I did have a reaction to the Roe Vs. Wade case and it was basically a question mark.

Why a question mark you ask ?, well it was confusing to me for one why old men are making judgement calls on what woman should do with there bodies , also i started thinking of the longer term effects. They can block access to abortion but if the situation is dire enough it will be done. Meaning people will either have to go through underground channels to get it done or possibly do it themselves. I am actually waiting for them to make it a criminal offense, that where I see this going and apologies for the bleak outlook. I have very little faith in American government or there policies, especially when it comes to social justice for minority groups, the under privileged and woman. This type of situation requires pushback from the masses but not just females , this type of scenario requires pushback from all groups under the foot of the ruling class. As we spoke about in previous discussions laws were changed due to extreme actions in certain cases which I also am a fan of. Another thing I feel will change the abortion ruling is if a few celebrity raise there voice enough and it becomes a huge enough public outcry from Hollywood that might change things for the better. A scenario I personally hate but it does bring attention to certain issues . The abortion debate which shouldn’t even be a debate is touchy. There was a time where abortion was something Me and My X considered doing. It was such a horrid empty feeling for me as a man so I could only empathize with what she was dealing with mentally as well as physically. Pushing through a “religious crowd” of people saying the worst things possible thinking they are helping. Sitting in a waiting room trying to hold yourself together, observing people who either are in shambles or are more casual like its another day at the office. Internally exploding but still maintaining your composure. My X comes out and tells me about what she went through sitting on a cold table and how she felt which adds to the already tons of tension on my shoulders. Going through that was disgusting . After words I prayed my hardest to tell god that we were not killers and this was an unfortunate situation . My point in detailing this event is to again retort back to the question mark I stated earlier. A question mark for why something personal and tragic is somehow something that needs government validation its truly bizarre. The thing that is important to remember is that once again this is not a female issue this is a world issue, an issue for all the groups under the foot of the ruling hierarchy .

When your raised in a certain climate sometimes things that seemed regular in hindsight aren’t regular at all especially when your young. You see things like people that look like skeletons trying to sell broken VCR’s , or those same skeleton people breaking into houses at night, or the once prominent basketball player fall from grace because of his addiction. The crack era was like nothing I have ever seen and this mural reflects that. This mural was done in (1986) by Keith Haring. A mural that was created in reference to the crack epidemic that plagued the inner city. I love this mural for a few reasons. Its artistic representation the horrors of drugs, his stylized character design and also because I witnessed how bad that climate really was and art was all I really had. To me this artistic activism brought awareness to a problem that was ignored or swept under the rug . The mural was created without the city’s permission and Haring was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct as often artistic activists are. Another artist painted over Haring’s “crack is wack” so that it read “crack is it”, and the entire mural was painted over by the City Parks Department.

Later when the New York City Commissioner was informed that a famous artist work had been erased he apologized to Haring and offered him several different locations where Haring could paint. Haring’s signature visual style of thick black outlines around hieroglyphic like characters convey movement. The mural displays the word crack is wack in a large cloud of smoke from a crack pipe. Some symbolism is shown as the right side of the mural displays Haring’s character being lowered into the jaws of a monster. I have watched people deteriorate from the outside in after being swallowed by the beast that was crack. Haring’s “crack is wack” mural is one of his more famous pieces for its simplistic but engaging artistic value. His work also spoke volumes regarding social and political issues. His art was more conscious as opposed to the trashy art form graffiti had been labeled around that time. Haring’s mural has since become a New York Landmark.

In both a birth story and 12 reasons it wasn’t so much of a surprise as I have witnessed both scenarios before working in the healthcare field. The surprising part to most people would be that it happens more then you think. Firstly working in the healthcare field is very difficult mentally and physically but with that said there are a certain portion of people that just should not be working in the field period. Like I said I was not surprised reading her testimony in a birth story. However during the reading I found myself shaking my head with the words “yup, I seen that before” replaying in my head.

