We need to work on this. Women need to be exactly equal to men and all other people. We are all human.

In this post, trans-woman, blogger, and stand-up comedian Robin Tran details four major ways in which men have subconsciously been taught to objectify women: female love interests in media, elementary school gender roles, confining and cis-heteronormative language, and common treatment of women as property. Using her first hand experiences as both a man and a woman, as well as research she has conducted, Robin explains how damaging the seemingly harmless life experiences like school dances and TV shows can be, and reveals examples of objectifying behaviour already ingrained in her childhood, pre-transition friends at such a young age. She not only adds to my explanation of the dangers of the mistreatment of women, but she goes beyond the purely physical aspect that I hovered around and into the area of dehumanization. She said, “When we’re taught that an entire gender exists purely to satisfy others’ needs, it dehumanizes millions of people, and it’s very difficult to have empathy for someone that you don’t view as a real person.” The resulting feeling of this type of treatment gets internalized by young women and contributes to their decaying mental health as it relates to body image and self worth.

Factuals. Media is going to get better. They need to show what is actually going on out there instead of being bias and not showing everything. War is a great example. Let’s get better at this ishhhh

The Media

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/01/18/orig-snl-martin-luther-king-millennial-talk-civil-rights.cnn

This skit done by SNL, although meant to be for humor still pokes at the interpretation of how our generation is seen today. In the skit MLK played by one of the actors is being told by a student about his legacy and the civil rights movement that he left behind. It makes fun of the fact that today, people sit behind screens and over the phone, support movements but don’t actually go out and do something about it.. For many people this is a true phenomenon and hiding behind a screen and saying they are for or against something makes it a lot easier to handle. On the flip side it this skit shows how fast an easy it is for people to know about the latest problems in this country. With the current trends of social media, it is so easy to be up to date with the latest political or social issues in the world. This, I believe is why civil rights and the oppression of minorities in this country is the topic of discussion everywhere more so then it has been in the past. Even with social media there are still protests and riots that go on for things MLK fought for not too long ago for the equality of blacks, it however has change and like I mentioned before the way in which people campaign to make sure people are aware that black lives do matter. People couldn’t hid behind computers and say they were apart of some movement they are not at all for when MLK was around. If he was still here today, I think he would be extremely proud of how far we have come as a nation and how much he did to help a nation with not equal justice. However, I think he would be disappointed about how technology has allowed for people to pretend to support seeming or support from a distance. The skit talks about twitter and the ability people have to post a has tag and conclude that they are supporting a movement and that is kind of ironic because this project will be posted on social media, but it shows how people yet again how people able to support something without doing anything but posting a hashtag.  

Factsss. Keep education rollin. That is the future. Let’s do better at this. Make our youngins smart

Education For All

Education is a blessing in this world. But a blessing that not enough adolescents get to experience. Millions of children around the globe are unable to go to school because of many reasons whether they be religious persecution, gender inequality, disease, or poverty. Education is so important to society, as it allows children and adolescents to grow as students, but also as people. Children who lack education, normally lack social skills, and many necessities needed to find success in the world they live in. All people should have the opportunity to receive an education and determine what in fact interests them. I believe that education is the key to equality, if all people could become educated it would give those who normally are unable to succeed a chance and an opportunity to make something of themselves.

SAVE THE ELEPHANTS. Elephants are the ish. Biggest animal on land. They are awesome. Lets save these badbois

     In January of 2017, the World Wildlife Fund paired up with the Kenyan Wildlife Services to work together in tracking elephants. The KWS has been working in the last few years to put GPS collars on as many elephants as possible. The purpose of this is to track where and when elephants migrate. They migrate across the desserts of Africa to find water and food, but as humans continue to disturb elephants’ habitats, it becomes harder for elephants to find resources. The KWS uses the tracked routes of animals to justify their petitions to secure areas where elephants frequent. To get a collar on an elephant requires sedating the animal. Workers from both the World Wildlife Fund and Kenyan Wildlife Services participate in collaring the animals; it is a task that requires extensive training so that the animal is not harmed. Another way in which tracking elephants is helpful is that it gives the location of where an elephant was killed if someone illegally poached the animal for its ivory. In pairing with the WWF, the KWS hopes to increase the number of elephants being tracked, as this would allow for more area to be protected as elephant habitat. The work done by the WWF and KWS continues to keep elephants safe in hopes of reviving the species so that elephants are no longer endangered. Through pairing up in January of this year, the WWF and KWS made the likelihood of keeping elephants extant much higher.

