Del Toro 1

Angel Del Toro

Critical Thinking and Writing

Michael Lasley

02 December 2022

Lens Essay
One of the most stressing issues that is being presented in My Time Among Whites and in

the song “Still Here” by JB The First Lady is the matter of identity since this is something that is

being highlighted as a thing you should not forget. Identity is a common idea that everyone

thinks about from time to time when they wonder who exactly they are and what makes them

who they are now and both texts bring up how minorities are shaped through their backgrounds

and they should not have any shame in it. This is an important topic as many people around

different communities are forgetting where they come from just because they feel looked down

and isolated by majority groups because of their heritage being ones of minority groups or those

of lower class than them.While they both have a similar message they have different takes on it

with the song being all about supporting minorities by reminding them that they should be proud

of their roots since that is the exact thing that shapes who they are. The book also has this as one

of its themes through how the character is exploring her Cuban identity as she goes through a

majority white college learning how it's important to love and show some pride in where she

comes from and how it shapes her to be who she is. These texts speak really well with each other

as they both compliment the idea that a person should always be proud of what their identity is

even if they are different from the others around them as it is that difference that makes them

unique. Not only that but just reading one of them helps see a new perspective for the other as
 Del Toro 2

the song opens up on how minorities should be proud of who they are and where came from as

we see the character goes through her life to learn through her experiences and the book

demonstrates that a person has difficulty accepting identity but at the end of it they become

stronger. So when you begin to delve deeper in both of the authors work you start to see how

exactly it is trying to get their message across to the people even if they have different views it

still is an excellent way to see how much they both care about the subject.

The two texts work well with each other but there are some differences in the way they

were written as they each have a unique message/purpose of each and have different strategies

that they use to achieve it. In the case of “Still Here” by JB The First Lady her message is about

empowerment and addresses the many issues that the indigenous community were facing, such

as being put down by white majority, being segregated based on their race, and not getting the

same opportunities as others. This song was considered to be a sequel piece to one of her

previous songs called “O.O.T.G” which continues on to be an anthem of empowerment for the

challenges that indegenous communities face in Canada but also in other countries as well.

While the song may not be directly referring to the racial identity of the author, the message and

lyrics she chooses does correlate to how the author is trying to be proud of her heritage. The

song has been made to be a political interpretation on the situation but also as a show of love to

every indigonus person that is facing a tough time because of their racial identity, but they are

shown through the lyrics that they should never be ashamed of who they are and where they

come from. They reason that this song really speaks to people and gets its message across really

well due to the strategies the author uses and how well it works together throughout the song.

Some of these strategies include focusing on not just the political aspects during the song but

also spreading how much love there is for the people she is singing for, also with how she
 Del Toro 3

chooses her lyrics carefully so that it not only shows that she is from an indignous heritage but

how it also empowers her. It is with this kind of work and detail that the author was able to get

her message across to the people and show how they shouldn’t be ashamed of where their

heritage came from and that these challenges that they are facing will only empower them to

become stronger. Even so, the song “Still Here” by JB The First Lady may have some minor

differences to the book My Time Among Whites with its message/purpose but it does still share

some things with it.

When we take a look at the book My Time Among Whites by Jennine Capó Crucet we get

a clear view at how the author wishes to talk about her experiences during college as a person of

cuban descent in a white majority school has made her who she is today and how that experience

help find her true self concerning her heritage. The author has a variety of different messages and

purposes in the book, but one of the most important ones is the difficulty between immigrants'

culture and the American Dream. The book explores how the author had to go through college

feeling isolated and different from the rest of the students due to her heritage being from Cuba,

which led to her being questioned on a subject that attacked the very person that she was.

