One of the great things about social media is that we now have access to the world by the click of a button. Be it a remote control, a smartphone, or a computer, nothing is left secret these days. That being said, the Census Bureau, after gathering information from around the country between 2005-2009, organized their findings and released them to the public. Since there are so many statistics and it's often difficult to sift through all the data, the New York Times put together a really simple interactive program where you can see the demographics in your own community.
Here, you can see the racial breakdowns in your neighborhood, view the average income in yours and surrounding communities, view the average amount of education received, and much more! I looked at my community, and my findings were shocking. Coming from Baltimore, I knew that there is a large Black population in surrounding neighborhoods. What I didn't realize what how segregated my community is from them. This interactive map, which pixalates (not a real word, sorry) the results really opened my eyes to my community, and hopefully it'll do the same to you.
Check it out! http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer?ref=us
See what your neighborhood is really like!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Osama bin WHO??
A recent article in The Atlantic states that many teens are unaware of who Osama bin Laden is, and what his role was in the September 11th attacks in 2001. The article goes on to suggest the initial reactions: how can that be? The education system has failed the students! But it then offers a different angle. It argues that perhaps these teens, who were young children at the time of the 9/11 attacks, have been spared a looming fear that the rest of us have had to live with since that terrible day.
On the one hand, I understand why technically the youth today don't feel as strongly about the threat of terrorism in our midst and don't really know who bin Laden was and what he represented. They were, after all, children. It's impossible for them to feel the way a witness to the attacks felt or even just an individual who's old enough to understand and appreciate what happened. However, it's our job, as the survivors and witnesses, to educate our youth on the threats we face in the world. We must strengthen our foundation and our beliefs in order to become proud patriots, so we can announce to the world that no one messes with our country. We must instill in them a sense of reality - we have enemies, and it is our duty to live our lives with our heads up, showing that we will not weaken.
To read the complete article, check out: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/omigod-who-is-osama-bin-whatevs/238529/
On the one hand, I understand why technically the youth today don't feel as strongly about the threat of terrorism in our midst and don't really know who bin Laden was and what he represented. They were, after all, children. It's impossible for them to feel the way a witness to the attacks felt or even just an individual who's old enough to understand and appreciate what happened. However, it's our job, as the survivors and witnesses, to educate our youth on the threats we face in the world. We must strengthen our foundation and our beliefs in order to become proud patriots, so we can announce to the world that no one messes with our country. We must instill in them a sense of reality - we have enemies, and it is our duty to live our lives with our heads up, showing that we will not weaken.
To read the complete article, check out: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/omigod-who-is-osama-bin-whatevs/238529/
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