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Final Individual Work by Angie Figueroa
What have I learned from this course?
Throughout this course I have learned many things. One of the topics we’ve learned about in class that I really enjoyed learning about are Latino music artists such as Bad Bunny, Princess Nokia, and Selena Quintanilla since I am a big music lover. These are all people who shaped have Latino history, for example, I’ve learned that Bad Bunny and Princess Nokia break a lot of the gender stereotypes that are typically shamed in the Latino community. Videos like Yo Perreo Sola show Bad Bunny wearing a dress although the social norm is that “men aren’t supposed to be wearing feminine clothes”, so he challenged that statement. Even Selena, she broke those stereotypes by becoming a very successful woman in Tejano music that was mostly dominated by men at the time. I have even inserted a video I took when we learned about Selena Quintanilla in class because I was so excited for the class discussion we were going to have on her since I am a fan of her and her music.
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Response to La Guera, Cherrie Moraga
I related to this in a way because she talks about growing up with Spanish speaking parents while going to school where everyone speaks English and how she was basically responsible for helping her mother in which I did the same as well growing up. She even mentions not being properly taught Spanish she states “I picked up what I did learn from school and from over-heard snatches of conversation among my relatives and mother”, which was the same way I learned Spanish as well. Like Moraga’s mother, my mother is very hard-working as well and didn’t get the chance to go to college and just went straight to work. Moraga even mentions the internalized racism within the Latino community, that the lighter you are the better you are, which is something that still needs change today.
“Kimberle” Spotify Playlist
- 1-800-273-8255 is a song that talks about suicide awareness and the thought process of someone who is depressed and wants to kill themselves. In the beginning of this writing it is stated “She was asking me to keep her from killing herself. There was no method chosen yet—it could have been slashing her wrists, or lying down on the train tracks outside of town.”
- Count on Me is a song that talks about counting on somebody no matter what and they’ll always be there for you because they care about you. The narrator was aware of Kimberle’s financial and homeless situation and made the generous decision to take her in. In the text, it states “When I brought Kimberle to live with me she hadn’t replaced much of anything, and we emptied the Toyota in one trip. I gave her my futon to sleep on in the living room, surrendered a drawer in the dresser, pushed my clothes to one side of the closet”. It was nice of the narrator to make room and space for Kimberle which made Kimberle able to count on her.
- Cold Water is a song that talks about doing anything for someone and supporting them even though they are suffering in any kind of way which is what the narrator does for Kimberle since she knows she’s suicidal. In the text it states “It’s just that when she told me she needed to be stopped, I took it to mean she needed me to shelter her until she recovered, which I assumed would be soon. I thought, in fact, that I’d pretty much done my duty as a friend by bringing her home and feeding her a cherry-smoked ham sandwich”.
- Miss Independent is a song about a hardworking independent woman that has got her own going. It reminds me of the narrator because she is constantly doing things like working to provide for herself, Kimberle, and her family. She’s just always keeping herself busy no matter how exhausting it can be. In the text it states “I found myself drained after dealing with the temporarily house-bound Alfredo (who is her mother’s cat), whose pent-up frustrations tended to result in toppled chairs, broken picture frames, and a scattering of magazines and knickknacks. It felt like I had to piece my mother’s place back together every single night she was gone.”
Pandora’s Box & PBS
Pandora’s Box is a story about a Latino man who goes through a gender crisis. He begins to question his identity of who he is gender-wise. He meets a woman named Pandora who he often compared himself to and was jealous of, but for different reasons.He often caught himself looking at and admiring her body particularly. He then makes the decision to transitions into a woman. Throughout the story, he learns about the struggles of being a woman and that it is not easy, but difficult. For example, in the text, it states “The first noticeable disadvantage, beyond the constant ogling of
disgusting men with IQ’s the size of peas, was when I began to feel
something I had never felt before”. Later on in the story, she becomes comfortable in her new skin and learns to love herself as a woman. She also learns that women are way more than their bodies.
In this article by PBS “How entrepreneurs are designing a trans-inclusive future through clothing”, just by the title it clearly states that a company is planning on making clothes specifically for transgender people. In Pandora’s Box, the narrator had quite the struggle when it came time for looking for new clothes as a woman. For example, in the text, it states “On the way there, I realized I had forgotten to buy a handbag and I suddenly discovered that women’s clothes had no pockets in which to keep your wallet, your pen, your change, or your lipstick, the bare necessities of everyday life.” In this article, it states “Clothing can be a way for some trans people to address their gender dysphoria, described by the American Psychiatric Association as a “conflict” between a person’s assigned gender at birth and the gender with which they identify”, in which the narrator was definitely going through with her new body. If a brand like this was mentioned in the story, I believe she would’ve bought her clothes from there and felt more comfortable and confident.
