Midterm Proposal

          I decided to speak about Police Brutality for my final project of the semester. Urban police divisions, particularly in huge urban communities, for example, New York and Chicago, utilized unprecedented strategies against individuals from Italian-worker networks in endeavors to get serious about composed wrongdoing. In 1943 officials of the Los Angeles Police Department were complicit in assaults on Mexican Americans by U.S. servicemen during the purported Zoot Suit Riots, mirroring the division's history of threatening vibe toward Hispanics (Latinos). Normal provocation of gay people and transgender people by police in New York City finished in 1969 in the Stonewall riots, which were activated by a police strike on a gay bar; the fights denoted the start of another time of militancy in the global gay rights development. What's more, in the fallout of the 2001 September 11 assaults, Muslim Americans started to voice protests about police severity, including badgering and racial profiling. Numerous nearby law-requirement offices propelled clandestine activities of flawed legitimateness intended to surveil and penetrate mosques and other Muslim American associations with an end goal to reveal assumed fear based oppressors, a training that went unchecked for at any rate 10 years. 
        Despite the assortment among bunches that have been exposed to police severity in the United States, the incredible lion's share of unfortunate casualties have been African American. In the estimation of most specialists, a key factor clarifying the transcendence of African Americans among casualties of police severity is antiblack prejudice among individuals from for the most part white police offices. Comparable biases are thought to have assumed a job in police fierceness submitted against other verifiably mistreated or minimized gatherings. 
      While bigotry is believed to be a significant reason for police mercilessness coordinated at African Americans and other ethnic gatherings, it is a long way from the one and only one. Different variables concern the one of a kind institutional culture of urban police divisions, which stresses bunch solidarity, reliability, and a "show of power" way to deal with any apparent test to an official's position. For new kid on the block officials, acknowledgment, achievement, and advancement inside the office rely on embracing the frames of mind, qualities, and practices of the gathering, which verifiable have been injected with anti black racism.
          Most casualties of police fierceness, including African Americans as well as whites and other ethnic gatherings, have originated from the positions of poor people and low-salary regular workers. They have thus needed critical political impact or the money related assets that are some of the time important to adequately advance objections of police mercilessness. In any case, antibrutality battles have been mounted in almost every major U.S. city with a sizable dark populace. In some of the time huge shows, individuals from deceived networks have requested, notwithstanding a conclusion to police severity and responsibility for liable officials, significant changes including the employing of progressively African American cops and the arrangement of increasingly African American officials in supervisory positions, racially coordinated watches or dark just watches in African American neighborhoods, non military personnel audit loads up, and government examination (e.g., by the Justice Department) of heinous instances of police mercilessness. Their strategies have included protests, blacklists, picketing, and close observing of police action, including (from the late twentieth century) by methods for recordings taken with handheld cameras and cell phones. 
          In 2014 the police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed dark adolescent, in Ferguson, Missouri, activated fights broadly in the days after his demise and again months after the fact after a great jury chose not to arraign the cop who killed him. In light of Brown's demise, activists propelled an amazing social development, Black Lives Matter. After two years the development drove dissents in excess of 15 significant U.S. urban areas following the killings by police of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in rural St. Paul, Minnesota. In demonstrations of counter against police savagery toward African Americans, five white individuals from the Dallas police division were shot and killed during a Black Lives Matter meeting in Dallas in July 2016, and three cops in Baton Rouge were killed by a shooter around 10 days after the fact. 
          Antibrutality crusades would in general be driven by activists at the grassroots level and by different individuals from the networks legitimately influenced, as opposed to by progressively settled social equality associations, for example, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Urban League, whose participations were drawn principally from the dark white collar class. For sure, dark working class support for antibrutality fights was frequently constrained, to a great extent since, similar to their white partners, white collar class blacks commonly supported intense wrongdoing battling measures to shield themselves and their property from dark crooks. Since they were generally unpracticed as pioneers, be that as it may, antibrutality activists regularly utilized immediate and fierce techniques, inclining toward road dissents over dealings. Furthermore, in light of the fact that they for the most part came up short on an institutional base and an unmistakable procedure, they were frequently reactionary, acting in a specially appointed style and making associations and creating voting public as the need emerged. In spite of such confinements, they were normally powerful, on the grounds that they explained the outrage of their voting public, who were commonly suspicious of discretionary legislative issues ("the framework") and who had no confidence that dark government officials would enough address their worries.
          So, to wrap this all up, I will be making a poster about main events that have happened in the last decade relating to police brutality and running the class through some of the scenarios that occurred and why this is a big matter in our country/society. Police Brutality must be addressed and corrected.
England, Deborah C. “Police Brutality.” Www.nolo.com, Nolo, 3 Dec. 2013, https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/police-brutality.html.

