I Can Officially Say That My History Class Is Everything Ive Ever Wanted In Life. For Homework Last Night,

I can officially say that my history class is everything I’ve ever wanted in life. For homework last night, we read an article about how hand-written notes enhance learning and help students analyze and remember content, verses the less helpful effects of note taking with a laptop. We split into groups of four and discussed things we noticed, disliked, and were intrigued over from the article, later writing observations on the board. Though I wasn’t able to talk, the whole time I was thinking about my own theories and observations about what technology has done to our generation. 

With the Internet, wifi, and the world of updates, social media, and handy gadgets upon us, today’s citizens are more connected, involved, and consumed with information than ever before. It definitely has it’s benefits - efficiency, safety, and knowledge among them. We can call, text, learn something new with the click of a button, have the world only a few types away. But today, studies are constantly popping up about how what you do on a screen effect you in negative ways. I often think about times before typing and Google existed: a time of writing, book research, correspondence and script, because the only options were pen and paper. And no distractions! How many more blog posts could I have finished during the hours I spent watching YouTube? Were the eras before the present day tech boom smarter and less cluttered? Obviously the world today has it’s beauty and benefits verses time of the past, but sometimes I still wonder.   

My history teacher was going through what we’d written on the board, briefly discussing each before she moved on to ask us: “In three words, tell me how you think our world is going right now?” I straight-up gave a thumbs down sign. Other classmates provided adjectives - “divided, angry, messy”. “Okay, why do you think so?” She called on me, and I said, “I think a big issue today is climate change and global warming in general. It is a very global issue that people aren’t doing enough about, when it comes to who gets what and who does what, and I think our generation is very much at the cusp of this issue. Because, going back to the technology topic, our generation has the most opportunities, but we also have the most responsibility, and that’s a very real thing in regard to this problem.” My teacher responded with a take-apart of what I’d said about “who gets what and who does what” adding on with “and who doesn’t get what.” She agreed with me, concluding with a statement about how humanity has been through rough patches and didn’t think they’d get through it, but they did. Sometimes I just need to hear something that hopeful.   

She went on to show us a slide show of covers from The Economist magazine. All the covers had pictures and titles about one of four countries: Russia, China, Great Britain, and the USA. Specifically, how Russia and China are becoming more powerful and economically prosperous, and how the contrasting Western countries are declining in strength. My history teacher said that everything with history has one bigger theme, a story, if you will. We told her that the story for these images was a rising East and falling West. She explained that for us, as Westerners, it comes as a moral crisis in our eyes, that these countries that don’t share all of our American values are becoming more powerful. How are these governments, without all our liberties of democracy, capitalism, free trade of goods and services, and freedom of speech, rising and supporting their people? Why are we, citizens of the greatest country on Earth, watching our government decline in contrast to more “corrupt” governments? What’s going wrong? 

I really love my history class. I know this didn’t tackle one set issue or topic, but I found these discussions to be very interesting. I hope something in this gives you a different outlook on the world today, sparks a discussion with you and another. Have a nice weekend, everyone.

Welcome back - hope you had a happy January 1st! Everyone has been talking about their hopes for 2018. I’ve heard themes of unity, peace, and working towards a better future. I’m happy that everyone is talking about about a better new year, but I’ve been thinking about something else. 

Climate change is an issue that is more important than ever. To kick off the new year, I wanted to take us on a short, much-needed tour of what it is and what could happen. Hope this answers some questions~ 

True or False: Climate change is real.     True. Climate change refers to the change in global climate patterns, seen from the late 20th century onward. Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are produced by fossil fuel emissions; as atmospheric gases damage the ozone layer, heat from the sun’s rays is trapped between the earth and space. More heat means warmer weather, and scientists everywhere agree that temperatures have risen drastically in recent years.     There will be many negative outcomes of climate change, especially if nothing is done to prevent it. The earth’s temperatures are changing too much and too fast, and so many places will suffer - if they aren’t already. If a global effort to battle this issue doesn’t kick in, we’ll face the consequences.   

True or False: Humans have nothing to do with it.     False. Humans have everything to do with it: we’re the reason it’s happening. There are many harmful effects human activity has on the environment, and we have to understand what we’ve done before we can decide what to do.     With rising populations, more resources will be needed to provide the world’s population with food, transportation, medicine, and more. Countries need space to develop and harvest food for their citizens. Cars, trains, and other forms of transportation take people where they need to go every day. Public institutions like hospitals and schools are vital to a community. All these factors of daily life required energy sources and materials; often, those efforts end up creating excess waste.     Every day, humans produce trash just by going about their daily lives. Using a paper napkin, bagging groceries with plastic bags, ordering takeout - all these actions will result in something being thrown out. Our trash ends up in landfills, bodies of water, or as litter blowing around the street. When bits of plastic or other discarded materials make their way into the environment, habitats are polluted and species suffer. While we can’t totally eliminate the waste we produce, we can make those numbers smaller. By reducing how much we use, reusing what we can, and recycling what we can’t, we can make the environment a cleaner, healthier place.     ‘The Greenhouse Effect’ refers to the increasing levels of atmospheric gases harming our planet. As I said before, increased amounts of gases cause heat from the sun to be trapped in the earth’s atmosphere - the main culprit of climate change. Many of our activities require the burning of fossil fuels, which emits carbon dioxide and other gases. But there are better ways to power your home or car, such as solar power instead of electricity, or vegetable oil rather than gas. Unless we switch to these renewable energies, the main cause of climate change will remain.   

