IA Academic Event Reflection

Thursday, October 21st 2019, 7:00pm @ Smith-Steeb Glass Classroom

The documentary “13th” was very powerful and thought-provoking through the stories and old video clips that were shown throughout the film. Racial inequality has always been an ongoing issue but has lost the traction it once had before due to new issues constantly being introduced and the toxic idea that many people have about it “not existing” anymore in the modern era. A prominent aspect of the racial inequality issue lies in our own justice system. There has been a boom in mass incarceration from the early 1900s to the present and race plays a big role in it. In the documentary, they talked about The Crime Bill passed by Bill Clinton in 1994, which forced millions of people into prison who would otherwise not be in prison today and the Stand Your Ground law in Florida in the case between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. The law states that you are legally allowed to kill someone if you feel threatened, and in that specific case, Zimmerman got off by that law. Lisa Graves goes on to say that the jury instructions were changed so that the jury was required to be told that Zimmerman “had the right to stand his ground but not that someone like Trayvon Martin has a right to stand his ground against someone like George Zimmerman with a gun assailing him.” The Trayvon Martin tragedy fueled the racial inequality fire once again as more activists came out to protest and companies started pulling out from funding ALEC, a private club made up of politicians and corporations who write/propose laws together. The system is corrupt and the parties involved are unethical but the prison industrial complex is too powerful to stop right away and it can not be taken down completely or it will collapse. A process is needed to dramatically change the system without destroying it but it will take time and people who truly care about the issues at hand–not the money.

IA Service Event Reflection

Sunday, October 27th 2019, 10:00am-12:00pm @ Westerville, OH

This was my first service event with the IA scholars group and it was very fun and rewarding to work with the kids and be a part of something special. When we first arrived, the kids were sitting in a circle, eagerly waiting for us to choose them as a buddy. Then we were split into two groups: the mural painting group and the positive leaf messages group, I was in the latter. We were directed to the art classroom with the teacher but it was the kids who taught us—the college students, how to make the leaves. It had been so long since I had touched art supplies (especially ones so small), I didn’t know if I could do it correctly. Luckily, the kids were little balls of energy and their creativity rubbed off on me as they yelled out ideas. I have to admit, it was a little difficult to bond with younger children at first but after some small talk and playing music we all enjoyed, we got along in no time. After the leaf making, we had a lunch break and the groups switched. In the mural painting group, I met a new group of kids and they were more curious than the first. As we painted, they asked about college life while telling me about their own dreams. It really opened my eyes to hear how the kids saw the world from their perspective. When it was time to leave, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad and it seemed the feelings were mutual because two of the little girls asked me to visit them at their school again in the future. Overall, it was a very rewarding and special experience and I would be happy to do it again.