Dulce Pinzon and Graciela Iturbide Photographs
This photograph that I found on the Dulce Pinzon website depicts a woman with brightly colored pink hair wearing a dress with stuffed animals on it while holding a naked baby. >>>>>>>
<<<< This photograph that I found on the Graciela Iturbide website depicts a mother who seems to have breastfed her daughter to sleep. Both pictures symbolize the importance of a mother’s love and how important it is for their kids. It in a way shows that woman are strong because it takes a lot of strength to give birth let alone continuing to raise the child. They are both carrying and raising the future.
“Mexican Heaven”
I would include the poem in my blog because it talks about culture and how important ones culture, in this case the Mexican community. The quote I wanted to share on page 44 states “tamales, tacos, tostadas, tortas, pozole, sopes, huaraches, menudo, horchata, jamaica, limonada, agua.” These are foods that are very common in Latino community, specifically Mexicans. Based on title “Mexican Heaven”, it is safe to assume that the author these foods and drinks would be prepared in Heaven for Mexicans. This represents culture to me because food can represent culture. I think what he’s trying to say is that when they depart from earth, their culture will never change. In the video, this woman explains how she still keeps making same Mexican recipes from many years ago to keep their tradition and culture alive.
Porcupine Love
Finally, things are taking a turn for the better. I've decided to officially quit my lame job and finally move to New Zealand. After conversing with Don Juan and seeking help from spirits, everything is leading me to go back to my one true love, Antenita. This time I will not let her go. After a 31 hour plane ride, I'm here. I get a glimpse of her at the airport, she has now let her hair grown out. She looks as beautiful as ever. I run up to her and kiss her, next thing you know when I open my eyes we are at our wedding. We are as happy as ever. I remember that time when I saw that sign at the coffee place that said "Loving Couple in Search of a Child to Adopt". Then it hit me, we're a loving married couple, why not have our own little bundle of joy. We came to an agreement and the next day we meet our little Emily. Once we laid eyes on her at the center, we knew she was the one. Although we can't have children of our own we love her just the same. I don't ever plan on leaving my girls.<3
Group #4
Blog #1
What Became of the Taino?
By: Angie Figueroa, Howard Liu Mo, Meleny Vargas
Writing by Angie Figueroa:
The Taino were indigenous people of the Caribbean who Christopher Columbus came across during his “explorations”. They treated him with nothing but kindness, unfortunately the same can’t be said about the way he treated them. The Taino people were actually very skilled and talented, for example in the article it states “Although the Taíno never developed a written language, they made exquisite pottery, wove intricate belts from dyed cotton and carved enigmatic images from wood, stone, shell and bone.” When Christopher Columbus arrived, things started to take a turn. When Spaniards removed men from villages to work in gold mines and colonial plantations it kept the Taíno from planting the crops. In the article it states “They began to starve; many thousands fell prey to smallpox, measles and other European diseases for which they had no immunity; some committed suicide to avoid subjugation; hundreds fell in fighting with the Spaniards, while untold numbers fled to remote regions beyond colonial control.” This led to a great downfall in the Taino community, therefore their culture was gone as well. In this article, they proceed to interview people who have a Taino family background and how they still try to keep in touch with their roots.
Drawings by Howard Liu Mo:
Blog #2
A Lower East Side
Writing by Angie Figueroa:
The tone of this poem is very passionate and intense. He was raised in the Lower Eastside of New York and throughout the poem he talks about his accounts of what he went through and dealt with there. Miguel goes in depth about the environment he was raised in and is not bothered by it, but embraces it instead. For example, in the poem it states “So here I am, look at me I stand proud as you can see pleased to be from the Lower East a street fighting man a problem of this land”. He states that he has been a thief and a junkie and that he’s done bad things, he hints to being in some kind of gang. He talks about the environment being filled with ” run away child police shooting wild . . .mother’s futile wails . . . pushers making sales . . . dope wheelers & cocaine dealers . . . smoking pot.” Despite the fact that this might all sound “bad”, he loves where he was raised. He says several times in his poem that when he passes away his only wish is that his ashes be scattered through the Lower East Side.
