Personal is Political

The previous event I attended for our freshman seminars presentations of the work these classes have done and the progression they've made was something very powerful, as for my classmates in Poetry and Law. We were given the opportunity to share poems we've written for our class; expressing our compassion and rage of the social justice issues we address and study in our class with Professor Natashia Lopez Gomez. Our research conference was grouped with the Fundraising seminar, which they presented their fundraiser proposals associated with iLead. The presenters each offered a different type of fundraiser such as an auction, a recycled clothing fashion show, and one other I do not remember. Profits raised from the fundraisers would then go to iLead, which I believe is a S.T.E.M. school for children. If I were to take on this challenge of brainstorming a form of fundraising that wouldn't cost more than $200, I would have proposed a flag football game. As I've said before, one of the fundraisers was an auction; you need stuff to auction off, which means you need to buy stuff, and not just anything, but items worth value to interest auctioneers. Donations of signed autographs might be an option, but doesn't always happen. You'd have to spend money acquiring these items, although you may make the money back, the money you spent could have went to the actual money raised. With a simple football game, students can sign up, form teams and then play a game on a scheduled date. Revenue would come from admission, charging the audience to enter. A snack bar provided to purchase food, and a press box to guide the audience through the game. However, the presentations from our Law and Poetry class were extremely inspiring and heart felt. Each presenter touched on one or more of the social justice issues they've endured themselves, furthermore the struggles they've faced such as not having a roof over their head because of financial issues or losing their mother to a deportation center. What our class is, is a sacred space for speaking our minds, sharing experiences, and understanding our rights as Americans and how they are easily abused among certain demographic groups. Our class is very diverse, from African Americans, Polynesian, Latinos, Indian and Caucasian. This is the beauty Law and Poetry offers, a melting pot where we are all one. From my interpretation, the poems shared, I believe really impressed the audience and fellow students. I myself read my poem, which was out of my comfort zone, but with familiarity of my classmates and the support we all gave one another; it only strengthened us more.