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An Introduction to Human Rights Written By: Juliana Weber Publishing Date: August 9, 2023 I n the U.S., people often talk about human rights, but not as many people actually know what they are. The following article offers a brief introduction to international human rights law. TIMELINE The modern human rights paradigm is often said to begin with the United Nations’ adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. Driven in large part by the mass deaths from World War II and especially by the Holocaust, the UDHR marked “the first time in human history” that an international document articulated the “basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights” that all human beings possess ( OHCHR ). In 1966, the UN General Assembly (GA) adopted the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The two International Covenants, alongside the UDHR, form what is known as the International Bill of Human Rights. MAJOR DOCUMENTS Alongside the UDHR and the two Covenants, there are seven other core human rights treaties: International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Convention Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Convention on the Rights of the Child Convention for the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is also crucial. It was one of the earliest treaties, entering into force in 1951. As is clear in the names of these conventions, the premier right in human rights law is not freedom of speech but rather, freedom from discrimination. PHILOSOPHY International human rights law represents a radical break in traditional statecraft. Since the 17 th century in Europe, Westphalian sovereignty—the idea that each state exerts complete control over its own territory—had reigned supreme. However, the creation of the League of Nations after WWI, followed by the United Nations after WWII, weakened that idea. Especially in the wake of the Holocaust, it was no longer justifiable to let a state exert absolute and unchecked power over its people. Instead, the philosophical underpinning of international human rights law draws from both Enlightenment thinking and Utilitarianism. The former philosophical movement argued for the existence of intrinsic, unalienable rights (said to be bestowed by God) that belong to every person—though in reality, the purview of these rights was then limited to white men. Utilitarianism is also based on the assumption that every person is equal to every other person; an action is good or justifiable when it does the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. In this context, forgoing absolute Westphalian sovereignty was deemed necessary for the greater good of all humankind. Sources Previous Next

< Back Progress of Today and Tomorrow Written By: Jessica Dearing Publishing Date: February 20, 2022 Black History Month is important to celebrate; African-Americans have come a long way for their rights and for their history to be recognized. The term “history” and the black and white photos tend to make important moments in time, such as the civil rights movement in the 1950s, feel as if it happened further into the past than a few decades ago. It is important to realize this when taking a look at black history being made today. There are events in our history that affect today and there are black history legacies that have started very recently. One big event was in 2008, Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States and the first African-American president. More recently, Kamala Harris became the first black vice president, elected in 2020. This was not Harris’ only “first” , she was also the first vice president to graduate from a historically black university and the first black American to be California’s Attorney General. While these firsts continue to happen in leadership positions in government, there is even more happening in between. Many efforts have been made by the Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to improve health equity and outcomes that disproportionately impact black Americans . Some of these efforts included lowering or eliminating health insurance premiums for millions of lower- and middle-income black families, funding support and COVID-19 vaccines for underserved communities, and introducing more postpartum policies to protect vulnerable mothers. It is big news that such a powerful part of the U.S. government is making strides in helping these major issues, but there is still a long way to go. Topics such as voting rights, racial injustice, and critical race theory have been in recent news a lot lately. These subjects are far from new, though. The death of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and the acquittal of George Zimmerman the following year lead to the use of “Black Lives Matter” for the first time. The use and movement against police brutality grew more over the years, most notably in 2014 when Micheal Brown was fatally shot and more recently, Geoge Floyd in 2020. While these subjects have gained support and more discussion, they have also been met with push-back. But this is where effort starts and blooms; from activism to action. Fortunately, today’s social media platforms have given black Americans an outlet to speak , making it easier for ideas and action to take place. Activism leads to future action and future figures in power to help make black history. Along with celebrating more firsts, we should celebrate the first steps in the future of black history taking place today. Sources Previous Next

Why Do Books Get Banned? Written By: Joseph Sweeney Publishing Date: August 15, 2022 Earlier this year, a Tennessee school board decided to ban Maus from its curriculum. Maus is a graphic novel depicting the experience of the Jewish Holocaust, using a family of anthropomorphic mice to demonstrate what it was like to live in Nazi Germany as a Jewish family. The ban was much reported and discussed and renewed conversation around the practice of banning books, a controversial yet longstanding topic. Let's start with some context. Zack Beauchamp, writing for Vox on the ban of Maus , and Nadia Ford writing for Duke University in a study on the subject of book bans in general, have both offered an extensive list of reasons why books are banned. The most common reasons, found in both articles are: ● Discussion of racial content ● Sexual content ● Depictions of abuse ● Hate speech ● Objection on religious grounds Religious objections often try to either advance their agenda or halt the advance of another religious group's agenda. An example is, advocating for the teaching of the Bible in all schools, regardless of the religiosity of the school in question. In rarer but not unheard of cases, a book may be called to be banned on account of the reputation of its author. Some argue that banning books is a good thing, or at least a necessary evil, in the belief that it should be possible for parents, school teachers, and librarians to have some way to censor “problematic” books. The intent behind these bans is to prevent access to literary content that some groups or organizations consider objectionable or inappropriate, such as graphic violence or criticisms of religion. Motivated by these beliefs, a parent, librarian, or schoolteacher can issue a challenge to a book, which is then noted by both watchdog organizations and the organizations with the authority to issue book bans. The challenge may be allowed to go from a challenge to a ban, wherein schools and libraries will remove the book from their curriculum and storage. In a vacuum, it may seem reasonable for parents and organizations to have this ability to challenge and by extension ban books, the idea runs into the same issues as any problem in which one group is allowed to decide what is and is not right or acceptable for another group. Bias, agendas, or misjudgment of the needs and wants of others, and presuming to better know the needs of outside groups to which ban advocates do not actually belong to can then create additional issues. The simplest illustration of this is that several books are challenged/banned because they contain themes and depictions of gay and trans-lived experiences. Parents and organizations may move to get these books banned to prevent their children, classmates, or even friends from reading these books and realizing that the same experience applies to their own lives. Preventing individuals from accessing these books and potentially discovering that they have similar feelings of gender expression in common with their LGBT protagonists. This perpetuates homophobia and transphobia; by keeping individuals from reading about the lives and experiences of LGBT persons and characters, it reinforces the idea of LGBT as an otherness, rather than an aspect of humanity. This is especially so when the books are challenged under the idea of their 'sexual content'. In doing this, a homophobic fallacy is furthered, claiming that gay and trans individuals are somehow inherently more sexual than their heterosexual or cisgender counterparts. A book may also be called to be banned if a book depicts acts of abuse, (usually of children being abused by their parents). An abusive caretaker may worry that their victims could read these works and begin to recognize that their caretaker is treating