Contemporary Connections: The Running Man Challenge- Section 2 Group A

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/04/asia/police-running-man-challenge/

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/04/26/video-running-man-challenge-college-basketball-vines-compilation-song

           Dating back to around a year ago, a popular dance trend labeled, "The Running Man Challenge", became a social media phenomenon all across the world.  The first link provided displays a video of New York and New Zealand police officers doing "The Running Man Challenge."  The second link describes the "The Running Man Challenge's" origin and the official video, along with others, that began this social media frenzy.  The original video was posted to Instagram by two Maryland basketball players named Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley.  In the post, they show themselves doing their own version of the dance move, the running man, to an old popular 90's song, "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJ's.  The video quickly became very popular and persuaded other people to make their own videos of themselves doing "The Running Man Challenge."  Other college athletic teams decided to make their own versions, along with celebrities such as Kyrie Irving, Chance the Rapper, and Kevin Hart.

            Although "The Running Man Challenge" is definitely not as popular as it once was in 2016, the social media trend brought people all around the world together from a single video.  Through the use of the social media we have today, we have the capability to discover new dance trends such as "The Running Man Challenge" easier than ever before.  Capturing these trends on camera and posting them to social media allows them to become more popular quickly.  This is illustrated through the reading we had in class stating, "Dance, like all U.S. culture, has been deeply affected by the technology and growth of mass media....Because the camera, both by design and through the editing process, determines the ultimate view of a dance, media technology played a powerful role in what and how dance movement was viewed..."  Social media can be used as a platform to bring people with different cultures closer together.  "The Running Man Challenge" is a good example of this because it brought people together through the use of a popular dance trend.

The "Evolution" of Dance styles

            

http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/news/dwts-results-and-eliminations/dancing-with-the-stars-season-24-week-1-season-premiere-results-and-eliminations-032017

The show "Dancing With The Stars" is a popular show on television that gives the audience a look at what Ballroom Dancing looks like and what it is about. It educates the public as well as entertains them, but there is one other aspect of the show that people don't generally think about, and that is the adaptation of certain dance styles to a more European form. This assimilation of dance styles is one small detail about the show that is overlooked due to the number of other factors that affect the public. It gives children clear and specific gender roles, and adults the idea that they can overcome all of the obstacles that they face, just like the dancers as they go through the choreography and tough physical training. It gives people a lot to like, but the problem is that the show changes the dance and dancers to look different and have less connections to their natural characteristics and place of origin.
 For example, the show requires the dancers to get a spray tan in order to step out of themselves and feel more comfortable with a latin-american dance. Not only that, but the dance is slightly changed so that the dancer's "respectable" reputation is held intact in spite of shimmying, which is part of the dance.

So while the show is entertaining and is has a lot to offer, it also takes away from the authenticity of certain dance cultures and makes it more "appropriate" to our own, which is not supposed to be part of American Ideology.

Section 02, Group A- Contemporary Connections- "Trump administration approves Keystone XL pipeline"

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/23/politics/keystone-xl-pipeline-trump-approve/index.html

Today President Donald Trump announced that he has approved the controversial Keystone Pipeline. This Pipeline will go from the rich oil deposits of Alberta, Canada, to the refineries of the Gulf Coast. This decision reverses the Obama Administration's decision to block the project. This comes after years of debate on the project itself, with many dissenters of the project stating that the risk of environmental destruction of animals and humans alike is not worth energy independence from countries in the Middle East and Venezuela. Environmentalists also stress that this pipeline will cut into the Ogalalla Aquifer, one of the worlds largest fresh water aquifers. Trump also states that this will be the first of many approvals for other pipelines and energy projects.

My reaction to this is that I'm not surprised by this approval at all. With the Secretary of State being a former CEO of Exxon-Mobil, it was only a matter of time before this project was going to get approved. This pipeline will not be sustainable to hold over 42,000 jobs like the Trump Administration predicts. That will only be for the construction. When it is all said an done, only about 50 permanent jobs will remain. This is a move that was made for short term profits for oil companies, and the environment is going to take a nasty blow from it.

