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Could you imagine your existence only being relevant for the identity theft of your creativity? The Black/African American culture is appropriated everyday, by not just white people, but also non-black minorities. Appropriating culture is the social equivalent of plagiarism, and adapting to an element, or elements of one another’s culture or identity. It’s not a problem to borrow from our culture, but you also have to know appreciating and appropriating, have two completely different meanings. White people will take our hairstyles, fashion, vernacular, and skin tone, without permission or give the credit, and will rock it like they started a phenomenal trend, but will degrade the true meaning of the culture’s components. Unfortunately, when the black community showcases black culture, we are less valued for rocking our culture, that white people and non-black minorities stole. If white people and non-black minorities are the problem, then they have to be our solution, and I want to help show them what they are doing wrong.

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of the saying “Do it for the culture”, but never understood the significance of the quote. The term was created by the famous rap group migos, which is the only style of music that hasn’t been predominantly stolen from whites. No wonder it’s still labeled as the “ghetto factor” of music, because it hasn’t been normalized by white people yet. The appropriation of black culture is very significant because there are numerous ways you can harm a black person when doing so. We’ve been denied education, work, health care, shelter, and more, all because of our cultural components that whites are applauded for, when we are discriminated against. Yes I am an African American, but also light skinned, which basically fits the “beauty standard”. Women with lighter skin will always be the “beauty standard” according to society today, since it is the closest to white skin. Not to mention the discrimination against women with darker skin. But what people fail to realize is having lighter skin doesn’t make you any less black than a person with darker skin. I’m not under 120 pounds, I have round hips with curvy thighs, thick beach wave hair that is taken care of by protective hairstyles, full heart sized lips, and so much more that white people and non-black minorities feel the need to steal. I’m not saying that these features can’t be appreciated, but the trauma that the black community has been through just by walking out of the house with our music playing , or wearing our fashion, is just not ok.

The double standard of baby hairs, with black and white women.

When you have huge celebrities appropriating black culture like it’s nothing, of course it’ll be justified and defended. People have always provided others who have a platform with excuses for their unacceptable behavior, as if they’re superior to someone who works at Mcdonalds. Social media will accept a white girl with cornrows over a black girl with the same exact cornrows, because they favor black culture, but not black people. It is extremely important for people to know about this because the favoritism towards white people and non-black minorities against black culture can be extremely dangerous to the black community, because the racism that is dealt with is ignored.

Amandla Sternberg comments on Kylie’s Jenner’s post, because of her picture with cornrows.

Obviously feeling mocked, othered, and judged aren’t as serious as being in danger, but if you don’t see that as an issue, then you are the problem and don’t consider black people human. It’s just human decency and black people deserve to be treated with it too. The public will post “Black Lives Matter” or whatever trending incident that happened with a white cop, and black male, but will still appropriate black culture, and not realize that it is a part of systemic oppression.

Believe me I know what you’re thinking, “how has she not mentioned the usage of the N word by non-blacks yet?”. Well to answer your question, I’ve specifically avoided that topic, just because it’s a critical conversation for me, and my attitude towards it isn’t the most appropriate for a school project. I get very angry and argumentative when it comes to the usage of the N word by non-blacks. To make a change, I definitely want to create and plan a mini course, educating SLA students, non-blacks specifically, about the dangers of appropriating black culture, and how it is a system of oppression. As a black person, being born in black culture myself, my research has definitely impacted my understanding of acknowledging that non-black minorities aren’t fully innocent at all in this situation. I just hope people now know that wearing cornrows isn’t “just a hairstyle”.

Amandala Sternberg explains the meaning of a lot of famous components from black culture.

So my question to you is, do you love black people, or do you love black culture?

MY ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

The climate crisis is a huge impending problem that we must fix before it’s too late. We can’t continue to ignore the impacts of the crisis, and we have to stop burning fossil fuels. During the pandemic it’s been hard to think about all of the crises that are still happening and destroying our planet. But they’re still there, and there are things that everyone can do and learn about. But instead of focusing on the problem, I wanted to learn about the solution. So, my focus is on renewable energy. We need to eliminate fossil fuels from our atmosphere and transition to renewables. Something really important that everyone should know about is that we do actually have all of the technology to stop this and change. We’re not waiting for a big breakthrough, we have the solutions, we just need to implement change.

Transitioning to renewable energy is a crucial step in stopping climate change. And you may think that this is too big, and yes it is going to take a lot of commitment. It will involve transitioning to electric appliances, and switching energy usage.

This is a video made by Grist that shows how a hypothetical town could completely switch to renewable energy. It’s a small scale example that has to leave out the fact that individual cities can’t completely do this on their own because everything is connected to the power grid, but it still shows that it is possible to transition.

And it will cause many people to lose their jobs in the fossil fuel industry. But you know what? Renewable energy will create millions of new jobs, and benefit the Earth. You may also wonder how in the world are we going to do all of this change? Well, we already have the technology and the plans to do it. Some of the renewable technology that we already have includes solar, wind, and hydro energy. Those are popular, efficient, renewable energy sources. In my research I found other, innovative renewable energy sources, such as using kinetic energy. There are floor tile designs that capture the kinetic energy of people walking on them. In a Wired article about these floor tiles, they said that the tiles have “been used to help light soccer pitches in Brazil and Nigeria, a hallway in Heathrow Airport, and offices and shopping centers in London.” There is so much technology that we can use to transition to renewable energy, and we can do it now with plans that are already laid out for us. The Green New Deal is a plan for the United States to dramatically change the current system. It says that the “United States has historically been responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, having emitted 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions through 2014, and has a high technological capacity, the United States must take a leading role in reducing emissions through economic transformation.”

This is the cumulative CO2 emissions in countries in 2018. The graph is from a video that shows the cumulative CO2 emissions of countries around the world since 1750. It starts out with the United Kingdom being first, but you can see that the USA quickly gains speed and shoots ahead on the chart, passing the United kingdom in 1911 and has been steadily far ahead of other countries since, and continues to be in first as of 2018 when this was made.

The Green New Deal states facts about many of the current crises, such as income inequality, and racial injustice. It’s not just a plan to switch to renewable energy, it’s a plan to make the US a more just place for everyone. So, now you know that we have the resources and a plan to transition and stop this crisis. There’s more. In october of 2019 Philadelphia pledged to commit to 100% renewable energy. They passed a resolution that said that the city would be renewable by 2050 or sooner. And “over 170 cities, more than ten counties, and eight states across the U.S. have goals to power their communities with 100% clean, renewable energy,” according to Ready for 100. A recent development in the push for climate action is the call for a climate emergency by President Biden from AOC and Bernie Sanders. President Biden said he would back the Green New Deal and help make real change with the US in the climate crisis, and now is the time for him to fulfil his promises. The call for a “climate emergency” comes in the form of a House Bill that “compares the action needed on the climate crisis to the wartime mobilization during World War II” according to Grist. It lays out many of the disastrous impacts of climate change, and the impacts that the US will and has been taking. It also lays out a plan for President Biden to take, by first declaring a climate emergency, and then having many response projects that will help restore the United States, such as modernizing infrastructure so it’s best for citizens and best used with new affordable energy. Something really great that Grist said when reporting on this is that “the National Emergencies Act could give Biden real powers: The president could use the declaration to reinstitute a ban on crude oil exports, send emergency aid packages to states, or even redirect billions of dollars of funding away from defense projects and toward the production of renewable energy.” This is really amazing. The President can make priorities, and have a big impact on how we solve this crisis.

