My Family s History Of Racism And Poverty - 1081 Words

Many of my life experiences have given me a glimpse of what it means to be in the margins of society. My family’s history of racism and poverty, my father’s physical disability, my experiences as a woman, and growing up in the diverse Bay Area with friends, mentors, coaches, and teachers from different backgrounds has opened my eyes to the disparities in society. When I was sixteen I had a particularly salient experience that awoke my heart and mind to the ideas of social justice. I was in Memphis, Tennessee for a basketball tournament and on our day off we went to the Civil Rights Museum, which was built around the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. We saw the counters from sit-ins, buses from the Freedom Ride, and learned about the systematic oppression of Jim Crow. I was confused by the hate and anger I saw but found myself clenching my fists with rage at the injustice of it all. Yet, what was even more powerful was sitting in the parking lot with my team and listening to our assistant coach, who was an African-American man, share his experiences of racism, how it shaped his identity, and his fears for his two sons. Our head coach then shared about her experiences as lesbian and the ways in which she was continually denied rights because of her sexual orientation. Something shifted in me listening to the stories of pain of two very formative people in my life. Something inside of me recognized the sacredness of this conversation. Once I heardShow MoreRelatedMastering The Art Of Subtle Racism1732 Words   |  7 PagesMastering the Art of Subtle Racism Upon arriving in Chicago to lecture on financial inequality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated in the Chicago Tribune, I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hateful as I ve seen here in Chicago...yes, it s definitely a closed society† (Chicago Tribune 1). The south has a notorious and profound history in regards to racism and civil rights. As racial relations grew and evolved, the south became notorious for lagging behind the progressiveRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography On Child Welfare System1220 Words   |  5 Pageschildren. The focus of my paper is make to you aware of the child welfare system. Including the history, racism, issues, and outcomes of the system. I chose this topic because child welfare doesn’t receive enough attention. That is my own personal belief. I believe people need to be aware of the child welfare system. The bibliographies I chose are important issues in child welfare. Children need their voices to be heard too. They do not have that power to speak. Included in my annotated bibliographyRead MoreIs Education A Democratic Society?1429 Words   |  6 Pagesget an education, my beliefs are and have always been different. 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If I had the choice to change poverty I would raise the minimum wage so more people would want to work and the money can at least accommodate for a 3 house family with one person working. In the book â€Å"Men We Reaped† Jesmyn explained about her hometown of DeLisle, on Mississippi s Gulf CoastRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison1587 Words   |  7 Pagescorrelates to Nelson’s quote in her Nobel Lecture of 1993, â€Å"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.† In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, she uses language to examine the concepts of racism, lack of self-identity, gender roles, and socioeconomic hardships as they factor into a misinterpretation of the American Dream. Morrison illustrates problems that these issues provoke through the struggles of an African American community during