[GABRIEL GARCIA]

For this week’s photo share, I wanted to share a picture about #NODAPL based on our week’s discussion in class, found here: https://mashable.com/2016/12/07/standing-rock-nodapl-youth/#WkGvKvDrDqqJ.

What I found most intriguing is the belief of mni wiconi, the belief that water is life and should therefore be granted similar rights as to not destroy the landscape of the area by constructing the pipeline. At first, I didn’t really see the argument for this when it was first presented in class. In all honesty, I thought, “it’s just water,” although I do support the #NODAPL movement. However, it did make more sense to me when the belief of mni wiconi was explained. Water truly is life, and if the Native Americans belief so strongly in the preservation of their land and are against any construction, then that’s ultimately what we should respect. We all have our own beliefs, but capitalism should not interfere with a person’s sacred beliefs.

When I realized that, that’s when I realized the strong power behind mni wiconi and their fight of resistance against capitalism.

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[GABRIEL GARCIA]

For this week’s photo share, I wanted to share a picture of #MeToo supporter, Terry Crews, found here: https://www.dailyedge.ie/terry-crews-gave-an-emotional-testimony-of-his-alleged-sexual-assault-4094137-Jun2018/. Terry Crews started another dialogue of the #metoo movement, speaking about male harassment and sexual assault. Many people across threads laughed at the idea of Terry Crews, being a strong and fit male, being assaulted and not doing anything. Sexual assault is a sad and serious topic, and it’s not right that any party is discredited for not immediately doing anything after. Despite the gender differences, I felt that Terry Crews added an important dialogue to show how prevalent sexual assault and harassment has been in Hollywood and how it could truly happen to anyone, and leave them feeling powerless, and vulnerable.

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[GABRIEL GARCIA]

For this week’s share, I decided to share a Feb. 2018 photo of the ‘Rest in Power’ documentary, based on Trayvon Martin and his fatal encounter with George Zimmerman, found in an article here: https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/07/30/five-years-in-hearing-the-voices-of-black-lives-matter/

 

This documentary, co-produced by Jay-Z, shows the tragic story of Trayvon Martin’s untimely death. I still remember hearing about this the day it occurred, and the media response to it through social media, Facebook, Twitter, and the news in general. Some focused on the teenager’s appearance, with lots of racist remarks being shared and spread. From all this, I remembered learning of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and learning what the movement stood for and why it was named the way it was. Debates of #AllLivesMatter and #BLM ensued, but as a teenager, the message of #BLM did not get lost for me, and i understood the violence and discrimination that Black populations go through in America. This is why #BLM is important, to highlight the unfair treatment that groups in America go through. I’ll never forget learning about #BlackLivesMatter as a teenager, and the significance will always stay with me.

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[GABRIEL GARCIA]

For this week, I’m choosing to share a picture of Colin Kaepernick, the former 49er’s Super Bowl starting quarterback, to show the theme of protest we went through this week, found here: https://www.sbnation.com/2019/2/15/18226674/colin-kaepernick-eric-reid-nfl-settlement-protest

Although we have previously shared and already discussed somewhat on Kaepernick, I found it more fitting to share him during this week, especially after the Cornell video we watched in class. Both Kaepernick and the students at Cornell took a unique and brave approach in order to stand up for inequalities in America. Although they were in different manners, and involving different goals, there was one clear benefit and mission they pursued: more equality and justice for discriminated communities in our nation. Both parties should be proud and remembered for their protests, and the light that they brought to the issues they demanded to be fixed.

As a side note, I also picked Kaepernick because on Friday, right after lecture, I looked at my phone and received a notification that Kaepernick reached a settlement with the NFL. While the details remain confidential, I’m glad to see some justice finally being awarded to Kaepernick. As someone who enjoyed watching him play, and someone proud of what he did to stand up for communities in America, I’m glad his protest and blackballing did not go unnoticed and unpunished. #Justice

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[GABRIEL GARCIA]

For this week, I chose to select a picture of my J. Cole’s album, 4 Your Eyez Only. In the album, J. Cole comments on several issues of society that continuously holds down the Black community. Racial inequality, the prison industrial complex, the war on drugs, and selling drugs in order to provide for family due to no financial opportunities, are discussed frequently throughout the album. J. Cole writes about how dangerous the lifestyle is, and how although he knew it would one day lead to his death, his friend James continued down this path for many reasons.

As my favorite hip-hop artist, the evolution and progression in his music is crystal clear, and J. Cole’s music takes a much different direction than his previous album. Having gained much more popularity, he uses this album and his rising fame as social commentary on our current society because he wants to bring about change, and not rap about otherwise unnecessary topics. In relation to our week in class, J. Cole realizes his platform, hip hop, like many others in the past, is one in which he may help his community to change and grow, and crafts a beautiful composition telling a story throughout the album.

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[GABRIEL GARCIA]

For this week’s photo share, I chose to share a picture of Huey Newton (found here: https://medium.com/@merricatherine/huey-p-newtons-interview-with-the-movement-magazine-1968-a328e6b78c32 ) from an interview in 1968. Among the themes we discussed in class this week, Richard Aoki and the Black Panther Party were discussed for their work in activism. Huey Newton was a co-founder of the Black Panther Party, a group that stood for defense of African Americans, as well as the promotion of many social programs, such as feeding children and others. The impact and bravery of these men to start such a program is not forgotten throughout our culture today, and Newton’s name continues to be dropped in rap songs by artists with lines about admiration, needs for changes, and praise for the important work he pushed for. Although the narrative was to push the Black Panther Party as a violent and threatening group, it is wonderful that they are remembered for what they truly were: an important part of society that pushed to further civil rights and equality for African Americans throughout America.

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[GABRIEL GARCIA]

I chose this image that I found in this article by Eugene Puryear, from July 3, 2014, to reflect some ideals & philosophies of the important figures we studied this week.: https://liberationschool.org/the-civil-rights-and-black-power-movements . The people in this image are all unified and ready to fight for what they believed in, raising their fists in support of the Black Panther Party and their movement. I feel that it fits in with Malcolm X’s beliefs about a revolution, showing his belief that Black people need to be ‘unified’ and understand the meaning of a ‘true revolution’, that is, realizing their differences don’t matter. The children being young and the adults are integrated to fight for their same goal in demanding freedom and equality for Black communities. James Baldwin, as a civil rights activist, stands up for the same beliefs in changing the  inequality of America. In a similar thought to Malcolm X, he believes change needs to start with the people, as seen by the quote : “A country is only as good… only as strong as the people who make it up and the country turns into what the people want it to become… I don’t believe any longer that we can afford to say that it is entirely out of our hands. We made the world we’re living in and we have to make it over.”

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[GABRIEL GARCIA]

For my image this week, I selected Dr. MLK meeting Malcolm X and sharing a handshake with each other, taken during a Senate Debate during the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Source: Marion S. Trikosko/ Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.). Throughout the class week, we discussed the ideals and philosophies of both influential public speakers, and how they continually pushed forward to change society and take down injustice to the Black population. Although MLK vouched for a more peaceful approach as opposed to Malcolm X’s more “violent” & separatist attitude, they both recognized the need for change in their home country that refused to give them the human equal rights they all deserved. The quotes, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal,” and “An in<b>justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, </b>can apply to many of the discussions and themes of this week and of the speakers’. Both MLK and Malcolm X are largely influential for their life’s work, and will continue to be studied for their contribution to changing Civil Rights forever.

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