#taylor is already constantly traumatized by social media

[arbor-tristis]

I hope all the Gaylors are watching the devastating consequences of speculating on someone's sexuality constantly.

Kit Connor, the guy who plays a main character on heartstopper was forced to come out because of online harassment.

You call us homophobic, but we literally keep telling you this again and again- speculating on a real person's sexuality all the fucking time, even at times accusing her of queerbaiting because she isn't being explicit enough for you, is toxic is hell and you all should be ashamed of yourselves.

This is your opportunity to learn.

Even if she is queer, she doesn't deserve to be constantly facing your speculatiion and should be able to say what she wants on her own terms. Fuck you all.

[the6thdimensionofeducation]

Case Study:  “Black children endure traumatic summer after chadwick boseman’s death.

Piece of news: “Black children endure traumatic summer after chadwick boseman’s death”. 

On August 28th, black panther’s actor, Chadwick Boseman, passed away after battling with colon cancer. This generated not only a huge sadness for those who are fans of Black Panther as a character, but also for the black youth that saw in Bosman one of the few black role models in mainstream media. When  we look at advertisements and films we mostly see white, heterosexual cisgendered people, whereas black people are scarcely recognized for their accomplishments except for sports and music (Opportunity agenda,2011). In fact, it is often joked about how the first ones to die in horror movies are black characters, but we do not realize the impact and the message of this kind of representation to black youth. If we constantly dismiss the presence of minorities and other ethnical groups in mainstream media, the message that people who belong to these groups receive is that they are not worthy enough to be important in this society. At the same time, we leave kids with no resources to access that reflect their own experiences. However, actors like Chadwick Boseman bring to the table a new discussion about how Black Representation affects the self-perception of black youth and the importance of claiming spaces in mainstream media to allow them develop with a sense of validity.

The United States has a very long history with racism as it was once a place were slavery was legal and normalized. In fact, it took several years for afroamerican people to get their freedom back , and even with slavery abolished, racism prevailed until actuality as we have witnessed from the riots that arose because of the murder of George Floyrd, Breonna Taylor and so many others. In that sense, Black Representation in mainstream media has become the  reflection of the racial conflicts inside the United States’ society. In the past, the only Black Representation in film came in the form of white men painting their faces black to look afro-descendant, doing roles that put black people in a negative light. Additionally, if there was in fact a character done by a person of color, it was often a domestic servant role or the representation of someone from low status. With time, more characters of color would appear on film and television only to be criminals or depicted in a negative way (Isaacs, Scholar, Horney, 2010). This type of representation would only reinforce the stereotypes about people of color that would make segregation and discrimination even stronger for them (Punyanunt-Carter,2008). In actuality, the racial conflict is still strong in the american society  and Black Representation continues to be linked to criminality as well as to being victims of police brutality and unfair incarceration which puts  black youth in a place where they either feel ashamed or feel fear because of the color of their skin. However, in the last decade, social media has made it possible to make creators of color and inclusive content more visible which has helped black youth and youth in general to find safe places and representation beyond mainstream media.

(Scene of “Gone with the wind”, 1939)

(H&M controversial advertisement)

In Chile  there is also a long story with racism that starts with colonialism and continues up to this day. Since the spanish colonizers came to what is now Chile, there has been a strong marginalization and violence against the indiginous people that inhabited the country. The spanish colonizers imposed their traditions and culture onto the indiginous people and if they did not submit to them they were killed. This conflict would remain through history as the mixed children of both spanish colonizers and indiginous people would be discriminated against depending on how similar they  looked to their indiginous parents. Although independence meant freedom for Chilean people and the opportunity to build their own society according to their historicity, the spanish culture and traditions were well established into the pre-independence society already, a culture that discriminated against anyone who did not go along with it (Cerda Ojeda,2004). In actuality, the conflict between indiginous people and the state of Chile is still very present as indiginous people do not feel represented by Chilean’s society norms and traditions as they have their own. Additionally, the state has continuously repressed any form of manifestation of the Mapuche people using excessive violence (Casenave,2017). Although Chilean society often claims themselves to be inclusive and non racist because hate crimes against those of different ethnicities are not that common, there is an entire state that allows excessive violence against a whole group of people just for manifesting themselves. Mapuche people are portrayed in the media as terrorists, their clothes used as costumes and their language used for marketing as if their culture is only positive if there is an economic gain for it. However, it is thanks to non-mainstream media that Mapuche people and people from different ethnicities can share their own experiences allowing youth to access better and more positive representations of their cultures.