Group A - Section 2 : The "Dab"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/03/01/what-is-the-dab-dance-and-why-are-sports-stars-celebrating-with/

Recently a dance move called “dab” has become a popular trend. The article defines what the “dab” dance is and why many celebrities today perform it. The dance move was created by a popular rap group , Migos. The “dab” was brought on to the football field after Jeremy Hill scored a touchdown. Quarterback , Cam Newton then became the face of the “dab” after Migos had declared him the “dab daddy”. Newton has been seen performing it every time his teammates  made it to the end zone. Celebrities now like Lebron James, Ellen, and even Hillary Clinton have been seen dabbing.

The dance move originated in the United States but has become viral reaching countries all over the world. The dance move has been very popular among athletes , it is a way for people to express the feeling of showing off or accomplishing something. This connects back to the class text where it states “Dance, which has always existed , in far-flung corners of culture and society, now finds a home in the virtual world of computers…” Trending dances now have become more easily recognize because of social media it is a quick and easy way we can express and share our cultures with others. Throughout the generations we see people grow more and more culturally diverse through the acknowledgement of other social perspectives. In a way this unties all cultures through the expression of dance.

"Contemporary Connections: Wind Energy and Offshore Wind Farms

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/23/science/americas-first-offshore-wind-farm-may-power-up-a-new-industry.html?_r=0

Wind energy is an alternative energy source that can provide power to thousands of homes with minimal impact on the environment. Offshore wind farms are in place in many European countries to harness the strong winds off the coast and provide power to large cities most commonly places along the coastline. The United States first attempt at an offshore wind farm off Block Island, Rhode Island failed due to distance off the coast, cost and loss of support from political leaders. The project was planned to have 130 turbines with the potential to provide power to 17,000 homes. It costs around $30 million dollars to build, install and connect one turbine. These towering turbines require heavier, more expensive parts to avoid corrosion from ocean waters. Also very few company's have the propper equipment to transfer and install them off the coast. Although America is behind in offshore wind energy, by waiting for prices to drop as it becomes more and more popular in Europe as well as learning from their mistakes could put us in place for an offshore wind energy take off in the next decade or so. 

Wind energy is a huge environmental movement today in which the US is trying to look into to using different things to use more wind power instead of burning fossil fuels. In the article we had read for class, they had mentioned that many individuals had fought for a dam in San Fransisco. "By the first decade of the twentieth century, in the single most famous episode in American conservation history, a national debate had exploded over whether the city of San Francisco should be permitted to augment its water supply by damming the Tuolumne River in Hetch Hetchy valley, well within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. The dam was eventually built, but what today seems no less significant is that so many people fought to prevent its completion. Even as the fight was being lost, Hetch Hetchy became the baffle cry of an emerging movement to preserve wilderness." Today, we know about the dam and see the dam but don't ever think about what happened to have the dam built. Wind energy is very similar to this event in history. Many individuals know how useful and beneficial offshore wind farms can be to the US; however, there is still a fight for developing them. Throughout the article, one of the main themes is preservation of wilderness. I think not only in the article but with many individuals in the world today we seek to preserve the wilderness. Wilderness has always something we find joy and piece in and wind energy does not effect that. Wind energy is made to keep america beautiful. Wind energy is sustaining our fossil fuels and giving us an alternative way to get energy. I think there is a huge controversy on if wind energy is too ugly. One of the main themes in the article is how we see wilderness and how we connect to it and I think many individuals believe that wind farms will take away from the beauty of the wilderness and country. 

Section 2, Group A - Contemporary Connections: "3 Myths That Shape the Transgender Bathroom Debate" and LGBT Movements

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/07/health/transgender-bathroom-law-facts-myths/

In CNN’s article “3 Myths That Shape the Transgender Bathroom Debate,” the arguments used by those opposed to allowing transgender individuals to use the bathroom that correlates to their gender are analyzed and debunked. One argument used by dissenters is that predators can take advantage of transgender bathroom laws to enter women’s restrooms and sexually assault women and children. CNN disproves this argument by citing only a single incident in which a man undressed in a women’s locker room who may have taken advantage of such anti-discrimination laws. Otherwise, there seems to be virtually zero cases in which such laws have resulted in sexual assault, proving that those making such an argument are either woefully uninformed or purposely attempting to impede civil rights progress for the LGBTQ movement.

