Author: diegop

Artist Statement

What inspired me to choose the format for this project was the comic Ms. Marvel itself. I felt like I wanted to know more and curious to know what would happen after the ending. I decided to sort of switch up the very last scene with my own perspective and extend the scene a bit. I decided to recreate the scene with a different idea. My audience can be anybody. Especially those who love and enjoy comics. I noticed that Ms. Marvel has more to it so I wanted to recreate the last scene with my own idea and imagination. I want my audience to know that the last scene of the comic could of ended in many different ways. I want them to learn that in my scenes I decided to have Kamala reveal to her mother that she is Ms. Marvel and include her mother’s reaction and opinion on Kamala’s powers. I believe my audience will be able to learn this easily by reading the panels and finding out what the scenes are all about. The emotional impact that I was going for is probably the impact Kamala’s mother  was going through when finding out that her daughter is Ms. Marvel. My scene will basically show that Kamala’s mother is shocked and concerned that her daughter is Ms. Marvel who basically risks her life to save others at a very young age. The specific panels in Ms. Marvel that inspired my panels are the scenes in which Kamala transforms as well as the scene that shows her family. What I learned about my project in which I created was that I had to get creative and figure out what I wanted to do. Since I wanted to give the last scene a bit of a twist of my own, I had to figure out how I was going to do that by drawing and writing. I had to imagine and develop ideas as if I was the author of Ms. Marvel. My perspective was unique in the way I thought about the way I changed the final scene with my own ideas. I decided to have Kamala reveal her self as Ms. Marvel, which I’m curious to know if she actually does in the future. I learned about the creative process of writing and drawing from this project. It’s very important when it comes down to analyzing this piece of literature as a reader. I would like to learn more about the little details and messages that can be find throughout the entire comic, Such as the small words hidden throughout the drawings as well as the background and setting which I did not include in my scenes. If I had another week to work on my project I would definitely work on my drawings and add a lot of details and colors and the background drawings. I would also add more panels and scenes. I will take the creative process of this project into future projects to help me improve and develop my ideas more.

What I did was recreating the last scene of the comic in which we see Kamala and her mother speaking.

•How can I extend and improve this?

•What can I add or leave leave out?

•Does it make sense?

On Monday I learned that a lot goes into illustration and writing of a comic and understanding Ms. Marvel. It sure did impact my choice of format for this assignment because I was originally thinking of doing an analytical essay on a specific part of the comic but instead I now decided that I should expand the comic with a new scene or change a specific scene with my own interpretation and illustration. Something unique about this format that will help me learn about the comic is the creative process in which the writer and illustrator go through when creating the comic. Ms.Marvel is teaching me more then writing, drawings and pictures can have a lot of meaning due to the many details they contain as well as the sound effects throughout the comic.

Throughout the years American society has witnessed and experienced police brutality, abuse of power and killings of unarmed people, most commonly minorities. We’ve seen this all over the media leading to protests and chaos against police throughout the nation. Victims have been shot and killed by police. These cases can strongly relate to Intersections, a play from students from LaGuardia Community College. In this play, a young lady named Janelle was unfairly shot and killed by a police officer when she had nothing but good intentions. This has made me question, “how does Janelle’s encounter with the police correlate with real life scenarios in our society? How can police training, specifically the use of deadly force improve or stop unjustified killings ?

The play Intersections reveals some real life events regarding police training. In one of the scenes we learn that Alex is being trained at a police academy on becoming an officer and being prepared to serve and protect. Alex practices the following, “Put your arms out like an airplane. With your left hand, lower your body down to the ground”(Intersections 15). “And the amount of force used was reasonable and effective sir”(Intersections 16). We know Alex was trained but was this training effective at the moment right before shooting Janelle? No, so does basic training really determine whether an individual has what it takes to become a police officer like officer Charles stated?(Intersections 15). Was Janelle being shot justified? This is why police training, specifically the use of deadly force should be fixed and improved.

