Spheres of Influence

     As I read through Annah Anti-Palindrome’s article, “This White Feminist Loved Her Dreadlocks Here’s Why She Cut Them Off” I felt a mixture of emotions. I was familiar with what cultural appropriation was but I never really put too much thought into it. At first, I felt similar to the way Annah felt when her friends were telling her it was offensive to wear dreads. In my head, I was thinking that people need to loosen up…what’s the big deal- it’s just hair? But the more I read it the more I realized why it could be seen as offensive. As a person of color, I am lucky to live in a city that, compared to other cities, is pretty open-minded and diverse. Because of that, I have grown up without feeling the same weight of discrimination and oppression that people of my race feel in other parts of the country. So I have to remind myself that just because even though I am half black, I don’t have the same experience as other people of color. Just because I am not offended by a white person wearing dreads, doesn’t mean it isn’t offensive to other people and should be something treated with cultural respect.                                                                                                                                          

      I found Drew Dudley’s TED talk about every day leadership to be very inspiring. The way he discussed leadership really resonated with me because it is so true that society makes it into something so much bigger than what it should be about. I do not see myself as a leader because I am an anxious and introverted person, and while I do want to make a difference in the world and do my part in making it a better place, I feel hesitant to carry the responsibility and pressure of being a leader. It is interesting to think about those “lollipop moments” that he mentioned and how we might not even remember certain times we have had impacts on people’s lives and been leaders to them. He made a huge impact on a girl’s life and he did not even remember doing so. That day, he was that girl’s biggest leader, and that probably was not even his goal.                                                                  

     Nicholas Christakis’s TED talk on the hidden influence of social networks really opened my eyes up to the strength in social networks. The examples he used of the obesity epidemic, or the widow effect made me realize how these connections we have are so much larger than we think. How we act, what we believe, and the actions we do, impact so much more people than we think. I really liked the point he made at the end when he said, “if we realized how valuable social networks are, we'd spend a lot more time nourishing them and sustaining them, because I think social networks are fundamentally related to goodness.” This is so true- I feel like if we really knew how valuable social networks are, especially in today’s age where social network consists of our social groups on social media as well, we would be a lot more careful about what we were putting out there. 

Empowerment

     The videos and the readings were very inspiring this week. One of the readings, The Liberal Millennial Revolution from The Atlantic, made me realize just how many millennials there are and how different they are from older generations. This generation is so much more left and liberal than the older generations. The article said this has to do with the fact this generation is so diverse and other factors. It probably also has to do with the internet and the easy access to information. The more knowledge we have, the easier it is have an open mind and stand up for what is right. That said, as mentioned in Professor Sepp’s blog, many people are guilty of “click-tivism” in which “often we are tempted to call out the circumstances in some way (social media, for instance) and vent our irritations – then move on.” I found myself questioning whether I am guilty of this and I realized that I am, in a way. I often find myself so wrapped up in my own life and school work that I will make a big deal about something but not do anything to try and fix it. For example, when the election was going on, I was very much against Trump and would talk and talk about how bad it would be if he won and how we have to stop it from happening, but at the end of the day, I really did nothing about it. I didn’t attend any protests or anything. Was I not empowered enough to do something or did I just not care enough? Maybe a little of both.

     One of the TED talks that I found really interesting was by Vernā Myers: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them. In her talk, she discussed the ways in which we can help society overcome its biases, particularly against black men since they seem to be the population with the most biases against them. She mentioned names of recent innocent black men killed by officers and said there are three ways we can prevent this from happening. One of the first things was to get out of denial and admit that we all have biases. That is such a hard thing to do, especially when you try to be an open minded person and would like to think you don’t have any biases. The next thing she said to do was to “move toward young black men instead of away from them.” The third thing she said was “when we see something, we have to have the courage to say something, even to the people we love.” I have a hard time with this one, especially when it comes to standing up to a family member or friend. When it comes to standing up to a stranger, it is a little easier because you don’t have to worry about seeing them later or ruining a relationship, but you can make the most impact by standing up to a loved one. 

Institutional Inequity

This week’s assignments really opened my eyes up to the institutional inequity that goes on in the world- especially in the United States. While the U.S. might be advanced in some areas- it is far behind when it comes to the prison system. The United States locks up more people than any other country in the world- while it only makes up about 5 percent of the world’s population, it is responsible for 24 to 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. About half of these prisoners are non-violent. In the video, Frontline: Prison State, it shows us into the Kentucky prison system and the one year journey through the system of 4 residents from Beecher Terrace, a housing project in the west end of Louisville, Kentucky.