Moore, Leonard. “Antibrutality Campaigns.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 July 2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580/Antibrutality-campaigns.

Moore, Yunek. “Being Black Is Not a Crime: Yunek's Story of Police Brutality.” American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union, 12 Sept. 2019, https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/being-black-not-crime-yuneks-story-police.

Midterm Proposal

I chose the social issue of the erasure and neglect of black artist and the importance of their work in movements like #BlackLives Matter and going back to the Black Panther Party movement. All art finds truthful moments in the center of chaos. Black art is the lifeline that sustains movements . From the chaos of Trayvon Martins murder the #BlackLivesMatter movement was born. From the perpetual persecution by J. Edgar Hoover the Black Panthers Party for Self Defense’s Minster of Culture Emory Douglas created his eye opening street art. Both motive for the controversial are sprung from decades of injustice and disregard experience by Black people in America. Black art exists everywhere you lookHowever, the erasure of black art and not giving credit to black culture that art emanates from, art history systematically ignored the black communities contribution to art and even pop culture. There is a persistent lack of presence in major auctions houses, museums, galleries and even the curriculum that is taught to the next generation about the values of black art. Black art exists everywhere, not just in museums and galleries like the traditional art is portrayed; but its on buildings in the urban area, on bridges, and most importantly its on the canvases of our bodies.

 My life has been impacted as a black lgbtq+ woman I experience discrimination on a daily basis and it is something that I must rise above to be a bigger person. I am always told that I must keep my political blackness quiet and that my community doesn’t experience discrimination “like that” anymore after the civil rights movement and having a black president. However when I go into the store and am followed around like I’m a thief, when I have to constantly explain that just because you live in an urban area and have black friends doesn’t make you apart of my community, or even worse when I walk past the police and stand vigil when I see another black person being accosted by them I know that the issues facing my community is on going and that the information about the struggle I’d minimized. I know that the art done in memory of Mike Brown had many people enraged that someone would recreate that scene, but what people failed to realize is that that situation is constantly recreated in urban ares all the time. I will be doing a photo set series of police brutality from the eyes of the victim. I know what’s its like too have had a police officer pull a gun on me and the terror that I felt and I would like to be able to express that panic to others so they understand that at no point can I turn my blackness down nor will I silence my voice in the advocacy of black empowerment and equality.

Midterm Proposal

Immigration and Poverty: 
 

My Midterm is a proposal that suggests how immigrants are trapped in a cage that is nearly impossible for them to escape. Back in 1997 immigrates were allowed to migrate into the United States for easily then now. After the attack in 2001 rules and regulations became more strict. Not everyone who was a immigrant before 2001 received their green card. For all those people I would like to call them trapped in America without citizenship or the ability to receive any government benefits. In most cases this leads to poverty. 

Group Project Besem Etta- Ashu, Alexander Silva, Joelle Paris, and Mariah Torres

Modern Day Surveillance Camera

Our project was inspired by a specific reading from the book The Interventionists. While looking through the book to find some inspirations on what to base our project on, we came across The Surveillance Camera Players which was founded in 1996. This was the time period when there were several surveillance cameras around the place collecting data and keeping track of people. There were several slogans created such as Big Brother Is Watching and I love Big Brother to portray how the government is constantly watching over their lives and collecting data from them. My group and I have decided to make our project on modern-day surveillance. There are several apps that we use on a daily basis and through those apps, the government is constantly collecting our personal information for free. The main four ways in which we are focusing our project are Google, Social Media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc), technology and the government. The government uses this information they collected from us without our permission to improve their business, as well as use it against us. The main point my group and I are trying to convey through our project is to make our audience aware of the amount of personal information and general information we are constantly providing to the government every time we do something on our electronic devices.

Vaccination

Vaccination, every person should have one 

 

This topic i'm about to discuses with all of you is the conflict around the world over millions of people refusal to get vaccinated when there is an illness crisis happening in cities and towns because of that thousands of death happen to the elders to the children's. Its unsettling that deaths of the youth are cause by illness happen by people stubbornness to acquire actually help.

