Ending Slavery #2

"One of these girls was Reina. At the age of fifteen, Reina was slipped across the border from Mexico by human traffickers, who lured her with the promise of a job." (p71)

This incident that Bales talks about takes place in San Diego. I was never aware of how real slavery is. I can't imagine how it can be happening right in California. My brother recently went to San Diego and he told me that it was one of the nicest cities that he has ever seen. I guess no matter how nice a place looks, evil is still lurking about. I thought about going to college in San Diego; I can imagine if I do go there in the future, I will be walking into a restaurant and wondering if those people are really there of their own will. When I think about all the illegal immigrants from Mexico, I wonder if most of them are even here of their own will.

One of the reasons that I enjoy this book so much is that Kevin Bales tells stories of certain peoples experiences with slavery like this story with Reina and how the city of Sonebarsa freed itself. Instead of telling general information on slavery, I find a specific examples more empowering. It is amazing how slaves go against their fears and rebel. I think that reading this book and how slaves and activists are fighting this evil, more people will definitely give to the cause.

Reina's story is a sad one. When I read what happened to he,r I think that her life is definitely not how life is meant to be; her baby was taken hostage and she is forced to be a sex slave. Everyone is supposed to have education, job, and happiness. I also feel pathetic how I have so many blessings, but yet I am not satisfied. As for the slaveholders, I do not know what they had gone through that they do not have consciences. Stories like hers shows how strong human beings are; despite all the hardship they have gone through, they still are able to move on with their lives.

Ending Slavery

"I felt terrible, I mean I felt really terrible because I couldn't imagine, not even in my slightest imagination, that in this day and age someone would treat somebody's child the way she was treated. It made me sick in my stomach." (p80)

Like most other people, I am ignorant of the existence of slavery. I thought that after the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation it really ceased to exist because that's the impression I got from history textbooks. After reading this book, I realized that slavery was only made illegal, not gone from existence. Corrupt officials and greed for profit encourage the illegal smuggling of slaves. I am unaware that it could be happening right in front of me. When I walk into a department store, I do not stop and think whether the merchandise were made through slave and child labor probably on the other side of the world of whether the waitresses at restaurants are prostitutes at night.

I agree with Louis, one of the people Bales writes about whose thoughts were expressed in the quote above. It really is sad how people can treat other humans so inhumanely. In the book, it said that the enslaved field worker who cost the equivalent of $40,000 in 1850 costs less than $100 today. It is unbelievable that price tags are put on people whose lives are of infinite worth. Their worth has diminished so much that they are considered disposable; they are even worth less than products that you could find at a mall.

Hearing of the conditions of slaves made me feel thankful of my life. Its pathetic how I complain about petty things while others are suffering more; slaves are beaten, starved, and have lost their pursuit for happiness. I also reflected on what I want to do with my life; I thought that one of the things that I would want to do is be like missionaries that travel to countries like Southeast Asia and rescue children that have been forced into slavery. Louis said that even though he was supporting the girls that he rescued, he was happy because he knew that he did the right thing. He was overjoyed seeing the smiles of the relatives of those girls when he showed them video footage that they were alive. People's smiles, like those of the kids on the cover can be more rewarding than money itself.

The Cold War

Revolution: an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.

The Cold War, lasting from 1945-1991, was a global conflict that resulted due to problems conflicting ideologies and mutual distrust between the Soviet Union and the United Sates. Stalin wanted to spread communism in Eastern Europe and create alliances while Roosevelt and Churchill rejected his views. Though it began with a couple of disagreements, it turned into a war that would define the 20^th century. Many countries crossed paths in disputes and rebellions. Each was motivated by national interests and believed in imposing its policies on others.

As the war dragged on, new conflicts arose. Stalin sent the Red Army to help local Communists destroy opposing parties in Eastern Europe. The United States responded with the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan to strengthen democratic governments. The existence of the atomic bomb was a constant threat between the two countries. In 1948, Soviet troops blocked railroad and highway access to into Western Berlin. For more than a year, the Western Powers delivered supplies by cargo planes. As tensions grew, the Soviet Union and the United States formed military alliances to ensure national security; the North Atlantic Treaty Organization consisted of the U.S., Canada, and ten other countries while the Warsaw Pact consisted of the Soviet Union and seven Eastern European countries that would form what was known as the “Iron Curtain.”

