The Amurrrr'can Dream pt.1

Or, I'm Going to Try My Damnedest to Give Someone Nightmares

So, for the dreaded AmLit II class, I have to do a paper on the "american dream". Not so bad eh? I could write that in my sleep while skipping the George Carlin quotes and shit. Shame my professor wants to get all personal on a bitch.

You see, in addition to looking at works of literature and giving MY view of what the American Dream is, I also have to include...some of my family's history. That...changes things because, uh, I'm black. My family, both sides, are descended from slaves (as well as, you know, just oppressed minorities in general--except for that one english ancestor). Put my family history in it? That's going to be hard. But at the same time it will be wonderful.

See, it'd be too easy for me to just spew vitriol on how the American Dream is dead and we killed it, oh no. I can't imagine too many people would write that optimistic of a paper anyway, but look. My family never HAD an "american dream" and damn sure won't be/haven't attained it. We didn't sleep at night and dream of flags and apple pie (pie isn't american, fact!) and stocks and baseball or whatever that is they try to feed you.

My mother's big dream was to own a house, and now we do, and the mortgage is breaking her back. Not to mention we live in what you might call "the hood" what with drug activity all around us and our windows getting shot out and shit. You seeing it yet?

I re-read over the syllabus again and just had to laugh. The man's been teaching forever and a half so I doubt I'll say anything to shock him too much. He may even knock it down some points because that's just what he does--we never seem to meet eye to eye on interpretations, not because he's wrong and I'm right, but I never like his--but...I thought about it, and I said, I want to make it as bleak as possible. Because that's real. I'm getting my reference material and come the 24th I'm probably going to have the most fucked up psyche but I don't care.

Why so serious, you may wonder? Just because. You know my complaints with that class and a couple of days ago I just finally hit the last straw--I'll tell you about that probably later on today--and this might be the last thing for me to express all my discontent under the guise of hating America.

We'll see how it goes...