- This was the first time that I had attended an ADL Walk Against Hate, and it was very impactful to see so many people gathered together on our very own Watkinson campus to rally against hate, and join this initiative. We began by listening to speeches from various guests, such as Ellie Cooper who is a Watkinson alumni, and Art Miller, who was a childhood friend of Emmet Till. Art Miller talked about peoples hate, and that it doesn’t come from the fact that someone may be black, or lesbian, but because the person doing the hating is broken. Something happened with them, and because of that, they feel and act in a disdainful, mean, and disrespectful way towards people, which is what we call hate. Going to this Walk Against Hate was very beneficial to my view towards the concept of hate, and it was really cool to see that the ADL was so dedicated to their mission and raising awareness that racism and antisemitism should have no place anywhere in our communities.
2. Trip to Bethel Woods
- This field trip to Bethel Woods was a very informative and new experience for me, as I have not gone on a Global Studies trip outside of school yet because of Covid 19. Throughout the films, and the museum exhibits, the part that stood out to me the most was the music aspect. Not just the sound it created, but the emotional impact it had on the hundreds of thousands of people that attended. When I was watching the films, it was like the people were trying to express themselves and speak through the music they were playing on the stage. Throughout the concert, everyone came together, and it was a place for people to escape into unity and peace, hence the mantra, “make love, not war.” This is what caused much cultural transformation and unity between all sorts of different people.
3. Chutz-Pow: Comic Books as a Force for Social Good
Marcel Walker led a webinar titled, “Chutz-Pow: Comic Books as a Force for Social Good,” during which he talked about how the comic book series of Chutz-Pow came to be, as well as his own background, and how comic books can foster communication through engagement. “Chutz-Pow: Superheroes of the Holocaust,” is a series of comic books that seeks to enlighten and gift the the reader with Holocaust awareness, and is also historically accurate while depicting the true events that transpired throughout certain peoples lives during that time. He gave some examples of how extremely well known comics are already connected to culture and religion such as how the creators of Superman were Jewish. This webinar took a very intriguing approach on enlightening the younger generation about a historical event through a new, and attention grasping way. It allowed me to open my eyes and look deeper into a topic that I was not all that familiar with, while doing so in a way that I found interesting.
4. Arvin Singh - Fairy Creek Blockades Zoom Discussion
Prior to the Zoom meeting we had with Arvin, we had to watch a video and read an article detailing information regarding the issues and protests that are going on currently within Fairy Creek. Those resources gave a fairly good background for the events, however it was much more impacting to hear it directly from Arvin, who had gone there, and was taking pictures and filming. The Fairy Creek Blockades event has become Canada's largest act of civil disobedience, and at least 1,100 people have been arrested throughout the time that this has been going on. The people there are fighting for the ecosystem, and the trees that have been there for over 1,000 years. Those trees are still being logged, and only 2.5% of them remain. This event is getting so much recognition because people care, and are posting on social media, and telling a lot of other people about it. This is important, because if we want to protect our ecosystems then everyone needs to know about the problem and come together.
5. Syrian Refugee Ghenwah Karbeet Zoom Discussion
Ghenwa is a Syrian refugee, who resettled in Turkey. She talked about her life and moving to Turkey, as well as how she met her husband and the story about being a refugee regarding her kids and family. I thought that this was a very interesting Zoom meeting, and one reason for that was because of how she discussed many of the misconceptions that surround refugees. She also cleared up questions I had regarding topics like how covid affects refugees, what the conditions were like when she left her home country, etc. She also went into other subjects such as how her social life was impacted because of being a Syrian refugee in Turkey, as well as the challenges of finding jobs, and how the situations in her home country do not seem like they are going to get any better. It really allowed me to grow and further my understanding towards the issues and stereotypes that circle around refugees, and the hardships that they endure during their lifetime before and after their resettlement.
6. MLK Day
The Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, our Watkinson school hosted a schedule where each student went to specific workshops throughout the day to gain more knowledge and information about the importance of Dr. King and his journey with activism and being a minister. The first workshop that I attended was one called, “I, Too, Am An Activist,” and we discussed topics such as what does it mean to take a stand, how Dr. King came to be an activist, his life as a minister, and many other topics of that nature. We also saw a TED Talk from Vivienne Harr, who began becoming an activist at 8 and started her journey with lemonade stands, then transforming that into an organization and founding the Make A Stand Foundation, an organization whose mission is to combat child slavery. Activism can take many forms, and it all depends on the individual and their ideals towards the specific missions they want to accomplish. The second event I attended was called, “The Architecture of Memory,” where we discussed memorials and how they preserve legacies and honor individuals who have passed. We talked about Dr. King’s memorial, and quotes it have, symbolizing what he wished to achieve and what he lived for.
