Sunday, May 28, 2017

Aaron Seitz Week 9 Blog

Aaron Seitz
Section A03
Week 9-Monday May 29

Response to “Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice” By Santos F. Ramos

            The reading this week connected to the theme of “Solidarity Movements” by exploring how social movements commonly take place and how the structure can potentially be improved to better support the causes being pursued. The first point that caught my attention was that many groups looking to promote social change will use other successful campaigns such as “Black Lives Matter” as leverage. The author pointed out how groups would change the name of “Black Lives Matter” slightly to fit their personal goals. This is a problem because it blurs the original intent of “Black Lives Matter” and inadvertently hurts the progression of both parts of the movement. Instead, supporters of “Black Lives Matter” should acknowledge that they support the movement and are simply extending the focus of who is affected rather than distracting with “selfish” interests. If social change is to be made, everyone impacted must work together and communicate with one another. Another point made that stood out to me was the idea that groups promoting social change should look beyond their everyday circumstances. Advocacy comes from personal experiences and needs but groups must reach out to all types of people if they want change to happen. If you are simply preaching to the choir, the people standing in the way of change will never hear your call. I believe that the biggest part of advocacy is reaching as many as possible while also reaching a diverse audience. This gives you the best chance for ensuring that the people who need to hear your cause are reached.

Question: Does Michigan State University have a lot of social movements such as the one explained and does the university support such advocacy or do they attempt to stop it?

 
This image depicts how people of all walks of life must stand together for causes they believe in no matter their varying circumstances.



Resources

Ramos, S. F. (2016). Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice. Enculturation, 1-6. Retrieved May 28, 2017.


[Solidarity]. (2016, September 12) Retrieved May 28, 2017, from http://eastsidefreedomlibrary.org/event/solidarity/

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