Interview with Music Legend Bob Dylan

Recently I've had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Dylan, an American singer-songwriter. Dylan is known as one of the best-selling artists of all time and has received numerous awards throughout the years.

Tyler: So we'll go ahead and jump right in. I know our readers sure have a lot of questions about you and the early years of your career. In the early years of your career you were known for writing a lot of protest songs. A famous example of this is the song "Blowin' in the Wind" which was released in 1963. What message were you trying to send with this song?

Bob:  Well as you know this was around the time of the Vietnam War. Throughout the country boys were getting shipped off against their will to fight in a war that most people thought we shouldn't be involved in. The loss of American lives was devastating and I wrote this song to send the message asking "How many more need to die before you realize your mistake?".

Tyler: This song also went on to become an anthem for the African American civil rights movement. From what I understand you were a quite prominent figure in this movement, am I right?

Bob: Absolutely. I am a strong believer in the idea that music holds a certain power and that this power can be used to create change in the world. I remember performing at the Freedom March in Washington D.C. , when Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech that went down in history. The emotion that could be felt when we sang these songs demanding change was just overwhelming. After that I went on to perform at more protests and to release more songs that shared the struggles of the civil rights movement.

Tyler: Besides your performance at the Freedom March, do you have any other memorable performances or experiences you would like to share with us?

Bob: Now that you mention it I think my performance at Greenwood, Mississippi was a very memorable experience for me. It wasn't some huge concert with thousands of people, just a small voter registration rally. I was playing to only maybe 300 African Americans. No one special, just a bunch of farmers but I think that's what really made it stand out to me. I decided to sing one of the songs I had recently wrote called "Only a Pawn in Their Game". This song held a lot of meaning to not only me but the audience as well. I wrote this song about Medgar Evans, a civil rights leader who had been killed just a few weeks before. When Evans was killed I just knew I had to write about it. Like I said before, I firmly believe in the idea that music can inspire change. At the time I thought that if I wrote enough songs and sang at enough rallies that my music could make a difference.

Tyler: Well do you think that your music did make a difference?

Bob: I'm not sure that I could contribute the success of the civil rights movements to my songs but I at least hope that I was able to contribute in some small way. I think that by bringing these issues to light I was able to spread awareness and maybe even change some people's way of thinking.

Tyler: Well thank you so much for coming and talking with us!

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Mother Tongue

I recently read an essay by Amy Tan titled "Mother Tongue" which addresses the idea of a language of intimacy and also brings attention to the struggles and unfair treatment that some people face due to the fact that English is not their first language. So I'll go ahead and just give you guys a quick summary of the essay just so we're all on the same page. In the essay writer Amy Tan talks about her mother whose first language is not English. While her mother may read Forbes Report and listen to Wall Street Weekly  she does not use the standard English that most of us native speakers are accustomed to hearing. Tan goes on to mention that her mother is often over-looked or ignored for this very reason. The essay raises many issues that I would love to address in this post but I've decided to just stick with one for the time being.

Out of the many issues that are mentioned in "Mother Tongue" one of the most important in my opinion is the idea that non-native English speakers are often seen in a derogatory manner or are over-looked. Tan gives a very serious example of this as she describes her and her mother's experience at a hospital. Her mother's CAT scan results had been lost and no attempt was being made to find them nor was the hospital showing any sign of apology. However, as soon as her daughter speaks with the hospital there was a complete turnaround in the attitude of the hospital. This is a prime example of the inequality that many non-native English speakers face.

While we may want to think that we never do this I'm pretty sure that all of us can find that we have made this mistake at least once. As a student who is almost constantly surrounded by educated individuals I'm very accustomed to the formal/academic English used in schools and by teachers. Because of this I do sometimes catch myself associating language skills with intelligence. However I've learned that just because someone might not have the words to get their thoughts across does not mean that their thoughts are not worth hearing. Looking back on it now it really doesn't make sense to associate English skills with intelligence. I mean when you think about it non-native English speakers have not only learned their mother tongue but have also learned English which in my opinion is quite impressive.