 In actuality, the Chilean educational system has promoted inclusive programs that emphasize children’s right to be validated and have access to quality education regardless of their ethnicity . Diversification of the societies demand inclusive educational programs as everybody’s diverse natures are valid and important . That is why initiatives such as Ley de Inclusión Escolar become crucial not only for an integral development of children, but also for the construction of a more equal and inclusive society as well (Minueduc,2017). However, I believe that although education is a fundamental part of society’s construction, it does not necessarily only take place in schools and classrooms. Learning is an active process where knowledge is mentally constructed regardless of how or where it is taught. This means that learning is closely bounded by experience and interaction with the context in which the individual is immersed in (Rasiah, 2014). In that sense, although educational projects and laws are indispensable for promoting inclusiveness in education, there is also a necessity of promoting inclusiveness in the media that is consumed by people. I believe education is a responsibility that should not only fall onto the shoulders of teachers and schools, but should also be shared with the community especially in times where media in general has become such an influence for children and teenagers’ development.

                                                   References

Agenda, O. (2011). Social science and literature review: Media representations and impact on the lives of Black men and boys. The Opportunity Agenda, 13-55.Retrieved from: https://www.opportunityagenda.org/explore/resources-publications/opportunity-black-men-and-boys-public-opinion

Cazenave Sciaraffia, M. (2017). El pueblo mapuche como enemigo para el estado chileno: una cuestión humanitaria. Retrieved from: http://repositorio.uchile.cl/bitstream/handle/2250/151078/TESIS-El-Pueblo-Mapuche-como-enemigo-para-el-estado.pdf

Cerda Ojeda, U. T. (2004). Razas, racismo, clases sociales y clasismo: revisión teórica y desarrollo en Chile. Retrieved from: http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/112665

Isaacs, S. T., Scholar, M., & Horney, J. (2010). Portrayal of African Americans in the media: An examination of law and order. McNair Faculty Research. Pennsylvania State University. Pp158-174. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/83cb/50c144ae316e19cee4320a7fb852ef3936ea.pdf

Ministerio de Educación de Chile (2017) Ley de Inclusión Escolar. Retrieved from https://www.mineduc.cl/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/libro_Inclusio%CC%81n_final.pdf

Punyanunt-Carter, N. M. (2008). The perceived realism of African American portrayals on television. The Howard Journal of Communications, 19(3), 241-257.Retrieved from: https://nca.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10646170802218263

Rasiah, R. R. V. (2014). Transformative higher education teaching and learning: Using social media in a team-based learning environment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 123, 369-379. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814014736

[itwouldhityoulikeasledgehammer]

　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ❋ 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨 ❋

　　　　　　　　　　　　　🗞️ 　 𝗇𝗆𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗀𝖺𝗓𝗂𝗇𝖾 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 📅 　𝖿𝖾𝖻𝗋𝗎𝖺𝗋𝗒 𝟤𝟢𝟣𝟪

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐳𝐳 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝.

Aria Velasco is the woman of the moment. At the tail end of last year, she spent five weeks at Number One with ‘Havana’, a sultry Latin-influenced pop tune celebrating the Cuban city strongly linked to her family. Her third album, ‘Aria’, dropped earlier this month to glowing reviews she never got before. In LA, where she’s being shot for NME today, there seem to be Aria Velasco billboards on every boulevard. But just over a year ago, the future for her didn’t look quite so rosy: she said she lost her inspiration after a very traumatic experience she doesn't want to talk about. Aside from this brief flash of reticence, Velasco is as bright and breezy as her signature hit.

𝐒𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 "𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐚" 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

“I think it really gave me a certain buzz of confidence. When you release a new album, people are kind of scared to do stuff that’s different or new because they just want to go with what’s already being played on the radio. They want to stick to the formula that’s already been tested. We didn’t even release ‘Havana’ as a single because no one believed in it enough. They were like, ‘Oh that’s a cool song, but it’s definitely not what you want as a single from your album.’ And so when it worked, I was like, ‘Nobody really knows anything, so you might as well go with what you love.'”

𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

“Super-validating. It taught me this huge lesson of going with what you feel and you like. Because that way, at least you know you’re always going to be excited performing the song. And if people connect with it, that’s honestly one of the most incredible things ever. It’s just taught me to always go with my gut.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦: '𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛', 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐊 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝟏𝟓, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 '𝐎𝐌𝐆', 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨-𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢 𝐗𝐂𝐗. 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧?