them poorly. The same applies to banning a book, such as The Hate U Give, for depicting racial content; parents and organizations wanting to keep their children from having uncomfortable (but always necessary) conversations around race, be it from motivations of overt racism to a mistaken belief that racism is an 'adult' topic that should only be discussed in adult contexts, in spite of how racism often affects young individuals. would object to anyone being given access to a book that depicts a sympathetic person of color and how racial violence affects their lived experiences, promoting empathy. Essentially, banning a book allows an actor to issue a stamp denying individual access to a certain book because of its themes. Doing this takes agency away from readers whether or not they would wish to engage with a book's contents and their ability to make that choice for themselves. While it may sound reasonable to give teachers some leeway in the classroom to avoid using certain books and not expose children to mature themes, a book ban takes this logic and applies it to a broad swath of the population, including adults. As Beauchamp writes in their article for Vox , while book bans have happened so often that there is now an entire week dedicated to celebrating banned books, according to Beauchamp, "Free speech experts say what’s happening now represents an escalation from that period: that there is a new wave of censorship sweeping America’s schools targeting literature relating to race, LGBTQ identity, and sex." While Nadia Ford's article points to the presence of the internet and smartphones, and the ability to digitally download and distribute text, seemingly undermining the effectiveness of book bannings. Despite this, banning a book still allows the creation of a sense of official prestige for some ideas over others, which can be used to mold and alter the educational curriculum to suit certain agendas. For example, banning books that discuss racial violence in a modern and contemporary setting, like The Hate U Give, while allowing books that treat racial violence as something that only occurred in the past and thus obscure the fact that racial violence is still a real and current problem for many people. While there may appear at first glance to be a good reason to ban some books over others, such as violence or hate speech, the act of book banning itself is inherently tied to censorship. To ban a book is to restrict and repress freedom of speech, stifle ideas, promote certain ideas over others, and enforce oppression of minorities. Banning a book is, above all else, a powerful tool to prevent certain groups and people from making their voices heard and sharing their authentic, lived experiences with others. Those interested in contributing against banned books may be interested in contacting the Banned Books Week website to see how they can contribute, or learn how to host their own local, smaller Banned Books Week, or donate to the American Library Association , an organization that advocates for literary and intellectual freedom. Sources Beauchamp, Zack. 2022 Feb. 10. "Why Book Banning Is Back." vox.com. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22914767/book-banning-crt-school-boards-republicans Butler University Libraries. 2021. Apr. 17. "Banned Books: Reasons Books Are Challenged." libguides.butler.edu. https://libguides.butler.edu/bannedbooks?p=217686 Ford, Nadia. 2017. "Book Banning." Duke University. duke.edu. https://sites.duke.edu/unsuitable/book-banning/ McGreevey, Nora. 2022. Feb. 2. "Banned by Tennessee School Board, ‘Maus’ Soars to the Top of Bestseller Charts." smithsonianmag.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/maus-becomes-bestseller-after-tennessee-school-ban-180979499/ Pen America. "Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights". pen.org. https://pen.org/banned-in-the-usa/ Previous Next

Learning to Give < Back Community Resources: Civic Responsibility Written By: Savitha Sithartha Publishing Date: July 12, 2021 Today's youth bear a heightened burden of civic responsibility. As they face a myriad of complex issues, including climate change, unemployment, wealth disparities, student loan debt, and high healthcare costs, it is understandable that trying to choose the right resources to support the causes and interests they value most is a tremendous challenge. Civic responsibility may not seem like the first priority for youth who have recently graduated and are in the early stages of adulthood. But starting and continuing acts civic responsibility can help youth advocate for themselves and their future. In fact, one single act of advocacy from just one individual has the capability to empower many others. While there are various different ways to do this, one of the most significant ways to make an impact in your community is by supporting political candidates and charitable organizations through financial contributions. Below are a few tactics to help youth effectively navigate our complex and digitized world to play an active part in their community. If you are interested in volunteering for a non-profit, a private or city volunteering page is a great place to search. This is the best way to choose reliable, transparent organizations and avoid common scams that take advantage of individuals’ giving tendencies. Do research before donating. You will want to know where your money is heading. Make sure to find out as much as you can about the organization to ensure that your money is going towards a worthy cause. Start by checking that the advocacy group is real and verifying the name belongs to an organization licensed with your state's attorney general. A real organization should be listed on the attorney general's web page, which will also have a list of any complaints others might have lodged against those organizations. Some seedier organizations may employ “high pressure tactics” to get you to do something you're not comfortable with, such as spending a larger amount of money than you're prepared to give, or promising returns on your donation. One way to protect yourself from exploitation is by paying with either checks or credit card, rather than with cash, as this leaves evidence to use in case of fraud. The Better Business Bureau is an invaluable resource to see how large charities use their funds and identify if their values align with yours and if those organizations have any questionable business practices. If you want to consider taking a more direct approach to supporting your favorite causes, you can donate to political groups and candidates to influence public policy. Your financial contributions have the potential to aid both political campaigns and reduce the financial burden of setting up voting areas, which increases youth accessibility to voting. An individual donor can make a financial contribution through the following means: a candidate committee, a separated segregated fund (SSF), a kind of political action committee (PAC) sponsored by an organization or a labor union, and nonconnected political action committees, and Super PACs. While long-term commitment to an advocacy group is usually recommended by these groups, it can also be beneficial to reevaluate your interests to make sure that an organization or political group is still a good match for you. Look through an organization’s causes, goals, and history to make sure that they fit your priorities. Unfortunately, we as youth often hear fellow peers waiting for the right age and time to start giving. Luckily, donating does not require a large income, financial stability, or even a large time commitment. According to multi-millionaire and personal finance guru Dave Ramsey, giving means “donating to charities, supporting worthy causes—even if you’re in debt. It may sound illogical, but it’s actually legit”. (Ramsey Solutions, 2021). Youth do not have to delay the feeling of personal satisfaction and pride of having donated to their favorite causes simply because of their young age. The feeling of personal pride that follows is just one incentive to donate; giving to 501(c)3 charitable organizations also qualifies you for federal tax deductions. It can be useful for future recollection to keep track of your donations by saving bank records and other written communications. This is why using either credit or check is ideal, as it creates something for your tax records, even if you don't have to submit those documents with your regular tax returns. (2021). The Internal Revenue Service is a great place to look to learn further information regarding “ tax tips for donors ”. There is no better time to get started being active and engaged in your community. Take a second to look at your budget. It’s okay to start small. Take a second to review these tips on charity donations . Then, choose from your favorite interests and causes, and give. That’s all there is to it! Sources Federal Election Commission. (n.d.). Understanding ways to support federal candidates. FEC.gov. https://www.fec.gov/introduction-campaign-finance/understanding-ways-support-federal-candidates/ . IRS. (2021, March 19). Charitable Contributions. Internal Revenue Service. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-contributions . Maldonado, C. (2018, July 10). Charity Donating Tips. CharityWatch. https://www.charitywatch.org/charity-donating-tips . Ramsey Solutions. (2021, March 1). Budget Percentages. Ramsey Solutions. https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/budget-percentages . USA.gov. (2021, March 23). Donating to Charity. USAGov. https://www.usa.gov/donate-to-charity . Previous Next

