Leopoldo Jacquez
MY SOCIAL POWER Social justice to me means standing up for what you believe in. It is not letting people who have so called “power” and money take advantage and manipulate you. Social justice is an element made up from our hearts and that is let out often to protect someone's rights and to stand up for not only yourself but for everyone around you. If somebody were to come up to you and belittle you for whatever the reason maybe, that fire that you feel in your soul to fight and advocate for yourself and everyone else is social justice. Over the years, social justice has changed numerous ways, some people have used violence to get what they want, others simply just refused to move to the back of the bus, and some have protested non-violently. Whether it be sticking up for workers rights, equality rights, or education rights this is what social justice is to me. It is a fire and it is a feeling of pride to make things right. It is a continuous fight, the struggle will always continue. |
Social justice to me means standing up for what you believe in. It is not letting people who have so called “power” and money take advantage and manipulate you. Social justice is an element made up from our hearts and that is let out often to protect someone's rights and to stand up for not only yourself but for everyone around you. If somebody were to come up to you and belittle you for whatever the reason maybe, that fire that you feel in your soul to fight and advocate for yourself and everyone else is social justice. Over the years, social justice has changed numerous ways, some people have used violence to get what they want, others simply just refused to move to the back of the bus, and some have protested non-violently. Whether it be sticking up for workers rights, equality rights, or education rights this is what social justice is to me. It is a fire and it is a feeling of pride to make things right. It is a continuous fight, the struggle will always continue.
We face many obstacles to achieve social justice. Let’s take a few steps back and look back in the past. Many people before me have introduced a form of social justice. These people have been recognized for their achievements, such as Rosa Parks, she stood up for her right, although many people were against her and although it may have been just a seat, to her it was more and to her it was the first step closer to equality. This was a big step for many people, there were many obstacles that they faced. some of those obstacles were things like being arrested and things like being beaten by the cops and others. Other examples of obstacles that were faced is something close to home, the 19 hunger strikers for our school. They stood up for what was right not for themselves but for their community. They had many people come to the site itself and provoke them and continue to judge them for the good and for the bad. However they continued on regardless of the constant struggle. Most of all there are many endless struggles that come along with social justice, the main one being disagreement, violence, and judgement. Many times it is easy to get tired of fighting constantly, and it is hard to hold back the anger and hold back what may become of violence, but this is what social justice is. These are the struggles that come along with it. My vision in this struggle is that people will always continue to fight for what they believe is right. It is for people to always protect their rights no matter how hard the obstacles that they face may seem to be. We use many techniques that involve social justice. We can protest and boycott. One thing to keep in mind is social justice is never answered in violence, there will always be alternatives to violence. Although this may seem hard to do this is something that you need to overcome. The people that apply social justice will go far in life. The people that believe and fight for social justice issues will be able to accomplish many things, these are the people that will fight till their last breath. The people from Valenzuela are a great example of social justice, they have fought weeks of protests. Many innocent people have been killed for what they believe in, and although there were many innocent people gone they still overcame so much. It is sad that people need to die an order to be heard, but that's the sad truth. These people have became heroes and role models for many others. I will always continue to try to believe in what i want to believe and not let others influence me in a negative way. I will try my hardest to stand up for what Ii believe is right even if the world is against me. I will try to set examples to my fellow peers that fighting for your rights isn't wrong and it isn't something to be ashamed or shy about and one voice can make a big change. I will try to set an example that although you might think you are alone in these struggles there will always be someone to back you up. I will try to make them never to believe that anyone is higher than anyone and to never be afraid of having a voice. My fire is something I hold in my heart;, it’s my passion. I’m unsure what i’ll be doing in my future but i know it will definitely include social justice. I will always apply what I've learned in this school, the core values and the education, to everything I do. |