LEFT TO TELL (IMMACULLE ILIBGIZA)

In 1994, the genocide that happened in Rwanda had slaughtered more than a million people of Tutsi ethnicity. Fortunately, there were a lot of people who escaped and survived to tell the story about the terrors. Immaculee Ilibgiza was one of the blessed women that survived the genocide. She wrote Left to Tell to depict the true story about her life when the massacres happened. She and seven other women were offered a bathroom that was four feet long and three feet wide by Pastor Murinzi which had hidden them from the extremists for nearly three months. The autobiography of Immaculee describes the terrors that these women had to experience. Moreover, it was also about the discovering of God’s power in Immaculee’s life. Left to Tell is an outstanding book that has powerful stories. There are two chapters in particular that are impactful. One chapter illustrates the importance of family and the other demonstrates the power of forgiveness. 

Before the genocide happened, Rwanda’s population was seven million that contained three ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. Hutu’s population was approximately 85%, while Tutsi’s population was only 14% and Twa was 1%. In the 1990s, the extremists of Hutu blamed the previous, oppressive Tutsi regime for the increasing of social, economic and political problems. As the result, when the Hutu gained power, they created propaganda of fear and hatred toward the Tutsi.

In April 6^th, 1994, when Rwanda President went to sign the peace treaty with the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), which is the Tutsi rebel group, his plane was shot down. The genocide immediately exploded because the Hutu extremists believed that the Tutsi rebel group deliberately assassinated the President. The extremists launched their plan to massacre the entire Tutsi population. The politicians, who were suspected of assassinating the President, were murdered first. 800,000 Tutsi’s and thousands of moderate Hutu’s were killed in 3 months. 250,000 to 500,000 women were raped and then murdered. The genocide ended when the Tutsi rebel group (RPF) defeated the government forces. Paul Kagame, the Tutsi rebel group leader became Rwandan President at the end of the holocaust. Moreover, many countries in the world, especially Western countries, felt shame because of their inaction and attitude toward the massacres. They knew the slaughters in Rwanda happened through news and agencies. However, they had decided to not intervene nor prevent the genocide. The genocide ended with more than a million corpses that were left behind and the sorrows of civilian that could hardly be erased. 

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza was a magnificent book that illustrated the terrors that all the Tutsi had experienced.  The feeling of losing hope, family and being hunted by the extremists had brought the readers into a world of sympathy and terror toward what had happened. The readers could feel the pain of Immaculee when she had to force her little brother Vianney and his friend Augustine out of the Pastor’s house and went into the chaos. “I worried that if Vianney left, I might never see anyone in my family again” (Immaculee, 68). Immaculee could predict that if she let her brother go, it would be that last time she saw her family member. She had the fear of being the last survivor of her family. That moment was heartbreaking for a lot of readers. It evoked the feeling of sympathy and reminded people about their family. Due to the fact that humans cannot predict the future, they cannot know what may happen to their family at any time. Chapter “Farewell to the boys” in Left to Tell by Immaculee does not only express her emotion toward her brother but also reminds people about the value of family, which could be lost at any time.

After the genocide, the hardest thing for the Tutsi was to learn how to forgive the Hutu, those who had murdered and slaughtered Tutsi families. However, Immaculee was successful in learning how to forgive those who had slaughtered her family. “Felicien had hunted me….Felicien was sobbing. I could feel his shame. He looked up at me for only a moment, but our eyes met. I reached out, touched his hand lightly, and quietly said what I’d come to say: “I forgive you”” (Immaculee, 204). That would be the hardest thing to say toward a murderer, especially the one who used to hunt and kill Tutsi families. However, Immaculee did it. She believed in God and his power of forgiveness. She found the peace in her soul by not seeking for revenge but forgiveness.  Chapter “Forgiving the living” reminds people about the power of forgiveness in life. In fact, humans do not easily forgive each other’s faults. They cannot let go the anger they hold in their heart.

