Promises

"Why was communication essential to understanding among the children of Promises?"

Promises is a documentary that reveals the feelings and beliefs of seven children, all living near Jerusalem and also the documentary exposes the Middle East conflict of the Palestine and Israelis. The seven children are; the twin Jews, Daniel and Yarko; Faraj and Sanabel, Muslims that live in the Deheushe refugee camp; Shlomo, the Orthodox Jew; Mahmoud, a Muslim, whom father owns a coffee shop; and Moishe, a Jewish boy.

Left is Daniel & Right is Faraj  

Producer of the documentary, B.Z Goldberg, wants to get all of the seven kids together and just have something that every kid should have, fun. Goldberg’s idea of getting all the kid in one area was interesting, but not all of them went, only two declined his offer. All of the seven kids have their own little world, like a bubble, making it hard for them to belief anything other than what they think is true. That’s why they refused to go, because what Goldberg was doing was something that they weren’t interested in, neither believed in the concept. But for the kids who went, Daniel, Yarko, Mahmoud, Sanabel, Faraj, they experienced something that can never be taken away from them, communication. After the kids had fun playing with each other and just getting to know one and another, Goldberg brought them into a room to discuss their feelings. In the moment, you can really see that all of the kids had no idea how each and everyone felt about the Middle East conflict. For every child there, their world or bubble extended to understand the difficulties of both sides of the conflict. The friendships of all five children present were established because of communication.

Faraj 

After four years, Goldberg comes back with yet another documentary, but this time it’s a follow up, of the seven in Promises. In the follow up we get to see what the seven children have been through and what they are up to. But once again not every child could participate, only five made it to the interviews.  While watching the interviews, Yarko, one of the twins, mentions that he stayed in touch with the kids, but after a while less calls were made. Even though the children lost touch, doesn’t mean they don’t know what is happening in each one of their lives. Sanabel was shocked towards the news of Yarko and Daniel joining the army, were she was afraid of them breaking into her house and having to kill her.

Zig Ziglar once said, “You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life”, the moment that B.Z Goldberg created for these kids was a huge impact on them, as they learned the meaning of communication.  Therefore communication was so essential to the kids of Promises, because they learned that if you don’t communicate, you will never understand one another, you need to be able to talk in other to understand.

The definition ofcommunication is the “ interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech”, in other words interaction with something besides you and your world. Imagine the world without communication it would be destroyed. If we don’t communicate how are we suppose to understand each other and find a solution towards a problem. How are we supposed to survive if communication wouldn’t be available?  In order to fix something broken you need to be able to communicate with the problem. This is why communication is important with in the seven children.

Promises Trailer: 

"What does it take for someone to move from a position of hate and racism to a position of tolerance and respect like the transformation that occurred in Derek?"

     In order to improve your understanding of the question that gives origin to title of this essay, I'll start doing a pretty basic summary of the film we saw during some classes Academic Leadership, American History X. In this film, Derek, older brother, is sentenced to prison for killing two black men trying to steal his truck, in addition, Derek is a leading member of a group of neo Nazi skinheads community where he lives. The younger brother of Derek, Danny, witnessed the crime and was heavily influenced by the behavior of his brother, joining the same group. During the time he was arrested Derek had to live with Lamont, a black man who worked with him taking care of the laundry services.

     There are several reasons why people become racist and, according to the American Psychological Association, ignorance and intolerance of other cultures, and one that is very present in the film, is the fear of sharing power with people of other cultures and ethnicities are some of these reasons. But there are several ways to change a racist person to a person with knowledge and a more open mind. In my point of view, the first step must be a self reflection, look to yourself and do an analysis of your own behaviors and thoughts. Sometimes we need someone to give us a "push" toward this self evaluation, because we can't take the first step alone. Maybe talk to someone who lived or lives the same situation as us and listening to the opinion of someone with more experience and more mature is very important. This occurs in the film, when Dr. Sweeney asks Derek: "Has anything you've done made ​​your life better?".

     Besides the self reflection, living with people of different ethnicities and cultures and be part of a Community have where people respect even differences are the most important factors in building an open mind and a cultured individual. Derek also had this experience while he was in jail, and it was probably the most important factor in his change process. His relationship with Lamont made him  understand that skin color or culture does not define the person's character, because those who Derek saw as the "best" were disappointing him and  Lamont was the only friend he had at that time, even with his racist thoughts and attitudes.

     The power to influence people on each other is very much emphasized in the film, the idea that everything we do causes a negative or positive impact on our lives and on the lives of those with whom we interact. Therefore the presence of parents, family and close is an important aspect in the life of a child / adolescent. The lack of good examples and bad company are reasons why people are "blind" and start acting wrongly. Being part of a group where thoughts are massive and not according to the interpretation and analysis of every single person contributes to the formation of ignorant individuals and without character. The influence that Derek has over Danny is very evident to me and it aims to show how we need to be aware of our own attitudes, we must know how to relate to people and respect them no matter what, we must know that we serve as an example for our brothers, sons, friends or whoever we relate.

     Therefore, these are important factors that affect the thinking and attitudes of people, especially when it comes to racism and discrimination. The formation of people with knowledge of many subjects, cultures and concepts, open minded people, able to reflect on their attitudes and thoughts, and ready to serve as an example to others and respect depends on several aspects that are understood and built over time. This perspective is directly related to our Academic Leadership class, because through our skills and our gifts we can serve as an example for many people, and learn to develop our critical thinking to avoid ignorance, disrespect and discrimination. 

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Seattle Boycott Article

 

    Teachers, students and parents from Garfield High School boycotted the MAP tests to show how they are against standardizing test and to prove that the tests don't improve student's knowledge. The community demonstrated that parents, students and teachers can be involved, and together, decide what is better and more efficient for their sons and students. The article and Jesse Hagopian, the spokesperson of the boycott, made it very clear that they aren't against assessing students to see what they are learning in the classrooms, but their don't believe that standardized test are the best and only way of doing it. Hagopian said that their goal is to discover another way of assessment that makes the students be active and successful in different communities. The group of teachers of Garfield High School is also against the idea that the pressure coming from the market will improve education, as teachers, students, parents and a government that are committed to improving education is not a good solution.

     After Hagopian shared that with on of his classes, even the students formed their opinion about it and also tried to demonstrate other option beyond standardizing test, "Our kids will need both traditional academic abilities and innovative critical-thinking skills to solve these real problems. If we inundate our students with standardized testing year-round, these larger lessons are lost." Therefore, as well as teachers, students are not totally against the fact that they are assessed and are required during their educational process, but they believe that there must be a balance between traditional forms of assessments and other different ways to gain knowledge,  specially with the help of technology.

     Often times we students only commit ourselves to the contents learned in the classroom because we will be assessed later on, and this should not be our main concern, we must seek to understand the contents because we know that in the future it will help us and make us better students, people and professionals. The way we students are evaluated imposes too much pressure on us, many students think that if they do not pass the test, they will not be able to be good professionals and successful in life. Maybe for some reason, that day the person was not feeling well and the pressure was big that it was difficult to concentrate and the person ended up failing the test, it means that the person is not able to go to college, be successful, or think that during all the past years that person has learned nothing? That is not how it works, and we shouldn't feel that way. We need to strike a balance between traditional, and modern and bold, because if we don't, students will continue to be prepared for the standardized tests only, and not for life itself.