The war eventually spread to Southeast Asia, Latin America, and European colonies in Africa. European colonies in Africa took advantage of the feud between the U.S. and the Soviet Union; they demanded independence and sought support from the one the powers. Soviets helped Fidel Castro to take over Cuba. U.S. President John F. Kennedy supported Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. In 1962, the Soviet Union sent nuclear missiles to Cuba. In Southeast Asia, the Soviet Union and the United Sates fought in the Vietnam and Korean War on opposing sides supporting different governments.

During the war, many rebellions took place. Many of the Eastern European countries were unhappy with Soviet Policies and in Vietnam the Vietnamese wanted to put an end to foreign influence. Uprisings against the Soviet Union occurred in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Afghanistan. Some were successful and some were not. The one in Hungary and Czechoslovakia were brutally crushed while the Afghan resistance forced the Soviets to withdraw their troops. The Northern Vietnamese forces waged guerillas wars; In 1968, guerilla forced came out of the jungles and attacked U.S. and Southern Vietnamese troops on Tet, the New Year.

Differences in ideologies and mutual distrust were the main causes of the war. The West and the Soviet Union were ruled by two very different forms of government. The United States was a democracy where people had a capitalist economy, elected representatives, and political leadership valued freedom and prosperity. The Soviet Union, China, and other countries that clung to hard-line communism had a command economy; political decisions were made by the Communist Party, and political leadership valued obedience, discipline, and economic security. These contrasting systems greatly influenced many regions; The United States and the Western powers experienced booms in their market economy. In China, Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution were complete failures resulting in the death of millions due to famine and killings by the Red Guard. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia slaughtered, worked to death, and starved a third of the population. Hundreds of thousands fled under harsh communist rule in Vietnam. The Soviet Union’s economy halted and was unable to support the race of arms. As communism declined, the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991. The Cold War truly defines the meaning of a revolution.

True Colors Review

True colors, a novel written by Kristin Hannah, is a story of love, jealousy, family, and community.

"This envy of hers was expanding, taking up too much space in her chest. Sometimes, when she thought about everything Vivi Ann had taken from her, she couldn't breathe."(p89)

"Somehow, impossibly, Vivi Ann had broken all those rules, and a good man's
heart, and still paid no price. Golden." (p192)

Life is far beyond perfect for Winona Grey. Being single and overweight, she is constantly jealous of her sister Vivi Ann. Vivi Ann is beautiful and wins the heart of Luke Connnelly, Winona’s true love. Jealousy causes Winona to be malicious towards her sister; while Luke and Vivi Ann were dating, she fantasizes daily that they would break up and Luke would come running to her for a shoulder to lean on. When Winona finds Vivi Ann sleeping with Dallas, she betrays her by telling Luke right away, not giving her a chance to tell him herself.

The only thing that Winona never doubts is her intelligence. Thinking that she knows what is the best for everyone, her actions cause others to get angry at her. One time Vivi Ann actually slaps her and tells her that she never wants to see her again. She recommends to her father of selling his land while many times he told her that he would never do so. When Vivi Ann thinks of a plan to raise money for the ranch Winona tries to dismiss it because she was angry that she did not think of it herself. During the time Dallas was convicted of murder she tried to convince Vivi Ann that Dallas had to be the murderer, not caring of her sister’s pain. Hypocritically, she steps into case after Dallas spends more than a decade in jail.

In the end, Winona redeems herself. She finds flaws in Dallas’s conviction and goes to court as his lawyer against the will of her father. When the trial fails, she approaches the state attorney. Dallas gets dismissed and Winona is able to compensate for the pain that she caused Vivi Ann. She was also able to have a happy ending too; Luke comes back and asks her for a second chance.

The author's purpose of writing this book is to describe life in a small town and to encourage hope, love, and forgiveness. Growing up in Oyster Shores, the Grey sister's relationship remains strong throughout the years They walk to church every Sunday morning and go dancing and drinking together. Because the town is small, everyone is acquainted with one another. It made me kind of yearn for that type of lifestyle. It seems a a lot more peaceful and fulfilling than living in the city where people are preoccupied with making money and fashion, ultimately caring about themselves.

After Dallas gets arrested, the story is at a standstill. Vivi Ann stays single, never recovering from her pain. Noah gets blamed for starting fights and turns into what people call "like his father". Aurora divorced her husband for infidelity and Winona attempts to find love and fails. This situation creates a very gloomy mood. It had me wondering how the story will turn around.

