Chokehold

Restorative justice techniques have existed in indigenous communities for many years, even predating retributive justice practices. The focus on community-based justice and the process of healing was essential for the existence of smaller, cohesive societies. This practice is not limited to smaller groups of people. Restorative justice has grown in popularity within the last half of a century, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was on the forefront of the paradigm shift of the way…

Liminality is a central theme to most of Arthur Yap’s work, extending his material to a broad range of interpretations and possibilities that elude a definitive and denotative meaning. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, that which is liminal has three interpretations: “minimality”; something “characterized by being on a boundary or threshold” or a “transitional… state between culturally defined stages of a person’s life”. This liminality is evident in Yap’s distinct artistry, where he…

Most people would wonder what is going through someone’s head when they make an irrational decision. What goes through a police officer's head when they abuse their power and mistreat American citizens by harming them? “Police brutality is the use of excessive force and/or unnecessary force by police while interacting with civilians, or the public. Police brutality may be physical, which could involve physical contact, the use of weapons including guns and batons, and the use of pepper spray or…

In todays society there is a lot of discourse surrounding two campaigns Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter and which is the better of the two. It seems as though All Lives Matter is a rebuttal against Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter activist are trying to get the discussion of racism moving. All Lives matter does not discuss the topic of race because it refers to everyone. Race has been an issue since the birth of this country and continues to be in the present day. The existence of…

slave girl had recognized a hat, and split the woodshed to kill her children (157) This failure of the community leads to Sethe murdering Beloved (Sethe’s crawling already baby). After she commits infanticide in order to spare her child from the chokehold of slavery, the community rejects Sethe. Her action is considered as a taboo by the community, which jeopardizes her membership within the community. The members of the community quietly withdraw their support for Sethe when she needs them the…

The era of hostile racial prejudice, the periods of slavery and racial segregation is an era that has extensively found itself in reluctant conversations across cultures, the effects continuing to radiate from the 19th century, the epicentre of racism. An uncomfortable truth to confront, race as a socio-political concept is a topic we refuse to divulge in or if done so, is a conversation peppered with scientific evidence that is nothing but discriminatory. Significant public figures have…

Day in and day out I have seen racism on the news and on the streets. One day while my mom, a black female, was at work a person left picked cotton at her station. This is just one example, in my life, on how racism is still in America and after hundreds of years, have no plans to go anywhere. Today, minorities in America are dying by the people who are supposed to protect us. Racism is still prevalent in America today because people still mistreat and stereotype Muslims, there's a huge racial…

Freedom is a word that stirs the emotions, and is the rallying cry of every revolution ever. While the term freedom itself has many connotations, in western civilization the most venerated are the free thinkers. I am fortunate to be a freethinker. Like revolutionaries who came before me; I also had to endure hardship before I could doff the chains from my mind. I believe adversity, the suffering and struggles of life are the agents of change and offer an opportunity to transcend a circumstance.…

Militarization of US Police Force America, the country of the free, but is it actually free when the police are packing heat like never before? Recently the local police departments has been seen using excessive force and equipment necessary. Over the past few decades, the government have offered local police departments around five billion dollars’ worth of military-grade weapons and equipment intended for fighting major crimes, terrorism and response to disasters (Snowiss). Why would police…

Many do not know that 15-year old Claudette Colvin was the first African American who refused to give up her seat to a group of Caucasian people. Being too young and too dark-skinned she was never recognized as the leader who started the Civil Rights Movement. After her arrest, she became pregnant by a much older and married man, and civil rights leaders thought that it would not help but hamper the African American community in their rise for equality. Nine months later, Rosa Parks, a 42- year…