Respond to the Pitts article, "The Burden of Being First" here. Also reflect upon any instances of being first where you have some personal experience.
I think Pitt is right,that when you are "First" at something that you want to keep striving to be the best because you are setting an example for the people after you. I know this first hand because I am the first in my generation of my family not to have a kid young and to actually graduate and be accepted to college. It is an ispiration to set an example for the generation after me and show them that we do not have to take after our parents and that they will push us to do better then they can. Pitt was right that being "First" is a good thing and he also said it can be a hard thing but anything that is easy to do is not worth doing at all.
Pitt's article discuss' the pressure of being the first black. I do agree that there is a lot more pressur on that person. Especially since if he/she does screw up the next person will have a much harder time being elected (if that's the case) or accepted into what ever it is they are doing. However, i do not think it's fair to put that much pressure on people. i wish that as a people, we did not keep track of who is the first black, but spend more time acknowledging that person's accomplishment. So far i have not been the first to do anything; a failure:(
I think that the article "The Burden of Being First" was a decent article. It addressed many things of what it means to be the first black person to do something. However this article made me wonder about somethings it addressed. For example, in the article it talked about how Diahann Carroll betrayed the Black people of her time. Because I know on "The Cosby Show", Bill Cosby wanted to betray the black American family as one way. However one of the actresses who was his daughter in the show did something that really did not help the betrayal of black females. In my family I am not the first to go to college but I am the first to go to somewhere besides HACC. Out of all my sisters I am the first to not pursue nursing. I am also the first to not get a tattoo out of all my sisters.
Being the first in anything is very stressful alone and it requires extra time inorder to produce perfection and have everyone paraise you for being the first at doing whatever it is. For example Obama and Robinson had to lose their identity and become as perfect as they could become and not announce or do what they would've liked to because everyone would judge them so heavily and simply ruin the chance for the second of that race to do something. Personaly, I'm not the first to do something in my family. I'm the first female to go away to college and get involved in politics. However, I'm not like any of the older women in my family. They cook and clean and take care of the house stuff very well. I on the other hand, don't enjoy doing things of that nature...I'd rather read a book or research.
I think the literal burden of being first is a heavy burden to carry. The burden of being first is hard because people sometimes do not respong well to what they do not recognize and what they do not know. Unfortunately, if people are put in a situation where no one else is been, it is always tough to blaze that first trail; always. Sometimes in the end it works out for the best but once in a while, the situation goes downhill and won't come back up. When people see someone they can relate to blaze a trail for the better of them and themselves. If it wasn't for Jackie Robinson, I know for a fact that I wouldn't be the person I am today because baseball is an extremely big part of my life. I love baseball and without Jackie Robinson, I most likely wouldn't be playin.
After reading this article I concern more to talk about my own experience of having burden of being first in my previous school. Though there were smart students in my class, however I used to stood first in the class.It is kind of weired that how I feel burden being first in the class but infact it does. The burden is that you can't think about other things that that of reading and being first. There still well be kind of fear in your mind that, whether other would take your spot. But if you are not a first in the class or any other things, you don't have to worry about that and indeed you will not have any burden. But if you are spoting the first position, you will think of your prestise and your personality in the respective field. Similarly the same experience happen in my life in my school and I never think about other things than that of reading because I used to concern about whether I could lose my spot.
I think Pitt is right,that when you are "First" at something that you want to keep striving to be the best because you are setting an example for the people after you. I know this first hand because I am the first in my generation of my family not to have a kid young and to actually graduate and be accepted to college. It is an ispiration to set an example for the generation after me and show them that we do not have to take after our parents and that they will push us to do better then they can. Pitt was right that being "First" is a good thing and he also said it can be a hard thing but anything that is easy to do is not worth doing at all.
ReplyDeletePitt's article discuss' the pressure of being the first black. I do agree that there is a lot more pressur on that person. Especially since if he/she does screw up the next person will have a much harder time being elected (if that's the case) or accepted into what ever it is they are doing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, i do not think it's fair to put that much pressure on people. i wish that as a people, we did not keep track of who is the first black, but spend more time acknowledging that person's accomplishment.
So far i have not been the first to do anything; a failure:(
I think that the article "The Burden of Being First" was a decent article. It addressed many things of what it means to be the first black person to do something. However this article made me wonder about somethings it addressed. For example, in the article it talked about how Diahann Carroll betrayed the Black people of her time. Because I know on "The Cosby Show", Bill Cosby wanted to betray the black American family as one way. However one of the actresses who was his daughter in the show did something that really did not help the betrayal of black females. In my family I am not the first to go to college but I am the first to go to somewhere besides HACC. Out of all my sisters I am the first to not pursue nursing. I am also the first to not get a tattoo out of all my sisters.
ReplyDeleteBeing the first in anything is very stressful alone and it requires extra time inorder to produce perfection and have everyone paraise you for being the first at doing whatever it is. For example Obama and Robinson had to lose their identity and become as perfect as they could become and not announce or do what they would've liked to because everyone would judge them so heavily and simply ruin the chance for the second of that race to do something. Personaly, I'm not the first to do something in my family. I'm the first female to go away to college and get involved in politics. However, I'm not like any of the older women in my family. They cook and clean and take care of the house stuff very well. I on the other hand, don't enjoy doing things of that nature...I'd rather read a book or research.
ReplyDeleteI think the literal burden of being first is a heavy burden to carry. The burden of being first is hard because people sometimes do not respong well to what they do not recognize and what they do not know. Unfortunately, if people are put in a situation where no one else is been, it is always tough to blaze that first trail; always. Sometimes in the end it works out for the best but once in a while, the situation goes downhill and won't come back up. When people see someone they can relate to blaze a trail for the better of them and themselves. If it wasn't for Jackie Robinson, I know for a fact that I wouldn't be the person I am today because baseball is an extremely big part of my life. I love baseball and without Jackie Robinson, I most likely wouldn't be playin.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I concern more to talk about my own experience of having burden of being first in my previous school. Though there were smart students in my class, however I used to stood first in the class.It is kind of weired that how I feel burden being first in the class but infact it does. The burden is that you can't think about other things that that of reading and being first. There still well be kind of fear in your mind that, whether other would take your spot. But if you are not a first in the class or any other things, you don't have to worry about that and indeed you will not have any burden. But if you are spoting the first position, you will think of your prestise and your personality in the respective field. Similarly the same experience happen in my life in my school and I never think about other things than that of reading because I used to concern about whether I could lose my spot.
ReplyDelete