“No, because I knew they wouldn’t fit on the album. Obviously I got push-back from it, but it was one of those things that came from my gut. I always have to go to sleep at night knowing I made the decision that I thought was the right one. If I do something that I don’t want to do, just because everyone else wants me to do it, it’s going to bother me. For-ev-er.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 '𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠.', 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 '𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚'. 𝐀𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞?

“I think it was, like, two weeks into doing interviews.”

𝐖𝐨𝐰.

“Seriously. I was like, ‘This is making me sad. The album was about getting over this situation, but I’m never going to get over this situation if I’m constantly being asked about it.’ And also, I’m a super-private person so I couldn’t even give an interesting answer to who it was about. I just kept being super-vague, and that’s not fun for anybody. And then I was like, ‘Wow, imagine doing an album based on that. And a tour. And more interviews.’ By the time I was talking about it in interviews, what had caused me pain wasn’t even relevant any more. I had moved on with my life, so I needed my music to move on too.”

𝐀𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫?

“It can be a little hard in the age of social media where it feels like you just have to constantly be ‘on’. And sometimes, I don’t really like being ‘on’. Like, if I go home for a break, I don’t like to be constantly Snapchatting everything. Sometimes I feel like I could probably do more of that kind of thing, but I don’t want to constantly be on my phone, saying what I’m doing and who I’m doing it with. And when it comes to interviews, I think sometimes I just have to know when to shut up!”

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 '𝐩𝐨𝐩'𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫' 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥? 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐮𝐭?

“It feels amazing. But it also feels like it’s not me, if that makes sense? I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s my twin’. It’s almost like Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus. But… I don’t know. I feel like so much stuff is happening to me all the time, and that’s kind of a good thing because I don’t really have time to process it and let stuff sink in. But really it just feels amazing that people are actually listening to my songs. I think back to when I was 15 and didn’t even think this [career] was a real thing that could happen. You know, earlier today I performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and she told me she’s wanted me to come on and sing for ages. I mean, that’s crazy.”

𝐒𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞.

“Um… I think that the beginning moment was this kind of happy accident where I suddenly got the courage to audition for [English] X Factor. After that, I just kept jumping into stuff. And I get so excited about doing stuff that I don’t acknowledge fear or limitations in any way. I’m always curious about stuff so it just leads me onto the next thing. I’m always trying to learn, or get better at something, or grow in some way.”

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫.

“Thanks! But you know, I definitely had a period as a kid where I was super-shy and I wasn’t really brave. And I think that when I did my first brave thing, it made me want to always push myself to do stuff that I’m afraid of or makes me nervous. Now, I always want to be the kind of person who’s brave. It’s been this kind of 180 for me and I think it probably has to do with the thrill and excitement I get when I’m on stage. I try to look for that same feeling in other areas of my life. You know what I mean? That kind of…”

𝐁𝐮𝐳𝐳?

“Yeah, but not like drugs or anything. That sounded weird when I said it! I was like, I hope he doesn’t think I’m alluding to… I mean, just in life! An adrenaline rush or something.”

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬, '𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥' 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦? 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 '𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥' 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠.

“Me too! Me. Too. I really, really wanted to make a song called ‘She Loves Control’. It’s about a moment of my life when I was feeling free and excited and enjoying this new independence where I had all this creative control I’d never had before. I had control of my music and my schedule and my time and my decisions and it just felt really amazing. But I wrote the song with the intention of it being about whatever you want it to be. It could be about, you know, sexual control. Or any kind of control. But I really like the idea of girls singing the chorus, ‘She loves control, she wants it her way…'”

𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲.

“Yeah, for sure. Because there’s something really powerful in being able to say, ‘I like taking control of my life. I like living how I want to live.'”

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥?

“I do. And I think it has a lot to do with the fact I have a little brother now. Even if I swear in real life, I don’t like swearing in songs. I definitely always keep that audience in my mind. Growing up, I looked up to all the Disney girls like Selena, Demi, Miley, Taylor. Well, Taylor wasn’t a Disney girl, but you know what I mean. I feel like the people you look up to as a kid definitely influence you in some way. And because of that I wanna be a good influence on younger kids.”

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨?