What really stood out to me in the video was the obvious prevalence of the population being targeted by the police- African American. Starting at a young age, African Americans are put at a higher risk for run-ins with the law. For example, 2 of the high schools I went to in Austin were Bowie High School, which is a primarily white school in South Austin and Austin Can Academy, which is a primarily black and Hispanic school in East Austin. During my time there, which was only a few months, I did not see one white kid there. By contrast, most of the staff and security officers there were white. Bowie had about 2 unarmed security guards and rarely had random drug searches done. At Austin Can Academy, there were probably about 10- if not more- armed security guards who, along with the staff, treated the kids like cattle and would literally pull them out of the crowd by the back of their shirts if their shirt was untucked or they were wearing a hat or they seemed the least bit suspicious. They treated the kids with no respect and were constantly kicking kids out and busting kids for breaking the rules of their probation. They also had random drug searches at least once a week- if not more. Well, of course if you put that much police presence in a school you are going to end up with more arrests and instances of drug possession. If you did the same number of random drug searches at a school like Bowie or Westlake, you would probably end up with quite a bit of offenders- the only differences is that instead of going to jail, their parents would send them to a rehab center and be able to keep their record clean.

A particularly sad moment from the video was when one of the girls who had been locked up, Demetria Duncan, was talking to the camera and repeating how she just doesn’t care anymore. I watched a video in one of my other classes that talked about how when kids say “they don’t care” it really means that they don’t feel cared about. And it makes perfect sense why she would feel this way- the system has let her down. She would be able to be out jail but her own aunt won’t take her back in and she doesn’t have anyone else to stay with. It seems like there should be a better solution for kids in her position. As a social worker, I would try to find a therapeutic environment for them that doesn’t make them feel like prisoners and work on giving them the life skills and resources to be a successful member of society. 

Stigma

When it comes to stigma, I feel that we all have certain kinds of stigma we worry about being labeled as. A common stigma for boys is to be seem as weak or unmanly. The video and reading, “There's Something Absolutely Wrong With What We Do To Boys Before They Grow Into Men” and “11 'Girly' Things Men Wish They Could Do Without Judgment” does a great job at analyzing how this stigma affects males. I am often too focused on all the unfair advantages men have over women in society that I don’t stop to think of their struggles. In the article, they pointed out how it is easier for women to get away stigma-free wearing masculine clothes that it is for men to wear feminine clothes and act ‘girly’. This is so true, in women’s fashion, we have boyfriend jeans and can wear pantsuits- but if a man wore a dress, he would be seen as a cross-dresser and would most likely not be accepted by most of society as a male. They would categorize his as transgender, even if he identified as a straight male and just enjoyed wearing dresses.

One aspect of the ‘be a man’ mentality that really bothers me is that they are discouraged from showing emotion and being sensitive. Men have the potential to be just as sensitive and emotional as women but the fact that society frowns upon these type of men and our quick to stigmatize them as weak or gay, causes them to turn those feelings into anger and frustration. I feel that this is part of the reason why most rapists are men. If we didn’t put so much pressure on boys to prove their manhood and strength, maybe we wouldn’t have so many instances of violence from men.

The articles and videos this week made me realize just how strong of an influence society has on young boys. My brother is two years older than me so growing up we were pretty close. My parents raised my brother and I the same way and made a conscious effort not to use language like ‘be a man’ or ‘act like a lady’ so as not to make us feel pressured to act any other way than our natural personalities. They taught my brother it was okay for him to cry and be sensitive- my dad leading by example as I have actually seen him cry more than my mom and is a very sensitive and caring man. This seemed to work well with my brother up until he got into school. I remember we used to play dolls together and he would dress up in my dresses, but once he realized that that was considered ‘gay’ or unmanly, he quickly stopped. Before he realized that boys were not ‘supposed’ to play with these girl toys he enjoyed it, but once he learned it was not cool, he no longer wanted to play. Even with open-minded parents who encourage their son to be sensitive and caring, the fear of being stigmatized as unmanly is stronger and ultimately won.

