"It Is Not Power That Corrupts, But Fear": Aung San Suu Kyi

http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2010/11/14/1225953/409296-aung-san-suu-kyi.jpg

I chose this picture because wearing these t-shirts in Burma is incredibly dangerous, so this shows their commitment.

A few weeks ago, Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest after 17 years. Everyone is celebrating her release, because now she can more actively lead the campaign against the corrupt military junta that rules Burma. Despite her long term imprisonment, Aung San Suu Kyi is more concerned for the other prisoners who are under much worse terms than she is, which is a remarkably selfless thing to do, considering the length of her sentence.

I think it is an almost unanimous decision across the world that Aung San Suu Kyi is a heroine. She selflessly stands up against the junta, even though by doing so, she could earn herself another, longer sentence (although "earn" is completely figurative). I say almost, because, for one, the Burmese government is quite obviously against her. Also, some have been critical saying that her rigidity is holding the pro-democracy party back. I completely disagree. Aung San Suu Kyi has made impossibly hard decisions regarding her family, and her people.

Aung San Suu Kyi values all people who want to do right in this world. She values peace, liberty, and a just system of law. She inspires normal people to stand up and say "This isn't right". She has made so many sacrifices for her people. Not being able to see her dying husband, not seeing her children for years; the list goes on. When I think about it, I have never really had to make many difficult decisions in my life, and nothing compared to what she's done. She values everyone, and everything that is peaceful and just, has been an inspiration to us all, and will continue to be just that.

No Man Is An Island Response

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I chose this picture because it portrays that one man is spread across the world, connecting with everyone, and being "involved in mankind".

The poem "No Man Is An Island" by John Done goes like this:

"No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

I think the main idea of this poem is that all of mankind is connected, everyone is equally important, and if even one person dies out of the billions, part of mankind is wiped out.

The video is showing two famous cities, New York and Sydney, and is saying that the cities are made up of people, it's not just a place, everyone is important in making the city.

I think the video is connected with Aung Sang Suu Kyi's story because she is trying to show that people don't have the rights they need, and should have access to. Also, she is only one person, and she is making a difference.

The poem connects with Matt Harding's video, because Matt Harding is going around the world and dancing, and everywhere he goes, people join in, and this shows we are all the same at heart and we like to connect with each other. When I saw the video, I felt like joining in too, which just proves that we are all the same.

Poem Connections

The poem connects with Jesus Colon's story because they both ask what we do when presented with a difficult choice. James Berry (the poet) has to figure out what to do with a difference, while Jesus Colon's dilemma is to chose to help the woman, or leave her. It connects with The Island by talking about a difference: and what to do with it. When the man comes to the island, they chose the first choice of the poem ("do we stand and discuss it's oddity"), and finally the sixth choice: "we move around it in rage and enlist the rage of others".

Little Things Are Big Response

I think that, by not helping the woman and her children, Jesus Colon just put a label on black Puerto Ricans as untrustworthy, that they didn't stick to their word of honor, and an overall, enforced racism. He also presumed that every white person was prejudiced, even when they weren't. This labeling meant he thought that the woman would shout at him, or scream, or think he was trying to get close, so instead of helping the woman, he ran off. He regrets this decision, because the woman might not have been prejudiced, and might have said yes to his helping her. I think he made the wrong choice, because it couldn't have hurt to ask, and even if she did refuse, or scream, the only thing that would have been hurt was his feelings, and he would probably have forgotten it the next day. If Colon was a white American, my answer would have been the same, because it would have been even more likely that the woman would have accepted. The real victim of this story was the black society, because Colon's labeling meant that all the white people would label all the black people as untrustworthy. But now Colon has made amends for the incident by writing the short story. I think he hopes, somewhere, the white woman is reading it.