i can kind of relate to her. i have never grown up in a "ghetto" neighborhood, but i live in a mixed neighborhood near the city and black people were constantly telling me that i "act white". white people have also said this to me. ive attended private schools my entire life and thats something that im very grateful for because i was exposed to different people and cultures. im glad that i wont be another contribution to a racist, played out stereotype.
I like this piece because Allison makes me feel comfortable in my skin. People tell me a lot that I act too white and that I need to associate and learn more ways of black people, to become ?Ghetto?. But really there are many different ways of being African American. She puts a situation out there that I can relate to. She explains to listeners that African Americans can be intelligent people who do not act ghetto and use slang. Then she goes into saying that people think she acts Caucasian because she does not use slang, or act ghetto. Allison?s mother feels that her daughter should hang around black people. But Allison does not see it that way. She sees it for the more important things, that people should not have friends just for their race, but for their personality. The only thing that the piece is missing is energy; the piece needs music and another tone of voice. But the piece still remains good.
Allison Jones story is so powerful beacuse it is not the words of experts in the halls of universities, but the voice of a person who grew up in the other America. It will take stories like these, personal, real and sincere to help awaken Americans to the crisis we face as we try to provide the standard of living that all people deserve.
Being from a predominantly white neighborhood myself, I have often struggled with what being black meant. Like the author of the story expresses, its often hard for those who don't act "black" to fit in with other black students or trying to fulfill familiar expectations to be a model black person and the authority on certain issues. I think that the author beautifully expressed this and her desire to just be herself and not have to be attached to her race.
What is it like to be black? And what is it like to be black in your teen years. We get great insight in this first-person essay from Allison Jones for WNYC's oustanding Radio Rookies program.
This essay has a good narrative to keep the listener engaged and is well produced with a good use of sound. The writing is conversational and doesn't sound overly-scripted.
We need more of these types of pieces on public radio. In this essay, Allison is authentic, and provides more insight for listeners than a shorter commentary or a story on a study or a social-program profile.
This piece provides insight into a central dilemma that faces our society. How to address that "nihilism" without condoning or simply taking a moralistic detachment from the problem of the disenfranchised black urban youth. It is a strong expression of individualism but the larger situation addressed is truely ambiguous and that might have been better expressed in the conclusion.
Comments for Being Black
Produced by Reported by Allison Jones, Produced by Czerina Patel with assistance from Jamie York
Other pieces by Radio Rookies
Rating Summary
6 comments
Ashley yelhsa
Posted on June 27, 2007 at 07:00 AM | Permalink
Review of Being Black
i can kind of relate to her. i have never grown up in a "ghetto" neighborhood, but i live in a mixed neighborhood near the city and black people were constantly telling me that i "act white". white people have also said this to me. ive attended private schools my entire life and thats something that im very grateful for because i was exposed to different people and cultures. im glad that i wont be another contribution to a racist, played out stereotype.
Kwabena Adomako Amankwah
Posted on June 25, 2007 at 01:31 PM | Permalink
Review of Being Black
Being Black
I like this piece because Allison makes me feel comfortable in my skin. People tell me a lot that I act too white and that I need to associate and learn more ways of black people, to become ?Ghetto?. But really there are many different ways of being African American. She puts a situation out there that I can relate to. She explains to listeners that African Americans can be intelligent people who do not act ghetto and use slang. Then she goes into saying that people think she acts Caucasian because she does not use slang, or act ghetto. Allison?s mother feels that her daughter should hang around black people. But Allison does not see it that way. She sees it for the more important things, that people should not have friends just for their race, but for their personality. The only thing that the piece is missing is energy; the piece needs music and another tone of voice. But the piece still remains good.
-Adomako
David Weinberg
Posted on May 22, 2007 at 11:09 AM | Permalink
Review of Being Black
Allison Jones story is so powerful beacuse it is not the words of experts in the halls of universities, but the voice of a person who grew up in the other America. It will take stories like these, personal, real and sincere to help awaken Americans to the crisis we face as we try to provide the standard of living that all people deserve.
natalia brown
Posted on February 10, 2007 at 09:55 AM | Permalink
Review of Being Black
Being from a predominantly white neighborhood myself, I have often struggled with what being black meant. Like the author of the story expresses, its often hard for those who don't act "black" to fit in with other black students or trying to fulfill familiar expectations to be a model black person and the authority on certain issues. I think that the author beautifully expressed this and her desire to just be herself and not have to be attached to her race.
Arvid Hokanson
Posted on January 18, 2007 at 06:52 AM | Permalink
Review of Being Black
What is it like to be black? And what is it like to be black in your teen years. We get great insight in this first-person essay from Allison Jones for WNYC's oustanding Radio Rookies program.
This essay has a good narrative to keep the listener engaged and is well produced with a good use of sound. The writing is conversational and doesn't sound overly-scripted.
We need more of these types of pieces on public radio. In this essay, Allison is authentic, and provides more insight for listeners than a shorter commentary or a story on a study or a social-program profile.
This is a great fit in any news magazine.
Bill Kappel
Posted on December 24, 2006 at 02:47 PM | Permalink
Review of Being Black
This piece provides insight into a central dilemma that faces our society. How to address that "nihilism" without condoning or simply taking a moralistic detachment from the problem of the disenfranchised black urban youth. It is a strong expression of individualism but the larger situation addressed is truely ambiguous and that might have been better expressed in the conclusion.