Final Reflection

Do the big wrap-up thing.  You don’t have a general reflection paper at the end (that’s just about the simulation project), so here is your opportunity.  What have you learned?  What have you learned about yourself?  What are you taking from this class?  How does this fit into your academic experience?  How does it fit with your career plans?


This class taught me about a lot of social movements I haven't heard of before as well as new ways of looking at some of the most common social movements. I liked our discussion of the Civil Rights and Indian independence movements, really enjoyed my independent reading book, enjoyed reading Little Brother, and even enjoyed doing my EL (something I can't always say with these NCC 4 credit courses, haha). I found the simulation project particularly stimulating because it for once forced me to look at making a change within the system and structures as a legitimate way of making change. I guess I don't have to be an anarchist, ha. Besides, it was cool picking something I care about (the Mason LIFE Program) and actually following through with the some important work that needs to be done, instead of just making a plan. As far as this class fitting into my academic experience, I picture it as the icing on the cake. I have dabbled in activism and am extremely interested in social movements, so this class informs my passion and concentration as an appropriate conclusion to my undergraduate career.

Quilt Panel

Presume that you have died in the next AIDS-type epidemic event (don’t get hung up on details).  What do you want your friends and family to put on your quilt panel?  What would make the best argument that you should have lived?

Ugh this assignment is so awful and I definitely have to resent Derek a little bit for making me think about it. I guess the things about me I would want to see on my panel would be a lot of relational things- sister, daughter, girlfriend, lover, friend, even teacher... but I would definitely also would want stuff like learner, rugby player, activist, etc. etc. I would want to be remembered as I was and that should be argument enough that I lived. I don't know, I think that while the AIDS Quilt is an awesome display of direct action and a good way to demonstrate the number of people who died from AIDS (and even larger, the number of people affected which includes the loved ones of those who died), but really, the most important part of doing a quilt like that, at least to me, is what it does for the people left behind. Like we watched in class on Wednesday, working on a quilt square for her son allowed one mother to laugh again, to think about her son as he was, not just as a victim of a horrible disease, and she almost even kind of got over it. This kind of action specific to reacting to en masse death that is half grief, half solemnity is good for those doing it most importantly.

ACTUP

Question #1:  For your blog, in addition to reading the two of these, review at least two videos from theACT-UP Oral History Project.  Then write about the question of direct action.  Can it be justified?  Under what circumstances?  What tactics do you feel are legitimate?  Are these rules different for different causes?  ACT-UP was operating in an environment where the people they were advocating for were literally dying around them.  Does that change your impression of the tactics?


I watched these two videos: Alexandra Juhasz (Interview #008 January 16, 2003 Power and Privilege) and Maria Maggenti (Interview #010 January 20, 2003 Lesbians for Bush) and thought about the question of direct action. Before and after watching these videos, I already believe in direct action and the power that it can hold. Juhasz talked about power and privilege and the mass outing of all the men in power who became infected, and how the movement to ACTUP initiated a change in thinking about AIDS and the gay community. She draws on the fact that AIDS is not only seen as a "gay disease" anymore and that gay men are in many places of power (still), only they are out now. I found Maggenti's discussion much more interesting, and was actually pleasantly surprised, not knowing what I would get with the "title" Lesbians for Bush. She described how she and a group of other activists infiltrated a republican conference, "disguised" as republicans and giving fake names and stories about how they were related to the party and the Nixon administration. She puzzled over how easy it was to fit in, even for the men in drag (haha!) and eventually came to the action part. With Lesbians for Bush signs and shirts, they started to yell "ACTUP!" at a preselected cue and did so for six minutes until escorted out of the building (while a "fat" woman played the piano and sang God Bless America over their voices....??!?). Maggenti's story was very interesting and while I am not sure about whether her action created any change, I think it was effective for awareness purposes.