Across America, there are over millions that refuse to have an vaccination especially half of the population are parents who think it isn't necessary to assign their children with vaccinations. They are under the belief that getting vaccinated is utterly useless for their heath when fighting any kind of infections.  While many health departments had saved over 2.5 million lives with a high rate across the globe about 85% of children are saved, so why isn't the rest of the 15% are left out. 

It isn't out of finical problem, but more on that later,  but more like people opinions on vaccines are the one causes that spread infections to others and others think the medicine makes you bit ill and you quickly get sick of it as a result in other words people think getting vaccinated only worsen the infection.
It hard to believe that people don't even give it a chance get vaccinated to see the results of it, the medicine, here how it works, the medicine that enter our system has these molecules called antigens. Antigens job is to train our immune system in the genetic core so this can trigger all immune system forming strong barriers against Bactria and viruses. This case our cells become more caution when invaders, produce a lot of antibodies, stopping any pathogens before it spread out the sickness.
Getting vaccinated doesn't help one individual when a person gets vaccinated, they re doing a favor to the entire population in defense of illnesses. Every person who have been vaccinated has shown to have their health safe and secure and whats even more amazing outbreaks of sickness have decrease down to over a small percentage, even for those who hadn't taken a vaccine are almost shown to be well this is a phenomenon in what is called "community immunity".
With the entire population in one state with low disease outbreak then it is, it demonstrates to every citizen that the fear of a viral flu of any kind will be nothing more than a joke to them. Child vaccination prevents 732,000 child death per year but for only the ones who get vaccinated but as I said earlier since there is little outbreak non vaccinated kids will probably be a 32% chance they can get sick.
That said, non-vaccinated people died around six million per year, the most shocking thing about it that 1.5 million of the citizens are kids under the age of 5! This moment in the US a kid would suffer and die from an infection and knowing that can you imagine the fear, anxiety and loss the family are going through. Heartbreaking that we all knew it could have been stop but the sad truth is that most don't want to come to accept the blame.
I've had experience such a loss the rest of my family did, when writing this essay this came to me from a faint memories from childhood the one that in the back the far back of my memories bank that hadn't been touch upon until something like this came to remind you again. I sure you all had that happen before in your mind come back into your life once and a  while right. Here's how it happen, it was in around March 2008 were one of my relatives came from the half sided part of the family, and i don't recall where they've lived, came to stay in for a visit. they had a baby named Eli around three years old and she stayed in with us until they left in January 2009. The baby was lovable as with all  babies are my cousins were especially attach to here since she was stay in their apartment and what I can remember at the time when I saw everyone making joking and noises to entertain the baby and baby Eli laugh so much you cant help but be charm and fill with joy to it. Over the holidays was cozy as we took her to the festival on the Macy parades downtown, one time we went down to the dock side to the river were there were fireworks happening. Winter was especially heartwarming as she got to were adorable coats and sweaters and everyone else laugh and was having a good time and so was I. Then on Jan 2009 she was her parent took her back home and while on the plane she must have gotten sick by someone and because of her mother neglect on giving her vaccinated before they left Eli gotten sick like very sick, right after they reach her destination she had passed away. This heartbreaking for every one of my family which is why every signal year no matter what age has to get a vaccination on a infection going around it can happen anywhere on a bus, train, plane anywhere and death is likely to happen is the virus is strong or the victims have poor immune systems. Its important to get medicines form your doctors as they are saving your life they know what good for your immune system.

Thank You






https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15568260

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140424/NEWS/304249940/childhood-vaccines-prevent-322-million-illnesses-cdc

https://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/vaccines-work/

https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/global-immunization/diseases-and-vaccines-world-view

Being Gay is Okay

Can you imagine being in a tight space, so tight and uncomfortable you can’t be yourself? Not much room for creativity but just enough space for safety. That’s about 7% of the anxiety people who are “in the closet” feel. “In the closet” means to conceal apart of one's sexual orientation and identity. Sometimes people are in the closet because they need safety or want to keep all of their rights while other times people are in the closet because they just aren't ready. Ellen Degeneres made a bold move almost 22 years ago that among other things paved a way for the LGBT community. 

