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Unity
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2020-06-03
Take the Pledge
I regrets speaker's name but remember the impact of her words at the Black Lives Matter protest held in Anderson, South Carolina. This speaker talked about the importance of peace and understanding when joining arms with brethren and allies during pivotal times. I remember her walking off the platform and wishing I could her more. Overall, her speech was fierce, firm, and empathetic to us and the cause. Her call to action by asking the audience to take a pledge embodies to true spirit and essence of Black Lives Matter protest. -
2020-05-02
On A Knee
The photo highlights a peaceful protest that involved the participation of medical faculty. The health care workers included in this photograph included doctors, nurses, admin, security guards and handful of maintenance. This was demonstration to support the Black Lives Matter Movement after the killing of a George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. The individuals in this photo can all be seen taking a knee similar to the protest method used by Colin Kaepernick. National Football League, player Colin Kaepernick took his first knee on September 1, 2016. The taking of the knee went against the tradition of standing during the signing of the National Anthem. Kaepernick said at the time: “I am not going up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color”. The people in this picture felt the same exact sentiments as Kaepernick. I chose this source because I wanted historians to understand the impact of the pandemic and the unity it created amongst individuals of different races. As a health care worker, I faced the challenges of Covid-19 directly. The fear of transmitting COVID-19 led to months of isolation from my loved ones. This feeling of loneliness contributed to the decline of mental health for me and many of my co-workers. On May 25, 2021, when George was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer over a suspicion of a counterfeit $20 bill my feeling of loneliness grew tremendously. Being an African American man in the united states was now just as dangerous as the virus killing thousands in New York. When the members of my staff came up the idea of protesting for the rights of African Americans, my feeling of loneliness begin to fade. Kneeling on the ground next to coworkers of all different races reminded of the inclusiveness and unity that we all needed in life. This was a moment in a history that will never be forgotten. -
2020-06-19
Pandemic Street Art: collab by Menace and Resa
These are screenshots of the Instagram account that represents collaborative artwork by muralists Menace and Resa. The "UNITY" mural is in South Central Los Angeles, California and was done "in response to pandemic fueled anti-Asian hate crimes." The "More Justice, More Peace" mural is in Brooklyn, New York and memorializes Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. in celebration of Juneteenth. -
2020-09-23
The power of Gen Z
Living in the pandemic, I have seen my generation grow stronger together as we stand for the injustices occurring in this country. We have spread our ideologies onto social media to spread the message of unity and social justice to prevent further innocent lives from being taken. No violent or oppressive remark goes unseen or unheard of given the word is quickly spread around with social media. Living in the pandemic has allowed the spread of such powerful messages of unity and standing up for what is right to reach every corner of the country. While eating at a local restaurant in Downtown Phoenix, a small yet powerfully loud crowd of BLM protesters passed the location. Watching in awe and feeling some sort of empowerment, it came to my realization of how much these young adults’ voices have spread across the country. Watching the traumatic stories regarding George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (among the thousands of black lives that have been taken by police and civilian brutality over the past couple of decades), I began to fear for the safety of the black communities living in areas that began to pose threats for them. Similarly, I have watched and supported the protests against Asian American violence becoming very recurrent lately and have seen young adults like me speak out against it. Although I am a minority myself, I cannot understand the pain these families go through, but I surely stand by and support these communities. Watching this protest before me made me realize how powerful the second-youngest generation (Gen Z) has grown to be and will continue to blossom as we continue to stand with unity against oppression let it be against race or religion. Although this pandemic has physically separated us, it has also brought many minority communities to come closer and support each other with the hope of one day ending these targeted tragedies. -
2020-06-27
Dialogue on Race
For my contribution, I would like to highlight one of the most publicized events that occurred during the first few months of COVID-19, the George Floyd killing and my actions to bring unity after. This incident put a spotlight on social issues that have been long swept under the rug, racism, racial violence and police brutality. During this time, members of the Air Force spoke out and initiated conversations about race, and racial disparities within our ranks. -
