Social Change (#13)

This week in our social justice class we talked about visions and strategies for change. Social change is one thing that we all strive for as Social Workers. Social change stirs up a lot of controversy for some people and creates resistance in others. Social change is when a social institution or groups of individuals change over time. However, there is always will always be a fight for social change in our society. Living in a society today where there are numerous social injustices, social is change is always at the top of the latter. When there is social change there is an alternation of an individual’s morals and values. After reading this chapter in my social justice class, I came to realize that in order for social change to occur we as a society should be able to understand how our power and privilege affects others, in order to build meaningful relationships that will result in creating social change.

Change is something that we all experience on a daily basis. Although many of us do not cope well with change and some of us are oppose to it, change is inevitable. With that being said, in order for change to occur we must be willing to change ourselves and be the change that we want to see in the world. Also we should have the willingness to learn from others, and have the intent to listen without judging others. This is one way we can be affective in creating social change. Also having an awareness of what is going on in your society and in your community allows you to see what changes need to be made to help better your society.

Trying to better a society can take a group or individual months or even years to see or produce social change, but if we have a strong support group behind us and a strategic plan and vision that we want to achieve, we can effectively implement and develop social change through or social services as Social Workers and in our society as well. This is why Marco level Social Work is important. Working on this level as Social Workers, we are the voice (along with the community) in helping produce social change in our society and the voice for many of our clients.

Observation

 There are many people horning the 50^th anniversary of JFK’S death in Dallas. On the news this morning I saw a choir singing at the memorial and a pastor giving a speech after that. I think that this memorial shows how prominent people like President Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. can bring a society together.

A Naked Oprah (#12)

Being a designer is all about expressing your artistic ability. Fashion design is all about the art of application of design and aesthesis or natural beauty of creating to clothing and accessories (Career Bear.com, 2013). To me fashion design is all about the gilts and glamour and not objectifying women’s bodies of any color. This is what I think Kanas City designer Peggy Noland did not take into consideration when she was designing this dress.  Looking at the dresses you can realize that theses dresses show the stages of Oprah’s weight over the years. According to Noland she says that this design “originated as a kind of age old red carpet question:  who are you wearing?” (Gutierrez, 2013), but it can clearly been seen that you are wearing Oprah.  I personally feel that this dress is inappropriate and is offensive to many black women, especially to Oprah. I pretty sure that Oprah would not like a version of her naked body being worn by others.  What if a black designer created a dress objectifying a white woman’s body, who is a well know figure, how would people react to that? I also feel that Noland knew what she was doing when she made this dress and that it would cause a lot of controversy and uproar in the black community. However, I feel that when some designers make things they do not realize that how disrespectful their clothing can be at times. I am not saying what Noland did was wrong because, I know that there are many t-shirts out that objectify women’s bodies that people wear. However, I wonder if she asked for Oprah's permission to make this dress, but when do designers ask permission to make anything?  Furthermore, how can we get designers to understand how their designs continue to promote sexism and oppress all women when they make clothing like this?  How can we get them to find ways to express their artistic ability in a non-offensive way? 

                                                                           Observation

Tomorrow I will be volunteering at the Austin Pregnancy Resource Center, where I would be helping them restock their baby clothing boutique with donated seasonal clothing.

Here is the link to one article about the dress: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/18/4632187/kc-designer-peggy-noland-creates.html

Community Outreach (#11)

There are approximately 2,300 homeless people living on the streets of Austin and over 900 of those people would be considered chronically homeless; people who have been homeless for over one year, or four times in the past 3 years (Austintexas.gov, 2013). It seems that the population of homelessness continues to grow in Austin and is a complex issue to deal with. While watching the news this week, there was one story that really caught my attention. This story was about opening up a homeless RV park in East Travis County.  This story really grabbed my attention and many questions began to arise. How would Austin residents react with the opening up this RV Park for the homeless in their neighborhoods, how would it be beneficial to the homeless population, and will it help decrease the amount of people who are homeless? There has been a lot of debate about opening up this RV Park in East Travis County prolonging the process. The Mobile Loaves and Fishes homeless charity group is all about making this project happen (My Fox Austin, 2013). The project will be called Community First! Village (My Fox Austin, 2013). The park is designed to provide supportive, affordable, and sustainable housing to people with disabilities and the chronically homeless (My Fox Austin, 2013). The park will stretch out over the 27 acres of Hogg Eye Road near Decker Lane near East Travis County (Murray, 2013). However, there are many people who are still in opposition with the development of the RV Park due to their uncertainty in the project and many who question their safety.  I think that this is a good innovative project because it will give the homeless population a sense of self dignity again, provide them with a roof of their heads, and maybe help them find niche in society again.