Coming out is the scariest thing people can do; inviting people into the real you. Sometimes it’s easy to come out to people while other times its scary and can be disappointing. I came out this April and it was the most liberating and depressing thing I’ve ever tackled. I had no support from my immediate family. No one wanted to sit down with me and talk about how felt about my sexuality. I only had my counselor and girlfriend to talk to about how I felt. 

 My mother is a Guyanese, Seventh-day Adventist who strongly believes in God and Christian-like heterosexual lifestyles. I was outed when I was about 15 or so. I was dating a girl from my school and some of my fake cousins told my Godmother that they saw me kissing a girl in the park; this was true. My Godmother called my mother and shared the news with her. I was right there when she got a phone call and I watched the joy leave her body and the disappointment enter her eyes. I was under the impression that someone might have died. She hung up and told me that she got word that I was kissing a girl in the park. I told her the truth, thinking this would be a Hallmark Movie and she would embrace and affirm me. Wrong. I was shamed and talked down to. I let the torture ride out for a week before I told my mom that I was heterosexual again and only like boys. 

 I hated having to lie to my mom and myself like that but it was for my protection and safety. At that age, I didn’t know there were programs such as Queerattitude.com to support and guide young teens who identified on the spectrum. Gay support can help someone dealing with issues anywhere along a continuum - from the point where they are questioning their sexuality through dealing with the challenges of possibly coming out at work or struggling with gay relationship issues. Support groups for LGBT people often do this through peer support (HealthyPlace.com). Queerattitude.com was an online community for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) youth from around the world.

 Fast forward 4 years later, still struggling with my sexuality I meet a woman worth coming out for, Shayla. I fell in love with all of her and began to embrace myself for a same-gender-loving woman. I knew eventually I would like Shayla to meet my family, but I knew it wouldn't end well because how things went the first time around; mom was heartbroken and siblings didn’t take it seriously. However, our love grew stronger and I became more confident in myself and our relationship, so I came out. My mom was devastated; she thought she conquered this the first time around but yet here we are again. This time, I meant it and wasn’t taking it back. I wasn’t going to be shoved back into that dark closet because my family wasn’t ready for the reveal; I was ready. And for once, through all the heartbreak and hurt I felt independent. I wasn’t affirmed home so I created one at my school. I was affirmed at church so I found a new one that would love the side of me that my home church wouldn't.

 If I would have done anything differently as my younger self I would have researched more. Like GLSEN, Gay, Lesbian, Straight education is a program for all students that provide a safe environment for learning. GLSEN was founded by a group of teachers in 1990, we knew that educators play key roles in creating affirming learning environments for LGBTQ youth. GLSEN works to ensure that LGBTQ students can learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment. Together we can transform our nation's schools into a safe and affirming environment all youth deserve. I would’ve also tried to get into a support group for affirmation and support. I would've looked up some celebrities who are gay and how they came out. Like Ellen Degeneres who came out through national television. She first came out through her tv character and then came out for herself. She received a lot of backlash from the media but she stayed true to herself. Ellen has gotten more support and is thriving even more than before. 

 Being gay is okay and it needs to be talked about more. Being different isn’t bad and its time families stop turning their backs on their children because they don’t fit in the standards that we’ve set for them. Coming out is scary without knowing if you’ll have support but its even more petrifying when you have no support. The LGTBQ community needs support but also needs to be better informed about the resources. I would like to pair up with the Hudson Pride Center and put together a workshop to further inform the community about the support they have access to. 

Work Cited

https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/closet-close-read-metaphor/2010-08

https://www.glsen.org

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/dating-sex/Pages/Gay-Lesbian-and-Bisexual-Teens-Facts-for-Teens-and-Their-Parents.aspx

https://www.healthyplace.com/gender/glbt-mental-health/gay-support-where-to-find-lgbt-help-and-support-groups


https://www.queerattitude.com  

MidTerm Proposal

Illegal Immigration - MidTerm Proposal

The main topic of my project is going to be about Illegal Immigration. I chose this topic because it interests me and I felt I can relate somewhat to it, let me explain. There are so many stereotypes branded to us Hispanics, many Americans view us as rapists, murderers and job stealers. In fact, "A considerable number of Americans believe that Latinos are all recent immigrants to the U.S. and that unauthorized migrants to the country exclusively come from Mexico. Others believe that Hispanics all speak Spanish and have the same ethnic traits (Nittle, April 29,19)". Many assume that all illegal immigrants are Mexican and that isn't true, the "Pew Hispanic Research Center has found that illegal immigration from Mexico has actually declined. In 2007, an estimated 7 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. Three years later, that number dropped to 6.5 million (Nittle, April 29,19)" Another misconception is that all Latinos are immigrants and that is completely false because some are born in the United States and the U.S is their home. Many believe that all Hispanics speak Spanish which isn't entirely true because "according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 75.1 percent of Latinos speak Spanish at home. That figure also indicates that a large number of Latinos, about a quarter, do not" (Nittle, April 29,19 ).

