The Humane Side of Criminals

We've talked extensively in class about the three groups of people in Miami: the mobiles, the locals, and the exiles. When discussing the last group, people usually focus on the homeless. But after spending a night in jail, I became acquainted with another group of exiles: the inmates of Dade County Jail. I came to find out that despite society's view of criminals, most of the people I met were not monsters. After enduring the abusive and unsanitary conditions at the jail, I wondered how people without the resources I had were able to recover from such trauma and how these conditions were allowed in the first place.

I plan on arguing that the inhumane conditions in jail, notably Dade County Jail, are not conducive to rehabilitation. I believe that the psychological trauma experienced by the inmates actually increases their chance of ending up back in jail. My philosophy is that if you treat a person like a human, they will see themselves as human and therefore treat other people as humans. If people develop a sense of respect for themselves then they will start to respect other people as well as the institutions created by other people. I also believe that the opposite is true and that by treating criminals like monsters, they will act that way and are destined to break the law again.

Pan Am as a Representation of Miami

Though one of the world leading's airlines failed after economic issues in 1991, Pan American captured travelers' imaginations in its enticing advertisements, promising the lure of an exotic in no time. Its ads represent important moments in United States history. World War II, the Cold War era, and the deregulation of the 1980s were reflected in each of Pan Am's ads. Each image caters to a different emotion from the justified patriotism in the '40s to the sensibility of the '50s. While the advertiser's intent is to create emotion, do these emotions connect to Pan Am's base in Miami? Did Pan Am's visual history open the world to its southern base? Did Miami's globalized future stem from an emotion that began in a magazine advertisement for Pan Am?

In the style of literary nonfiction, I hope to argue how a Pan Am advertisement describes an emotional history of the time and, subsequently, a representation of Miami. This ad will shape the personal portion of the essay in the same way Ayaz did for Kumar's "Flight." A close reading of an ad helps the various analyses for Pan Am and its ties to Miami. Having visited Special Collections in the University of Miami, I did not find many ads trying to get travelers to visit Miami specifically but Florida. Miami's present state must have started with the beginnings of the commercial airline industry. Its port and gateway to Latin/South America have roots in Pan Am. Pan Am's ads may explain Miami's uniqueness in its balance of reality versus spectacle, the predominance of foreign banks and markets, and its racial/class tensions. Does Pan Am's larger role as a world airline indirectly symbolize Miami?

William E. Brown Jr. states, "Pan Am would help take the world to Miami, and would do so on time." ("Pan Am: Wings to the World," 145). Is there any validity to this statement?

Graffiti: A Visual Voice For A Silenced Community

“How has graffiti become an integral form of self-expression and voice for the often-overlooked local population in Miami?” This research question is important because it examines a subject that very few scholars would like to debate. Researching this and giving it intellectual importance goes against the general consensus of the learned community that passes off graffiti as an insignificant gang activity in inner cities. Graffiti is universal in cities, but the graffiti of Miami is unique. Other studies have been done in this area in years past. It is more important now than ever, especially with the general political and social frustration of the majority of the American people, that we bring these problems to the forefront. This project will attempt to add a modern chapter to the previous studies of graffiti and social change. In addition to this main research question, I will also ask what art truly is, and what would drive someone to vandalize in order to express their sentiments on the concrete canvas.

The main audience is primarily the middle class, along with the wealthier mobiles and exiles. It is these groups of people that can actually help in the plight of these people. The middle class can join them in their struggle, and the wealthy can help to bring about even greater change with their high financial status. To properly answer this question, we will need a history of graffiti in the area, the effectiveness of graffiti in awareness of issues, and the general receptiveness of the public to graffiti. I’ll also examine the devastating effects of the construction of I-95 through Overtown, information that is integral for the understanding of the local experience. To add a personal note I’ll explain the similarities between the attitude toward graffiti and attitudes toward my own art.

A Frontier Town?

The idea for my research project came to me while I was reading an article published in 1938 by Padraic Colum. The way he described Miami sounded like he was in a constantly changing city. He elaborated on the trailer houses that he would see on the side of the road, and called it a type of "nomadism under modern conditions." He portrayed these people to be in search of a better life, as pioneers. I thought of the people of today who come to Miami, and if they could be viewed as the same way and I was instantly reminded of the exile community, those who also seek a better life in Miami. Delving further into this connection I also remembered that although moving your home, or at least the home of your future generations, is a huge change in and of itself, sometimes immigrants choose not to assimilate into their new environment's culture. I began to wonder whether this rejected or confirmed Colum's view of the city in 1938 as a "frontier town." Sure they come to Miami looking for change in their lives, but for the exiles it is not by choice, but rather by necessity.

