3 people, 3 deaths

Engl 165-04 Fall '22, Engl 165-16 Fall '22

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Michael (Mickey) Schwerner, Andrew (Andy) Goodman, and James Chaney were all civil rights activists who promoted voting registration among African Americans. Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, two of his closest friends, traveled to Longdale to visit a Methodist Church that was bombed by the Klu Klux Klan because it was going to be used as a Freedom School. They were then arrested but released later on in the evening. After being released they were walking on the side of the road when they were horribly mobbed, killed, and buried in an earthen dam by the Klu Klux Klan. FBI agents then found their bodies a few days later in the dam at Old Jolly Farm.

Michael Schwerner a white Jewish-American civil rights activist was born in 1939 and killed in 1964. He was married to Rita Levant, both field workers and a part of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE).  In the summer of 1964, he organized and led Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) to intend to hold classes and drives to register African Americans to vote in the state, which was called Freedom Summer. Schwerner was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Andrew Goodman was also a white Jewish-American civil rights activist and was born in 1943. He wasn’t married but did have a brother named, David. While he was in college he joined Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and volunteered in the Freedom Summer campaign.

Alike Goodman, James Chaney was born in 1943. When Chaney was 15, him and his friends all wore paper bandages that read “NAACP” (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) showing their support for civil rights organization. In the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) he organized voter education classes, introduced Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) workers to local church leaders, and helped the workers get around the counties.

One thing I noticed was that two out of these three men were white men just standing up for what they believe in. They were mobbed and murdered not because of their color but for supporting people of color. Personally, I wouldn’t do something that I knew would get me killed just because I’m not the type of person to take huge risks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Chaney

Michael Schwerner, Activist born

 
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Death Abounds

Engl 165-04 Fall '22, Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

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The main event that stuck out to me was the bombing of the church. The bombing stood out because black people were just leading their everyday lives attending church as normal and were disrupted by ignorance and white supremacy. It was truly disheartening because an incident quite similar to this happened, except it wasn’t a bomb, but a gun.

To inflict this type of pain upon humans is monstrous. It is truly sad that they were literally just in the middle of Sunday service never intending that something like that would happen, but then it did. It resulted in the injury of 21 black children and killng four beautiful young girls who were probably no older than 16. Instead of the police providing protecting and investigating why the bombing happened, they ignored it and carried on with their lives. The killing didn’t stop and justice was never served. Two more boys, Virgil Lamar, 13 and Johnny Robinson, 16 were involved in racially motivated assaults. Virgil Lamar was shot down by a group of teenage boys who were in the Eagle Scouts and these boys had just attended a KKK meeting prior. Johnny Robinson, was gunned down by the police, unprovoked, but because he was a black boy they ruled his death as an accident.

In today’s society, however, incidents like these are common. A black childs death never makes the news and IF it does there is usually no context behind the murder. It is ruled as an accident or the white man, was simply just ‘protecting’ themselves. Recently there was a 15 year old boy, Jahiem McMillan, who was handcuffed to the ground and shot in the head by policemen. The murder did not reach the news and when the parents asked to see their child the police officer was adamant on keeping them from viewing him. The officer lied and pronounced that he was brain dead when he was actually dead. No matter how many years has passed the struggle to protect Black Lives has not been any easier. If anything it is more dangerous for black boys and men to roam the streets past a certain time without being looked at negatively or as if they are livestock. The killings never stopped and it really makes you wonder if anything has really changed. If we, as black people, will ever be on the same footing as white people

 

 
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Freedom?

Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

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What would I do for freedom? I can start writing about how I would protest and participate in everything to gain my freedom. I can say that I would be part of every protest and be okay with getting arrested and staying in jail for however long the law deems fit like the Freedom Fighters did when fighting for their freedom and rights. The reality of the situation is that I do not know what I would do in that situation until it actually happens. When you grow up in a life without freedom you can start to lose hope and think that nothing will ever change no matter how hard you try. That mentality would seriously diminish any fight you could have had to make changes in your freedom and others’ freedom. That is not to say I have never spoken out and been an activist but I have never gone to protests because I could not. I had wanted to go to protests in DC when Roe v Wade was overturned and during the BLM movement but I was never able to because I had no way of getting there. I would always try to sign petitions and do as much as I could with what I was able to. The thing is you never know if signing petitions actually helps anything or if it is just a way to make the person feel as if they had done something helpful. Even though I have spoken out about issues in government and things I disagree with I will never know if I could be part of their sit-ins and be completely peaceful when people shout and throw stuff at me. I would like to say that I would do everything in my power to get freedom for myself but that is just a hope I have for myself. 