That being said I chose this topic because it also breaks my heart to see so many families broken apart because of hatred, racism, and discrimination. I’m trying to raise awareness, have citizens look through the eyes of an illegal immigrant for once and place themselves in their shoes. I will make a short video portraying it from the viewpoint of an illegal immigrant and a citizen and allow my audience to feel the emotions illegal immigrants face day today. I myself came to the United States at a young age as an immigrant so being Hispanic and an immigrant I know the hardships one can face. I came across an article on the New York Times titled, "Underground Lives: The Sunless World of Immigrants in Queens", and it made me tear up when I read it. The article was basically about how New York welcomes immigrants but rent comes at a cost so many illegal immigrants decide to live in these underground basements in Queens, hidden from the rest of the world. These basements aren't fancy renovated basements, they're barely lit, no-windows, electrical wires all over the place type of basements. Many live in tiny rooms alone or with strangers and some even sleep in shifts. Why do they do that and not just go back to their country some might ask, and the heartbreaking reality is that they to want to be in a country that offers many opportunities to succeed, they want a better future for their families and want their kids to get their degrees and have a better quality of life then they did... what's so wrong about that?

The Guerrilla Girls are advocates for women and their rights, they go against any social norms and they try to raise awareness. Protesting for what they believe is right and what they’re passionate about. I feel empowered to do the same and be a voice for these people. I want to stand up for what I believe is true and deserves to be viewed through eyes of mercy and love. I want to represent them and show the world the harsh reality of living in this country illegally so people can stop belittling them and so these illegal immigrants can stop living in fear that ICE will knock at their door in the middle of the night and deport them. Crazy fact: "The vast majority of immigrants in the U.S. are in the country legally – but fewer than half of Americans know that’s the case" (Gramlich, Jan 16,19).

The artists that have influenced or inspired my project are Felipe Baeza, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Edel Rodriguez and Art Spiegelman. Baeza believes that art plays a crucial role in transforming and redefining the global phenomenon of migration. When it comes to migration, the discourse rarely focuses on the stories of real people trying to succeed; instead, the conversation is dominated by criminality and punishment". Fazlalizadeh painted “Portrait of My Father as an Alien” based on his “resident alien” ID card photo from when he came to the United States from Iran in the 1970s. Her intention was to take an image of him that was presented as “alien” to this country, and to view it with the understanding that he was a person — a father, a husband, a human being. Rodriguez painted "Strangers", and he stated that this country now seems scared to take risks on foreigners, to bet on the possibility that the next boat full of strangers might be full of greatness. I agree! Lastly, Spiegelman said, " ICE has scorched the dreams of many of the tempest-tost and these days actively betrays that inscription with cruelty my parents had hoped they had left behind" (Lescaze June 19,18).

Felipe Baeza

https://prezi.com/p/qx5rys_qjh4r/

Work Cited Page

Gramlich, John. “How Americans See Illegal Immigration, the Border Wall and Political Compromise.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 16 Jan. 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/16/how-americans-see-illegal-immigration-the-border-wall-and-political-compromise/.

Lescaze, Zoë. “13 Artists On: Immigration.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 June 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/t-magazine/immigration-art.html.

Nittle, Nadra Kareem. “Breaking Down Myths and Stereotypes About Hispanics and Immigration.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 29 Apr. 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/hispanics-and-immigration-myths-stereotypes-2834527.

Stewart, Nikita, et al. “Underground Lives: The Sunless World of Immigrants in Queens.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/23/nyregion/basements-queens-immigrants.html.

