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N amc :'l'enesha Ciorckrtt

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Schtlol: Innor,ative Acaclemv

( irrrup l'o1ric: []lacli. I lirir

l'rhle of (lontcnts

IliarL ot- Inlcstiuatitln

p1*cc jr 1

Picce ljl
i{c'flectittn One

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l{c ll t:cl iotr I-r,r, o

Ilellcction I'hree

\\'rittcn lLcport t'i,,,

l'lart ol' Oral I)rcscrltatiott

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l{*lercnces

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Illan of Investigation

N11' Iirrglish School IJasecl ;\ssessnrcnt lbcusecl on tlie lopic. ''I ant not my llair". rvhich was derivecl li'ont

this proc.ess w,ill inp:rove mv uurderstarrding of langr"rage and the ivhich can hr: Lrscrl fbr a rernge o1'
communicative alrd reflective puposes. Finaily. this research sliould olli insi glrts regarding l]lack \.volr]sn" s
hair and our own perceptions ol'it.
Piece # l- Nervs Article

Appeals court says ernployees don't har,e a right to r:ear dreadlocks Retrieved on September 25.2016 ti'om:
littp:/lthe grio.con/20 I 6/09/ 1 9/appeals-court-entplol'ees-dont-havc-riglrt-to-w'ear-clreadloc ks/

circadlocks is not a form of racial discrimination.

'I'he larvsuit was brouglrt to tlie court of appeals i'r1, the liqLral L'.nrpiovnrent Opportr-rnitr, Commission. which

rvhen she applied tc'r rvork for them. I'he-v olfered her emplovment w'ith the caveat that sl-re neccled to get rid of
her dreacllocks [recause of tireir groonring standarcls. stating that clreadlocks "tent{ to -uet nless\r." Wherr .lorres
refused to change her hair. tlre compan,v w'ithclrer+ its oft-er of employrnent.

According to the EEOC'. "prohibition of dreadiocks.in the rvorkplaee constitutes race discrinrination hecausc

A fiican clescent." 'Ihc EEOCI even went so far as to say tlret "if a white person chose to w'ear dreadlocks as a sis::

ol'racial support lbr her black colleagues. an@e emptoier apflieci its clreacllocks ban to that person. shc too
could nssc'rt a race-hasr.rcl clisparate treotnlent clainr," -'.

Clircr-rit .ludge Atlalberto .lordarr. wlio wrote the appellatc- opinion. wrote that it w'as tnle that the clef-r:rition oi race
couid shifi over time but that the courtitWas ne*yep.E4d to blaze a ne\\' path that :he1' rvere not sure tle lar+
covered. 'i-ltl' :,r.--, ''' , i.l
o=i.:
'}ti:ill
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'"We r.vould be remiss." l-re wtoJe, "if wedip not acknowledge that, in the last several clecades. there har,e bccn

some calls for courls to interpreiJifleVll mor€-expansively by'eliminating tlre biological conception of 'lacc'
u nd e*c o *rpas sing (: ul tllral. e l]aracte,,ri ti c s associa ted with rac e. "
n

"As thr as \r.e can tell. cverv coufi to have considered the issue has rejected the argument that I'itle Vll protects
I
liai rsty le s cul tural l,v as soc i ated :4€r race. "

a)
Piece #2 - Ilaem - llhenomenal Woman - Maya Angelou

Prett\ u,omen lr.onder where mv secret lies. They hy so muclr

I'rrr not cute or hLrilt 1o sr-lit a {ashit-in ruocfu,l's size BLrt they' cnll't torc}:
llrrl rvherr I start tr: tcll thsur. MY inrrer illystery.
I hc,r, thirk I'nr telline lies. Wherr I try to show, them
I sa-r. They say the,v- still can't see.

It's irr the reach .ri m)' arms I say,

'l'lrer jt's irr llru
span o1'ru" hiprs. r-trr hircL"

I'lic stride ot'm_r, step. i-he smile.

