Galilea Suarez Week 9: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Power.
Is it like when Harry Potter defeated Voldemort? Harry shoots green lasers of pure magic through his elder wand. Voldemort uses his wand's concentrated magic to defend himself from the attack. As we worry for our protagonist, we see the advancements of the green line as it creeps up on the Voldemort’s red stream.
Power.
Is it like when children tease and bully their classmates? A third-grade girl sits at lunch eating her taiwanese-style fried rice. Her mom worked hard to prepare food for her daughter, only for the child to reject her culture’s food all because a boy made fun of her. He called her lunch “weird” and said “ewww” while her friends laughed along- thinking it was funny.
Power.
Is it like when a person has an innate desire to give? A woman who came from nothing, who was lonely for the majority of her upbringing was still able to learn how to give. When she was building her empire she brought up companies like Harpo studios to empower girls with stories of Black women. Along with that she gave scholarships,
Power.
Is it like when the wealthy have the privilege to hire the best lawyers? A man born into generational wealth is allowed to suffer practically no punishment for crimes like sexual assault. A man who was convicted 25 years prior had to revisit his violations only to give up a small percentage of his wealth. A man who has defamed continuously, and still has the respect and loyalty of some people.
Power.
Is it like when an author is able to bring their reader to tears? That feeling when your heart races when it beats at a thousand beats per second. Absorbing every word while searching for one that would hint at the state of this character. You learn he is on his last breath; this information does not feel too painful, the pain feels tolerable. Then he talks about all of his regrets, you can imagine his tears, he then adds the deadliest line, “please don’t forget about me,” and suddenly you hear the ‘plat’ from your tears as it hits the page.
What is power?
Power is the ability to influence people or a situation. With this definition it would only mean that everyone has power, everyone has the ability to influence others. Just how I was bullied for my ethnic food, a third-grader had the power to alter the way I viewed my lunch. If I just had more confidence and security I could have easily flipped that narrative and shown him the favor and beauty that comes with that the dish. I would have been able to influence his opinion. “With great power holds great responsibility,” said aunt May. If it is so easy to sway others, we should always be aware of our actions along with understanding that we are never powerless.
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Hi Galilea! I loved how you described different examples of how power is being used in the world. Before reading all of your blog, I did not notice how influence had played into each situation, but after rereading it I have noticed it. In my blog, I talked about how power was focused the amount of money someone had like how you said a rich man can get away with no punishment despite committing a big crime. From my view, i feel that there are many aspects that affect power and influence and money are the two that I can currently think of due to how big of an impact they leave. With enough influence, you can change another's view. With enough money, you can get away with anything. Thank you for your blog!
ReplyDeleteHello Galilea. I really love the structure that you choose to do with your blog submission. The repetition of the word power which was used to distinguish different aspects of how power can present itself reminded me a bit of some stylistic poetry that utilizes that kind of repetitive breakdown. This leads into the next thing which I found to be a good way to engage with your audience. It was the way you almost always began your next section about power by asking a question. I felt like this, at least for me, made things feel more personal and I felt much more engaged with the text. But engaging was already quite easy because I really like the way you employed imagery in your blog. Especially for the writing one, I could vividly imagine reading a tragic story or the image of a hardworking woman finding the time to be charitable. All of these aspects made the blog engaging and I quite liked reading it. But going into the actual content of your article, I appreciate the fact that you focused on the miniscule interpersonal displays of power that can be seen in day to day life. I think there is a lot of value in appreciating the individual’s power and the step we take to take life back into our own hands—much like you did with reclaiming your food!
ReplyDeleteHello Galilea! This structuring that you've used within your blog submission was a genius idea. It is so refreshing and unique to see something that has been structured in such a way that does not feel like a ramble. The way you put power in front of every paragraph served sort of as a reminder to the reader so as to not lose focus of the whole topic, which I felt was really poetic and meaningful. Your use of vivid and descriptive imagery really brought the whole blog to life, and also allowed me, as a reader, to better visualize the different power dynamics that you discussed, and they were all so real and personal that it carried a very profound effect. Additionally, I noticed how each paragraph began with a question, and it sort of reminiscent of a child asking a parent about the dangerous world. And when you ended that last paragraph with the self reflecting question of "what is power," it felt really powerful that after so much deliberation of everything that goes on in our society and that you have faced personally, that you were able to put into words exactly what power is. That movement of answering your own questions was powerful. I would love to hear more about your thoughts on the Spiderman quote that we all know and love today, since you mentioned it at the end of your blog. Overall, nicely done, and I can't wait to read your future blogs!
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