Observation

While on my bus ride to Houston this weekend, I realized how gender roles have a huge effect on how individuals treat each other and how people use their gender roles to manipulate certain situations for their benefits.

Ablesim (#10)

This week in our social justice class we talked about Abelism. Ableism is discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2013). Ableism prevents many people with disabilities from having the same access to services that average people have no problem obtaining. People with disabilities are in a constant fight to obtain the rights as average people because they face many barriers on a daily basis, whether it is systematic or physically.

We had a guest speaker come in and talk to us about people with disabilities. We played this game where we had to figure out the history of disability movement in which they occurred and line up in order. Through playing this game I learned a lot of things that I did not know about the disability movement/people with disabilities. I also learned more about the harsh things that they had to go through as well, such as sterilization.

Reading the chapter about Ablesim and discussing it in class, I really learned more about people with disabilities and how to use first person language. Learning about first person language in class and learning what to use instead of the terms I use in my own vocabulary is going to be a process to change. However, the main thing I learned from the reading and discussion this week, is that no one should let their inability to do something keep them from striving to do their best because everyone is capable of achieving their goals whether they have a disability or not.

Looking at Ablesim through a social work perspective I see how strong advocacy is for this group of people and how fighting for their rights as an individual is very important on a marco level. If we do not work to change things on a marco level all the work that we put in on a micro level will seem useless in my opinion because if we want to see change we have to start with the legislation that is enacted while still working on an individual level with clients.

Observation

If you are a person with a disability Social Security can help, by paying benefits to these individuals who cannot work. Here is a link to an article that talks more about it. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso/social-security-can-help-those-who-can-t-work-due/article_8adfb683-60e1-5c88-99c3-b257bf22ee40.html

Progress (#9)

Social injustices are still prevalent in society today. Some social injustices that commonly occur throughout society are racism, oppression of other groups/races, sexism, discrimination, and the list goes on and on. The social injustices that one may experience can build up one’s self and even build up a community or it can plague individuals within a society. Discrimination among gay and lesbian individuals are indeed prevalent and in occurrence in our society today. It seems as though that some people are becoming more accepting of same sex marriage but it is still a work in progress. The ban on same sex marriage is a big issue that the U.S. is facing and is still not accepted in many states. The rights that are given to a heterosexual couple such as the institution of marriage, taxation compensation based on marriage and adoption privileges is where equality for homosexuals does not exist (Blackwell, Ricks, and Dziegielewski, 2004). The people in this community are in a constant struggle to gain equal protection of their human rights and moral equality. After learning more about the LBGTQ community last week I came across an interesting article of another state that has legalized gay marriage. The Hawaii Senate has approved legislation to legalize same sex marriage on Wednesday (Shapiro, 2013). If the bill passes in the Senate Hawaii will be the 15^th state to legalized same sex marriage (Shapiro, 2013). If gay and lesbians have human rights and human rights are supposed to be universal and everyone has an entitlement to them, why do social injustices occur in a society where there are theories and perspectives that are used to help guarantee social justice among individuals equally then. So why are gay and lesbians banned from marrying in some states?  Social activist are in a constant struggle to pass legislation for the LBGTQ community to have equal rights as heterosexuals.

http://news.msn.com/us/hawaii-senate-passes-bill-to-legalize-gay-marriage

Observation

Today I went trick or treating for cans to donate them to the Austin Capital Food Bank area.