So what is the effect of non-assimilation of the exile community? For my research I had to narrow the focus down to one culture group, Cuban immigrants, and how the choice made by a member of this group to assimilate or not assimilate affects the rest. What kind of tension does this create? Is the tension within the Cuban exile community itself, or in between culture groups? For my project my goal is to use these questions to compare the identity of Miami today with Colum's Miami in 1938, before the great influx of Cuban immigrants that started in 1959.

The Arts

All my life art has been important to me, so I decided to write my research paper based on the question of how art education and the art scene overcome the horrible stigma against their importance when compared to math and sciences. This question is paramount in our lives because if we can find out how we are currently making progress in overcoming this injustice we will be able to further improve the art standing in our communities and give more hope to those attracted to them. Also, so that those who do not agree can understand why they are so important in the first place. While many others have written about the significance of education in the arts in schools and higher education, there is rarely a personal aspect to the stories leaving them unmoving to the readers. That is why I think taking a personal approach to this research will have a much greater impact on the audience. The audience in this case being those who are simply ignorant of the arts or refuse to believe in their importance over things such as medicine.

Hopefully, the more personal tone will affect the readers in such a way that they realize the arts are not simply superficial images and designs, but rather the hard work, inspiration and imagination of countless individuals just trying to express themselves and show the world what it’s never before seen or imagined. Particular to Miami, the Wynwood galleries are perfect for the cultivation of such art as well as a reference point for more personal stories in the art world. Also, any articles about the changing art education in the school system, especially under new leadership would help to provide research for my point along with any other first hand accounts of artists’ stories.

Hurricane Andrew's Varying Effects on Miami

Zooming in on one of the most influential moments of Miami History, Hurricane Andrew, is the perfect opportunity to utilize anecdotes from local survivors and personal reactions to the somewhat surprising after effects of the storm. How did Hurricane Andrew’s effect on the mobiles, locals, and exiles influence Miami’s culture? Downtown Miami and Miami Beach, areas with high concentrations of tourists, mobiles, and non-local business owners, were barely touched by the storm while local residents of Florida City, Homestead, Kendall, and Cutler Bay were left homeless or dead. Overall, through its different effects on Miami locals, exiles, and mobiles, what contribution did Hurricane Andrew make to Miami's identity?

I identify with Hurricane Andrew because my mom was pregnant with me during the storm and I was born into and grew up during the aftermath. What was it like being a baby during this devastating time? What was it like being a mother, father, grandmother, neighbor, etc.? How does the aftermath of Andrew illuminate and/or alter the tension between locals, mobiles, and exiles of Miami? How did that tension change Miami's identity?


Hurricane Andrew’s devastation seen on the streets by residents south of Miami and on the news by tourists, mobiles, and non-local business owners made Miami a place to avoid at all costs: local residents moved to areas considered safer, mobiles left their condos and houses by the water, and entrepreneurs took their businesses elsewhere because of Andrew’s massive
blow to Miami’s tourist industry. The aftermath of the storm left residents feeling alienated, homeless, and lost. Like its locals, Miami experienced a loss of identity and was forced to start anew and rebuild its neighborhoods, towns, and local way of life; however, although restoration was long and difficult, buildings, like the local Miami residents, were rebuilt stronger and
prepared for the next big storm.



Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/28/business/a-year-after-hurricane-andrew-insurers-maneuver-to-lower-risk.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

http://www.hurricanecity.com/andrew.htm

http://water.usgs.gov/nwsum/WSP2425/andrew.html

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=352881460399&topic=15257

http://www.bariumblues.com/deadly_silences.htm

Just Another Visitor

I remember how the adrenaline made me jittery at the airport, how Ryan kept talking on and on about how excited he was about getting the hell out of Indiana.

"A whole week! We get a whole week off, I can't believe it" he had kept repeating.

I had finally seen my green suitcase rounding the corner on the luggage carousel, the black rubber mats bringing it closer and closer, when it hit me that this was my first time out of state, and I couldn't believe it was Miami that Ryan chose, of all places. It was so him, the flashy club scene, the crowded beaches. Our first dinner was in a humble little Cuban restaurant across the street from our hotel.

As I sat in my bed now, staring up at the ceiling and reminiscing on the times we had on our spontaneous expedition, I wondered what it would be like to go back one day. But it would be difficult to leave my job. In the coal mines, I get paid to pour concrete. In fact the reason we received time off, Ryan and I, was for a incident that could have taken a person's life. A hose clogged with concrete burst, sending concrete everywhere, and rattling the dig that we were in. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing by staying at that job. Maybe I should move to Miami, that city of glamour must have bigger and better things for me. But I wonder if the people who live there can say the same?

It's funny how we found our leisure in Miami, where we didn't have to work at all. It was like a break from life and labor. Sometimes I think both are one and the same. But I find it impossible for a city to be all play and no work. I know, actually living in Miami would be completely different. Then again, I've never actually considered that people actually live there, or have family living there. You never really hear about the locals.

I immediately changed my mind. Maybe I'll just get a summer home in Miami.