Drawing by Howard Liu Mo:
Recent Posts Across the Commons
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Anthony Pointer (He/Him) wrote a new post on the site Anthony Pointer 22 minutes ago
Observation of the Roblox Community on TwitchAnthony Pointer City College of New York ENGL 21002: Writing For Social Sciences C.Rodwell May 5th My observation will focus on the Twitch-based Roblox community fostering positive interactions between streamers and viewers, focusing on chat engagements and the present trolling happening within the game. Download through the app store whether on the iphone or android, any mobile device, Roblox is an online network that enables players to create and play games. It enables a highly interactive community to make games that allow everyone to participate. Admins create servers with different types of themes and games such as anime or russian roulette games. Whether it’ll be anime or russian roulette, they would promote it through streamers. As these content creators would provide gameplay and engage with the audience. This would allow them to immerse themselves with their chat. Moderators are the backbone for a streamer, this title is given to members of their community to enforce the rule with the chat of the streamer and their community, this way it allows less profanity and negativity in the community in which they have. Twitch and Roblox go hand-to-hand with each other, streams can allow competitive events with other streamers such as a tournament. Where other content creators would compete in certain servers for money. Within every roblox platform, there will be an objective in each game for the streamers to find out and/or overcome. This allows for the viewer to fill in with their engagement with the game to provide helpful pointers for the streamer. Through seeing the gameplay, the behavior and engagement with the community. With Moderates in chat to enforce rules and making sure there is no bullying and harassment in chat One streamer on twitch that was considered a Roblox streamer is an English streamer, Yora_uma. This streamer played different games on Roblox daily with his most recent one being Birb with a day involved in playing hiking to a mountain to fish out the caves while they climb higher. Observing him play with his friends to do tasks that would require multiple hands. He actively fosters a family friendly stream of just inviting everyone in chat to play with him in a positive environment. With moderators enforcing rules in his chat and giving warning to those who don’t follow it. Receiving a variety of punishments such as getting banned from his streamer or being a subscriber. My first finding, many Roblox games such as community based “Brookhaven” or “Adopt me”. Roblox moderators in the game enforce rules everyone is supposed to follow in chat such as giving warnings or timing out the user who violates the rules . The message would be no spamming, repeating messages excessively, no self-promotion, respect for others , no hate speech, bullying, or harassment. These messages on stream would be taken into account and be deleted if broken. Moderators are the security of the Roblox community. They actively set the tone for what is and isn’t allowed within the chats in-game. Giving the player a good time in the game to keep it a non-bullying and harassment. And without this, games would spiral into toxic and full chaos behavior. My second finding , A major disruption in popular Roblox games being stream snipers or trolls would join the games and disrupt everybody in the lobby. In certain games such as “Murder Mystery 2” or “Towers of hell”, stream snipers would use tactics of repeatedly killing the player, cheating and flooding the chat with insults. Yora_uma chats in-game would be flooded with accusations on players of the game, with killing the person repeatedly. The behavior is aggravating for the entire roblox community as the only way to fix it is to end the game or switch servers. Ruining the whole gaming experience for each player in the entire server. Which would cause the whole Roblox community to lobby within the game to focus their attention on them. Forcing alliance with one another to take down the threat by using reporting tools and enforcing moderators’ kicks. This third finding discusses how Roblox players would use “W”/ “L” or “brb” in chat to express a great accomplishment/victory. “W” , expressing a win or accomplishment, “L” being a loss or disappointment and “brb” (be right back). In a “Brookhaven” server player would type “W” dad after a player roleplaying a father figure in game would hand out items. Or in a competitive game spamming “L” representing the fall taken. Created a language to be an emotion expression using this language being an upstart trend to create a positive light on the game. Its lingo has people feeling connected to making new friends along the way on Roblox. Lastly, a powerful example of Roblox chat community building a public server for a birthday celebration. In Brookhaven, a user would say “it’s my birthday today” and a dozen flooded chat messages then “happy birthday” or “W starter pack”. The mood would have a more festive and celebration within the lobby to give chat to recognition of others and its emotional aspect to the community it has created. Where strangers digitally can be appreciated and felt seen as something bigger. Robux has currency within the game, this would buy you avatar ( Knight armor, skirts, etc), pets. It would be worn in the game as a cosmetic. Also within the game, there would be cheats to be brought which gave you abilities to use in game helping get through easier. As well as, you see it promoting the game on different platforms such as youtube, kick and that create trends that people would do in game. Which makes building large structures and more interactions. Finding roblox is a platform to find a safe haven to find, understand who can relate to you, and communicate so you learn how to have conversations about what is happening around that world. With Roblox expanding across the globe, with it having European, American, Chinese all interacting in multiple languages. Yet, even though there are no age restrictions within each of the games. Every Platform