Earlier this year, Ms. Angeles asked me to color-code the chairs in her classroom to prevent students from stealing them to sit in the hallway. This often left her with an insufficient number of chairs for her large classes. For my capstone project, I used this opportunity to creatively paint color-coded designs on the chairs, emphasizing the art-classroom vibe and just making it easier to identify and recover missing chairs. At first, Ms. Angeles suggested to just paint dots on the chairs to match the tables. However, I expanded the idea into an artsy project to make the chairs very identifiable and fun. Some students also joined in, which was nice to see the variation in artistic stiles come out.

I struggled a bit with finding the right sealant, managing time, and working around class schedules. Despite this, I was proud of how I improved as a painter. I started with simpler designs, and moved onto more complex ones, which made me happy about how everything turned out.

In “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, we see the man and the boy’s experience in their run-ins with others. Often, these encounters are scary and come down to ‘kill or be killed’. In our map, we tracked how the man and the boy’s encounters with others has demonstrated how people have abandoned the idea of ‘morality’ to survive.

This idea connects to the boy and the man’s self-label of being “the good guys” by how they differ from others. However, in some encounters we see the man’s lack of morality because of his lack of empathy, unlike the boy. Through all the characters we meet in this book, it becomes apparent that the only character who hasn’t abandoned morality is the boy. Multiple times throughout the book, the boy demonstrates his empathy for others. First, with the man who was hit by lightning that he wanted to help so desperately, then again when he saw another little boy and ‘needed’ to find and help him. This is especially shown in their encounter with “Eli”, the old man, when he insisted on sharing the little amount of food they had with him (meant to include in the picture). Throughout the “The Road” the boy shows empathy and care for others in a world that has given up on humanity.

(More description in the picture)

One thing that resonates with me a lot from The Handmaid’s Tale is the societal treatment of women. It resembles my mom’s culture a lot and reminds me of my family’s experience that has become normalized to them. My mom is from a republic of Russia that’s called Chechnya, which is entirely muslim. The way the entire culture works is that men work, while women: stay home, have a bunch of children, and cook and clean all day. Chechen women’s value is based on being a servant; an object. It’s also very common for Chechens to have arranged marriages, and more crudely, men can ‘claim’ a woman on the street just by touching them.

Chapter 34 really hit home with me because of the Prayvaganza’s similarities to my culture’s idea of marriage. Chechen culture isn’t quite as extreme as a mass marriage ceremony but there are still arranged marriages for practically children. Offred refers to Gilead’s philosophy on marrying off 14 year olds “Start them soon is the policy, there’s not a moment to be lost” (pg. 219). Most of my relatives were married by age 16-19, including my mom in her first marriage. ‘There is not a moment to be lost’ because they want them to be the most physically viable for pregnancy; their worth is based on how useful they are to their husbands. Just like how Offred describes the Prayvaganza’s matches, it’s also extremely common for young girls to get married off to grown men in Chechnya. It’s the same in both Gilead and Chechnya. This chapter especially resonated with me because I witnessed how this affected my cousin, whose father married her off when she was 18 to a man she’d never met before. This was a really hard time for her and everyone else in my family. Even though it was her life, my cousin had no say in the matter, and no one else in my family could do anything because that’s how the patriarchy in Chechnya works. “they’ll always have been silent” (219) Those girls getting married in the Prayvaganza knew they were powerless in that situation, resulting in their silence, similarly to my cousin. Women in both societies often don’t get a choice in their future.

My cousin thankfully was able to get divorced after a few months of being trapped in a loveless marriage, which angered her father. My cousin’s punishment for her decision to get divorced was her father never speaking to her again, which was 6 years ago now. Which reminds me of page 220 “Love, said Aunt Lydia with distaste. Don’t let me catch you at it. No mooning and June-ing around here, girls. Wagging her finger at us. Love is not the point.” I guess that was my uncle’s mentality - ‘love’ just doesn’t matter. But just like in Gilead where people are trapped in loveless marriages, the same thing happens to many women in my culture.

Another thing about Gilead’s objectification of women that reminds me of Chechen culture is their requirements about women’s clothing. Just like the different roles for women in Gilead, all Chechen women are forced to not only cover up, but they can only wear skirts/dresses. Only in the past few years when I have gone to visit my mom’s side of the family for the summer I’ve been subjected to this rule. It feels really dehumanizing, having to dress and act a certain way just to not get judged by my own family. Six weeks out of the year I live how a Chechen woman does, which means most of the days I’m taking care of children, constantly cleaning, and rarely get a chance to just sit down. Frankly, I love my family, but it’s incredibly exhausting. And having to wear a skirt through a full day of non-stop physical labor I really relate to how Offred feels having to wear a warm dress in hot weather. Honestly it has ruined skirts/dresses for me. Often I feel like I physically cannot dress similarly to how I would during the summer, I just get a reminder of being treated like a servant. Chechens are taught that women who wear pants draw more unwanted attention to their body from men. Essentially, taught the same as how Offred and other girls in the Red Center are taught about dressing modestly. “The spectacles women used to make of themselves. Oiling themselves like roast meat on a spit, and bare backs and shoulders, on the street, in public, and legs, not even stockings on them, no wonder those things used to happen.”(pg. 55) When one of my cousins first explained to me how pants were forbidden because they drew attention from men, I heard all the same things. Two cultures that believe in victim blaming. Just like the Red Center brainwashing Handmaids, it really feels like my relatives are completely brainwashed.