I’ve learned about the different goals, and bills that have been made so that there is more action on climate change. I’ve also learned about how we can go renewable and what technology there is that can help us do that. It’s clear that there are a lot of people that want to do this, and are pushing for a change. There are many plans, and things that we can do to transition to renewables and help the Earth. My question is why aren’t there big changes? The Philadelphia pledge to go renewable was made two years ago and I can’t find any recent developments. So that’s what I want to know now, what do we do next? We have the plans, we have the technology, it’s time to make the change.

Here is my annotated bibliography

Usually, when I start brainstorming for projects, the first thought that comes to my mind is, “how can I make this about my life, specifically?” That really wasn’t the case with this project. I’m not addicted to drugs, I don’t struggle with alcoholism, but I was surrounded by these types of addictions in my family and in my city, I believe I’m quite familiar with the issue.

Home to opioid users in Philadelphia

I believe that educating more people about it will create a safer environment for people who genuinely need help, and it will also better us as a society, moving forward into the future. But first things first, communication and comprehension are key when it comes to understanding something you’ve never been through personally. Don’t enter your opinions anywhere they’re not needed.

The first thing that comes to mind when discussing this topic is the harmful assumptions our society has created involving drug addicts. The main assumption about drug addicts made by people who are totally uneducated on the topic—they have no self control or willpower. This is so far from the truth. Addiction is a relapsing disease, it’s literally a mental illness. People in society tend to respect people with mental illnesses more than people who suffer with addiction specifically. It’s literally the same thing.

Anyone with the slightest bit of knowledge will know it’s not as easy as simply choosing not to take a drug anymore. The brain has something called the “reward circuit”, which is commonly discussed while exploring the topic of addiction because it interferes with the way someone lives, making them believe they are incapable of living without this drug or substance.

Visual representation and deeper explanation of “Reward Circuit”

To dig a bit deeper, I researched about the way addiction affects an individual’s personal life, their relationships with their family, friends, and/or job. Becoming addicted to a drug or substance affects the people around you, which is why many addicts don’t have many people there to support them, making it harder to confront their addiction. There’s only so much people can do for family or friends that struggle with addiction, and they get tired of it, causing them to give up on a person entirely. From someone who has family members with a past of addiction—no one wants to see or be around someone who is clearly not sober.

Addiction is directly related to things like crime, family problems, abuse, mental health issues, and financial struggles. When someone is intoxicated/on some type of drug, they’re more likely to commit some type of abuse, which relates to family/friends/partners, of course because they’ll be the ones dealing with it. Family and financial problems caused by addiction are sorta tied together, so they affect each other. Overspending on drugs/alcohol creates financial problems, which eventually leads to family problems.

Alcohol’s relationship to violent crimes

Addiction is linked to so many things that we’re blind to. It affects everything, every aspect of your life, sometimes without you noticing. I’ve already learned so much about addiction just with the little research I’ve done so far. I used to be quite ignorant to the issue, but this project has opened my eyes wider than I expected.

Annotated Bibliography

Are you someone who wants to travel, or someone who just wants to see their friends again? If so, are you still wearing a mask and following social distancing guidelines? There are many places where COVID cases are reaching high peaks, and people’s health is being greatly affected. Learning more about this issue and educating others about it may as well be the most important thing during a pandemic as large as this one. My general goal is learning more about how to fix the issue of public safety. I want to tell everyone about the importance of wearing masks. If we want to go back to living normally, traveling, meeting up with friends or colleagues, we need to make sure we’re still following social distancing guidelines and continuing to wear our masks.

I aspire to travel places around the world. This matters to me because there are many places I haven’t been. I’ve always seen pictures of places like Akihabara in Tokyo, Japan. It looks like such a nice place to me and it seems so fun to travel to. I share my interest in traveling with new people I meet and my friends, because someday I’ll hopefully be able to travel with them. Traveling isn’t the only thing that I’m so passionate about. Usually people have something they want to do and they’re passionate about it, and for me, at this point I’m just passionate about seeing people again! It has been so long since I have seen anyone from my old school in person, and since I have seen any of my friends. I don’t think that I’m the only one who feels this way about wearing masks, though. I feel like people in other parts of the world feel like this too, because of their area’s situations.

Recently, people have been talking about lifting mask mandates. Personally, I am not a fan of this idea. If people are thinking of lifting COVID-19 restrictions when there are still places where cases are high and staying high, even more of the population will be affected. One of the places that wanted to reopen, even, was Texas. Texas is one of the places where COVID cases are staying high, and only 12% of their population have gotten the vaccine. Almost 2.3 million people were affected, which is crazy. This issue is significant to everyone. Have you seen the charts of how many cases there are in places like South Dakota or Rhode Island? In this article, it shows this map:

Map of how high COVID cases in an area are depending on their color.

If we look close enough to the darker red areas, there is a key that specifies that those are the areas with the most cases of COVID-19. Fortunately, most areas are lighter which means there are less daily cases, but that does not blow past the places that do have many cases. Communities of people can’t grow and continue like this. It’s a health issue, and we need to focus our attention to it. Even though cases have slowed down in many other areas, us as a population, us as a community, should continue to follow social distancing rules.

In the article Guidance for Wearing Masks by the CDC (Center for Disease Control & Prevention), it says that the virus can be spread by even a few respiratory droplets from one person to another. When people gather and talk to each other without a mask, they can spread the virus so easily. The fact that it can spread like that is scary to imagine. When wearing one, it should fit snugly over your nose and your mouth, the input and output for the virus. We should prevent that from happening and cover these areas to stay safe. Everyone above the age of 2 should wear one around people they aren’t usually around to be careful. Within this article, there is another that goes more in depth about the safety of wearing one. In the article, they mention double masking. Double masking is proven to be more effective than single masking. When wearing a single mask, there are still those corners that can allow respiratory droplets in, which isn’t safe. Wearing more than one mask or double knotting your mask can help counter this issue.

During research, I’ve learned so many more issues within the issue. For example, overcrowding in prisons. Surprisingly, I wasn’t even thinking about how the virus impacted prisons because there are so many people there who are put together in small cells for years. I’ve watched TV shows that show prisons and crowds of people in the yards or in their cafeteria, and it makes me wonder how many people could be infected and spreading it to others. Some of these people could be even getting out soon, and if they are infected they will probably be put back into holding, like a hospital, but then hospitals already have many people who have illnesses. I keep wondering how people manage to separate prisoners and get them masks and socially distance them so they don’t spread the virus to new prisoners, or even who is guarding them.

I drew an image of 2 people who are 6 feet apart and wearing masks.

Wearing a mask is not optional, it is your duty! You might have the chore to do the laundry, or take out the trash. This is just like that. Even though it could seem annoying, it is very important for you to spread the word that this virus isn’t over. If we continue to wear our masks, we’ll be able to breathe in the fresh city air again and meet up with people sooner. So, this is a sign that you should go put on that mask!

Here is my annotated bibliography.

