"Stay Woke" and "Mighty Times"

                                       It Takes Children To Be Heard

After watching two powerful videos "Stay Woke" and "Mighty Times"  my eyes  opened and I saw the strength of our youths that I have never seen before.

In 1963 it wasn't the older activist that changed segregation in Birmingham Alabama.  It was kids.

Today young people, with the same strong will, are the voice to aid in social change.

I can sit here and write about all that has been and still is wrong in the black community.  A repeat of history that has been going on for about 400 years. Yes, black lives do matter. They have suffered and fought long enough and it is time that the world woke up and showed respect and equality.  

What I do want to talk about is how are youth from the past to present rose up and through radio, twitter ans Facebook to spread the word and make a stand for civil rights.  Today in my blog we are looking at the power of kids with the help of the power of communication.

In 1963 the adults were afraid to stand up because they were afraid of loosing their jobs, houses, and cars.  The kids in Birmingham would listen on the radio what was going on and soon began stating that they wanted their freedom and wanted to be involved.  This meant the possibility of being thrown in jail.  The children stood tall and said they didn't care and still wanted to do this.  In the 1960's there wasn't social media, the children listened to the radio.  Reverend Martin Luther King called Reverend James Bevel who then reached out to an outspoken DJ who had challenge the KKK in the past as well as other DJs to help draw more children to join the movement and increase the numbers.  The DJs would use code words to signal the kids to prepare them to march.  One phrase they used was "bring your toothbrush".  This meant that you might be spending the night in jail so be ready.  At 11am the kids walked out of school and marched.  

                             

Through the days of the protest the kids never gave up and actually made it look like they were having fun. No matter what they faced they never gave up.  Kids were coming from everywhere.  There was a nonstop parade of them.  Through communication from the radio, kids came from out of town because they heard the codes and wanted to be there. They just kept coming and coming and coming. When you thought there were no more kids, more came, singing and happy to get arrested.  Because of the bravery of these kids, integration was agreed upon.

This leads me to the second video "Stay Woke".  In the past kids would hear or pass information by word of mouth. In the present kids are now "plugged in and driving the conversation".  Kids are now videotaping or taking pictures and posting it on social media as it is happening.  This changed the conversation throughout the nation and extended the reach of the activist by letting them know where the protest was as well as a minute by minute update. These kids showed the same bravery and stamina as the kids did in 1963.  The newer black activist wanted their voice heard through defiance and took it out of the hands of the older black civil rights leaders.  They stated that they were going to stand up, and were not going home.  

The young protesters kept coming out every day until there were changes.  Through social media they got the word out and formed a large powerful group to get their voice heard and fight for their civil rights.  The outcome was a milestone and the police got violations on the 1st, 4th, and 14th amendment as well violations to the Federal Civil Rights Law.  All I have to say to our youth is to never lose your voice and always stand your ground. These are the ones who are going to create hope and make change.

             

Examine Life

                Take a walk with me

            

Sanura Taylor was born with a rare birth defect called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. This is a birth defect that causes the joints to have a reduction in mobility which causes a decrease to muscle development and growth.  Above is a self portrait  showing her true form in her eyes.  The amazing part of this is that it was done with her mouth.  All her paintings are done with her mouth.

In her interview with Judith Butler, many topics were discussed. At the start of the video, Judith stated that she thought they should take a walk together, a routine that Sanura said she did almost every day.  In fact she uses the word "walk", even though she is not physically able to walk, just like other disabled people like her use the word "walk".

Sanura chose San Francisco to live in because it was accommodating to people with physical impairments.  This included public transportation, curb cuts, and building accessibility. She stated that because of this there is now "social acceptance". Now there were more disabled people like her in her community who were able to be out in the public and she was no longer the center of attention.

There is a discomfort every day in her life when she goes against the norm and the way people look at her when she uses other body parts to accomplish tasks. An example of this is when she goes to a coffee shop and she uses her moth to bring her coffee to the table.  People still feel uncomfortable seeing her do this.

It wasn't until her early twenties that she became aware of "disability" as being a political issue and the effects it had on our society. She said many people had a hard understanding of what disability was. 

This is where she discovered the word "disability" was the disabling effects on society and social repression that included limited housing and career opportunities, being socially isolated, and as she said "basically a cultural inversion".  Impairment on the other hand is a "unique embodiment" medically that affects your life.

                                                

To Sanura, it was a political protest to enter a coffee shop and ask for help.  She said that "it was looked down on" and that 

" it is not taken care of in society". 

When Sanura made the response off the top of her head  "when in those in between moments of being in between male and female, and being in between death and health, when do you count as a human".  Judith's response was "my sense is that what's at stake here is really re-thinking the human as a site of inter-dependency"  which was when the topic of the coffee shop and Sanura asking for assistance was re-visited.  Judith made a valid statement at this point, "do we or do we not live in a world where we assist each other. Do we or do we not live in a world where we help each other with basic needs and are basic needs there to be decided on as a social issue and not just my personal or your person issue".  Strong words. 

 At times we do need to help each other no matter where or why.  The world needs to show more understanding toward this concept and toward people with disabilities.  This is a challenge in the world to get others to help when needed or asked.  A challenge I can not understand.  Sanura made us aware that we are all going to age and we are all going to die no matter what our body can do.