of games on Roblox is usually for ages of 18 and higher. This is because there can be explicit, grueling and blooding games not for young kids. Roblox survey over children engaged in the game in order to protect its users. Inappropriate language, content and behavior while in game. That would include chat filtering meaning filtering curse word and content, being the avatar used has to be fully clothed at all times. If one of these rules are broken, users are allowed to report the player for indecency activity. Roblox will notice these actions and ban the account of the player. This game allows for the parent to have secondary control over what the child can see. Being on the iphone, android and other mobile apps was just the start to it expanding on the electronic consoles. Such as Xbox one, PS4, PS5 allowing for party chat( essentially the same as a phone call on consoles) where users of Roblox enjoys games such as murder mystery, survival games, horror games.Within these games Robloxs, they would include codes that users could use to receive certain gifts in game as well as on the platform. Such as Robux, that would enable players to buy avatars. With the occurrence of currency, Roblox games including Adopt me!Blox Fruit and other players can purchase items of random rarity and use or trade these items with other players. That can be seen as gambling because even though most games are entailed for 18 and higher, younger players who know nothing about probability can gamble their money in order for the chance they receive a reward. Leading to family relationship problems with parents and kids, who don’t understand the value of money in-real life. To summarize, The Roblox community is a dynamic environment for streamers and viewers can have an enjoyable time to connect and engage with each other. Through friendly streamers such as Yora_uma creating a positive and friendly space that promotes inclusiveness. While overcoming the challenge of stream sniping and cheating, Roblox implements rules to an extent to keep it balanced for players . As well as, Twitch and Roblox being a safe and protected space for younger audiences. However, the knowledge of potential risk and schemes with the game. It also creates an environment to foster friendships across the globe while finding things that they enjoy and love within the world. Commentary I was mostly intrigued by how important moderators are with both the roblox and twitch community. They maintain order and are positive in chat and bring about structure and a welcoming environment. Teaching me about how to remain respectful in places I’m unfamiliar in and the action of accountability to not cause disruption. References Carter, M., & Hardwick, T. (2025, March 23). “Literally just child gambling”: what kids say about Roblox, lootboxes and money in online games. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/literally-just-child-gambling-what-kids-say-about-roblox-lootboxes-and-money-in-online-games-250387 Roblox. (n.d.). Britannica Kids. https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Roblox/632627 Twitch. (n.d.). Twitch: Interactive live streaming. Retrieved May 5, 2025, from https://www.twitch.tv/ Yoru_Uma – Twitch. (2025). Twitch. https://www.twitch.tv/yoru_uma . Anthony Pointer City College of New York ENGL 21002: Writing For Social Sciences C.Rodwell May 5th My observation will focus on the Twitch-based Roblox community fostering positive interactions between streamers and viewers, focusing on chat engagements and the present trolling happening within the game. Download through the app store whether on the iphone or android, any mobile device, Roblox is an online network that enables players to create and play games. It enables a highly interactive community to make games that allow everyone to participate. Admins create servers with different types of themes and games such as anime or russian roulette games. Whether it’ll be anime or russian roulette, they would promote it through streamers. As these content creators would provide gameplay and engage with the audience. This would allow them to immerse themselves with their chat. Moderators are the backbone for a streamer, this title is given to members of their community to enforce the rule with the chat of the streamer and their community, this way it allows less profanity and negativity in the community in which they have. Twitch and Roblox go hand-to-hand with each other, streams can allow competitive events with other streamers such as a tournament. Where other content creators would compete in certain servers for money. Within every roblox platform, there will be an objective in each game for the streamers to find out and/or overcome. This allows for the viewer to fill in with their engagement with the game to provide helpful pointers for the streamer. Through seeing the gameplay, the behavior and engagement with the community. With Moderates in chat to enforce rules and making sure there is no bullying and harassment in chat One streamer on twitch that was considered a Roblox streamer is an English streamer, Yora_uma. This streamer played different games on Roblox daily with his most recent one being Birb with a day involved in playing hiking to a mountain to fish out the caves while they climb higher. Observing him play with his friends to do tasks that would require multiple hands. He actively fosters a family friendly stream of just inviting everyone in chat to play with him in a positive environment. With moderators enforcing rules in his chat and giving warning to those who don’t follow it. Receiving a variety of punishments such as getting banned from his streamer or being a subscriber. My first finding, many Roblox games such as community based “Brookhaven” or “Adopt me”. Roblox moderators in the game enforce rules everyone is supposed to follow in chat such as giving warnings or timing out the user who violates the rules . The message would be no spamming, repeating messages excessively, no self-promotion, respect for others , no hate speech, bullying, or harassment. These messages on stream would be taken into account and be deleted if broken. Moderators are the security of the Roblox community. They actively set the tone for what is and isn’t