2021-03-23
"Asian and Black Americans experience racism differently. But we need to unite against hate"
In this editorial in the Los Angeles Times, Black female staff writer Sandy Banks poses the question "Now the question is: Can we join together and move forward, with white supremacy — not each other — as the enemy?" She reflects on the years of tension in Los Angeles between the Black and Asian American communities. However, she sees a common ground between the two communities in light of the anti-Asian racism and shooting of six Asian women at the hands of a White male, whose crimes were justified by a police spokesperson who was found later to have made anti-Asian social media posts. -
2020-06-03
Black Lives Matter Rally in Calgary Alberta
This is a photo I took during one of Calgary’s Black Lives Matter marches in the Summer of 2020. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, people took to the streets all over the world, not just America – In Calgary Alberta in particular, the death of George Floyd forced Canadians to critically look at our own law enforcement and state institutions, which were borne out of Canada’s colonial past. Not pictured in this photo would be the flags of numerous Indigenous nations, in particular the Mohawk nation – as in Canada and in America, the Black Lives Matter Movement synthesized itself with the cause of Indigenous sovereignty, as a means to combat white supremacy. During these marches, people who were antagonistic of the BLM movement stated that these marches were a threat to ‘public health’ as they believed protestors were marching mask less, this is not the case as evident in this photo. Organizers and random protestors were handing out masks, hand sanitization stations were set up with food, water and wipes. Signs were provided from the organizers to each marcher, if one did not bring their own. During this event, there was limited police presence as they maintained their distance from the large body of protestors which covered several streets. From what I recall what happened, I went with my friend Quinn, we showed up and found a place in the large crowd and listened to several speakers in the center of body of protestors (You can’t see it in this photo but it is directly center, behind the foliage). After the several speeches which took place, the organizers lead the people through a march downtown, to city hall. To my knowledge, there weren’t any instances of violence or confrontations with police – however I do remember there would be some agitators who would appear every now and then to yell at the protestors, or carry racist signs – I didn’t see this in particular, but saw photos of people doing so. This photograph would be beneficial to the social justice collection as it depicts the black lives matter movement of Calgary Alberta, Canada as fore mostly a window into the unique Canadian experience and similarly to how protests were conducted during a pandemic. -
2020-08-15
The City That Never Sleeps Takes A Nap
In late August of 2020, I traveled from Fort Myers, Florida, to New York City. The pandemic affected the economy and travel extensively. For everyone's safety and to prevent damage to the economy, travel was allowed but restricted. As a result, prices for flights dropped, and my brother and I took advantage to visit our father, whom we had not seen in over a year. The airport seemed empty; however, when we boarded, the plane was full of people. We received care packages before boarding that contained alcohol wipes and hand sanitizer. Luckily for us, when we arrived in New York City, restrictions for COVID-19 in the city began to die down. Business' began opening, but most of the people who left their homes only went to work. Aside from a few individuals, the streets seemed dead. The streets pre-pandemic was full of life and culture. COVID –19 appeared to have stolen all that made the city vibrant. New York City is infamous for its subway rats, but what my family and I saw on a walk-through Central Park one day changed our perspective on them forever. We saw many rats running around the park freely. Usually, they will not run away at the sight of a person; they mostly do not care. But this time, they tried to get closer, almost as if they were grateful to see people. The foot traffic dramatically decreasing in New York forced the rats to move. They had to find an area where they could live freely, have food, and drink sources. Therefore, subway rats made the abandoned streets and paths of Central Park their new home. The manufactured rivers at the park made an excellent water hole. People regularly come to the park to feed other animals; birds, ducks, turtles, and squirrels are just a few. Because of this convenient food source, rats took advantage. They began to crowd around other animals hoping to receive food as well. Nonetheless, it seemed their relationship evolved past survival. We witnessed the animals at play. One would chase the other and vice versa. At one point, we found birds, squirrels, and rats eating together at the hand of a generous woman. The animals, abandoned by humans, began to come together, and in silence, the city gleamed with beauty. My trip to New York City in the year 2020 post-COVID-19 was unforgettable. The effects of the virus were visible in more than just the individual. It affected the economy, the culture, and the way of life for many organisms. The city quickly adjusted to the circumstances in hopes of survival. The resilience animals have as a community, their survival tactics, and prevalence are admirable features historians will appreciate when studying the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on society. Personally, seeing how COVID-19 forced the city that never sleeps to take a nap is a once in a lifetime experience. -