Social Justice: History, Impact, and Advocacy Written By: Brianna Vanderstelt Publishing Date: April 23, 2023 The internet and social media have played an instrumental role in the fight against systemic issues in society such as racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and so on. With an easily accessible place for discussion , concepts that were once only known within the world of academia and politics have spilled into our news articles, headlines, and public forums. One such concept is social justice. [1] Social justice is a notion with several layers. [2] At its most basic and concise, social justice can be thought of as equitable access to wealth, opportunities, and privilege within society (The Pachamama Alliance, n.d.). To add to this, five main principles can be associated with the concept: access to resources, equity, participation, diversity, and human rights (CFI Team, 2022). An even simpler way to think of social justice is similar to the idea of fairness. Rather than blanket equality, social justice calls for making society fairer for all by taking into consideration systematic barriers certain groups may face. It is this way of thinking that is perhaps the most historically accurate when considering the timeline of social justice as a concept. The Rise of Social Justice First coined in 1840 by Luigi Taparalli D’Azgelio, an Italian Catholic priest, social justice was introduced in response to the overwhelming strain being put on American families during the industrial revolution. While this period is best known for its innovation and growth, families were also abandoning their rural lifestyles for the opportunities in the city, leading to them becoming wage-dependent and exploited. Ultimately, the industrial period led to the abuse of marginalized groups, a highly stratified class system, and the misuse of human labor (CFI Team, 2022; Novak, 2009; Pachamama Alliance, n.d.). This combination of factors led to the rise of social justice. Early advocates focused largely on issues relating to capitalism, property, wealth, and workers’ rights. The net of social justice continued to expand as issues of other social spheres were acknowledged. Specifically, during the 20th century, we see the definition broaden from a focus on resources and wealth to equity and privilege as the civil rights movement took the stage (Pachamama Alliance, n.d.). From this point forward, social justice was molded into the social justice we know now. Being an Advocate in Everyday Life From a fight to reduce extreme class stratification to shining a light on major systemic issues to being a model society strives for, the impact of social justice is and continues to be far-reaching. However, we are nowhere near finished and advocacy continues to be crucial. There are several ways you can be a social justice advocate, with Kansas University (2021) compiling an informative and practical list for us. However, some often-cited options may not be entirely accessible (e.g., voting) or realistic (e.g., donating) for everyone. With this in mind, the following list will describe a few ways you can be an advocate in your everyday life. Educate yourself and others. While cliche, educating yourself on social justice issues and listening to other social justice activists will give you a solid foundational understanding of the concept. This will allow you to see connections and become a strong critical thinker. Identify and speak up against social injustices. With education comes awareness. Once you start and continue to educate yourself, you may find it easier to identify moments of unfairness, whether it’s at work, in the news, or out with friends. By speaking up in these moments, you’re not only showcasing your advocacy but you’re also creating a safer environment for all individuals. Self-reflection. Uncomfortable but important, self-reflection means examining your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Just as it’s important to point out the injustices others may contribute to, it’s equally important, if not more, to be aware of the ways you may be contributing to social injustice. Understanding your own privilege and how your beliefs and behaviors may be harmful will allow you to rectify those thoughts and actions. Be actively inclusive. Too often, inclusivity becomes a label plastered over every mission and value statement. However, because of systemic discrimination and bias, to truly be inclusive requires action . This can be something as simple as making connections with minority co-workers who keep to themselves or don’t speak up at team meetings. If you’re in a leadership position, this could mean more encouragement and affirmation to those workers. [3] Just suggested removing some phrases here that felt unnecessary for conciseness. I suggested removing the rest of the sentence because one of the ways social justice is layered is through definition, which you go into and already state with what's there. Just thought it might make a little more concise. I think all of this can go in the "Identify and Speak Up Against Social Injustices" section because it's all about taking action. It relates to that strongly so just taking your key points from this section, such as the ways you can take action here by helping coworkers and affirming them and moving that there, then getting rid of the rest of this section would cut down the article while keeping the main ideas together. I hope my explanation makes sense. Sources CFI Team. (2022, May 8). Social justice . Corporate Finance Institute. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/social-justice/ Indivisible Project. (n.d.). How to be inclusive: An introduction . Indivisible. Retrieved October 15, 2022, from https://indivisible.org/resource/how-be-inclusive-introduction Kansas University. (2021, June 28). 15 ways to advance social justice in your community . KU SOE. Retrieved October 15, 2022, from https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/15-ways-to-advance-social-justice Novak, M. (2009, December 29). Social Justice: Not what you think it is . The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://www.heritage.org/poverty-and-inequality/report/social-justice-not-what-you-think-it The Pachamama Alliance. (n.d.). What is social justice? The Pachamama Alliance. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://pachamama.org/social-justice/what-is-social-justice#:~:text=Social%20Justice%20as%20a%20concept,capitalistic%20exploitation%20of%20human%20labor Previous Next

< Back After Hours Childcare Act Written By: Carson Watkins Publishing Date: October 13, 2023 In recent years, working families have struggled to find high-quality, affordable childcare in the United States. Difficulty finding these services has forced mothers out of the workforce and has hurt the education of American Children. Families have reported spending the majority of their income on childcare, leaving our nation's leadership searching for solutions. In 2019, the Center for American Progress (CAP) reported on the crisis. According to their research, fifty percent of parents reported difficulty obtaining childcare. Parents often have to excuse themselves from work due to the lack of childcare. Parents leaving the office to care for their children has cost businesses billions of dollars (Center for American Progress, 2019). The childcare crisis escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the schools closed their doors parents lost their primary childcare resource. According to Harvard Business School (2021), twenty-nine percent of women became unemployed during the pandemic due to a lack of childcare. In a Bipartisan effort, Senator Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, and Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, introduced the After-Hours Childcare Act to give flexibility to all parents, especially those who work non-traditional hours. The Legislation would grant 980 million dollars in Childcare and Development Block Grants, expanding access to childcare and assisting sections of the country where childcare services are increasingly difficult to obtain ( Center for American Progress, 2022). The legislation also addresses one of the forgotten members of this debate: the workers. Since 2019, an estimated 100,000 childcare workers have left the industry, citing low pay, poor working conditions, and licensing issues, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the New York Times, childcare workers often struggle to make ends meet, making minimum wage, and often facing food insecurity. The legislation aims to use grants to set a base wage comparable to the salaries of elementary educators and can be adjusted based on cost-of-living expenses. The After-Hours Childcare Act would be a monumental step in caring for our children and investing in their success by giving them early education opportunities while also investing in the American economy, allowing parents to continue in their employment with the safety of their children in their mind. Sources “5 Things To Know About the Child Care for Working Families Act” The Center for American Progress May 1, 2023 “Childcare Is a Business Issue” Harvard Business Review April 29, 2021 “The Childcare Crisis Is Keeping Women Out of the Workforce” The Center for American Progress “The After-Hours Childcare Act” KIN23100 KG7 2023 “Why You Can't Find Childcare: 100000 Workers Are Missing” New York Times, October 13, 2022 “Young, Hassan Introduce Bill to Support ChildCare Affordability for Working Families” March, 28, 2023 Previous Next

