activism
Grassroots campaigns have proven instrumental in bringing about political, social or environmental change; you've got to start somewhere-might as well start here.
I Can't Breathe
Content Warning: Includes descriptive accounts of police brutality, like our world does today. My reflection stared back at me, my brown eyes cold and empty. I tilted my head, observing my reflection, trying to understand what they saw. What made me different? What made him different? My questions were vague, my tongue not wanting to use the words they described us with. Threat. Thug. Delinquent. Other. Where did they see it? I glanced down at the red liquid on my palms and the waist area of my white dress. It was hard to refer to it as blood. Blood meant death. Death meant mourning. Mourning would turn into anger and right now, I just wanted to be blank. There would be time for anger and mourning.
By SaMya Overall 6 years ago in The Swamp
This is how you actively campaign against racist violence
It’s been over three weeks since police officer Derek Chauvin brutally knelt on the neck of African-American George Floyd for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, killing him. This another sad chapter in the history of racist police violence has sparked a historic wave of protest around the world — not only on the streets but also in social media.
By AddictiveWritings6 years ago in The Swamp
Excuses for Bigotry, Hate, Racism and the Misunderstanding White Privilege
I cannot speak for the marginalized. I cannot express how they feel or fully understand what they’ve experienced. My face is the same as those who would mistreat and oppress them. My face will be a question mark for those who don’t know me. I could be someone to hold his hand out to help lift them up or I could be someone who would step on their fingers, maybe even shove them, so that they fall back down. It isn’t the same as those who see black skin and assume they’re a criminal. It isn’t the same as those who assume Asians are submissive or spread disease or that they are enemies. It isn’t the same as those who look at anyone who doesn’t look like them as inferior… as things. It isn’t the same as those who see someone transgender and ignore that person’s true self or create an identity that isn’t real so they can excuse their hatred. It isn’t the same because so many have done so much to prove time and again that those stereotypes aren’t accurate. For those who look like me, however, there have been so many who have done so much to justify the fears from marginalized peoples.
By Tom Stasio6 years ago in The Swamp
Climate march calls for an end to the GNL pipeline
Activists took to Montreal streets to demand the Quebec government take action to stop climate change. Hundreds of people gathered to bring awareness to the climate crisis and the mistreatment of people of colour. A member of the Coalition édtudinte pour un virage environemental et social (CEVES), Extinction Rebellion, and an organizer, Shi Tao Zhang, claims holding this years' march was more important than ever.
By Jordan Mckay6 years ago in The Swamp
The American Oversight
It all started when I was around 10 years old and learned the term "children's rights" for the first time. This lesson in primary school would lead me to write my first poem entitled Listen Up. The intention of the poem was to call out adults who think that for some reason children are undeserving of being heard.
By Arielle London6 years ago in The Swamp
Congresswoman AOC’s Green New Deal is Imperative to the Survival of America and the Entire Planet!!!
Not along ago we all witnessed what happened in Texas and we all know well that ice storms are never supposed to happen in Texas! There’s are no ice storms there ever (Maxouris, 2021). It’s time for Detroit and everywhere else to wake up and see that we’ve been bad stewards of the earth and it’s rejecting all the pollution it’s been given to ingest. It’s the earth’s way of telling us it’s not pleased and to do better or things are going to get worse. Things will surely get worse if we continue to not adhere to environmentally safe energy standards for vehicles of all sorts and also industrial machines. It is attainable we just need to execute going green and manifest the idea of being green from perception into reality. There’s so many ways to use clean energy and get more done without dirty energy. The earth is our most precious resource bar-none so with must protect it with the Green New Deal. It doesn’t matter how much money you have if you’re living in a highly polluted living space where chances are you’ll going get a form or forms of cancer, have asthma, and lower life expectancy from breathing toxins without even knowing it (Costly, 2020). Sometimes we’re just are not paying attention and that is a mistake because we must pay attention at all times. It doesn’t take a big thing it just takes the wrong small thing to happen for an environmental disaster to occur. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and US Senator Ed Markey get that we must act now because time probably has already ran out.
By Curtis Greene6 years ago in The Swamp
Congresswoman AOC’s Green New Deal is Imperative to the Survival of America and The Entire Planet!!!!
Not along ago we all witnessed what happened in Texas and we all know well that ice storms are never supposed to happen in Texas! There’s are no ice storms there ever (Maxouris, 2021). It’s time for Detroit and everywhere else to wake up and see that we’ve been bad stewards of the earth and it’s rejecting all the pollution it’s been given to ingest. It’s the earth’s way of telling us it’s not pleased and to do better or things are going to get worse. Things will surely get worse if we continue to not adhere to environmentally safe energy standards for vehicles of all sorts and also industrial machines. It is attainable we just need to execute going green and manifest the idea of being green from perception into reality. There’s so many ways to use clean energy and get more done without dirty energy. The earth is our most precious resource bar-none so with must protect it with the Green New Deal. It doesn’t matter how much money you have if you’re living in a highly polluted living space where chances are you’ll going get a form or forms of cancer, have asthma, and lower life expectancy from breathing toxins without even knowing it (Costly, 2020). Sometimes we’re just are not paying attention and that is a mistake because we must pay attention at all times. It doesn’t take a big thing it just takes the wrong small thing to happen for an environmental disaster to occur. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and US Senator Ed Markey get that we must act now because time probably has already ran out.
By Curtis Greene6 years ago in The Swamp
Athabasca
When I first stepped off the plane it was minus fifty degrees. The words “cold” or “freezing” don’t do justice: a new word needs to be invented, maybe combining excruciating and frozen. (exfroziating?) I broke out into a strange red rash over my whole body that lasted my entire first two weeks on site. I couldn’t get warm, no matter how many layers I put on and at night a shivered under the blankets. After a couple turns up there I got used to it. Eventually minus fifteen was a nice warm day.
By Richard Revelstoke6 years ago in The Swamp
Dr. Akilah Cadet
If you don’t already know her, let me introduce you to Dr. Akilah Cadet out of Oakland, CA. She is a true visionary, a leader, and a strong powerful black woman who is ready to rock your world and take you as far as you are willing to lean into a harmonious and joyful future.
By Jamie Lee | STELLA BROWN6 years ago in The Swamp
The Darker My Skin
WOULD IT BE CLICHE, for me to write a piece about the many black icons, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and most recently, Barak Obama, or Kamala Harris? These are some of my hero's, all with struggles and obstacles they had to overcome, but they rose to the challenge. John Louis was beaten for his struggle, while Emmitt Till, Medgar Evers, and MLK, gave the ultimate sacrifice for their dedication to civil rights, or simply the color of their skin. Here's a little secrete, I'm not a big republican fan, but Dr. Ben Carson was the first to successfully separate conjoined twins, and for that I'll overlook that little GOP indiscretion, because he helped transcend the field of medicine, and that is neither red or blue; it's black. I could go on and on with names that highlight black influence, names like Harriet Tudman, James Baldwin, and Web DuBois, but there are to many names to list, and I must chose just one. The answer is no, it wouldn't be cliché because I would be honored to write a brilliant piece about one of these Black Icons, but you get the picture; black men and women, helped shape this country because they led by example - they were and are, the very foundation of e pluribus unum.
By Timothy Lamont McClarron6 years ago in The Swamp