In essence, Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza is an outstanding book that is not only depicted the terror of Rwanda genocide, but also remind the readers about the sympathy and the God’s power. Immaculee prayed to God almost 24 hours a day during the time she hide in the bathroom. She proved to the readers that as long as you believe and pray to God, he would response. The Immaculee’s story has impacted on more than million people in the world, including me.

Her stories have many meanings about life that humans need to learn. For instance, the chapter “Farewell to the boys” shows the importance of family that humans could lose at any time. Furthermore, the power of forgiveness in life is immeasurably valuable. It helps humans put down the sorrows that others create and brings peace to all.

VIETNAMESE FOLK MUSIC - AO MOI CA MAU (Singer: Phuong My Chi)

(link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsCK48kpaJo)

Folk music is one of the most popular music in Vietnam. Due to its beautiful and popularity, many people have chosen to pursue their career in the folk music area. One of the most spectacular singers is Phuong My Chi, who was considered one of the youngest singer in folk music. She is from the South of Vietnam and became famous through the reality television show named The Voice of Vietnam Kids in 2013. The folk music has become Vietnamese traditional music for centuries.

Phuong My Chi was born in January 13, 2003 in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City. She lives in a small house with her family which includes three generations- her grandparents, her parents and her cousins. My Chi’s dream is to become a singer to help her parents build a better house. Her career started when she was only six. One of Chi’s aunt accidentally heard My Chi’s beautiful voice when Chi sang karaoke. After that coincidence, she began to help My Chi in singing and practicing her voice.

In 2013, due to the courage of family, My Chi participated in the reality show named The Voice of Vietnam Kids with the song Que em mua nuoc lu (My country during the storm season). The judges were really impressed with her voice and surprised that she could sing folk music. One of the judges said that he was really surprised and happy that a ten year old child could sing Vietnamese folk music. He believed that My Chi would improve her career in the future. After the show, My Chi received 50 million Vietnam dong ($2,500 U.S dollars) for winning the second prize. She also received an International elementary school scholarship, which could help her receive a better education.

After the ceremony, My Chi continues on her career as a folk music singer and tried to be an outstanding student at the same time. One of her famous songs is Ao Moi Ca Mau, which was written by Thanh Son. The song portrayed the picture of the peace and the patriotic of people in Vietnam. Its melody reminds people of their family and their friends.

In essence, folk music has become a necessary part in daily life of Vietnamese. People listen to folk music to relax or reduce the daily stress. In my opinion, folk music is a beautiful traditional music that has an important impact on Vietnamese life. The theme of the music always surrounds the beauty of the country and its people. Moreover, it reminds Vietnamese about the patriotism and satisfaction of the soldiers, who had satisfied their lives for the peace and freedom of the country. Listening to folk music everyday makes me feel relax and reduce a lot of stress from school and daily life. Due to its melody, folk music has comforted my stressfulness and replaced it with a peaceful feeling. 

THE KISS (RODIN SCULPTURE)

The Kiss is an 1889 marble sculptor by the French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. The embracing sculpture is a part of Rodin's monumental bronze portal called The Gates of Hell, which commissioned for a planned museum of art in Paris. The original named of the sculpture was Francesca da Rimini, which based on a truth story about a noblewoman named Francesca, who fell in love with her brother-in-law. Soon, Francesca's husband discovered the truth and finally, he killed his wife and his brother. The lovers ‘lips did not touch in the sculpture, which represented for the immoral love, the love that was interrupted and led to the death without their lips ever touched.

Rodin decided to sculptor the lovers naked because he hoped the viewers would have raw emotion toward the sculpture and also about the love that he tried to depict. According to artble.com, Rodin himself described The Kiss as: "... a theme frequently treated in the academic tradition, a subject complete in itself and artificially isolated from the world surrounding it; it is a great ornament sculpted according to the usual formula and which focuses attention on the two personages instead of opening up vast horizons to daydreams." The way Rodin constructed the twisted between the man and the woman made the viewers felt the composition of energy and movement of the lovers.