In Intersections Janelle and her family are struggling to help and keep her grandmother alive from her illness. She cares so much about her and is convinced that a street drug would do her better than the medications prescribed by her doctor. Janelle goes out and gets drugs for her grandmother (23-24). Mike who coincidently is on the same street finds himself along Janelle being confronted by the police. The cop specifically dismisses Mike as non-threatening based on only the fact that Mike is white and Janelle is not. The newly officer named Alex approaches her and demands the following, “HANDS UP NOW, HANDS UP” while reaching for his gun (26). He quickly asks for her hands up but then asks for her ID making her confused leading her to get close to the cops and reaching for her ID. She then gets shot and officer Ricky yells that the amount of force was reasonable and effective(27). Was the amount of force really actually reasonable and effective? Janelle was non-threatening, disarmed and confused. This is one of those situations that could of ended in a different way. Events like this can be prevented if police had more patience, less panic, and be able to safely control and take care of the situation in a much more professional way. Alex appeared to have not taken the situation very well. He asked for Janelle’s ID and asked her to put her hands up at the same time. It was not her fault but his. Did Alex really have what it takes to be an officer or did he perhaps needed more training? Many events like this occur all the time and police seem to get away with it and not face the consequences which then create protests and chaos. Maybe police training should be much more extensive to proof whether they are really prepared for such responsibility.

According to the article “Controlling Police Use of Deadly Force”, it states that the use of deadly force can be controlled. One way is disarming the police or disarming off duty officers. Another way is to making a choice whether or not the person being confronted by the cop is extremely threatening(123-124). Police officers shouldn’t be so quick to take action and use deadly force if a person resists arrest or is unarmed. There are more formal ways of coming about to a solution. Therefore, Alex quickly decided to view Janelle as life threatening when she got too close and took action by firing at her. He could of took control of the situation in a slower and safer way instead of contradicting himself when asking for her hands up and asking for her ID. Alex reaching for his gun was not justified since Janelle was non-threatening.

Many people can relate to Janelle’s situation. Whether an individual is unarmed, a minority, or even resisting arrest, many unfairly get killed by police. One man who died at the hands of the police that caused protests and very high media attention is Eric Garner. According to “America in Black and white”, Eric Garner was allegedly approached by police officers for “selling cigarettes”, in which he claimed that he didn’t. The officers then tried to arrest him but he resisted. This led to one of the officers taking action and getting him on a chokehold while a bunch of other officers jumped on top of him. He was killed from not being able to breath. The cops could’ve done a better job and prevented this if they had taken care of the situation in a safer way, instead of choking him the way they did. The system should train and improve the policies when police encounter situations like these. Therefore, police departments should deal with this because if they don’t then officers will continue to act without consequences.

Another situation relatable to Intersections is that of Philando Castile. The following video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hukZZbyfnpY) reveals an African American women named Lavish “Diamond” Reynolds who is panicking and claiming that, “We got pulled over for a busted taillight in the back.” She also said in the video that police asked Castile, the driver, for his license and registration and, as he reached for it, he told officers that he had a firearm and a concealed carry permit. The officer then shot him immediately through the car’s window. Was the officer’s action justified? I believe not because once the cop mentioned that he had a licensed gun, the cop should have stepped back and talked the man to slowly place the gun away from the situation and then proceeded with the pull over and take control of the situation, calm and clear. The officer took about 4-5 shots. One of those could of easily hit the child sitting in the back seat. This shooting was unnecessary and the fact that officers usually take more than one shot is absolutely unjust. The power and damage of a single bullet is impactful as is. Training should definitely improve in the way officers quickly take action. The use of a firearm should not be an officer’s first reaction. How is society supposed to trust in the people whose responsibility is to serve and protect? The tension among relationships between minorities and police officers and the way officers take action in situations needs to change and improve with training. Otherwise officers will continue to act without consequences.

Citations:

GrimReaperNextDoor. (Graphic Footage) Police Kills Man While His Girlfriend and Child Watch (Falcon Heights Minnesota), youtube, July 7, 2016

Miller, L. (2014, Dec 05). America in black and white. Philadelphia Tribune Retrieved from https://rpa.laguardia.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1637636702?accountid=11946

Reiss, Albert J. “Controlling Police Use of Deadly Force.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 452, 1980, pp. 122–134., www.jstor.org/stable/1042766.

I emailed you my rough draft and I worked with Katherine.

