between now and graduation I will have to decide where in the world I want to go...to learn, to teach, to explore!