Identity and Social Interactions

     The TED talk by Jaqueline Novogratz, “An Escape from Poverty” was very moving. In her talk, she discussed the poverty people face in the Mathare Valley slums in Kenya. She particularly discusses her interaction with a lady from the slum named Jane. She discusses Jane’s journey and struggles and how she was able to overcome those struggles and help others struggling. As Novogratz was talking, I found myself thinking of my mother and all that she had to go through go get to where she is now.

     My mom grew up in a small, impoverished, village in Kenya called Kamukunji, in a similar situation as Jane and the people of the Mathare Valley slums. It is truly a miracle that she is where she is now and I have so much admiration for her. As a girl, she was discouraged from going to school- she had 4 brothers and 4 sisters and when her family couldn’t afford to send some kids to school they just sent the boys. The same came to food, when there wasn’t enough- they only fed the boys. It was a really screwed up childhood. By high school, most of her female classmates had started dropping out and having families. Similar to Jane, she had a goal and a dream. It was not so much of a dream of what she wanted as much as what she didn’t want. She didn’t want to be like the women in her village. She didn’t want to marry a man at 14 and spend the rest of her life as a servant to his every need. She didn’t want to fall asleep and wake up hungry. She didn’t want to get AIDS or have to sell her body for money. It was fear of these things that motivated her to get to where she is now.

     When I was 13, my family took a trip back to her hometown to visit family and see where she had grown up. It was the first time she had been back in 20 years but the people in her village still remembered her. She was the first female at the time to ‘make it’. After she came to America though and went to college, she was able to break the cycle in her family. The other girls in her family realized that it was possible and finished school and are doing ok- better than the boys. Back then, people thought she was crazy for not marrying a man and thinking that she could support herself. It was not until she got a scholarship to a college in New York and was able to get a job and start sending over money that they realized she wasn’t crazy. It was really emotional to see my mom reunite with classmates on the streets and see what her life could have been. When I hear stories of people like Jane or my mom, it inspires me so much more to work hard and make the world a better place for those who are struggling.

Theories of Difference, Part 2

I found the reading this week entitled, “How We Find Ourselves; Identity Development and Two-Spirit People” by Alex Wilson to be very enlightening. Wilson discussed two-spirited people- a topic that I really had not known much about- and how society fails to accept those who are different. It was so sad to read about the injustices and discrimination that the Indigenous American culture faces at the hands of the government. In the article, the Five Stage Minority Identity Development Model is discussed which basically outlines the stages in which a minority develops their identity. The creator of this model, Susan Barrett, created this to “encompass the experiences of all others, including those of us who have been “othered” because of racial and sexual identity.”

After reading through the different stages and learning how being considered different causes you to have these complexes and suffer through unnecessary shame and feelings like somethings wrong with you it made me question  how much simpler everything would be if we would just stop trying to make everyone the same. This relates to Rosie King’s TED talk, “How autism freed me to be myself.” In her talk, she discusses the benefits and downfalls to having autism. While there are some hard things about having autism, she says she wouldn’t change it because it allows her to be creative and be able to communicate with her brother and sister who are also autistic. This got me thinking about what I might be missing out on by trying so hard to conform to society’s standard of acceptable. As someone that struggles with mental illness, the decision to take medication was initially made with the hope that it would allow me to live a safe and fulfilling life. But, in my opinion, the real goal for them was to fix whatever was “wrong” in my head and make it so that I was “normal”. Who decides what is normal though? Similar to Rosie King, before I took medication- I was able to escape the real world with my imagination and feel free from society. That said, I could not sit through a class, or even make it to class sometimes because of it and eventually decided to just drop out of high school. While medication made it easier to feel “normal”, it took away a big part of who I was. Yes, it allowed me to better function in society, graduate, and be more productive, but it also took away my ability to see things differently. It is understandable to see why medication might be necessary for some people but it seems like a lot of these mental illnesses are exacerbated on those who are different by making them feel like something is wrong with them. I feel like it would be best to find some sort of balance for people who deal with these issues instead of being so quick to medicate them. It all seems to go back to the fear of the unknown. People are scared of what they don’t know.    