The passion and the romance of the lovers were undeniable. Their faces were barely showed because of their engagement in their actions. In their eyes, it was only their partner and their love which nothing can separate. The embracement of the couple made the tragedy of their love greater. Rodin exposed the romantic and sensual theme through the movement and the figures of the sculpture. Although their figures are nude, Rodin’s skills as an artist had made the sculpture were rendered in a classical way and was not overly sexual.

Moreover, Rodin expected his statue would bring the believable feeling to the viewers. He designed many of his sculptures and the Kiss in a particular way, which helped the viewers see the statue from every angle. The artist created this and made a sculpture which is visually stimulating from 360 degrees, which dedicated the skills of Rodin. The contrast between the smooth skin of the lovers and the rough marble of the rock they are sitting on adds further sensual elements to this piece.

In essence, the Kiss was hailed as a masterpiece when it was first exhibited in Paris in 1877 and even today it is still one of the most well-known and admired pieces of sculpture in the world. In creating this piece Rodin drew his experience to capture the mood of a particular moment and managed to create a sense of sensuality and romance.

 SUMMARY INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCULPTURE 

• Alternative Names:
• Francesca da Rimini
• Date of Creation:
• 1889
• Height (cm):
• 181.50
• Length (cm):
• 112.30
• Width (cm):
• 117.00
• Medium:
• Stone
• Subject:
• Figure
• Assisted By:
• Ganier, Rigaud and Mathet
• Art Movement:
• Impressionism
• Created By:
• Auguste Rodin
• Current Location:
• Paris, France
• Displayed at:
• Musée Rodin
• Owner:
• Musée Rodin

MOVIE: BLACK OR WHITE – DISCRIMINATION

(Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZwN85UJqAQ)

Black or white is a 2014 American drama movie which is about a widowed man - Elliott Anderson, who just lose his wife from the car accident. Elliott has to take care of his granddaughter- Eloise and deals with his stressful after the death of his wife. He has problem with Eloise’s father, who was considered as the reason of Elliott’s daughter death. So when Eloise’s father and their family come visit and want to take away of Eloise, Elliot refuses. The movie portrays a picture of discrimination and how it effect a child who was born into biracial.

Sustained with the excellent performances from a cast led by Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer, it tells a personal story loosely based on true events in Mr. Binder’s own family history. Its characters, both black and white, want to transcend their differences and do the right thing

The focal character, Elliott Anderson (Mr. Costner), is a Santa Monica lawyer devastated by the death of his wife, Carol (Jennifer Ehle, seen in gauzy flashbacks), from a car accident. They were raising their biracial 7-year-old granddaughter, Eloise (Jillian Estell), whose mother died at 17 while giving birth.

The movie portrays Elliot as a sweet and gentle grandfather, who combs Eloise’s hair and drives her to an elite private school. Eloise’s black father, Reggie is a drifter and crack addict alienated from his family. This back story is parceled out very slowly. In another touched moment, Elliott hires Duvan, a young, extremely polite, multilingual West African math tutor, for Eloise.

In a remarkably vanity-free performance, Mr. Costner, 60, plays Elliott as a potbellied alcoholic wreck with a bad dye job who doesn’t go anywhere without a drink in his hand. Mr. Costner is entirely convincing as an angry drunk who in trying to drown the pain of his loss only fuels his rage and despair.

Elliott is blindsided when Reggie’s mother, Rowena Jeffers, with whom he has a warily cordial relationship, notices his erratic behavior and decides to sue for custody of Eloise. She hires her brother Jeremiah, a hotheaded lawyer who decides they should portray Elliott as a closet racist prone to using offensive epithets.