7. History Alive! Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The Last Five Years
This webinar online session discussed Martin Luther King Jr. and the last five years of his life, as well as other individuals and Dr. Kings acquaintances who fought to end racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. John W. McCaskill was the one who narrated this, as he went through the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He discussed important aspects of Dr. King’s life, such as his memorial and legacy, his arrest and Letter From Birmingham Jail, etc. This event allowed me to see more clearly into some of the issues present during this time, and caused me to gain deeper insight into Dr. King and how he was as a person.
8. The Fight For Racial Justice
This was an event hosted by the CT Forum and took place at the Bushnell in Hartford. It was a panel discussion, with three distinguished speakers, who were Julián Castro, Cathy Park Hong, and Baratunde Thurston. All of the panelists had different thoughts on certain parts of racial justice, and point of views on specific issues. For instance, a large amount of what Cathy Park Hong talked about was justice for Asian Americans, and what they go through due to their features and thoughts due to their unstable identity, whereas some of what Castro discussed was about the political atmosphere in Texas. One of the things Baratunde said that made me think further, was that so much of the truth is based upon belief. This shows that sometimes the best way to make something happen is to believe in it and collectively help one another to achieve that goal. Faith in the younger generation is also crucial as a stepping stone in fighting for racial justice, and that was something Hong brought up, through her own experiences, such as in the classroom.
9. Flee Documentary
Flee is an animation documentary and focuses on the life of Amin Nawabi, diving quite deep into his life story, and the secrets that he holds within him since childhood. He deals with the struggles of his younger years that may ruin the life that he obtained after much trauma and sacrifices. He is a refugee from Afghanistan and through the use of animation the viewer sees the many hardships and trafficking issues that he and his family had to deal with. When I heard about this movie and found out that it was animated, I was intrigued because due to the fact that it was animation there might be a differing way to portray his story, and when I was finished watching it, I ended up with the conclusion that animation allowed his life story to be played out in such a way where we were able to get an extreme sense about how tough and traumatizing it was for them. Due to this fact, I feel that the documentary gave me a heightened perspective on issues regarding human trafficking and the struggles refugees go through. During the documentary it felt like as a viewer I could connect to Amin and feel what he was feeling, as everything was shown in a way that made me emotionally attached to the people that were the main focus of the film.
10. Palestine Unit
During the past week in Global Studies we discussed Palestine and its history, dating back many generations. After some exploration of the topic in class, Dr. Hazza Abu Rabia came in to explain his story and the situations within Palestine, both in the past and during the present day. The first thing that Dr. Rabia opened with was that there are many different ideas and views on Palestine, and that one needs to look for the reality in the midst of all various perspectives. We went over a map of Palestine and learned how it is divided since the Jews were brought to Palestine. This was interesting for me, as it put to scale the impacts that have been occurring since the late 1940’s. The afternoon and evening when we traveled to the Palestine Museum was a very enjoyable experience for me, along with being a great period for learning, as we managed to see art from Palestine, depicting not only suffering, but sometimes the hope and light at the end of the tunnel. There was a part of the museum where they had childrens drawings, a lot of which showed distress, hardship, and gore, which shouldn't even be coming from children of that age as it ruins their innocence and exposes them to suffering that they should not be exposed to. Once we were done touring the museum and exploring exhibits showing many different kinds of art, we then ate dinner and the food was very good. We had naan with hummus, fatayer, and many other choices.
11. Taste of Ramadan
During the Taste of Ramadan event, we managed to get a glimpse into Muslim culture by hearing discussions of people on panels, eating traditional food, and attending a prayer. The panelists discussed their views and experiences on Ramadan and how it has impacted them, such as how a college student had to balance Ramadan with his studies and find a group of people where he fit in during college. This year I chose the Taste of Ramadan event, whereas last year I chose to go to the First Cathedral Baptist Church Service. The main difference between the two was the impacts that covid had, because the First Cathedral service was virtual via a webinar, whereas the Ramadan event was in person where we could really be immersed in the experience and learn new things while also trying new food.