"Do the Right Thing" Movie Response

What are the specific ideas and examples used by each text to make their points?  What conclusions can be made as a result of this comparison / contrast?
In both "Do the Right Thing" and "How Bigger was Born" there were power struggles between the blacks and whites in the community.  In "Do the Right Thing" Pino would boss Mookie around to do the chores that he did not want to do himself, but Mookie would always complain but would end up giving in because he did not have as much power as Pino.  This power struggle between Pino and Mookie caused increased tension in Sal's Pizzeria because these two characters would argue and cause a commotion in the restaurant.  In "How Bigger was Born" all the five real life Biggers would go against the white laws.  Richard Wright says, "the problem that faced her was peculiar and the struggle between the whites and the blacks after the Civil War was in essence a struggle for power, ranging over thirteen states and involving the lives of tens of millions of people" (438).  There was a power struggle in the south between the blacks and the whites which caused the real life Biggers to fight against the power of the whites.  There were many blacks that were fighting for their equality but Richard Wright focused his book, Native Son, on five blacks that he knew from growing up in the south.  This power struggle caused tension to increase between the blacks and whites in the southern communities because both races believe that they have ultimate power which causes violence to be used.  In "Do the Right Thing" violence was resorted to eliminate their anger that was built up inside for so long, but Bigger Number 5 used passive actions to display his anger in "How Bigger was Born."  In "Do the Right Thing" the blacks in the neighborhood and anger that was being built up at the whites because the white police killed Radio Raheem and Sal and his two sons were bystanders and didn't say anything.  The blacks were annoyed at these men because they did not do anything when Radio Raheem was being killed.  The blacks used violence to attack Sal's Pizzeria and burn it down to the ground.  In "How Bigger was Born" Bigger Number 5 violated the Jim Crow laws by sitting in the white section of the streetcars and not moving when asked to by the conductor.  Bigger Number 5, "always rode the Jim Crow streetcars without paying and sat wherever he pleased" (436).  Bigger Number 5's actions were displayed through non violent conduct with the whites by refusing to move to the black section of the streetcars.  The difference between "Do the Right Thing" and "How Bigger was Born" is the way the blacks displayed their anger towards the power that the whites held over them.  Some blacks used violence and others used passive actions but the violent actions did not benefit anybody and just caused harm. 

What are your personal (emotional, critical) responses? What are your feelings, at the movie's end, for Mookie, for Sal, for the police, for the community, for Radio Raheem? Who does--and who does not do--"the right thing"? Whose actions seem meaningful, purposeful, humane? What has been earned, learned, or lost?

I'm annoyed that Mookie started the riot by throwing the trash can into the window because the violence caused by the riot did not benefit anyone.  Although Mookie was provoked by the police officers killing Radio Raheem and Sal and his sons just stood there, Mookie still caused the blacks to burn the pizzeria down.  Sal's feelings were really hurt because Sal had just told Mookie that he was considered a son to him.  Without Mookie's actions the blacks would not have done anything to fight against the whites.  I sympathize with Sal because he trusted Mookie then Mookie broke his trust by throwing the trash can through the window of his pizzeria.  Mookie did not realize that he hurt Sal's feelings because he went back in the morning to get his money that he had earned.  Mookie's feelings were also hurt because he thought that Sal should have stood up to the police because he has more power than the blacks had, but Sal stayed silent.  Mookie was upset at Sal and that was why he threw the can through the window.  Mookie's violent action was impulsive and was not thought through because of his anger that had built up inside. 

Two Societies: Document 3 "Demands"

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) who were trying to their nonviolent movement to the North and chose Chicago as the city to do so.  King was the leader of a march that started at Soldiers Field and ended the city hall.  Members of the march were part of an umbrella organization that composed of the Chicago Freedom Movement, the SCLC, and the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations (CCCO).   A list of demands was then posed at the city all that was meant for Mayor Daley, the city council, and other city and state institutions. 
QUESTION
1. In Chicago, to whom did the SCLC appeal in order to break the link between race and poverty?  Where did the power lie? 
The SCLC appeals to the black community because it helps with the economic conditions of the blacks in their neighborhoods.  One of the demands of the CCCO was to "increase vastly the supply of low-cost housing."  This benefits the blacks because then there are more houses availible for the low income blacks.