Social Media and Mental Health

Student Loan Debt Relief - Latest Details Written By: Joseph Sweeney Publishing Date: November 13, 2022 In late August of this year (2022), President Joe Biden made the announcement of fulfilling a Student Loan Debt Relief program, as promised during his presidential campaign. Biden's plan proposed to cancel up to 10,000 dollars’ worth of debt for several borrowers who qualified and filed with the studentaid.gov website before the deadline. It would also reduce the percentage that other borrowers would have to pay on their loans in the coming future. ("FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Student Loan Relief for Borrowers Who Need It Most", whitehouse.gov , 2022) The announcement came as both a relief and a disappointment, as individuals who have been affected by student loan debt had been waiting for a long time to hear the details of Biden's plan. However, several borrowers debts either exceeded $10,000 or did not qualify for the relief program to begin with. Republican lawmakers, long opposed to student debt relief, also immediately followed with their criticisms and announced their efforts to challenge and oppose Biden's plan. Some lawmakers have attempted to challenge the plan on legal grounds, arguing that it is too costly on the economy and federal budget, and that it exceeds the scope of the President's authority. While the lawsuits are currently only in the beginning stages, they present a potential legal hurdle that has caused the administration to restrict the type of loans that qualify for forgiveness - namely, Perkins and Federal Family Education Loans, types of loans that are backed by private companies and not the Department of Education or the government. ( MSN News, Barr, Luke. Kolionvsky, Sarah. 2022). Advocates for student debt forgiveness also expressed concern with how the forgiveness program would be deployed. Persis Yu, from the Student Borrower Protection Center, expressed concerns in an ABC News interview, specifically relating to the execution of the plan, as borrowers are required to apply on a government website, and some borrowers may not be aware that they qualify for forgiveness. " There's a lot of low-income folks who will never learn about this application. They will not be able to figure it out, they won't have the resources available to navigate the bureaucratic process," Yu said. ’And so in imposing this hurdle, we're actually putting in a barrier for the folks who need it the most.’" (ABC News, Ferris, Gabe. Haslet, Cheyenne, 2022. ). If the loans were taken out before July of 2022, ( whitehouse.gov ) then students can go to the studentaid.gov and apply from now until December 2022. Even with the plans being challenged by lawmakers, students looking to ensure they get their debt relief should apply to the studentaid.gov website as quickly as possible so that they are still on record as qualifying, whatever the eventual shape of the plan ends up being after the legal challenges. Here are what the student loan debt relief options look like as of the publication of this article; Sources Barr, Luke. Kolionvsky, Sarah. 2022, Sept 29. "Biden Scales Back Student Loan Forgiveness Amid Lawsuits: 770K Borrowers Excluded." msn.com . https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-scales-back-student-loan-forgiveness-amid-lawsuits-770k-borrowers-excluded/ar-AA12pNnQ Gangito, Alex. 2022, Oct 2. "Lawsuits, shrunk eligibility take the shine off Biden’s student debt relief." msn.com . https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lawsuits-shrunk-eligibility-take-the-shine-off-biden-e2-80-99s-student-debt-relief/ar-AA12vyei Ferris, Gabe. Haslet, Cheyenne. 2022, Aug 24."Biden's student loan forgiveness policy: How to apply, who qualifies, more." abcnews.com . https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/answering-questions-bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-policy/story?id=88797162 Klein, Betsy. Lee, MJ. 2022, Sep 29. "Biden administration kicks off student loan debt forgiveness process. cnn.com ." https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/29/politics/student-loan-forgiveness-update-biden-administration/index.html Turner, Cory. Sequoia, Carrillo. 2022 Aug 24. "Biden is canceling up to $10K in student loans, $20K for Pell Grant recipients." npr.org https://www.npr.org/2022/08/24/1118879917/student-loan-forgiveness-biden whitehouse.gov . 2022, Aug 24. "FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Student Loan Relief for Borrowers Who Need It Most." https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/24/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-student-loan-relief-for-borrowers-who-need-it-most/ Previous Next

Social Media and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Written By: Brianna Vanderstelt Publishing Date: December 28, 2022 Since social media has evolved, it has also generated and spread a variety of social media trends. While some are recreational and facilitate creativity and community with makeup, fashion, singing, and various hobbies, others such as the Tidepod Challenge, the Cinnamon Challenge, or the Coronavirus Challenge have proven to be questionable and sometimes even dangerous (Patton, 2022; Perry, 2020; Today Show, 2022). However, while social media can be used to promote and advocate for unhealthy or dangerous behaviors, it has also demonstrated to have the capacity to initiate significant and lasting change. For instance, a widely popular trend in 2014 was the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Ice Bucket Challenge. Celebrities, athletes, politicians, and influencers were dumping buckets of ice water on themselves and challenging their friends to do the same to raise awareness and money for ALS medical research. While entertaining for viewers, according to the ALS Association (ALS Association, 2022a), over 17 million people participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge during the summer of 2014 alone. Now, eight years later, it’s been announced that a new drug for combatting ALS was approved by the FDA (Davis, 2022). Not only is this a milestone for those impacted by ALS, but it also illustrates the impact social media can have, as this drug was developed and trialed because of the donations received from the Ice Bucket Challenge. As the ALS Association explains, ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons. Motor neurons are responsible for voluntary movement and are located in and operate out of the brain and spinal cord to the muscles of the body. ALS causes these motor neurons to degenerate, and over time those affected may lose their ability to speak, eat, move, and breathe. The ALS Association reports that someone is diagnosed with ALS and someone passes away from ALS every 90 minutes (ALS Association, 2022b). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that patients will live two to five years after symptoms develop and approximately 5,000 new cases of ALS are diagnosed each year (CDC, 2017). With no determined cause for ALS, research is crucial for a better understanding of the disease and expanding treatment options. The 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was so impactful that the ALS Association was able to increase its annual funding for worldwide research by 187 percent, spending approximately $90 million on research grants and international work. With approximately $115 million raised from this social media challenge, the researchers who were able to have their grants funded reported a 20 percent increase in their scientific output. Furthermore, because of this increase in funding, societal awareness, and scientific production, the National Institute of Health awarded an additional $415.9 million to ALS researchers (ALS Association, 2019). While this new drug is not a cure, it does slow the effects of this disease, extending ALS patients’ lifespans. While social media can be used purely for entertainment purposes and sometimes encourages questionable trends and challenges, it also has the potential to benefit society. While the funding received from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and the FDA approval of the new drug was a milestone, the ALS Association still has work to do. Those interested in contributing to the ALS Association should consider getting involved as an advocate , acting as a liaison who educates and calls on policymakers to support the policies that are helpful to the ALS Association and ALS patients (ALS Association, 2022c). Additional ways to get involved include participating in a Walk to Defeat ALS, starting a fundraising campaign, or getting in touch with a local ALS chapter (ALS Association, n.d.). Sources ALS Association. (2019, June 4). Ice Bucket Challenge dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS [Press release]. https://www.als.org/stories-news/ice-bucket-challenge-dramatically-accelerated-fight-against-als ALS Association. (2022a, September 29). FDA approves first ALS treatment funded by Ice Bucket Challenge [Press release]. https://www.als.org/stories-news/fda-approves-first-als-treatment-funded-ice-bucket-challenge ALS Association. (2022b, November 11). Understanding ALS . The ALS Association. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.als.org/understanding-als ALS Association. (2022c, November 23). ALS advocacy . The ALS Association. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.als.org/advocacy ALS Association. (n.d.). Get involved . The ALS Association. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.als.org/get-involved CDC. (2017, April 5). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/als/WhatisALS.html Previous Next

