What's in a name?

My first name came from my sister, Breanna. She is nine years older than me. My sister asked my parents to let her pick my name and they decided that she could do it. She ended up deciding that I should be named Brandon and I got my dad's last name, Freeman. I don't think that my name has ever brought me privilege. I think that my name is just find the way it is I like it and I wouldn't change it if I had the chance to. I have many nick names. My sister and her friends call me Tookie this came from what I thought the words to a song were. My eldest brother calls me Brando this came from trying to type my name in a video game we were playing and the last "n" didn't fit in the box. The nickname I am called most often is B-Free. This one came from taking the first of my first name and the first four letters of my last name. I think that looking at my last name shows what my family that came before me has been through, but other than that I don't think my name or any of my nicknames define me.

When I am playing basketball with a team or preforming a taekwondo demonstration I experience the feeling of being "two". When playing basketball when I play good not only does it make me look better at basketball, but it also makes my team appear better as a whole. This goes both ways though. If I make a mistake not only will people think that I am bad at basketball, but the team as well. When one person plays bad it also affects the way the whole game can go and the way the team plays together. Sometimes a team can still win when one person is playing bad, but it is a lot more difficult and when a team is playing bad this can lead to conflict in the team. It is almost the same during taekwondo performances. If one person messes up it can throw off the rhythm of the performance and cause everyone else to preform worse. I feel like this is escalated when I am doing these shows. Since I am an assistant instructor the students on the demonstration team look up to me. Due to the fact that I am the one that is frequently teaching them I believe that when I make a mistake it has a greater impact on the way that the rest of the show will go.

Author: Wing Young Huie

Photo taken: 2012-2013

Place of publication: http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/p709406511/e717fb180

When first looking at the picture I see people in a high school setting. Who I believe to be the teacher is standing in the background. The students are participating in some activity. Since the photo is black and white my eyes were first drawn to the people in the photo since I was unable to tell what their skin looked like. Still in a black and white photo thought I was able to come up with a prediction of what I would expect the true color of their skin to appear as. When looking at the boy on the right with the sign he appears to be sad, upset, or frustrated about something.

When looking deeper into the picture I first interpreted what the signs that the students are holding says and what it can tell me about them. The girl's sign that says "I'm not black, I'm African-American". This leads me to believe that she is proud of her heritage and doesn't want to be immediately judged by the color of her skin and grouped together with all people with the same color skin. The boy in the photo holds a sign that says, "I have depression I'm no sad". He is saying that people often mistake his depression for him being sad about something all the time. The photographer is trying to get across the point that you can't judge people just by looking at them. You have to get to know someone before you can determine a true representation of a person. The photographer is also trying to show that grouping people by the way they look and making assumptions about people can truly upset them even though we may not realize it.

Othering is used by Atwood on the Handmaids similarly to the way that the photographer is using othering on the African-American girl and the boy who has depression. Atwood makes wearing red a visible sign of being Handmaid and makes it something that the Handmaids are unable to escape like the girl in the photo. The actions that are expected of Handmaids can be compared to someone who is depressed. In depression the brain is affected causing people to feel the way they do and Atwood shows that the brains of Handmaids were conditioned to act the way that they do.