This I Believe...

"What I know," Jack says, "is that America is not so open. People like you and me can only do what is necessary. We are not the ones who have the choices." Much of our discussion about Native Speaker centered on the issue of how open is toward immigrants--not just Asian immigrants, but immigrants of all ethnicities. I want you to listen to these two essays in which former Secretary of State Colin Powell and the late Jackie Robinson, the first African American player to break into Major League Baseball, share their own beliefs about the openness of Aemerican society (we will discuss these in class on Monday).

Here's the link for Powell's essay. Click on the "Listen" icon at the top to listen to him reading it. And here's the link for Jackie Robinson's. Again, click on "Listen" to hear him reading it (so cool!).

The basic premise of the NPR This I Believe sereis is that people write 500-word essays in which they "discuss the core values that guide their daily lives." Use the two essays you hear (and any others on the website that interest you) as inspiration to write your own "This I Believe" essay, roughly 500 words long. It's a fairly open-ended assignment, and you shouldn't feel obligated to relate it back to immigrants or your view of America per se. What you SHOULD write about is that which is most important to you--those deeply held convictions that make you the person you are.

By midnight this Sunday, April 9th, I'd like you to post your "This I Believe" essay on the blog. I'd also like you, by the next day (midnight on Monday), to read the ones your classmates wrote. Pick at least one to comment on--a thoughtful response in which you either agree or respectfully take issue with some point the author is making. It's okay if not every entry gets commented on; just comment on the one you find the most moving or the most thought-provoking.

If you're at least eighteen years old, you can submit your essay to the NPR website, and if it gets accepted they'll post it on their web page or even ask you to record it for a future radio broadcast. Which would be pretty neat.