To many Americans, The Handmaid’s Tale is just a dystopian novel. However, in my experience with my own culture, there are women all around the world who can relate to a lot of how Gilead treats women.

The Handmaid’s Tale is packed with real-world connections; the most obvious is the politics around controlling women’s bodies. Gilead uses abortion and clothing as some of the ways of oppressing the women of its society, which can be reflected in our own.

This ongoing theme of controlling women’s bodies in The Handmaid’s Tale is so relevant considering all that’s happened in the past year with Roe v Wade getting overturned. In the book, it depicts ex-doctors that had performed abortions in the time before that have been hanged/killed for it. A real-life comparison that immediately comes to mind is southern states since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Some southern states have not only outlawed abortion but have created laws so strongly against it that anyone that got an abortion/performed one would get a life sentence in prison. In Gilead, people have been taught the propaganda around the concept of abortion. As stated on page 33, “These men, we’ve been told, are like war criminals. It’s no excuse that what they did was legal at the time: their crimes are retroactive. They have committed atrocities and must be made into examples, for the rest.” This has become so sensitive in some states that recent laws to prosecute doctors not only for abortion, but for discussing abortion, or discussing ‘family planning.’ While the consequences for breaking these laws aren’t as bad as what happens in Gilead, real life doctors are made examples of in our society for other doctors as a warning. Just as the people of Gilead understand what happened when they pass a salvaging and see exactly why a man was executed - “Each has a placard hung around his neck to show why he has been executed: a drawing of a human fetus.”(pg 32) - doctors in our society are made an example of through news sources, so people understand the gravity of performing/undergoing an abortion and what the consequences are. That is just recent legal development. Abortion doctors have been killed/assaulted in the USA since the 1980s. Not only that, there have been cases of clinics getting vandalized and even bombed. It’s a very slippery slope between the legal and illegal situations surrounding abortion that could lead to how anti-abortion culture in Gilead works.

The real-world comparisons don’t stop at abortion laws, but other ways of controlling women’s bodies. There may be large differences between Gilead and our democracy, but it is comparable in other parts of the world. Gilead has very strict laws on how women are supposed to live in their society. Every woman has a specific dress code they must follow, and dire consequences if they fail to follow them. This reminds me of other theocracies in the world such as Iran and other countries with Islamic extremes. Mahsa Amini was a woman who was arrested and beaten to death just a year ago for not wearing a hijab correctly. While we are not exactly sure what would happen in Gilead if Offred didn’t follow her Handmaid’s uniform, there have been mentions of being ‘shipped off’ or other extremes for what feels like small reasons. Just like Gilead, our world looks for ways to control women in any possible way, which happens to emphasize on clothing a lot. This method of oppression is often blamed on women. As Aunt Lydia says about men, which is just an echo of our society´s rape culture, “They can’t help it. God made them that way but he did not make you that way.” (pg. 45) Women are treated as objects in our society and Gilead´s. Victim blaming is such a common thing to happen when a woman is assaulted, the first thing that comes up is ¨what were you wearing¨. This idea is especially emphasized on page 55, ¨The spectacles women used to make of themselves. Oiling themselves like roast meat on a spit, and bare backs and shoulders, on the street, in public, and legs, not even stockings on them, no wonder these things used to happen.¨ Completely blaming something like assault on clothing is used in such an oppressive way; reinforcing the idea that ¨It’s not in men’s control.¨ “Modesty is invisibility, said Aunt Lydia. Never forget it. To be seen-to be seen-is to be-her voice trembled-penetrated. What you must be, girls, is impenetrable.” - pg. 28

There are countless other real-world comparisons to be found in The Handmaid's Tale, but the themes on controlling women's bodies are the most significant.  

