But I think there is one thing that most people forget, we watch on TV the stories of people protesting and conveying their struggles. Why they want change and why they are willing to fight for it. But do we ever step back and think, hey what they are doing across the globe is what our very own fore fathers did to get this country’s independence. I know it is a distant memory for us because we have only learned about it, we have never participated in it. Except for maybe our parents who may have been around in the 60s and 70s when racial & gender inequality in this nation was put to the test.

But what about now?! What bout our generation that is facing one of the worst recessions since the great depression?! Doesn’t our thoughts matter, doesn’t our future matter, doesn’t our lives matter?! Well guess what, we have finally stood up for ourselves. Beginning in New York and now spreading across the country. We are now standing up just like our parents or previous generations did — we are standing up against a clear disproportion of wealth that keeps the rich richer and the poor poorer. But no longer will we sit in silence and allow our future to be decided for us. We decide our future and with that said we will no longer allow for corporate executives to take the majority of wealth in this country. We will no longer allow them to control the way we live our lives from the food we eat, to the cars we buy, to the TV we watch.

As a college student, I never thought that with a bachelors degree I would be struggling this hard. How does this economy inspire our future generations to even go after a higher education?! How does this economy inspire growth in our country? How does this secure a stable future for retirement, our children, our grandchildren?!

All the problems that are occurring now will only affect us, because we have to deal with them as we grow older. The changes that corporate executives make won’t affect them in the long run they will retire and live off their pensions without a care in the world. It is us who will not reap the benefits of social security when we are 65 — as the age for obtaining keeps increasing. It is us who will not have medical care when we are older because of the current issues with our healthcare system. It is us who will not have any savings when we are older because so many banks right now don’t insure past a certain limit because of the current constraints of our withering economy.

Now stop and take a minute to digest this all and think. Are you really going to let this happen to YOUR future?! Are you going to let someone else tell you how your story will be written? NO — which is why we are protesting just like the other nations in the world that are not happy with their current conditions.

Just because we are a developed nation, does not mean that we do not have people that struggle, does not mean that we do not have grievances or problems with our current government.

And for my favorite friends — the conservatives — who are laughing at the #OccupyWallStreet protests stating that our poor is richer than 70% of the world.

Well, guess what we don’t live in the rest of the world. We live here in America. You cant compare third world nations to a developed nation and say that we have it good. Yes, we have luxuries like clean water and a stable govt but that does not mean that there are people here that don’t struggle.

Prices keep rising for everything — including food. According to the Census Bureau, 10.5 percent of families and 14.5 percent of individuals are living below the national poverty level. That’s almost 25 percent of our population living under the poverty level. That doesn’t include the working middle class that have mouths to feed.

Our country is not providing the same opportunities as it once did, there is an hug disproportion of wealth. Jobs are extremely hard to get with good pay. Everyone takes what they can, but there are soooo many college students that have yet to get jobs after getting their degree. AGAIN, —  How does that inspire future generations to get a higher education?!

There are so many former VPs and board executives that are out of a job because of our recession and struggling to find anything because they are over qualified and no one wants to pay them. Think about that for a second, as a young person do you think its fair that we worked hard in college and cant get a job because our economy is that weak right now. Not because we are not qualified but because our economy simply cant afford us. Yet — it can afford the million dollar salaries that corporate executives get paid?!

Here is the picture:

Source: Gawker.com

This is not the first time that Dove has written a racist ad campaign, it’s only been ten months since their last one! When Hamilton Nolan a writer for gawker.com asked Dove about their campaign they replied obviously with a politically correct answer.

I guess I felt I needed to blog on this topic because I was shocked that this type of issue is even prevalent in our society. I mean I didn’t think that race or color was something that advertisers still focused on. I mean for godsakes we have an African American President, shouldn’t that be enough to wash our society of the stigmas of our past!

I think the saddest thing about this ad campaign is that it was circulated and used in different publications meaning that none of those publications saw anything wrong with it. It has only gotten attention now because journalists are shedding light on the issue.

I think it’s ironic because some Caucasians tan to be darker and some African-Americans desire to be lighter. We always want what we don’t have. It sounds cliché but in this case it really is true. I really wonder when the stereotypes created in the 1960s will vanish. Even though our country has progressed in so many different ways the disparities between race and gender have barely changed.

I think we see more gender disparities between women of different colors than with men. I think beauty in this country is really defined by the white females and adds pressure to women of color to conform. But because of genetic and ethnic differences these women are left behind in the race to beauty. They are constantly fighting to achieve beauty that is measured by a some scale of women, that is impossible goal to achieve.

But I guess the question is, how do we change these disparities and remove them from society? How do we define beauty so that it is not by color but something more meaningful?

What sort of topics would you like to hear more about? Would you like me to write posts that allow the readers and I to engage in a discussion? What attracts you to my blog? What don’t you like about my blog? Do you think audience engagement is important for a journalist to divulge in?

I want to know it all! Feel free to give me any feedback!

As you might have heard, President Obama recently called for Israel and Palestine to return to the original 1967 borders. As you might have guessed, this did not sit well with Netanyahu. He does not believe that this is a necessary action to take in order to create peace. But the main problem is, President Obama is letting Netanyahu dictate the rules of American Foreign Policy instead of Obama.

America’s longtime alliance with Israel has always made U.S. Foreign Policy favor the needs and wants of Israel. But I believe because of the events that have occurred in the past year, President Obama is trying to crack down on Israel’s ignorance. When I say this, I do not mean to offend anyone, I simply am referring to Israel’s actions during the flotilla incident. I do think that the actions during that incident have been overlooked by the world, and the United Nations which is very disappointing.

