Hello everyone. Welcome or welcome back to “In the key of E.” This past week was busier than I care to admit. That being said, now I get to rant all about it.
Weekly recap
This week was crazy. How I’m still staying afloat, I have no idea. That being said, here I am sitting cozied up in my bed with a candle lit, ready to recap it to all of you. Let’s get started.
Starting off on Monday, I had two classes. Following those, I had two interviews around town for a couple of the stories I’m working on. One of which was for a big journalism class project due this past Friday. My day wrapped with the live news hour for Blugold Radio Monday.
Tuesday was hectic, to say the least. I had three classes, one of which I had to miss. The excuse for missing, in my opinion, was valid. Long story short, a source I reached out to for my project happened to be the faculty advisor for Memorial High School’s new newspaper, The Talon. She asked me to go speak to the students.
It was a really great experience. Each of them asked me a bunch of questions, and it was really exciting to be in a room full of people who I could tell were really interested in making their paper happen.
Following this, I had a couple of interviews with some students. Later that day, I had a radio meeting and a Spectator meeting, both of which went well.
Wednesday was what I’d consider to be my calm day. I had class and then went home to nap and do homework.
Thursday I started really working on transcribing pieces of the interviews I did for my journalism project, as well as writing most of it out. I also had two classes, but those were honestly an afterthought. All that was on my mind was the project.
Friday morning I had two interviews for stories for The Spectator. I then had class. Once home, I worked on my journalism project for more hours than I’d like to admit. Afterward, I rewarded myself with a burrito.
From me to you
At first, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to talk about in this section. Then, I watched a documentary called “13th.” Technically, it was for an assignment, but nonetheless, I walked away enlightened.
The title comes from the Thirteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1865 and abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the U.S. It, as the documentary puts it, “grants freedom to all Americans.”
An exception of this amendment lies within a clause. Imprisonment can be used legally as a punishment for crime. Before watching this, I had no idea the legality of imprisonment came from this amendment, so it was interesting to learn.
The documentary touches on the history of the culmination of the criminalization of Black people and the militarization of the police that is now visible in today’s society.
I was definitely familiar with the Crime Act of 1994, which it touched on. Specifically, its expansion of prison systems and police. I, at one point not that long ago, read something regarding the fact that the police and the police system are modern day personifications of things like the slave patrol.
It really does make me wonder whether it was ever really about keeping communities safe or controlling people in marginalized groups.
I think, more than anything else I learned while watching this documentary, I could not believe how much money is involved with the prison systems. Specifically, their ties to the outside world. The idea that companies who invest their efforts, specifically their money, in prison systems only keep making money as long as people are behind bars is strange to think about.
Overall, I highly recommend this documentary to anyone reading.
Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T.
Reading: “My Life With Words” by Barbara F. Luebke, “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert and “City of Ashes” by Cassandra Clare.
I had no time to read this week whatsoever. Part of me wants to see if I can finish all three of these over Thanksgiving, but don’t count on it.
Eating: Stuffed peppers.
I made these a couple of weeks ago and have been craving them ever since. They were, if you must know, even better than the first time.
Playing: “Haunted House” by Holly Humberstone, “What’s It Gonna Take To Break Your Heart?” and “Cleats” by FINNEAS and “Ribs” by Lorde.
I love these songs so much. Go give them a listen.
Obsessing: All of my school work.
Enough said.
Recommending: Take breaks.
With as much studying as I’ve done in the past couple of days, I’ve found it really beneficial to take around a 15-minute break every hour to give my mind a little breather.
Treating: Visits to coffee shops.
I spent four hours at a coffee shop today catching up on notes for a class. My hand still hurts. To make matters worse, the matcha I ordered wasn’t even that good.
That’s it for this week, thank you for being here. Sending love to everyone reading.
-E.
Braun can be reached at [email protected].