Eye Opener (#8)

 

 This week in our social justice class we talked about Heterosexism, Transgender, and Oppression. We live in a society that defines the way we view gender roles and how we perceive men and women. The gender roles in society today have flipped and there are a lot of people who don’t identify with society’s gender roles, yet heterosexism still dominates our society. We had a wonderful guest speaker named Shane Whalley who works for the Gender and Sexuality Center on campus talk to us about the LBGTQ community. I really enjoyed hearing Shane speak and I gained a lot of information that will be valuable to me and my career. During this week I realize that there was a lot of information I did not know about this community besides the stigmas that they fight for. I realized that I did not understand all the language that this community uses. I know that language is really is important to individuals and the way that they use their language to identify themselves is also important. Not knowing their language and what language that this community feels is offensive, is the one thing that I did not know about. Learning more about this community of people has opened my eyes more.  As social workers we have to know the context of a community to help clients and need to have a knowledge and information of every population (if that is possible) because there are still going to be things that we do not know and things that we have to continue to learn, if we want to advocate for the people in our society.

Observation

                  While watching the news this week, I came across the story of a 14 year old boy who killed his teacher in Danvers, Massachusetts. On the other hand I looked on the GSC website to see what events they had coming up and they will be celebrating their 3^rd annual Cabaret tomorrow.

http://ddce.utexas.edu/genderandsexuality/ut-and-community-events/

An Open Book (#7)

I really enjoyed watching the Ted talks from Brene’ Brown this week in class. I have listened to these talks in some of my pervious social work classes, but actually listening to the talks again put a lot of things into perspective for me. I appreciate her for studying human connection and how the power of vulnerability plays into that human connection. I gained so much information from this video and learned that vulnerability is not a weakness but is a tool that is needed in making connections. Before I even heard about Brene’ Brown’s research I always viewed vulnerability as a weakness and felt that many people would judge me and see me as weak if I did let my emotions show. I have been told that I am too vulnerable (emotional) by guys but I guess being caring makes you vulnerable. I also doubt myself sometimes before I even try to anything and I think this is where the shame and fear comes in that Professor Brown talked about. As she conducted her research on shame and fear she found that excruciating vulnerability lies within these to emotions, and listening to her explain this more I totally agree. I feel that a lot of us put up walls and have these stoic personas to us. I am also a person who does this because I don’t want people to judge me and at times I am afraid to let people see the real me, unless they are really close to me. The fear/shame that we have as individuals keeps us from doing many things in our lives and making connections with people. Nobody in this world is perfect and there is no such thing as perfection, so why are we still afraid to be vulnerable around others?  

This talk was more intriguing to me the second time around because I was able to apply it to my own life and in my work as a social worker. The one thing that stuck out to me that I feel is good for social work practice is where she said “we can’t practice compassion with other people if we cannot treat ourselves kindly.” This is the number one key competent I feel is essential to your work as a social worker especially on a micro level when you are working with your clients. In order to help others we have to know how to help ourselves first (self-care). As social workers I feel that we are empathic towards our clients and their situations but at the same time we have to control our emotions to help our clients achieve their life goals (we can be vulnerable but not too much because we have to draw a line between business and personal). The connections that we build with our clients and the empowerment that we give our clients (by showing them that they are worthy of more) is what I want to strive for throughout my career as a social worker. At the organizational level I feel that we have to be compassionate about the people in our community and understand the community that we are  living in and show the people in our community that they are worthy of belonging.

Observation

There will be an a human trafficking talk on October 21^st held at Gregory Plaza from 7-9pm where students can talk and connect with organizations working to end human trafficking and the issues that led to this. https://www.facebook.com/events/155520127991799/

The Follow Up (#6)

I recently wrote a blog post questioning the continuation of abuse of abused and neglected children in the foster care system. I criticized the system flaws in the system and kind of bashed Child Protective Services (CPS) for not doing anything about for two years. Texas has been under scrutiny for so long for poorly supervising children during their time in foster care. After the death of two-year old Alexandria Hill and other children something is now being done for children who are still abused and neglected within the foster care system.