To be honest, I was shocked when Obama made his statement about borders in this region because he said it a day before his trip to Israel. It was a bold speech to make right before his trip, because there could have been dangerous consequences for his words. Who knows how people from either side would react to his words!

But all in all, I do think that Obama has to build his credibility in the Middle East. He has gone around making promises throughout the Middle East to improve relations with the Muslim World. But he has yet to deliver. His involvement in the Palestinian-Israel Conflict has been pretty passive and he has indirectly sided with Israel several times even when the world has recognized them as wrong. His involvement in Libya has been questionable and quite frankly really unknown to the American people.

We really don’t know if our soldiers are on the ground right now and we probably won’t find out for a while. The American people don’t really understand why we entered Libya when we already are involved in two other wars.

I do hope that Obama makes progress with Israel and Palestine because it has been going on for such a long time, but he has to be more aggressive in his tactics. Not in a disrespectful manner, but he has to be stern with both parties in order to get his point across and show that he is serious about creating peace.

I love the Halal Gyros carts, they are A M A Z I N G! The meat is so tender and fresh with just the right amount of seasoning! They are simply delectable! I also love how there are so many family owned restaurants that aren’t corporate. You can really tell the difference in their food, its made with warmth, love, and passion. I know that sounds cliche but they really care genuinely about their customers enjoying their food.

Now don’t get me started on the desserts in this city! I have nearly been to every cupcake bakery in town, okay not really, but pretty much. The first day my cousin recommended I go to Chikalicious Bakery in East Village. She use to go there all the time when she lived in NYC. So I went there, it was a bit hard to find at first but boy it was worth the walk! I got a Red Velvet Cupcake for $2.45 which seems like a lot but it’s so good that you forget about how much you paid after the first bite.

Then I went to Crumbs which is another bakery that makes cupcakes as well as other desserts. I got a cookie dough flavored cupcake. First of all, let me say that their cupcakes are HUGE! I have not eaten it yet because I have to mentally prepare myself for the stomach ache I will have after it. But I will definitely update you on how it was once I eat it.

I also went to Magnolia’s and got their classic Vanilla flavored cupcake which was very good. But I have to say I definitely so far like Chikalicious Bakery the best. It was a nice light treat that didn’t leave you feeling lethargic afterwards.

After that I let my sweet tooth take a rest, and decided to try some yummy food down in Hell’s Kitchen. For those of you who don’t know Hell’s Kitchen is by Times Square and its a whole row of restaurants on 9th street that are supposed to be amazing. I went to a Asian Fusion restaurant last night for dinner named Jing. I got their Shrimp Pad Thai, and I’ll be honest I had low expectations after going to Hong Kong & Thailand. But it was definitely up to par with the Pad Thai I had in Thailand.

There is so many places that I still want to go to but I have not much time left and not enough room in my stomach, ha! I want to go to Room Service which serves modern contemporary Thai food. I’ve only heard good things about it and would love to try it.

The funny thing is my cousin who use to live here sent me a long list of food places to go to while I’m here. So far I have knocked off only 4 places. But when I do come back to this beautiful city, best believe I will cover them all and probably have to buy some new clothes!

My dream is to move to NYC and obtain my dream job as a journalist. Even if I do not get my dream job now I will not give up. I am determined and I will not stop until I get it. I know that sounds cliche, but I will full time as hostess, blog, and do freelance work until someone notices my work.

I also interviewed with Euro SCG for a PR position and they seemed impressed with me. I hope to really hear back from them because I was so interested in that position.

At first the subway system was a bit intimidating but it was easy to navigate through once I figured it out. NYC reminds a lot of Hong Kong but a little dirtier and I can understand everyone here, ha! But I definitely love the wide array of faces, cultures, and backgrounds that everyone in the city comes from.

Everyone is special and talented in their own way here in NYC and it makes you feel as though you belong. I have never felt so connected to a city in two days like I have in NYC. I am truly in love, ha!

But I do hope to move here within the next two weeks, I’m just apartment hunting now and trying to figure the best area to move to. I’m really glad that I got outside of my comfort zone and came here to sell myself. I’m glad I was confident and let those I interviewed with see how passionate I am about journalism, politics, and health care.
Oh and the food here is amazing! But that deserves a whole another post of itself! So stay tuned and be ready to read and see what I tried here in NYC!

What has our intervention done in Libya and WHY were we SO concerned with their safety but the lives of other protesters in other nations aren’t as important? If anything, foreign intervention has made Gaddafi’s regime stronger because it fuels their fire. Gaddafi will be damned if his country is taken over by foreigners or becomes a nation split in two because of foreign influence. I do not think the intervention helped at all because there is still an internal war going on. Foreign intervention may have helped them temporarily but it only increased the casualties on both ends. I don’t think it’s fair to intervene in one country because of al-Qaeda ties or oil but not in other countries. A life is a life to me and everyone deserves to live. If a country is going to make a stance that they are defending democracy and human rights and that is their rational for intervention, then PROVE it in your actions when you intervene!

What the United States fails to understand is every time they intervene they do not follow through with their promises! It just becomes a bloody war where both sides gain nothing and the U.S. just loses so much money. THEY DO NOT WANT OUR HELP!

I also think that we should have brought him to justice instead of killing him. To be honest, it was pathetic how the American people reacted when they found out he was dead. What does his one death do? Does it stop all terrorism? Does it make the world a safer place? No, if anything his death is going to trigger a launch of attacks by al-Qaeda that will potentially put our country in danger. I think that now there will be several leaders that will come up and try to take Osama’s spot. I don’t think that his death has made our lives any safer. Now we have to live in fear wondering if his entourage will launch another attack on us. I personally don’t think he is dead because why would the American government release tapes of him today? What is the purpose of it? I don’t understand it. Especially when they are tapes of him watching himself on television!!!