Intervention 3 (Masai)

 

    For this intervention, I chose to put together sort of like a music video type of deal. In terms of activism music can speak volumes. Many artists have used their platform to speak upon the issues that plague our world and one of my favorite examples would be the song "AMERIKKAN IDOL" by Brooklyn rapper, Joey Bada$$ off his 2017 album "ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$." On the song, Joey spends 6 minutes addressing the major issues that black people in America have to face from unjust treatment, police brutality and many more. This song never got a music video so I took it upon myself as an editor to piece together sort of a music video of my own. I wanted to use powerful imagery to match the song and it's equally powerful lyrics and message. 

Guerilla Girls Posters & Quotes (Jesse)

2 Posters 

WE SELL WHITE BREAD (1987-1988)

GUERRILLA GIRLS’ CODE OF ETHICS FOR ART MUSEUMS MONUMENT (2019)

2 Quotes:

"Contains less than the minimum daily requirement of white women and non-whites."

"Thou shalt show and collect lots of art by women and artists of color BEFORE they are dying or dead!"

Intervention 2 (Jesse)

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

             My intervention revolved around the environmentalist movement, more specifically climate change. I was inspired to do this protest after a discussion with my brother over what he was learning in primary school. At a 2nd grade level, he was beginning to learn how impactful people are on an individual level and how one's own actions can impact and influence many. At that moment, I felt that this would be a good teaching moment for him and thought I could use this as an opportunity to introduce him to performance art, peaceful protest, and help “bring attention to issues of injustice”(Memes Are Our Generation's Protest Art).

That afternoon I bought a pack of chalk and took him to our local park, where children were far and few in between (with social distancing and the like) and the lesson began. We talked about the environment as we walked through the grass and unto the walkway. We discussed the influence we have on the lives around us, on Earth, and on each other. Even if I was the “teacher” at this moment I wanted him to feel like he had control over the conversation. He asked questions about life, about family, about how climate change would affect him. It was basically a “why should I care?” conversation. I did my best to answer every question but there were a few that simply did not have the answer to.( Ex. Why don't we choose to go green all together? Why is everyone else taking so long?) These complicated dilemmas were used as fuel for our protest so I let him choose a location and we settled down to draw.

Together we drew the wildlife around us, and portraits of each other, and some environmental protests. We concentrated on our work while we spoke honestly; We were living in the moment. Our protest was wholesome and therapeutic, without violence or constraint and per CDC guidelines. It was much different than seeing a protest media online and sharing it. Our protest was small and intimate, it was shared with those who walked the park and happened upon it. By doing this together we combat the initial feelings of fear and discomfort of protest. Sharing our ideas in a peaceful way help us “reflect what’s happening in society, and helps justify feelings of rage and fear while helping us feel less alone.”(Memes Are Our Generation's Protest Art).

Intervention 3 Tweets

 

I have not much more to say then these tweets right here. This is an issue that I feel extremely strong about and am extremely angry with. My freedoms are being taken and are going to continue to be taken for as long as the people let them. At this point I cannot even have a logical conversation with most people, because to be scared of something so silly is illogical in the first place. But they heard it on the news, so it must be true, even though they no nobody personally who has been severely affected by this virus. At this point I am not trying to convince anybody of anything, I am simply out to protect my own personal freedoms, and keep my own sanity, and I expect minimal help in doing so. If other people want to perpetuate this fairytale then there is nothing I can or will do about that. But when you drag me into it, we have a serious problem. If they try to force this vaccine on me I will most definitely refuse it, under all circumstances no matter what it comes to. It doesn’t make sense from a scientific standpoint, and furthermore it is completely against the constitution, as I mentioned in my tweet. To make me do anything to my own body for the sake of others is to strip me of my individual rights, which they have already begun to do with the wearing of masks. If this hysteria does not end soon, I will take serious precautions in order to protest the issue, and I am willing to put it all on the line.  

Invention 3 Protest / Performance (Rudolf Akaho)

 

"I'm not going to rise up to show pride in a banner for a country that mistreats individuals of color and minorities. As far as I might be concerned, this is greater than football and it would be egotistical on my part to look the alternate way. There are bodies in the road and individuals moving paid leave and pulling off murder" – Colin Kaepernick 

Everywhere in the world individuals are rioting on the side of the Black Lives Matter development. A great many individuals in many urban communities are walking on the side of the possibility that all individuals are made rise to and merit equivalent treatment. I can't resist the urge to consider what Martin Luther King Jr would think about these recent developments. How close would we say we are to his fantasy of kids being decided by the substance of their character as opposed to the shade of their skin? 

Today, MLK is hailed as a saint of social liberties. He has roads and schools named after him everywhere in the US. Lawmakers of all foundations quote his work and hail him as a saint. Yet, during the 1950s and 1960s, he was an adversary of the US Government. The FBI was effectively keeping an eye on MLK, naming him as a radical. The head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover guaranteed that MLKs devotees were socialists and that MLK himself was the "most famous liar in the country." The exercise here is that the individuals who stand up against bad form are viewed as an adversary to the individuals who are answerable for the shamefulness. 

