[DEREK BUITRON]

For this week’s theme about the right to marry, I found a picture while scrolling through Pinterest that I thought connected well with our in-class discussions. The picture simply states “Marriage is a human right, not a heterosexual privilege”. This was something so simply put but something that I hadn’t really thought about until this week’s lectures. Looking at it from my privileged standpoint of being a heterosexual male, my view has always been catered to and been seen as the norm but when I decentralize myself it’s pretty easy to say that all people deserve to be allowed to be with and marry whoever they choose.

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[DEREK BUITRON]

This photo is from a KPBS article about UCSD professor Tom K. Wong. The photo here is a picture of him as a child growing up in Riverside, California. I feel like this picture really shows the humanity and ambiguity of undocumented folks. By looking at this picture, many would just assume that he is another Chinese-American boy. But as he describes in the article, he learned that his undocumented status was only relevant once he, and others, knew he was undocumented. This really struck me because this idea of migrants and undocumented people being ‘illegal’ can truly create unequal and even dangerous conditions for many people looking for a place to call home.

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[DEREK BUITRON]

As we discussed illegality and civil rights in class this week, I thought that the theme was very fitting for the things that are going on right now like the caravan of Central American migrants moving towards the U.S. in search of asylum. This picture was part of an online Time magazine article by Mark Stevenson and Sonia Perez D. that outlines the current situation as it is currently unfolding. One thing I think a lot of people need to consider is the concept of illegality. It is interesting to critically think about who is “allowed” to come to the U.S. and who is not. This article mentions how the Mexican government proposed a program that would allow jobs, education, health care, and housing to migrants who pledged to stay in Mexico. Although this was initially rejected by the caravan, they are still open to negotiation once they arrive in Mexico City. This is precisely why learning about these concepts of illegality and looking for their connections with civil rights, or lack thereof, is so crucial when trying to understand the current events.

Article: http://time.com/5430542/caravan-central-american-migrants/

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[DEREK BUITRON]

This picture, taken by Gabriel Olsen for Getty Images, is of George Takei. Commonly known for his acting and writing, Takei is also a huge activist whose family was actually put into an internment camp. As we discussed in class this week, Japanese internment was a tragic and horrific action on behalf of the U.S. government and this photo here is from a Times article about his appearance at the Japanese American National Museum. He was there to speak and introduce the new exhibit named “Instructions To All Persons: Reflections On Executive Order 9066”. This was what we looked at in class and I didn’t think much about it until after this week’s lectures and now it really puts things into perspective when it comes the actual inhumanity and betrayal the U.S. government committed on its own citizens.

[DEREK BUITRON]

This photo shows the famous former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick posing for Nike’s new ad campaign. This photo reminds me of the topic of the week because we have been discussing the ways in which the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement and today’s fight for civil right intersect and how they are different. Kaepernick is famous for being the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem. This caused outrage and ultimately led to his firing. While the 1960’s movement consisted of many nonviolent protests, similar to Kaepernick’s, it is different due to the platform he has and his motive was to bring awareness to the racial profiling and murdering of young unarmed black men and women. He was not intending to start a movement but rather to stand up for something he believed needed correcting. He ultimately created a movement throughout sports and has empowered other athletes to utilize their platform for things above just the sport they play.

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