Midterm Proposal

“One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.” So why is there such a stigma on mental illness? Society has not placed enough importance on mental health leading to prejudice attitudes around mental illness. People who suffer from mental illness have been made to internally stigmatize themselves; turning the stereotypes about mental illness adopted by society, towards themselves. They assume that they will be rejected socially and believe they lack value because of it. These stigmas not only diminish self esteem, but robs people of social opportunities. For example, denied employment or denied accommodation for the illness. “Discrimination and stimga have been linked to ignorance and studies show the majority of the public have limited knowledge of mental illness, and the knowledge they do have is often factually incorrect.” Thinking back to my health classes in highschool and middle school, I feel anger. I learned nothing about mental health during junior high and in highschool we briefly touched on it. The average age of early signs of mental illness is 14, so it baffles me that mental health is not a key subject in school curriculum.

For my semester project I drew inspiration from the artist Candy Chang. Through the use of public spaces she “creates work that examines the dynamics between society and psyche, the threshold between isolation and community, and the role of public rituals in an anxious, alienating age.” After struggling with grief and depression, she channeled her emotional questions into her work. One of her most famous projects, Before I Die, “reimagines the ways the walls of our cities can help us grapple with mortality and meaning as a community today.” Over 5,000 Before I Die walls have been created by communities in over 75 countries, including China, Iraq, Argentina, Nigeria, and Kazakhstan. Her other projects, Confessions and A Monument for the Anxious and Hopeful really resonated with me and my struggles with mental illness. Chang’s public art works are internationally renowned for their vulnerability and interactivity. They allow people to embrace their emotions and become vulnerable. 

I want to create a safe space for people to reflect, share, understand, and connect. When you suffer from mental illness, speaking about it can be extremely hard. You fear being judged and ridiculed, but speaking about it does help. Finding an outlet is important. A lot of people never get the courage to speak about their struggles. Through this project I want to allow people, whether you suffer from mental illness or not to share, anonymously, their fears and their deepest thoughts because we have more in common with each other than you think. “Art has the power to change the way we think and feel. It also can drive engagement and even action that can help improve the mental health of others and, through giving, help us heal ourselves.” I hope that participating in this helps people better understand and empathize with those who suffer with these emotions and fears. I want to offer people an outlet to open up, some for the first time, about the thoughts that consume their minds. Hopefully, people leave this with a more positive view on mental illness. I hope they at least try to be more understanding because our commonalities greatly outweigh our differences. If people could just be more understanding, the world would be a better place.

My idea for the project is to shine light on anxiety by creating a wall similar to Candy Chang’s. “An estimated 284 million people worldwide experienced an anxiety disorder in 2017, making it the most prevalent mental health disorder around the globe.” A big portion of our population suffers from some form of anxiety and may suffer in silence. I’d like to find a wall on campus that I could make this project. I would use a big piece of wood and hammer rows of nails into it. Then I’d attach square pieces of paper with the words “My biggest fear is” onto string so people can hang them onto the nails. Reading what other people hang onto the board may help someone in knowing they aren’t alone. Knowing that someone else shares the same fears as you is comforting. No one likes to feel alone and when it comes to mental health, a lot of people feel that way.

Being that the board would be on campus, I don’t think it’d reach a ton of people. I would love to create an online version of this where people can post their responses anonymously. I’d share it on all my social media platforms and create flyers with the link. I could hang them around campuses, restaurants and businesses in Jersey City.

Resources

“11 Facts About Anxiety.” DoSomething.org,     https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-anxiety.

Candy Chang " About, http://candychang.com/about/.

Hervey, Jane Claire. “This Artist Turns Anxiety And Fear Into Public Art.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 30 Jan. 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/janeclairehervey/2018/01/30/this-artist-turns-anxiety-and-fear-into-public-art/#5f8f07376250.

“How Does Stigma Affect People with Mental Illness?” Nursing Times, 15 Oct. 2019, https://www.nursingtimes.net/roles/mental-health-nurses/how-does-stigma-affect-people-with-mental-illness-06-07-2012/.

“Mental Disorders Affect One in Four People.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 29 July 2013, https://www.who.int/whr/2001/media_centre/press_release/en/

Rockma midterm

Thinking about the art project I wanted to do something that has to do with temptations and consent. I want to highlight temptations especially since we all as humans all have temptations every day that we don't realize. I want to emphasize the statement “DO NOT TOUCH” with maybe some sort of art installation that includes very tempting objects. Some being light-hearted while other deep so that the message of consent can be read, whether it is sexual consent or everyday things that involve consent. 

I'm still thinking of what form of installation I want to create, I believe I want to incorporate bubble wrap, tempting buttons, certain foods, maybe a fluffy wall included, money laying around. I also might want to include paintings and pieces from my personal photography and artwork. 

