If you'd like to earn extra credit, please go to the talk and take lots and lots of notes. I'd like for you to reconstruct the lecture as you would the scene from a movie. Give a sense of who was in the audience, what major things West said, how people around you seemed to feel about his words, the kinds of questions people asked, etc. Make it easy for me to know what it was like to be there. You are welcome to, even, use the style of a script. If you do a creative job at making me feel like I was there, you'll get a few extra credit points. If you ask him a really thoughtful question, you may even earn more points. But even if you don't choose to do this assignment, you should go. It's an honor to have such a world-famous speaker come to Tucson.
As the doors opened, the long lines of people began to shorten. People flocked the main area of centennial hall waiting for friends and family members to show up. Slowly but surely the large crowd began to make there way into lecture hall and took their seats. When 7 O clock came around the slide show that was being shown jumped immediately Cornel West. As he cam out their was a long period of applause and greetings. Throughout his speech he covered Obama's practices, racial issues, issues with gays, and had a 30 minute question and answer period. The question and answer part seemed to have a mixture of seriousness and laughter. The questions ranged from keeping ethnic studies going in schools, to Cornel West for President, to "Cornel can i kick it with you after the show please?"
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The scene opened with a thousand restless bodies crammed into Centennial. Cornel West moved up to the stage and the audience erupted into a tremendous uproar. Many got up on their feet and cheered on what they hoped would be a legendary speaker. Dr.West began in a soft voice speaking deeply and passionately about racism in our country. He addressed and spoke about education and how we do not revere our teachers nor our students. He spoke on the philosophy of the great greek thinkers and contrasted that to how students are taught nowadays. We are mostly self-absorbed and we are told continually to self-achieve which looses the sense of a community and togetherness. Dr.West had the audience up on their feet yet again when he touched on the issue about how there must be death before their can be change and a re-birth of socially just ideals. The killing of prejudice thoughts within ourselves must die, proclaimed West, before we can help others.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite topics he spoke on was about the damn government and Obama. He addressed how the government is always saying that we are in a deficit yet we find money to funnel into prison systems and fund wars. He talked about how politicians can rarely ever be free because they are trapped in a system that makes them behave to a set of ideals. Dr. West had the people on the audience really examine a whole set of problems common in our lives and in our society.
As for the Q and A part, that was caused an array of emotions for me. Unfortunately not a lot of people were able to ask Dr.West questions because he took time in answering each question with great deal and while sometimes drifting away from the original question asked. I thought it was really heart-breaking when one member of the audience said that he had hitch hiked all the way from California to hear Dr.West speak. The majority of the audience however did not feel that way, as many boo-ed when he asked for 15 minutes of their time. I thought it was funny when the teenage boy went up to the microphone and said "My mom has been taking me to these types of things ever since I was little." He then went on to share with the audience how he at first he wanted to, "Be a rapper and shit". It was even more hilarious when we started rapping about Dr.West being the future president.
That being said, although I enjoyed the speech. I did not enjoy the individuals in the audience who thought it was appropriate to yell out when Dr.West was speaking. I guess some did so because he speech resembled a sermon in manner and delivery. Overall I am sooooooo glad I went to this. Unbelievable. Experience. =)