It took the demise of George Floyd for people in general to see and the Black Lives Matter development to acquire boundless help. The protestors are getting back on track. Not exclusively did Dr. Ruler have a fantasy of correspondence, however, he was an ally of activity and common noncompliance to accomplish that uniformity. 

"We who take part in the peaceful direct activity are not the makers of pressure. We simply bring to the surface the secret pressure that is as of now alive." – Martin Luther King Jr

Intervention 3 Luke Andaya

     The issue that I have chosen for the third intervention is the ongoing Asian hate crimes here in American that has been spiking up the last year or so. This issue is very important to me because I myself am a Asian American and every time I am on the news or scrolling through social media recently, I have been seeing more and more of the same issuing popping up; people are committing horrendous hate crimes against Asian Americans, more specifically elderly people, and have left them either extremely hurt or even dead. What's even worse is that these crimes have started to show up in NYC which is not to far from Jersey City. A few of my family members actually work by these areas and it makes me more stressed and worried that it might happen to one of my own family members, and I wouldn't be there to at least try to protect them. 

       I have chosen to use the social media app, Twitter, to voice out a few of my opinions on the matter and have used hashtags to try and grab a broader audience as seen with the pictures above. I feel as though raising awareness and creating advocacy through social can help people become motivated to speak out against injustice and make change because people are backed up by millions of other people on social media apps like twitter and Instagram who also have the same opinion as them. So each individual wouldn't feel alone whenever they voice out their opinions out online and can be apart of something big.

COVID (INTERVENTION 3)

 

        For intervention three I decided to talk about COVID-19. I have to say that my mom is an assistant nurse and works on the rehab floor of a facility. When Covid-19 first started I saw how devastated she was seeing so many people dying, people of all ages. She would come home very upset and traumatized by seeing so many people in pain, so many people dying one on top of the other. It was just horrific! So now that the Covid vaccine is out they all got vaccinated even the patients and ever since this occurred deaths have decreased 100%. I am sharing this story because this is something that has affected so many people, and covid is real! So my mom inspired me to create this twitter, on this account I began sharing Covid 19 tips on how to keep us all safe, I also shared a post where it explains how Covid spreads, how people can keep distance, symptoms and so much more. My favorite posts are the ones with the quotes, because I always feel like quotes speak to me so I decided to share some. One of the quotes says "The threat is the virus, not the people", to me that quote meant that instead of not helping each other stay safe we need to fight the virus because that is what is affecting us negatively. The other quote that I shared was "We are in this together, and we will get through this together", I think that it is very important to know that we all have each other's backs even though we are going through rough times, we can all fight this virus together, but the only way we can do so is by taking precaution and following the regulations stated on the page. The most important thing that everyone should understand is that we all need to get vaccinated even if we don't want to because it is the only way out of this tragedy. I know that it is hard to believe that a vaccine could help us but it actually can and that is why I left some information that explains the different vaccines that are available and which one anyone would prefer. I am happy I made this twitter because I am going to keep posting information and I will also appreciate if you guys share and follow because it is important to spread the word. We need to be stress free but also mask free! 

Intervention 3 Performance/Protest (Nashelly Molina)

For my intervention 3, I decided to make a series of four posters to raise awareness about the reality of covid 19 any how serious this is. We all know that many people are tired of hearing and listening about the pandemic whether is on social media or the news; but what people don't know is that there is much more than just wearing a mask and keep social distance. It's also about keeping yourself, your loved ones and those around you safe; and most importantly help the front-line workers and the health care professionals fight the virus by obeying the CDC guidelines. There has also been other type of virus that are related to covid 19 in which it's more contagious and it spreads from person to person. Many people act like if covid 19 is gone and act like the vaccines will keep them safe; but we should still maintain our distance and keep wearing masks. So, it's not just about wearing a mask and maintain our distance but it's also about keeping everyone safe and help protect our community by working together to stop the spread of covid 19 and the other virus related to this one. So many people have died with the pandemic and now the new virus that is related to covid have killed some people as well. So, for this project I created four posters like I mentioned above and I invited my family to join me and hold the sign by my neighborhood. We stayed there and hold the posters while people saw as they were passing by. All of us stayed in that part of our neighborhood because a lot of people go there and there's never a day where that place is empty because it's always packed with people walking or jogging or possibly just chilling. Therefore, I thought that it was a good idea to create a series of posters and hold them as a sign of awareness in a public place where many people would see.

