Black Like Me By John Howard Griffin

The three things that I would take would be a bible, a purse of pictures, and my phone.

The first thing I would show the local people would be my bible. I would tell the native people about how my mom would read bible stories to us instead of bedtime stories. Next I would read them my favorite book of the bible, Esther because it is the story of how one girl gathered enough courage to change the fate of her people. I would tell the local people of how I would let my imagination run wild every time that story was read to me. In my mind I would see Queen Vashti eyes narrow at her husband’s servants enter her private party and tell her of her husband’s request to show her off. Her eyes would shut and she would breathe deeply desperately trying

My phone has a few pictures and a few games but the most important thing it has are books. The books on my phone are of a wide variety but they all describe me well. The first book I would show them on my phone is "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin. It is the true story of an social experiment Griffin performed to see what the life of an African American during the 1960s. When the book originally came out it shocked so many people to see the striking difference of how one man could be treated so different because of the color of his skin. However, to me, it is a reminder to treat everyone like the miracle they are and to try to never make anyone feel less than human. The next book I would show them is "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green because I simply love how he wrote the book and my only request would be better said by him: “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the

The purse holds hundreds and hundreds of memories from not only my life but from my parents. One of my favorite pictures that I would show the local people would be a picture of my dad. In the picture my dad is standing in England wearing a news-boys cap with a slight smile on his face almost to say “Look at where I am.” The reason it is one of my favorites is because I know the story behind the smile. Growing up, my dad came from a family that did not have much but his mother made every sacrifice that she could to make sure that her son got the best education that he possibly could. So the smile on his face is not dedicated to me but rather to his mother as an unspoken thank you. The next picture I would show the local people is a picture of my mom, my brother, and myself playing in the snow. The picture was taken when I was about four years old and my brother was about eight months old. The picture clearly shows that there is not much snow but that could not dull the smile that I had on my face. On my left, my brother is being held up by my mom as he tries his best to stand up on a mound of snow. He is looking down at the snow mound confused like he is trying his best to figure out what exactly his feet are standing on. I love this picture because it reminds me of how happiness can be found in the most simplistic events. The final picture I would show the local people would be a picture of