However, her story shows that no matter what you feel or what challenges you are facing due

what your race or heritage may come from it is because of it that you are who you are now and

should feel pride in where you came from. A way the author demonstrates this is through the

essay she writes on Disney called “Magic Kingdom'' where she talks about how fantasy of

feeling accepted by being treated white at the park make a nonwhite child feel great since they

would have been treated as an outsider in much of their everyday life, she describes the Disney

World experience reinforces unhealthy attitudes about the premium American society places on
 Del Toro 4

whiteness and the privileges that come along with it. Throughout the book we see many

instances where the author faces tough times achieving the American Dream her parents wanted

for her due to her heritage and while it may have affected how she views the way races are

treated and how whites live their lives differently she never gave up and worked hard to achieve

that dream while also feeling pride in her cuban descent. This has been a book that gives a very

big takeaway on the aspects of the American Dream and how people from a minority heritage

face a many sorts of obstacles, but once they are able to overcome them they are able to see that

their race doesn’t mean they need to give up and that is help propel them to better themselves as

the author has shown during her college journey.

While both the song and the book have different messages/purposes from each other there

are some parts in the way they are structured that make them similar and help work with each

other that make standout to readers so that their messages are spread. Both the text and the song

lyrics reveal a sense of pride and honor for the respective heritage by demonstrating that you

should now feel ashamed about your racial identity but to feel proud and face any challenge head

on. Through how both authors wrote their works it strengthened the thoughts that no matter how

much pressure they feel for being from a minority race they should not forget their roots, as

Jennine Capó Crucet found when she said, “I've come to see the American Dream for what it

really is: a lie my parents had little choice but to buy into and sell to me, a lie that conflated

working hard with passing for, becoming, and being white ” (My Time Among Whites, 62). As

the author starts to see the lie that she used to believe she begins to realize that if her white

looking appearance won't help her then she should start to embrace her Cuban heritage and

achieve the American Dream along with her pride of her race. It is not just her either but JB the
 Del Toro 5

First Lady also encourages the thought of not subjecting to white majority pressure with her lyric

line, “ We’re still here, we’re still here”. This part of the song emphasizes the fact that the

indignous people are still around no matter what challenge they face and how they should not

give up who they are no matter what circumstances happen. She mentions how she channels her

rage about what is happening to her people through her songs so that she can give them a voice

that they are “still here” and that they are not going anywhere no matter what happens. With both

of these authors we get a clear view that while there are difficulties that people face when they

are not in a white majority it doesn’t matter what happens as long as we stay true to where our

heritage is from. It may seem that they have different messages from each other but it is with

both that helps lift the other’s up and demonstrate that everyone should be proud of where they

come from.

Bringing back the thought of identity we can see that throughout both My Time Among

Whites by Jennine Capó Crucet and in the song “Still Here” by JB The First Lady the idea of

identity is talked about in them demonstrating how we have to make sure we stay true to

ourselves no matter if we come from minority heritage. There are many other messages and

purposes that are also involved in their works but it was this topic that really stood as it is

something that they both have experienced for themselves during their lives. While there are

some differences in how it is approached and the type of people they are making the message for,

one of the biggest similarities is that it is presented to the people so that they know that they are

not alone and can feel empowered in ways they have never felt before. When you take a closer

look at how they have written their works you can see that certain phrases and thought processes

were used to further along their messages as with the phrases “Still here” and “I've come to see
 Del Toro 6

the American Dream for what it really is: a lie”. Both show that the authors already know that it

is tough for people of their same heritage to live life and that despite it they should do their best

to work through it as it will help them to better themselves in the future. With that in mind the

topic of identity is shown to have an even more importance since one should never forget who

they are no matter what others say or see you as since it's because of it that you are the type of

person you can be proud of. This is especially true when it comes to your race and heritage since

your ancestors went through many hardships themselves to get where they were and continue on

for generations that includes you, so you should hold your head high even if majority races look

down on you. So due to the efforts of both Jennine Capó Crucet and JB The First Lady the idea

of never forgetting your roots and being empowered by it will continue to be an ideal that many

future generations will follow and maybe eventually be accepted by all of the different

communities who used to look down on their races.

Sources:

THE ONGOING HISTORY OF PROTEST MUSIC

https://www.ongoinghistoryofprotestsongs.com/2018/02/03/daily-dose-of-protest-still-here-jb-th

e-first-lady/

My Time Among Whites by Jennine Capó Crucet