Theories of Difference, Part 1

Lee Mokobe’s poem about what it feels like to be a transgender was so powerful. Her use of imagery in the poem and the passion that she spoke with emphasized the truth and importance behind her words. A part of the poem that I found especially enlightening was when she described her “coming out”- or lack of.  “Naturally, I did not come out of the closet. The kids at my school opened it without my permission.” Her comparison of a house to her body did an excellent job of explaining what it feels like as a transgender. She explains, “It had nothing to do with hating my body, I just love it enough to let it go, I treat it like a house, and when your house is falling apart, you do not evacuate, you make it comfortable enough to house all your insides, you make it pretty enough to invite guests over, you make the floorboards strong enough to stand on.” Her poem in relation to identity theory offers a view point of the struggles and societal opposition a transgender person will go through by defying society’s attempt to choose one’s identity.

Mia Birdsong offered an interesting perspective that addressed the ways in which the story we tell about poverty is not true. This story she talks about is the one in which we tell ourselves that if you work hard enough, you will become successful. In saying this, it goes on to imply that those who are not successful simply did not work hard enough. “We have a wide range of beliefs about what that something wrong is. Some people tell the story that poor folks are lazy freeloaders who would cheat and lie to get out of an honest day's work. Others prefer the story that poor people are helpless and probably had neglectful parents that didn't read to them enough, and if they were just told what to do and shown the right path, they could make it.” When it comes down to it, what separates the rich from poor is luck, among other factors. Birdsong goes on to mention how she is the exception. I really liked her solution to how to help put an end to poverty. Instead of relying on wealthy people to solve the problem, she suggests to turn to poor people themselves. She says, “The quarter-truths and limited plot lines have us convinced that poor people are a problem that needs fixing. What if we recognized that what's working is the people and what's broken is our approach? What if we realized that the experts we are looking for, the experts we need to follow, are poor people themselves? What if, instead of imposing solutions, we just added fire to the already-burning flame that they have? Not directing — not even empowering — but just fueling their initiative.” This is such a powerful statement because it challenges society’s view of poor people’s capabilities. The answer to the problem of poverty can actually be solved by the people in this population.

Identities

There are so many new perspectives and lessons I learned from the videos and readings this week. In particular, I found iO Tillet Wright, Lana Wachowski, and Stella Young to be very inspirational. In Wright’s TED talk, she really opened my eyes to the complexity of one’s identity. At some point in the video, she mentioned how she realized her mission of photographing as many “gays” as she could was flawed because there were a “million different shades of gay.” She realized she was creating the very thing she had spent her life trying to avoid- another box. She watched so many existential crises unfold in front of her when she added the question to the release form that asked people to quantify themselves on a scale of one to 100 percent gay. When I talk about sexuality or gender identification, I am often worried I am not using the politically correct terms and coming off as ignorant. But the truth is, maybe I am kind of ignorant when it comes to this subject. I have so many other aspects of my identity, and they all seem easier to deal with and clearly identify so I tend to ignore the subject whenever I can. While I have known since I was a kid that I am not straight, I wouldn’t consider myself as gay. And I don’t really feel the need to find a label for myself.  And that was kind of the point of her talk- we shouldn’t feel the need to put ourselves in a box. Everything is fluid and it we really shouldn’t feel the need to identify as one or the other. It’s ok to be “grey.”

Stella Young’s TED talk really gave me a perspective I have never thought of before. She criticized society for exploiting disabled people to make themselves feel better about their own selves. I am definitely guilty of this one. Whenever I feel bad about myself, I often think to myself that I should not complain because some people have it worse. For example, I’ll think that I shouldn’t complain that my thighs are too big because at least I have legs. I shouldn’t complain that I’m not as smart as others because at least I’m not mentally challenged. Young says that this is wrong because disabled people should not be considered extraordinary just for being able to get out of their bed in the morning and remember their name. They should be held to the same standard as non-disabled people. That said- I found her to be very inspirational- not because she is a disabled person, but because she is a smart and independent woman with a successful career. Lana Wachowski’s acceptance speech was very uplifting. I was very inspired by her courage. Not just because she is openly trans, but because you could see that she was very nervous to be up there making a speech. She was doing it for all the other people out there like her who might feel lost. She was putting her fears aside to help others and that is something that is very inspirational. 

Structures and Institutions

All of the readings this week were very interesting, but the video “Frontline: Dropout Nation” really stood out to me. It was easy to see how this week’s theme of structural and institutionalized discrimination affected the students of Sharpstown High School. The school’s population was primarily Hispanic and African American and also accounted for one top ranking drop out schools or “dropout factories” in Houston. Those two factors are not just a coincidence.