These unsubstantiated arguments against the LGBTQ community are not new; our class reading, “Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement,” mentions that during the Cold War, thousands of gay individuals in military and government positions lost jobs because gay people “lack the emotional stability of normal persons” which means they “constitute security risks.” While such arguments seem ridiculous by today’s standards, those opposed to gay rights used such arguments to oppress gay people and strip them of their jobs and their rights. 

Contemporary Connections - Keep America Beautiful & The Trump Administration


Keep America Beautiful, this PSA video from the 1970's is striking and sheds light on the pollution and sheer disregard that Americans had toward the well being of the environment. That commercial was aired in 1971, 46 years later it holds relevance to our current environmental crisis known as global warming. Oddly enough, our current leader does not seem to believe that it is a scientifically backed idea. 

In 2012 Donald Trump tweeted: "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive". While that was five years ago, I fail to believe that his views have radically changed to be congruent with the beliefs that most educated people hold: that global warming is real, and is a real problem. 

Since the 2017 inauguration, there has been talk from the Trump administration that supports a resurgence of energy and money into the coal industry which has faced considerable trouble in recent years. While I do support the idea of creating jobs and helping to grow/repair our economy, it is difficult to support the idea of facilitating this growth through the dying coal industry. America has a bountiful supply of coal, but the use of coal has proven to be problematic for our planet. 

I fear that the disregard of facts (that global warming is real) will permit this administration and it's supporters to irreparably damage our planet. The truth is, one cannot choose to believe what is convenient for them and demonize what isn't. Because that is intelligent, presidential, or ethical. It is however, foolish. 

I watch this video and think, perhaps it would be best to show this to our supreme leader. But it most likely would not make a difference. 46 years later and America is not great, and it is uglier than ever. 

Contemporary Connections: Diversity Quilt Project and LGBTQ Movements

https://home.fredonia.edu/pdc/culture/diversity-quilt-project

Created in 1987, the AIDS Memorial Quilt was made to commemorate the lives lost to the devastating disease known as AIDS. It was an outlet for people to honor the death of their loved one. It was made during a time when gays were rejected and therefore the disease not paid much attention to, despite the growing number of lives it was taking away.  The quilt was a social and political statement for AIDS patients that said "we cannot be ignored, we are here and we are suffering". As years progressed the quilt grew in size and would eventually reach over 48,000 squares that told over 48,000 stories.

Fredonia has recently started its own "Diversity Quilt Project". Much like the AIDS Memorial Quilt, it is being created to allow faculty and students to tell their own stories. There are many different and diverse people at Fredonia, and the quilt serves as a symbol that despite our differences we must all come together to form something whole and for the bigger picture that is our university.

Quilts remain in American history as a means of expressing oneself whether it be politically, sexually, culturally, socially, etc. From the creation of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in 1987 to the Fredonia Diversity Quilt in 2017,  moments in time have been captured and celebrated just by being brought together to make a broader statement. The AIDS quilt is still relevant and protected today because it can serve as a lesson for future generations. It can continuously be studied and looked upon with the message that everyone matters and has the right to share what they believe in/stand for. Students that attend Fredonia now and in the future will look at the Diversity Quilt and think that maybe they aren't so different than the classmates around them. Both quilts celebrate our differences, despite being 30 years apart in age. We have made strides in our country in terms of being more accepting towards those different then us. Although this is true, after the results of our most recent election discrimination seems to be staring us directly in the face more than it has for a while. It feels as though we are taking steps backwards instead of forwards. With the creation of projects such as these quilts, though, we are reminded that our differences are what make us American. 

Contemporary Connections: The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature and Past versus Current Environment Actions Rebekah Denz Sec 01 Group A

Smog over Salt Lake City, Utah

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/nyregion/new-york-city-smog.html

                The article I chose discussed the possibilities of what could happen if President Trump continues his policy to cut funding to the EPA.  The authors argument focused on New York City and the smog problems around the 1960's and 1970's and how ignoring this past can potentially come back to haunt us.  During this time, air pollution and water pollution were killing hundreds of New York residents but the environmental movement managed to reverse many of the damages that industry was creating for the environment.

             This reminded me of our environment article because the author has deep respect for the nature that New York City sits upon, especially the Hudson, just as our article referred to wilderness as being sublime.  The "majestic" Hudson River faced many problems because it had become a dumping zone for industrial companies.  The author even makes a case for the wilderness in regard to the Adirondack Mountains because research had clearly shown that the air pollution traveled north to create acid rain in gorgeous areas hundreds of miles outside of the city.  

