"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