True or False: Ecosystems and species will suffer.         True. A warming planet will negatively effect many environmental patterns, habitats, and species.     In the arctic, ice is melting at an alarming pace because of warmer temperatures. Sea levels are rising, endangering many land habitats and the animals who live there. Polar bears, for example, are loosing homes and hunting grounds because of climate change.     Heat waves, shifting rainfall patterns, and other weather-related events will become stronger. A warming planet causes more heat waves and droughts, while excess rainfall and worse storms have become more frequent in recent years. All these disasters will cause global ecosystems to suffer, forcing threatened species to migrate - or go extinct.     Everything in nature is connected. Rising temperatures cause more water to evaporate into water vapor, which makes up precipitation in storms and hurricanes. If more ice is melting, there is more water in the oceans, which contributes to that risk. Underwater temperatures are rising as well, which harms the inhabitants of coral reefs and other habitats.     When an animal or plant species faces extinction, the biodiversity of its habitat suffers. Species that depend on it may loose a vital food source; if that species’ population shrinks, those that depend on it will suffer as well. When the food web takes enough hits, the entire structure could unravel at the seams. Climate change and what it means for the natural world is an issue with multiple moving parts, and some of those could be disastrous.   

True or False: Climate change effects us.     True. Rising sea levels threaten coastal cities, many of which could be underwater in just a couple of decades. Without biodiversity or stable ecosystems, the plants and animals we depend on for food could be wiped out in a similar time frame. Storms and other weather-related disasters have already damaged many people’s lives, and so many more would be uprooted. With these desperate possibilities, all your sic-fi movies could come true.   

True or False: We can’t do anything.     100% False. There’s so much we can do, as individuals and as an international community. But larger steps must be taken sooner, if we want to slow down this global catastrophe.     Today, many people are ‘going green’, a term that refers to making more environmentally friendly and responsible decisions. Cutting down on how much you throw out, driving a car less often, and being conscientious about the effects of your actions all will lead to a healthier planet. Changes in your daily habits have a larger effect than you think.     Human emissions of greenhouse gases are the main cause of climate change - energy transition is the key. Conversion to solar and wind power, among other alternatives, will offer more jobs and be safer for the environment. But while citizens are taking action, international policy isn’t doing nearly enough. Society has put off action for so long, scientists say that the worst outcomes of climate change might not be that far off. Widespread change must happen ASAP, if we want a chance at winning the war against climate change. And that starts with you! Join organizations that do research on renewable energies, provide aid to damaged ecosystems, or advocate for government action. Find ways you can go green within your own home. Talk to others about what you know, and what needs to be done in the future.      

The way I see it, all the rights in the world won’t matter if this planet isn’t sustained - & that fate rests in our hands. My hope for 2018 is that people everywhere will crack down on preventing climate change. My New Year’s resolution is to play my part by doing what I can for environmental efforts - I hope you will too. Happy New Year! 

“Words have the power to change the world, and that realization inspires me everyday.” ~Amanda Gorman

Thank you!

Thank you so much for 100 followers!!! I didn’t expect this much support within 6 months, thank you so so much! Sorry there’s been a lapse in posting lately - theres a lot going on in my life right now, but expect some good stuff soon. Have a lovely day everyone! :D

Bayard Rustin was an American civil and gay rights activist, a leader in the social movements of socialism and nonviolence, and the founder of organizations such as the Congress of Racial Equality and the March on Washington Movement. He was an openly gay black man, Martin Luther King Jr.’s right hand man, a pioneer for equality even before the Civil Right’s movement - and he has been erased from history.

Bayard was born in Pensilvania in 1912. He was raised by his grandparents, only later learning that his older “sister” was actually his mother, having gotten pregnant at 16. In the 1930s, he studied at two historically black colleges, and briefly joined the Young Communist League. During World War II, he fought for racial equality in war-related hiring, and was sentenced to two years in jail for refusing to register for the draft. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, he played a huge role in the Civil Rights movement, the organization of the March on Washington, and advising MLK. He died of a ruptured appendix in 1987. 

Bayard was arrested over 20 times in his life for both his work in activism, and for being openly homosexual. Throughout his career, he faced backlash from allies and enemies alike for being open about his sexual orientation. He is an inspiration to us all for his work as an activist, organizer, and leader, never apologizing for being who he was.  In 2013, President Barack Obama granted him the Presidential Medal of Honor for his groundbreaking work - Bayard’s lifelong partner, Walter Neagle, accepted the award on his behalf.   

I am the challenger. Standing in the ring,  your foolishness thundering at me, two beady eyes of human hate, two sharpened horns that prick where I’ve wounds. That turn on others when it hurts them most. I challenge you, counter you, shouting in rage at what you’ve done to hurt us; what you’ll do to hurt anything you fear. And you fear me, my swift foot, bent knee, flick of red from muscled knowledge. (I might be young, but I’ve the strength of a thousand fighters) Reading has done me so well, but experience, out in the real ring, is where I present my skill. Crowds are stomping, howling. You charge at me. I am the challenger - I will cut you down. Because I know I deserve better than this. As does all. You run, I swoop; You stomp, I switch; You bellow, I roar, and we are at it again, a bullfight of wit and change and progress. Your bright eyes are misinformed. Mine know enough to prove you wrong, to slow you, cut you down, and then we will be human again. I am the challenger, of all I see to be wrong, of all I know I can change. I am proud. You can be changed. Changed by I, the challenger.