2020-09-08
American Values and How They’re Under Strain
This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues unity has been primarily lost as of late, in the midst of protests, while in turn people have been working harder than ever to make up for it. It also includes references to the following modern events: George Floyd protests & riots. -
2020-09-08
Equality and Unity in Today’s Society
In this essay, I describe how the U.S. is not currently living up to their American values of equality and unity. The leaders of our country is dividing the country for politics rather than unifying. This is making our country more two sided than ever before. To add on, another American value not given to us is equality. Equality is not given to people in the work place, on the streets, and so many other ways. That is why there are protests and riots all around the United States. BLM movement is doing something to change this. These American values will be given to the people of this country. -
2020-07-29
Paint The Void: Health Care Workers & Art
Health Care workers partnered with the Paint the Void project to bring community, life, hope, art and culture to the San Francisco Bay Area. The goal of this partnership was to create a project to say "thank you for sheltering in place" and "thank you for supporting us" to the community on behalf of San Francisco's essential workers. Paint the Void has created over 91 murals across San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. This specific mural tells the story of how interconnected people are and how an act of kindness has the ability to improve life conditions for the entire community. The title of the mural is "How we care shapes who we are." The spirit of community is represented through this specific mural and the Paint the Void initiative. -
2020-08-12
High School Graduation: Quarantine Style
On August 12th, 2020, I graduated high school with my triplet siblings. In our twelve years of public education, never did the three of us imagine for our graduation to look like this. I remember attending my older sister's high school graduation in 2009 - I was a part of the crowd in the bleachers and there were lots of cheers and parties. It would have been a cool full circle moment to have her then attend our graduation from the same high school at the same bleachers, however, 2020 had different plans. Our graduation included no guests, no family, no teachers, we were spread apart across the football field, wearing masks in 90 degree heat, and received our diploma in rows. Although it wasn’t the graduation/end of senior year that we wanted, the strength of our community consistently shone through all obstacles the pandemic presented to us. The strong sense of unity and support the community gave the class of 2020 was truly inspiring and will one day be historical. -
2020-04-01
How we project the role of memes in history of this plagued year
This meme illustrates how we perceive memes right now - as instruments of humor that unify us in a time of crisis. We use these memes to laugh at our own dire situation in a healthy manner. It allows us to escape the constant turmoil for a little while and acknowledge that we are all going through this together, and hope that we come out of this situation stronger and more united. -
2020-05-31
The Broken Family
Being at home all day isn't fun at all. It is for certain that I miss my normal life. Now that this pandemic has almost taken over the US, we have no other option than to stay home and keep ourselves preoccupied. There is one important thing that we must do. We must fix our broken families. It is common for families to have their bad moments and have people in the family not necessarily agree with everyone's actions but that must end now. For any broken family we must take this time to heal the wounds in the family and come together to accept one another's flaws and or differences. As a human I make mistakes and I do argue with my siblings and parents but that needs to change. I am not the only one who may have problems with their families at times. Sometimes we just feel as if we aren't living up to the expectations or standards of our families but as I said, we need to take this time to fix that and heel any problems. We must come together and have respect for one another and have tolerance. I have not taken the time to sit down with my family and simply restore what was before but I will as everyone should and stay positive, only hoping for the better.