Black lives matter as much as white, green, purple, orange lives. Let’s work on this

Black Lives Matter Movement

“Black Lives Matter” (BLM) is a civil rights movement working for the validity of Black life. It was created after Trayvon Martin was accused on his own death and his killer was acquitted for the excessive force he used on a black child. BLM explains that black children experience excessive violence due to a history fear and negativity that has been placed on black bodies. Black youth are almost always perceived as adults rather than children because their skin tone and body proportions are seen as a threat. Black people in United States are standing up for dehumanization and racism via the Black Lives Matter movement because of cases like Trayvon Martin’s; additionally, videos of excessive police force against black people has surfaced in mass media and motivated many to join the BLM movement. This movement has spread across the United States to ensure safety and security for the black community. There are various ways to be support the BLM movement: donations, protesting, and spreading BLM news. There has been a backlash against the movement that states that all lives matter and that the emphasis on black lives is reverse discrimination. However, as an Asian women that is studying in the United States as a foreign student, I understand that I have privileges that black people might not have.  For example, though the stereotype of the model minority that has been stapled onto the Asian community is debilitating, it is praiseworthy. Black people are often seen as violent ‘thugs’ or lewd individuals; these stereotypes against black people place blameworthiness for existing, while the model minority stereotype is one that is praised for symbolism of hard-working individuals.

The rise of the BLM movement and discussions of antiblackness has forced me to reflect on my life as an Asian women living in United States and recognize that black individuals have it worse. I believe that it is true that all lives will matter once black lives matter because the violence that black people experience needs to be addressed in order for us to move forward with other types of discrimination. Due to long history of slavery, the black community experiences much more than what I have experienced because black individuals have inherited the violence of their ancestors and we as a society have done very little to dignify the existence of black individuals. Seeing the black unity and empowerment that the BLM movement is creating to resist black discrimination gives me joy because it is a fight to end antiblackness. It is necessary that we all support black futurity via movements like BLM because we all deserve to be seen and treated as virtuous and dignified people.

Good post. We need to make life for kids more healthy

The Future of Childhood Obesity...

If you have followed President Trump’s campaign since the beginning, you will have noted that Childhood Obesity does not hold a top five slot on his agenda. Under the Obama Administration,  the “Let’s Move” campaign was led by the First Lady, and a “Task Force on Childhood Obesity” was created. Although we have seen an improvement in these movements, we need more action and federal investment. President Trump’s actions have not reflected someone, who is going to regulating the food industry, often posting photos on social media. He has also brought soda and fast-food industry executives into his inner circle, which does not look great right now. With these men and woman surrounding our President, we need to make sure that our children are protected from the influence these companies may have. I think we desperately need a wake-up call. At this time our life expectancy is dropping, and we might have the first generation of children that will not live out their parents. I don’t know what else to say other than we need to change or else these kids will live a life of suffering. Childhood obesity is a severe problem that we are facing, and it requires immediate action despite the influence lobbyists and big food industries have over the government. I think that President Trump needs to change the food environment aggressively.  We need to bring access to food deserts and bring the home cooked meals and local food back into school lunches. In our schools, we should also add more education about nutrition and health. Finally, we need to limit advertising to children. We need action, and we can not keep waiting for legislation to happen. We need action to stop this epidemic from spreading to other generations.