" "...We're the Greys. That matters. Show us your true colors, who you used to be." " (p 554)

Hannah's purpose was achieved in writing this book. When things seems hopeless, miracles happened. Dallas's cased reopens and is eventually dismissed, Luke asks Winona for a second chance, and Noah is able to answer the "Who am I?" question in the journal that Mrs. Ivers gave him. The ending is beautiful; it encourages hope that pain is temporary. Despite her jealousy, Winona loves her sister and family. Through the good times and the bad, the Grey sisters stick together to the very end. Also, Dallas displays an amazing act of forgiveness; he forgives Myrtle Michaelian, whose mistaken testimony had convicted him.

People can be so beautiful when they demonstrate amazing acts. They show their greatest potential as human beings despite the obstacles in their way; they show their true colors. This is my initial interpretation of the title. I think that the author's meaning of true colors is one's true self. For Winona, her sisters, and her dad, there true colors was their identity as Greys and relationship as a family.

This book catches the interest of the reader from the beginning to the end. From how good the book is, I am surprised that it did not win any awards. I really like Kristin Hannah's style of writing. She does not include unnecessary details that bore the reader. It is easy to understand, descriptive and causes emotions to stir.

This book is very easy to understand. Unlike some other ones that I have read, there were no parts where I had no idea what was happening. Hannah uses simple vocabulary and also adds in a lot of dialogue. The dialogue creates a comforting, laid back mood, with the sisters making jokes about one another from time to time. She is very descriptive in her writing; all the situations and people along with their characteristics and apparel are explained thoroughly.

While I was reading, I felt many different emotions. These emotions included pity suspense, anger, and happiness. Knowing that Vivi Ann is beautiful and gets all the good things, I pity Winona, who is fat and lonely. Even though Winona acts badly, I have a harm time blaming her because if I would do the same in her shoes. During the long years Dallas stayed in jail, I was eager to find out how the story ends. I thought to myself, "There's no way it's going to be a happy ending." However, the story ends perfectly with one of Noah's journal entries. He too had found his true colors.

"And my dad said. Yeah. It's about time I taught my son to play poker. His son. That was when I had my answer, when I finally knew who I was. " (p558)

True Colors

True colors, a novel written by Kristin Hannah, portrays the life of the Grey sisters.

"From this vantage point, Myrtle saw Dallas' right side. Winona had always had a photographic memory, and she'd sworn it noticed Dallas's tattoo when she hired him. She would have sworn it was on his left arm."(p444)

I was horrified and in disbelief when I read this. I was sure that Dallas was the murderer and he only never admitted it. It was terrible thinking that he spent more than a decade in jail for a crime that he did not commit. I was wondering why he never pleaded innocent. It also shows how flawed the justice system is. The crime scene and the witnesses' accounts were not thoroughly investigated. People assumed that Dallas was the murderer because he was Indian.

While the years were passing by I was depressed at what was happening. Vivi had not healed from the pain of losing Dallas. She took pills and drank alcohol to ease her pain. Noah grew up and started fights at school. The people of the community said that he was just like his father. Dallas was still in jail. Even Aurora, who was doing fine in the beginning of the story suffered a failed marriage. I had no hope that the story would turn around.

"His son. That was my answer, when I finally knew who I was." (p558)

But, the ending was beautiful. I was so happy that Vivi ann. After waiting for so many years, she was find happiness again. Noah was able to answer the "Who am I?" question in the journal that Mrs. Ivers gave him. Dallas demonstrated a beautiful act of forgiveness; he forgave Myrtle Michaelian, whose testimony was the one that condemned him. Winona was also able to find happiness; after years of searching for love and not finding it, Luke came back and asked her for a second chance.

This past week...

This week was one of the most laid back weeks during the past school year. On Monday, there wasn't much to do since we were settling back from spring break. I thought Schindler's List was an interesting movie, but it was depressing to watch. I cannot understand how people can treat other humans so unhumanely; they are shot just by the point of a finger from a German officer. Even though Schindler saved 1100 Jews, I have a hard time seeing him as a hero. Because he is a womanizer, I can't see the good things that he did.

On Wednesday, the sophomores continued the Holocaust week by listening to survivors of the massacre of the Jews. One of them was Helen Fargus. Even though I should have given her my undivided attention, I had a hard time sitting still. I am amazed how people are able to survive in concentration camps, toiling long hours with consumption of only meager amounts of bread, soup, and coffee. Helen said that she asked a boy if he ever felt really hungry before and he said that he did when he forgot his lunch. I started questioning myself that question. The only time that I ever felt hungry was when I participated in World Vision's 30 hour famine. I almost fell walking from lack of energy. It 's painful to imagine how hungry those at the concentration camps; they had to endure mental and physical craving of food day after day.

