"Making Whiteness Visible"

The movie that was shown in the LBJ teaching theater give me some sort of hope. "Making Whiteness Visible" was about white people being hurt by racism against races other than white. For example, a man in the movie had a step father who he loved greatly, but who happened to be black. And he had to live his life realizing that he was treated differently while with his step father. It hurt him deeply that people could not accept him having a black father. The movie and discussion afterward seemed to allow people to express their feelings and experiences with racism. It seems like although people are more open than they used to be about different races and people that look and act differently than them, there is still racism out there that needs to be fought. The issue of racism does not just affect those that take the ridicule, it also hurts those people that want to help to stop it but don't know how. That was a big issue in the movie, that white people wanted to help to end racism but couldn't figure out how.
Also, there was an underlying issue that a few audience members pointed out. That the movie was seen differently from different people. A white man stood up and explained that the movie he saw was vastly different that the movie a black women saw. Depending on your experiences, the movie affected you in different ways. This movie opened my eyes to the work that still needs to be done to end racism.

Religion in my past

When I growing up, my large family with 5 children would go to a Presbyterian church every week. We grew up thinking going to church was just something you did on Sundays because that was how it was. But as soon the oldest of us, my brother, was able to drive, my mom stopped going and then just us kids continued. We began to become very involved in the church as being kids and loved it. But as we began to grow into teenagers, we slowly began to be criticized about everything we did, if we missed a Sunday, anything. So, slowly, we started not going as much. Although, I always believed in God, the act of going to church just seemed unnecessary to me. I began to believe in God and that I was a christian, but did not believe in going to church and paying money "to God". Then, when people started noticing me and my siblings not going to church, somehow that made us non christian and not right.
We never really understood why people that used to treat us like true friends started treating us like there was something wrong with our hearts and we had been somehow corrupted by our mother that stopping going many years ago. Relieving this, i almost became mad, but i had to realize that this is how some people think and I was just going to have to live with it.

"Gus on the Front Porch"

In this picture, it shows Gus, obviously taking a break from his ramblings and relaxing on the porch. Probably watching children play in the yard in front of him, giving him that subtle smile on his face. His is scruffy faced, as usual, and wearing his white cowboys hat. His suspenders over his white shirt holding up his kaki pants over his old dirty cowboy boots with spurs on the backs. Leaned forward with his hands clasped, he is very interested in whatever is going on in front of him. Beside his right foot, there is a large whiskey bottle, showing that he is just relaxing on the porch. On the other side of him there is a stool for someone else to sit with Gus. The building he is sitting by you can tell is very old with the cracks in the wall and old wood floors with spaces in between the pieces of wood a small child's hand could fit in and get stuck. Through the open door next to Gus, you can see inside there is an old wooden chair facing the back of the room with a stripped blanket laying on the back of the chair. Gus fits in perfectly in this scene with his old whithered self taking a break by this old withered house.