Occupy Movement

Rivera's mural captures what is going on with the occupy movement today. To me, The top painting shows the busy city of New York with the people in it going about their everyday lives who have jobs just like any other city, even San Francisco and Oakland. The middle painting is the one that can get a little depressing if you really can take a stab what the meaning can really be. People are jobless and are in economic turmoil. Where else can they sleep but in shelters or on the street? If you look at this painting you see not just a few bodies in a shelter but it is packed full of bodies of people resting. In the room there is a guard keeping watch which can symbolize a form of control over the people like the government who is in control of what seems like everything. Where as at the bottom of the painting, you see a bank with rich people investing their money in the bank when they could be helping by giving back to their community somehow. The people who are occupying the streets of New York, San Francisco, Oakland and many more are making a statement that is very similar to Rivera's mural because today there are people homeless and jobless like there was when the Great Depression took place. According to thegreatdepressioncauses.com, The unemployment rate in America had dropped from a high of 25% to 15%, largely due to the New Deal programs introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. The Great Depression began in 1929 and ended in 1941 when America prepared to enter World War II. That's a great deal of time and I believe today's situation is very similar to the Great Depression back then if not worse. Rivera's mural is a perfect portrait painted for what is happening in the world today.

My inspiration

The first time I was inspired was when I moved to San Francisco in 2010. I met a woman by the name of Geraldine who pushed me past my limits to better myself in everything I did. Geraldine always said you can't settle for what is good, you must strive to get the best. Follow your heart and fulfill your dreams. No one ever told me encouraging words like that. It made me really think about what it was to never settle for just the ok things in life and to always push myself to get the best. For example, I was three years out of high school with no college behind me, she always put "fire under my butt" to go with her to City College to take some general classes, which I found that I enjoyed. That is one of many of my goals is to have a college diploma and with Geraldine's help, I can reach that goal. A year ago, Geraldine came across a flyer, in big bold letters, it read YEAR UP BAY AREA. She did a little research about the program and knew that a have a love for the technology world. She said you better jump on this opportunity because not many have this kind of chance. So I researched more about the program and decided that Year Up was something I wanted to be apart of. In the past, I was always told I wouldn't amount to nothing. That I was nothing. That college shouldn't even be in my vocabulary. Today, I am something because I know I can contribute some way some how in this world. Each time I struggle I am asked who said life was easy? When you go through these troubles, that is what makes you stronger. Everyday I always keep in the back of my mind that I am getting stronger with all the trials and struggles I go through. I also remember that there is always someone else out there who has it a lot worse than me. I appreciate Geraldine and what she has instilled in my heart because it advice that will last a lifetime.