[ASHLEY DELGADO]

Source: YouTube / https://youtu.be/Onyk7guvHK8

For this week’s photo share, I wanted to share a screen shot of the Stand N Rock music video by rapper Taboo. Since our class discussion was based on Standing Rock, I wanted to research further about it since I did not know much about it. I found this music video and thought the lyrics we’re very interesting. Specifically, the words “To all my native people, woke up to change, we won’t go quiet. Toall my tribal people, don’t mistake our peace, as we stand and fight”. I found this very empowering because like them, we can all suddenly “wake up” to change. Standing Rock protestors stood up against their reservation and I think we all believe it’s necessary for them to do that since a lot of their lands have been taken over.

 

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by ASHLEY DELGADO.

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[ASHLEY DELGADO]

This week we spoke about a few female movements. I wanted to share this picture of Alicia Keys during the 2017 Women’s March in Washington D.C. Before singing her hit song Girl on Fire, she gave an empowering speech thanking all women for being courageous in standing up against their rights. One of the things she said in her speech stood out to me and that is to “not allow our bodies be owned by men in government–or men anywhere, for that matter.” One of the main topics we spoke about in class is how woman are seen by men, either too weak, too mean, too bossy, too “extra”, or crazy. Most of her speech revolved around honoring our femininity and our “womanly-ness.” Overall, Alicia Keys gave an empowering speech to women, not only fighting for women’s rights but also being a good example of accepting your natural beauty. Keys shows her natural beauty by not wearing make up because that is what makes her feel beautiful and I think that’s an important message to give to all females.

Photographer: Kevin Mazur

Source: https://ew.com/music/2017/01/21/womens-march-alicia-keys-girl-on-fire/

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[ASHLEY DELGADO]

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrQr2XmANGO/

Date: n/a

This week I wanted to share the story of Cyntoia Brown, a sex trafficking victim, who was sentenced life in prison for killing the child predator that she was sold to. Instead of being seen as the victim, she was sentenced to life in prison for murder in comparison to actual sex predators who were both white men, Brock Turner and Kenneth Simmons. Both were only sentenced 6 months for rape and sexual assault. In class, we talked about Black Lives Matter and started the conversation about what role did black women play in the Black Panthers. The movement (Black Lives Matter) has primarily shaped the understanding of police brutality but we don’t really see the black women that are also affected by police brutality, as well as sexual assault or harassment. Even if the majority of homicides or police brutality cases are not female victims, any conversation about police brutality must include black women. Something I would like to discuss and further look into is the reason WHY black-female victims are not being spoken about when it comes to police brutality?

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[ASHLEY DELGADO]

Source: http://ethnicstudies.berkeley.edu/about/history

Date: 1990’s

This picture was taken at UC Berkeley during the 1990’s in the midst of a protest for the creation of a Department of ethnic Studies. I chose this picture not only to share with the class but also for my own understanding. I have never paid attention to the Ethnic Studies department, nor did I know about it. Since this is my first ethnic studies course I have ever taken, I have been learning the importance of an ethnic studies program. Without an ethnic studies program, we wouldn’t be exposed to different cultures or the study of race, gender, or class. We wouldn’t be exposed of things that are going on around the world that are similar to events that happened in earlier years. The most that we are exposed to are field trips during elementary school about Native American culture or MLK, but we only get a taste of it; we never really go back to it as we get older. Student activists from the University of California, Berkeley were protesting and fighting for the creation of an ethnic studies department that included a variety of ethnic studies: African American, Asian American, Chicano, and Native American. In the end, they ended up getting a department of ethnic studies but it is very interesting to see that a photo taken around the 1990’s of student activists fighting for an ethnics program can still be seen today, where students of the modern day are also fighting to keep their ethnic studies department due to budget cuts. Before taking this class, I never knew or understood the importance of an ethnic studies department. It amazes me how important it is to many people.

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[ASHLEY DELGADO]

Source: Image from Joyner Lucas’ “I’m Not Racist” video

For this week’s photo share, I wanted to share an image that’s taken from Joyner Lucas’ music video I’m Not Racist. This video had many different topics that each subject talked about but the overall message was that there are two sides to every story but we won’t know until we ask. There was one line that really spoke to me and that is, “And even if I wasn’t picking cotton physically, that don’t mean I’m not affected by the history.” With Black Lives Matter and other social movements fighting against violence and systematic racism, these African-American activists are being affected by how they are being seen and treated. Thus, this line from Joyner Lucas’ rap is expressing that even to this day, black people are being reminded of their history. Saying the ‘N’ word or doing a hate crime against African-Americans reminds them of what their parents, grandparents, etc., had to go through when slavery was a thing, or back in the civil rights era. Even if white Americans act a certain way towards African Americans or make jokes about their culture, it is important to take into consideration that it might have a double meaning to it. As the song explained, saying the ‘N’ word is the way African-Americans greet people but when a white person says it, even as a joke, they know there is a double meaning behind it, which is power or to keep black people under. Overall, I thought this was an important piece to share because there is importance with knowing 2 sides of a story.

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[ASHLEY DELGADO]

Source: https://globalhumanrights.org/issues/activism-under-threat/

Date: n/a

This image shows that those fighting for their rights are being silenced. These activists are seen as threats much like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. Not only activists are being silenced but a lot of the black community feel as if they do not have a voice anymore, whether it is in the workplace or in politics. I read an article based on a black student who was in a class where he felt as if he couldn’t participate so that he wouldn’t give in to the stereotype that black students are “too passionate” or “get defensive” when they speak. Being afraid to be different from his white classmates affected him in the long run because he wondered what type of leader he would have been if he wasn’t afraid of participating or sharing his ideas with others. Today, a lot of millennial’s who are activists are passionately sharing their ideas and joining movements but are seen as threats or seen as dangerous.

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[ASHLEY DELGADO]

For this weeks photo share, I want to share a quote from James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” I thought this went really well with what he said in the documentary that we saw in class about not being an issue about race but rather an issue of taking responsibility for your life and changing it. This is also an issue today, where white people are not able to change the way they think of African-Americans and rather keep treating them as if they are not human or as if they are aliens. They are not yet able to face police brutality against black people because of the way they think of them. They are not able to face that we are now in the 21st century and that we live in a diverse world. Until they finally come to terms with what “Americanness” means, they won’t be able to see what has changed in the world–that it’s okay to be black, brown, yellow, straight, gay, etc. But as Baldwin said, even if they do face with what America is now, there might not be a change, but it is a matter of trying to change and facing the issue.

 

Source: https://www.goalcast.com/2018/06/14/15-james-baldwin-quotes/

Date: June 14, 2018

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[ASHLEY DELGADO]

I would like to share an image with the words “Silence = Violence” because I feel like this is an interpretation to what Martin Luther King Jr. said in Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. In this speech, MLK spoke the famous words, “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” During class we discussed what we thought this meant and this is my interpretation, as well as members of the Black Lives Matter organization. This is a modern day Civil Rights Movement, where black citizens and their peers are fighting for equality, which has been an ongoing issue. This means that there has been minimal change due to the silence that they are receiving from the government, or as they sometimes call it “white silence.” Silence leaves a devastated and demoralizing feeling to a person because they are constantly not being heard; people have stopped listening. The picture shows the courage that citizens keep striving for, no matter if people are not listening now, but in hopes that soon someone will hear them.

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