-l-lrc
cLrrl of mv lips. The ride
I'rrr a rvclrnat The rlracc 0f
I)h$ntlrnenallv. ]'m a rvonran
Pltcrtorttcnal \\ ()r nlln.
T'[rirt's rnc.

['l1elt()lnclla I \['onlan.

I ririlk itttrr il r\'rrn't 'l'ltat't tttc.

.l Lrst as cool rs 1,ou please.

,\rrtl to il nlirll- Now yotr undel'starlrl

llrc lcllous stard or .lust uhr rl-r head's not bo\\cd.
l:all drlu n i)ll thcir krrces. 1 dtrn't sh()ul rrrjrirnp aborrl
Ilrrtr tlrcr s\\ann arountl rnc, Or have to talk real loucl,
Wlre'n Yor.r see rile passing

lt'-. tltc lire in rn1: er es. I sar -

,,\nd llrc llaslr of my tec:th. Ir's in the click of rnr hsels.
-lhe
i iru su irrg in nrv u,aist. [re ncl ol'rn-v hair.
..\nrl thc.jo-r in rr-r [i:el. the palnr ol'utv hand.
I'nt a trot.t.tiu.r Tlre rrc-ccl ol'l,\ care.

l)ltettotttcrttailr'. 'LlaLrsc ['nt lr rrornalr

I)hurtortrerrRl \\'Llntan. Phr:notrre nall_1 .

Iltltl's tttc. Plienornenal \\r)lnall.

\'lcrr tlrsnrsclrcs havc rronclerc-cl l'hal's nre.
\\'liat thcl' si.:e itr ure.
 -'-i!irrlMffiflW

iteflection #l -'l'hc (;ron,th Begins

lbLutd that I u,as clcvclopiug nrore unclerstandinq itboul urt to;lic" .'l unr not nrr IIair."

otr hr:r cr'o\\'lr.

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s3 .= 84
lletlection # 2 -'fhtr Language of m"v Growth

Langu:tgc is a tool rvlrich cnn hc uscd to irrf-onrr or to give voice to humar: experiences. in the three p

instrlncd. thc i,rriter in the ne\\'s article erlplovecl a rrnge ol'clevices tvpical o1'this moc{e.'l-hc writel r.rses tli

rlLrr)tiitions i}om expcrt roiccs 1r'onr both sictcs o1'the ruiiug t-rn tlrctdlocks to plrcserrt a baiancccl vielv ol-the i
In presenting the views of the Equal h.mplo,vment Opportunity Conmission as well as Clircuit Judge Al
.lori"lan. thc write:: iJ{)es not atten-rpt to c[*ud t]re reader's irrterpretation of the issue. Similarl-v. ir-r the video tire
ol'ilirer--t v*ices r,va$ evident. Through the testinronials of the student. the.* nce \+as ahle to get a deeperse

dcpth of ulclerstar':din-e of thu cliscriurination tlrror.rgh tl:c e-ve:s o1'thcr stlrdent.,,.

the repelition of the "That's me" and the phras+'

1et signilicant appcal ol-the pcrsona.

o)
 Rel'lection #3 - An Evolution of m1' Thinking

rank u,hen cornpared u.ith other I'emales. ln conrpleting this portlolio. I sarv that those experienccs incleed sl,apccl

rly' perceptions of- bear:t-v. I too sau. long Iloi.r,'inc hair as a sigr-r of fen:ininit;, and a sollrce of pride. IIorvr-r'er.

exlent to rvhich these vier.vs rve har,e aboul hair can ttar''c qrcertcr political :rrrd social inrplications. A r.rorlan t-arr
be sc'en as Linprol'essional. poorll, sroomed or eyen less attractir,e because of horv she chooses [o \\car her hair.
'I'his
can hal'er dirs. efl'ects such as loss of emplol'nrertt itrtci crvert iittacks on cultural identitl'.

fhe proce'ss of completing this portlblio helped me to also develop my skills in all iacets o1' Ianguage

learning. I lravc- be-err able to glcan infbrmation liom a varietl'olsources arrd to e\press 1n.v urderstancling in hotlr

me u,ith urseful skills to rnanage conflicts tlrat may,arise as people interact in pr"rrsuit ol'a comnon goal.