“It’s not cheesy. Oooh… maybe honest? No, maybe exciting. I feel like sometimes who I am in the studio and who I am as a performer is totally different. When I’m in the studio, I’m just a 21-year-old girl writing songs, trying to be honest. But as a performer, I want people to be excited and for it to feel unexpected and unpredictable. So maybe a mix of honest and exciting. And also nice! I definitely want people to think I’m nice.”

[her-culture]

Why Everyone Should Read N.K. Jemisin’s "The Fifth Season"...Like Now!

The World Now

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castille, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner...and too many others are just a few of the names that have headlined on the news because they are victims of police brutality. There are many other names that have not made the headlines, but are just as important as the names we see everyday in the papers, on social media, and on the news.

Police brutality is nothing new. This has been going on before Erica Garner or Trayvon Martin, before Tamir Rice or Freddie Gray...and it’s obviously not stopping.

But, what makes the recent events so different from other cases of police brutality is that the anger, frustration, and grief is boiling over. People are finally saying - showing - that enough is really enough.

Also, having to quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic takes a toll on you mentally and emotionally. All of those pent up emotions without release...it’s no wonder why people took to the streets in full force to protest the racial injustices that have been going on for far too long.

When I heard about the George Floyd tragedy, I was already stressed and frustrated from being stuck inside my house and unable to interact with the outside world in the way I would want to. But, one thing that helped me cope with the pandemic and the quarantine was reading.

Reading helped me refocus all of my emotional anxiety and energy away from myself. One book I read during this pandemic was The Fifth Season - the first book in N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy. It was Jemisin’s book that helped me to reflect on the racial issues we're facing in the country. The themes of injustice and bias in The Fifth Season resembles the same issues America and the rest of the world faces now.

The Fifth Season

As I stated earlier, The Fifth Season is N.K. Jemisin’s first book in her Broken Earth Trilogy. The Fifth Season follows three characters: Essun, Damaya, and Syenite as they navigate a broken world - the Stillness - that seems like it is constantly ending. Except, this time the world is ending for the very last time.

In the Stillness, there is a race who have the power to control tectonic plate activity - they are called orogenes (Note: the main characters themselves are orogenes). However, these individuals are feared by stills (humans who live in the Stillness) and thus oppressed. Some of the orogenes, if they were not killed by the people in their community, would be sent to the Fulcrum under the watchful eyes of the Guardians. At the Fulcrum, the orogenes can be manipulated and controlled so that their powers are exploited by the Stills. Does any of this sound familiar?

The oppression and traumatic events the orogenes experience in the book is much like the experience of Blacks and African-Americans over the course of over 200 plus years. The orogenes are feared for their abilities just as people of color are feared and hated for the color of their skin. And, in response to fear the oppressors feel there is a need to control this particular group of human beings lest they do something so horrible and savage in return (a complete fallacy). I think you would agree that this is not that much different from slaves being sent to plantations under the watchful, hateful eyes of the slave owners. Slaves were used for labor just as the orogenes are used for their powers. And, if either the orogenes or slaves were to try and revolt or not comply (though they had very little options or none at all), then they suffered severe and very often fatal consequences. Jemisin does something very powerful here and whether she did it on purpose or not isn’t relative. Jemisin’s book highlights an issue that has been plaguing America ever since the first slave was brought from Africa to America for exploitation. The racial bias and injustice Africans and people of color have suffered just because of the color of their skin is destroying America and participating in these racial biases and stereotypes is taking a toll on us as a nation. By the end of Jemisin’s novel, the Fulcrum is completely destroyed and the oppressive system that controlled the orogenes is breaking down, slowly but surely. The same is happening in America today. The oppressed are in this struggle to break down the racially unjust system that has horribly impacted communities with people of color.

A Call for Action If you haven’t already, you need to read Jemisin’s The Fifth Season and receive a full wake up call. Now is the time to be more proactive and engaged in events going on within your community and in this nation. Look at the events that happen in Jemisin's novel and you’ll see how similar they are to modern day events regarding racial injustice and police brutality. You don’t have to do anything as big as joining a protest to show your support for racial equality and justice for victims of police brutality. Just being aware of the issues going on in your community is a good step in recognizing racial discrimination and injustice. Social media is another way for you to learn more about what actions the country and your community is taking to address racial injustice.

In the end, regardless of religion, gender, ethnicity, culture, and race, everyone deserves to be treated as human beings.