This issue is very important because as you can see the pandemic had claimed the lives of so many people and it continues to claim them. So, by raising awareness and creating advocacy for others we can help stop the issue that we are all facing. We can also help other people advocate for themselves by doing it together and gathering people as well. Raising awareness and making advocacy does help motivate people to seek justice and make a change because while someone is advocating other people might tend to agree and follow them into their steps. They might as well engage in activities that helps spread awareness for others people and like that they will keep getting views and followers. People may see and those who are struggling to spread awareness they can help them advocate and help them spread the message. So, yes spreading and advocating is a great way for people to get motivated and help do the same for others. "These were the posters that started all. We plastered them on the walls of SoHo in the middle of the night. A press release promised more to come, warning," "Simple facts will be spelled out; obvious conclusions can be drawn". (Guerrilla Girls 35) I chose this quote because it shows how a poster, performance, protests, actions etc. help raise awareness on a lot of issues because in this quote they are saying how they made a poster and put it out in public about woman artists not being in galleries and only showing 10% of women artists. So they made this poster and it seemed like it had woken up people and helped spread awareness about this issue and it must've worked out pretty well. So it is stating that by protesting or doing anything that can help spread awareness can make an issue come to light and help fight for change.

Intervention 3 ( Joseph Castella )

 

This issue is very important to me because I am very interested in international relations specifically associating those relations to the topic of security and regional stability. The Israeli and Palestinian conflict hits close to home for me because I have close friends that have grown up in that region specifically in both Isreal and Palestine and I feel I can offer a unique perspective into the issues both sides share. By learning more about the conflict and researching it I believe that I can help shine a light on the issues at hand by not only speaking about it but also expressing the problem through art. While history has taught us to believe that Israel and Palestine are mortal enemies when you peel back the layers and examine closely the relationships and cultures of both these individual states it is clear that they need each other to survive. Israel needs Palestinian organizations such as Hamas to keep larger threats to Israeli security and culture at bay and Palestine needs Isreal in order to obtain critical support for infrastructure. Without each other, both will fail

Activism is very important especially for an intervention project such as this, artists and activists are vital in getting voices heard and hopes made realities. Nobody wants to fight the middle east is tired and wants peace, we must be the champions of peace and freedom. A project such as mine will allow for those on social media to have a say in this matter and easily get involved in advocacy as well as in art. The guerrilla girls have stated through their artwork " One is not enough" and I agree with that message. One action or one voice is not enough to start a movement but it is enough to begin recruitment. Gather all you can for a just cause and you can change the world. By sharing this on my social media I can reach unlimited hights in spreading the message of peace between Israel and Palestine. 

Black Lives Matter

UNITE_US (@UNITEUS9) / Twitter

Black Lives Matter

    As simple as the quote above is: “Make Art for the rest of us,” it stood out for me. Sometimes creating solutions to problems is not appreciated enough. Everyone only salutes when the problem has been dealt with, but the art factor of it, is finding a creative way to build awareness to the situation. That is what creates fan base, when a solution is so innovational; created to distract the viewer of what they are currently looking at or doing and just focusing on the topic that person is emphasizing. Even though raising awareness is the main goal of this assignment, I do not want to just raise awareness, I want to make a Difference.  

    In doing so, I decided to aim for the platform that generates the most attention, which is social media in general. Therefore, I then created a twitter page called ‘UNITE_US.’  In this page I started posting images of all our colored brothers who were victims to police brutality. This is a topic that needs to stop, to be off the headlines, to let us be free of fear from those who are meant to be protecting us. Therefore, I do not think these officers see these fine gentlemen any other way but of their color. So, I emphasized in every tweet, that these victims also have a family, whether they are a brother, a son, or a father. At the end of the day, they have a family that will be heartbroken to know that they will no longer see their loved ones due to “an inconvenience” that could have been avoided.  

Please help spread awareness by as little as following me or reposting it my content.  

Thank You, 

Documentary (Ian)

 

Camp Jened Campers

    The documentary I chose to watch is about the rise of the disability revolution that started with a camp for disabled people that gave way to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Camp Jened was a place where disabled campers were able to find themselves and connect with other individuals that gave them a realization that the world treats them unfairly and empowered them to be more than what the world has defined them. Institutions such as Willbrook were some of the many institutions that did not provide sustainable care to their patients. Most of the leaders of the protests and protestors such as Judy Heumann, Denise & Neil Jacobson, Ann Cupolo Freeman, Steve Hoffman, Nanci D'angelo, and much more wherefrom Camp Jened. Crip Camp portrays the story of how young men and women were able to use tactics and strategies that brought change on a national level.

504 sit-in protest

    Crip Camp showcases the many courageous protests done in order to challenge the decisions of the government. The constant denial of passing and implementing section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act all because the government deemed it too expensive was unlawful and selfish. Various protests such as the blocking of New York streets in 1972, to the 504 Protests such as a sit-in protest at one of the Health, Education, and Wellness (HEW) department's building that lasted nearly a month; to the Capitol Crawl in 1990. The protests done by physically disabled people showed the entire world that they can do what other people can do and that they were people and not disabilities. The film shows us the ability of the community can do and is a prime example of how activism works and changes the world, it is up to the community to speak up if we feel that we are being treated unfairly; Judy Heumann mentions in the film that if you don't respect and believe in yourself then you're not going to get what you want, this mindset is what allows the community to speak up against injustices and make a difference.

Capitol Crawl