NADIA DOUGLAS
ENG 1121 SECTION E106
PROFESSOR: SCHMERLER
5/20/2019
AVENUES TO FREEDOM
According to the Internet, Freedom is “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one feels without hindrance or restraint.” Also, state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.
Coming from one type of life to another, life can be phased in different ways. Life itself is filled with varying situations. One can face these situations at any given point in their life which would require them to make decisions. Decision is conclusion or resolution someone makes after considering a situation.
We all have to make decisions in our lives that might be tough or easy. Some people make decisions that can make them or break them. In other words, it can either cause a person to become important in life, or it can cost a person his or her life. As I look at the word freedom and studied its meaning, these words; self-determination, independence, self-government, liberty, and emancipated, gave me a clearer understanding of why some of our activists that made history.
Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for one thing that was common, and that is “Freedom”. They believed in equal human rights among races in America. Malcom X had his own way of fighting for that freedom. He challenged the mainstream civil-rights movement, which sparked hate between him and others which developed into a violence. On the other hand, Martin Luther King used the strategy of non-violence and boycotts in order to get equality among races.
Going back even further in our history, Frederick Douglass had one thing in common with Malcom- X which was educating himself through reading and writing. Motivation is the reason one has the desire for acting or behaving in a particular way. Also, the general desire or willingness of someone to do something. Both, Malcom X and Frederick Douglas had a rough start in the early part of their lives. They did not let that prevent them from achieving their goals in life.
Confinement can be both mental and physical because it deals with the present state a person is in. This state could be mental or physical. As I read the article on Malcom X, I understood that he was in a state of confinement mentally and physically. He was imprisoned, so at is a state of confinement. No freedom to do as he might have wanted to, no freedom to go where he might have liked to go and no freedom to maybe speak the way he wanted to speak.
On the other hand, Malcom X found strength and freedom in reading books. In books, he found a new life because he learned so much that a brand new world began to open up before his eyes. While being confined to a jail cell for most hours daily, Malcom X, became fascinated with learning all he could. He kept reading and educating himself.
After reading this article about Malcom X, I felt encouraged and motivated by it. I was really motivated by this article. A few years ago, I read a short story about Malcom X, this article covered one of the main parts of his life. I asked myself,’ have I ever self-taught myself anything in my life?’ The answer to this question is “Yes”. Learning to play the Steel Pan. The steel pan is a National instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. This instrument can be easy for some and difficult for others.
I was taught the basics, I played with some small musical steel-bands, and even had some private lessons; but little did I know, that one day I would be arranging songs all by myself, and play them at small functions. Also, remember that someone was having a function and wanted the steel pan music to be a part of this function. They asked me to listen to two songs from a CD and arrange the music for these two particular song, to play at this function as a tribute to the person that was being honored.
I listened and listened to the music, over and over and practiced the sounds over and over, until I got the final product of what I was working on. In addition, give the give music notes to another friend that helped back me up for this event. This made me proud. I felt a sense of achievement. Looking back, I did not know that I could have actually accomplished what I did all by myself. I felt free. This feeling of happiness is freedom.
There are some things in life that seem simple for others while on the other hand these same things appear difficult might be difficult for others. As for me, even if I accomplished playing the steel pan, there are still many who are greater in arranging music and distributing music to different sections of a steel band. A full steel band can have about seven sections. The names of these sections are: Tenors, Double Tenors, Double Seconds, Guitar, Cello, Tenor Bass, and Bass. I played the Tenor pan. Playing some of these pans for some sections can be difficult.
For me, playing a Tenor pan is not difficult, but can become difficult according to the amount of music that must be learned in a short space of time. Also, for competitions like Panorama, the steel bands usually play at a certain speed, and tempo to get the sound the arranger wants to hear. This is when it becomes a difficult thing to do. Trying out different things is something I enjoy doing. Challenging myself by trying, out things even if a task seems difficult is worth the effort.
