Week 11

Apparently, I mixed up last week’s assignment with this week’s, so I’m writing about week eleven on week twelve!

I really liked how Ash spoke about how to be an ally, and how apathy is a big part of being an ally. A lot of people I interact with on a daily basis often say that they see no differences, and that they consider themselves to be “color blind” who view everyone as one race: the human race. The point that they are blatantly trying to say is that they do not care how you perceive yourself, because at the end of the day you are the same as everyone else in their eyes. According to Ash, this type of approach is filled with apathy: a trait that separates true allies from the rest. When someone is apathetic, they tend to look past, not only your differences, but as well your troubles. An actual ally will recognize what makes you different from the rest AND acknowledge the issues occurring within your community, and will use their privilege to better the problems and make a difference without overstepping. Empathy, as Verna put it, is what goes into building relationships with allies. Another thing Verna mentioned was our biases. I am guilty of having some of biases even now that I unknowingly fall back on. The only way to get over these biases is to face them head first and become uncomfortable before allowing myself to become comfortable. It can be a challenge, but like Verna said, it should not be about perfection but rather about connections we make.

Clint’s video was probably my favorite. The way he spoke about giving up his voice but realizing it is something that was given up long ago resonated with me. I know there have been several times where I wanted to speak up about something, but I was too afraid. Clint pointed out that we often pay attention to what people say rather than what they do not say, and I feel like this can be an observation that can be used daily. Pay attention to what people tolerate and what they will not speak out against. The action of them staying quiet is much louder than what they do say.

The Atlantic article was a really interesting read for me, especially since I identify myself as a leftist. This generation is one of the most unique groups to have been involved in politics, and this past election really allowed us to voice ourselves. Sure, the results of the election were not ideal, but the push that was initiated by the nomination of Bernie Sanders really allowed millennials to voice the issues that are affecting our generation thanks to past generations. The revolution of rising expectations is what happens when issues have been prolonged and shut out in the dark for too long. The issues were always there, but there comes a point where we try and try to do something about it, but nobody is complying to work with the hopeful. I feel like with the presidential election of Trump, this is what happened. Even under Obama’s presidency, there was still a lot of systematic oppression happening, and everyone was so hopeful for a presidency from someone like Bernie because of how much the country was slowly progressing, but the day that Trump was elected, protests took place and the people spoke out. To this day, five months after the election, people are still out here trying to make a difference at twice the speed.