Now I know this is supposed to be a blog about language and literature but for this post I thought it might be a good idea to bring some psychology into this. As individuals we divide ourselves into two groups: the in-group and the out-group. We always place ourselves in the in-group and we tend to have a negative view of those in the out-group. In this case people who we think do not speak English with the same level of proficiency as us are filed into the out-group which is why we may find ourselves thinking in this negative sometimes.

As a final note I hope that after bringing this issue to attention that those who read this might become a bit more sensitive to this topic and try and correct this way of thinking. Once again, thanks for reading :)

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Just A Quick Introduction

Let's see...

I've spent much more time than I probably should have trying to find a way to keep this first post as un-embarrassing as possible. I'd love to skip this step all together but it's got to happen sometime and like they say first impressions are everything right? So I'll do my best to keep things interesting and maybe you'll actually be able to stay awake while reading this.

My name is Tyler. Hmm weird name for a girl you might say. Apparently it's a pretty hard concept to grasp considering that from 2nd to 5th grade most of my teachers called me Taylor despite the numerous times I corrected them. My parents got the name from surfer girl Tyler Endicott in the movie Point Break (points to them for being original I guess). Ironically enough I can't surf and I pretty much hate the ocean so way to go on that one mom and dad.

I was born in Chesapeake, Virginia and lived there until 7th grade which is when my family and I moved to Abu Dhabi. Before moving I really had no clue what the world outside of America was like. Heck I had never left the East Coast before, let alone the country! I was pretty sheltered as a kid seeing as I had attended a Christian Private school my entire life. When I first heard I was moving to the Middle East I had no idea of what to expect. Am I going to ride a camel to school? Does anyone there speak English? Is there even McDonalds?! These were just some of the very important questions that raced through my head at the time. I arrived in Abu Dhabi in December and I remember thinking "Pshh it's not even that hot". Let's just say I learned my lesson a short couple of months later when I walked outside and thought I was actually on fire because there was no way it could actually be that hot.

Culture shock: a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with mixed feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation

Moving to Abu Dhabi was less like a culture shock and more like a culture slap in the face. Of course instead of having time to get adjusted I was thrown straight into school. I somehow made it to almost all the right classes on the first day despite some crazy jet lag. I say almost because I still remember the fear and cringe-worthy embarrassment I felt after accidentally walking into the advanced Arabic class. The teacher launched into rapid fire Arabic, leaving me at a loss for words considering I had no idea what his meant. The frozen look of terror on my face must have given away the fact that I hadn't understood a single thing he had said because he quickly pointed me to the beginner's Arabic classroom. I spent the rest of my first day trying to make sense of all the peculiar accents and languages I was surrounded by. There's nothing like hearing someone switch between three languages in one conversation to make you realize that you are clearly over your head in the language department.

Over time though I've grown to identify more with the laid back Abu Dhabi culture than the American culture. I went to a mall in America this summer and couldn't believe that it closed at 9pm on a weekend. In Abu Dhabi I don't even normally go to the mall until 8:30 at night so this kind of shocked me. I know it seems like a small thing but that just got me thinking about how different the two cultures are and how much I preferred the Abu Dhabi culture. To many of my friends in America this can be confusing. They don't quite understand how I could prefer some foreign country over the country I was born and raised in and I'm not sure that I fully understand it either. The two cultures are very different from each other. I saw a girl walking in a mall this summer and for a moment forgot I was in America. I started asking my friend why no one had told her off for her inappropriate outfit when I saw the look on her face and realized that I wasn't in Marina Mall. There's just some parts of the Abu Dhabi culture that have become ingrained in my mind and changed my entire way of thinking. 

So now for a little more about me because that's what this is meant to be about. Almost everyone has that one thing that they could not live without and for me that one thing is sports. Sports have played a huge role in my life and I don't know what I would do without them. They've helped make me the competitive and dedicated person I am today. I also love to read any chance I get. When I was young I would always get in trouble at school because I would be reading instead of paying attention to what my teacher was saying. However as I've gotten older I've began to read less which I find pretty sad. Hmm I'm sure you're sick of hearing about me by now so thanks for reading!

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