Civil Rights Act, Harassment, and Sexism Written By: Laura Ruzicka Publishing Date: November 23, 2021 Over the last few decades, individuals have begun to take note of the great divide that existed among men and women, hence, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was established. This prevented sex discrimination in the workforce under federal law. However, until recently the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission extended the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, preventing sex discrimination in the workforce under federal law, as well as discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Unfortunately, when it comes to workplace protection, states’ laws on “sex” and “gender” discrimination vary completely. Depending on where an individual’s career is, women often find themselves working in a regularly hostile environment. Like my mother and her mother before her, my sister and I were raised to have tough skins. As we grew up, she taught us to cope with the curveball’s life would inevitably throw at us in the future. In our society, most working women were raised the same way, especially in the workforce. This is seen through a Deloitte survey, Women at Work: A Global Outlook , discovering that 52% of women have experienced some form of harassment or microaggression in the past year. Continual exposure to a hostile work environment can have an impact on a woman’s mental and physical well-being, leaving them exhausted and drained of energy. No one should ever have to go through that. Interestingly enough, ever since the pandemic happened, a majority of people started to work remotely, so people no longer have to bear the in person office commentary, repressing the microaggressions they would usually hear throughout the day, if they were in a hostile work environment. However, in the age of remote work, virtual harassment has become the new method of choice to even make your own home feel like an unbearable and unsafe place to work. Jennifer Brown emphasizes this in Leah Fessler’s article : “Since the start of the pandemic, employees have felt as if online environments are the wild west, where traditional rules do not apply.” Online harassment can happen by phone or on a social gathering site which are often unmonitored, unrecorded, or even occur outside employer sponsored platforms. Unfortunately, there are no witnesses to online harassment to confirm the story, time, and place. While it is understandable that there is comfort in working remotely because it permits people to have more freedom than a traditional job, would anyone really want the place they once sought solace and comfort in to become a literal living nightmare? Over time the decade’s worth of layering sexist behavior resulted in intersectional effects as well, branching off and affecting women of color. It is true that women as a whole make up half of workforce, yet according to a recent Gallup survey , one in four Black and Hispanic employees reported employment discrimination in the past year (Lloyd, 2021). When dealing with employment discrimination, women of color in particular have the unfortunate experience of double discrimination. Discriminating against you not just on the basis of your sex, but by the color of your skin as well. Even some Native American women will only make half of every dollar that is earned by a white man in the same position. A report from Project Include found that “25% of respondents experienced an increase in gender-based harassment during the pandemic, about 10% experienced an increase in race-and-ethnicity-based hostility, and 23% of respondents who were 50 and up experienced age-based harassment.” However, now that society is returning to semi-normalcy, a majority of people are going to experience return-to-work anxiety. Although the pandemic forced a majority of us into remote work, we have grown used to the flexible schedules and overall freedom that we did not have before. However, for many women, going back means returning to the repressed microaggressions from their male co-workers and high rates of stress and burnout. Sources Hentze Iris., Tyus, Rebecca. (2021, August 12) Discrimination in the Workplace: Discrimination Based on Sex and Gender. National Conference of State Legislatures. https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/-gender-and-sex-discrimination.aspx Villines, Zawn. (2021, June 21) Effects of gender discrimination on health. MedicalNewsToday. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/psychological-effects-of-gender-inequality#trauma-exposure Fessler, Leah. (2021, June 8) Workplace Harassment in the Age of Remote Work. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/us/workplace-harassment-remote-work.html Hentze Iris., Tyus, Rebecca. (2021, August 12) Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. National conference of State Legislatures. https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace.aspx Pickering, Robin. (2020, January 16) Workplace sexism can be harmful to women’s health: Impacts most prevalent in male-dominated fields. Journal of Business. https://www.spokanejournal.com/local-news/workplace-sexism-can-be-harmful-to-womens-health/ Previous Next

An Interview with USYF founder Melissa Ballard and Edgar Lara from Sin Barreras < Back An Interview with USYF founder Melissa Ballard and Edgar Lara from Sin Barreras Publishing Date: December 17, 2021 Interviewee Name: Edgar Lara, Executive Director - Sin Barreras Interviewer Name: Melissa Ballard, Founder - United States Youth Forum Transcriber: Michelle Blakeslee, Programs Assistant - United States Youth Forum Contact Method: Google Meet Date: 17th November 2021 List of Acronyms: MB - Melissa Ballard; EL - Edgar Lara Keywords: community empowerment; immigration; immigration resources; education; vulnerable people; advocacy; immigration legislation [ Intro] MB: Edgar Lara is Sin Barreras’ Executive Director. Edgar grew up in California where he spent several summers as a migrant worker. After high school, Edgar joined the Marine Corps and was deployed to the Middle East. He received his B.S. in Business Economics from UCLA and worked in consulting and business finance for 10 years. He arrived in Charlottesville in 2012, and was a volunteer with Sin Barreras for 6 years before becoming its first Executive Director. MB: First of all, thank you so much Edgar for agreeing to this interview and meeting with us today to talk about the work you do and the work that Sin Barreras does in Charlottesville. I wanted to start off with you maybe telling me a little bit more about the mission of Sin Barreras and how it got started and how its mission expanded from there - the moment that it got started - to where it is today. EL: Okay, so Sin Barreras which means “Without Barriers” translates to “Without Barriers” in English, and Sin Barreras is Spanish. The mission is to empower immigrants and their families in Central Virginia, with a focus on the Latinx population, by advocating, educating, and supporting their needs. I’ll describe that a little bit more. It’s - our process is really to prioritize direct service by helping people with their immediate needs and relieving the stress that they have in those moments of need. That’s the number one thing we want to do. We want to learn from that. But then we also have a number of programs. And that’s English learning, that’s primary and secondary education, leadership, technology, citizenship for those who qualify…Through that, by meeting their immediate needs and these educational programs we hope to empower people so we can then work together to raise their voices and their needs to create change in our community, our state, and our society that better meets the needs of everybody in our community. I’m not sure how familiar you are with the situation with different types of immigrants in the U.S. - I mean, I think it’s similar in other places. But in the U.S., especially in terms of status and when people are undocumented, there’s plenty of - there’s a lot of immigrants that exist in our community that just don’t have the benefits or access to services that other people do. They’re really easily demonized, you know, or called illegal or things like that and it really dehumanizes people. But they are people who exist in our community and that’s a big part of our focus. And it’s not just this community but they are among the most vulnerable. So that’s who we work with. And you asked how we