The Civic Media class was more then a class it was a life lesson and eye opening experience on humanity. We touched on many subjects in class and how social media has changed the way we communicate and engage social in movements. One thing that I found amazing in this class is how art is used for activism. Graffiti, Murals, Sculptures, and hanging installations are everywhere and at a glance it may not seem like much, but the picture is only the beginning. Much like people what you see is one thing, but the meaning behind the art and the way the person actually feels is something beautiful. I think this is why I focused my final project on Veterans and PTSD.

On the outside I see someone who is invincible and have nothing but gratitude for them. That is only the outside though on the inside this person is in pain and suffering. When talking about mental illness in class it struck me how much we don’t know about these issues. Most of the time we either ignore what is happening or medicate people to the point where they are zombies.

The start of my project was going great when deciding a topic I thought what a good topic Veterans and PTSD something that is a concern to me and I will enjoy getting to learn more about this topic. I was on a role starting this topic gathering information like a sponge soaking it all up. One thing that was a minor road block was Adobe premier pro. I didn’t have much practice with this application besides what we did in class, but I really wanted to make a video for my topic. So with the help of google and YouTube I was able to master some basics to creating my masterpiece. After a lot of trial and error I was able to create what I call a pretty good video production on veterans and PTSD.

One thing that really stuck out out me when researching this is how social media plays a role. I briefly talk about the 22 push up challenge that took social media by storm to raise awareness that 22 veterans commit suicide a day due to PTSD. Research shows that after this challenge not only did it raise a lot of money but helped bring the suicide rate down from 22 veterans a day to 20.

In this past week of class we talked about the many issues facing America’s incarceration systems. By comparing it to other countries like Canada who we often compare to the Unites States we see that there is a problem with how many people we put in prison. One of the problem’s touched on was mental health and how prisons in the United States are used for punishment instead of rehabilitation. So a big question is why do we have so many more prisoners then other countries. The reason seems to be that the United States doesn’t do much for rehabilitation and that is reflected in the amount of repeat offenders.

This isn’t just a nice thought of maybe if we helped prisoners instead of punished them it would be better. Studies have shown that prison systems like those in Germany who treat prisoners with dignity and trust end up with a lower repeat offender rate. These prisons in Germany also focus on mental health for people on need making sure that evert individual’s needs are met for him/ her to succeed.

By providing inmates with dignity and responding to there needs, these people are able to turn there life around. Becoming better people by acknowledging there mental illness and giving them ways to work with it instead of coping through drugs and alcohol.

This past week we discussed the many problems that people with homelessness face and how much of it is correlated to mental illness. My hometown of Baltimore Maryland struggles greatly wit this problem. Baltimore Maryland has more than 4,000 men, woman, and children that experience homelessness. Families represent one-third of the homeless population nationally and especially in Baltimore.

Homelessness in Baltimore isn’t a new thing, it has been a ongoing problem for years. Until recently Baltimore has been trying to help the homeless verse relocate them. A common issue was the relocation and use of force to push homelessness out of the public eye away from stadiums and places frequently traveled. Another issues that accommodates the homeless population of baltimore is the opioid crisis. Opioids has taken the nation by storm and have greatly affected Baltimore especially the homeless who turn towards drug use as a coping mechanism for there mental health or where prescribed it and became addicted.

The times are changing though as people have come to the realization that this problem isn’t going to go away just by ignoring it. You must treat the homeless like people not animals. Listen to there stories learn from there experiences and move forward with change. Helping the homeless with mental illness isn’t just helping our city, but also helping us understand mental illness and how it affects people.

Baltimore has taken steps to prevent homelessness as well. By assisting families and people to help keep their homes and keep them off the streets. By providing financial assistance to prevent evictions people can stay off the streets. Also once people do become homeless there are organizations and churches ready to step in and help.

All around Philadelphia there is a vast variety of street art in the City. These images aren’t just about making the side of a building look nicer or cleaning up Philadelphia, they convey all different types of messages. These messages range from the homeless problem in Philadelphia to a link to the past reminding people of where we came from. I have gone all around Philadelphia to photograph a wide variety of the art on display in the City of Brotherly Love.

Tree of Knowledge by Michael Web is a piece he created in October of 2003. Within this tree of knowledge there is many different “fruits” made up of random objects like a horn, key, anchor, abacus, etc. These random objects are meant to symbolize things we have to choose to learn. You to have to put in the work in order to gain things from the tree of knowledge like how the people use a ladder to get what they want.

The tree of knowledge was dedicated to honoring Eisenhower fellowships 50 years. This type of art is a mural.