The Plague Year

You are also reading David Black’s “The Plague Year.”  This article ran in Rolling Stone in March of 1985 and .  This article talks about activists, but also the entire context of the crisis at that time.  It is another of our contemporary reporting pieces, so you’ll get to experience 1985 like those of us who actually did.  The article isn’t exactly traditional objective magazine journalism, as you will learn, and is of its time.  For question #2, give a personal reflection on the article and talk about your impressions of the AIDS crisis and the social movement reactions to it.


I thought the article was really interesting, although I didn't appreciate the author so much. I thought Black was a little self-important and that while he kind of tried to expose himself as such, he was not as endearing as he thought he was. His working through the reasoning for why he used to word "faggot" to express anger towards a man (who he assumed to be gay) he found obnoxious and the way he broke down what happened (in retrospect of course) are sound, but I still didn't like him. I did think though, that the timeline he gave about the way the medical community approached the beginning of the AIDS crisis was really interesting. I guess it is largely due to the contemporary nature of this piece, but I have never read about the reaction of the doctors who figured out the pattern of an immune system deficiency, or how they figured it out, or the response of other medical bodies. Poppers were postulated first as the cause of the immune system deficiency, but that was soon disproved. Black also characterizes the gay community at the time as being resistant to realizing the pattern as a disease, for fear the disease be associated with gayness, which had been working as a social movement through tactics of normalization and assimilation to lessen the difference between themselves and straight (white) Americans. I thought Black's discussion with a dying man about whether he should be writing his article or not appropriately demonstrated the complexity about the issue of AIDS and the relative helplessness surrounding the person who has been diagnosed with it.

Barbara Kruger

View Barbara Kruger’s art.  Few artists have crossed the political-high art divide like Barbara Kruger.  Her work sets the gold standard for this type of activity.  I want you to tell me why.

When I first saw Barbara Kruger on the blog prompt list, I didn't think that I had heard of her before. But as I began looking through her art, I realized that we had briefly talked about her in my Art, Beauty & Culture class (an NCC course with Suzanne Scott) last fall. Kruger is important to me because she not only bridges that political-high art divide, but that she also successfully identifies sexist and other oppressive behavior and totally calls them out in her work. As a feminist and person committed to social justice, I appreciate her efforts to identify and disrupt the hegemonic structures and beliefs in our culture. She does this by taking commonplace ads, signs, slogans, etc. and adding the unseen/unnoticed/implicit messaging that nobody seems to take into account and I think is very successful in informing people of the issues.

Buzzfeed v. Design of Dissent

Check out the Design of Dissent Exhibition and Buzzfeed’s 50 Best Protest Signs of 2009.  The Exhibition is a great selection of images covering a range of different political issues and perspectives.  Click the slide show under the “add to favorites” tab to see the images.  Think about the presentation of the work in a building as opposed to on the street.  What would be different about the experience?  Regarding Buzzfeed, I’m not sure “best” is the right word here, but this is what you are up against.  These are people like you who have something to say.   Are they successful?

I think that looking through both of these protest signs and posters in their different settings was really an interesting experience. I found that the general feel for each of these websites was quite different. The Buzzfeed's 50 "best" signs featured signs that mainly utilized humor (and some used irony) to argue the point the protester was trying to make. On the other hand, the signs on the Design of Dissent Exhibition website definitely took an approach that was more solemn, serious, and I would say intellectual. I say intellectual because if someone comes inside a building to see such protest and political images, they usually have 1. heard about the exhibition 2. probably have knowledge about some of the issues. The protest signs from the Buzzfeed's website assumed less of the viewers in general and the humor contributed to that light feel that seemed to serve the singular purpose of either promoting awareness or simply exercising one's right to protest (haha or maybe just making others angry, I cannot really know). As far as the signs inside and outside being effective, I guess that would depend on what the creators of the signs intended and I think, the intentions of the creator/artist were definitely impacted by the location at which their sign would be displayed.

