I saw that someone else posted a “Pray away the gay” video. While many of these types of videos exist, there was a video filmed in my hometown of Orange County in 2011 with a similar premise. The video was actually titled “Homosexuality in High School” and had two kids who claimed that they had been cured of their homosexuality through the church. I actually attended this church before the video was made, and immediately left as I realized their beliefs did nothing but bring other people down. The church was very interesting when it came to criticism, as they thought it made them “martyrs” of the Bible. While they were not nearly as extreme as some fundamentalist churches such as WBC, their ideologies were eerily similar. The video is nowhere to be found, as the only remaining links had copyright claims put on them to be taken down. The content of the video was disgusting to say the least, as it showed the lead pastor blasting homosexuality and stating that all those who are homosexual are destined to pain and suffering in the afterlife. I will try to find the video as I think I have it saved on my computer back home, but the church did a pretty good job at getting rid of it. Here’s a link to an article about the church, and how a renowned local performing arts school responded.

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/10/sin_of_homosexuality_video_ins.php

I was talking to an indivual today and our conversation got me thinking about our ideas and the lack our of mental block removal methods. I am not sure if I agree with the term “coming out”- why did we (we being society) make someone feel like they had to hide. The gay community, like many other communities just want to get the main point of understanding across. The main point here is that it is their right to be different than what we consider normal. It is in fact a fundamental human right. Gays are humans too! Like, come the fuck on people. I don’t have to come out as Black… do I? Why does someone need to explain or tell you how they are born. Or fight for the right to be embraced as they are made? I think it is time we dismiss this idea of gay indiviuals needing to come out. I think dumb people need to do the broadcasting, they are the ones that need to be treated differently.

Today, Professor Putnam talked about the 1972 election then talked about the 1974 impeachment of Richard Nixon. He showed us a video on him resigning and giving up his place in office. I remember sometime last week in my RWS class, my teacher was showing us a scene from Futurama, and there was a scene with Nixon’s head (since the show is set in the future). I thought it was weird and funny how in the show, they preserve only their heads. I researched a little bit more on this since I don’t watch Futurama and I found out that in some episodes, they reference the real life Nixon. In one episode, Bender, Fry, and Leela blackmail Nixon with an audiotape and this references to the Nixon tapes where he secretly recorded things. There was another episode where they referenced the scandal when Nixon resigned. It was when he was sating in the Watergate. It’s really interesting how television shows reference historical things. I don’t watch Futurama, but I am 90% sure that many other television shows have subtly given historical facts in their shows.

 http://theinfosphere.org/images/thumb/6/69/Richard_Nixon’s_Head.jpg/225px-Richard_Nixon’s_Head.jpg

This week in lecture Professor Putman discussed the Watergate scandal and how it forced Nixon to eventually resign, instead of impeachment during the 70’s. Directly in Professor Putman’s Powerpoint slide he says the significance of Watergate was the “widening gap of mistrust in the government”. I feel that there is also a gap today that is widening between the police force and citizens, especially because of what has been shown on the news the past few weeks. The “suspicious” death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore man who died of a spinal injury in police custody has recently caught everyone’s attention, and suddenly the masses are starting to retaliate against the police forces, definitely widening the gap between the police (and government) force and the citizens of the cities, and ultimately the United States. Also, because of social media exaggerating every aspect of what is told in the news, many people are misinformed, like myself, and have to research what is actually occurring without being informed from a one-sided perspective.

http://rt.com/usa/254357-nyc-dc-freddie-gray-rallies/

I recently came across this group photo in front of the White House from my class trip to Washington D.C. in 8th grade. It got me thinking about the rich history the White House holds. After looking into it further, I found out that the location of the White House was selected to be in Washington D.C. in 1792 by George Washington. It was under construction for 8 years before President John Adams became the first tenant to live there. The White House was actually burned down during the war of 1812 by the British and had to be rebuilt. President Teddy Roosevelt and President Truman both oversaw renovations to the house, and the oval office was constructed during the presidency of President Taft. Every president since John Adams has lived in this house,and I find it fascinating that I am still able to visit this historical landmark in the 2000’s even though it’s been around since the 1700s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_with_%22-gate%22_suffix

The story of Nixon and Watergate has been well explored and explained. The scandal was the original use and beginning of the suffix “-gate.” The suffix has been used as an implication of some sort of scandal, discrimination, or corruption. There have been so many “-gates” that Wikipedia has a list of most known “-gate” mishaps. Some of the most recent “-gates” I can recall include #gamergate and #bendgate relating to sexual discrimination in gaming journalism and Apple iPhones respectively. The use of the suffix is a testament to the media’s need to name and label everything.

My group’s question in class today was about the raid at the Stonewall Inn gay bar that sparked the Gay Liberation Movement, so I found a Ted Talk that discusses the gay rights movement and how it was influenced by the civil rights movement. The speaker is and African American lesbian and begins by talking about how the media constantly gives false information and uses the example of the 2008 election when Obama was elected president, and the right for gay marriage was taken away. At this time, a poll with incorrect information came out saying that around 70% of blacks had voted yes on Proposition 8, and even though it wasn’t true the media ran with the idea of African Americans being homophobic. She then goes on to explain how the two oppressed groups should be supporting each other and shows documentary footage of African American LGBT activists gaining the support of the black community. She compares the Montgomery Bus Boycott with the Stonewall Inn raid that sparked the Gay Liberation Movement and ends with the fact that I found most interesting. Nelson Mandela, the revolutionary South African politician and philanthropist, not only led South Africa out of apartheid, but lead his country to become the first country to ban discrimination on based on sexual orientation in its constitution.

All this recent news and discussion about Freddie Gray, the continuation of Ferguson’s Protest, and the murder of Eric Garner is brought to a very ambiguous light in Rihanna’s new song “American Oxygen.” Now granted, she doesn’t directly cite these events in her lyrics–at least not obviously–but there is a clear distinction between the time of the song’s release and of recent events. Also, the music video itself presents pictures from the Ferguson protests, among other things in recent media. There’s been so much coverage and conversation about these protests and about these topics of police brutality and the outcome of future youth that it was only a matter of time before a major-standing artist like Rihanna wrote a song about it. Groundbreaking clips of history are featured in her song, such as Obama’s inauguration, Martin Luther King’s Selma to Montgomery march, 9/11, and the Black Power salute in the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Vanessa Rodriguez

Section 1, History 110, Group 3

The photograph above was not taken in the midst of a war, on the battlefield of some foreign nation; this photograph was taken in on a college campus in Ohio. On May 4th, 1970, the National Guard entered Kent State campus, and by the end of the day, four students were dead, and nine were injured. All of this was over a student protest against the Cambodia Campaign instilled by Nixon. This over-militarization by the state is not something unseen, however. Similarly, the streets of Ferguson, Missouri were recently thrown into a Police State by the authorities. Previously peaceful protesters, reactionary in nature, became violent in response to violent authorities. If we remember what Blum always drilled into us, that we are “haunted by history”, then we can agree that there are unfortunate similarities between Kent State and Ferguson, in which a Police State destroys a peaceful protest, risking the lives of all those involved.