Brooke's Pink Print

Where are you originally from? And why was America your choice?

For this interview I decided to interview someone I knew, their name will be left anonymous for privacy reasons. They are originally from the Dominican Republic. The reasoning for them coming to America was because their mom was already living here. They also explained that the living situation was really abusive, so ultimately America was their only escape route.

Did you experience any hardships while coming to America?

As someone who have traveled out of the country to Ecuador for only a week the hardships I encountered was definitely the language I only knew a few words like "yo soy Brooklyn" "si" "de nada, gracias" "muy bien" "ven aqui." My interviewee expressed that they did experience hardships and the main one was the language barrier, even though it wasn't hard to learn it was still a different language with different rules. The educational system was also very different and a hardship because American Education vs Dominican Education are not taught the same especially when it comes to history.

Would you change anything about the decision your family made?

My interviewee kept it short and simple and just expressed that they wish they never left their country and that they wish the US never did what they did in their country for them to leave. "Yes America is a better place but it's not like home, I can't just get up and move back."

Is life better for you now?

If I had to choose between here or DR, I would choose DR because that is my home country. My interviewee exclaimed,"I wouldn't say that life is better for me for now but at least we are in a better situation." It's almost an it is what it is situation because America provided their family with some form of hope that it gets better but even America is toxic for most immigrants. ICE is the number one fear that hispanic immigrants face and that causes more worry about if the choice to come to America was the right one to make.

Karl Marx

Karl Marx (1801-1882) Karl Marx was an important social class figure. He believed that there was the proletariat, the working class, and the bourgeoisie, the capitalist class. Till this day most people use Marx's social class theory to prove points on how wealth affects different people depending on factor such as the type of job they have or even race. The article I chose spoke of how the majority of citizens are working class, the only way to get out of the working class "level" is by owning things like: land, factories, farms, anything that is a demand or a want in society. This relates to Karl Marx's theory because to him theres no in between there is only above and below.

Max Weber

Max Weber (1864-1920) The next social class theorist spoke of how most people gain a higher class because they where born into it but he also said that people can get to the wealthy class by working towards that goal. The article I chose basically spoke of how wealth is the only way that can determine a social class. Since the social class is something you can move up in, the article mentioned that Weber believed that in the future people will work towards the goal of being rich. The future to me is now.

Pierre Bourdieu

Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) The last famous man to speak of social class was Bourdieu. He spoke of social class and how it effects education and the way different classes learn. In an article I found mentioned that the lower the class the more harder it is for a child to learn because there's a lack of proper material to teach. Places where rich people populate will have higher test scores than the places like The Bronx. Race plays a huge part as well since immigrants are 10 times more likely to struggle when it comes to getting a better education since english isn't their first language, and their parents come from barely anything.

How long has your family lived in this country?

Using Ancestry DNA my ancestors has lived in this country since slavery began. My mom side of the family are all from South Carolina and my dad side are all from Arkansas. Both migrated to New York City to start a new life for themselves; ever since then my family has settled in New York City and called it our home.

Where did they come from?

My parents are from New York City just like me. Recently after questioning what exactly is "Black" to my friends and family for years as its just a race identifier. I was never able to get a definite answer due to slavery affecting African Americans history and identity. That lingering question finally got answered when I took my DNA Test and found out that I am 31% Nigerian, 25% Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu, and 21% Mali. The rest are ethnicities I knew prior to taking the test. I can proudly tell people where my ancestors came from without having to say that I didn't know.

Has your family embraced American Nationalism?

I believe they have embraced their American Nationalism, but only when its for black people and the improvement. For example my family is all for Black Lives Matter and will express how bad the system is and how bad world is for Black Americans. Events/Holidays meant for white Americans are not celebrated in my family but we still do cookouts and fireworks because thats one thing black people love. The only time we fully embrace our American Nationalism is Juneteenth, black history month, and women's history month.

Nativism: The favoring of certain long-term inhabitants, namely whites, over new immigrants.

While searching through google for pictures to use to depict Nativism my eyes caught onto this picture. The message behind it basically means that American People have the habit of degrading a lot of asian people, especially Chinese People. In NYC where I'm from I see this happening all the time whether it's on social media, in the news, or in person. Many racial "jokes" have been made reguarding the lifestyle of Chinese people, such as how they eat cats and dogs, they serve rat meat in the chinese restaurant, and the way they name their kids. These types of jokes heavily show the respect people have for Asian People. With COVID-19 being around for 4 years now, Chinese people have faced so much hatred for the virus coming from China, as if every single Chinese person plotted the outbreak; In 2021 there were more than 9000 anti-asian attacks.

Colonialism: The practice by which a nation- state extends political, economic, and military power beyond its own borders over an extended period of time to secure access to raw materials, cheap labor, and markets in other countries or regions.

As the video mentioned, colonialism has been around for quite some time now. It's a beneficial thing for the people trying to spread culture or religion but there's a shadow with every light that's casted; colonists wanted to spread their beliefs in other places around the world whether knew it existed or not, but with that caused gruesome endings wether people died defending their country or they ended up being captured turned into slaves. Colonialism can cause distraught in places that are already living within their own culture, and all that does is mess up the flow. Two books I have read, one called “Purple Hibiscus” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche and the other called “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi, both spoke of what life was like post colonialism.

Jim Crow: Laws implemented after the U.S. Civil War to legally enforce segregation, particularly in the South, after the end of slavery.