With the 12 reasons , I can empathize with the sense of not being seen or treated as an equal medically . This is huge however that I am sure to get arrows thrown at me but whatever, In the medical field their are people who are scared to interact with trans people. The reason why you ask?, because now we live in a time where everyone is offended by everything. What does that matter?, offending the wrong person when that was not your intention at all could mean loss of your job, or being sued or both. So when a trans person needs to be registered or cared for their is a certain criteria of egg shells that people walk on , they are nervous to ask basic question in order not to ruffle feathers or upset them. I think its a lose lose scenario. For example where I worked their were a few trans people that would come in , some were cool some were horrid . This one in particular would come in always around 3:00am, in not the best condition , lets say her name was Stefany I remember because every time she came in she would give me her ID that said Steven and I would ask “when are you gonna get your ID changed “? and she would reply I am gonna do it but never did. So since she was a regular she would ask everyone to call her Steph. Now lets say the regular staff was not there that night and there was a new Doctor filling in for the time or a nurse that was unfamiliar and calls Stefany , Steven. Stefany is now irate and wants to pursue things further in court even thou the ID clearly says the name Steven. Whether accidentally or not things can and have escalated I have witnessed this type of scenario as well. Yes I think their are horrible people in healthcare but at the same time it is outweighed by people who do want to generally help anyone walking through those hospital doors. Despite what gender they align themselves with they are just very nervous or cautious as to what they say the more parenthesis or tree branches their are makes it even that much more difficult for the people trying to assist.

I am a very visual person so when it comes to topics I would much rather see it in real time .In birth stories visually it helped seeing the pictures as well as the added poetry to really gauge how she felt during her stay at the hospital. In period end of sentence visually was engaging due to how uninformed people were about woman having periods. You were basically discarded , weren’t allowed to work or pray. It was the basis for when I make the argument about “oppression”. In the west its almost celebrated , over there they don’t want anything to do with you . Go over to that country and tell them about how oppressed you are over in the united states and see how long they laugh. The lady in the video was told by her parents when you have your period in does not matter if you pray the gods don’t hear you that blew my mind. Another thing that was unbelievable was how she said she was going to join the police in order to escape having to get married. Are you really that oppressed ? have you ever had to get a random job in order to escape an arranged marriage?. What they all shared was the theme of being cast aside , or being neglected due to elements that were beyond ones control. The feeling of maltreatment from an intuition that is supposed to be caring or attentive towards you .

In regards to the reading of Too Latina to be black , this actually resonates with me being i am of “the brown skinned Puerto Rican heritage” I get confused for everything but that. It used to offend me when I was young but as I got older I just laughed it off. I would hear things like you look Asian, or your too dark to be Hispanic all the hits. The part where the author states ” I don’t know who to side with” is a question most children ask themselves, especially when you do not resemble what people perceive as the norm when it comes to ones ethnic identity. This article reinforces the importance of having a political space for people such as the ones written about in the article. The ones that feel lost or without a voice.

The Power of Identity Politics, Gives you a better understanding of why we need to shine a light on the subject of identity politics. A quote that stands out to me is one on page 187 ” Those who have power rarely want to acknowledge that they have unearthed benefits at the expense of others”. This perfectly describes the pushback or the attempt to deny or suppress identity politics. The idea is to represent those who have no representation, no voice politically. Allot of issues politically concerning oppressed brown people have been swept under the wrong or pushed to the side. Identity politics forces America to look under that rug for once and who really wants to do that?

For the remaining classes I would like for the class to think of some fun and interesting ways to have a dialogue between people from different ethnic, religious, gender backgrounds . Usually when we bring up these sensitive topics its seems chaotic and never really civilized , its always people talking at each other and nothing is solved. Another topic I thought would be engrossing is some what of a hypothetical. Lets say hypothetically each one of us woke up as a different ethnicity. How would your approach to be life be different ?, how is the ethnicity you woke up as perceived in the media?, where does the ethnicity you woke up as fit in status wise?, Does this ethnicity need to be elevated? if so how would you help elevate them?.

Another topic id like to discuss would be how art makes it way through oppression , as was the case with “Paris is burning” , they celebrated in the face of persecution and tragedy. This is the case with many art forms, hip hop, graffiti and even fashion .