Rowena, who operates several small businesses, is the matriarch of a large extended family in the south Los Angeles County city of Compton. The movie jumps between Santa Monica, where Elliott lives in splendor with a full-time housekeeper, and Compton, where Rowena’s extended family spills onto the front porch. Except for the absent Reggie, the Jefferses are a happy, productive clan who play jazz together in Rowena’s big, homey living room.

Ms. Spencer turns the strict, truth-telling Rowena into a mighty force. As in “The Help,” her wide-eyed stare gives her the gravity of an all-seeing sage who doesn’t miss a trick and is not afraid to speak her mind. Although Rowena seldom sees Reggie, she hasn’t completely given up on him. Rowena may be a clichéd Earth Mother, but Ms. Spencer imbues her with a fierce severity.

When Reggie shows up, professing to be drug-free after years of addiction, Rowena and Jeremiah pressure him to join the custody battle. Mr. Holland’s fragile, guilt-stricken Reggie is the antithesis of a stereotypical street thug. Lacking the self-protective bravado of a bad boy, he is afraid to meet Eloise, and terrified of testifying in court.

The Compton shown in the movie isn’t the shoot-’em-up Wild West of gangsta rap lore. There is no sound of gunfire or visible police presence. By making the Jeffers household struggling but middle class, “Black or White” avoids addressing the extremes of poverty that are a root cause of crime and drug addiction. It wants to be a family drama, not a sociopolitical tract, and carefully steers around political potholes.

The movie is so wary of alienating audiences that only at the very end does it explode into violence. That blowup is a contrived, unsatisfying confrontation between Elliott and Reggie that is calculated to be releasing.

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURAL – HOLY NAME CATHEDRAL

Gothic Architecture is a style of design that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It developed from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. Many famous castles and churches were based on the Gothic Architecture such as Canterbury Cathedral in England, Arras town Hall in France and Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Holy Name Cathedral is located at 735 North State Street, Chicago. It is one of the most famous architectures of the Catholicism in Chicago, Illinois. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago and one of the largest Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States. Holy Name Cathedral is the replacement of the Cathedral of Saint Mary and the Church of Holy Name, which was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Furthermore, Holy Name Cathedral was built under the Gothic Architectural, which is one of the popular architecture styles during 19^th in England

The key characteristics of Gothic Architectural are varied. For instance, most of the buildings are grand and tall designs, which makes the building look height and grandeur. The vaulted ceiling utilized the technology of the pointed arch to spread force and weight from the upper floor. The arch provided people with the impress and height and elegance, due to its beauty and look like a castle. The Gothic Architectural was also improved from the medieval building, which was used to be dark and dingy because the windows were not big enough. Gothic Architectural emphasized the light, bright windows, and airy interiors, which transfer Gothic buildings into a more pleasant and majestic environment. Furthermore, many Gargoyles are used to decorate along the roofs and battlements. Those Gargoyles have practically purposes such as reducing the amount of rainwater that drops directly to the roof. Also, they are used to scare away the evil spirits or the ill-educated medieval peasants. Those statues make people feel save and protect.

Comparing between the Gothic Architecture and the Holy Name Cathedral, there are many characteristics were used in the Cathedral. The building is tall and grand are the first impression of the Holy Name Cathedral. There are numerous colorful windows that could provide lights and airy environment for visitors and people who come to masses. The vaulted ceilings are used to make the building look more elegance and grand space. Moreover, several of saint statues and the Catholicism simple are used in order to improve the beauty and sacred meaning for the church.

For essence, Holy Name Cathedral is one of the spectacular architects that was based on the Gothic Architecture. It is not only the seat of Archdiocese of Chicago but also a famous place for visitors and Catholicism and Christianity to come and worship their God. To me, Holy Name Cathedral has an important meaning to my faith. Before I got my Sacraments of Initiation, I was sent to this cathedral in order to get approval from the Archbishop of Chicago. My name was called with more than another hundred and we were all promises that we only believe in one God and being a loyalty follower. Additionally because of the Gothic Architecture, many visitors love to visit the building due to its antique.