The kids that end up at schools like these have most likely already fallen behind academically a year or two from where they should be, but what is really sad is why they have fallen behind. The few kids shown in the video had some really tough life stories. One of the girl’s mom had just died and she was homeless, another boy had just moved to Houston from California to get away from gang violence, and another boy’s dad had just got deported and there was a fear his mom would be deported as well. If I was in those situations, it would be very hard to focus on school. It reminded me why I want to go into the field of social work. I want to be able to work within these broken systems such as being able to help find a solution, or at least part of the solution, to why these kids are dropping out of school. With each kid, their issue stemmed from trouble within their family, the law, poverty, and one common factor- they were persons of color.

As mentioned in this week’s introduction on Canvas, it might be easy for an ignorant person to deny the fact that structural and institutionalized discrimination plays a big part in why these kid’s lives are so messed up. They might say that the reason these kids are having trouble is just because they are bad kids and are not putting in the effort. But when you look at statistics and see that these minorities are the one’s struggling in school, it is clear that it is structural discrimination. If those kids shown in the video had gotten the same chance at life as kids from a stable home- where food was available and there was at least one adult in their life to look out for them- they would have a better chance at graduating.

In the video, I noticed that most of the staff people were female. This goes back to the question asked at the intro of this section of “why is there any stigma attached to the ‘helping professions’ and so many fewer men in those jobs?” I think that a reason there is a stigma attached to these ‘helping professions’ and less men in the field than women is because society tells us that it is not “manly” to be caring and have a desire to help those who may need it. To show emotion is thought to be a sign of weakness. Also, most of these ‘helping professions’ are not the highest paying careers and in order for a man to be seen as “successful” they are encouraged to go to college with the intention of doing something that will result in a high paying job. Whereas women are raised to be nurturing and sensitive, which in turn, leaves them with a desire to work in these ‘helping professions’.           

Privilege

While all of the readings assigned this week were very interesting and enlightening, I found myself particularly drawn to Peggy MacIntosh’s, “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. While I was reading it, I felt myself get especially full of emotion reading through her list of white privileges. Those feelings ranged from anger to jealousy to confusion to guilt then back to anger again because I could not claim those same privileges. I have a lot of confusion when it comes to what I identify as in terms of race. I am half Kenyan half American but usually just identify by saying, “as a person of color” so as not to ruffle anyone’s feathers or to identify as the “wrong” race. I cannot count the number of times a person has told me I am not black whenever I say something relating to black people or jokingly told me that I am the “whitest” black person they know. I’ve been asked why I don’t talk like a black person or have the same cultural traditions as many African American families which leads me to have to explain to them that my family is from Kenya and not all black people are from the same culture. I was raised by very open-minded parents who made it one of their goals to raise my brother and I in an environment where we wouldn’t feel our race defined who we were. That is why they decided to move us from a small town in South Dakota to Austin when we were little. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop me from realizing that I was not the “ideal” race or having some major identity issues when I got older.

       To give a little more background, my mother was born in a small, impoverished village in Eldoret, Kenya and overcame such large obstacles to get where she is now that it really makes me believe that anything is possible. My father grew up in completely opposite circumstances- he was born to a middle-class family in South Dakota and faced nowhere near the struggle my mom faced to get to where he is now. He is a middle-aged, educated, white man- society’s “ideal” citizen. That is, until he married a black woman and had two mixed kids. Anyways, back to Peggy MacIntosh’s article, she mentioned that it is important to identify your privileges. I realized that to better understand who I am and to turn some of the anger I feel knowing that society see’s the color of my skin as a disadvantage, I have to realize my privileges. I see my biggest privilege as having two loving parents who raised my brother and I in a safe and secure household free of drugs, abuse, or violence. Although we struggled financially early on, I never had to worry about much. All of my basic needs were met. While it might be easier to focus on what I don’t have, it is important to remember that privilege comes in all different forms and that I am in fact, quite privileged. 

