1. The ongoing activity that took place during the meeting was the creation of Holiday Cards for Service Members. This was something that the group as a whole could partake in and contribute to making the holiday a bit brighter for the men and women serving our country.
2. During the activity a discussion was led on different issues that people in the group felt passionate about. The first issue brought up was on the genocide in Darfur. This issue has been more and more publicized over the past few years and yet, it seems, that nothing has really been done about it. We discussed how the American Congress has declared the crisis a genocide and yet hasn't taken any action to stop it. Does this then strip the word genocide of its power? The conversation then turned to how China has yet to acknowledge this as genocide and, thus, has prevented the UN from taking a definitive stance on the crisis.
The next issue brought up was on Breast Cancer. This was a somewhat shorter discussion, but nonetheless powerful. A member of the Steinhardt community was diagnosed with breast cancer and an event on Feb. 12th is being organized to raise money and awareness for the cause.
The last issue mentioned was on the abuse of women with disabilities. There is a shelter in NYC that houses women with disabilities who are/have been abused by caretakers, family members, etc.. We noted how this population is sometimes silenced, and the travesties that occur are hidden in the dark. This home provides a safe space for women with disabilities to go to escape these abuses. What was particularly disturbing for me to hear about ws how caretakers and family members abuse these people. Imagine being helped into a shower that was ice cold and being left there for an hour without being able to help yourself. Imagine having your means of communication taken away from you for no discernible reason. This was really difficult to swallow considering these could be the students I work with being treated like this.
3. The third thing we did was discuss what are effective means of activism. Is wearing a ribbon or bracelet for a cause effective? Is guerilla art/graffiti effective? If so how and why. Many different opinions were voiced. One claimed a change needs to occur for activism to be effective. Others claimed if awareness is made than activism is effective. The conversation then hinged upon activism as advertisement. It almost seemed like the more novel the kind of awareness made the more effective it is. The example of the Live Strong bracelets was given. It was so effective because it was the first of its kind. Now that there are different color bracelets for every cause under the sun has it become less effective?
Overall, the event was very empowering for me. It was a bunch of people from Steinhardt, like me, who want to participate in a larger conversation on social activism and change. Next semester I anticipate attending more of these sessions and encourage you all to do so as well.
1 comment:
Seems like this session was pretty powerful and really got people thinking critically.
The different discussions that went on during this meeting were all intriguing to read about and to think about. But I wanted to make a comment about a question that was asked during the third thing you talk about: the effective means of activism. The question was the following: Now that there are different color bracelets for every cause under the sun has it become less effective?
I think that it does. The example of the Live Strong bracelet is a great one. But as you mentioned as things get more and more commodified, in the same that it is being presented and sold to consumers, society more and more, it looses its value. While a bracelet like the Live Strong bracelet got a movement started, as people got familiar to the idea by having all sort of similar bracelets produced and consumed its value got degrade and purpose got change.
I don't know if this makes sense to you, but that is my comment on the question
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