Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
Pot Criminalization is Racist
With 4/20 passing last week, there was a lot of pot-related content online. I was hoping to see a lot more support from different organizations or politicians for people that were wrongfully jailed for marijuana related offenses. It is a crime that disproportionately Black and brown families are continuously torn apart- even in states where recreational marijuana use has been legalized. In these states disproportionately the folk profiting off legalized marijuana are white. There are still people being arrested in states where marijuana is legalized since it is still federally banned- unsurprisingly, most of those arrested are Black or brown. Pot has been so stigmatized by the US government I have noticed most politicians and organizations would rather leave cannabis out of the conversation completely. Marijuana… Read more »
Texans Obtaining an Abortion Could Face Capital Punishment
At 3am Tuesday morning, self-proclaimed “Pro-Lifers” in Texas passed a bill that would send women obtaining an abortion to face the death penalty. Texas lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee sent the bill, which would criminalize abortion and classify it as homicide, to the Texas House for debate. At the hearing a pastor from Houston spoke and claimed that, “Whoever authorizes or commits murder is guilty.” State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a Republican from Arlington, and an advocate for women, trans men, and non-binary folk receiving the death penalty, claimed that he isn’t “specifically targeting women…but equalizing the law,” which is laughable. By entertaining these religious extremists’ views as potential laws even though they will kill people, our lawmakers are making it clear that they have a complete and utter disregard for… Read more »
Climate Change Is Not, and Never Has Been an Elitist Issue
Representative Cortez said it well herself, but I want to dive into more of why climate change is not an elitist issue at all–moreover, why it’s been seen that way for many years. In fact, the pressing realities of climate change will affect the disenfranchised and marginalized groups of the world well before it hits the upper classes. Last year, the United Nations published a report calling for immediate and “unprecedented” changes in order to deter the rising global temperatures; doing so might prevent the projected famines, flooding, and extreme weather to affect our planet within the next twenty years. And yet, social scientists report that wealthy people are considerably more concerned about climate change than the average person. But when it comes to regulating climate change, we need all… Read more »
Rosie’s Law
Rosaura “Rosie” Jimenez was a young woman in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas who died obtaining an unsafe abortion. She could not afford to pay for one out of pocket and was forced to turn to other unsafe alternatives. Rosie was a scholar and a mother to a 5 year old girl. Rosie was trying to get her teaching certificate when she passed. She wanted to create more opportunities for her and her family. She died with a $700 scholarship in her purse which she could have used to obtain an abortion. She wanted to use that money for her family’s future, and she should have had that option. Rosie was forced to turn to unsafe alternatives because she was one of millions directly affected by the Hyde… Read more »
Reproductive Justice, Social Work, and Me
I struggled to write my first article for this blog, and I think it was because I didn’t take the time to introduce myself and what I want to accomplish before I dived into politics and RJ. While the personal is political, I thought it was important to flesh out who I am and provide context for what I’ll be writing for the ChoiceWords Blog. I’m currently in my second year of studying social work at the University of North Texas. I chose social work because I like to consider myself a big picture thinker. I have empathy and compassion for individual situations, but I’m also naturally drawn to looking at the systems that are causing the problem. In theory, this is exactly what social workers are supposed to do,… Read more »
Remember These Muslims, Remember Islamophobia
Ashraf Ali was known to have a quiet laugh. Husne Ara Parvin was trying to save her husband, Farid Uddin, who was in a wheelchair. Naeem Rashid’s first instinct was to grab the gun from the shooter. Mohammad Imran Kahn owned two restaurants. Linda Armstrong was known for “always being excited to do a good deed”. Haroon Mahmood was working at Canterbury College as an assistant academic director. Haji Daoud Nabi leapt in front of another person to save them from the gun. Ahmed Jehangir’s brother is trying to fly to New Zealand on behalf of their family to visit him in the hospital. Abdullahi Dirie, four years old, was the youngest in his family. Mucad Ibrahim, three years old, was fleeing for his life. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi… Read more »
Five Movies of 2018 Better Than Green Book
At the Oscars last weekend, there were a lot of historic wins. Black Panther won three Oscars and is the first movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to win any. No female directors were nominated in the feature directing category, but for the first time in Oscars history, women won all the best short film categories of the night. Spike Lee, arguably one of, if not the most, prominent Black American directors, collected his first competitive Oscar in his three-decade-long career. Mexico took home its first win for best foreign language film with Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. To top it all off, Olivia Colman won best actress for portraying a lesbian queen of England. All in all, some really great and progressive wins until we got to best picture. I won’t go into the plethora of… Read more »
Fast Fashion: Unsustainable, Racist, NOT Cute
I want to stress that all responsibility for climate change should be placed on corporations- not the consumer. This article’s goal is to inform the consumer. Though I believe each person should be conscientious of what/how much they consume and where it comes from, major change will only come when companies are held accountable for their heinous acts. The fashion industry has become one of the top contributors to climate change and continuing the cycle of poverty in countries across the world. Fast fashion is the epitome environmental racism. Fast fashion are clothes that are made with cheap materials because it is meant to be sold dirt cheap and thrown away to make room for the next trend. Forever 21, GAP, H&M, Zara, Walmart, and literally almost every other store… Read more »
Pay Your Organizers Please
For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been seeing an advertisement on Twitter for the same organizing fellowship. The organization promises to “empower young leaders” by teaching various skills, like planning events, building coalitions, and utilizing social media. By the time I got to the bottom of the page the first time, I was excited. The opportunity to make a difference in my community and learn how to be a better organizer is always exciting. The disappointment came, as it always seems to, when I came to the bottom of the page and I realized that, of course, this is unpaid. The initial excitement about learning more, creating a change in my community, and becoming a better organizer was tamped out by the inability to sustain myself while doing that work…. Read more »
Feminist Theory for Beginners
As our movement becomes more accessible and popularized, feminism has found its way outside of the classroom. But with that said, I don’t necessarily agree that feminism is for everybody. Feminism is for everybody who is willing learn– and I think that we’ve forgotten how to be students of its literature and theory. I love quippy slogans just as much as the rest of us, but I also believe that we all should be reading some basic feminist theory/ feminist texts as a means of understanding that not all of our beliefs are inherently feminist. The truths we hold can be problematic and flawed, and because of that, it is our job to be students of the movement. Not only do we have to interrogate our own ideas, but be… Read more »
