Abstract:

Mike Parkinson

My Grandmother (English)

Who is the person that passed away?

I made my sugar skull and mask after my grandmother. She passed away about two years ago and I think about her everyday. She was a very important person and a very big inspiration in my life. Even though I only saw her a few times a year, I loved it and tried to cherish it and make it last as long as possible. She was a person that I would go to if I was having any problems about anything. This is the person that I decided to make a sugar skull/mask of my grandmother who passed away.

This person meant the world to me. She was one of the people that I would go to if I was having any problems about anything. I could talk to her about anything that was troubling me and she would always have an answer for me. My grandmother was a great inspiration on my life and showed me was morals were and told me to stray away and stay away from any and all vices. Without her, I have no clue where I would be in life. Now whenever I get depressed or upset about something, I try to think of something that she would tell me to do about whatever the situation was. This is what my grandmother meant to me.

I chose to make and create both a sugar skull and mask of my grandmother because

she is the only important person and big inspiration so far in life. Also, she was there for me everytime I needed someone to talk to about something that was bothering me. I miss her everyday and it hurts to lose someone that you are close to and now is gone. It makes me sad that she is gone, but she is now in a better place and that makes me happy for her. Sadness is not good and she was someone who understood and talked to me about it whenever I was sad. I don’t know what I am going to do without my grandmother because now, I rarely have people to talk to about how I feel about certain things. This is why I decided to make the sugar skull in remembrance of my grandmother.  

My sugar skull reflects my grandmother because everything that is on it symbolizes her in some way. The sparkles one the skulls teeth and mouth represent that she wore a lot of jewelry. Jewelry usually sparkles and the sparkles did as well. The blue on the skull represents her because (blue is usually the color of sadness) she helped me whenever I was feeling sad or down about anything and I can’t thank her enough for that. Orange represents her because she liked to watch hockey and the Flyers were her favorite team. This is how the sugar skull that I have made reflects the person who is not departed.

Día de los Muertos opened my mind about celebrating the departed/passing of loved ones because before in my family, it was usually a time of mourn and sadness. But now, I realized that it doesn’t have to be a time of sadness, it can be a time of celebration. You don’t have to mourn over the death of someone, you can celebrate all of the things that they have done for you and celebrate the good times you have with them. I still get upset that I lost her. But when I do, instead of being sad about it, I can just think about the good times we had together and that starts to make me a happier person overall. This holiday shows to be happy that the departed is now in a better place. This is how Día de los Muertos has opened my mind about celebrating the passing of a loved one.

Research: Bloody Sunday happened on March 7, 1965. It was blacks and protesters protesting. They only traveled six blocks before they were beaten with clubs and also tear gassed. This march was devastating. 600 marchers went east from Selma, Alabama and were going on U.S. route 80. They only made it to Edmund Pettus Bridge six blocks away.

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm

Interview

Me: I’m Michael Parkinson and i’m going to be interviewing my mom mom Maryann Parkinson. What was your viewpoint on race growing up?

Mom mom: We didn’t really know too many black people. Some in high school. I had one friend in high school who actually didn’t live in Roxborough. So, they were just like everybody else like other people I met.

Me: Was your neighborhood predominantly white?

Mom mom: It was all white.

Me: It was all white? Do you remember anything about the civil rights movement?

Mom mom: Not really, I was just out of high school then and starting a family so I looked at it on the news. But other than that it did not really affect me.

Me: Do you remember any groups or anything during the civil rights movement?

Mom mom: No. Just some marches down south that we were basically… up north everything seemed fine. It was just down north that they were having a problem.

Me: Did the Civil Rights Movement affect any of your friends?

Mom mom: No, like I said I really didn’t have any black friends. And my friends were just more worried about the Vietnam war more than Civil Rights.

Me: Most of your friends were white since you lived in a predominantly white neighborhood?

Mom mom: They were all white except for one black girl that I became best friends with in high school.

Me: What was it like growing up in this time period?

Mom mom: Care-free, no problems, out every night, in cars. Basically we had no problems at all back then. I didn’t anyway. Or my friends.

Me: Were there any sections of your neighborhood that were all black?

Mom mom: Well there was one section about eight blocks wide that I didn’t even know about until my one son was in his teens and he had two black friends and they said that they came from this section that was all black. And it was only about six blocks away from me and I didn’t even know it existed.

Me: Has your viewpoint on race changed in any way since you grew up?

Mom mom: Well it hasn’t changed its broadened. I don’t see difference between black and white. Maybe I would not go into some of the badder neighborhoods if I were by myself and they were all black. Thats just the way I feel.

Me: Did you grow up with anybody that was racist or didn’t like a certain group of people?

Mom mom: I did not grow up with anybody that was racist. But, there was a definite dislike of some black people by the adults in my community.

Me: So they felt that they weren’t equal to whites?

Mom mom: I don’t think they did. No. I don’t think that kids felt it but I our parents and our grandparents felt it. They weren’t equal.

Me: Was your neighborhood affected in any way by black people? They just kept to themselves?

Mom mom: None. Not at all. Yup, kept to themselves. Basically in high school I didn’t realize it then but the blacks sat with themselves and the whites sat with themselves. We actually didn’t mingle. I did have one black friend and she did sit with the white kids.