1. What are the unique challenges Cadogan faces as he walks each city (Kingston, New Orleans, and New York City)? What do we learn, indirectly, about each city from Cadogan’s personal experiences? Use a quote from the text

From these three locations Cadogan had to change the way he walked and wore. In New york city and New Orleans he has to prepare to go outside and face the world as police and passerbyers would question his every move. In New Orleans he needed to wear his college merch to show he wasn’t an imposter, and that he wasn’t up to anything suspicious.  Garnette Cadogan writes, “I’d never received what many of my African American friends call ‘The Talk’” (Cadogan 3). This is a very different conversation in my life. He had to change the way he behaved and acted and put everything behind him when questioned by police. Police would stop and question him for just looking at them funny or even waving.    

2. What rules or restrictions have you placed on your own movements–walks on campus, or around your hometown–with your own safety in mind? In what ways do you connect personally to Cadogan’s piece (be specific by naming those spots)?

As a woman I always plan ahead when walking alone at night to my car or just in general when walking around by myself. If it’s at night I make sure I am at least on the phone with someone, not to distract me but to have a witness almost. I was given pepper spray when I turned 16 and got my license. When going places I am unfamiliar to I am always very aware of my surroundings and make sure I am not distracted by my phone. It is hard for me to connect directly to his experiences as I am not a person of color and am from a very small town. I am usually never in the city as it is overwhelming and stresses me out. 

3. Describe a time when you felt unsafe while walking or traveling. What factors made you feel unsafe? How did you respond? Describe your interactions with those around you (if applicable).

I can’t pick an exact moment as I usually don’t have a reason to feel unsafe while walking. I make sure I am always walking with at least one other person I know or to be on the phone with someone in case something goes wrong. As for traveling I have been to foreign countries where I have been cat called, and where I have needed to be more aware of my surroundings as I was very unfamiliar with the location. But I was never alone. I was always either with my family or a group of people. 

4. How does Cadogan’s first-person narrative inform you about his experiences with racism in America? How does first-person impact your reactions, as a reader?

Reading this with it being a first person narrative, it feels more emotional. You can really feel how scared and hard it is for him. You almost winse when reading as he gets detained for waving at a cop. From this we get only a glimpse of the surface levels of the struggles he went through as a black man in america.