1. While in Kingston, Cadogan faced dangers of walking in the streets alone at night because of the dangerous violence that occurred in Jamaica. When he moved to New Orleans, he thought the danger was going to get better, even when some university staff members warned him that walking alone late at night was dangerous. He thought because he came from Jamaica and the dangers there were far worse than the ones in America that he would be okay, but he was wrong. Cadogan states, “I wasn’t prepared for any of this. I had come from a majority-black country in which no one was wary of me because of my skin color. Now I wasn’t sure who was afraid of me” (Cadogan 6). Here he explains how he was found to be the danger to other people because there were many white people that lived in New Orleans. This also continued on when he lived in New York. He claimed that New York was just as bad as New Orleans, and that he had faced multiple assaults and police brutality while he was in New York. Indirectly, we learn that because of the difference of race that Cadogan was, people faced him as a threat because he was stereotyped against for being black. Just because he is different from the majority of people who lived in those cities does not make him a bad guy.
  2. I live right outside of Providence, RI, which is not the safest area. As a woman, I have had to make many rules for myself regarding what I wear, who I talk to, where I am, where I am going, etc. making it hard for me to feel safe when walking not even by myself but with a group of other women. I specifically related to Cadogan’s piece when he stated that the women he would walk with would also have to create the same rules as he did when it came to their safety on the streets. My mom has always told me to stay away from certain areas of Providence, and to dress conservatively. I always carry around pepper-spray wherever I go incase someone does approach me, and for my 16th birthday she had me take self defense classes as means of precaution. While walking around campus, I feel much safer than I do at home, but I still set rules for myself. I never walk alone past a certain time, and I always make sure I am aware of my surroundings or have someone with me. By having these rules, it helps me stay safe, and it keeps me reassured I have done everything to prevent myself from being harmed by someone else.
  3. There have been multiple times I have felt unsafe while walking in my hometown. The worst time was over summer break, I was working for a restaurant in an awful area of Providence and my shifts always ended after 11:00pm. I had a man following me to my car, yelling at me to turn around to look at him and cat-calling me. I just picked up my pace because my car was not far away from me now and he was a distance away from me. There was a man who passed by him and quickly caught up to me which alarmed me, but he explained that he was not going to hurt me, and that the man who was yelling behind me was taking pictures of me. He then proceeded to ask me my age, which I told him I was 17, and then told me because I was a minor he was going to call the cops. He took me back to inside the restaurant I worked at, told me to call my parents and have them come get me, while he dealt with the cops. He gave the cops a description of the man, and then when my parents arrived proceeded to talk about pressing charges. Although I was originally worried about the man who witnessed everything and approached me, I was thankful he helped me get to a safer place and deal with the authorities for me. From there on, I started having my parents or brother drive me to work, as I did not feel safe coming home from work so late.