Community Timed Write

Caitlin Flores

English 9H

11/03/16

P.7

Community Timed Write

Everyone needs a good, strong, loving community in their life with phenomenal

leadership. It is extremely important to have exceptional leaders grow up in a community as did

President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan was such a stupendous president. Simi Valley is

proud to have the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the city nicknamed Reagan County.

Everyone has their own definition of a community.

What makes a community is something people everywhere ask each other and

themselves. The definition of a community is: people with similarities who join together in a

place and decide to call it home and give it a name. In the poem Child of the Americas by Aurora

Levins Morales, she talks about how she is a one race, but that doesnt define her as her

community does. Later on in the poem she says I am not Africa. Africa is in me...I am

new.(Morales, Lines 15 and 18) By this she is pointing out that she is different races, but only

her community defines her. Everyone in a community needs to give a valuable contribution, have

empathy, awareness, and also importantly, diversity. With these four major things in action,

communities can be stronger than ever.

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When a community isnt working together, helping one another, and trying to be strong,

that's when problems happen. An example is around the 1950s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

addresses this issue in one of his letters when he discusses their lives when they would see

mobs lynch your parents, drown your siblings; see hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and kill

your black siblings; your tongue twisted, your speech stammering as you explain to your six-

year-old daughter why she cant go to the public amusement park and see tears welling up in her

eyes. (Afuses et. al., page 284-285) This quote demonstrates a very good example of what a

community looks like if they arent together. The community will turn against one another, and

life will be a mess. One race may even discriminate against another and make their life a living

nightmare. This is why it is VERY important to maintain a strong and living community.

Another key component of a successful community is tremendous leadership. We dont

need rulers to overpower us and make our life difficult, but we need leaders that are honest,

inspirational, have confidence, commitment to the people, and creativity. When we have these

leaders that we as the people elect, life wont be too difficult on us, knowing weve left the

community in good hands. Around the 1950s the white church leaders had much power

everything. MLK thought that they would have their help in a protest and the white ministers

declared Those are social issues, with the gospel has no real concern. (Afuses et. al.,) This

shows that their community lacked good leaders with the necessary leadership skills. Countries

with no leadership have fallen apart. Colombia had weak leadership and Somalia had no law and

order. Because of the lack of leadership in their country, they fell apart. If a community lacks the

necessary leadership, then it will turn out like the other countries, fallen apart.
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An old African proverb states If you want to go quickly, go alone, If you want to go far,

go together. This quote relates to life in a community. If the words are changed to If you want a

good community, work together, but if you want an awful community, be alone and only be for

yourself. Simi Valley needs to learn how to be a better community with successful leaders for

the next generation. We can begin by learning our definition of a community, standing up for one

another, and most importantly, raising leaders. Today's children will run the world soon, so we

need to raise them so we wont ever be ashamed as a community and individual. Behind every

leader is a community, who helped raise and mold their lives