            I agreed with with the author of both the New York Times article and "The Trouble with Wilderness."  Many times, humans tend to forget about the areas that we do not look at a sublime at first until it is clear that they are being greatly effected.  I believe that our government should stop calling global warming a hoax and take this New York Times article seriously.  The pictures in this article are proof that there were environmental problems and the environmental data does support this.  I also believe that both authors made a great case in support for environmental responsibility.  We can not pick and choose what we want to save or even who we want to save.  The environment does not have borders, that is something that people have created.  The contemporary connection is clearly responsibility of the government and the individual to advocate for that responsibility because if not not only the environment will get hurt but also people.  

Contemporary Connections: Dance- Section 2 Group A

Dance means to move rhythmically to music, typically following a set sequence of steps. It is a language that anyone no matter their race, gender or sexual identity can understand. Dance doesn’t divide people it brings them together. Whether it be several different groups of people getting together to see a ballet or a group of young boys and girls going to their first dance class. Dance is a language that stands the test of time.

In the opening of the article it says that “Dance, like all forms of cultural expression, reflects the society in which it exists.” For example dance used to be used as a form of “showing off” people would gather in large ballrooms for galas and events just to be able to show off their skill and ability to dance. Which you could say people still do today when they go out to dance and night clubs.

As time changed, dance changed. People went from waltzing to polka dancing from the Charleston to the Jitterbug. Today we still have dance crazes sweeping the nation with trends like the Dougie, Harlem Shake, the Superman, Single Ladies and yes even twerking.

Dance isn’t a dying trend it’s been around since long before you and I were born and will be around long after we’re gone.

Contemporary Connections: Environmental Movements - Section 02, Group A

http://www.pollutionissues.com/Ec-Fi/Environmental-Movement.html

Pollution and many of the wastes that us humans produce are only hurting our environment more and more. This article talks about the spills of oil in our oceans over the last 60 years. In the year 1967 one of Great Britain's oil stations spilled close to 40,000 gallons of oil into the ocean. This oil will cause many different problems for the ocean life near the spill. This oil would kill many of the birds that lived near this spill while effecting many of the marine life under the surface of the water. Not even 2 years later this same thing happened with one of the United States oil rigs. It began to leak crude oil in the Pacific Ocean which later ended up on the beaches on California. This oil choked many of the birds and marine life in that area. Oil was not the only thing that was hurting our oceans and bodies of water. Not even 5 months later the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught on fire from chemical and sewage wastes. This was a huge problem and it was all caused by us. After these incidents many different programs were implemented to help protect the Earth.

The readings of Environmental Movements all attack the topic of conservation in different ways. In the article "Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature" by William Cronon the first line of the article has a huge meaning. "The time has come to rethink wilderness" has a huge meaning by saying that as humans we need to stop and think about what we are considering as wilderness. It seems that people only consider wilderness to be national parks and forest when in reality wilderness is everywhere. Wilderness is what surrounds us.

In the PSA of  Keep America Beautiful they use cartoon characters to get their point across. The main message of the video is saying that "Only you can prevent forest fires" and to protect the earth and its forests because that's all we have, we can just move to another planet, we only have one Earth. This video was also about Earth Day, A day in April of every year in which people come together to help make this Earth a cleaner place. One of the main sayings of Earth Day is "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle." This saying it to not waste things and try to recycle things to keep the Earth free from many of the different harmful products that us humans use.

Both of these readings/videos are connected to a major issue today as well. Pollution and forest fires have been a very huge issue in today environment. This also shows with the effects of global warming caused by all of the pollution created by us humans. If we do not follow these instructions and key points from these readings and video then we could end up completely ruining our Earth and environment. We all need to gather together and put an end to all of the pollution that we are creating and start to make our environment a cleaner place.