 
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What would I do for freedom?

Engl 165-04 Fall '22, Engl 165-16 Fall '22

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If I was living in a place in which my freedoms were being infringed on, it would honestly depend on how badly they are being violated that would determine what I would do in response. For example, if I lived in someplace where my property was being confiscated or my life was in a significant risk of danger at the hands of the government I would immediately flee and finance movements to fix that from abroad. However, if neither of those were at a significant risk of confiscation and danger I would likely stay there and protest the infringement of my rights in question. Other than protesting I would definitely finance whichever movements and/or organizations I agree with.

I commonly see things such as petitions, protests, riots, and the financing of these things happening around America. I think that some of it can be effective but a notable chunk of it is ineffective. For example, I believe that petitions do almost nothing except on a very rare occasion. With protests I think that they can be effective when it includes things such as boycotts or political action such as rallying people to vote or not vote for someone or if they put pressure on a politician. However, I think it does almost nothing especially when it’s just a protest that fails to do any of that. 

Riots are typically ineffective, have the opposite effect of the intended goal, and have atrocious effects on wherever the riot takes place. These effects can include things like hollowing out a community economically by scarring off businesses from operating there as the damage done can make it untenable. Even if these businesses have insurance and collect those payments, they are still likely to flee from locations hit by riots as the insurance costs explode after riots due to them wanting to make their money back. Financing organizations can be extremely effective if the organization properly uses their funds. In conclusion I think activism is something that is sometimes effective but most of the time ineffective in modern America.

See the source image

 
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Activist views on Freedom

Engl 165-04 Fall '22, Engl 165-16 Fall '22

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I believe I would do a lot for my freedom. I do not know what I would do If I felt my freedom was threatened. This is because I live in a country where I feel safe and have my whole life. The idea of losing my freedom hasn’t run through my mind. We as Americans get the privilege to be whoever we want to be. Therefore I do not know what I would do in a situation where I felt as if my freedom was being taken away from me. Many people grow up and live in countries where there are no freedoms. If they lash out for freedom there are harsh consequences such as death. If I were to live in a country like that I do not know if I would put my freedom over my safety. That is what is hard about trying to obtain freedom. Is the freedom you’re fighting for worth your life? Is life worth living with no freedoms? Many people in history have asked themselves these same questions.  I believe if I was in a situation where I had little to no freedom I would fight for justice. This is a very hard thing to do though. I do not feel as if I’m an activist either. I do have strong opinions about certain topics but I tend to keep them more to myself. I do not think my opinions are powerful enough to change someone else. I may have ideas and thoughts that I believe could be useful but I tend to never speak them. Maybe in the future, I could start to share my beliefs and ideas with other people. I don’t believe you have to be an activist to get things done. Many great things can come if you’re a pacifist. I think trying to find the middle ground on any problem is one of the easiest solutions to keeping the peace.

 
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What Would YOU Do for F’eedom?

Engl 165-16 Fall '22

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What would you do for the freedom you enjoy every . . . single . . . day!!!?

Think about the pages you’ve read for this week and then think about the following questions to help you decide what lengths you would go to for the right to go to school to get an education, to have the right to vote, to apply to any college you wish, to apply to any job you want AND be considered if your qualify.

  1. Who are you as an activist?
  2. What role/s have you played or can you see yourself playing?
  3. What type of activism do you see at work in today’s society?
  4. Is it effective and why or why not??

I argue that EVERYONE is an activist in one way or another. What is your way?

[picture from https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/06/18/193128475/how-the-civil-rights-movement-was-covered-in-birmingham]

 
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Let Freedom Ring: March Book Two

Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

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The Freedom Riders

 

The pages of this week’s reading in March Book Two were violent to say the least. The images in the comic are hard enough to see, but the images of the event are by far harder.

In reading March Book Two this week, think about the phrase “Let Freedom Ring.” What does that mean? And to who? What would you be willing to go through for the freedom that we all take for granted every single day? Where do you see yourself in this text? Do you believe that people today would be willing to go through these sacrifices for freedom, and why?

It’s a lot to digest, but these events are not just important historically. They are important TODAY!! Why?

If these thoughts do not appeal to you, what about this part of the text does?

