Browsing by Subject "Activist"
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Item Constance Shabazz Interview(2018-10-11) Institute of Diversity and Civic LifeThis interview is with Constance Shabazz, a social activist, feminist, and speaker from Chicago. After learning about the health care disparities and injustice faced by the African American community during her time working for the Sickle Cell Foundation in New York, Constance decided to become a physician and advocate for others. Constance talks about how reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X helped align her spiritual beliefs with Islam and informed her opinions on providing free health care for all. Constance moved to Texas in 2016 and continues to organize around community needs.Item Educar con compromiso : Chicana teacher identity and activism through comadrazgo in a teachers’ association(2019-05) Espinoza, Katherine Elise; Urrieta, Luis; De Lissovoy, Noah; Salinas, Cynthia S.; Valenzuela, Angela; Machado-Casas, MargaritaThis dissertation examines the process of identity and agency construction of bilingual teachers by exploring the experiences of three activist maestras involved in a teachers’ association in a right-to-work state. I draw on a postpositivist perspective (Moya, 2002; Hames-Garcia, 2011) and LatCrit (Delgado Bernal, 1989, 2002; Solórzano, 1997; Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001) to highlight the knowledge we gain from exploring individuals’ unique experiences. I frame my inquiry through theoretical frameworks that accentuate lived experiences of Chicana teachers – culturally responsive teaching (Valenzuela, 2016; Ayers and Kumashiro, 2015), funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff & Gónzalez, 2001), and lived critical literacy curriculum (Vasquez, 2003, 2010, 2012). My study demonstrates the ways in which activist Chicana activist maestras find non-traditional ways of integrating pedagogical practices to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse Latinx students and how their pedagogical practices are informed by their advocacy efforts – inside and outside of the classroom – in their pursuit of a social justice curriculum. Specifically, I examine their life stories (childhood, teaching, and union activism) to contextualize how these Chicana bilingual teachers have developed a sense of conciencia con compromiso (Prieto &Villenas, 2012) for their students, fellow teachers, and the communities they serve. Findings show that Chicana activist maestras reveal the stark reality of the daily lives of teachers. In turn, maestras develop the sensibility of sobrevivencia which enables to educar con compromiso. I define educar con compromiso as an obligation, both moral and ethical, that Chicana activist maestras possess to advocate for fellow teachers, students, and communities. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that previous experiences and the current spaces they encounter provide Chicana activist maestras with the opportunity to manifest different identities simultaneously. In studying activist Chicana bilingual teachers who are politically active, this study contributes to the larger body of work exploring non-traditional ways in which bilingual teachers develop an activist maestra identity by exploring how identity construction transpires within a teachers’ association in a right-to-work state.Item Neda Hamid Interview(2019-05-08) Institute for Diversity & Civic LifeThis interview is with Neda Hamid, a Palestinian Muslim and recent Human Development and Family Sciences graduate from the University of Texas at Austin. Neda speaks to Islam being a very important part of their life and the subsequent ramifications of being a highly visible hijab-wearing Muslim. Neda also navigates a shift in their leftist political identity and discusses how being surrounded by progressive-minded people in college was a stark contrast to their high school experience in Baytown, Texas, where they were born and raised. During college, Neda was highly involved with the Liberal Arts Refugee Alliance (LARA) as well as the Palestine Solidarity Committee. Neda would like to tie their life’s work to helping the local refugee community.Item ‘What I have to say is important’ : including youth voices in conversations about sexual violence(2018-05-03) Buchanan, Taylor Marie; Sylvie, GeorgeSexual violence – rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse – impacts youth at an alarming rate. One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Youth are also at risk for dating violence. Twenty-one percent of girls and 10 percent of boys experience dating violence while in high school, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But adults have created a culture that discourages youth from saying #MeToo. In determining whether and how to have conversations about sex, some parents and teachers stay silent, others talk too much. Both approaches prevent youth from asking questions about healthy relationships, reporting sexual violence and seeking support if their boundaries are crossed. In such conditions, sexual violence becomes tolerated and normalized. Youth are eager to have their voices heard. Following the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 students and staff inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors vowed #NeverAgain. These high schoolers took to the streets to speak openly against adults failing to protect them from gun violence. Against this backdrop of youth activism, a group of teenagers stepped on stages across Austin, Texas, this spring. They devised a play about healthy relationships and consent, based on their own experiences with sexual violence. From February to April 2018, they performed their play, “Just Ask” 22 times in nine middle schools. Their work as student activists offers a window into one form of peer-led prevention with potential for change. Sexual violence is preventable. Youth do not have to grow up in a culture of shame and silence. To get there, a holistic approach is needed. Talking about it won’t fix the problem altogether. But empowering youth to be active participants in these conversations, seen and heard, is a promising place to start.