When someone asks you “What is one of the biggest problems in the world today?”, what is your first reaction or answer? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. One of the biggest problems in today’s society is cruelty towards animals. This isn’t just every-day domestic animals, but also farm animals and livestock. This topic is relevant and interesting because it is about respecting life in the best way possible. I am personally interested in learning more about animal cruelty because I love animals and I want to be a veterinarian one day and it hurts me to know that some people abuse and intentionally or unintentionally hurt or even kill animals. From learning more about animal cruelty in Pennsylvania, I get a better understanding of the topic and can start with making changes in my state and my surroundings first. Other people should also understand that pets and animals do so much for the human race, supporting, providing comfort, providing food, and just being treasured and helpful to humans. Animals do so much for us, so why can’t we make sure that while they’re alive, they are respected and treated with some type of decorum?

Before the laws are discussed, what about the basic facts? There is a lot to know about animal abuse in Philadelphia, but the most general information helps give a solid understanding of the severity of animal abuse and its effects. Research has shown that animal abuse crimes can be linked to violent crimes towards people. Hoarding also endangers an animal, the hoarder trying to take care of more animals than they can. The gender and age range for intentional animal abusers are mostly men under 30 and for hoarders, it is women over 60. The most commonly reported cases are for dogs, cats, horses, and livestock. The weak protection for livestock under state laws makes it so that only the most shocking cases are reported. “Data on domestic violence and child abuse cases reveal that a staggering number of animals are targeted by those who abuse their children or spouses.”, according to The Humane Society of The United States. This shows that there is a direct link between domestic violence and animal cruelty. With this information, I hope that people can take it into account when reading about the laws. I also hope that people can realize the severity of animal cruelty and know that these things need to change.

Now that the basic information is figured out, what about the laws and punishments for animal abuse? There are set punishments in Pennsylvania for animal cruelty, as stated in Animal Cruelty Laws in Pennsylvania. This site states that animal cruelty is a serious charge the culprit can be fined, be charged with a misdemeanor, a felony, or go to prison. It is illegal to abuse, beat, torture, abandon, or mistreat an animal and the punishment depends on the circumstances of the case. Neglecting an animal in any way, whether it be not providing necessities, locking it in a car during hot weather, or tethering it up for more than nine hours without the needed care, is met with a penalty from a fine to felony charges, all based on the severity of the risk or injuries. Medical procedures that aren’t done legally and by a certified vet fall under animal cruelty. A fine is given for poisoning an animal and if it is done unintentionally, it’s considered a misdemeanor. According to E.A. Gjelten, “ It’s a felony in Pennsylvania to participate in organized animal fighting in any way, from owning or training the animals to betting on a fight or simply attending as a spectator.” After Libre’s law, animal-abuse legislation named after an abused puppy was passed. Libre, a Boston terrier, was found starving, covered in mange, barely alive on an Amish dog-breeding farm in Lancaster County in 2016. He was saved by a delivery-truck man, being saved from his impending doom. When his law was passed, dog tethering laws have been improved, stating that a dog cannot be tied down for more than nine hours in 24 hours and the tether must be three times the dog’s length. In harsh conditions, a dog can’t be tethered for more than 30 minutes and must always have access to water and shade. Animal cruelty penalties are strengthened as well. Humane Society officers and veterinarians can’t be sued for wrongly accusing someone of animal cruelty. The abuse of horses is treated the same as cats, dogs, or other pets. Anyone that is officially convicted of anything animal-cruelty related has to give up their animal (Philadelphia Inquirer).

An official data chart from the AOPC about Libre’s Law, animal abuse, and counties

When researching animal abuse, the data that does and doesn’t exist about cases is astounding. The information about reported animal abuse cases is important to know to see numerically how harsh animal cruelty is. As stated by Pennsylvania Capital-Star “In 2017, 965 offenses were reported. In 2018, that number climbed to 11,836. By 2019, the number of offenses reported was 8,405. The total number of animal abuse cases filed from 2017-2019 statewide is 4,804, according to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.” Many animal abuse laws and policies have been put in place to prohibit, limit, and, overall, stop animal abuse and cruelty. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) monitors the offenses and provides data on it that can be viewed. The number of cases in 31 Pennsylvania counties ranges from 19 to 888 in 2018, because there is a difference in how cases are reported. In most counties, charges can be directed straight to a district judge, but, in Philadelphia, it has to be brought to a detective. Humane officers also need to notify the defendant that they have been charged with an animal abuse offense, so if they ignore it or let the animal go, the police can’t do anything, explaining the low number of cases in Philadelphia. Overall, Pennsylvania has over 4,000 reported animal abuse cases around 2018. These are only the cases that were officially reported, and it’s counting up to thousands. If all of the animal abuse in Philadelphia were reported and documented, who knows how many cases there would be. So many animals, so many years, but what impact has been made? What has been done to stop this pain?

What can be learned from this research after further inspection? What’s the takeaway? I have realized that animal abuse in Philadelphia is a much bigger problem than I initially realized. This matter is very important and should be taken more seriously. It also should be discussed a lot more than it is. I wonder what other animals are being abused that isn’t really discussed. I question what matters are being taken to not only fine or charge animal abusers, but to also limit the number of cases and make animals safer and treated better than they are. How are livestock being treated? Or farm animals? I hope to learn more about specific cases in Philadelphia and police involvement in these matters and if they are truly doing their job when it comes to animal abuse.

A photo of Libre, the dog that the most prominent Philadelphian animal cruelty law is named after.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

When you go out to dinner and order a hamburger, have you ever thought about the cow whose life was taken so that you could eat that meal? According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, approximately 9 billion animals are killed in factory farms every year, and the Sentience Institute estimates that 99% of animal products in the US come from factory farms. Many of those creatures live their entire lives in tiny crates, receiving little to no care and as much food as their bodies can hold. When their time is up, they’re sent to the slaughterhouse. Factory farms are essentially giant warehouses designed to produce and kill the maximum number of livestock they can, under controlled conditions and using intensive methods. Factory farming began in the mid 20th Century, to keep up with the increasing demand of meat. However, in the process of making that meat cheaper and more easily accessible, we have lost sight of the fact that animals are sentient beings — they want to avoid harm and stay alive. The factory farming industry is a cruel and inhumane place for animals.

The above image displays young chickens cramped into a large warehouse.

This project is all about educating myself and others on a topic I’m passionate about, and I chose to work with factory farms.

I have been a vegetarian for years. I chose to stop eating meat because of the inhumane cruelty that goes on in the meat production industry, as well as the climate and environmental issues. While the safety of the environment is very important to me, for this project I chose to focus more on the wellbeing of the animals.

My family has friends who own a small farm. Growing up, we visited a lot, and I saw firsthand what humane farming looked like. The thought that an animal could be raised any other way, especially in the harsh conditions of factory farms, was distressing. This issue became very important to me.