Little Brother

Give your personal reflection to Little Brother.  Talk about it as a book, instead of as a tool for class. [Do this by the 3rd]

I really enjoyed reading Doctorow's Little Brother, both as an example of the stuff we had been discussing in class, but also because it was just so interesting. The story was absolutely addictive for me, I couldn't do other homework assignments because I wanted to read the book. I admired the DIY startup of Marcus's campaign against the government and was excited about all the new information I was learning about technology. I guess everything I post is not encrypted (including this), and this book made me think about checking out some of its technology. In addition to the story, I admire this piece of work because Doctorow not only wrote a book about privacy, technology, and social movement attempts in a repressive system, but because he believes in the creative commons and doesn't just talk about it, but posts his book online for free. I admire his commitment to the creative commons and his ideals- plus I appreciate it as a broke college student (who not only did not buy it, but read it on the computer too so as not to waste paper!). I'm excited to share this book with my little sisters who are now only a little younger than Marcus in the story and who could use this view of teen as empowered. One of my sisters is extremely disenfranchised at all times (it doesn't help that she just had ACL surgery) and dabbles in technology stuff, so I think this would be a good read for her. All in all, I definitely recommend the book to others (starting with my disenfranchised little sister). 

Voting

As promised, there is a secret option #5: Tell us about your voting experience.  If you blog about voting (you don’t need to disclose your vote.  Talk about your polling place, the overall experience, etc), you can skip one of the three art blog questions.

Well, my voting experience was nothing special, perhaps only a little annoying. I went with one of my friends who drove, and since we both had heard our district had been changed from Woodson to Robinson, we went to Robinson. Of course, when we tried to vote, we weren't on the list and they asked we we hadn't gone to Woodson like we were supposed to. Frustrated, I would have just gone to rugby practice without voting, but my friend believes strongly in her civic duty, so she drove us over to Woodson. I accidentally told the people there that I moved off-campus to Centreville, so I was lucky that I had moved in the last nine months or else they would've tried to send me away again. I decided to go for electronic voting, but when I saw someone having trouble with the machine, I elected for paper ballot instead. Another controversy of the day for me was about who should get my vote. I don't really like government, politics, or "either" party, so it is hard to figure out who to vote for, especially when I am not as informed on the issues as I should be (which was another controversy, haha). My girlfriend was very angry that I was voting based on the little knowledge my friend had given me, and honestly, I do not think that it's the best way to exercise my civic right/duty, but it seemed like (from all the ads, haha?) that voting was a better alternative than not. Also, I explained my decision of who to vote for like my girlfriend would explain it, it is not like I don't have a general idea about the two major parties' stances.

Framing Examples

Find a few (3-4) examples of frames from groups that you feel do a particularly good job of framing, at least related to how they speak to you.  Discuss why they work.

Pro Choice-
I think the Pro Choice movement does an excellent job of reframing the abortion debate. It is controversial to say something like "I think women should be able to kill their babies before they are born," but the reframing of "Pro Choice" and a decision for women to make about their bodies is something that really speaks to me as a female-bodied person aware of the context of silencing women in our culture.

Animal Rights-
I think the Animal Rights campaigns are effective in the way they frame their arguments, because, although some might scoff at the thought of putting themselves in the position of an animal, it is something that really speaks to me as an animal-lover and concerned citizen.

Efforts to End Violence Against Women-
Like the other two examples I have offered, this one can cover many different groups, but I am thinking about specifically a few campaigns. There is the White Ribbon Campaign (I may or may not be thinking of the one in Canada) that supposedly manipulates (and upholds) the idea of masculinity to "protect women" from violence (and other men). I think that although this reframing makes me very angry- because it reinforces patriarchal discourse, dangerous hegemonic masculinities, and women's position of lesser and property- it would reach some people (who might participate in violence against women) in a way that I could probably not appeal to them.

