During our discussion this week, we talked about how discrimination against LGBT+ people can affect how people of that community access resources. We talked about how LGBT+ people were refused the right to marry for so long in this country, and we also discussed how LGBT+ faced discrimination in accessing things such as basic freedoms and…[Read more]

Our discussion this week continued on the topic of illegality and civil rights. We had a reading from the New York Times by Jose Antonio Vargas detailing his life as an undocumented immigrant. It was an incredible read detailing the life Vargas has had as an undocumented immigrant, and the obstacles he faced to get to where he is today. The photo…[Read more]

This week’s discussions focused on undocumented immigrants and their so called status of “illegality” in our country. We focused on the Mae Ngai reading, analyzing how the terminology of “Illegal alien” affects undocumented immigrants. Mae Ngai describes how Mexicans immigrating to the United States were subject to harsh and degrading situation…[Read more]

Donald Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” while campaigning for presidency in 2015, and later acted on these words by temporarily banning immigrants from a list of countries with majority Muslim populations. His rhetoric and policies are both racist and dangerous, but they did not start with thi…[Read more]

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066, forcing the relocation of Japanese Americans into internment camps. Many of these Japanese Americans were American citizens. The justification provided was that it was done to protect the US from further attack or treason. As we discussed in class, we…[Read more]

James Baldwin is remembered as a key icon in the civil rights movement. Equally so, James Baldwin was an incredible writer and novelist. This is exemplified in some of his most famous works: “The Fire Next Time” and “Another Country”, but also in the reading we had for class, “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew”. In this writing, he eloquently…[Read more]

Coretta Scott King was a civil rights activist and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. She is remembered as the “First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement.” Her role in continuing the message of her late husband, Martin Luther King Jr., is the reason why I chose her as my photo share. Coretta Scott King had dreams of being a musician and having a car…[Read more]

Aretha Franklin, also known as the Queen of Soul, was a legend, a musician, and a civil rights activist. She was born on March 25, 1942, and passed away on August 16, 2018. As a musician, her debut single reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. Her role as a voice in the civil rights movement and later is why I chose a photograph of her as…[Read more]