Zero Hour mentions the fact that many of those who would become great musicians were young survivors of World War Two. Today, we hear music from artists who have been similarly changed by trauma, and more often than not, their music has an impact on us. Do you think that a person with an amazing inborn talent for music could ever have the same impact on our ears as a person who was a survivor of war or other trauma?

I'm not sure which would be better. It seems like a person with a talent for music would be a better musician, but would that person have the same...heart, if you will? Something to make the music just that much more expressive? What's the difference between a trained musician and one who expresses themselves solely through their own created works?

Also mentioned was the censorship imposed by Americans on post-war German music. After all that had happened during the war, do you think it was right that America decided to do this? I'm not sure. For one, it seems all well and good to try to keep a lid on overtly Nazi-supporting aspects of a half-ruined culture, but, after the war, Germany was occupied by at least four countries, reeling from the loss of their leader, and struggling to rebuild towns and cities destroyed by bombing. I'm not sure that they really had the power to make such threats--especially through music.

Section 6

(posted on the behalf of Amber Sherer by Erin Sells)
Section 6 was about honoring people who have passed and had a major influence on people. This section was entitled "This Man Shall Be Remembered". Some people who were honored were Satchell Paige a baseball player,Malcom X, Frederick Douglass. These were powerful men that should be honored. Also, in this section there are two poems about Harriet Tubman. One entitled "harriet" the other "Harriet Tubman". Why do you think the Harriet Tubman is mentioned in this section under "This Man Shall Be Remembered"?

In "harriet" other women are alluded to Isabell, Sojourner Truth, and a Grandmother. Both of these poems are powerful and gravitas. "Harriet Tubman" is split up into two sections #1 and #2. The first section is about the relationship between Harriet and her mother. "I think she knows the I live her life. What passes from the mother kills the child before death" The second section is about the struggle Harriet had being dark skinned and the pain society made dark skinned people feel.

The Question of Identity by Kristin Lattany

In this poem the speaker's identity, or race, is being questioned. She is recognized as French, from Bombay, Japanese, from Guadeloupe, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, and Pakistani. Even when she tells the people that she is American, that she is black, it is almost as if her words mean nothing because they still challenge her by asking her more questions about where she is from.

Something that I found very interesting was the last sentence of the poem.

They could paint
The martyrdom of living with a face
Whose only label was the human race.

When the speaker relates her ambiguity, as it relates to her race, to martyrdom it made the poem so much more powerful to me. I could tell how much this affected her. She was unable to convince anyone of where she was from and what race she was, and it was killing her inside. Personally, I can identify with this poem. I love that I am Dominican and German, but I often times get questioned about my ethnicity. Many times people do not believe that I am a Latina, mainly because I am so light skinned. I feel as though the situation is similar between me and the speaker.

In the speaker's third stanza, she describes fleeing through every boulevard and bar. While she is fleeing she is denying all the "dim, exotic lands" the people are accusing her of being from. She then packs up and runs away. How do you think this affects her, and others like her? Are you one of these people?