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:1::
\\'ritten llcport

In order to complete this portfblio. I -ioined a -r{r.}up w'ith sirnilar interest. [n this way. I u,ould havc
assistant:e to collect. analvze and report on mv topic. We usecl ths Divide and Conquer or the (lhoose the Best

str.ttegy lr:r cach task. [:or thc Dir,'ide and ('onquer strate,uy- each group member had a different but imporlant
task to do rvhile rvith the Choose the Best strategy- rve all rvorked on tlre sarne thing. brought it back to the grolrp

lrr the encl. rve rlecided to choose a bl*g post. a poelr and news report to answer our group's qlrestions:
::.

L Wlrat ar* thr- clitTerr:nt 1:errcr:;:rtiirns r:rl'lllack \\,onten-'s hrrirsty,lg5']

:.l1owcanl}lackw,0lIet1respondtilcriticisntol.tlreir1rairst1,'It-s'i
:='
I'ror alltirree piece,s. we uscd:he SOAI'}STONES procedure to analy'zeEachdocr-unent ancl r:secl the tcxt
analvsis matrix to allor,v for earsier eomparison o1'the {4,9e piece*.:{OAPTOXUS requilqd u, tn identil,v the
Speaker. occasiorr" Aurclience. Purpcse. SLrbject. 'IONE ,rii=Styf. toi-- f:r selectec{ pi This rvas clone in rhr
nlatilx.

ln stud1.'ing. these pieces. rre found that$ere were di,fferent perceptions of Black women's hair u,hether
it rvas natural orprocessed. BIack wcmen's natuial hittrstyles are sornetirnes sscu as unkempt ([ushion. ]016 &
llLrtchinson. 2010): sornething to b-e.+sbamed of and shunned lElle 2SI6: Fushion, 2016 & Hutchinson. 2010) or

thcr'rthc-rhand.processedh[irisviervetlrisculturalassirnilationtoavoiclracialcliscrintination.(tille.201tr). I']rese

are somc of the contrastin-q perceptiens of Black \4onler1's hairstyles as presented in the three pieces.

'l'hc:re r+ete
also dilltr:ent rssptlnses toeriticisnrs of Black women's hairst-vles presentecl in these pieces.
Sonte show'cd that a pqssible respo-se is defiance and protest (Fushion,20i6 & Htrtchinson" 2010). sonre

l0l6 & llutchinson.2010). In the Pretoria rlews report. N4alaika L,,voh- reported that slie had an aiio ancl r,ras
rcpu-atedly calied out olclass tbr having'untitly' hair. Sir:ce she rvas 'repeatedly" called out, it could stancl tti
rollsofi that she r+as cle l'\'ing the school rules. In the vicleo. girls could also lre seen protesting in the strests anri
raising their fists as sl,rnbols ol'lJlack power. Additionall),. HLrtchilson (2010) also wrote" ''And r.pi tell 1,'oLr. rrri

liighlight dellance and protest as possible response to criticisrns ol'Black \\omen s hairstvles. I;urthermorc. all
tlirce pieces brought the issues surroturding Black \\rorTlen's hair to the public for open cliscourse.

6/
Plan of Oral Presentation

Topic: "l am not m,v Hair"

Gcrnre: Prose - Personal Narative

Sources: (Angeiou. 1978: Fushion.2016: The Cirio" l0l(i)

Language Used: First person r.oice to create a bond w.ith the audience. artistic language to evoke listener"s
emotior"rs. flashback to r:eveal motives for present thoughts and actions

88