Warning: The following video contains graphic content which some people may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

The cruel methods used in factory farms are like no other. In many of them, animals live in too-tight cages and too-packed pens. They receive minimal medical care if any, and according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s statistical service, roughly 10 percent of the livestock die even before reaching the slaughterhouse. No matter the animal, chances are that in most large factory farms, they will be mistreated. For example, chickens raised for meat are forced to grow so large that oftentimes, their legs can’t support them. To force them to eat and fatten faster, bright lights shine almost 24/7 so that they stay awake. The end of egg-laying hens’ beaks are cut or burned off to prevent them from pecking each other. Pigs are stuffed into crates so small that they can’t turn around. Because they are highly intelligent creatures, their stark surroundings can cause abnormal behaviors like chewing on their tails. This can lead to infection, so workers sometimes cut off the tail, or even a pig’s teeth, usually without painkillers. Sows are moved between their gestation stalls and farrowing crates to give birth, both of which are small and restricting. Cows raised for beef usually live in sparse pastures with many other cattle, typically without shelter. Practices like branding and castration often cause them pain and discomfort. Dairy cows have unnaturally high milk production rates, and they usually have most of their tail and horns removed without painkillers. These cows are artificially inseminated once a year so they keep producing milk, and once they give birth their calves are taken away from them, which causes extreme stress for both creatures. The female calves are the next dairy cows, and the male calves are used for veal. When dairy cows have passed prime, they are slaughtered for beef. Turkeys are forced to grow so big so fast that it can cause pain and other physical illnesses. Because of their disproportionate bodies, turkeys cannot physically mate anymore. They face year-round artificial insemination, even though turkeys are only meant to reproduce once a year. Many fish meant for food are raised in overcrowded farms. There are very few regulations on fish farming, because fish are often not seen as sentient beings even though they are. Because of this, fish usually aren’t stunned before they are killed. Some of the processes used to kill fish are bleeding them out, blunt force, suffocating them or freezing them.

This image shows pigs, each confined to a crate so small that they can’t turn around.

Going forward, I’d like to research more about the steps people and organizations are taking to end this inhumane treatment in the food industry. So far, my research has made me more and more determined to spread awareness and take action against factory farming. Learning about the harsh conditions and treatment these animals have to face has been hard, but it is an important issue that I think everyone should learn about. No animal deserves to live in a cramped cage their whole life, rarely going outside, and being forced to eat the most food they can contain. Moreover, while it may cost more money and take more work, every animal deserves the right to lead a happy and healthy life. If factory farms continue functioning the way they are currently, almost every animal product you eat will come from an animal that led a painful, harrowing, and traumatic life, right up until the end.

Here is my annotated bibliography.

This photo displays a group of people celebrating their pride.

My project is about the inequality, injustices, and (mental) health of people who identify as LGBTQ+. The LGBTQ+ community experience a lot of judgment, because of their sexuality, which is then inflicted upon the way the person who’s judging treats them. People who are against LGBTQ+ display their hatred and unacceptable behavior towards them through the law, hospitals, careers, jobs, and much more. The judgments and hatred upon members of the LGBTQ+ can be rooted in religion, beliefs, traditions, stereotypes, society’s norms, or maybe even from someone’s assuming and hypocritical ignorance. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I want to make it my goal to learn more about my community’s history. Over the course of decades, the LGBTQ+ community has experienced great oppression, hatred, ignorance, injustices, and some of the problems listed beforehand have even led to some being murdered. If I make an attempt to learn about LGBTQ+ history then I am making an attempt to educate the ignorance that’s been placed within the mindsets, religion, beliefs, traditions, and societies of humankind. I want to make a change because it is hurtful and painful watching the way the world treats and views LGBTQ+ members. A person should not be shunned, because they are not straight. Everyone deserves the right to live their life truthfully instead of feeling like an outcast to society. People have hidden who they were in fear of rejection and hatred from family, friends, loved ones, and including the oppressors. Living a life where you are forcing yourself to be someone you’re not can lead to depression, sadness, a (mental) health downfall, or even worse suicide.

This is a picture of someone displaying their pansexuality during a photoshoot.

I am interested in such a sensitive and important topic because as I stated before I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community. I identify as pansexual, which is not the same as bisexual although some people believe. The prefix “pan-“ means “all.” Similarly, pansexuality means that you’re attracted to people of all genders. This also includes people who don’t identify with any gender(agender). Note this, pansexuality doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re attracted to every person. For example, heterosexual males aren’t attracted to every female, and vice versa. This word pansexual simply indicates that you find yourself being attracted to people of all sorts of genders. Acknowledging the injustice and sorts of neglect that the members of the LGBTQ+ community face make me feel the pain and hurt that they feel.

In this picture, there’s a group of people protesting for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. In this case, there are preferably protesting for transgender rights of protection and freedom.

It is important to me to be able to speak about these things, because if one fears all fear. I want to be the voice of those stitched and frightened mouths. I want people to no longer live in fear, but live with who they truly are: beautiful. This topic is important for everyone to be educated about because it is best to vocalize all inequality, not just the inequality that they just see. As humans, we were “created equal,” but nobody cannot be equal if we have rights being taken away from a group because of their identity. It is important for humanity to begin placing themselves in the shoes of its victims because where one cannot sympathize is where one cannot care. We cannot pick and choose who to give freedom, rights, privileges, advantages, etc too because doing so is like making a snowman and forgetting its eyes and mouth.

This picture of the snowman refers to my comparison of creating a snowman without its mouth or eyes.

This is data displaying the insurance of LGBTQ+ members.

This topic on LGBTQ+ inequalities and health is significant because the system is failing to treat everyone as if we were all created equal. Someone’s sexual orientation should not dictate how important and how much freedom one has. The view of how society treats a person can also affect that person’s health. The feeling of not being wanted, because of who you are, is dreadful and can lead to you becoming depressed, anxious, self-hating, suicidal, etc. People should be able to acknowledge the warning signs and how inequalities that people who identify as LGBTQ+ feel. When it comes to the comfort of speaking on sexual relationships, it is often a very sensitive topic towards LGBTQ+ because of how badly they are treated within clinics and hospitals. The level of discomfort keeps them closed off and silent about the things that should be normal, but because of their sexual orientation and identity, they are looked at as if they’re not normal. A person shouldn’t have to keep something in and stay closed off, because of their difference to the world. We need to normalize everyone not being straight because there are different sexualities and relationships. When it comes to my research, readers can be educated with the data, statistics, definitions, and explanations of each individual topic that has been researched. The research would explain stereotypes, data, and the meaning behind the different injustices and oppression that LGBTQ+ face. You could collect valid information and data by reading the articles and my analysis of each article.

This photo displays health behaviors in 2009-2015.

So far, my research has given me a better understanding of how the stereotypes and problems of the LGBTQ+ community start. From the beginning, I knew some things about how stereotypes begin and who or what creates them but I didn’t know about how little it takes for that stereotype to pass on. I’m wondering about who specifically started the stereotypes and inequalities towards this specific group of people. I question society because how can people just become so hateful and unaccepting because of someone’s sexual orientation. I just don’t understand how someone’s identity can bother other people when everyone wasn’t made the same. Moving forward, I hope to learn more about the data and statics of health, suicide, depression, anxiety, homelessness, and neglect.

This photo shows an LGBTQ+ protest.

There are many underlying factors that negatively impact our oceans and the ecosystems within them. One of these factors is ghost nets. If you don’t know what ghost nets are; “Ghost nets are fishing nets that were lost at sea or deliberately thrown overboard. Even though they no longer serve a purpose, they continue haunting our oceans as they keep fishing without end.” The dilemma with these nets is that they are made from plastic (which doesn’t break down) and just add to the amount of plastic in the ocean. According to an article from the WWF, “Most modern nets are made of nylon or other plastic compounds that can last for centuries. According to a 2018 study in Scientific Reports, ghost nets make up at least 46 percent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” This quote truly stood out to me when I was doing my research. Plastic straws and bags tend to get the most attention when talking about plastic in the ocean, while these nets rarely get the same amount of coverage.

