Starr pledges to "never be quiet" (Chapter 26, p. 444). After reading this book, how can you use your voice to promote and advance social justice? Reflect on how you and your community discuss and address inequality. Please make sure that your comment is at least 200 words.
(Questions issued by publishers.)
After all the Starr has been through in the hate you give, her character doesn't want to give up at the end of the story. She wants to always speak out, and she will "never be quiet" because she wants justice and eventually peace for all of those around her. In Vermont, I don't hear a lot about police brutality because our population is predominantly white. Where I live, in the town of Chelsea, there are only about 1,300 people, and most of them are also white. I can't speak for other people, but I have never seen a hate crime occur in Chelsea. However, I have heard of some discrimination or verbal harassment against groups of people. These things do not happen often in our town, (that I know of) but when they do, whoever is upset about it either trashes them on Facebook, or talks to them directly.
ReplyDeleteSome everyday inequalities we face could have been at the high school and middle school when the high school was still running. For example, our sports teams had a hard time finding coaches, so often an inexperienced parent would try to coach a team. This resulted in the coach giving their child much more playing time than the other, just as worthy, players. We might handle that by talking to the coaches, or for some people, yelling at them from the side of the court.
I was amused by your comment about trashing someone on Facebook. I was also amused by how some parents will yell at someone from the sidelines--so true about "some people."
DeleteLiving in Thetford, you don’t hear a lot about hate crimes or police brutality going on around us. Although it may be because the majority of Vermont’s population is white, social injustice isn’t something that is predominant for us. Most of the news stories you hear about this topic are from different states or other countries around the world. The one event that I can think of was earlier this year, on I-89, when Lebanon police were stopping cars and buses to search for undocumented immigrants. There were a group of protesters who arrived at the scene and were threatened to be arrested if they got too involved. Other than that, no protests that I can think of have happened that have led to threats against protests, but even then, those threats were nothing compared to what happened in Starr’s neighborhood. If someone like me wanted to speak out about social injustice, police brutality or hate crimes, we would have to do so for other areas. Yes, we could stay and Vermont and do it, but we would most likely be protesting for either other states in the United States or even for different countries.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I think there are people in Vermont that you can protest for/stand up for. In fact, there is a group that is fairly active---that group that you mentioned in your post---when it comes to issues around immigration. I think there are also some issues around poverty here in Vermont and they also seem like social justice issues to me. What do you think?
DeleteStarr’s voice is her weapon. The riots and protests were spurred on by Starr’s voice. She spoke about an experience that drove her community forward. Her community responded to her voice, they all wanted justice for Kahlil. In my community I don’t think we use our voices very much. I feel like I’m very out of touch with what is happening. Recently community members have been reaching out, looking for people to use their voices. In the week leading up to the global protest on global warming I saw my community reaching out. I think part of the reason that people don’t use their voices is that we are all thinking, someone else will say that for me. We are all waiting for someone else to stand up and speak out against something we believe is wrong. We are all afraid. I am a quiet person, I don’t like to speak in a class of 15 people, why would I speak to a crowd of 200? I think we all need to realize that if we really want to make change, we can’t be afraid. I know that I really need to work on using my voice. I think Starr is an inspiration for me to find the power of my own voice.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Madelyn. I like what you said about Starr being an inspiration for you. You're right, "if we really want to make change, we can't be afraid." Sometimes this is easier said than done.
DeleteStarr is a very powerful human being. All of the things that happened to her family, friends, and herself in "The Hate U Give" have impacted her greatly, and pushed her to be more confident. She has projected her opinion to the rest of the world after Khalil's death, and her voice was heard. People carried out the issue after realizing how serious it was, and Starr showed others the truth by not being quiet, and speaking out. In our society it is hard to create a movement or make something happen without having people judge us, or underestimate the actual problem. Social media is usually the way most creators use to have others notice issues, and more people are spending their time creating campaigns and protests against inequalities that are in our society nowadays. I find that in my previous community, things were always getting done by us teenagers on social media, and most likely address something inaccurately but catch the attention of others. The idea of inequality really stood out in my school, and the action of bullying was kind of the norm. My old town had a hard time getting kids to change, and the problem grew worse, so in the end our teachers, and parents gave up on trying to fix things. Most people were scared to have a voice due to the fear of putting down and discriminated. I tend to speak up instead of others because sometimes a problem doesn't come and go like most, and people tend to not know where to start.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to me that you mentioned bullying again in your old school and town. For some reason, this surprises me. Maybe it's because I always think of our neighbors to the north as being so kind. Maybe I'm stereotyping there. Anyhow, you said that it can be hard to create a movement without people judging you. You're probably right, but sometimes being judged might be worth it.
DeleteStarr somewhat reminds me of Greta Thunburg. They both stood up for what they believed in, even if they were putting themselves in danger. In the book, Starr ends up leading a protest against the cop that shot Khalil. Greta also stood up for what she wanted and went and stood up to the president of the United States. Greta ended up getting humiliated by the president, but she didn’t care, she was standing up for what she believed in.
ReplyDeleteI think that the community that I live in is very good at accepting everyone. Even though my town doesn’t have much diversity in things like skin tone like in Starr’s town, but the little amount of diversity that we do have, we handle well and don’t usually judge people for things they can’t control like their skin tone.
One voice from someone can start an uproar of people who were too scared to stand up on their own. People are more likely to be a follower than to be a leader. So if you stand up for what you think is right, there will most likely be people who will stand behind you. And even if you are standing alone, then you have a chance to convince everyone to get behind you.
Good connection with Greta Thunberg. I think being humiliated bu the president would actually be a badge of honor.
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ReplyDeleteI think that through reading this book, there are certainly aspects of my life that I can help change. Whether it is something as simple as problems in the community to something bigger such as global warming or racism worldwide. There are many things that can be changed and it is interesting to see a figure like Starr speak out so loud, no matter the repercussions.
I personally think that the world around me has a lot to offer but also changes people in so many ways. In the novel, it discusses this idea of flipping back and forth between two worlds and trying to connect both through speaking out. This is a topic that personally interests me and is something I would love to look further into. The idea that we are behind bars of our social lives until we grab something by the reins and let out everything we hide.
My mother, Melody Burkins, who works at Dartmouth, often goes out into the world and makes changes. She works for the Arctic Council and travels the world to discuss to others about how to make a change, a difference. I always admired her for that, though it only may be just her, she is grabbing the world by her reins and providing justice. We can all provide things like this to our lives, why do we not try?