started. Sin Barreras was started as an all-volunteer organization in 2012 by 5 people who saw this need in the community. And I think primarily in some of the undocumented people who existed but didnt have a place to receive a number of services. Especially in a place like Charlottesville where there are services and resources available, but there was a community who wasn’t accessing any of it. So Sin Barreras started, I think, with this community in mind to connect people to services. The very first thing that they started doing was legal consultations with an attorney who was one of the founders as well. And - everybody thinks they need an attorney for whatever reason, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. So a lot of what we try to do is receive people, welcome them and provide them information - maybe a consultation with an attorney so that whatever decision or next step that they take, it’s an informed one. If they need an attorney then okay, we’ll clarify that and they may need to speak with one or engage one, but for many cases they don’t need one and a person who’s not an attorney can help them with a number of things or maybe somebody at Sin Barreras can just explain how these different services or resources work, and how they can connect to it. That’s a big part of what we do as well, those connections to services. One of the things that can happen is that going to an attorney, a professional, or some sort of agency can be intimidating for people. They- a lot of vulnerable people don’t know who they can trust so what we try to be is a place where they feel welcome. Because this is why we exist, to help and serve them. We’re happy to speak to them and try to help them and there’s a lot of people out there who, if we didn’t exist, they may not reach out for that help that they need. There’s people that need help that don’t look for it and they just suffer. But we hope that- and we’ve seen that, because we exist, more people feel comfortable to reach out. Maybe it’s first to us, and we don’t promise solutions, but we will do what we can to help them. And even if people call and ask the question, even if we don’t find an exact solution the fact that we take their call, listen to them and look for a possible way to solve their problem and we follow-up with them, we tell them what we’re gonna do and we meet that; that in itself is a service. I’m sorry if I didn’t answer all your questions, but that’s what came to mind. MB: Thank you. How did you build the connections? So you bring people in the community to, for example, lawyers that can help with certain cases; you provide Spanish language classes and these types of things. How did you build the connections for the lawyers and the teachers and do that in a way where you can build a bridge between the community - the immigrant community - and them? EL: Well, the programs that we have, we start them and it’s, like, peers that we have that we train or work with to develop these programs. I think...well the attorneys, it depends on the type of attorneys. A lot of the professionals that are out there - be it mental health, health, attorneys, those types of things - it’s their job to help people in these situations. They have these services and this is who they serve, But the challenge is that there is a ton of need but some of the most vulnerable people don’t make it into the office for - their office or to see them - for a number of different reasons that include- these are just different barriers: at times there’s language barriers, there’s cultural barriers when people are new, there’s education barriers because a lot of people that immigrate here and are vulnerable here - and they were also vulnerable where they came from. They might be Indigenous people. Mostly, who we help are people - immigrants that speak Spanish because that’s our strength because that’s who we were when we formed Sin Barreras. But some of those immigrants, Spanish might be their second language because they spoke an indigenous language first. Even where they were displaced from, they had it pretty difficult there too, oftentimes. And that’s partly the reason why they’re here now. So you asked how we make those connections. I think- yeah, so those professionals, I think this is what they’re looking for. They’re looking to connect and help this community but the challenge is that they don't have that trust or don’t know how to reach this community. I think that’s a strength of ours because we’re led by people who come from this community that we’re talking about. One of our founders, her name is Fanny Smedile, she’s an immigrant from Ecuador and she just has a great connection with the community just based on who she is, her charisma. When you reached out to me I think I was still the community engagement director, it was a volunteer position - I’ve been a volunteer with Sin Barreras for about 6 years - I forget exactly how long, but awhile. Over the summer we decided that we were going to- it was time for us to hire our first executive director and I was the selection. I applied for that and so I have [had] a little over a month as the executive director. And I’m a person who comes from the community too. I can share a little bit of my story if you want. MB: Yeah, I think that would actually be really great. EL: So, when I share a bit about my story I start with my grandfather. My grandfather came to the U.S. as part of the bracero program in the 1940s. And the bracero program- bracero means, brazo, means arm in Spanish - and this program where the U.S. recruited people, mostly from Mexico - from rural parts, from the mountains, all these areas, places that didn’t have a whole lot of education - but they recruited people from there to come work the land in the U.S. when the U.S. entered World War II and women entered the labor force. Braceros came to the U.S. and were recruited and brought in to work the land, and they were called lifesavers at the time because they fed the country. But you [go] forward ten years later, they weren’t needed anymore. The opinions changed and people like my grandfather weren’t allowed to stay. So he had to leave. But there’s this pipeline that’s been created of this farm-labor workforce. In Mexico and other parts it was just known that you can follow that path with permission or not because permission isn’t given to these types of people. These people just know they can come to the U.S. and work because there’s a demand for it - they’re wanted. But at the same time these people come here without permission so they’re- they don’t have all the same rights and a lot of people out there want them in this position because they’re easier to take advantage of. And that’s what happens. So my mom actually followed this same pipeline years later after my grandfather. She moved to California in the center where it’s an agricultural capital for California and worked there. And it was just understood that you could do this work as long as you remained silent and didn't speak up and cause problems. So that’s where I was born, in California. And so I was born there and was a citizen. But a person who is an immigrant or undocumented, you know if you want to get rid of them, if they speak up, you deport them. You detain them, you deport them, that’s what you can do. Someone like me, who is a citizen, there’s still these different forces that may want to silence someone like me, but at that point it becomes something different. I feel like where I grew up, society or the community tried to put me behind bars. I was arrested many times and I’m not- I wasn’t a criminal. I’m pretty much the same person I was then. I was a teenager and I got into a little bit of problems but I was not- you know I’m much more likely to help people just like today. But I was arrested many times and I was released because I hadn’t done anything. I was just [in the] wrong place, wrong time, but I felt like anywhere I stood was the wrong place, as long as I was out. So that happened and for me, I ended up joining- graduating high school and I joined the military, the Marine Corps and that really changed a lot of things for me. I mean, I could go on about that, but I think sharing that, you know my grandfather, my mom, and even my situation kinda, the way that kinda turns out - it’s not uncommon. It’s a very common history that we share here and those experiences are not different from what happens today. So the immigrants that come here, they still - especially in this part of the U.S. where I live, Virginia in Charlottesville. It’s generally a smaller population than other parts, the Latinx immigrant community. And it’s generally newer, although many have been here for a while, but it’s not like multiple generations, it's more like people have been around for 10/20 years. And the next generation, the young people - the youth, they are still very young and they don’t have many generations of people that grew up the way they’re growing up today. I think I’m one of those people for them, but it’s very few. And they’re growing up in a place where at times…they may still be vulnerable themselves if they were - they’re also immigrants, if they weren’t born and they’re not citizens. Even if they are citizens, they’re still growing up in a situation where their parents are and their culture and who they are - they can