Below is a photo that goes into detail about the cycle that ghost nets fall into. This picture shows how truly dangerous these nets are since they continue to do their job, even when there are no longer humans to work them.

The destructive ghost fishing cycle

This issue is extremely significant because it’s often overlooked which makes it even more damaging. As stated above, ghost nets make up a huge percentage of the amount of plastic that is in our ocean. It also kills thousands of animals and isn’t as talked about as plastic straws or bags. Something that I learned that I think is super important to pass on is; It’s crucial to check where you’re getting your seafood. If you’re buying a can of tuna, you want to see a label on the front that says it was caught by line fishing. Usually, if it doesn’t say that, it was caught by these huge nets that are often turned into ghost nets. This is something that individual people can do that will truly make an impact

Threats of Ghost Fishing This is a great video that I came across while doing research.

This video talks about the Maldives, a country in South Asia that is made up of islands. Ghost nets negatively affect this country’s ocean by killing marine life and endangering coral (disease, invasive species, and parasites). The Olive Ridley Project is an organization trying to determine the key factors supplying ghost nets into the Indian Ocean. Maldivian law does not allow any kind of net fishing within its economic zone. Pole and line and hand line are the most used fishing techniques, but there are still areas where ghost nets can be traced back to. The Indian Ocean has two major monsoons that affect currents and decide where ghost nets travel. On the east coast of India (Odisha), thousands of turtles gather at this area for a “mass nesting event”. After they are born, adolescent turtles find large portions of “floating algae that act as mini-ecosystems complete with food and shelter.” Ghost nets can be mistaken as algae and young turtles often end up trapped in them.

Ghost net covering a coral reef

I’ve always loved everything related to the ocean and I think it’s super important to stay informed about topics that negatively affect your passions. This topic is really significant to me because I want to go into a field that is related to the ocean and I want to keep this beautiful environment in the best condition possible. I think it’s necessary for people to know about this topic because it’s a huge issue. The research I’ve for this project so far has been very eye-opening. Obviously, I’ve learned a lot since the beginning and I’m only planning on learning more. There’s so much to figure out and discover about this topic. I’m wondering about how individual people can help stop or slow the number of ghost Nets that are being added to the ocean and killing animals. Another huge question I have is where are ghost nets located because I’d love to dive there and help get them out.

Annotated Bibliography

Mental illness is widespread and it’s only increasing. When I noticed there were a lot of common themes in movies I watched that included someone with a mental illness of any type, I saw that they were mostly aggressive, dangerous, etc. Stuff that really seemed off to me because I know a number of people who suffer from minor to more severe cases of mental illness who weren’t as the media showed it to be. There was also the fact that the media only really showed one perspective of the mental illness, which wasn’t the actual experience of the person who suffered from it which interested me. So I wanted to look into it more and see what the reality was versus how the media portrayed it. According to Mental Health Awareness Blog, about 19% of the Adult population, 46% of teenagers, and 13% of children are affected by a type of mental illness a year. With this amount of people being affected, the right representation of mental health should be portrayed in popular culture right? With that in mind, there are so many ways for this to be implemented in a more secretive way into a movie or show that could easily blow over someone’s head or just subconsciously influence them. For example, you’ve seen people in straight jackets acting violent and hysterical in movies, and then people make it a Halloween costume, when in reality many people were tortured in insane asylums by being put in a straight jacket so they weren’t able to fight back or do anything. All of that sometimes even happened to people who were only perceived as “crazy” and/or weren’t even a little harmful.

One form of media that is more accurate and a better portrayal of mental illness is art. When talking about the media and mental illness, I believe you can’t only talk about what’s wrong but bring in a better solution or alternative for gaining information on the topic. That better alternative would be more specifically visual art, in terms of drawing, sculpting, painting, etc. In “The Connection Between Mental Illness and Creativity” by Caroline Keenan, she shows us how some famous artists actually showed some signs of mental illness through their art and since art is a form of basic self expression in a lot of cases, it is probably the most accurate source of information on their experience. Keenan says “Munch’s painting, titled Self-Portrait in Hell, is made to show his feelings on his life at the time as a man and an artist: a private hell” with the corresponding picture underneath :

-> Self-Portrait in Hell, Edvard Munch, 1903

This painting has a lot of depth to it, just not from a first glance alone. If you look and analyze it to the best of your ability, you’ll never really get a true meaning out of it, but still, you’ll get at least a feeling out of it. For example when I look at it, it’s a simple, but dark and contorted background, void of shading. While the actual self portrait is a nude, possibly meaning he feels exposed or weakened a lot. Other artists like most famously Vincent Van Gough who cut off his own ear, and made the iconic starry night while looking outside his hospital window, had suffered from mental illness that was shown in their artwork as well.

How can you or others make an impact or help reduce the stigma around mental illness? An article by Rafi Letzter called “The News Is Telling You a Distorted Story about Mental Illness” is really informative on how you might do this. Before doing this though, one of the main things to keep in mind is that mental illness is pretty common making it more normal, so normalizing it would be key to the overall goal of reducing stigma. One of Letzter’s points that really struck me was when he stated that “On the flip side, a group of researchers (including McGinty) showed in 2014 that positive stories about mentally ill people can reduce stigma and discriminatory attitudes, while increasing support for treatment” which would really help because with the right treatment they could get help and not have to suffer from their illness as much.

There are so many ways mental illness affects communities small and big, but what I would like to know is how this change will happen and how it can hopefully be normalized to the point where people won’t have to not only be affected by their mental health of which they cant control, but also won’t be affected by the media and social stigmas around it. More websites to help learn about this topic and examples of ways to help of educate [<-here->] (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wrj9TfKrxSYpJ7JoHiiRQ0W4q34H1Eq0yTN2Cr1VZrM/edit?usp=sharing)

This answer should be obvious but the American healthcare system disagrees. So what is Insulin and how does it affect people’s lives? Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas and it keeps your blood sugar under control and it’s your main source of energy. When your pancreas stops producing insulin naturally you can become a diabetic which is what happened to me. I have type 1 diabetes meaning that my pancreas doesn’t produce insulin at all so to survive diabetics have to constantly be giving themselves insulin. There is a big crisis with insulin pricing right now and it’s been going on for a while now but it’s been brought to more people’s attention recently. So many people who can’t afford their insulin or can’t afford insurance have to ration their insulin. Insulin pricing has been rising since it was created. There are a multitude of reasons for why this is. Although my family and I don’t have to worry about paying for insulin or any of my other diabetes supplies other families do and the fact that people die from having to do this is insane. I want to change that, I want to help people not have to worry about how they are going to survive. Insulin is a right not a privilege meaning it should be accessible to everyone. However the American healthcare system may say otherwise. Insulin is not accessible to everyone because they can’t afford it or don’t qualify and if they can’t afford to pay for it they will likely die which is not something that should ever happen. We need to spread awareness about this issue because so many people are affected by this and so many people don’t know this is happening.