Socialization

The topic of socialization covered in Adam’s book got me thinking about my own socialization as a child and how it affects the perspectives I have now. I grew up in Austin surrounded by diversity- at least in my circles- and people with open minds. I am half black, half white- my mom is from Kenya and my dad is from South Dakota. In a way, I think the fact that I have always been surrounded by such open-mindedness has negatively affected my ability to have tolerance for close-minded people. Because I was not exposed to that as a child, which seems like a good thing, I often get baffled when I meet someone in person who, for instance, supports Donald Trump. Whenever I hear that, my mind immediately starts racing and I start making assumptions that the person is racist and wants to send all immigrants back to their countries and they want to turn back time a hundred years and bring back slavery and make America white again. Then I take a step back and realize that I am doing exactly what I am accusing them of doing, being close-minded. Without even getting to know that person, I have already made these assumptions and determined that they are a bad person, when, in reality- they could be super nice and open-minded. But when I look at how I was socialized, it makes sense that I would react this way. I was taught that everyone should be treated equally no matter their race, gender, sexual preference, etc. so when I hear someone who doesn’t believe that- I think less of them. So that is definitely something I need to work on if I want to be able work with people from all walks of life, including those I might not agree with.     

I found the video, Independent Lens: Park Avenue: Money, Power& the American Dream, to be very eye-opening. While I knew there was a large divide between the top 1% and the rest of the people, I had no idea the history behind it or how it has sky-rocketed in the past decade. In the beginning of the video, they used the board game, Monopoly to portray the politics of being rich and poor. In this board game, everyone starts out with the same amount of money and an equal chance to win but in the end there is only one winner and everyone else are losers. As someone who has played many games of Monopoly, I found this comparison to be quite interesting. Every summer as a kid, my dad, brother, and I would play Monopoly on a regular basis. The game would get intense at times but when the game was over, we always respected whoever won because we knew the game was played fairly and we all had an equal chance to win. In the real world though, that is not the case. The experiment they did gave a more realistic approach, starting some people off with more money while setting the other player back by only allowing him to roll one dice. As the video explained, it is very rare that someone from the lower class will ever get to make it to the top 1%. People who live in the Bronx will likely never make it to the Park Avenue.

The "Love Has No Labels" video brought about the issue of diversity in love in such a positive way. The skeletons dancing displayed such an important message. While there might be genetic differences that separate people by gender, race, and appearance- we are all just skeletons underneath. If you could believe that those dancing skeletons loved each other, then when the couple behind the board stepped out- regardless of the genetic makeup, it would make it easier for you to see past that and see their love for each other. I really appreciated how the video displayed love as not just a romantic love but also just love in general- whether that be between two neighbors, or young children, or just friends- it showed that love truly has no labels.

Conceptual Frameworks

After doing the readings and watching the video for this week I felt as if I had just taken in so much valuable information but was not really sure how to process it all and turn it into a blog post. At first, I felt really empowered to write about what I had just read and watched, but then I started to feel angry about all these issues and just decided to push it the side and deal with it later. That seems to be a recurrent theme for me lately- not only because Donald Trump is president, but also because it is just a reminder that there are a lot of people who agree with him and actually voted for him. It is easier to just not deal with the anger and sadness I feel towards the whole situation, especially as a person of color and the daughter of an immigrant, and just go about my day. But after listening to Junot Diaz’s interview and hearing him talk about how we have to put ourselves in those people’s shoes who are directly affected by discriminatory acts and policies, I realized that this was not the right mentality to have. In order to make a difference, we all have to turn this anger into productivity towards creating an inclusive and united society.

I found the first chapter of Allan G. Johnson’s book, Privilege, Power, and Difference to be very in-touch with the issues going on in today’s society. His acknowledgment that the use of such words as “racism, white, and even worse, white racism” cause a sense of defensiveness and irritability, especially in white people, gave me a perspective that I don’t often hear about. I often get so wrapped up in my own feelings of anger and sadness when I hear such words that I don’t often think of the feelings white people feel when they hear those words or how it might make them feel uncomfortable when I go on rants about the injustices people are going face because Donald Trump is president. After the election I realized that I was completely blind to the fact that such a vast amount of people actually supported him. I don’t know if it was because I have lived in Austin my whole life or because I have surrounded myself with people who have similar views as me, but his win really took me by surprise. While I had a lot of anger at first, the unity I saw with the protests and the women’s march turned that anger to hope and restored my faith that there are a lot of people who felt a similar sense of frustration as I did. It made me realize that while the situation we are in right now is tough, there are a lot of people who are coming together to make a difference. While it might be easier to just ignore all of these issues to avoid the feelings of anger and sadness, it is important to remember that some people do not have the option to do so because it is their reality.