Blog #8 Entry: Larry Heinemann and Jacob Lawrence

Larry Heinemann had a very tough life because he had to fight in the Vietnam War. His younger brother was also drafted into war the same time he was and they had some tough times, "He came back from Germany with a discharge in his hand on the same day I left for San Francisco. We had two hours in the kitchen to sit and talk...And I haven't seen my oldest brother since 1970" (416,420). I can't even imagine that because that must be horrible only being able to talk to your brothers that you haven't seen in years because of war, and only having 2 hours to talk to one of those brothers. I love my brother so much. He is the best brother in the entire world, and I couldn't imagine only being able to talk to him for 2 hours after not seeing him for years if we were in the same situation. That would be the worst possible situation to imagine. After Larry got back from war, he was very scared and ashamed, "When I got back here, I was scared and grateful and ashamed that I had lived, 'cause I started getting letters: So-and-so got hit, So-and-so burned to death" (417). I also couldn't even fathom that because getting letters from people you were close with in war and then finding out awful ways they died is just awful. Larry also got angry and stressed after Vietnam, "The one thing they teach about bus driving is that you're a public servant...Any asshole with a fare can give you shit and you have to sit there and take it. Anyone gave me an argument, I threw 'em off the bus...I was never that way before Vietnam" (417-18). Larry became very uptight, stressed, and fearful after the war, which resulted in him becoming an angry person.

Jacob Lawrence was a painter, "I sit here, I'm looking at my works, I'm reading, I'll go back to my drawing table, do some drawing. That's more or less of it" (521). Jacob worked constantly and was always trying to improve his artwork. He was a very tough worker. He is ashamed that nowadays, schools cut back on the arts (music, art, etc.) because the government needs to save money, "It's too bad we don't have more of that today--government support of the arts. In schools, the first programs cut back are music, dance, the arts. If we don't realize how much these things contribute to the quality of life, we'll lose it. I see these youngsters on the street, never exposed to this experience--they've lost it, their chance at life" (522,23). He shows how thankful he is and his classmates in art are that they had the resources to take part in the arts and find their true passion and occupation in life. He got to realize how much he loved art. If he never was able to experience the arts, then he might have never gotten to see his true talents in the arts and painting. He even said, "If it weren't for these federal programs, I probably would have been lost and drifting like so many young people were, without any sense of belonging. I dread to think what would have happened to me" (523). It illustrates how thankful he is for his resources and being able to take part in the amazing arts. He just feels sorry for those who ended up on the streets and couldn't have the same experience he had in the arts. He even said that he could have easily become one of those unfortunate kids who was on the streets without a sense of belonging. He is very religious and just thanks god for his amazing resources. He is just so thankful that he found what he is very skilled at and what he truly loves.

The American dream is to find what you truly have a passion for and go after what you want and love. Jacob just happened to be one of the fortunate ones that got to find his true love, but there were many other people who ended up on the streets without the same experience that Jacob had because they didn't have the same resources. Jacob did that and became a wonderful painter. However, Larry did not do what he truly loved because he never truly wanted to go to war, but he got drafted so he had to. He had some bad experience, but he served his country and was patriotic, so he was proud of himself and his brothers that also went to war.

Blog Entry #7: Dolores Dante, waitress and Phil Stallings, auto worker

Dolores Dante was a waitress at the same restaurant for 23 years and worked from 5:00PM-2:00AM. She became a waitress because she needed fast money to support her children; her husband left her and left her with debts. She wasn't like your average waitress. She liked being an interesting person by saying things in interesting ways to have more fun, "What's exciting at the bar that I can offer" (330). She also wasn't like the average waitress because she never over-stressed over her earnings, "If you like people, you aren't thinking of the tips. I never count my money at night. I always wait till morning. If I thought about my tips I'd be uptight. I never look at a tip" (331). If someone didn't know what to give her for her tip, she would just say, "...it didn't really matter whether I got a tip or not. I would spit it out, my resentment..." (331). This illustrates her character that life isn't all about money. She was just a happy person in general. She also enjoyed making conversation with her customers and making amusing comments to them.

Phil Stallings was an auto worker at the Ford assembly plant on the far South Side of Chicago. He works from 3:30PM-midnight. His job was very hard and had a lot of negatives, "I stand in one spot, about 2 or 3 feet area, all night. The only time a person stops is when the line stops. We do about 32 jobs per car, per unit. 48 units an hour, 8 hours a day. 32 times 48 times 8...That's how many times I push that button. The noise is very loud. You open your mouth and you're liable to get a mouthful of sparks. That's a burn, these are burns" (354-355).This exemplifies how terrible, difficult, and scary his job was. He could get sparks in his mouth, it was extremely loud (hurt your ears), and he got a lot of burns. There was also racial tension at the plant, "...there's tension here. It's not always obvious, but the whites stay with the whites and the coloreds stay with the coloreds" (356). I just think it is really too bad that everyone couldn't just get along, work, and socialize together. Phil and Dolores tried to achieve and grasp the American Dream by making enough money to support themselves and their loved ones and to succeed in society. Phil didn't love his job, but Dolores liked hers. Back then, there was a lot of racial discrimination, which was too bad. However, nowadays, there is a lot less racial discrimination. Therefore, things have improved over time, which is good. We just have to keep on improving society for everyone.

Blog Entry #6: Tom Kearney, cop and George Malley (a.k.a Henry Lorenz), blue-collar worker

Tom Kearney shows his hatred towards how some people are racist and wishes that everyone could live together in unison. He thinks that it is really too bad how colored people aren't treated fairly and are more likely to get arrested than white people. Something that I found interesting from reading his story was that how times of changed rapidly, like Catholics can marry Protestants and long ago, Catholics only married Catholics and Protestants only married Protestants, etc. Something else interesting was how he didn't look forward to retiring in two years, "Not particularly...I myself haven't done everything a man should do" (271, AR). I find it really sad that because his dad was a fireman, and he wasn't getting apid anything at one point because of the Great Depression, they didn't have food and went on hungry marches. It makes me really sad because his dad worked long hours and didn't get paid much and didn't get paid ay all at one point. Tom as a policeman worked from, "six thirty in the morning and wasn't released until five in the evening without any breaks and no lunch breaks" (262, AR). He also said back in his time there was tons of integration between blacks and whites, like in school and the streets, etc. He didn't really like it, but knew that he ahd to deal with it because it was a way of life back then. His father sent him to a public school and not a Catholic school he's going to have to get used to the inegration later in life, so he might as well get used to it now (early in his life).

Chester Kolar was a technician at an electronics plant and then started a program over a foreign language radio station. He was then celebrated in his community for doing it. He heard over the radio, "...so many people were killed" (273). He wanted to know what happened and why so amny people were getting killed in the war because he felt really bad. He was just happy that he ahd a radio, so he could know what was going on in the war because he didn't use to have that resource (having a radio). He was just having trouble providing for his family because he was a poor man trying to get "...his eight hours of work done to keep his family going, pay his rent, and buy his food..." (273, AR). The American dream for most people is to make ends meet which was really hard back then because of the Great Depression, which made the economy extremely bad and lowered jobs and employment. Everyone wants to make ends meet at least, try to make a lot of money, get a job, have a family, and bring food and water home for the family, have shelter to live under. The American dream is to also not have racial segregation, but back then it was almost impossible for that to happen because there was a lot of racial tension and segregation between blacks and whites. It was just a way of life back then, which was really sad because it was very unconstitutional and morally wrong.