Journal 4

9/10- In the last half of class we did an assignment to see how we would run a school for harmonizers if given the chance. My group was assigned to think of possible assignments they would do at this school. After talking, we came together with the general consensus that simulation based activities would be the most effective. These activities would help the students become better thinkers in tough situations because they have already practiced similar scenarios and knew how to deal with the conflict. I didn’t realize that this was something we had done in my diversity club at school. We always practiced in simulations. Sometimes the students knew what they were doing and other times the facilitators just watched how they reacted when they weren’t aware of the weight of their actions. For example, we had a poster decorating contest at our second meeting as an “icebreaker”. The facilitators distributed the supplies unevenly amongst the groups, but they didn’t know that. One group had pens, markers, magazines, scissors, glue etc and another group barely had a pen for each of the members. At the end when we came together, they saw how unfair the contest was set up. This simulation allowed the white students (majority of the club) have a tangible experience of how systemic oppression worked. After that we were able to talk through the simulation and make real world connections. The groups developed an action plan on what they could do in the future to help people who didn’t have the same privileges as them. But most importantly, it helped them with empathy for people outside of their own personal experience. As shallow as it sounds, it was a great bonding moment for all of us. It was nice because we all knew this was a safe space to navigate through our discussion and that is why I think it would be an effective method of teaching in this hypothetical school we were discussing.

9/13- I have felt hindered by stereotypes before. In my journalism class I was apart of the leadership in my hour. My senior year it was mostly underclassmen and none of my friends were in it. A lot of those kids weren’t in it as a prerequisite to do the paper but rather just to fulfill an English requirement. I didn’t have much of a problem with this though except for the boys in my class who were honestly really obnoxious. They were the stereotypical epitomes of raging Trump supporters who loved to try to “trigger” people to be edgy. It didn’t have that effect on me because their remarks were ignorant. I would lead story pitches and they would make snarky comments about the “chinavirus” to be funny or pitch PRO/CON columns about very niche topics that could easily come across as super distasteful. They wrote news briefs about politics because they were more interested in it than writing about school events which was fine though, besides the editorializing that would have to be edited out later. I couldn’t tell them to not write about those things. Our school paper was pretty. legendary when it came to being anti- censorship — our administration didn’t even know what we published until it was printed and left in their mailboxes. But, I did have some sort of authority to help them refine it. In theses moments I was afraid as coming off as that “snowflake” that was too sensitive, because whether I liked it or not, those were some of the same views a large portion of my school body shared. I also think that I held myself to a really unnecessary level of pressure. I thought that they made these huge assumptions about me and thought down on me. It was awkward for sure because I didn’t want to seem like a push over. It wasn’t until I realized that by not being firm, I wasn’t changing what they already assumed. It was obvious how much I disliked how difficult they made the process, so why not just act on how I felt and avoid the lack of efficiency in doing the tasks I actually wanted done? I didn’t wan to disprove them at all because the truth is, I may be a snowflake by their definition but to me that just meant I had morals. I can’t think of many unique examples to me that go beyond my identity of race because that has been the primary experience I’ve had in my life. I lead with my skin because I can’t erase my heritage and take pride in my identity. It’s also the first thing others see of me too. So, my next two examples don’t involve me but I think they fit this category.

My sister was only 20 when she had my first nephew Carter. Her and the father weren’t married yet and she was still pursuing her education. So many people told them that they weren’t ready for a kid and when they offered a rebuttal it was always shut down by the idea that they didn’t know what they were talking about. This is a denial of experience because it discredits the things that they have already gone through. They both knew firsthand what it was like to struggle with a family and managing other things because they were once the children in those same families. My best friend is a female in a STEM major at a really prestigious school. She has been struggling to fit in in her classes. She is suffering from a little bit of imposter syndrome because she thinks she is incapable of doing the work in her classes to the same level as her peers. It doesn’t help that she is the only girl in her small computer science class. The boys in her class try to subtly project insecurities on her in the breakout rooms because she isn’t as experienced. They even try to make it seem like she’s incapable by denying her agency in group projects. She’s working to overcome this by just learning as much as she can to improve but I really feel bad that she has to endure something like that.

9/14- The women in this story are portrayed as very shallow. The men only see them valuable in terms of raising families and even see them as devious. The women have to overcome the collective thought that they are lazy and not equal to men in terms of wit and strength. But strength doesn’t have to be measured in physical fitness. Strength comes in many forms, one of them being mental strength and resilience. This was a theme too in the Odyssey with menos. Lysistrata wants to prove to the men that the women in the acropolis are more than that shallow definition and can bring real change in a way that the men couldn’t think of. They show this resilience by resisting sex which is proven to be difficult for every party involved, but they manage through it. They faced so much backlash even by the tongue of the magistrate who tried to discredit them but the women prevailed. And because of that the men did too because they were able to end the war and reach reconciliation. The women do have some power politically when they take over the the financial affairs, which is usually depicted as a mans job. I don’t think they are fully depicted as being equal to men socially but their impact has shown that there is a need for the men AND the women to get along for there to be true peace. This was a theme in the Odyssey because Ithaca was in shambles without Odysseus. It wasn’t because they needed the man there but because they needed two people to fulfill that true role of multifaceted leadership. In a modern sense, I don’t think it needs to be so binary as a “man and woman” to make things work but instead just a variety of perspectives to make things effective.

I think the biggest thing that is necessary for alliances to work is having a shared sense of mission. That should be the foundation of all coalitions or else they will fall. There also has to be support for one another. There were women who didn’t want to participate but they needed the guidance of the group to stay strong. We can’t expect everyone to be perfect at all times so those support systems need to be put in place in the case of a momentary weak moment. Lastly, I value the ability to criticize one another so much. Sometimes criticism is the only thing that can get people to finally commit to something or to change their ways. It is something about the honesty that touches people. You have to be vulnerable to be great so it’s okay if those comments hurt as long as it’s for the greater good in the end.