Activism Log # 9

Jennifer Smith
Nina Perez
WST 3015
4/18/10

Activism:
This was probably the busiest and most important week in our campaign. We had to have all our signatures turned into Rebecca by the end of class on Wednesday; we had decided early on in our campaign that each individual was responsible for a certain number of signatures. It was also our last week to petition, so I joined most of my group on Wednesday in front of the Student Union for some last minute tabling. I even acquired a very funny and painful sunburn from being outside too long. Later in the week, to prepare for the rally on Friday, I spent a few hours making posters. Since we would have to be silent during the first portion of the rally, I tried to make sure my posters conveyed the point of our silence to the best of my abilities.

Reflection:
During the silent portion of our rally, we each wore taped over our mouths and stayed quite for all the people in our world whose voices aren’t heard. It just happened that our rally fell on the same day as some middle school campus tours. I thought this was a good thing for kids to see, but was actually shocked by how rude and insulting some of the kids were. A few of them even called Alex and me dykes. In class we’re reading Lee Welles’ young adult Gaia Girls’ books. Seeing the way some kids behave makes me hope that somewhere out there are kids reading her books who realize that activism is a good thing. I would hate to think that all young adults have the same feelings about activism as the middle schoolers we saw.

Reciprocity:
Since our rally fell on the Day of Silence, we took the opportunity to create a “Wall of Hate.” This wall was made up of a few poster boards, which during our silence we invited anyone to come up and sign or write anything down someone had said that they considered hateful. I actually signed the wall and was happy to help tear it down after we finally broke the silence. I thought it was a good representation of what everyone in Equal is trying to do; end the cycle of hate and discrimination in our society.

Works Cited:
Welles, Lee. Gaia Girls: Enter the Earth. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Pub., 2006. Print.
Welles, Lee. Gaia Girls: Way of Water. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Pub., 2007. Print.