¨Now and again we vary the route; there’s nothing against it, as long as we stay within the barriers. A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.¨ - pg. 174

In my previous post, I discussed what problems happen often with police mishandling situations, and what programs we can implement to help stop police brutality. This is a very big problem that has a lot of media attention already, unfortunately because of the people who lost their lives at the hands of police. We see this primarily with the Black Lives Matter movement and I see a lot of people raising awareness over social media. An interesting website I found called Campaign Zero, is a national organization which focuses on stopping police brutality by pushing to pass legislation to create anti brutality laws. They also find solutions to police issues and organize protests. Another website that I found is Dream Defenders. They are based in Florida and believe in creating our own programs to uplift our communities instead of relying on the police. I think these kinds of organizations are the most effective way of making positive change, by really acting on the issue. While being educated is a great step, not using that knowledge to act on a problem is not as helpful as it could be. So this organization is a great way to act on the issue. On raising awareness, I think social media is the fastest way. This could be a problem though because sometimes false information is spread around. But usually I find that it’s a good way to bring attention to a cause. My agent of change was creating a website that educates the reader more on my topic of police brutality and provides sources to how they can help by donating or signing petitions. I decided to share my website in three ways.The first way was by sending out an email to orange stream. Second, I put it on my instagram page in my bio, and lastly I posted it on Padlet. My experience creating this was good. I enjoy making websites so this was a more enjoyable project for me. I was effective in making change in the way so if someone decides to view my website, even if they decide not to donate or sign petitions, they will at least be educated on how we can stop police brutality.

The home page of my website

I learned a lot during this project. I learned a lot about police brutality in general, and it’s terrible effects. I also learned about the big question; how do we stop police brutality? I hear frequently “defund the police” and “police reform” but not actually how to do this and what steps to take. And I’m happy to say I learned a lot of ways to do this properly so that communities and people get the support they need. I felt like researching this was my point of pride in this project. It really is a really interesting topic thats so important. What I liked seeing in other people’s projects is what interested them or what they’re passionate about. Just their choice in their topic alone is interesting. What I felt that I could do better is time management. I struggle at many points to get it in on time. All that is left for this project is hopefully more people click the link to my website so they can learn more about how to stop police brutality.

Police brutality is an ongoing problem in America. Recently, we’ve witnessed more and more tragic examples of this with people such as Nicolas Chavez, Patrick Warren Sr., and here in Philadelphia, Walter Wallace Jr. This is such an important issue because of how much harm it has caused. It feels like almost every day we hear about another person who was killed by police. My focus on the subject is police reacting to mental health crises, and how we can prevent harmful situations.

Writing on a sidewalk in New York City “Stop Murder by Police”

The question is, how can we stop this problem? A shocking demographic shows that “People who have untreated mental illnesses are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter, and those who have an untreated severe mental illness are involved in up to half of all fatal police shootings.” An incredible amount of people are hurt and even killed in police encounters that are meant to save them. A possible way to help fix this problem is through health care workers working with police. Many areas have begun using this method. One example is a program called CAHOOTS in Eugene, Oregon. This program has been around the longest, for 30 years. This program has been the inspiration for many others.

A CAHOOTS bus in Eugene, Oregon

But what do these programs do? These programs implement a very nonviolent approach that has been saving countless lives. For 911 calls about mental health crises, officials will send a trained professional to defuse the situation and get them the help they need. These health care workers will be unarmed, and in cases of possible violence, will be sent with a police officer. They will also respond to calls on smaller things, such as a homeless person in need of help, clothes, etc. In New York City, they will also be implementing this method in the two neighborhoods with the most calls related to mental health crises. “Making healthcare-only teams the default response will reduce the number of times police respond and ensure that people get the physical and mental health care they need quickly.” This can be beneficial for everyone, including police, who can focus on real crime.

A police officer standing in Times Square

Why are police not handling these situations properly? “A 2006 report from the Justice Department found that police officers typically receive about 111 hours on firearms skill and self-defense — but just 11 on cultural diversity and human relations, eight on community policing strategies, and eight on mediation and conflict management.” This is a problem. Police spend their time training for fighting, but not nearly enough in other subjects like racial sensitivity and handling mental health crises. When a police officer is in a potentially dangerous confrontation, their racial biases emerge and this often causes harm to innocent people. “This doesn’t speak just to how little police are trained to handle racial bias, but also all sorts of other situations they take part in — mental health crises, interactions with the LGBTQ community, and domestic and sexual abuse cases, as a few examples. Police just aren’t well-trained to handle a wide variety of sensitive, difficult areas.” In addition to this, why should police be the only resort for any problem? Police should be meant for real crime and violent situations. “We should be asking ourselves why it is that law enforcement has become the default system to handle situations related to mental health, addiction, poverty and homelessness, and what public safety should really mean for our most vulnerable neighbors.”

Researching this topic has taught me how much of a problem police brutality is in America, and how much mental health crisis situations are mishandled. The reality is that police aren’t trained for defusing situations that are non-violent or have to do with a psychological episode. Nor is this the intended function of the police. This is why we need programs such as CAHOOTS, to handle these situations so that they can stay peaceful, successful, and beneficial for everyone.

Group: Ike Kelman, Noah Frank. Lily Weston, Medina Baram

In this discussion we talked about what happened since we last met, Our predictions for the future, and what songs we thought correlated best with the book. We read from “The Fall” to “The Fight”.

https://www.wevideo.com/view/2079798976

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nYIftf9kGGrnyai4aBmXJjA2ilwvZc2w/view?usp=sharing