Beloved Ch. 9

In chapter 9 of Beloved, Sethe went to the Clearing because she wanted to feel a connection to Baby Suggs because she wanted to feel inspired by the serman that Baby Suggs used do in the clearings.  Sethe ends up remembering what Baby Suggs' fingers feel like while she was imagining them.  Sethe feels relaxed at first while Baby Suggs is giving her a imaginative massage, but after a while Sethe is massaged too ruffly that it feels like she's being choked.  "Just the fingers... they were there... somebody choked me" (Beloved, 112-113).  Sethe wanted to remember Baby Suggs' fingers massaging her, but eventually the massage became painful causing her to feel like she's being choked.  It is because of this that Sethe snaps out of her day dream of the past.  It was important for Sethe to feel uncomfortable in her daydream about the past because now she will not want to remember feelings from the past because they cause pain for her.  One cannot live in the past because they will miss things that are happening now because they are too preoccupied by things that have already occurred.  One must remember major events from the past but cannot dwell on the events that are filled with sorrow.  Sethe should remember the good times she had with Baby Suggs but not dwell upon every little detail about her or the memories Sethe had with her.  The past is usually embraced when there is a memory that represents a happy or exciting time and is forgotten when there is a horrific or painful memory that took place.  Sometimes these memories become intertwined, and one does not know which memories are happy and which are sad until they are remembered again.  "Yet it was to the Clearing that Sthe determined to go" (Beloved, 105).  Sethe first wanted to go to the Clearing because she wanted to remember the happy times she had with Halle and Baby Suggs.  These happy memories were intertwined with the painful memories of her slave past causing her to remember Baby Suggs' hands choking her.  She is combining the happy memories of Baby Suggs' hands with the horrific memories of being a slave and being abused.  The combination of memories makes it difficult for one to remember the past without having many different emotions filling their minds.

Emerson and Society

Emerson believes that an individual should define themselves in society based on their individual actions and thoughts.  One must not rely on anyone to make decisions for them.  Society must be based off of individual efforts and thoughts instead of people copying others.  "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men" (Self-Reliance, 19).  Emerson is saying in this quote that people must be individuals and must believe in their own thoughts.  They cannot rely on other people to think for them because the society will not prosper.  By everyone believing in their own thoughts and having individuality, everyone in the society will benefit.  "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members" (Self-Reliance, 21).  The way society is now is that people must agree with each other to achieve greatness and better the society, a conformist society.  Emerson does not agree with that because he feels that people should be non-conformists and have their own individual thoughts and ideas.  This ideal society, according to Emerson, would only be possible if people start thinking and believing in their own thoughts and ideas and not rely on other people to do things for them. People must leader by using their own ideas as their focus.  The society will eventually benefit when people are all non-conformists. 

Quran Burning/ Remembering 9/11

Reverend Terry Jones will be burning copies of the Quran if a meeting with the organizers of the mosque is not set up.  Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf will contemplate setting up a meeting with anyone who wants peace.  I agree with Imam about wanting peace in this country.  The Constitutional issue being raised is the Freedom of Religion.  The Muslims have the freedom to study and pursue their own religion and should be allowed to have a mosque near ground.  Jones should not be threatening to burn Qurans because he is being prejudice towards Muslims and is assuming that all Muslims are bad.  The people that would warship at this mosque have no correspondence to the September 11th terrorist attacks.  Although the people that flew the planes into the World Trade Centers were Muslim, that does not mean that the entire religion was a part of the attacks. 
I don't have very much recollection about the day of September 11th, 2001.  I know I went to school and was confused because the teachers seemed nervous and anxious.  Either my mom or my dad (I can't remember which one) came and picked me after school.  This was different because usually we had a babysitter that picked me up.  My parents told me what happened after school once I got home, and I did not really understand it, but hey, I was just in second grade!

Thomas Paine: The American Crisis

Thomas Paine was being very patriotic in his pamphlets "Common Sense."  He was telling the colonists that they needed to stand strong and fight against the British.  Paine says, "that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph" (The American Reader, 51).  Thomas Paine is saying that people need to try hard in order to achieve their freedom from Britain.  He is persuading the colonists to join together to fight in this conflict even if it might seem difficult or impossible.  The people will feel really good once they accomplish their goal of gaining their freedom from the British because the struggle was very challenging.  "I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state" (The American Reader, 52).  Thomas Paine wants the colonists to ban together so they can defeat the British.  Defeat will not be possible if the colonists don't come together to achieve a common goal.  The colonists must have teamwork and dedication if they want to overthrow the British and ultimately achieve ample triumph.