 As I stated once before in my pervious blog Texas Mentor is the third largest foster care contractor in the state that places children in foster homes. Texas Mentor is a private company that finds homes for foster children could lose tens of thousands of dollars in the upcoming months (Ball, 2013). Texas Mentor is now on the verge of trying to fix its discrepancies that have caused children more danger and trauma. The Department of Family and Protective Services has stopped placing children with Texas Mentor late last month due to many violations in it foster care homes, such as inappropriate punishment and poor supervision However the agency will still continue to care for the 600-puls youths currently in its foster homes, but will not receive any new children or the money that comes with taking care of them, which is between $1,300and $5,600 per month/per child (Ball, 2013). This suspension is the strongest penalty that the state can levy against the 350 agencies that contract to recruit licensed and train foster families in Texas. Suspending financial funds for a child placing agency can cost the agencies finances to decrease depending on how long it takes to get off of suspension (Ball, 2013).  According to Ball (2013) the state has cited Texas Mentor at least a dozen of times over the past two years for failing to ensure that criminal background checks were done for residents or frequent foster home visitors were done or updated. Texas Mentor is now in the works of a correction plan (developed between them and the state) that includes the company strengthening it background checks that expand to include all immediate family member within a 150-mile radius, adding oversight to the approval process for foster parents, bolstering the financial review for prospective families, and implementing an Internet and social media screening for current and prospective foster parents (Ball, 2013).

I wish they would have caught these red flags a long time ago because this could have saved so many other children lives, but due to the lack of extensive back ground checks from Texas Mentor on foster care families who make about $650 to $700 a month to care for foster children (Austin American- Statesman, 2013) can cause more harm than help to these young children and can cause children to be afraid of their foster families. Some of these families may just be in it for the money and may not care about the child’s well-being. Children are so precious and should not be taken for granted and I hope that Texas Mentor rightfully serves children after this. Overall, the foster care system is in desperate need of repair.

Observation

Yesterday I volunteered at the University Presbyterian Church Micah 6 Food Pantry. This food pantry helps low-income families and homeless youth meet their basic needs for food.

The Shutdown!!! (#5)

The government has now been shut down for the last two days. How long is this going to go on? Many people are affected by this shutdown and some federal workers have been furlough. More than 800,000 federal workers are now facing life without a pay check (Yan & Cohen, 2013). I think that it is time to get off the Affordable Health Care Act band wagon and stop trying to dismantle the funding for it. I feel that this is not something that they should repel because this affordable care act allows all people to have access to health insurance now which many people may not had before.  The government needs to figure out way to negotiate this health care act before we go into another economic crisis. I feel that the Republican’s strategy  to shut down the government was just flat out stupid because this shutdown does not allow people to have access to certain things that the government funds.  I was watching Anderson Copper 360 on CNN and came across they story of a woman who is battling an rare cancer, but due to the shutdown she is not allowed to enroll in a clinical trial for approval. This also means that children battling cancer will also not be approved for a clinical trial because of this. Also social service agencies that depend on government funding are deeply affected by this. The people in our society who utilize these agencies to allocate resources may not fully benefit from the resources now because there is no funding for now. The Wic program, which provides low-income pregnant women, new mothers and children up to the age of five with healthy food, is not funded as of Tuesday morning (McCann, 2013). However some social service agencies may have put money aside for a rainy day like this, which will still allow them to help their clients. I feel that this shutdown has already put the economy in debt so far and could be on its way to hitting the debt ceiling. Can we agree to disagree and figure out a solution ASAP before this happens, after all Obama Care has already been passed.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/01/politics/government-shutdown/index.html

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/29/us-government-shutdown-services-affected

Observation

As of yesterday people are able to enroll to for the Affordable Health Care Act to receive health insurance nation wide and there are places where you can go and sign up.

Warning Shot Case

Today my coworker and I were talking about social issues and the injustices that go on in society. She told me about the Marissa Alexander case which really grabbed my attention. I know that this case might be old by now, but this was my first time hearing about it. Marissa Alexander is a Florida woman serving 20 years in prison for firing a shot at her estranged husband (Fineout, 2013). This warning shot as every news broadcaster and reporters are calling it, was a form of self-defense for Alexander. She tried to claim her action of self-defense under the Stand Your Ground Law, but it was unsuccessful in her defense and led to the jury’s verdict of 20 years in prison. The case has set off yet another controversy involving the states "stand your ground" law, which is under intense scrutiny after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in February (Fineout, 2013). The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that Alexander deserves a new trial because the trial judge handling her case did not properly instruct the jury regarding what is needed to prove self-defense (Fineout, 2013).

