The following post was written by Laura in response to the Day 8 Challenge: Research a female social or political activist for a cause you believe in, and share what you learn with others. Happy International Women’s Day! Today’s challenge was to research a female social of political activist for a cause you believe in and share what you learn. I participated gladly in this challenge, as I am always ready to read about a fellow feminist warrior. The woman I chose to research is Sonita Alizadeh. I had never heard of her before this challenge, but now that I know who she is, I think everyone should. Alizadeh is an Afghan rapper and activist who has courageously spoken out against child marriage after almost being forced into marriage at an extremely young age not once, but twice, by her parents. Alizadeh grew up in Herat, Afghanistan, under the rule of the Taliban. Her family first considered selling her as a bride when she was 10, however, her family fled to Iran to escape the Taliban before the marriage. In Iran, Alizadeh worked cleaning bathrooms, and she simultaneously taught herself to read and write. She also discovered the music of Iranian rapper Yas and American rapper Eminem while there. Their music gave her inspiration, and she began writing her own songs. Soon after this, at age 15, Alizadeh's mother attempted to make her return to Afghanistan because she had found a man to buy her for $9,000. Fortunately, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, director of the documentary Sonita, gave $2,000 to Sonita's mother in exchange for six months of time for Sonita, putting off the marriage. During these months Alizadeh wrote Daughters for Sale, and Maghami filmed a music video for her. It was not only popular with women in Afghanistan, but also got the attention of the nonprofit Strongheart Group, which then contacted to Alizadeh to bring her to the U.S. so she could live and study in safety. One of the many remarkable things about Alizadeh is that she filmed and released her music video while she was living in Iran, where it is illegal for women to sing publicly. Her courage should not go unnoticed. The incredible bravery and spirit she showed got her out of a terrible and dangerous situation, and now she is able to speak out and help others facing the same situation. In Afghanistan, 57% of women are married before age 19, but Alizadeh’s work is attempting to fight this. Her videos are incredibly powerful and breathtaking. The link to one of her live performances in New York is below; I would highly recommend taking a few minutes to experience it. Alizadeh’s story is one we don’t learn about in school, but it’s time we start making ourselves aware of what is happening in the world around us. For every awe-inspiring, empowered woman who makes the news, there are thousands of other women making change in this world who we never get to hear about. Sonita Alizadeh is one of those women, and her relentless bravery and passion have inspired me greatly. This challenge was an amazing way for me to learn about another exceptional woman who I probably never would have known about otherwise. So, for everyone reading this, keep researching! Keep learning, keep inspiring, keep resisting. The future is female, and we cannot be silenced.
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The following post was written by Anna in response to the Day 7 Challenge Action: Have a conversation with someone about what you love about your culture. As she shares what she loves about her culture, she also elaborates on her thoughts about America and its future that developed through her experiences: As Americans we should recognize the cultural diversity in our community. Our nation is unique in that it has ethnicities from all over the world. As a responsible citizen, I believe that we should all work toward understanding the cultures apart from our own to gain a greater understanding of, not just our country, but our world. I am someone who takes great pride in her Japanese heritage and is always ecstatic to promote multicultural understanding on any given day, so I chose to take up the Day 7 challenge of discussing what I love about my culture. As a simple list of the favorite parts of my culture, I love the food, traditional kimonos, traditional instruments and music, folklore, and modern culture as well. However, this enthusiasm I had for my culture did not always exist. It is through traditional food that I was able to develop this pride in my Japanese ethnicity. Because of this fondness I have for food, I chose to focus on this aspect of my culture. I remember back in my middle school days I used to feel so ashamed of my ethnicity because of my food, due to being picked on for what I ate. While other kids ate hamburgers and fries, I was eating fish and rice. My mother knew of how I felt like an outsider, but that did not stop her from feeding me traditional Japanese meals. When I read Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks” I deeply empathized. When Tan’s mother says that “inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different,” it felt like my mother’s actions were put into a verbal form. “Fish Cheeks” filled my heart with nostalgia. If only young Anna could know that the traditional food would become her most favorite part of the Japanese culture. Reflecting back on my pre-middle school days, I remember my classmates and I all took interest in each others’ differences. Perhaps it was because I was in a more diverse environment, but I find that children tend to be more open to things foreign to them. How is it that such open-minded children can become so judgemental and critical of these differences? I believe it is because of the adults, the role models, that possibly carry these prejudices which taint these children’s minds. However, in my experience I saw that these children became more open-minded again in high school. I would like to think that we are a generation of children who realized what these adults were doing to us. As we grew in high school, we learned to develop our own thoughts and recognize how these prejudices were a negative aspect to our community. Looking at this pattern, I feel that we as Americans are moving toward the right direction. As we get older, we become the role models. If the role models are open to differences, then the children will be too. I am hopeful for the future as these children are the future. I believe we are paving the path for a better society, a society in which everyone can embrace who they are. Sources:
The following post was written by Aashay in response to the Day 1 Challenge Action: Research a current political or social issue that you hear about all the time, but don't feel informed about. Aashay chose to research the topic of euthanasia after hearing about it in the news and in classroom conversations. These are his thoughts on the topic and on completing the challenge:
As Americans, we pride ourselves on one word: freedom. Our history, rights, values, and future political decisions are all ideally based on maximizing freedom. This is due in part because we often like to think of ourselves as the “inventors” and protectors of political and social freedom. The President of the United States is often referred to as the leader of the free world, and we love to talk about how it was us who first began to offer complete freedom of religion, speech, and expression for all its citizens (even though that isn’t entirely accurate). However, one right that we rarely think of on a day- to- day basis is the right to death. Is the gift of life the most precious thing we have ever been given, or does every individual deserve the right to die a peaceful, and dignified death on their own terms? Despite being an avid follower of politics, this was was an issue I never gave much thought to. It has gotten an increasing amount of media attention in the past couple of years, but not necessarily in an informative manner. When I began my research into the topic, I started by reading the arguments of the individuals who wanted to end their lives via physician- assisted suicide. It became abundantly clear that unless you’ve been in that position personally, it is impossible to understand. These people don’t want to end their lives simply because they’re in a lot of pain, or are just too tired to go on, but because their medical condition has caused left them imprisoned by their bodies. Many can’t speak, move, eat, or even go to the bathroom, let alone have have any fun. They’re essentially locked and simply waiting for death. Considering this highly restrictive quality of life, we must allow ourselves to consider the concept of quality of life. The right to die argument was an issue I had barely given any thought to until recently, and even with my new research I still haven’t completely made up my mind on it. It was, however, an important step to begin that research. Understanding right to die laws is difficult, and it's even more difficult to take that understanding and use it to help form a personal opinion on such an important topic. It extends beyond legality and strikes at our understanding of humanity and life. Information gathering is just the start of exploration into this topic. On only the first day of the challenge I am proud to have participated and made myself a more educated person. I believe the biggest thing I got out of participating in this challenge is gratitude. In the midst of political turmoil, and all our first world problems it’s incredibly easy to forget how lucky we are. Lucky that people of all races, genders, religions etc. can call themselves citizens of this nation. We may hate the fact that it always seems like we have something to complain about when it comes to the government, but do we ever stop and think about how lucky we are to be able to freely gain the information we need to make decisions and to openly discuss the information we find to help us understand topics from others' perspectives? Being a responsible citizen isn’t just about knowing everything about all major issues, but also about realizing how fortunate we are and how much the next generation of this country depends on us to make responsible civic decisions so they too can enjoy the same liberties we have. In President Barack Obama's farewell address he spoke of the responsibilities of democratic citizenship. He reminded us that though "the work of democracy has always been hard," it is necessary. The rights we cherish as Americans have "never been self-executing." "Through the instrument of our democracy," the people of this country must work to secure those rights and continue the forward motion that defines America. Our potential as a nation "can only be realized if our democracy works," and in order to make it work we need to "restore a sense of common purpose" while also acknowledging that "democracy does not require uniformity." We will have differences of opinion. We will debate and argue and challenge and strive, but we must also recognize that "we are all in this together, that we rise or fall as one. And all of this depends on our participation, on each of us accepting the responsibility of citizenship, regardless of which way the pendulum of power swings." His speech was more than a goodbye to his role as President. It was an essential call to action for civic engagement. That call to citizenship goes out to all of us. "Because for all our outward differences, we, in fact, all share the same proud title, the most important office in a democracy: Citizen." As members of a local, national, and global community, we challenge you to heed this call to action and participate in our 30-Day Responsible Citizenship Challenge. We've created a calendar of challenge actions that we hope will promote democratic values and help people engage and interact with one another respectfully. Please join us. You can register for the challenge by completing this form.
We look forward to seeing you in action! -Mrs. Janovitz's English classes |
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All authors are members of the BHS community who are participating in the challenge. Archives
April 2017
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