The message that I want to send is that it’s okay to have temptations in the world, as humans we all do but I want them to understand the damage that can be caused by temptations like a person being violated. I want them to understand that under no circumstances is it okay to do something without consent or permission. By putting signs at each section of the art exhibit and seeing how many participates dismiss the signs and go forth on touching the objects. In the end, they will see the point of the “DO NOT TOUCH” signs.

I also want the participants to feel engaged and having them in person and interacting with the art pieces can send a message as well as capture their attention. I have an idea of an area on NCJU campus that I can set up. Depending on the budget as well, it will be more clear on how much I can build and create. I also may also have a friend to model and be a subject apart of the exhibit. I plan on making a poster to upload on Twitter and on Instagram, to promote the event as well as asking campus life and as well as student government to promote my event

Midterm

      For my midterm project I will be raising awareness in regards to the fight for legalization of medical marijuana in NJ. Experts have proved that marijuana has countless benefits that come from consuming the naturally grown herb. The compounds in marijuana are THC and CBD both having numerous uses and distinctive qualities. scientists all over the world have been doing research on cannabis for decades, however the world and the government most of all is just coming around the corner for the whole idea of marijuana actually helping people more than it can hinder someone. There are many issues dealing with legal, ethical, and societal implications associated with marijuania use. Also the issue of safe administration, packaging, and dispensing worry some people when it comes to the legalization of the drug. Some also fear that negative health consequences and deaths caused by marijuana intoxication will arise.  The truth is that the "drug" is actually a naturally grown flower provided by the earth just like many things that we use on a daily basis. Marijuania has also never killed anyone on record or off record, there is no component in marijuania that would cause an overdose.
       As of 2019 there are 29 states, including the capitol Washington D.C that have legalized the use of marijuana. Unfortunately the state that we all live in New Jersey has not legalized medical or recreational marijuana as of yet. The governor that we have now Phil Murphy is highly in favor of passing the law however I feel like the state of NJ still needs that extra push.  It is no surprise to me the the American public is actually extremely supportive of the idea of legalizing the flower. Studies have shown that 84% of the American public thinks that The drug should be legal for medical uses, and even recreational pot usage has been less controversial then records ever show with a staggering 61% of Americans in support of legalizing marijuana for recreational uses as well.
                     

 Only some of the benefits marijuana contributes to are listed below:

-muscle spasms

-anxiety/depression

-glaucoma

-improves lung capacity

- control or minimize epilepsy

-control or minimize seizures

- slows progression of Alzheimer’s disease

-treats arthritis

   The fact Is that there are many Benefits of consuming the drug marijuana. My only question is why are there so many people in jail for using it when the government is now making billions off of the drug legally selling it? It’s a waste of taxpayers money to keep Marijuana Users in jail when the money could be spent on reforming prisons or other things that are needed. For my project I will be showing how the government manipulates the public, and the people suffering for it in jail while the government makes money off of us. If it’s going to be legalized then I believe all the people in jail for   It should be freed.

 

         Works Cited

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Marijuana as Medicine.” NIDA, www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine.

Bridgeman, Mary Barna, and Daniel T Abazia. “Medicinal Cannabis: History, Pharmacology, And Implications for the Acute Care Setting.” P & T : a Peer-Reviewed Journal for Formulary Management, MediMedia USA, Inc., Mar. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312634/.

Mouhamed, Yara, et al. “Therapeutic Potential of Medicinal Marijuana: an Educational Primer for Health Care Professionals.” Drug, Healthcare and Patient Safety, Dove Medical Press, 11 June 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6001746/.

Midterm Proposal

From the beginning when our final project was introduced, I knew I wanted to make a connection with the topic of this final project. I am a female that belongs to a family of immigrants. My parents immigrated from Ecuador to have a better life. The theme of my final project is female migrants living in US society. Just alone in the united states, women are discriminated in many ways. Either being the cause of our gender, race, appearance and even immigration status. My focus is for my audience to understand how female immigrants dealt with discrimination and manage to become a successor/and has become a great leader as well as getting their message out. Migrant women face double discrimination, as women and migrants.