Yesterday , I got to hang out with Michelle afterschool, which I haven't done in almost two weeks. I really missed her while she went to Italy. I didn't have an eating buddy Thursday and Friday afterschool on the week before spring break. On the night before she left Michelle, Elaine, Ryan, Priscilla, Grant and I were suppose to have dinner together, but Michelle ended up not coming. She said that she was going to make it up to me by treating me. Right afterschool, she went with me to my dance rehearsal and then we went to her place to pick up her brother. We went to Kai's and she treated me to teriyaki chicken.

Today was the Unity Week Assembly. I was so excited for the performance of Jai Ho. However, my morning began horribly. I couldn't find my leggings, so I frantically looked around. Later I had to call a friend and thankfully she let me borrow hers. I ended up being late for zero period and not being able to dress, but at least I took the test. The assembly was so fun; I never got tired no matter how many times I watched the acts. My favorite ones were the Chinese fan dance and the salsa. Michelle and Frank did such a good job dancing together. It was fun wearing the costumes even though it felt kind of weird putting the red dot on the forehead. The two assemblies went by so fast and so did the rest of the day.

True Colors 1&2

"Somehow, impossibly, Vivi Ann had broken all those rules, and a good man's
heart, and still paid no price. Golden." (p192)

I really sympathize with Winona. Like her, I developed a hate towards Vivi Ann. It's unfair that she is so beautiful and gets everything that she wants. She even cheats on Luke for Dallas and is accepted back by her family and the community with little harsh gossip. She is favorited by her father and karma never seems to get her. She is a perfect example of how unfair life can be. The situation Winona is in, being jealous of her sister is something that I can relate to easily. I constantly feel jealous of those around me, thinking why I couldn't have the life of this person or that person. Jealousy is an ugly thing and it brings out the worst in people like it did to Winona.



Even though I feel pity towards Winona, there are many flaws in her character that can make people hate her and that she needs to change. She is malicious trowards Vivi Ann; while Vivi Ann was dating Luke , she often fantasized that they would break up and he would come running to her for a shoulder to lean on. She always boasts of her inteliengence and therefore is unwilling to accept other people's ideas or criticism. Her greatest weakness is her pride. When Dallas saw through her like transparent glass and knew that she was jealous deep down inside, she tried to deny it. She even stains his reputation by spreading his criminal records around.See complains that she fat, but yet she does nothing about it. She continuously binge eats when she is stressed.

"During the course of the trial , the state will prove beyond reasonable
doubt that Dallas Raintree... went to Catherine Morgan's home and killed
her."(p273)"

"It was the clearest picture of his past that she'd ever s gotten: she imagined
him as a young boy, abused for a long time and then suddenly alone in the world
being told by adults that he was bad to the bone. Abuse can make an animal
mean."(p221)

I have a hard time siding with Vivi Ann that Dallas did not murder Cat Morgan. All the eveidence points to him as guilty of charged. Coincidentally, the gun in his car was gone, he had given the gun to Cat, and he did not attend the Grey family gettogether on the night of the killing. Based on his past criminal records and how he was abused as a child by his father, it is hard not to assume that he is the obvious killer. It is true. Abuse does make an animal mean and humans too. Since had been beaten with electrical cords, burned with cigarettes, and watched his father kill his mother while he was only a child, he should be emotionally scarred. With a record of having seen a psychiatrist , it is likely that he has anger management issues or is mentally ill. I also thought of the possibility that it might be one of those incidents in which the shock of murdering someone caused him to forget the whole thing all together.

" "Luke but ... I love you. If you'd just try, we could be happy together."..."I
love you. tpp" he said, lowering his voice to add, "as a friend." "(p210)

Winona finally admits her true feelings instead of trying to to hide them like before. I feel so bad for her though, being rejected after conquering her pride. I don't understand why he loves Vivi Ann so much when he should like Winona; they had been best friends for like forever and he only asked Vivi Ann out in the first place becuase she was beautiful. He shows how weak he is by later moving away again to avoid his pain of losing Vivi Ann to Dallas. I wonder if he will come back later in the story and if he does what will happen.