Both Sides

Today's class was a bit interesting, both in nature and argument. In discussing the mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011, I was reminded of the terrible atrocities that often occur because of political beliefs, prejudice, and even mental illness. In addition, the shooting in Norway is a devastating example of how the distortion of religion and political beliefs can harm others.

What I found to be a bit disturbing about the presentation was its accusatory nature. While it is essential to point out threatening or harsh rhetoric and communication that may be related to these incidents, one must not simply look at and accuse one specific category of political or religious affiliation (ie; Republicans and Christians) for contributing to such incidents. In order to ethically and properly examine an act of ethnoviolence or crime, you must look at both sides of the argument. Therefore, before one says that Republican/right winged rhetoric is a major factor in contributing to violent acts, he must consider Democratic rhetoric as well.

Justice in Mississippi

Having grown up in Mississippi, I must admit that I tend to shrink in my chair a little when the topics of racism, discrimination, and civil rights are brought up. I grew up in a culture proud of the Confederate Flag, and never truly understood the negative connotations that it conjures up until I came to college.

Taking this class has opened my eyes even more to not only the hardships faced by African Americans in the rural South, but to the great triumph and justice that has slowly, but surely, trickled down to that area.

To delve a little deeper into a story that has greatly impacted the culture in which I grew up, I'd like to take a closer look at James Meredith, the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi... also known as Ole Miss, the land of Colonel Rebel.

Today, James Howard Meredith is known as a Civil Rights movement figure, a writer, and political advisor, but his journey had an exceptionally difficult beginning.

After hearing President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, Meredith decided to exercise his constitutional rights and to apply for schooling at Ole Miss. His first attempts for enrollment were rejected, when finally legal action ruled that Meredith had every right to enroll in the university. Governor Ross Barnett made one last effort to prevent Meredith from admission, but his attempt proved futile, and Meredith became the first African American student at Ole Miss on October 1, 1962.

In his time at Ole Miss, Meredith faced harsh discrimination, was escorted to class by guards and through tunnels, endured alienation and harassment, and sparked continuous rioting on campus. Despite the aversive behavior against him, James Meredith successfully completed two semesters of school at Ole Miss, and graduated on August 18, 1963 with a political science degree.

I have multiple friends who are students at Ole Miss, and I have to wonder if they often consider the great stride for justice and equality that Meredith made 50 years ago. As a native of that culture, I am forever grateful for his bravery and determination, as it is individuals like him who have made the South a better place.

Speaking Out

Thinking back to a couple of years ago, I faintly remember hearing about a student who had gotten kidnapped and raped after attending an off-campus party. I remember thinking how horrible it must have been to experience such an atrocity, and how scared the victim must have felt on that terrifying night. What sticks out most in my memory, however, was the fact that this student had done everything right- she was walking with friends, was not reported to have been intoxicated, and was not leaving a party with a male. This information was especially troublesome to me, as I naively thought that one only gets raped if they choose not to take these precautionary measures. At that time, I had no name or face to put to the story. The news came and went, it seemed, after a week or so, and I finished my sophomore year.

Now, almost two and a half years later, the story I once heard has not only names, but a voice. A voice that is currently being heard around the world by a woman who has defied fear and chosen the courage and bravery needed to change the perception of rape in our world.

Monika Korra's story has now been told through newspapers, television, and will soon be published in a book. Her life threatening account is peppered throughout national news networks and ESPN, through a special that ran this week featuring Monika's story.

Words cannot express how thankful I am to Monika and how much I admire her strength and courage to give a voice to individuals who are victims of sexual assault, and to forgive a criminal who forever changed her life.

Monika Korra's willingness to share her story is an example of how communication is being used to change and reform the injustice and stereotypes that silence victims.

Read more about Monika and watch her story here: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7811224/smu-cross-country-runner-monika-korra-survived-brutal-rape-tells-story

and here: http://www.smudailycampus.com/justice-brings-healing-monika-korra-s-journey-1.2844055

Fighting Human Injustice Through Video

In our class, Dr. Voth constantly stresses the importance of communication as a means to fight injustice int he world. On the first day of class, he quoted Eli Wiesel in saying, "What harms the victims most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander." Throughout this course, we have examined the way communication can shape society by looking at colonialism, the Civil Rights Movement, philanthropic organizations, podcasts, videos, case studies, massacres, and genocides (to name a few). In each of these analyses, we see the great impact that communication has on a society - either through its presence...or its absence. As good communicators, we should strive to promote high discursive complexity in our society, and as Americans or inhabitants of the United States, we are in the position to exercise such freedom. Check out the following videos of individuals who have exercised, and continue to exercise, high discursive complexity. See how their messages are equipped to inspire and challenge the world.

1. Musician and activist Peter Gabriel shares his very personal motivation for standing up for human rights with the watchdog group WITNESS -- and tells stories of citizen journalists in action.

Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/peter_gabriel_fights_injustice_with_video.html

2. In this provocative talk, journalist Andrew Mwenda asks us to reframe the "African question" -- to look beyond the media's stories of poverty, civil war and helplessness and see the opportunities for creating wealth and happiness throughout the continent.

Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/andrew_mwenda_takes_a_new_look_at_africa.html

3. In an engaging and personal talk -- with cameo appearances from his grandmother and Rosa Parks -- human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson shares some hard truths about America's justice system, starting with a massive imbalance along racial lines: a third of the country's black male population has been incarcerated at some point in their lives. These issues, which are wrapped up in America's unexamined history, are rarely talked about with this level of candor, insight and persuasiveness.

Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice.html

Peru: a reflection

As I think of my trip to Peru just one month ago- I find myself wondering how the abandoned boys are doing. Most importantly, I wonder if any more have been dropped off at Kusi since I left.

To give you a bit of background, last month, 20 SMU students went to Yungay, Peru for a week to serve with Reformed University Fellowship (a campus organization) and Scripture Union (a ministry that has served the country of Peru for more than 20 years).

Before the trip, our team knew that we would be serving at a home for abandoned boys- but what we did not know was the reason for their abandonment.

The second day we were there, we sat in a crowded room on the Kusi site and listened to the stories of Billy, the President of Scripture Union. During this time we learned that the Peruvian boys at Kusi had been abandoned by their parents because they either couldn't afford them, were abusive, or kicked them out of their homes. You see, in Peru, the boys are thought to be able to survive best on their own, so they are the first to be released from the family....even as young as age 6.

After the boys leave home, they go straight to the streets. Here, the boys join gangs, are involved in theft, and many of them are left with no choice but to sell their bodies for sexual favors to earn money to buy food. What's even worse? The perception that the Peruvian culture holds of these boys. According to one individual that Billy mentioned, "All it takes to get rid of the street boys is to put one bullet in the skull." Billy also told us that the police were known to be cruel to the boys and often sexually and physically abuse them... "there are stories about Peruvian police using captured street boys as a soccer ball."

To say the least- I was shocked, horrified, and immediately felt sick to my stomach after hearing these stories. How could a culture hate children and youth who did nothing to deserve the type life that they were forced to live? How could these people not sympathize with their terrible predicament?

You see, these boys are victims of ethnoviolence. They are a group of individuals shunned by society for no reason other than their social status...which they did not choose.

While this realization is horribly saddening, I cannot express the deep encouragement that I felt in seeing the work of the staff at Kusi.

Kusi is a home in Yungay that houses these boys, gives them clean clothes, food, education, and most importantly, love and acceptance they may have never felt in their lives.

This organization currently serves 40 boys and fosters a love for Jesus Christ and the Gospel.

I will give a more vivid description of my time in Peru through pictures and video shown in my YouTube assignment... for now, know that the Lord is at Work.

Quite the Power

In this week's class, Dr. Voth spoke a bit about a woman named Samantha Power. I didn't recognize her name from any other context or area of study, but when he listed some of her work in the world of human rights academia, I was hooked.

Since we didn't have time to delve into her background, I thought I'd do a bit of research myself.

Samantha Power is an Irish-American. She is an academic, government official, and writer. She serves on the National Security Council staff, was a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, is a Pulitzer Prize winner, and is a special assistant to President Barack Obama.

Needless to say- she has quite the impressive resume.

But, perhaps what is more impressive is her work to make the world aware of the atrocities of genocide, ethnoviolence, and violations of human rights. In her 2003 book "A Problem From Hell: America & the Age of Genocide," Powers examines the origins of genocide and analyzes government's consistent failure to identify and act upon genocide around the world. This award winning book is said to challenge American government in it's international affairs, and to point out that the powerful and influential countries of the world has quite a ways to go before resting with a clean conscious.

Power's work centralizes on public awareness of all genocides (especially in Darfur and Armenia) and she ceaselessly calls for armed intervention into humanitarian crisis situations.

That being said, it is not surprising that Power advocates U.S. military involvement in the tumultuous country of Libya.

To Power, America has a "moral obligation to intervene" in preventing genocides.

The amazing part? When she is praised for her work and passionate efforts, she notoriously states that "you don't get extra credit for doing the right thing."

To read more on Samantha Power, click here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/samantha-power/gIQATW3s6O_topic.html#path-to-power

An Injustice Worth Talking About

In lue of the constant coverage of the Trayvon Martin case in the media, this "TED Talk" sparked my interest. In this 20 minute lecture, Bryan Stevenson discusses some unsettling facts about the American Justice System and our country's pending identity crisis.

This will definitely give you something to think about.

As you watch- be sure to catch Bryan’s stress on America’s criminal justice system. The US now has the highest rate of incarceration of any nation in the world, and there is no doubt that despair and hopelessness are shaped by these outcomes.

In addition, Bryan asks the question of the death penalty, not “do people deserve to be killed for the crimes that they commit,” but “do we reserve the right to kill them?”

As the shadow of racism and discrimination loom above this case, think about how the accusation, ruling, and outcomes of this incident have the potential to further shape the justice system and identity of America.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice.html