Kanye West Touch the Sky

Order, huh
Yo, we at war
We at war with terrorism, racism, but most of all we at war with ourselves God show me the way because the Devil’s tryin’ to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me, with me, with me, with me, with me)You know what the Midwest is?
Young and Restless
Where restless niggas might snatch ya necklace
And next these niggas might jack ya Lexus
Somebody tell these niggas who Kanye West is
I walk through the valley of Chi where death is
Top floor of the view alone will leave you breathless
Try to catch it, it’s kinda hard
Getting choked by detectives yeah, yeah, now check the method
They be asking us questions, harass, and arrest us
Saying “We eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast!”
Huh! Y’all eat pieces of shit? What’s the basis?
We ain’t goin’ nowhere, but got suits and cases
A trunk full of coke rental car from Avis
My Mama used to say only Jesus can save us
Well Mama, I know I act a fool
But I’ll be gone ’til November, I got packs to move, I hopeGod show me the way because the Devil’s tryin’ to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me)
The only thing that I pray is that my feet don’t fail me now (I want Jesus)
(Jesus Walks)
And I don’t think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs
(Jesus Walks with me)
I want to talk to God, but I’m afraid because we ain’t spoke in so long
(I want Jesus)
God show me the way because the Devil’s tryin’ to break me down
The only thing that I pray is that my feet don’t fail me now
And I don’t think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs
I want to talk to God, but I’m afraid because we ain’t spoke in so long, so long So long
(Jesus Walks with me)To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers
(Jesus walks for them)
To the victims of welfare for we living in hell here hell yeah
(Jesus walks for them)
Now hear ye hear ye want to see Thee more clearly
I know He hear me when my feet get weary
Cause we’re the almost nearly extinct
We rappers are role models we rap we don’t think
I ain’t here to argue about his facial features
Or here to convert atheists into believers
I’m just trying to say the way school need teachers
The way Kathie Lee needed Regis that’s the way I need Jesus
So here go my single dog radio needs this
They said you can rap about anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tape
But if I talk about God my record won’t get played
Huh?
Well let this take away from my spins
Which will probably take away from my ends
Then I hope this take away from my sins
And bring the day that I’m dreaming about
Next time I’m in the club everybody screaming out God show me the way because the devil trying to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me, with me, with me)
The only thing that I pray is that me feet don’t fail me now

After reading through Kanye West’s Lyrics to “Touch the Sky” i underlined and bolded all the points where he talks about the various problems facing him and his community. He talks about a war with terrorism and racism, but the biggest problem that everyone faces is the war with themselves. He speaks about the rough conditions of having things stolen from you and police brutality. Talks about drugs like coke and it’s prevalence. The housing discrimination and living off welfare in deplorable conditions. He talks about being suppressed and being told what to do and produce as far as music. A big message of this song though is that no matter who your are a drug dealer, tripper, killer Jesus died for you. Kanye is going against the norms of society and talking about the things that people want to push aside or ignore.

J Cole Trouble

yea, yea, yea
i know ya just doing your job, don’t mean to disrespect ya
but we’ve been going through this thang since way back
i told ya when i get the dough i will pay back

but i got problems babayy… yea, if you only knew
i got bigger problems babayy
so why ya talkin bout the money that you owe, like as if i didn’t know man, it don’t mean nothing to me
cause right now i got my lil boy crying, and my grandmother dying, could you please stop fuckin with me?
listen here, i ain’t lookin for no tears, but my brother got a year, and my momma keep smoking that shit
on top of that, I’m broke, please put that in your notes for the next one to call me up talking that shit.

hey, dear me. policeman
hey am i wrong, ain’t you suppose to keep the peace man?
i coulda swore i was driving pretty peaceful
so why the hell is you pulling over me fo’?
is it this black mercedes? (oh now i get it, i get it, i get it)
or cause I’m black? hmmmm, maybe
hey, tell me why my hands start sweatin and i hold my breath everytime that you get behind me
i turn my music down, so you won’t hear a sound,
man I’m nervous like i got a couple pounds on me
you pulled me over, you frown on me
with your flashlight, tell me what do you see
thug niggas, drug dealers, it’s a trip, every nigga in this whip got a mothafuckin college degree

yea, middle finger to the law, bustin off,
tryin to touch the sky
my teacher said, “impossible”, but imma fuckin try
plus how he gon’ tell, he don’t make the rules
there’s niggas dying everyday, but we don’t make the news
instead they talking bout some thunderstorm, cyclones
timmy got his bike stole, top story, tiger woods “be fuckin all these white hoes”
anchorman stop snitchin

cut the commercial, he be texting all his side bitches,
hey my goodness
how ironic, on trial for possession of some chronic
my lawyer came to court, man he was higher than the comet

hey your honor, is you kidding? how you sit above me?
are you perfect mothafucker, how yousit and judge me?
when you home you don’t cuss, drink, and puff like us?
these cops is bad boys, baby just like puff
they hate they jobs and they days be fucked up like us
at the end of the day, you niggas just like us.

After reading through J Cole’s lyrics to “Trouble” it addresses various social issues he and those in his community face. His song mainly focuses on Police Brutality and how it has affected him. He was driving peacefully and then a Police officer pulled him over for his race and went on to question him about who is in the car. J Cole talks about how everyone in his car had a college degree. He talks about every time he is near a officer he gets nervous and his hands start to sweat in fear of police brutality. He also references Kanye West’s song “Touch the sky” when talking about his education system. The news doesn’t report black lives being murdered everyday instead it’s just like nothing happened. He wonders how a judge gets the right to judge him when a judge isn’t a perfect human being and has flaws like everyone else.

Choosing a blog over youtube seemed like a no brainer to me I have tried to use youtube before and have struggled greatly with the editing that comes with the videos. Although my writing skills are not the best i hope that this blog will better them. I hope to be able to tell the story of me and who I am. Ill start off with one thing that makes me unique. I have a obsession with anything automotive, growing up and even now Im in the garage with my dad working on something. My pride and joy is a 1966 Mustang that my father and I restored. Cars, Trucks, and everything in between is like art to me everyone has there own take on what they are for or what they like. The best part about working on cars is seeing and feeling the change your making sometimes good and sometimes bad, but it helps me learn about patience. My father always says “if your gonna do something do it right the first time or else it’ll come back to bite you in the ass”. I live by those words with everything do it right the first time so when something breaks or fails you don’t have to waste time and money on something that could’ve been fixed before.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.