Yusef, Kevin, Antron, Korey, and Raymond. The focal point of Ken Burns' documentary, The Central Park Five. Yusef, Kevin, Antron, Korey, and Raymond. Five names that will forever be remembered for something they did not do. Yusef, Kevin, Antron, Korey, and Raymond. A city and justice system that would do anything to put someone behind bars. Yusef, Kevin, Antron, Korey, and Raymond... As a senior in high school, I watched The Central Park Five in one of my classes. From what I remember, there was a lot of focus on the City of New York, and the trial itself. To better understand the Exonerated Five's point of view, I watched Oprah Winfrey Presents: When They See Us Now, a conversation with the Exonerated Five, as well as cast members and crew of Ava DuVernay's When They See Us. From this conversation I learned so much about the media's role in the Central Park Five case. I never knew how much of a "mob mentality" was created to turn the City of New York against five teenage boys. Ava DuVernay described so clearly when stating that the Exonerated Five were stripped of their humanity and labeled the "Central Park Five," a name that they will live with for the rest of their lives. The moment that struck me the most was when Joshua Jackson, who played a defense lawyer for one of the Exonerated Five, described how horrified he was when reading the script and seeing that the prosecution built their entire case on coerced confessions. He described the process as working the way it was intended to, and closed his statement by explaining that the justice system has the wrong name. Right after When They See Us premiered on Netflix, it skyrocketed to number one on the platform. Now, I wonder if it would have had an even bigger cultural impact if it premiered after the death of George Floyd. For so long, many of the people of this country refused to see policing and the justice system for what it is, the injustice system. In the future, it will take all of us to refuse to conform to a mob mentality, and seek the truth to make sure that nothing like what happened to the Exonerated Five will ever happen again.
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As an avid tennis player and lover of the game, I try and watch the four Majors throughout the year. Ever since Serena Williams had her daughter Olympia, I have noticed that the commentators spend a lot more time focusing on the moms in the sport at these events. A main theme that has been pretty consistent throughout their conversations talking about the moms on tour, is that behind every professional tennis playing mom, is a great husband. As someone that wants to see young women and girls succeed when they get older, I am shocked at how often this is talked about during the Majors. Are we trying to tell every girl aspiring to be a tennis professional that she has to have a husband if she wants to be successful? I hope that this is not the case, and with the results of the 2020 Presidential Election, I think we may start to see women in a new light. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris will be an excellent role model for young girls not just in the United States, but across the world. All of the "firsts" that Harris has accomplished throughout her career are amazing. In my opinion, a big reason why she has risen so quickly in the past decade is because of her family. A daughter of immigrants, that divorced when she was seven years old, raised the next Vice President of the United States. All of the traits and attributes that Harris possesses just add on to her list of intersecting identities in regards to intersectionality. We do not choose what intersecting identities we are born with, society puts them on us. Over the next four years, Kamala Harris will be a reminder that no matter where you come from, you can do anything.
The founding of this great nation was built on the notion of "no taxation without representation." This led to the most sacred right of any American, the right to vote. However, throughout the history of the United States, only a select few could exercise this right. After the birth of the Constitution in 1776, only white land-owning males could vote. Fast forwarding throughout our history, the right to vote has expanded across race, gender, and age. It is vitally important to see these as separate steps throughout our history because it gives a glimpse into our psyche as a nation. In a nation that has come so far in recognizing every American's right to vote, there are still many being denied from having their voices heard. The areas and groups of people still fighting for this right are deeply rooted in settler colonialism. Just look at the Electoral College. Washington D.C. has 3 Electoral Votes, yet they have no representation in Congress. Even though Americans in Washington D.C. can vote for their next leader, there is taxation without representation. Heading south to territories like Puerto Rico, United States Citizens can vote in Presidential Primaries, but they cannot vote in the General Election. Also, since they are territories and not states, they do not have any representation in Congress. Even many Indigenous Peoples who are United States Citizens face many battles when trying to exercise their right to vote. There are many barriers that these groups have to face each election season in large part due to voter suppression. Is not enough to acknowledge voter suppression, we also need to look critically at the groups and areas that are being suppressed. I have only been old enough to vote in one Presidential Election, and the candidate that has won the presidency has lost the Popular Vote twice in my lifetime. Many say that the Electoral College is needed to give smaller states a voice. I say that the Electoral College is a tactic rooted in settler colonialism to dismantle non-white ideas and values.
Like many during quarantine, I have watched movies and television shows that I have never seen before to help pass the time. One of those movies was Selma, a true story about the fight for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I already knew a little bit about the town of Selma itself after President Obama spoke at the 50th anniversary of the marches across Edmund Pettus Bridge, but I knew very little about the Congressman that helped orchestrate the event that led to what the world knows as Bloody Sunday. I believe that I first became formally acquainted with John Lewis when he crowd surfed on an episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Since then, I had always known Congressman Lewis as the "fun" politician. Something that I had pretty much always known about him is how he almost lost his life on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, but it never seemed real until watching the events unfold on film. I think that we too often teach about events like Bloody Sunday, the Holocaust, or the Trail of Tears without the emotion or perspective of the souls and livelihoods that were lost. When I was watching the movie, I asked my mom, who was watching it with me, if John Lewis was the last member of the Big Six that was still alive. Little did I know that about a month later, Lewis would lose his battle with cancer. I had originally planned a different project for my Honors Capstone, but like many things during 2020, those plans changed. It is because of the life and legacy of John Lewis that this project came into creation. I hope that with this blog, I can inspire the next generation of young Americans to view life critically, the way John Lewis did for me. I would not be here, or be having these conversations without him. Through his humor and the way that he lived life, I was able to truly understand the definition of "good trouble." Thank you, Congressman, for showing me what this nation, and this world can be.
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AuthorAndrew Painter — Western Washington University Honors student Categories |