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