often feel devalued. And their parents are in a very precarious situation where, you know, a couple of wrong moves and their life can be turned upside down. So they’re growing up here with that and they speak the language, they’re part of the culture, but it’s a confusing way to grow up. But yeah, so that was me sharing a little bit of my history. But also, I come from this community so a lot of the trust or the connection that we can build it’s because we know what this is. I have many family members in the same situation who either are with status, without status - but to me it’s like, it’s the community that I grew up with, that I know, that I’m trying to serve, that we’re trying to serve. MB: Absolutely. You touched a little bit upon this but I want to ask you further about it. As a person who went through what many people in the immigrant community are experiencing, how do young people - how do they deal with some of those challenges that they face being a part of this immigrant community, some of the challenges you outlined? Not only [how] does that make them feel, but how do they move beyond that and what are other effects because of these challenges? EL: Yeah, I mean that’s a tough question. It’s still something current that we are dealing with. I think one of the ways- and I do interact with youth a bit, but not, I don’t directly focus on youth. I think a lot of the people that I work with at Sin Barreras, it’s the family. And oftentimes what happens - and this says something too - but a lot of them, we deal more with the parents. And oftentimes it can be the young people as well, but in those situations the parents are still taking the lead. And a lot of times the young people there - I’m not fully sure I can’t really explain the full dynamic of why, but I think when, you know when you have a family who is established and has privilege and isn’t in fear, that speaks the language, knows the culture - they’re able to know and pass on how things function, how to succeed. When you’re newer and you’re in a vulnerable situation you’re just trying to survive. You don’t exactly - you’re not exactly able to pass on those skills and that knowledge that will help the youth succeed. Like these are things in a lot of ways that they have to pick up in other ways. Or the things that they learn is “I have to work”. A lot of the time the youth here are in this situation where they have this mentality that “I just need to work” and that “I need to get a job,” and they’re not always as focused on school and education. So I think this is a challenge that many are still going through. One of the things I find myself focusing on is really working with the parents and through that - I feel like there’s a lot of potential still in the parents. We don’t need to say - yes absolutely the youth is the future and there’s so much potential there - but for me, I work with the parents because there’s a lot of potential there now too. And what better way to inspire their children than to have them see their parents become empowered and grow, like learn and grow and even participate in advocacy to make change. And I see that oftentimes parents bring their kids. This is a family affair in so much of what we do. They bring their kids to Sin Barreras, they bring their kids at times to these different advocacy efforts that we are involved in, and they learn. They learn, they pick things up. It’s not like we’re always necessarily trying to talk to the kids and say “hey this is what you need to do.” It’s more like, you know, they learn through watching, through participating, through seeing what their parents are doing, what we’re doing. I would love to engage the youth more but it’s not - we’re not exactly at this moment. We don't have a youth-focused program. It’s more the entire family and usually it’s the parents who are moving forward but that’s something that’s definitely very important and on our minds in the work that we do; but part of it is, you know, it’s a family that’s moving ahead and moving forward and we hope that the youth are able to pick up on that. But there is a need for more attention too. But it's not like- we’re still a small organization and the way we help in these areas more is - with the way we help the youth more and their families - is to continue to focus and reflect on what we’re doing and to become stronger so that in the future we can have more of those programs that might focus more on them. MB: And having - the fact that you’re focusing on the families is really important because, as you mentioned, the stable family is really important for young people growing up and that’s one of the problems I imagine in immigrant communities. There’s a lot of unstable family situations. EL: Absolutely. MB: Just due to outside effects. One of the things you mentioned as well is how some of the parents get involved in advocacy work, and I also saw on your website that this is something that Sin Barreras also wants to transition into - doing more advocacy work. What would that look like? What type of issues do you imagine tackling in that advocacy? EL: Well, in advocacy, I think what I’ve mentioned, it all goes together. The first thing that we look at is the direct service, of course, immediate needs. Then we have these educational programs where people can also become empowered and more informed, but the goal of all of this is to come together and advocate- like raise your voice, share your story, share the challenges that you’re going through. At times part of the advocacy is just that, sharing your story. There are people at times that feel like “well, my story isn’t that dramatic. I didn’t go through these huge challenges,” but they do go through challenges. It’s just not the type that they see in the movies, or like - I don’t know, to them it doesn’t feel too dramatic. But the simple fact that at times a person might just say “I live in this community, I’m married, I have kids, I go to church, I try to do the best for my family.” Just that alone is powerful. Because there’s so many people out there that have a misconception about who they are…and they apply all these negative traits to them because they don’t know. So the simple fact that a person is able to speak up and say “this is who I am”, regardless of if they speak English or not, that’s powerful. So a lot of our advocacy is about that - about people talking about the difficulties that they go through, about just sharing their lives so that people get to know them and realize that these are not the demons we made them out to be. These are not criminals, these are just people who are trying to do the best they can for their families and for themselves. These are really assets to our community and our society and we should recognize that. A lot of the advocacy comes from that. There’s times when we have the opportunity to advocate for things that benefit the community. Other times we have to advocate against harmful legislation that seeks to either discriminate or attack immigrants, make their lives even harder because some people feel like their lives should be as hard as we can make them and in some ways keep them in their place. I think that’s what happens at times. So our advocacy is trying to stay alert and promote legislation that can benefit, raise the voice - and even propose legislation at times that can benefit and also raise our voices when there’s harmful legislation that doesn’t make sense. Again, a lot of that advocacy is just having people share who they are. MB: Yeah, it does seem a bit paradoxical that, as you mentioned, these programs - that brought over Mexican laborers into the United States in times of crisis or when they were needed - was proposed by the U.S. government, pushed by it, and implemented, and then they were just shipped back. It’s just very paradoxical that the richness of U.S. history has come from its history of immigration and now we’re in a time in the U.S. where there are so many negative stereotypes and…misinformation and disinformation about the immigrant community. At USYF, the United States Youth Forum, we’re a community of young people, we’re a youth-led organization and one of the things that we want to be is more engaged, more empathetic, more - just in general - more educated on this type of topic. So I think it’s important for us to ask how we can better engage on this topic and how we can be more empathetic when it comes to discussions around immigration and the immigrant community. EL: Well, there are many ways. It really depends on honest reflection, on how motivated a person is to - like, the way it works best for an individual to engage. A lot of people show up and say “I really want to get involved”, but, you know, they’re busy and maybe they don’t have, you know, they have too many things going on and volunteering may not be the way for everybody. If it is, great. But it’s just taking a look at - an honest look at what you have to give. Sometimes what they need is just to become more informed about what’s happening. Volunteering and getting directly involved, that’s amazing and that would be the best, but we know not everybody’s gonna be super involved. For those who can be, I would say, like, locally - there’s other organizations out there that are local to people - the ones that are grassroots where people can get a direct sense of…this