Artist Statement

My audience for this paper is can be anybody. But probably people who are heavily concerned about police abuse, police training, police killings specifically minorities, and an unjust system. Before reading my piece, I want my audience to know that many of these events occur in our everyday lives throughout many cities in our country. Even if it’s not shown in the media, events like this most likely occur even if we aren’t aware of them. I want them to know that there are possible solutions to these problems that greatly impact our society and that it can one day change. I want my audience to learn that police killings, police brutality, police training, and an unjust system exists. I want them to learn that there are solutions to problems between people, specifically minorities and police. I do believe that my audience will be able to learn this because these are events that can occur to anyone at any given moment whether we believe it or not. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people have had unjustified encounters with the police or have seen it. One unique perspective that I included in my analysis that someone might have not is when I get into whether a cop truly has what it takes to being a cop or not. The value of this perspective is massive to me because are they actually prepared to have such responsibility? Are they really the right individually to handle such job? Through this paper, I learned a few possible solutions to improvement of police training. I learned that police officers have a decision to make when they have a situation such as the one with Janelle from the play Intersections. Something I did not learn was the specific and in depth information about the rules police officers have to follow when being a cop. I also didn’t get into what happens after a cop kills an innocent person for no reason. I would still like to learn about the specific training process of police officers as well as the aftermath of an innocent person being killed in the hands of a police officer for an unjustified way. I would like to learn more about the laws and information regarding this. It’s something I feel a lot of people included me are not aware of. The class discussions and peers played a role in my project. It helped me gather up my ideas and information and focus on what exactly I wanted to point out and speak about in my paper. My thinking didn’t really change about research even though it was a bit challenging. What really helped was focusing on my topic and trying to find the proper information such as articles to include in my project and how I can compare it with the play Intersections. If I had another week to work on my research paper I would definitely get into more about solutions and improvement on police training as well as the law aspects of whether a certain action made by a police officer was justified. The last thing I want to tell my audience before they dive into my paper is that I hope my message was clear and that perhaps I make you wonder about potential solutions to unjust actions taken by police.

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In today’s society many children and even adults don’t appreciate what they have and realize it when it’s too late or when they finally open up their minds. In the spoken word poem #Dear Mum by a young Islamic man, based on his deceased mother is a beautiful poem with a lot of meaning. Losing someone extremely important who you love dearly such as a mother can be heartbreaking and life changing. That’s why you should always show how much you love them and how grateful you are to have them in your live. The poem describes love, regret, and how much the man admired his mother. This poem can relate and impact many people due to the strong message behind it. A lot of people don’t know what they have until they lose it and then regret certain actions they did or actions they could of done. As revealed in this poem, the man shows and opens up to his mother about his wrong doings and asks for forgiveness.

The man starts of with the company of beautiful music playing in the background which helps the reader feel the powerful emotions the man shows especially with the rhythm and hand movements throughout the poem. He brings his hands towards him pretty often. This shows how passionate he is and how how sentimental this is for him. He finds himself present in a kitchen by himself in front of a camera and a tea cup behind him which represents his mother’s lemonade. He states that his mother loved him at first sight and even before he was born and mentioned the 9 months many women go through when having a baby. He also mentions how she was the type of mother who would give up her slippers to him to keep him warm as well as being up in the cold hanging up his clothes and spending hours cooking. His mother showed she care about him when he mentions that she wouldn’t go to sleep when he wasn’t home and would stay up sending him texts to his phone making sure he was safe. A lot of sons and daughters can agree that their mothers do the same and this show how much mothers care for their children. You can see this gesture of love and caring from parents in our daily lives. He then proceeds by asking for forgiveness and is sorry for not telling her before. He says he’s sorry for making an “uff” gesture when having to do chores as well as not giving her the life she dreamt of. He is most importantly sorry for the pain he caused her such as fights they’ve had and the sacrifices he never recalled when he was younger. I’m sure many of us can relate to this as well and it’s something we don’t take in mind when we are younger. There are people out there that don’t have the perfect relationship with their mothers and then there’s those who do have a perfect relationship with their mothers. And even though people might find themselves in tough situations, many people might still love their mothers even though they don’t show it.