Abolition of the Death Penalty Movement

Find an example of a movement that you agree with presenting their issue or argument and describe how you would reframe it to appeal to a wider audience.  Talk about why you made the change and how you hope it to be more effective.

The Movement to Abolish the Death Penalty transcends state lines with campaigns in many individual countries by NGOs, campaigns by INGOs internationally, and even campaigns by the European Union, encouraging the United States as well as countries interested in joining the EU to abolish the death penalty. Human rights discourse is especially active in this debate, operating under the assumption that all human life is sacred. If taking a life is wrong, when the state does it, what does that mean? Is it appropriate punishment for someone who took someone else’s life in the first place? In countries where the death penalty’s existence is controversial, these are the kind of debates that ensue. I think that, to a certain extent, this moral appeal is ineffective and reflective of the fact that (especially in the United States, but also probably globally) we paint a picture of just governments who worry about moral issues. Do I think the US government worries about moral issues? When it comes to life and death matters like sustaining the war sending more soldiers to war, I do not think the US government worries. However, if we appealed to their frugal and (let's face it, China owns us) economically desperate position, it would become clear that the fact that the death penalty is more expensive than life without parole could mean something in the campaign. I am not saying that NGOs don't know this because they certainly do, but I think there is a false assumption that a moral argument is going to win, when the reality is, government always tries to appear moral, but that says nothing about whether it is or not. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has a top-ten list of reasons why the US should abolish the death penalty http://www.ncadp.org/index.cfm?content=5 and although I agree with their decision not to bombard people with ten different reasons all the time, there could be work across organizations to promote more than the moral appeal. I think that kind of reframing could force people to call governments out on some of the unnecessary spending.

Protest Repression

Find a news story or video about the repression of protest groups in the United States in the past ten years, since the Battle in Seattle (what Wikipedia calls the “World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity“ and 9/11.  Reading the protest zone article and the one about organizing after Seattle might help.  Post the video or link and talk about what you found.  Are the actions justified?  Do they effect your feelings about the society we live in (positively or negatively)?

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/nov2003/miam-n26.shtml

 In 2003, the demonstrators who came to Miami to protest the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) ministerial meetings were harassed and brutalized by the police. Over one hundred protesters were treated for injuries, twelve were sent to the hospital and two hundred fifty were arrested. The Bush administration funded the local police effort to stop the protests with $8.5 million. I think that the fact that the police and government combined to repress actions of free speech/ protest and dissent is alarming when we call ourselves a "free" and "democratic" country. Obviously, in this class, we have talked about other more covert forms of repression (like the climate, political opportunity structures), but this overt display is particularly troubling.

Going After Ellen

I wrote a letter to Ellen DeGeneres about the homophobic climate in the United States, a letter that urged her to act. Although I do admire and appreciate Ellen's contributions to my experience as a queer-identified individual, I wanted to be critical of her actions and stances in my letter, letting her know my dissatisfaction with the overplay of fighting for equal marriage rights for gay people and invisibility of the struggles of queer-identified people of color as well as trans-identified individuals that I see in the LGBTQ movement. In order to explain all of this, I had to first let Ellen know the context of oppression and repression in which I see the recent suicides and highlighting of bullying queer (or queer-suspected) teens. Ellen's coming out in 1997 and continued fight to make the world a more open space for people to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, etc. are both exponential improvements to the hostile climate that preceded it. I cannot overplay how much I appreciate the flack that Ellen, in the public eye, took on behalf of all of us who would eventually come out as "not straight" in some way, and with this acknowledgment, I wish to push Ellen to further her activism by really taking a stand and naming what exactly is going on in our country. And the name that I suggest to Ellen is the extreme homophobia that still informs much of our policies, but especially the hearts and minds of people whom bullied/outed the teens that committed suicide. And to be integrative, I will include that in our culture we dichotomize gender, race, ability, and even age, employing the rationale of binary opposition, or to define something by what it is not to explain away any differences. Of course, with binary opposition comes the groupthink of "us" versus "them" that always ends up with the depiction of "them" as lesser, deficient, or evil.