Contemporary Connections: How Black Lives Matter Uses Social Media to Fight the Power and Black Civil Rights Movement Section 2 Group C

https://www.wired.com/2015/10/how-black-lives-matter-uses-social-media-to-fight-the-power/

This article discusses how with the use of technology we are able to connect with the world and globalize any social movement. In this case, with the use of Facebook, Vine, Instagram, and Twitter we are now able to mobilize an entire social media in the blink of an eye with immediate raw information. In the 60s during the social movement, they needed organized institutions and it required much more effort to create a social movement to bring an awareness to the social issues of the time, thus it required such big efforts like the Montgomery Boycott that had to be organized to create a reason and an example of the social issues that Blacks had to face back in the 60s. This was all because of the lack of tech. they had back then, and needing of really organized and established institution.
The connection between this article and that of black social movement, is that Black Lives Matter is still a social movement that is trying to address the social issues faced today by the black community. We see constant videos of police brutality, racist acts and mistreat of blacks being uploaded online everyday bringing us awareness of what is happening in the world. With this live and instant information, the social movement is much more rapid compared to that in the 60s. It is able to organize and summon people to the streets for a protest or march almost immediately, where as before it would require so much more organization and efforts to get the word out. Much like before, although both social movements fought for equally for the black community, it led to increase exposure of racism and those who opposed this social movement. Today we can see that in pages promoting and activist for the black lives matter movement, will receive threats and racist comments on the posts they create or videos they upload. Much like in the 60s, crosses, houses would be burned or assaulting of people of color. However, with this use of technology we bring a bigger since of community, and globalize the efforts made by these social movements that address Black Civil rights.

Contemporary Connections: Black Civil Rights - Section 02 Group C

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OATfJ1SwnvQ

"Dear White People" is an upcoming Netflix original comedy that showcases the lives of four African American students who are angered by white students who are having African American parties. The reason I bring this show up is not because of the plot or the humor of the trailer, but the immediate backlash from those who only see the title and listen to a few seconds of the video. This trailer is currently sitting on Youtube with over 22 thousand dislikes to its name and a comment section that was so racist that the uploader of the video had to disable the feature from the video. While I can somewhat see why people would get offended at this trailer (because Netflix only decided to show the most controversial moments of their pilot I'm guessing), if they had actually taken the time to research this show or the movie they would have learned that its a story about coming together. How the four main characters slowly begin to integrate with the white students rather then just hate them for their actions, and how after befriending these people, the white students realize they're acting extremely racist. People who want to be offended by everything that is presented to them is a huge reason that nothing can get done to solve social inequalities.

Contemporary Connection: A criticism of W. E. B Du Bois criticism of Booker T. Washington.

In "Excerpt from The  Souls of Black Folk," W.E.B. Du Bois is clearly critical of Booker T Washington's view on black advancement in America. In Washington's view, Du Bois was laying down and appeasing white segregationists. Du Bois believed it was more important for African Americans to achieve economic stability, possibly even equality, as a prerequisite for political and civil rights. Washington viewed this position critically, believing that this was no time for appeasement, and that African Americans should be striving toward complete equality. In my view, it  is this view that is short sighted and ultimately ineffective.
Washington wanted to work for total and complete inequality across the board, and expected all of these things to happen more quickly and smoothly than what was ever possible. Although African Americans deserved these rights, to acquire them they had to dismantle the systemic racism that persisted during this time. The racism during this time was "justified" by science and economics. Africans during this time were typically uneducated, illiterate, and were laborers. I believe that Washington had a better understanding of social engineering than  Du Bois did, and wanted to advance the independence of his race before taking on the misconception of white superiority. In my opinion, Washington wanted African Americans to begin to prove that they are equal in the workplace. This would allow for the next generation to focus on higher education as well as economic prosperity. Once these two lofty goals were achieved, the white supremacists would no longer have a leg to stand on.
I believe that the civil rights movement followed Du Bois vision rather than Washington's, and that has made all the difference. Historically, both graduation rates among black teens as well ass unemployment rates have been significantly higher than in white populations. If the Civil rights movement had taken their ques from Washington, I believe that these numbers would be more comparable. Once the races become comparable in graduation rates, employment, and higher education, no justification would remain to state that one race is superior to the other.


http://www.macrotrends.net/2524/black-unemployment-rate-history-chart
http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-high-school-graduation-rates-by-race-ethnicity.html

Women's Suffrage Parade and Women's March

Women's Suffrage Parade of 1913 and Todays Women's March

The Women's Suffrage Parade of 1913 started with a parade on Washington D.C. to walk for women's rights the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. Today is the 104 anniversary of the Women's Suffrage Parade and it is national women's day! The Suffrage Parade was initially to fight for our right to vote. When women were walking through the streets over a hundred years ago they were walking for constitutional rights. Today we are still marching throughout the streets for our rights.