Throughout my research I discovered that there are about 8 different reasons for why Insulin prices are so high. The main thing I discovered was that it had nothing to do with how expensive insulin is to make. In Fact it’s the opposite, insulin is pretty cheap to make. So why does it still cost so much? There are only 3 pharmaceutical companies; Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Sanofi. This plays a big role in the pricing of insulin since there aren’t other competitors and when one manufacturer raises their prices the other 2 raise their prices as well. The reason there are only 3 manufacturers of insulin is mainly due to patents. Patents are hard to come by and it stops other people from producing the same exact product. ¨Pharmaceutical companies take advantage of loopholes in the U.S. patent system to build thickets of patents around their drugs which will make them last much longer (evergreening).¨ A patent cannot be renewed so pharmaceutical companies will slightly alter their product so that they can get a new patent on it and this ends up raising prices of insulin. If they couldn’t get a new patent then a generic drug would be put on the market. It would be extremely similar to the name brand insulin and it would be cheaper but since manufacturers continue to renew their patents, people aren’t able to get generic drugs.

The last main role in the pricing of insulin is 3 companies; Pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers. ¨Pharmaceutical companies set the list price for insulin, and are incentivized by profits to continue to raise those prices. For these companies, the price of insulin is a business decision.¨

This image is a map of how insulin pricing is determined. It shows how each player has a role in the pricing of insulin. This picture also shows how money is involved and who benefits most. (PBM’s). This image helped me fully understand how it all works because I could visually see it

So It all starts with Pharmaceutical companies (Drug manufacturers), they produce the product then they sell that to wholesalers who sell it to pharmacies. The price these 2 pay is determined by what the Pharmaceutical companies and the pharmacy benefit managers (PBM´s) negotiate. Once the PBM´s negotiate a price they contact pharmacies and pay them to disperse the drugs. This is where things get sneaky. PBM´s share a small portion of their rebate with insurance companies and they have them manage the drugs benefits. The insurance companies pay the PBM´s for the drugs and dispensing fees. Now I told you earlier PBMś pay pharmacies for this same fee but they (PBM´s) don’t disclose the amount paid to insurance companies so they often over pay and the PBM´s keep the difference. This is called ¨the spread.”

This picture is very similar to the first one but this one involves the consumers and it shows how some parts skip going through certain channels. For example, the drug company can go straight to the pharmacy and sell them the product instead of going through drug wholesalers. This is an easier way to understand what I just said because it can get very confusing. When looking at this map I started looking at the drug company and that’s where it all starts.

All of these reasons lead to the rise in insulin prices. Some people will travel to Canada so they can get insulin cheaper, since it’s cheaper in every other country. To put it in perspective, They found that overall, the average US manufacturer price per standard unit across all insulins was $98.70, compared to $6.94 in Australia, $12.00 in Canada, and $7.52 in the UK. Thats a huge price difference. This got me thinking, If other countries have affordable insulin my question is why can’t we? If other countries can deal with the same issues we have and still have it be affordable then why can’t we? My only possible answer is money, they want to make a lot of money and take advantage of people.

Annotated Bibliography

Over the past two years, the 737 MAX has been receiving such negative publicity because of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines and Lionair (and I really can’t blame the media: Boeing really had rushed the productions for profit). Boeing does deserve part of the blame, but a lot of people don’t understand what happened to the production, the design, and even the cause of the crash. The 737 MAX and the Boeing company have been very close to me growing up. Boeing had played a big role in my childhood, accompanying me on every journey. I’ve mostly flown on Boeing aircraft, flying the reliable planes, almost like a second home come to think of it when I’m on those planes. When I heard about the 737 MAX crashes and Boeing’s reputations plummeted, it was a very sad moment for me, since I know that before the Boeing 737 MAX problems, Boeing made wonderful, safe planes transporting millions and billions of passengers across the world like the 777 (to which I personally had flown on a lot of the times).

The Boeing 777-200 in the Boeing House Livery, one of the most popular and safest and most reliable line of planes in the world.

When Boeing developed the 737 MAX, though, it installed a system that was supposed to only “moved 0.6 degrees at a time when actually it was moved 2.5 degrees at a time—a relatively massive difference that would theoretically cause a significant change of the aircraft’s pitch attitude”. This caused the plane to crash, resulting in the Lionair Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 301. This was because of poor production and rushing things to make a profit from Boeing, to which Boeing had made every accommodation possible to the press, the family of victims of the plane. That doesn’t mean that the plane is unsafe, though. Quite the opposite. Over the past two years, the whole world had ground the plane, and the MCAS system went under extreme scrutiny to ensure its safety, so most likely that the 737 MAX will be one of the safest planes in the sky.

The MCAS overview of the 737 MAX, provided by Aviation Today.

Not just that, airlines such as “United Airlines has ordered an additional 25 Boeing 737 MAXs, to be delivered in 2023.” “Not only that, but United Airlines has moved forward the delivery timeline of existing 737 MAX orders”. Nevertheless, of course, some countries still felt that the 737 MAX is still unsafe and continue grounding it until they have a detailed report if Boeing truly have fixed the system or not, China being one of those countries. According to Bloomberg: “need to be approved by China, pilots need to be retrained to fly the jetliners following those changes, and the conclusions of the Ethiopian and Indonesian crash reports need to be clear.”

Lionair’s 737 MAX Flight 610 in operation before it crashed.

Even after the 737 MAX was grounded, though, Boeing still tried to rush production with another type of plane, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. According to Aerotime Hub: “Shims, which are used to fill gaps when two fuselage panels are joined in assembly, were found to be improperly manufactured as well.” This shows that Boeing, again, rushed the production line and made the 787 Dreamliner unsafe. Even though I know that Boeing has the potential to produce safe planes, there are certain things that Boeing need to do to regain its reputation, and I’m hoping to be one of those, debriefing the mysteries of the 737 MAX and telling truly what happened, what was fixed, and how it could be improved/how it’s safe now. For now, my researches have proved that, yes, even though Boeing may have made a huge mistake rushing the production of planes, but at the same time, the 737 MAX is safe now as it is under huge scrutiny from many countries in the world. I hope with my continuing research, I can give a well-based, supported-with-evidence statement that the 737 MAX is 100% safe now.

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QTuFL3YGpiXcqIU4rgGOcK23v5HOq6W48cdh7gEmi1k/edit

We are equal. We are all human. We all live on earth. These things should be obvious right? Then why are there many acts of inequality around the world? One specific act of inequality is the hate towards the LGBTQ community. As I am a part of the community it is frustrating being bullied and watching others get hurt for being who they are even if we are all equal. My goal here is to not only educate you but to give you reasons and examples on how you can help the inequality in the LGBTQ community. Did you know that 71% of lgbt youth experience discrimination just for the way they are? 58% of transgender and nonbinary you are discouraged for using bathrooms that arent right for them and people don’t really care about it. [That is not equality.] (https://www.google.com/search?q=meaning+of+equality&rlz=1CAIXET_enUS946&oq=meaning+of+equality&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l9.3061j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

Summary: After the law passing there are little to no changes in the discrimination towards the lgbtq+ community. There have been subtle changes that are good but have not impacted for the better. For example, some young lgbtq+ are in fear of experiencing discrimination in school or just in general. As of 2016 1 in 4 LGBT people are experiencing discrimination. Even though progress has been made, 27% of trans men and women are being fired because of their sexual orientation. 25% of LGBT people in general face discrimination because of their sexual orientation as well. The part that doesn’t get fired still gets affected by unseen harm. If there are get together s the men would only invite the men so no gay men could go causing them to feel left out or discriminated against.