Nonviolence in WWII

We’ve looked at nonviolence in a democracy (the civil rights movement), a colony (India), and an authoritarian state (Serbia under Milosevic), but one of the most common arguments against nonviolence is that there are some people who cannot be fought without violence.  Due to Godwin’s Law, this gets translated into something like, “Of course nonviolence works against civilized democracies, but it couldn’t have done anything about Hitler.”  Read the examples of nonviolence during World War II linked on Blackboard, give us a summary of one of the actions and talk about your opinions on this question.

I really enjoyed reading about the nonviolent acts against Hitler because so far in my learning about Hitler and Germany during WWII, I had never heard about such action. Although even the action I would view as successful in each country only affected those in their specific country on a direct level, it seems like the action by the Danes inspired others to act out in spite of the Nazis. Even though the Danes wished to remain neutral and not be involved in WWII, they were pulled in by German occupation and eventual martial law. The Danish army did not take up arms, but maintained peace so that the nonviolent actions like sabotage could be successful. For example, Danes who were put to work manufacturing German weapons and artillery used tactics like the slaves had used against their masters in the 1800's, enacting a type of accomodationist attitude while in actuality trying their best to mess up and slow production. I think that the Danish nonviolent actions could have continued to be successful if the militant underground had not gotten so many people killed, and I think that is the major issue with nonviolence... People en masse don't seem to be ready to enact this style of resistance.

Bringing Down a Dictator

Respond to Bringing Down a Dictator (if you missed class, it looks like there is a version of the filmonline).  Talk about a) your personal response to the film, b) talk about one element from the CANVAS manual that you saw in practice in the film, and c) what you are going to take from the film for your movements and other work.

I thought the film was really interesting and it was cool to see a student action that ended up being so successful that was also so recently. It really motivates and inspires me to get back into action. Practically all the CANVAS steps were in the film –undoubtedly because Srdja Popovic/OTPOR produced it following the success of their resistance movement. The movement’s vision of the future was very intentional and specific: a Serbia where people had the right to voice, health, and a government they wanted. This vision was detailed enough to garner support enough to create the change; the participation in a fair election producing a president who represented the people. Popovic proposed the idea that power does not exist monolithically but that there are six sources of power: authority, human resources, skills and knowledge, material resources, intangible values and sanctions.
 

CANVAS- Communication

Find an example of communication by a social movement and evaluate it through Chapters 9 and 10 of the CANVAS manual.

I  think that the Tea Party Movement's communication, especially for the specific Virginia Convention that is coming up October 8-9, definitely employs some of the tactics mentioned in the CANVAS manual. For example, in the soundbite (link below) that I listened to, you can hear a lot of rowdy, angry people in the background, indicating both that a great number of people is unhappy with the Obama administration and is ready to take action. On the strategic/emotional objective continuum, this tactic is supposed to invoke mob mentality and action (action that it seems like they don't care whether if it is constructive or destructive, but I'm probably making a judgment there). In sum, they employing a target communication of agitation, tapping into people's emotions and dissatisfaction, promoting that Obama (the opponent in this case) is irritating. The soundbite also includes repetition of the phrase, "Can you hear me?" said by a few different dissatisfied voices. Concluding with the statement that, "Washington is not listening" they invite the listener to do something about the "Obamacare" situation- come to the Virginia Tea Party Convention.
http://www.vateapartyconvention.com/TeaPartyConvention.mp3