This year the day after President Trumps inauguration, there was the Women's March on Washington which marched all throughout the streets for women's rights. This happened in cities all over the world. It is crazy to think that we still, over a hundred years later, have to march and protest for our rights. In 1913 women were marching for basic rights and today we are marching for things like reproductive rights, religious equality, workers rights, LGBTQ rights and many more. 

Why do we have to still march over a hundred years later and how long will it take for equal rights? At this point we may never end up having equal rights. Is it because of our democratic system or that people feel threatened or lesser of women? It is important that we keep marching for our rights until we ALL have equal rights. When we march, it is certain that our voices are heard and we are not giving up this fight.

Contemporary Connections: Black Monday and Women's Rights. Section 01, Group C

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/poland-women-abortion-strike-protests-black-monday-polish-protestors-industrial-action-a7343136.html

This past October, women all across Poland took to the streets to protest the proposal of a new law that would effectively ban abortions through the country. What has now become known as "Black Monday," the protest was inspired by a similar demonstration which took place in Iceland in 1975, where women across the country boycotted their jobs in order to stress the important roles that women play in everyday society. Though Poland already possess some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe, the proposed law would further restrict access to abortions, as well as criminalizing non-sanctioned methods and reasoning for  having an abortion. 

Similar to the activism of women in America with the recent March on Washington, other women around the globe also face discrimination and restrictions imposed on what many would consider to be their civil liberties as women. Though women have slowly moved toward equality throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, there are still many issues even today that impede the progress of feminism and equality for women.

Contemporary Connections: The Women's Civil rights Group C, Section 1

These women in this picture were come outside and walked across of the streets. These people were citizen in America. They were people who worked and barely got the income. Even though, they have had to rise their children in the house with not father's effort. So, they wanted to female and male equally. During the 1960s, militant feminist trend emerged in America. It was social rather than governmental and was obvious in literature and protested by radical feminists. 

Feminists protests arose that developed into huge women's movement in 1972. March 22, The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is passed by congress and sent to the government for ratification. The ERA is reads, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex". Now days, women are potentially having a power to what to do, but still having an unfair with hard time with it. We all should bring our think together and make it clear to all the humans are equal. These women rights movements are keep going in our society, I hope people in a single mind, a way to get rid of these movements.


https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/brief-history-womens-rights-movements/

Contemporary Connections: “The Black Civil Rights Movement & Black Lives Matter” -- Section 02 Group C

Glory - Common ft. John Legend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o 

I picked this song as one of my connections because this song was wroten for The Selma movie on Dr. Martin Luther King's life and the Civil Rights Movement, but through out the song, Common and John Legend continue to make comparisons between the Civil Rights movement and Black Lives Matter. When accepting his award for this song, Common said ""We say that Selma is now because the struggle for justice is right now".

The specific lyric I was focused on when I made this connection was:

That's why Rosa sat on the bus

That's why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up

When it go down we woman and man up

They say, "Stay down", and we stand up

Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up

King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up

 https://www.theodysseyonline.com/blacklivesmatter-second-wave-civil-rights-movement

     
       My second connection is an Odyssey article titled “Black Lives Matter Is a Second Wave of The Civil Rights Movement”. This article basically discusses why the Black Lives Matter movement is a second wave of the Civil Rights movement as opposed to being “another” Civil Rights movement. According to the article claiming #BlackLivesMatter is another Civil Rights movement basically implies that the problems from the first Civil Rights Movement have been fixed in this country and those problems ran deeper than just segregation. The article also compares the #BlackLivesMatter movement to the Black Civil Rights Movement. In the article, the author mentions that the sit ins, protests, and boycotts that occur during Black Lives Matter rallies is similar to those that occurred during the Civil Rights movement. These two movements are similar in the fact that they came about due to the oppression of black people. They also have the same goal of wanting to fight for equality and fair treatment of black people. 

