Journal 10: Morgan Kiehl :)

I really think/hope my active reading skills have improved since the beginning of the semester. Although, my active reading has become detailed and more in depth and I feel my comprehension skills have greatly improved .I have learned to slow down and actually enjoy what I'm reading. One of the strengths of Holding On for me personally as a reader would be the fast pace of the stories. A weakness would be that there is no real plot only stories, this is a weakness for me because I feel a lack of attachment to the characters.

One of the profiles that really stood out to be was Geneva Tisdales. I really loved Tisdales hard working attitude and patience. As an African American during racial segregation I felt that she was extremely patience, yet excited for equal rights. I also felt a connection to her and how she was private with her life and was reluctant to actually participate in the interview to begin with. Her dedication to the restraint she worked at also impressed me and how long she worked there and how excited she was when she was given simple rights, such as just eating at the counter of the dinner.
This was compelling to me because just the thought of such excitement for a small right or privilege was such a big deal for her.

Another profile that I really liked was the profile of Roberta Blackgoat. I really loved how rebellious Roberta was ! She really stood for what she believed in and her land. I loved how dedicated she was not to herself but to her children and her childrens, children. Roberta wanted nothing more than to teach those children the way of the land. This was so compelling to me because, her idea of raising children the "right way" is so different from how most of us have been raised today in modern society.

They way that these profiles were written had similarities and differences. One similarity between the two profiles were that first off they were both women, and they were both written with a sense of pride coming from within the women. The differences were obviously different values between the women. Robertas profile was written in a more of a 3rd person point of view. While Genevas profile was written in more of a first person style. I imagine the difference in point of views would come from the fact that a lot more language coming from Geneva was able to be translated into written English, while there may have been a language barrier with Roberta but her idea and values were still able to be captured by writing.

The profile that I decided to research further was Roberta Blackgoats profile and a little more about her history. Roberta stated "If you transplant me elsewhere I will not grow, Ill just die" (pg.46) this quote made me realize her deep and true love for her and her ancestors land, making me want to look further into why this land is so precious to her Native American culture and what people are actively doing to protect this land. I learned from the website linked below, that there are actually a lot of protesters out there protecting Native American sacred ground. Many protesters going to measures such as lining up tents an large teepees on the sacred land surrounded by modern housing developments.

http://newamericamedia.org/2011/08/glen-cove-a-spiritual-victory-for-the-ohlone-people.php

I really thought this picture had a deep meaning of what we have taken from Native Americans.