What I will be doing for my final project is recording various interviews asking questions (10-15 questions depending on how the conversation leads on) on how living in the US society affected them and what they noticed the difference of living here and living back home. I want my audience to learn from this is that everyone has a different story and as well as having a different outcome. Many women who are immigrants struggle in adapting to this society and supposedly living the American dream. In my opinion, everyone has their definition of the term “American dream”. I will also be discussing this topic with the females I will be interviewing. I would strongly appreciate if society can stop double discriminating females who are immigrants because many of them have worked up and achieve so much for them and their family.

Dispel Your Single Story (#DYSS)

"We live in a world of dreamers and artists, all of us- teachers and students with a story of our own. A story through music, a story through rhythm, the one in colours and in brush strokes, one story in movement, the one in speech, and then, those stories in the eyes; a million stories waiting to be told and to be heard. This is a story of the poets of the spoken word."(Veda Nadendla)

            About a year ago, I watched Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Ted Talk, “The Dangers of a Single Story” for the first time in my English II class. The professor then gave us an assignment: What single story may people perceive when they look at you? When a story is endlessly repeated it assumes the status of truth. Single stories can be dangerous, not because they are untrue: there is always some truth to a single story. The danger is when the one story becomes the only story. Given the assignment, I decided to go about it a different way. I wrote a poem. Growing up I was always fascinated by the act of storytelling through the form of poetry. Through this poem I dispelled a few stereotypes that revolve around being a Muslim woman living in a Western World. A few weeks pass, and I was approached by a different professor on campus. She had told me that my English professor had showed her my poem and she was blown away by how powerful the message in my poem was conveyed. She really thought that it can be transformed into something bigger, beyond the classroom. Now I am by no means a writer, but it sure was a good feeling to be noticed for a piece of work that I had written.

 “Spoken word poetry is the type of poetry that is written on a piece of paper, but performed for an audience. A performance unlike a theatrical monologue, the spoken word is an ecstatic rendition of a personal experience using word play, free association, alliteration and slang. Zeal and attitude are the key ingredients. Spoken word relies on the poet’s own experiences and his or her own narrative style. It is almost like a chic rant of aggression waiting to be unleashed. Since it is performed poetry, spoken word gives the writer the freedom of slang and uncontained rhythm in expressing their piece.” (Veda Nadendla).

 When given this assignment, I thought about how art can be used as a form of activism. I was also always fascinated by the art of spoken word performances. After doing some research, I realized that activism through poetry has been around for as long as the art form itself has. “From the times of Shakespeare to the Beatniks, till the time of hip-hop and slam poetry; the spoken word has successfully revolutionized poetry to give it a commercial, yet essential flavour. Spoken word has brought poetry to life; it is the art of storytelling in rhythm.” (Veda Nadendla)  Knowing this, I decided to take the poem I had written about a year ago, that its sole purpose was for an English class assignment, and started to think about the professor that had approached me a few weeks after I had written the poem: “What’s the next step for making this into something bigger?” The first thing that came to mind was cleaning it up and adding onto it. So much can happen in a year. People tend to come across new experiences and experience new things. The next thing that came to mind was that I wanted to produce this as a video. Production is a huge part of my project. Once I had the writing down, I had a vivid vision of how I wanted this video to be. Everything from lighting, to performance, I knew exactly what I wanted to do to make this  video as powerful as the writing.

Where will this video live? This video will live on the YouTube platform. I will also use Twitter as a means of sharing and using the hashtag “#DYSS” (Dispel Your Single Story). My goal of this project is to encourage others to dispel their single story, and tell their own story: whether it be through poetry, dance, illustration, or any other form of art. I want this project to become the reason people are informed and become less ignorant about certain issues.

When thinking about the activism in the Guerilla Girls, their work brought awareness to certain topics and issues through advocacy and activism. They used their platform to “complain” about issues they wanted to change. I am doing something similar. Through my poetry, I am complaining about “single stories” by telling my own story and owning it: making it mine. Hopefully my project will encourage other young activists to “complain” with me and tell their own stories. Get #DYSS trending with me and Dispel Your Single Story!

Sources:

Nadendla, Veda. “The Art Of Storytelling In Rhythm: Spoken Word Poetry Through Ages.” Youth Ki Awaaz, 28 July 2014, https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2014/07/art-storytelling-rythm-spoken-word-poetry-ages/.

Radin, Charlie. “Further Reading: Activism Through Poetry.” The New York Public Library, The New York Public Library, 27 Oct. 2015, https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/08/16/further-reading-activism-through-poetry.

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “The Danger of a Single Story.” TED, https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en#t-27265.