[Image on the left comes from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/us/politics/freedom-riders-john-lewis-work.html]

[Image on the right comes from http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1605]

 

Freedom and Activism

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

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The Birmingham Campaign – 1963 | Black Then

After reading this weeks’ assigned pages in March Book Two, it really got myself, and other students reading these pages thinking about what lengths we would go to for the right to go to school to get an education, to have the right to vote, etc? Although I am taking a class about leadership, I, unfortunately, don’t see myself as one, so I don’t think I would go to great lengths myself, but with the help and support of others, I could see myself going to great lengths. The things that people of color couldn’t do back then weren’t small-scale issues. Getting an education is one of the most important things a person can do, and if I wasn’t allowed to get an education because of the color of my skin, I would be in outrage and would try my best to do something about it. I don’t know if I would risk my life for it, but I would still go to great lengths. 

I personally don’t see myself as an activist. I have my opinions on topics, but I tend to keep them to myself rather than advocating them, and maybe that’s something I should work on. I can see myself in the future partaking in large group activities like a protest for an issue that I feel strongly about. In today’s society, you see activism everywhere for every large-scale issue out there. Whether that be for human rights, for the environment, for politics, or for any other issue, there will be activism for it. I feel like activism is effective because essentially people will advocate for an issue until there is change. That’s the goal of activism. People who are passionate about a specific issue keep going and would rather not give up unless they have to.

As I said, I personally don’t see myself as a leader or activist, but if it was something I was passionate about like getting an education or having the right to vote, I could see myself going to great lengths to have the right to have those freedoms. Activism is a very important thing because, without it, there would be no hope in trying to resolve a large-scale issue.

 

Activism Today

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

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My Version of Activism

When thinking of myself as an activist, I believe myself to have strong beliefs and leadership skills to lead other activists. I think I would be a loud but peaceful activist as I don’t believe violence to fix things but instead words. It is important that when speaking up you treat others how you would want to be treated and show them respect even if you do not receive it from them. I believe that part of being an activist is when seeing and standing up for an issue that you also show knowledge and understanding. 

Types of Activism

In today’s society there has been a lot of human rights activism pertaining to racism, gay rights, and gender equality. We have seen this largely through social media, demonstrations, and protests. Including some more recent and well known protests such as the protests for George Floyd. Most recently, the US as well as many other countries are in protest with Ukraine against their battle with Russia. We see this activism on the news, in social media, and even in everyday discussion as it is such a current topic. Gay rights activism has lead to us celebrating gay rights in June during what is known as Pride Month. In this month there are many parades and demonstrations to help bring awareness and support towards the LGBTQ+ and allies. 

Effective Activism

I believe activism to be a very effective method. Through the use of activism in protests, demonstrations, social media, boycotts, strikes, and petitions; we have been able to work out many problems and bring awareness to others. Through activism we have gained many things such as the right to vote, same sex marriage, and diversity. This activism has lead us to achieve so many things that most of us can’t even imagine being without but through perseverance and activism we have gained the things we strive for.

Introduction to Activism

 
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Human Rights Activist

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

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As an activist, I believe that human rights play a big role in today’s society. I feel like everyone should be able to believe in their own rights and not be judged for them. Everyone should be treated equally, despite their beliefs. All humans should be treated fairly despite what political party, race, or ethnicity they consider themselves to be. Everyone has the right to their own freedom of speech. In today’s society, people often start conflicts with others when they feel like their freedom of speech is being mistreated.

During my lifetime, I have not had many opportunities to play a role as a human rights activist. When given the chance, I have always tried to advocate for human rights on social media. No matter the circumstance, I feel as if everyone should be treated equally and loved. Unfortunately, the world has not come to show that everyone is being treated equally. I hope that one day in the future, I will have more opportunities to be with a group that shows equality to all. I have spoken out about how we are entitled to our human rights and have freedom of speech. One day in the future, I would like to attend a protest on behalf of those who feel like they cannot speak on their behalf.

Today’s world has become a very cruel place. It is crucial that we fight for what we believe in. There are many advocates in today’s society for human rights. There have been activists who attend protests to speak out for those who feel like they cannot. We have many advocates that will speak out for everyone’s equality. I hope to be able to have an opportunity to join a group and attend a protest about our human rights. As I have mentioned many times before and will mention again, everyone deserves to feel loved and deserves the same as the person you sit next to.

I believe that it is effective for our world. It shows that even with how bad the world has become, we can still love one another and fight for each other. I believe we definitely have some work to do and the world still needs change, but we need to fight for it one day at a time. Human rights are so important and make us who we are.