This trip has already been amazing. It snowed on our way into Denver (I felt like a five-year old I was so excited to have my first snow of this winter season!) and quotes and crazy pictures are accumulating in mass from each of our adventures around the city. After our first day at the site, I feel that I have become a more informed individual. And that is probably one of the best feelings in the entire world.
The one thing that stuck with me from all of our Alternative Breaks classes was how important it was to have a true understanding and appreciation for every community we volunteer in. All the information presented in articles and by speakers and panels certainly expanded my views and broadened my perspective on volunteerism in a way I had not expected. Today, we spent the entire day with the head of our organization, Shannon, learning about the organization itself, aspects of the LGBTQ community, the community in relation to politics, and forms and aspects of oppression.
Their was an initial thrill that came from listening to Shannon discuss One Colorado’s mission, their plans for legalizing civil unions and eventually same-sex marriage, and other aspects of their work for equal rights. I found it truly inspiring. But our conversation then we shifted to a discussion of forms of oppression. We had to begin to think about the societal structures and practices in place that make it necessary to engender change to establish equality. The dialogue and information was overwhelming. Not only is discrimination present in so many different forms in our society—racism, sexism, classism, and heterosexism—they are all interconnected and fully ingrained in societal practices.
One of the activities we completed was called the “web of oppression.” In this, we listed eight types of oppression and which parties were the superior or the inferior. After doing so, we discussed how oppression will continue in all of these areas until the entire web is irradiated and can no longer be repaired. But even more daunting than this, each from of discrimination itself will only end when they are no longer present in our ideologies, institutions, interpersonal interactions, or internalized by members of society.
To say the least, attacking these societal systems and norms is not a simple task. It’s a fight that most likely won’t even be finished in our lifetimes; changing these unfair and unequal practices will require revolutionary change. It’s a depressing thought to realize how heavily influenced and dictated our society is by discrimination. Even more unsettling is that by simply not realizing my privilege, I unconsciously maintain some of the ideas that leave these practices in place. I can hold hands with my boyfriend in public without fear of judgment. And I had never considered the fact that I perpetuate the need for LGBTQ members to “come out” by making the assumption that everyone I meet is straight until told otherwise.
The information I gained today and the realizations it caused me to make have reinforced my growing awareness that education is vital to inspiring true change to our detrimental, discriminatory practices in society. Because if you aren’t aware or can’t understand of the problem, how can you work to fix it?
No comments:
Post a Comment