I enjoyed walking and listening to Sanura and Judith.

*Paintings in this blog were painted by Sanura Taylor

Children

Final assignment proposal

I saw this quote “Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile.”-Anonymous, and it made me think about what is going on with the students at the middle school in Providence that I work at, and how they have been expressing their feelings about COVID 19 and the impact of the police, death of George Floyd, and the protest.  Not only is the world in crisis, but also our students are in crisis.  They have been breaking down and I want to do more for them.

My proposal is the social issue of how this is effecting our students of all races and economic backgrounds. This will be done by what I have been hearing from my kids. I want to show what the students are seeing through their eyes or hearing with their own ears and how it is affecting them.  Every day the students are expressing how they are afraid to go outside. Some days I have students sobbing stating they are afraid of the police.  Many are confused because they don't really understand what is going on. This can cause permanent problems with adolescent development and health outcomes.

There are programs to help with the physiological and psychological effects that each student is experiencing.  It is important to educate and use proper resources to ensure long term health.  I will show the many opportunities that our students can receive to help them understand and cope with these issues to reverse any possible long term effects both physically and mentally.   I will be choosing assignment 1 and using information from In Sickness and in Wealth as well as other resources. 

Settler Colonialism and Cultural Genocide

In Sickness and in Wealth

As a registered nurse I see the effects of how wealth effects health.  In the film In Sickness and in Wealth, Larry Alderman Didn't show us how to cure illness but instead opened our eyes to how income, race, and social status impacts our quality of health as seen in Louisville Kentucky.  This is a problem every and not just in Kentucky.  So the question is does inequity make us sick? I agree that it does.  It is like nurture vs. nature, or genes vs. social involvement.  Each has a different outcome depending on the variables.  For Example two identical twins can live together in the same environment from childhood to young adult and have the same good health.  When they start to live different lifestyles the one educated with a higher income with no worries and the other with a lower income and many worries who share the same genes now start to have different health changes. One being in good health, the other in poor health.  What is actually being seen here is that higher incomes structures and resources have the best health.  According to the film the United States has the greatest income inequity. So who does this affect?  This affects the poorest sections as well as the middle class.  The reasoning to this is because the poor and the middle class have more stressors like the lower paying jobs and not being able to pay the bills.  

With increased stress comes underlying conditions which can lead to bad health. 

 So why does this happen?  When your stress increases your cortisol levels increase which over a long period of time can have negative effects on your health.  Elevated cortisol can impair your immune system.  This can lead to issues with your memory and brain functions.  It can also cause wear and tear on your body as well as damage you systems which can lead to heart disease and diabetes.  With this higher rate of disease your body will have and accelerated rate in aging which leads to early mortality.

 Big stressors presently, is the COVID-19 pandemic and  the fear of catching the virus.  Many people are not able to work because they are being forced to stay home and unemployment is up throughout the country.  This is tough because many people who were laid off do not have a back up plan because they didn't have a savings account and previously lived check to check.  Another fear is that  now that some the middle class and poor now have to remain in their jobs, the "front liners" and don't have the option to work from home.  In their minds this increases the risk of catching the virus.  This increase in worry and stress can cause long term issues in their health.  In RI alone unemployment is over 16%.  The longer this continues the increase in stress in the population and possible long term PTSD effects from this are irreversible.  Though some people may not show signs of bad health now in the future their my be repercussions from this. 

Adelman, L. (Director). (2008). In Sickness and in Wealth [Video file]. California Newsreel. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from Kanopy.

Introduction

Introduction:
Hi class.  My name is Julie Malloy and I am a Registered Nurse.  The past two years I have been working as a school nurse at Gilbert Stuart Middle School.  I am back at RIC because I have to take eight courses to get my certificate for my job with the Providence School Department. I have decided that once I complete the eight I am going to continue, take four more courses, and get my masters in education.  Previously I worked as a trauma nurse At Rhode Island Hospital and I am currently working the front line with RI DMAT/Medical Reserve Corps.  Who knew that working at a middle school would be just as busy as the ER.  Even though it is a challenging job being a nurse, it is what I love to do.  Every day is something different and you never know what is going to happen next.  The students definitely keep me busy and I enjoy every minute being there for them. 

My Manifesto:
I am a nurse and it is my job to be there for my students,  teachers, and staff in my school. With this crazy pandemic stemming from a horrible virus called COVID 19, my heart is breaking because I want to find a way to help the students whose lives have been turned upside down.  It saddens me that they are not allowed to be social, play sports, travel, or have a graduation, as well as other mile stones that they are not able to take part in.  I am the nurse that helps with their anxiety and other health issues every day in my school and now I can't.  I want to be there to tell them it is going to be OK.  I want to help them with their emotions that are now magnified with them having to stay home.  Every day they live in constant fear that they may loose a family member or friend because of this new unknown world that they are forced to be a part of and I can't physically be there for them to help them through this.  With distant learning they are no longer getting the social emotional part of being with other students in school.  Something that is very important in their cognitive growth.  I wish I could do more.  I am the nurse that will always be there and will never give up.