community and the people who are vulnerable and understand a little bit more about what they go through so they can be advocates and raise those voices - and help to empower those people. When we talk about the youth, that’s one of the challenges. The same powers that would like to keep immigrants or certain vulnerable communities vulnerable, they’re also likely the ones that are not gonna listen to or might dismiss or discount the youth. But the youth connecting with, getting to know these vulnerable communities - this is a place, these adults, these people that are vulnerable - can really benefit from the power of the youth. It’s a way for them to really, I don’t know…have more attention paid to them. At the same time, connecting with these communities - you know, sometimes the divide is between elders who may not, I don’t know, honor or respect the youth enough and sometimes the youth who aren’t able to honor their elders enough. But I think when working together, especially through challenges, I think both of those things happen much more. Oftentimes, elders, or what you might consider an elder, definitely respect the effort and energy and skills the youth bring and I think in that process the youth also honor those elders and what they bring - through that work. And I think that’s pretty powerful. One thing that I’ve often told - or shared with volunteers - is that if you’re really motivated, at times with small grassroots efforts you might feel pushback and some people might feel like “oh, maybe they don’t really need me, maybe they don’t really want me.” Because, you know, those small organizations, they’re just really busy and they’re also trying to figure things out. They don’t have it all down, it's not this well-oiled machine yet, or it may never be. And you may feel pushback, but if you’re really motivated, then you need to push harder. If you really want to be involved then you have to be the one that pushes harder and you move ahead. When you see the need, especially people who are trying to do what they can and they’re doing something positive, they’re not gonna check every box and do every single thing that’s necessary, but you can go in and find your place. Find a way that you can assist and really help them, and that’s great when you can do that. When you can’t do that, become informed and be a voice and share those stories somehow. MB: And I think on your website you have some content from the 2018 symposium that you hosted - The Hispanic Experience - I suppose that’s one way to start to become more informed. EL: Yeah, absolutely, yea. We would love to update that, but yeah that’s still good information. Even though it was a couple years ago. A lot of that, especially the historical stuff, hasn't changed. It’s still… MB: It’s a good place to start, minimally. EL: Absolutely, absolutely. MB: My last question to you is actually about how people can support Sin Barreras and the work they do specifically. EL: You know, I think, and I kinda touched on it here too. A lot of times people think first about volunteering, and that’s great when people are motivated. I think it takes reflection on what a person is - like how much time does a person actually have. But an easy way to support is through donations - whatever the amount is, because there are a number of us who are very dedicated to doing everything we can and we often do it with very limited resources. I think what we need is to be able to build more capacity. I think if people are able to donate that would be the easiest, most impactful way to support. If someone is motivated enough to - oh definitely join our newsletter, although we’re always working to improve it, that is where we share different activities, there’s good information in there oftentimes. So definitely that, follow us on our social media and if people look and say “wow they really need some help here and there”, I agree. And if you’re really motivated to make a difference there, come join us. And I would say, when you come join us, maybe start by learning what we are, who we are, how we’re doing things before trying to, I don’t know, push your own ideas. That probably doesn’t come off that great the way I say that. But there’s - people come in and everyone has a ton of ideas and that’s great, but it's not the most helpful thing all the time. Learn, listen, get involved and over time as you become part of it then you’re able to offer more ideas. A ton of ideas is not helpful, like sometimes one idea - one idea, which is the best one, maybe that's the one you can share and try to focus on. But besides that, coming in and learning what’s going on and trying to figure out, “how can I support this effort, this specific effort.” MB: Support and enrich the work that’s being done, yeah. Makes total sense. Well, thank you again for sitting down and talking with me about the work that your mission does and some of your own background and history. I really appreciate it and appreciate the work that Sin Barreras does, so thank you again Edgar for joining me. EL: No, I appreciate it, and thank you for being interested and best of luck in all the work that you’re doing. I really like what I’ve seen on the site and good luck. MB: Thank you. Previous Next

The Mental Health Stigma Written By: Aylin Bissonett Publishing Date: August 6, 2023 While we are fortunate enough to live in an era where mental illnesses can be openly discussed, shared and even treated more than in previous generations, in the melting pot that is the United States, there are many cultures that consider mental illnesses a trait shared by the “weak” among them rather than as a genuine medical condition. Growing up in a Latinx household provided challenges with my mental health. My mental state was often oppressed by the beliefs professed by most of my family. My family claimed that only crazy people go to therapy, that if I am anxious I should be praying more, and that I have no reason to be upset because I had a roof over my head and food on my plate. This was a difficult situation to navigate for me personally, but one day I discovered that this growing up experience is one shared by many cultures, often by first or second generation Americans. Due to the stigma against mental health, people who belong to Latinx and Hispanic cultures sometimes are less likely to ask for help - and sometimes refuse to receive any kind of treatment, even if it is available for them. According to Mental Health America, around 10 million Hispanic or Latinx people are reported to suffer from a mental illness - and that is just one culture from among the many who experience this kind of stigma. Furthermore, men from these cultures are often the ones who are the most vulnerable from this mindset because of the ideas of toxic masculinity, which promotes the cultural idea that men are supposed to be strong, and therefore cannot suffer from mental illness because that is a weakness, and admitting to needing help in treating their mental health is an even bigger admission of weakness. The effects of these stigmas is demonstrated in the higher abuse rates of alcohol in which Hispanic men “ who choose to drink are more likely to consume higher volumes of alcohol than non-Hispanic Whites” (“Hispanic Subgroups Differ in Rates of Substance Use Treatment Need and Receipt”). Hispanic men will choose substance abuse and alcoholism over admitting to needing help and seeking help out. While the stigma against mental health makes it challenging for many to seek out mental help, even when that issue can be overcome, finding and building rapport with a mental healthcare provider is another challenge. Latinx and others who suffer from the same cultural boundaries are unable to access healthcare when they do seek it. As someone who was in the mental health field, I also know that the percentages of those who work in the field of therapy who also belong to the same minority group, are difficult to find. There is also the enormous challenge of language barriers to overcome, which also decrease the chances for minorities to find, receive, and regularly access quality help. It is a struggle enough to experience the stigma from your loved ones and overcome it to begin looking for help, the process of actually finding someone who can help you is a tremendous undertaking on its own. While the population of the United States is made up of 16% Latinx, a mere 5% of therapists fall under that ethnicity, which makes it difficult for Latinx individuals to find therapists who share their cultural backgrounds and languages - a struggle that is not unique to just the Latinx population. The stigma against mental health within these cultures should be discussed because it informs and shapes deep issues within society. This taboo topic causes individuals to not only oppress their emotions, but turn to substance abuse, in addition to stigmatizing and ostracizing people who do seek out and are able to acquire mental healthcare. We have to not only discuss these issues openly, but change the way our cultures view mental illnesses. It starts at home, with our friends, and through informing ourselves and others on the deeply rooted issues within our cultures. Everyone who is in need of help should be able to receive it. Sources https://www.mhanational.org/issues/latinxhispanic-communities-and-mental-health Previous Next