STATE REPORT

State Report

By:

Ramya Kaja

    If I were to choose one state to live in between Louisiana and Hawaii, I would choose Hawaii. I would choose Hawaii because it has better education, weather, attractions, and entertainment. These are just a few examples why I think so.

       

First of all, I think Hawaii gets loads of good weather. It gets a few tornadoes and hurricanes, but they’re not nearly as bad as the ones Louisiana gets. Louisiana has gotten a F3 on the tornado scale. I would have liked Hawaii’s tornadoes better, because they have never done any major damage to the islands before. The most destructive kind of tornado Hawaii has gotten before is a F2 tornado on the tornado scale. Almost everyday it is sunny but cloudy in Hawaii. Sometimes there are a few light showers then and now. Rarely do they ever get thunderstorms. They get hurricanes usually between June & November. The weather is much more tropical in Hawaii how I like it.    

Secondly, I think Hawaii has better education than Louisiana, because Louisiana got a ranking of #48 between all the states in the U.S. Which means Louisiana is the third worst state in education in the U.S! Hawaii on the other hand isn’t that great either. Hawaii got a ranking of #37 which is better than Louisiana though. One of the best universities in Hawaii is the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu. This is a doctor university and there are many more universities too. If I were to live there I’d clearly get better education than Louisiana.

Fortunately, Hawaii has one of my favorite things of all. Entertainment! Hawaii has so many things you can do when you’re bored or looking for fun. You can go surfing, watch hula dancers or fire dancers, listen to musical programs which tell about the “Aloha” spirit, or even go see dormant volcanoes! All these are fun and you can go do these right after school every single day. Louisiana has one festival that comes once a year before Easter called Mardi Gras. Just one really big festival. There are many entertainment programs where you can just relax and see hula dancing, which is the traditional dance in Hawaii. As you can see, there are many relaxing, adventure-taking, wild things to do at Hawaii.

To conclude, I think Hawaii would be the right place for my family and I. Hawaii has really good weather, education, and lots of entertainment for us to enjoy. Of course these are just a few examples of fortunate things for living in Hawaii.

               

ROSA PARKS - Book Report

Rosa Parks - Book Report by Ramya Kaja

INTRODUCTION - About me

                My name is Rosa Louisa McCauley Parks.  I was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, 1913.  My  father, James, is a carpenter and my mom, Leona, is a teacher. I also have a brother, Sylvester. I moved to Montgomery in 1924.

                When I was little girl,  I observed many unfair laws between the blacks and the whites. Blacks couldn't use clean things like the whites instead we used old and dirty things.  For example the blacks had dirty water fountains, schools, restaurants, and many more.    

Bus Rules

                In 1943, I joined the NAACP, National American Association for Colored People.   We blacks don't even like the bus rules, because the bus rules are whites sit in the front and blacks sit in the back.  The middle is for blacks and whites but they couldn't sit together and if a white couldn't sit anywhere one black row had to get up and go to the back.  If there weren't any blacks in the middle a black row from the back had to get up and stand. 

Arrest

                In 1955, when I had to ride the bus to work I sat in the back as usual.  When a white couldn't sit anywhere he stood.  The bus driver, James Blake  saw him standing and told my row to get up, at first no one moved then slowly the other two passengers got up.  "Well aren't you going to move "said the bus driver to me.  "No" I said kind of  quiet.  "Then I'm going to have to arrest you" said James Blake.  "That's fine with me" I said.  Soon two police came and arrested me and put me in cell.  Two hours later  I made a phone call to my family and they came to help me.  If I wanted to get out of jail, I would have to pay $100 bail!  My friend helped pay the bail and I got out.  Though I still had to go to the court on Monday, December 5.  

Bus Boycott Plan

                The night of my arrest, I thought it wasn't fair for any of the blacks so they came up with a plan.  They first made 35,000 flyers to tell people about it.  The flyers said, in part: Don't ride the bus to work, to town, to school ,or anywhere, on Monday December 5.  If you work, take a cab, share a ride, or walk.  The next morning, lots of people got some copies, they hang them in public places and gave them to people they knew.  By Friday evening, most people knew about the plan.   But the boycott had already begun.  Some people had already walked or taken a cab.  On Monday, December 5, I  thought if people were going to follow the boycott.  It was a huge success not one single black was on the bus they ether walked or share rides. More than 5,000 people showed support to the boycott.  The bus boycott was a huge success.

Accomplishments

                The bus boycott started in 1955, for more than one year people(385 days)  could see the boycott was working and the bus company was losing a lot of money. Finally in 1956 I sat in the front of a Montgomery bus after bus segregation is ruled unconstitutional, for the first time without anybody judging where I should sit - that was huge success, it is a major accomplishment. Some leaders thought it was heroic act, I was courageous and I am remembered as mother of civil rights.

                In 1963, I attended the March on Washington  In 1996 I received presidential medal of freedom from President Clinton for my contributions to Civil rights. In 1999 I received congressional gold medal.

Making a difference and Future goals

                I am glad I took a stand against racial segregation.  My quiet acts of defiance triggered the civil rights movement in the United States. I believe everybody counts and I made a difference!!!

                I want to tell the black teens and kids that each individual is important and powerful nobody should be held back because of their skin color.  

THANK YOU!!!