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-01-19/despite-efforts-rates-of-obesity-climbed-under-obama-whats-the-donald-trump-prognosishttps://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-01-19/despite-efforts-rates-of-obesity-climbed-under-obama-whats-the-donald-trump-prognosis

Love it. Religion is important. Needs to be more believers. Heaven is our next stop babiii

Why I Am Fighting For God

I am all for being an inclusive person. I have had the rare opportunity to go to a school and become friends with amazing people from many different religious backgrounds. But, my school constantly is worried about offending people and in an effort to become more “inclusive,” Brooks has gone away from its traditional Episcopal chapel services, to hardly mentioning the word God at all. I have found that in our efforts to include everyone’s religious views, my religious views are being criticized and thought of as wrong and unkind. I will never forget the day that my own headmaster stood up to do a chapel speech and criticized my religion just two years ago. He pointed over to the cross and said from his “experience” as a history teacher and learning about Christianity from that, he does not stand for the cross and all the “death, destruction and hurt “ it has brought to the world. My heart sank down to my feet for the first time ever at my school. How could someone I look up to with such respect and admiration criticize something that I believe in with my whole heart? The cross for me, has stood for everything that I live by. The cross has taught me love, kindness and forgiveness. I cannot get out of bed everyday without thinking about everything Jesus has done for me. I have made a conscious effort to be accepting and thoughtful in my thoughts about other religions, but it is safe to say that my religion has not been reciprocated. It pains me to think that the school system believes that Christianity is something to hide or put to the side, especially since it has done so much for me in return. I just want what my school promised: acceptance of people from all religions, including Christianity. As a human, it is my right to express and celebrate all the good that Christianity has brought to the world.It is by no means perfect, the christian community needs work, but so do all religions. So to my school I love so much, do what you have taught me to do, and be open and thoughtful of everyone’s beliefs, even Christians. 

Factss. Good post. We need to work on and find ways to improve equipment for our players but still get many players to play. This is a big American issue

Post 3

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/league-of-denial/

This documentary explains how CTE is an ongoing investigation while some people refuse to believe it is a real disease. CTE is critically injuring many athletes in the midst and after their careers which has resulted in death in many cases. As the athletes continue to participate in high contact sports like football, people start to wonder if every football player will eventually develop this disease. The hard part of this research comes with the question of how to prevent it, if the only way to diagnose it is post-mortem. With the numerous suicides which have risen from victims of CTE, the injustices of the families and victims has developed a question of what people should be doing to help cure, help, or prevent this traumatic disease from occurring. 

Great movie and great connection

Avatar is perhaps the most epic piece of environmental advocacy ever broadcast on-screen. The film incorporates pristine rainforests threatened by malicious deforestation, indigenous peoples whose traditional way of life has much to teach modern society, and corporate interests that undermine conservation. This movie not only exposes these horrors but is centered on the perspective of the story’s protagonist—his developing appreciation of the natural world and the need to protect it. As a society, we depend greatly on clean water, air, and other resources from the environment. Restoring or preserving, as is demonstrated in this film, the symbiotic relationship between our society and our planet is vital to our success as a species and to our happiness.

Hey now Kasich

On Tuesday, December 27th, 2016, Ohio Governor and former Republican presidential candidate, John Kasich vetoed a bill sponsored by state legislators of his own party to weaken a clean energy mandate. Governor Kasich claims that he vetoed the bill because of the negative impact that weakening this mandate would have on the environment and the economy. While his partisan colleagues may have succumbed to lobbyists and special interests, Governor Kasich put the economy and the environment over partisanship, claiming that investments in renewable energy will create “well-paying jobs” and “clean air for all.” This decision exemplifies Governor Kasich’s dedication to keeping the air clean and his recognition of the economic and public health benefits of a strong commitment to clean energy.

4th Post: Current Event

Opioid Deaths Rise With Unemployment Report Says:

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-02-27/opioid-deaths-rise-with-unemployment-report-says 

“New research suggests county-level and state-level unemployment rate increases are accompanied by higher instances of opioid abuse.” This article from the US News & World Report tells how more people will abuse, overdose, and even die because of unemployment. If people are unemployed, they usually become extremely depressed because they have no money to live by. If someone is depressed and not very educated, which is the case for most (definitely not all) of the unemployed, they will likely turn to drugs and alcohol to temporarily get rid of the feeling of depression. These people start to get addicted to these substances, which leads to overdoses and deaths. It is a very sad thought that people will die simply because they don’t have a job. We need to find ways to stop this issue so that people will stop dying and also instead of turning to drugs, we need to guide the unemployed in the right path, and one way to do that is by creating jobs and income for these people.