Loyalty Pie

When I started to do this exercise, I was thinking there might be a few different ways to do it. I think that the categories listed in the chapter, Political Party, Religious Groups, State, Expanded Family, Hobbies, Friends, Family are somewhat covered in my chart but probably to the degree accurate to me. However, I like my way of doing the exercise better because then in the family section, I can count myself as a sister, a child, and a Lovebug (I don't really like the term girlfriend and I know it's one of those disgusting pet names, but it's all the language I have right now. Also, I use critical thinker to identify myself politically, unaffiliated with a party, but active (at least in thinking at this point- that's why I use "thinker"). Instead of doing percentages for my chart, I did parts- 1 part educator (instead of teacher/instructor to show that I am committed to do this in and outside of the classroom) and critical thinker, 2 parts sister, rugby captain, child, and friend, and 3 parts Lovebug and learner (also I picked this instead of student to show that it doesn't only happen at school). While I look over what the reading says more, I think I may have did this wrong, so below is another version of my pie.

New Yorker Articles

The primary difference between these articles is the experience of people of color, particularly black people at the time and place. The difference between living in a more northern or southern state meant variables in types of racism... Covert v. Overt, and threat of physical harm v. being ignored. The South had always been a place where overt forms of racial abuse have been condoned, so when black people started to make nonviolent actions of protest, violence was the response.

Rule #1

Saul Alinksy's first rule is one I have definitely tried to use before, in my protest of the Patriot Mascot when I made an online petition. I was not sure when I made the petition that anyone would even agree with me, so I asked friends and family who are not even in the Mason community to sign it and help make it look like I had a lot of people on my side. Fortunately for me, there were some people in the Mason community who definitely agreed, but unfortunately, there weren't enough to make a change.

Women's Suffrage & Disability Rights

The Women's Suffrage Movement occurred contemporaneously with the Anti-Slavery Movement, and it ended up achieving its goals much later due to the Civil War which ended up highlighting the racial issues. The Disability Rights Movement seems to be in a similar situation where it currently is picking up speed (and has been for probably thirty years) but also is pushed into the background by other larger campaigns like the Gay Marriage issue. Like the Woman's Suffrage Movement, the Disability Rights Movement "asserts that people with disabilities are human beings with inalienable rights and that these rights can only be secured through collective political action" (The Regents of the University of California). Like women, but probably to an even higher scale, people with disabilities have been denied rights throughout our country's history; they were defined as objects and too often experienced abuse through incarceration, nursing homes, and state institutions. Laws to sterilize person with disabilities against their will and ban children with disabilities from public schools were the majority and only after the Suffrage and Civil Rights Movements did the activism occur for this specific construction of difference. Also, like Suffrage (and Civil Rights), people involved in the Disability Rights Movement have intersections of identity that can include ethnic, racial, sexual, and gender minorities, so the movement itself needs to be diverse. Beginning in the late 1960's the Disability Rights Movement has achieved plenty- IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that has been edited a few times, and the Americans with Disabilities act in 1990.

http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/drilm/introduction.html

Iron Jawed Angels

Although I had seen Iron Jawed Angels several times before we watched it in class, I was once again enthralled in the story and detail of the Women's Suffrage Movement portrayed in the film. Hilary Swank does a magnificent job as the fiery instigator Alice Paul, but the addition of Patrick Dempsey as a love interest is deplorable and takes away from the authenticity. It is irksome to see that "theatricality" and making sure that nobody thought Alice Paul was a lesbian determined major changes from the history to the film's plot. I mean, I will be the first person to tell you that being a feminist/fighting for women's rights does not mean in any way, shape, or form that she is a lesbian or man-hater, but deviating from the true story of Alice Paul, during a small portion of her life when she was a driving factor in women's struggle for suffrage, minimizes her efforts and contribution. I think that the movie definitely sends the wrong message in that way; that a homogenized group of white, straight, educated middle class women organized the "rest of" the women to stand up for themselves. I guess it just rubbed me the wrong way when I watched the film this time, maybe I was not as critical the past times viewing it.

POSsibly...