Equality, something people all over the world have been fighting for, but have yet to experience. But in a more specific aspect, LGBTQ+ equality. In not just America, but everywhere including places such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, there is inequality much worse than it seems. People even try to escape the violence that is in their homeland just to be able to be free, to be accepted, to be equal. This has been going on for years along with other acts of inequality and people trying to escape for a better life, but for some reason, it hasn’t been brought to anyone’s attention- no it’s not that it hasn’t been brought to anyone’s attention, its that no one has cared enough to make it a mainstream issue until now (since there are more people from the lgbtq+ community).

Though the science department in America follows the equality of LGBTQ+, the people who work in the fields do not follow the same laws. There is discrimination within the walls that need to be dealt with. There are more reports of harassment of LGBTQ+ in facilities than other counterparts. It was found that LGBTQ+ workers who work in the STEM field have worse experiences in the workplace than LGBTQ+ who don’t work in STEM systems. In surveys, interviews, and other data collected show that anti- LGBTQ+ biases were being practiced in most STEM workplaces meaning that that wouldn’t change just like that, they are used to this. Like something they know they should do.

link to my bibliography

The anxiety of not completing an assignment that you have been stuck on for the past hour can be overwhelming, right? What if I told you millions of people feel the same way you do and there can be consequences of it, I’m not talking grade wise, I’m talking mentally. Homework as we have experienced causes a great amount of stress which can lead you to a poor mental state, sleep deprivation, and many more bad things. Which can be prevented by decreasing the amount of homework significantly and/or being taught how to combat such stress. [A couple of such ways is by managing time, controlling emotions, and monitoring your motivation.] (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1054844.pdf)

[Controlling Emotion] (https://www.rewireme.com/brain-insight/how-to-control-your-emotions/)

[Time Management] (https://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/7-essential-time-management-strategies/)

[Motivation] (https://ucsccaps.wordpress.com/2019/05/03/staying-motivated/)

A school can start to teach these things so life can be easier for the students, but not just for them though but their family and their teachers too. A study made in 2017 about [the effects of homework on middle class families] (https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&=&context=cup_commons_grad_edd&=&sei-redir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252Furl%253Fq%253Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fdigitalcommons.csp.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%25253D1069%252526context%25253Dcup_commons_grad_edd%2526sa%253DD%2526source%253Deditors%2526ust%253D1616434140114000%2526usg%253DAOvVaw0FRSYatcLU9NO7fYRvpdUB#search=%22https%3A%2F%2Fdigitalcommons.csp.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1069%26context%3Dcup_commons_grad_edd%22) shows that homework is the leading cause of stress in the household because it’s hard to have a “healthy balance of homework and family life”. This stress and less family time can lead to troubles in a family, and might even lead to divorce if it is disruptive enough.

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA), suggests there to be ten minutes of homework per grade level which is seemed to not be followed, [some kindergarteners are getting up to] (https://www.healthline.com/health-news/children-more-homework-means-more-stress-031114) 25 minutes of homework per day when they even aren’t supposed to get homework at all according to the National Education Association (NEA), and some second and third graders are even getting 28-29 minutes of homework per day taken in a survey in rhode island. It just doesn’t affect younger grades [but college students as] (https://mellowed.com/homework-stress/) well.

[Chart] (https://mellowed.com/homework-stress/)

The stress can be overwhelming sometimes but the United States is not the only country with a homework problem, Italy, UK, France, and many more suffer the consequences. A survey taken in the UK, in March of 2020 shows that 66% of students in the age range of 8-17 said that “they felt most stressed about homework and/or exams” compared to everything else. Which is pretty alarming considering that this was a survey with almost 2,000 kids, and 66% of 2,000 is 1,320. Just imagine how many people are struggling with it as well on a global level.

Now you might be wondering how can we stop this monstrosity of stress, well looking at countries like [Finland, Japan, and South Korea] (https://www.geekycamel.com/countries-give-less-homework-theyre-successful/#:~:text=Finland,they%20are%20seven%20years%20old.) which are countries that give very little homework per week, ranging from 2.9 hours to 3.9. They mostly rely on trust in the teachers and students, more testing, and new ways to learn that is more beneficial for the students later in life. And it seems to have paid off, Finland, South Korea, and Japan seem to be at the [top in the world for Math and Science at the age of 15.] (https://www.bbc.com/news/education-37716005) So why don’t we start making the change to no homework? Well, that’s the next step, students should start to spread awareness and make petitions to the school board calling for change.

[Bibliography] (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JCUpxbJm75pB3KNpx6rgm3gX1t_oSuAePhx-5FVyNws/edit#)

The topic that I chose to talk about is Homeless people in Philadelphia going through addiction. I know that not everyone thinks that homeless people are a big issue in today’s society but I do think it’s a big issue. There are lots of people that need help, who do not seek the right support they need. This topic is honestly major to me because I start to get emotional whenever I see a homeless person using any substance. After all, sometimes I feel the need to help them because I can not even imagine someone I know or a family member using substances and being homeless. It is honestly hard being in their position, even though most people did not choose to be in that position, few were either born into a family that dealt with substances of generations or had a past trauma. I think this problem is important because it could help others understand that other people have different lives and that not everything is what it seems like and to not judge. A personal connection that I have with this topic is that I live nearby people who are homeless and that are dealing with addiction. My goal in learning more about this project is to have a better understanding of how and why homeless people go through that and how hard it is that way I could teach others who are ignorant or just don’t understand how important this problem is in our community. A goal I have is to talk to some different services that help homeless people that deal with addiction and give them an idea that could help prevent people from becoming homeless addicts.

*This picture shows a group of people who went out just to feed homeless addicts and help them feel loved and comfortable. That way they are able to help them get out of addiction.( this inspires me!) *

While doing some research I saw that this issue was significant because many people in Philadelphia are homeless addicts. Although addiction isn’t always the reason why you’re homeless, It could expand the problem that led you to become a homeless person and start using substances. It is important because the population of homeless addicts is growing so much that now it’s accessible for young people to find and use and basically ruin their lives and not being able to be someone important in life. Young people like myself need to listen because this is a serious problem for whoever is living in Philadelphia. A lot of people died because of substances. Homeless people die because of substance because they either do not get the right help or need to stay away from it.

A young homeless addict girl asking for help.

Something important that you should know is that half of the people that become homeless go through things like for example being pressured into doing something, and because of that, they are later on introduced to substances while living in the streets. Now that’s not always the case some are homeless because they were introduced to substance early in there lives and then because of that became homeless but what everyone should know is that not every person who is homeless are dealing with substance they are many other different reasons why they are homeless and that is a myth that needs to stop because everyone thinks the same that every homeless person is an addict. This has impacted my understanding of homeless addicts even more because I did not know that substance could be a tool to help homeless people to help forget about past experiences and or traumas. What I’m wondering now is how people do not understand that addiction isn’t always the reason why they’re homeless. I learned so far that although addiction is either part of someone being homeless most of time people become homeless for just things that the governments does which is raise the rent to an apartment that makes it hard for that person to even pay that breaks my heart because losing a home or even a job must be really difficult and I couldn’t imagine that happening to someone I know. I read this small biography about a homeless women and she talked about how she came from a family that are addicts and how she is trying to do her best in telling other people to stop trying or even try substances because once you try you become an addict and many other people like her are trying to advise young people to follow their dreams and not become a nobody because drugs could ruin the possibility of having a great future. Like why can’t they put themselves in their position? What I’m hoping to learn later throughout this project is why certain people have a stereotype mentality of how and what a person is, by the way they physically look, and also if homeless addicts feel ashamed by the way others look at them.