After I looked up more information about this case it was interesting to me that she was a victim of domestic violence by her husband. Alexander and her ex-husband have a baby with one another; could this have led to her still being trapped in this abusive relationship? Marissa said that her ex-husband Rico Gray beat her regularly, including while she was pregnant with their child (Liberation News.org, 2013). Reports also say that Gray has a history of physically abusing women (Liberation News.org, 2013).  I know that for victims of domestic violence it is hard for them to leave an abusive relationship due to the mental abuse they experience, and because they fear that leaving their significant other (the abuser) will have a bad ending. There are numerous reasons for why women may stay in abusive relationships, but when they defend themselves they are penalized for it. This reminds me of the book Provoked that I haven’t finished reading. This book is about the case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia in England of 1979 who killed the man that abused her for years. After reading numerous articles about this case, Marissa reported some incidents between her and her partner to the police but denied some of the acquisitions after she reported them, which is a thing I think that many victims of domestic violence do.

Looking at this case through a social worker lens and not through a racial lens (which I think that some people may be viewing it) it seems as though many pieces of the puzzles are missing this case. None of the articles I read about this case ever said anything her seeking help from a domestic violence agency in Florida or anything about a social worker in this case to advocate for her. However agencies that deal with victims of domestic abuse try to provide them with all the necessary resources that they need and safety, but the victims must be willing to seek help. I don’t know how this would connect on a macro level in social work, but I think that social workers could work with legislators to help change some the policies for domestic violence if possible or just try to advocate for them is some way.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/26/marissa-alexander-new-trial_n_3995869.html

Observation

I read a CNN news article about Nicholas Lowinger who is 15 years old stated a group that gives new shoes to homeless children after his visit at a homeless shelter with him mother who works in various homeless shelters in Rode Island (Klairmont, 2013).

Flaws (Blog Post # 3)

Child protective services, a division within state and local social services, is at the center of every community’s child protection efforts (DePanfilis, D. & Salus, M.K., 2003). Texas’s child protective services is responsible for investigating child abuse and neglect, providing services to children and their families, placing children in adoptive homes, placing children in foster care, and helping foster youth  make a smooth transition into adulthood ( Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, 2013).   http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/child_protection/.

If these are the goals of CPS, I wonder if child abuse and neglect continues to occur after  children are taken out of there abusive homes and placed into foster care. I recently came across an article that accuses Texas of poorly supervising children while in foster care. Meanwhile a class action lawsuit that was filed in 2011 on behalf of nine Texas children is now in pursuit for the poor supervision of foster children in Texas (Wilson, 2013). The New York-based Children’s Rights group is behind the push for justice for more than 12,000 abused and neglected Texas children that were permanently removed from their natural homes (Wilson, 2013). Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry said the child rights group has sued more than 15 states for “mistreatment of foster children” and lost just two of those cases (Wilson, 2013). Two-year old Alexandria Hill was killed under the care of Texas CPS by her foster mom sometime last month (Wilson, 2013). Texas mentor, the agency responsible for placing Alexandria with foster mom Small, is the third largest foster care contractor in the state, records show that one of its offices in Arlington has been under evaluation for the past six months(Wilson, 2013). http://www.infowars.com/lawsuit-accusing-texas-of-poorly-supervising-foster-children-moves-forward/\

If CPS aim is to reduce child abuse and neglect why are children still being harmed after they are taken out of homes where they are already experiencing such trauma. After reading this article I felt upset with the system mainly because it has taken 2 years for the government to do something about this situation. The child protective services system in Texas still has flaws in it and it seems as though they are failing at their mission. Just like any other state facility (CPS) has a lot of flaws within it and conditions that could be changed, especially when placing children in foster care, in this case. One thing that could change is the extensive background checks that they do on foster care and adoptive families before placing children into these families. State funding for CPS has been increased twice over the past eight years (Wilson, 2013) so why hasn’t the system been effective in reducing its flaws and improving its care for abused and neglected children?
                                                                         Observation
Research Brown Bag is putting on a presentation Tuesday, October 1 from 1-2pm. The presentation will feature investigators from the Child and Family Research Institute. They will provide an overview of their initiatives which will allow you to learn about their work and discuss your ideas.