I think that although the United States has ideally a setup that would promote an open political opportunity structure in Kitschelt's model, the actual number of parties here compared to the number of parties there could be here (but are not!) are telling of a system more closed than we think. Tarrow's strategies of states, facilitation and repression, that characterize representative democracies and authoritarian structures respectively are also a mark against the United States. I believe that the democracy in the United States is executed in a way to repress social movements rather than facilitate them (unless they are patriotic/conservative movements/backlashes). As far as history goes, the United States in recent years has become more centralized a government than ever before. We have not seen any social movements on the scale of the Civil Rights Movement since the 1960's and much of that has to do with the change in methods, as we talked about last week.

I actually do not have very high hopes for current social movements in the United States. Perhaps they will change people's ideas and the culture in a very vague way, but the thought that it will create real institutional change is something I doubt, no matter which movement. I don't know, maybe I'm just all Debbie Downer right now!

Lebensreform? Yes.

Lebensreform was a German movement between the late 19th and early 20th centuries that focused on an "all natural" way of life. A return to the earth and one's body was emphasized with the main tenets being health food/raw food/organic food, nudism, sexual liberation, alternative medicine, and religious reform while at the same time abstention from alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and vaccines. Although this movement seems to only have left behind "Reformhaus" raw/organic/health food stores in Germany, it influenced the "hippie" movement after some people involved in Lebensreform migrated to California.


The Lebensreform's political opportunity structure seems to be very limited even though it is theoretically an identity/practice-based movement that "anyone" can choose. I say "anyone" because someone struggling financially would have a hard time justifying joining this movement and buying more expensive food all the time. Although the identity-based part of the movement seems inaccurate, I would argue that it is just an identity that you cannot see. So I do not think that the Lebensreform in Germany had much political opportunity for change even though they seemed to have affected the lives of many hippies in the United States.

WUNC UP

 

http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/August/20060822164316esnamfuak0.5788843.html

This picture is from the Civil Rights Movement, when students had just started the initiative to fill the jails rather than bailing themselves out once arrested for sit-ins and other nonviolent protests. I think that this picture/ what these students committed themselves to in this movement embodies very well the unity, the numbers, the commitment, and even sometimes the worthiness (but we are students after all!) of the WUNC model. The commitment to fill the jails, the willingness to be arrested and sit in jails, and the singular-themed banners all culminated in a strong, determined student body of protesters. I think that although the Civil Rights Movement had several different leaders and groups, it would not have succeeded without student sacrifice like the students in this picture.

Intro to NCLC 304 class

Hey all. I'm LuLu, a fourth year Integrative Studies major in the New Century College Program. I am graduating in the winter with an individualized concentration called "Education, Social Action, and Construction of Differences" because I am trying to negotiate my ideals of activism, learning, and community with my intent to be an educator in higher education. I just do not want to be stuck in academia. On other notes, I am a seventh generation Vermonter on my mother's side, I have three younger sisters, and my father escaped from Hungary during its communist time. I love Vermont now, but as a high school graduate, I could not wait to get away from my homeland to somewhere more diverse and somewhere where I could figure out who I was without the pressure of a small town that I had known my whole life. Luckily, as a result, I am much more comfortable with myself as a female-bodied, queer-identified, white person committed to antiracism and anti-imperialism. During my first year at Mason, I spent most of my time joining causes and getting to know student activists and student organizations. This time was a very important time for me, one I remember as my self exploration phase. I dabbled in Amnesty International, Pride Alliance, NAACP, the Feminist Ninjas/ Feminist Student Organization, Students for a Democratic Society, and probably some other groups I cannot quite remember the names of. One of the most memorable activism experiences I had was when I was working with SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), when we had a protest about (this is not the memorable part unfortunately) something like worker's rights or parking? and tried to do a march through the Johnson Center. It was so unsuccessful, people did not care why we were there or even that we were there, so we took our march to the Provost's office. The person "leading" us that day tried to talk to the Provost but security came and we were all kicked out. I think we even asked a member of Broadside to cover the event, but we clearly did not make a difference because I cannot even remember what we were protesting.