allowed within the chats in-game. Giving the player a good time in the game to keep it a non-bullying and harassment. And without this, games would spiral into toxic and full chaos behavior. My second finding , A major disruption in popular Roblox games being stream snipers or trolls would join the games and disrupt everybody in the lobby. In certain games such as “Murder Mystery 2” or “Towers of hell”, stream snipers would use tactics of repeatedly killing the player, cheating and flooding the chat with insults. Yora_uma chats in-game would be flooded with accusations on players of the game, with killing the person repeatedly. The behavior is aggravating for the entire roblox community as the only way to fix it is to end the game or switch servers. Ruining the whole gaming experience for each player in the entire server. Which would cause the whole Roblox community to lobby within the game to focus their attention on them. Forcing alliance with one another to take down the threat by using reporting tools and enforcing moderators’ kicks. This third finding discusses how Roblox players would use “W”/ “L” or “brb” in chat to express a great accomplishment/victory. “W” , expressing a win or accomplishment, “L” being a loss or disappointment and “brb” (be right back). In a “Brookhaven” server player would type “W” dad after a player roleplaying a father figure in game would hand out items. Or in a competitive game spamming “L” representing the fall taken. Created a language to be an emotion expression using this language being an upstart trend to create a positive light on the game. Its lingo has people feeling connected to making new friends along the way on Roblox. Lastly, a powerful example of Roblox chat community building a public server for a birthday celebration. In Brookhaven, a user would say “it’s my birthday today” and a dozen flooded chat messages then “happy birthday” or “W starter pack”. The mood would have a more festive and celebration within the lobby to give chat to recognition of others and its emotional aspect to the community it has created. Where strangers digitally can be appreciated and felt seen as something bigger. Robux has currency within the game, this would buy you avatar ( Knight armor, skirts, etc), pets. It would be worn in the game as a cosmetic. Also within the game, there would be cheats to be brought which gave you abilities to use in game helping get through easier. As well as, you see it promoting the game on different platforms such as youtube, kick and that create trends that people would do in game. Which makes building large structures and more interactions. Finding roblox is a platform to find a safe haven to find, understand who can relate to you, and communicate so you learn how to have conversations about what is happening around that world. With Roblox expanding across the globe, with it having European, American, Chinese all interacting in multiple languages. Yet, even though there are no age restrictions within each of the games. Every Platform of games on Roblox is usually for ages of 18 and higher. This is because there can be explicit, grueling and blooding games not for young kids. Roblox survey over children engaged in the game in order to protect its users. Inappropriate language, content and behavior while in game. That would include chat filtering meaning filtering curse word and content, being the avatar used has to be fully clothed at all times. If one of these rules are broken, users are allowed to report the player for indecency activity. Roblox will notice these actions and ban the account of the player. This game allows for the parent to have secondary control over what the child can see. Being on the iphone, android and other mobile apps was just the start to it expanding on the electronic consoles. Such as Xbox one, PS4, PS5 allowing for party chat( essentially the same as a phone call on consoles) where users of Roblox enjoys games such as murder mystery, survival games, horror games.Within these games Robloxs, they would include codes that users could use to receive certain gifts in game as well as on the platform. Such as Robux, that would enable players to buy avatars. With the occurrence of currency, Roblox games including Adopt me!Blox Fruit and other players can purchase items of random rarity and use or trade these items with other players. That can be seen as gambling because even though most games are entailed for 18 and higher, younger players who know nothing about probability can gamble their money in order for the chance they receive a reward. Leading to family relationship problems with parents and kids, who don’t understand the value of money in-real life. To summarize, The Roblox community is a dynamic environment for streamers and viewers can have an enjoyable time to connect and engage with each other. Through friendly streamers such as Yora_uma creating a positive and friendly space that promotes inclusiveness. While overcoming the challenge of stream sniping and cheating, Roblox implements rules to an extent to keep it balanced for players . As well as, Twitch and Roblox being a safe and protected space for younger audiences. However, the knowledge of potential risk and schemes with the game. It also creates an environment to foster friendships across the globe while finding things that they enjoy and love within the world. Commentary I was mostly intrigued by how important moderators are with both the roblox and twitch community. They maintain order and are positive in chat and bring about structure and a welcoming environment. Teaching me about how to remain respectful in places I’m unfamiliar in and the action of accountability to not cause disruption. References Carter, M., & Hardwick, T. (2025, March 23). “Literally just child gambling”: what kids say about Roblox, lootboxes and money in online games. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/literally-just-child-gambling-what-kids-say-about-roblox-lootboxes-and-money-in-online-games-250387 Roblox. (n.d.). Britannica Kids. https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Roblox/632627 Twitch. (n.d.). Twitch: I […] ” Observation of the Roblox Community on Twitch”
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