I connected the #BlackLivesMatter movement to our Civil Rights movement reading because they are two very similar movements to me. My first reaction when the #BlackLivesMatter movement came about was that the civil rights movement was basically still moving on. When I see pictures of protests from the Civil Rights and I see pictures of Black Lives Matter protest, I feel like I am essentially looking at the same pictures. Although black people are not directly living under Jim Crow laws presently like how it was during the Civil Rights Movement, they are still constantly discriminated against and oppressed based on the color of their skin. While reading the MLK and Montgomery comic, I was able to draw many connections from that comic to the Black Lives Matter movement. For example, in the comic when it was decided that they would boycott the busses, the Media had a huge hand in spreading around that news which helped make the boycott a success. This was also present during the Ferguson rallies after Mike Brown got shot. This was news that spread across the nation like wildfire igniting Black Lives Matter protests all around the United States. Another example of the protests in the comic that I connected with the BLM movement is the nonviolence theme of it all. Like Martin Luther King and his protests, the BLM movement is generally supposed to be peaceful and nonviolent. These two movements came about in the United States to fight for the inequality and mistreatment of black people. I say that that BLM is an ongoing Civil Rights movement because it’s years later and black people are still having to fight to be seen and treated as humans and the equal of their white counterparts. Some people might disagree that these two movements are essentially the same because the Jim Crow Laws were eradicated when the Civil Rights Movement “ended”, but it didn’t end. Segregation/Racism isn’t as direct as it may have been during the Civil Rights Movement but it is still prevalent in today’s society. With things such as microaggressions, discrimination ,police brutality and the disproportionate amount of black bodies in prison (known as the new Jim Crow), the Civil Rights movement will continue to happen in different waves. 

Contemporary Connections: "Womens Rights" Chris W. Williams and Women’s rights are human rights, period, Section 02, Group C

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/womens-rights-are-human-rights-period_us_58be9780e4b0abcb02ce21ef

The article "Women's rights are human rights, period" covers a variety of issues that women have to deal with, not specifically in the United States but all around different areas of the world.  Globally, 1.2 billion women do not have access to basic sanitation and hygiene.  Lack of access to these amenities really shapes the lives of women from childhood to adulthood and even their later or elderly years.  While women do not have access to toilets, they fear and are at risk for assault, and loss of dignity from having to defecate in the open.  Urinary tract infections and other diseases are higher among these women due to holding in feces and urine for long periods of time.
The videos in class that we have watched talk about women who didn't feel like they fit in with just being the "Home Maker".  Just being a wife and mother was what all women were expected to do back then, and those who weren't happy were viewed as having something wrong with them psychologically.  Women eventually started joining the workforce like men, and finally got the right to vote.  The connection between these two sources are that the women who don't have the access to sanitation and hygiene are sort of like those women who felt unhappy as home makers.  We need to come together as one and help these underdeveloped countries provide sanitation to women.  Hygiene should be available to everybody.

Contemporary Connections: The Women's March on Washington -- Section 01, Group C

http://www.phillytrib.com/news/million-woman-march-philly-event-equally-significant/article_50ac7b03-3586-559b-9fcd-4f25ff008381.htmlhttp://www.phillytrib.com/news/million-woman-march-philly-event-equally-significant/article_50ac7b03-3586-559b-9fcd-4f25ff008381.html

For over a century women have been standing together and protesting in hopes of being seen and heard. They wanted (and still want) to make the statement that we as women, are equal to men. One historical parade, the 1913 Women's Suffrage Parade, took place a day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, protesting for women’s right to vote. Today, the Women’s March on Washington took place just shortly after Trump’s inauguration to protest everything he doesn’t believe in. Not only was it women, but it was the LGBTQ community, and men as well, fighting for a safe space for everyone to live comfortably. This march reminded me specifically of where it first originated from. In 1995, the Million Man March took place to honor black men and to also make improvements within the black man and his community as well. In response to this, there was the Million Women March. This march was held in Philadelphia and just as many influential famous women came and marched alongside the black women too. The picture I posted above is from this march in 1997. The purpose of these marches was to get the idea across that we want to be seen; and just like women today are fighting to have their rights, back then black people were fighting to have their rights too. These marches and mass protests are so important to society, it shows that anyone can get together and raise awareness to issues that still exist…. and slowly be a part of that change.


(link is under the picture)