Due to the SDP half-day, we will run under the below abbreviated schedule on 3/26.

Friday, 3/26

09:00am - 09:55am B2 Band

10:00am - 10:55am X2 Band

11:00am - 11:55am E2 Band

link to interact with the game: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1augCykfxlWda5YFaClLRg_M_fZFdTnei4wJGCytDguc/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MncAKWLOh34CGnLtcUt6gqkXVjmCvQpIIXmC7Cxhdek/edit?usp=sharing

Why does colorsim even exist in the black community? Why should it matter if my sister is darker than me pr my brother is lighter than me. Our blackness shouldn’t define who and what we are as people, and by colorsim it separate the black community. Colorism is discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group, and it doesn’t only happens in the black community it happens everywhere around the world. But in this case, in the black community this hold a big impact on darker skin women in particular because they are the bottom end of this.

In the media it shows how they view the black women as if she is one category and shes mostly always going to be light skin. https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/09/colorism-racism-why-black-people-discriminate-among-ourselves this website talks about how the media and even in everyday life darker skinned people are treated differently than lighter skinned people. Colorism doesn’t work for light skinned people, they are the ones who benefit from it. The TV dark skinned best friend or the dark skinned character were always made “manly” or “ ghetto” and being gentle or kind. Colorism does appear in everyday life, a light skinned woman/ male is more likely to be married. Different pay rates are not the same if you’re darker skinned, if you are darker skinned you are more likely to to be prison time more than lighter skin.

https://sites.wp.odu.edu/bodylore/2019/03/04/colorism-within-the-african-american-community/ This site explains how what colorism is and how it started back in slavery “Colorism within the black community dates back to slavery, for the lighter men/women were considered to be “house ni*****” while the darker tones were outside in the fields. Is it safe to say the white man created color separation within the African-American society?” and Slave owners were more “nicer” to the indoor slaves because they were the off springs’ of slave owners due to the raping of women. Slave owners usually did not want to claim or recognize their illegitimate children therefore, they were given special privileges instead” the talks about how it shows in the media. how you see the main character is light skinned or white most of the time and darkskin is the second lead.

https://www.idsnews.com/article/2020/11/black-vocies-colorism-is-a-plague-in-the-black-community This site is actually an interview, the people who were interviewed were college students. The first question was have you ever experienced colorism before, James Stewart said, “I’ve personally not had to go through colorism that concerned me, but I’ve seen my friend go through it. Someone who happened to be, of course, African American was speaking about how they hate light skins.” I think this really speaks the truth because some people hate light skins because they are the Exception of being black. if you are a dark skin black girl you tend to see a process in which people don’t find you beautiful so they tend to get jealous and don’t like light skinned black women. They asked the same question to DeDjreanna Thames and they said, “Yes. I grew up in a mostly Black neighborhood. I had girls jump me growing up because I was too light. I was told I didn’t belong because my skin wasn’t dark. I was picked on a lot because I was very light.” This is interesting because colorism doesn’t work for lighter skin people, you benefit from it not being hated just because you’re light skin. They are the ideal type of black girl to be, they jumped you because they were envious of you, not because you were light skin.

https://www.litwi.org/blog/colorism-among-the-black-community This article brings up how colorism does exist and it does appear i the black community. It’s very toxic because some black men or men in general wouldn’t date dark skin women. The reason why i said women is dark skin men are fetishized and looked over into being “sexy” or “fine pieces of chocolate”. Dark Skin women don’t get fetishized unless they have some sort of “white features” then you would be considered “exotic”.” The “paper bag test” is often utilized in black spaces and the hiring of black people in the 19th and 20th centuries. If someone is the same color as or lighter-skinned than a paper bag, they would be allowed into space/considered for hire. If they were any darker than a paper bag, they would not be allowed in that space/considered for that job.” This made me sad because I remember my great grandfather told me about this. and how they had a brown paper bag to tell you if you are good or not. “shows that dark-skinned women are less likely to be married than lighter-skinned women.” Yes I remember reading about this, it’s crazy how people are so anti dark skin and don’t want to marry them just because their oppressors made them think that way. https://www.nccj.org/colorism-0 This site explains the difference between Colorism: Racism: And Discrimination: And telling how if you experience that you would know which one it would be. It states, “Skin tone was often the most important factor in applying for work as a person of color in the mid-20th century. Light skin was often reported on a resume ahead of any other information or experience.” This isn’t a surprise for me, a lot of dark skinned people get declined based on their skin color. “Dark skinned defendants are more likely to be convicted and receive the death penalty than lighter skinned ones. | MS Magazine” This is heartbreaking because it shows how colorism is ingrained in society, you don’t ask to be born but you still have to handle a world that will decline you just because you have darker skin. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4365794/ This source talks about how darker skin men were more discriminated against than lighter skinned men. “It is not surprising that early research conducted following the emancipation of slaves found that African Americans were influenced by colorism.” I feel like it’s black men and women should fix that in the community, it’s so ingrained in the black community that colorism is hidden by “ preference“ and they would often say “I like light skins because dark skins are….” This is colorism!! It doesn’t matter if you have a lighter skin tone you still are black at the end of the day. “Indeed this interdependent orientation may extend to African American constructions of masculinity ideals as well. For example, masculinity research suggests that African American manhood is often constructed relationally.” Some black men wants to date a light skin women because they do not want their baby to be dark, I heard in many cases that if black men wants kids they go for light skins because obviously they are the perception of beauty but also they are worried about how dark they’re baby is going to be, which is strange because skin color doesn’t matter if you make a baby, you could both be dark skin but comes out with a brown skin or a lighter skin baby.

This was our final episode. We talked about how we felt about the book’s ending and assigned awards to our favorite and most hated characters.

By Trinity, Dinajda, Elijah, Winston, and Kara.

On Todays episode we began with a summary on the book, reflection about the ending and then went into our award ceremony. We presented 5 awards to various scenes and characters.

We hope your enjoy

Todays Episode: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14IZsgUgejTYp5W_lgf3RyQGfHor6Cy6B/view?usp=sharing

In this final episode, Tina, Harper, Jabree, Ruby, and Faith give their final ratings of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, recap what happened since the last episode, and present some awards. List of awards; most responsible, funniest scene, best relationship between characters, most underrated character, and worst character. Page #s; 45, 146 & 218)

Gabby, Sebina, Jazz and Fatima In this episode, we hosted an award show where we presented characters from Girl In Translation with awards like most wholesome and genuine, most likely to not follow directions, most hardworking, most caring, most jealous, biggest loser, and most indecisive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XkVn1ZHO7BkWHhGNIvfJIQjEu524H1XS/view?usp=sharing