An example of something from my life that relates to the gesture he makes towards his chores is relatable to that of mine. When I was younger I would be told to do chores or to clean up my room or whatever it was I had to do, and I would find myself being upset for not wanting to do such chores but as I grew up it became something normal and not big of a deal. When we are younger we tend to do many wrong things and don’t realize them until we are older. We also might cause pain without realizing it and don’t recall or become aware of many sacrifices our mothers make.

We all love our mothers and many times people don’t appreciate what they have until it’s gone. I feel like I can relate to this poem because I feel like I love my mother as much as this man loves his. After watching this man express his feelings and emotions in his poem, it makes me appreciate my mother way more. A lot of people like me are extremely lucky to still have their mothers and I am extremely grateful and super appreciate because there’s no one else or anything else I love more than my mother as well as my family. There’s nothing wrong with telling them and show them how much you appreciate them and telling them you love them and showing them you care about them. It’s an amazing feeling and it’s also great to be able to write about this topic and being able to explore the emotions and feelings this young man has for his mother. After watching this poem, it makes you want to go up to your mother and say “I love you!” And remember you only have one.

Artist Statement Prompt (Assignment #1)

My audience for this project is everyone who has a mother because the poem #Dear Mum is about a son and his deceased mother. This can relate to anybody else though and not just a mother. It can be a father, a sister, a brother, you name it. The young man expressed his love for his mother and how much he misses her and asks for forgiveness. I want my audience to know that a lot of the time we have people in our lives that we don’t appreciate as much as we should. Why? Well because people don’t realize what they have until it’s gone pretty often. We as human beings don’t live forever even if we were to wish for it. Therefore, we should all appreciate our mothers and well everyone in our lives and should show them our love and enjoy the moments we have with them. This doesn’t apply to only family. It can also be friends and even anything such as a house, a car, food, and pretty much any other commodities that help us survive or things we need and want. There are people out there that don’t have what others have. Many people have it all and don’t appreciate it and don’t realize that it can be gone in a blink of an eye. I want my audience to learn to not take mother’s, family, and things for granted. We all should learn to appreciate what we have and be thankful, caring, and loving. I think people will learn this because even after I listened to #Dear Mum, it made me appreciate my mother even more! Perhaps children might not fully acknowledge this because they’re young but they will learn as they get older just like me and everyone else. It’s a part of growing up. Your mind opens up and take things more into consideration when you mature. I also believe that everyone learns this because I know that my father and mother have always thought me to appreciate and be grateful for what I have since I was very little. One unique perspective that I brought to my analysis that someone else might not have is my experience of me when I was younger that relates to the man when he didn’t want to do any chores. I learned as I got older how to be responsible and give a hand to my mother with the chores which became something regular on a daily basis. I’m pretty sure a lot of kids also experience this but this to me is something that I would say is very important for me. I try to help my mother as much as possible whether it’s doing chores, running some errands, helping her take care of my younger brothers and things of that nature. I learned a lot through this piece of work, but most importantly, I learned that showing our mothers how much we care and love them should be something we shouldn’t keep inside of us. We should let them know we appreciate them by taking action and expressing ourselves. I would still like to learn how we can further explore the deep messages behind a poem and the ideas behind them and be able to analyze them in depth in whichever format. My peers played a major role in my project during the class discussion by brainstorming ideas, characteristics, and features about the poem. We got so deep into the poem that we even mentioned the background of #Dear Mum which was a kitchen and discussed its significance which would of been something that I would have never have taken into consideration if I were to had just watched the poem on my own. The discussions in class were very interesting that even my thinking about poetry has changed since working on this project because poetry is more than just a piece of writing or a spoken word. It’s a piece of art with a lot of meaning behind it that can tell a story just the way the man in #Dear Mum told. If I had another week to work on my project I would try to develop up as much as I can and be very specific and detailed about it in order to construct a strong piece of writing in order to further more impact my audience and readers. I would try to add more information and try to analyze the poem and write about it it as much as I can. The last thing I want to tell my audience before they dive into my project is to have fun and enjoy my thoughts the amazing poem of a young man who loves and misses his mother.

I emailed you my previous assignments prior to this one.

I peer reviewed the work of Henrique M. and John S.