5/12/2019 Activity Four - Google Docs

A Change is Made
Chapter 1: The Start of Something New
It was the year 1950 in which I was born. My father was a Ford factory worker and my
mother was a stay at home wife but also new what to do and how to be a nurse, she just couldn’t
do any work since she had to stay at home with me and my little brother, Tommy. They named
me Delilah. When the U.S. entered the Vietnam War in 1964, my dad was whisked away to help
manufacture parts for the armies and soldiers. When he worked at Ford, he was quite good at his
job, very efficient. So of course the U.S. military wanted as many skilled people as they could
find! That left me, my brother, and my mom to live on our own until my dad returned from
helping the war cause. We lived a pretty good life, though, my dad made some money so we can
get by and not starve. We had a roof over our heads and food and water on our tables; what more
could we want?
Now, you may be wondering why I’m starting my story like this. But I didn’t give you a
good enough explanation or description on me, my background, what I look like, etc. I never told
you what I look like cause I’m scared you’re gonna judge me. I don’t think you will but who
knows now-a-days. People that you would never expect to act like this don’t like the way I look.
They don’t like that my skin is black, my eyes are dark, and my hair is dark and kind of curly.
My name is pretty normal, not obscure and out there. Anyone could have a name like mine.
People see my name and don’t think much of what I look like; they see my name and think I am
just like them... but I am not. I am me and I am okay with that. They don’t know me, they don’t
know my story. I am different but I like it. It can be hard sometimes, but different is good; variety
is good. People see me and judge me for how I look but they don’t know what I am actually like.
When they see my name, they think I am normal, but I am far from it.I can read good, I can write
pretty good. I really like what I have been seeing about science. Oh, and one other thing. I also
kind of like girls. And that is what really makes me stand out. There are not many people who
are homosexual, or have spoken out or come out about liking the same sex. It is actually kind of
frowned upon, for some strange reason. I am a normal person, I just happen to like girls and I am
a girl. I am no different from anyone else. And that is where I struggle in society. I am open
about my likes and dislikes, but people tend to shun me for that. Some people are rather

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accepting of me and people who are similar to me. And that is refreshing; but everyone else
really makes me upset that we can’t all just love and accept one another. You feel?
Currently, the U.S. has joined in the Vietnam War, battling everyday to assist the cause.
Seeing as I am older and my mother’s assistance in helping me learn more about nursing and my
ability to go to school and learn about nursing, I have decided that I want to enlist and join the
military as a nurse. I want to serve and help the country. Now, being a female in general makes it
quite difficult to enlist in the military and help out. But seeing as I am an openly gay African
American, my life is made much more difficult now. Nurses tend to primarily be female, I think.
But my sexuality makes the difference in my endeavors. Not even my race; don’t get me wrong
because that is also an issue as people are still against women and are very sexist; but my
sexuality and my openness about it sets me apart and makes my task difficult. All I want is to
help people and make a difference, but laws make this difficult for me. Many are against people
like me.
Black women volunteered in the military and wanted to help more than they were
sometimes allowed to. If I enlist and volunteer to serve as a nurse, I have to do so under many
racial and gender policies and laws that the government established during the Cold War. I find
this sort of unbelievable! I remember reading in papers about the purpose of some of these
policies; they were put in place to help military shortages and be of encouragement to women
and minorities to enlist and help in the war. They were supposed to help aspiring people make
careers in the military service. But like, it didn’t really work. Not much success for us young
aspiring women. With constantly being shot down by men and people who disagree with people
like me, it made people want to volunteer less and help less. We are surrounded by constant
negativity.
And it sucks.
My mom and dad always told me and my brother to do what we think is right and what
we want to do; to break barriers and not listen to what others say about us. I never really
understood their advice until now. I never really had to deal with issues like this when I was
younger, little kids are more easy going. But now, as I am older and becoming a functioning
member of society, I can see and understand more of what is actually happening. Like, I saw it

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all when I was a kid but I did not really understand it much. But now, I understand what my
parents went through for me and my brother, because I am going through it right now. The
negativity is real.
So here we are know, me, a young African American female, who also just so happens to
be gay, volunteering to work with and help the soldiers in the military as a nurse. There are many
obstacles in my way, but I am adamant about doing this. I need to be persistent in order to
achieve this goal of mine. If my dad can contribute and doing his engineering stuff, I want to be
able to do what I want as well. I love helping people.

Chapter 2: Change, where you at?

Currently, I am serving in the military as a nurse and helping all those who were hurt in
combat. Although the circumstances of everyone getting injured is kind of terrible, it is sort of
rewarding knowing that I am contributing and helping people. As I am still new to being a nurse,
I am only really working on the more minor injuries rather than the big and dangerous ones. I
have seen a number of things in my time serving. Most are bad and rather gruesome, making
some queasy at just the thought of what I have seen. The nurses and people helping and working
on the more severe and dangerous injuries work under great amounts of stress and pressure; and
seeing what they see on a daily basis may be rather terrifying and traumatizing. All we want is to

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help and end all this pain and suffering for the soldiers, but it is not going to be an easy fight to
win. I can apply this struggle to my journey to my position today as well.
Looking back at my journey, I realized that I have come quite far from what other women
like me have had to deal with in the past. So many women, in general, in previous wars were
never able to do anything like I am, let alone African American women. When women were shot
down, many of us stood up and fought against the laws and decisions made. We fought until we
were able to do what we want and help who we wanted. I want my journey to be a lesson to
others, to teach others to fight.
In previous wars, there were African American female nurses; but with the fight we are
having now, we are trying to make a different statement, another statement about society and
how unprogressive society has become. We are still not exactly entirely free and still lacking
rights; so we are fighting to get there.
Oh, and don't forget, I am still gay. There’s that obstacle I am still struggling to
overcome. The judgement is real. I feel bad for the women in the past who struggled much more
than I did, but they began to pave the way for more women to take on jobs and positions that
were not normally a female’s job. War was not a place for women to be in, according to men.
Male superiority stated that women should stay at home and take care of the family. Women
were not “strong enough” to take part in wars and be of help. They could not be science people
or hold engineering positions. But since World War II, women became more prominent and
showcased their toughness. These women made it easier for me to show my strengths. And as I
said before, I am still struggling with equality and acceptance seeing as I am African American
and gay; but... being a woman is not super hard anymore!

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