3rd Post: Movie

The Pursuit of Happyness: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Kq8SDyvfg 

The movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, perfectly portrays the life and troubles of unemployment. The movie follows the true story of Chris Gardner (Will Smith) and his son who are trying to make it in life. Chris Gardner, the main character, tries everything possible to simply live and provide for his son. He is an extremely hard worker who sells bone density scanners for a living, but the income he makes cannot keep up with his standard of living, which leaves him and his son homeless. He is very intelligent, determined, and has a natural talent for things that nobody sees, until he shared a cab ride with a high-end stockbroker and impressed him by arranging a rubix cube in less than two minutes. This interaction eventually led to a job as a stockbroker and the part of his life in which he calls “happiness”.

This movie exemplifies how we overlook and don’t see the beauties in some of the unemployed. Many of the unemployed are extremely talented, and most will even work harder than the average person just because they need the job and money to provide for their families. We need to create more jobs so that people in the United States, like Chris Gardner, are able to work and live healthy lives and achieve their own “happiness”. My favorite quote from this movie and probably my favorite quote from any movie is when he tells his son “Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something. Not even me. You gotta dream, you gotta protect it. If people can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.” People like Chris Gardner inspire me to do big things because they don’t have nearly as many resources as I do, but they still work their tails off to succeed. It hurts me to think that many people like Chris Gardner are out there living in homelessness and poverty. Chris Gardner stands as a symbol for the hardworking unemployed who fight to stay alive and also the ones that this country needs to have working.

-Fantastic movie by the way. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it. Very inspirational.

2nd Post: Article

How Unemployment Affects Serious Property Crime: A National Case-Control Study: 

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/unemployment-property-crime-burglary

One issue that troubles me is that unemployment can lead to increased rates of crime and violence. “People who are among the fourth category of joblessness – those who are out of the labor force for reasons that generally are not socially acceptable and who also are not looking for work – are most likely to commit burglary. These individuals also are significantly more likely to commit robbery.” Some unemployed people, who don’t feel like working hard to succeed, decide to choose the wrong path by stealing, robbing, and mugging people and taking their money to live. We see a high crime rate in big cities, such as Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis because those are some of the cities that hold the most amount of unemployed people in the United States. Unemployment rates and crime rates are directly related, therefore, if we want crime rates to decrease, we need to create more jobs to slow the crime rate. To me, crime disgusts me, which is why I strongly believe this unemployment issue in the United States needs to be solved. We constantly hear stories in the news about families getting robbed, hit and runs, and other types of theft. It is the unemployed who are doing this because they feel they have no other choice and they need money and resources. As a country, we need to figure out ways to provide jobs and resources to unemployed people so innocent families stop getting hurt.

1st Post: Unemployment in the US

Unemployment in the United States is one of the biggest social injustices today. Currently, the United States is working and improving on this dire issue. Today, the unemployment rate in the United States is 4.9% (over 10 million people), but only 8 years ago in 2009 the rate was at a staggering 10%. This means 1 out of every 10 adults in the United States were left jobless without an income. This is inconceivable and downright unacceptable. Yes, some people don’t use their money wisely, such as on drugs, alcohol, or other things, which leaves them in poverty, but on the other hand, there are numerous people who try their hardest to get a job, but are left jobless due to religious, racial, social, or even geographic issues (where you are from). One thing that really makes me uneasy is that unemployment causes crime and other violence. It hurts me to see on the news every single day that a kind and innocent family gets robbed, or even murdered because of unemployed people who feel that they need to take from others to live. That is becoming the biggest issue in the United States today and it needs to stop. Now. We need to find ways to get more people employed so that it stops crime and drug abuse, but also so that the talented, intelligent, determined, and hardworking people, who have never gotten a fair chance, get their chance to succeed and provide for their families.