Collage; A Mixing of Media, A Mixing of Culture

Today, I wanted our discussion to focus on digging a little deeper into different forms of expression. When I stopped in last week to check on the progress of the art panels, I was really excited to see how each of you were contributing to this project.

What’s cool about this project in particular is its collage format. In a way, we can look at this collage as a symbol of culture today. A collage is made up of different layers, images, textures, ideas, and images-it is a mixing of media. Culture, especially the American culture, is structured in a very similar way.  Our country has a rich history of immigration which has played a huge part in the development of our own culture.

Take Ellis Island, for example, a gateway for immigration in America. I’ve included a YouTube video, and while I’m sure you won’t have time to watch all of it in class, it is still worth checking out a few minutes, just to see the parallels, as well as differences, to today’s immigration issues.
Below I have included a poem by one of your classmates, Victoria.

What’s the Difference?
by Victoria Muñoz
Summit High School

There’s the school bus or a car
Taking me to school, free of charge
I learn without a care in the world
And I sit here saying I’m bored
But you’re over there walking miles to get to school

You learn because you want to renew
Renew crossing the border to save yourself
America is freedom and it’s not your fault that you need help
But your family can die or go to jail every coyote that they call
The hope and goal is to cross that wall

A scholarship or card can erase your chances of death
And coming to America with no worries can be kept
Is it harder for you to get a card?
‘Cause it takes me a month to get my passport and I can leave the U.S. and go so far

I’m an American citizen and don’t understand the joy of what that means
Immigrants aren’t aliens, they just want what we want, the American Dream
We take all this freedom and privilege for granted, when that’s what makes me, me
I’m a spoiled, middle class teenager that’s never had to work a day in my life
But that’s not what I see, I’m normal, as normal as they get

We have the right to fight for what we want, for what’s right
I want to fight for women, gays, and most importantly immigrant rights
They have the right to get paid as much as we do
They have the right to get a good education
They have the right to come to America
They have the right to opportunity and second chances
They should have the right to push for the American Dream
They’re just like you and me