Jim Crow Laws started way before segregation in 1877 but didn't become popular and used more until the 1950s in the south to limit the power of black people years after slavery when white people realized that they could no longer control black people in the way they wanted. This is the closest they could get to maintain their hierarchical power. Childish Gambino's “This is America” used this popular racial law to show how America never changed from the past and history just repeats itself.

White Supremacy: The belief that whites are biologically different from and superior to people of other races.

Ukraine is currently at war with Russia, and with Africans also being in Ukraine and everyone trying to leave Ukraine for safety. Racial supremacy has been surfacing across the media speaking on how Africans are being pushed aside while the Ukrainians are being treated first since it's their country. This deeply shows white supremacy because Ukrainians are European and white people are also European. They are using their whiteness to show their power over Africans.

1. What location did you choose? What drew you to it? Describe what you found.

I decided to draw 125th street. It’s an area in Manhattan that is commonly populated by Africans, Hispanics, and African Americans. The reason I decided to draw this is because of how largely populated the area is, it’s a common shopping place that people go to when they want to buy an outfit real quick or the latest J’s. The Apollo sits in the middle of West 125th and is home to many performers. The history of 125th is significant is another reason why I decided to draw this specific area. Black history is prominent in this area which is why it's known as “Black Manhattan.” I wouldn’t necessarily say I found this but when walking down 125th street as a black person the experience is veryyy different that a hispanic person or maybe sometimes a white person walking down 12th street. I say this because every time my friends and I walk down the block we are always stopped by hair braiders asking if we want our hair braided. Don’t get me wrong I have no problem with them doing that but my hair would done in natural styles mostly in a puff and they would still ask if I want my hair braided🥲. 

2. What did you notice in your observations that you’ve never noticed before?

When I was searching for pictures of this area that I felt I knew 100% I noticed that buildings that I grew up with were either gone or not even built yet. I was shocked at some of my childhood memories not being there when looking at pictures. I also realized how old the Apollo is even though I never been inside in person watching it on TV. The inside is so brand-new almost a tourist wouldn’t even know how long it’s been on 125th street. 

3. What is absent that you might have expected to find?

As previously mentioned a lot of the buildings that I would expect to be there weren't there when looking at old pictures. It made me rethink what I really knew about the area I was familiar with for 10 years. ChuckE Cheese was one building I was hoping to find on Apple Maps but to my surprise it was torn down recently. I always find myself on 125th street since it’s close to my house and I never once thought that it would close down.

4. Can you determine anyways in which this space has been impacted by COVID-19.

125th street is a popular area whether you are going to work, want to shop, hungry, going to school, etc. with the population being huge in NYC especially in manhattan COVID 19 had affected 125th street tremendously. What was once a street with a lot of people walking by it is now empty, a lot of stores have closed down due to no one shopping. During the Black Lives Matter Protest rioters and protesters stormed the streets which caused shops to board up and never open again. 

After analyzing everything in my room and finding out how much everything costs I realized how little I personally spend compared to my dad. My dad is my provider for almost everything I have like electronics and clothes while I just bought my dorm essentials. I have a habit of spending a lot of money in one sitting without actually noticing the value of money. Things like the latest phones has me in a chokehold right now. I did not need the iPhone 13 in pink but I wanted it because...well... its pink but my iPhone 12 pro max was still working just fine. I have a lot of wants vs needs because I like to be in the latest fashion and thats my problem. I never called myself materialistic but I realized how much of a materialist I am outside of clothes and being at an HBCU that caused it to grow more. In 2021 the value of $100 is barely a $1 but in 2009 giving 5 year old me a $1 I thought I was big ballin’.

History: The Perfume dates way back to both ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Mesopotamians discovered not technically perfume but what we call today “incense” which was created back in the B.C. area. The production of perfume became a thing through trading, ancient Egypt was the first maker of what we know today as perfume. They were able to mix animal fat and the different plants, wood, etc. obtained by Mesopotamia to create a liquid. They also had created the first perfume bottle in which they stored this liquid and used it for many things like headaches and relaxation. They even worshipped a god called “Nefertum.” Although Egypt was technically the first creator of the common day perfume in Mesopotamia there was a chemist named Tapputi. The word perfume comes from the Latin word per-fumus meaning through smoke.

Manufactured: Perfume is seen everywhere, new scents are arriving and thats all thanks to the fast and growing manufactures of different perfumes. France is one of the more known areas that perfume is manufactured in. Since 1724 it has been the world's greatest producer of raw materials for the perfume business.

Impact:  Now that I am learning more about myself and away from home, my dad is sadly allergic to fragrance, I am able to explore different kinds of perfumes and their smells and find what I like. I wear different perfumes according to how I feel and what the season is. I can also wear perfume to attract peoples attention towards me when I walk by. 

People Involved? What is life like for them?:  The people behind the wonderful item are called perfumers or perfume chemists. They work in labs mixing “potions” together to create different types of smells. Life is pretty good for them, the average salary is around 50k per year that's $4,583 a month and roughly $26 an hour. Since France is a developed country their pay is good in comparison to places like China or an underdeveloped country. 

Uneven Development 

This is my image to show uneven development. I chose this image as it shows how one side of the SAME area looks like the houses and buildings were just thrown there without proper thinking while on the other side literally across the “street” the apartment building is nicely furnished with a pool and tennis field behind it. 

Increasing Migration

Migration is something that is always happening because people are always looking for a better opportunity. Now that we have better ways at getting around more and more people are moving since now it’s easier. 

Time-Space Compression 

Over time the way people communicated drastically changed from it having to take days to hear from someone across the world to it now taking 10-15 seconds to hear from someone across the world. 

Flexible Accumulation