A Cause to Stand

There has been a lot of uproar in the black community on the UT campus last year and in the past two weeks due to the bleach balloon attacks on west campus. Many of my peers have continued to protest against these attacks. This Tuesday the Black Student Alliance(BSA) held a rally on West Mall to challenge these attacks called “A Rally against Racism and Ignorance” in response to more attacks on students of color three days after their first protest on August 28. On Sat., August 31st 2013 University of Texas at Austin student Alex Watson was victim to a balloon attack at the corner of 24th and Nueces. In conjunction this incident, another student (visiting from Texas A&M) was also victim to a balloon attack between the 25th and Longview (A Rally against Racism and Ignorance. https://www.facebook.com/events/203984206438169/.

Are these assaults sincerely ignorance or discrimination amongst minorities? The reoccurrence of these actions makes me think of how people in dominant groups can still oppress people or make minorities feel discriminated upon. In this situation the individuals who are throwing these balloons are unaware of how their insensitivity can be taken indirectly and make minorities feel that they are the targets of their actions. I heard that the idea of these balloons are to “whiten on lighten people of color” so could these actions be intentional? If this is the case and looking at the oppression of black people in our society one may feel that this is an act of racism.

This controversy made me think about our class discussion on Wednesday about working in organizations and about wanting to change the flaws you see within. I feel that the BSA is trying to educate people about the problem and bring awareness to everyone and the UT community. Thinking about our discussion, I see BSA as being the social workers in this picture because they see a flaw in the community and want to do something about and UT/APD (technically West Campus isn’t under the jurisdiction of UT since it is off campus so its under APD jurisdiction) as the administrator in this organization because in order for change to occur the organization has to be willing to change and has to be behind you to help you implement change. I know that the black community has done many protests about these incidents and it seems as though nothing has been done, but no prospects have been accused and it takes time for things to change, especially in a scenario like this.

Observation

I recently read an op-ed in class this week about how republicans plan to cut $40 billion from the SNAP (food stamps) program. This article talked about how some of these benefits are not necessarily going to the people who really need them now and how this huge cut will affect people in society leaving the people who really need them out.

I read the op-ed in a newspaper in class so here is a link about this issue http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/02/19831109-republicans-to-propose-40-billion-cut-over-decade-to-food-stamps-program?lite

Blog Post 1

Hot Topic: Miley Cyrus
                                         

A role model is someone whose lifestyle and values a person wishes to imitate. Hannah Montana was a role model to young girls since the airing of her show in 2006 until 2011. However, Hannah Montana was not a real person it was just a character. Under this character was Miley Cyrus. Whether she likes it or not Miley has always been a role model. Many people in our society idolize celebrities but when they make mistakes just like any other person they receive more criticism. Because of this show people may have thought they knew the real Miley and expected a lot from her but where there is expectation there is also disappointment.

Extra! Extra! Read all about comes to mind when you now hear Miley’s name now. She is the hot topic in the media on YouTube, news shows, vines, and even memes. Is she a Disney Star gone wrong? After her provocative VMA performance with Robin Thicke she has received a lot of backlash. Many people have begun to question her as a role model. Parents of young girls and even people who work in the media are upset with her performance and ask what she was thinking. However expecting a 20 year old to be a role model and still live up to being Hannah Montana is a little peculiar to me. Although people idolize celebrities we have to realize that when people are in their twenties (celebrity or not) they are still going to make stupid mistakes and are still trying to figure out who they are.

 Her raunchy and vulgar performance has caused uproar in our society. This just goes to show how caught up our society can be in the lives of celebrities when there are many other issues going on in the world besides Miley’s twerking. There are a lot of different views about her concert at the VMA’s. Some see her behavior as inappropriate, some view it as her expressing her sexuality, while others see it as her exploiting/making fun of black women. Looking at her show over and over again and viewing it through the different lenses of others I can understand why her actions have led to such criticism. Being a celebrity automatically makes you a role model to some people which Miley has to recognize. As Miley continues to grow into the woman that she wants to be, she has to know that young girls still look up to her or even want to be her and that all publicity isn’t good.

Observation

Last night I read an article by Dr. Christine Smith who is a professor here at UT. In this article she talks about how horrified she was when she found out she was pregnant with a boy and why she was horrified of raising a black boy in our society today. I have attended many talks on campus where we talk about what it is like being black in society and how it is even harder to be a black man living in this society today.

Here’s the link to the article if you guys want to read: http://thefeministwire.com/2013/07/an-open-love-note-to-my-son-on-mourning-love-and-black-motherhood/