Roots

Today in class we began our lesson by talking about hiking and going to many different places, the gear you had to take, and how to be prepared. Mr. Rease started by showing us pictures of him and his family hiking in many different states. It was great to learn about because most of the kids from my class have barely been outside of Alabama. He then went on to ask us the question “ What do you consider your roots to be?”. I know that my roots are African because that’s where my family descends from. We discussed the process of taking your DNA and sending it to labs where they can find out where your family from before was. We defined race, nationality, and ethnicity. When we were given the definitions they all made sense because most people get them mixed up when it comes to the color of your skin, where you were born, and the social group you belong to. This all led into reading a poem by Langston Hughes titled “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. The poem was written to tell about the long history of the black race. The class read and analyzed each line of the poem, and then we made our own line relating to modern day. I enjoyed myself in class today because Mr. Rease discussed many topics that the entire class could relate to. I can’t wait to see what I will learn new tomorrow.