Joseph
Category Archives: Bronx
My trip to Salvador, Bahia
During the summer of 2019 I visited the country of Brazil. I stayed in Salvador, Bahia at a small hotel across from the fisherman’s beach. Every night the sounds of the water rocked me to sleep and in the morning was there to greet me.
It’s A beach town someone told me.
Oh, that’s the place in Brazil many Blacks live, another person said.
Descendants of slaves, some like to say.
My first day there Kayanara met me at Guarulhos airport. We took a taxi to Bahia. After I freshened up, Kayanara took me to Teatro Miguel Santana.
She showed me the stone church built in the 17th Century for and by the Blacks. In the same area is where Michael Jackson performed “All I wanna say is they don’t really care about us” which is now a tourist attraction. That’s where I spent my money on a tee for Daniel and Ashley.
Visiting the Forts
We visited Espaco Pierre Verger da Fotographia ,one of the ten forts built to protect the city from the Dutch in the 17 Century.
This day, I was the only visitor in the museum. Aylana, Gabriel and Keila took their time explaining their history to me.
After we spoke about the art, they asked me questions about America and I asked them questions about Brazil. When Keila realized I was a believer, she ran down her list of Hillsong, asking me if I knew Christian songs. Before we parted, we just about had church in the museum.
Black History: Iconic Abolitionist Used His TriBeCa Home As Part Of Underground Railroad — CBS New York
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — On a corner in TriBeCa, hundreds of people sought refuge on the Underground Railroad. The house belonged to a young black abolitionist and publisher who mentored the likes of Frederick Douglass. Yet, his story is hard to find in most history books. CBSN New York’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas recently learned more about…
Celebrating MLK, Jr. Day
My third graders were anticipating a lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. with the day right around the corner and I was too. I wanted to do something different than the typical “he was a civil rights leader and lets listen to his speech”. The lesson didn’t come to me until early in the morning right before it was time for me to run out of the house.
I would teach them about Freedom Songs and the place music had during this time.
We began by reading I Have a Dream: Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr. with paintings by Kadir Nelson.
We pulled out important vocabulary words and spoke about their meanings.
Then we watched parts of the speech on youtube.
Oh my gosh, look how many people there are, Ms. Hurley
Yeah…wow. And notice class, no one has a phone in their hands…why is that?
Next, we spoke about how the speech was planned and how Dr. King and his friends wanted to entertain the people so music was necessary. We spoke about how much money they had to use to set up a system just for it to be destroyed by someone who didn’t agree with Dr. King.
We call those people haters, Ms. Hurley
Thank you, haters then.
Finally, we watched a video of Mahalia Jackson.
You notice how everyone is singing and swaying? You think she’s making the people happy?
We watched Peter Paul and Mary.
Ms. Hurley, which one is Peter?
I am not sure. But at least we know Mary.
Finally, we watched Odetta and lastly, the Freedom Singers.
After that, they were given the following writing prompt: Imagine you are a musician and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked you to sing a song for the March on Washington. What would you sing? Write your own song.
They came up with amazing lyrics and the lesson took more time then I planned because all of them wanted to sing their freedom songs.
Happy Birthday Fredrick Douglass
Really Sleepy
When I got on the train, he was sitting upright then all of sudden, right in front of me, laid down as if he was home and went to sleep.
Outside the Fish Market
Well Groomed
Going Home
