Seeing Activism in our streets

Lead Editor: Myah Lake; Deputy Editor: Natalie Davila

Post pandemic we have seen activism in our streets from protests regarding police brutality, covid-19 vaccinations, and abortion law. We can see the rise of activism post quarantine and how people are speaking up about things that are currently happening in our country. This shows that there are still needs to move towards reform and change. This week we are introduced to students who have seen activism in New York, Texas, and Massachusetts.

Rayiah Ross Reporting from Manhattan, New York

Being in New York City, people try to enact change every day by taking their issues to the street. Recently there are those statues of George Floyd, John Lewis, and Breonna Taylor that were put up in the southern part of Union Square. The exhibition is entitled “See Injustice” and each statue weighs about 1,000 pounds and is made of 200 thinly-cut slices of African Mahogany, then topped with a glistening coat of bronze paint. And just 48 hours after it was unveiled, someone defaced it. I feel like when we talk about people making a change in New York City there’s a lot of good behind it, but we kind of just choose to ignore the bad. I’m a victim of this too of course (mostly because “the bad” pisses me off so I’d rather not acknowledge it). We had great protests in New York City to fight against the Texas abortion laws this year. In 2019 we had the climate strike and I don’t know a single person who didn’t participate. In my freshman year of college, there were protests outside the Trump building every single day. I don’t really see that same fire as much anymore. Because of the pandemic, a lot of social and political issues had to be taken care of from a distance. Of course, the BLM protests in 2020 very much took over every street in the whole world and it was beautiful to see, but a lot of it happened online too. There were resources being shared, information being spread, and organizations being uplifted. Unfortunately, this disconnect from online and the physical made it very easy for people to also spread misinformation and post black squares for clicks instead of justice. The most recent protest I’ve seen in Manhattan is a bunch of anti-vaxxers walking past my job with confederate flags, no masks, and posters that made me want to flip them off. That’s not this kind of social change I want to see on the streets. I understand that the pandemic has made it hard for us to be together, but if we can do it safely I’d love to see the passion of street protests again. There was one protest that I wasn’t able to participate in, but I did see someone in passing as she was on her way there. She had a sign that said, “Why do I have to keep doing this?!” And it had a large image of the reproductive system on the side. Immediately I knew that she was going to protest the Texas abortion laws that ban abortion after six weeks and make no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. When I got off that train after work I looked up the protest and they had walked from Foley Square to Washington Square Park to show solidarity with women in Texas. One of the demonstrators explained, “What affects women in one place, affects women everywhere.“ That made me smile. Despite the fact that I sometimes lose hope in New York’s rebellious nerve, these hundreds of women relieved me by making me aware of the fact that Texas is nearly 1,700 miles away from New York City, yet these issues are important everywhere. I had work the day I saw that lady on the train with her poster. I almost asked her about it too. God, I wish I would have been there. Protesting Equality for All!

Tess Schumacher Reporting from New York, New York City

The year is 2021 and the world is at an all time high for acceptance of all races, sexualities, and religions. Despite these feats though, there is still a massive amount of hate and retaliation coming from the extreme conservative communities that remain around the world. As we all know, there’s been a massive rise in Asian-hate. This is just one of the many struggles that innocent people have to deal with on a daily basis. It’s an atrocity that people are shamed and looked down upon for them simply being themselves. People can’t change the bodies that they were born into, nor can they change their race or heritage, so why label them as a bad person for something they can’t help. These are things people should be proud of. People should be able to represent themselves and their cultures with pride and dignity. The ultimate goal for the world is to be accepting of everyone. People shouldn’t be judged by their looks but by the content of their character. With the amount of opposing viewpoints though, and the amount of people who thrive off hatred and fighting, having a “perfect” world is currently and always has been stuck as a mere idea and not a reality. One of the things people who strive for an equal world do in order to get the message out that change is needed is by protesting. Protesting has been done through marches, flyers, signs, and even street art. In my first image you can see a mural of George Floyd. As everyone knows, he is a man who was wrongfully murdered by a police officer. Having his face be painted as a mural is a reminder for everyone who sees it that there are people out there who want a society built off equality. My second image shows some Lego people holding up protesting signs that all stand for equality of different races and sexualities. The photo pretty much explains itself and what it stands for.

Averee Nelson Reporting from New York, New York

When I was at my neighborhood park the other day, I overheard a couple arguing over if vaccinated people have a lesser chance of getting Covid-19, or if they just will have a minimized reaction to the virus if they do get it. On the other end of the spectrum, every time I log on to Facebook, I am bombarded with anti-vaccination posts from some conservative family friends. There is this constant online and offline contestation of vaccine protocols and health mandates. Today, there seems to be no safe space to stay healthy and protected in peace. Even health has become a battleground. This weekend there was an anti-vaxx mandate and covid-law protest in Times Square. People were holding American flags and anti-socialism flags. Over 1,000 people crowded Times Square to protest the strict vaccination mandates in New York City. This crowd of maskless individuals, waving their American flags, thought they were fighting for what they believe to be their freedoms. While there are still hospitalizations and positive cases of Covid-19 in New York City, it appalls me that unvaccinated and unmasked people are gathering and pushing back to this extent. After nearly 2 years of the pandemic, this battle against government safety regulation is still persisting and rearing its ugly head on the streets of New York. Even outside of scheduled protests, you can feel the tension at times while riding the bus or the subway, or even while taking a walk. A verbal argument broke out during my bus ride the other day because one man had his mask slightly beneath his nose and another man called him out for it. As a result of this knotted and politicized situation, people are policing each other in two completely different ways. I close with wondering if this is the future of America?

Gabrielle Fiorella Reporting from New York, New York

Since the beginning of the pandemic almost 2 years ago, protests have been rampant through the streets of NYC. Last summer was met with a global revamp of the Black Lives Matter movement in solidarity of the countless black lives lost due to police negligence and violence. BLM protests were rampant through the streets of New York, demanding a humane and deserved change. There are other protests however that have been running rampant that are causing more harm in society than what the protesters are hoping for as a result. Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers are protesting the medical mandates put in place to prevent people from getting sick and dying, and also so we can begin to do things in person again and not have to be online for every single aspect of our lives. These protestors are not only causing more of a social divide, but they are adding to the statistics of COVID-19 spreading around the city at faster rates. They are even disrupting the lives specifically of those who are trying to stop the spread and know the facts that the virus is deadly. These marchers attacked a COVID-19 testing station in Union Square. These are not the progressive and important protests that actually need to happen, and they are not the protests that I like to see. It’s pulling people apart even more than what COVID-19 did to us in the first place, making us quarantine in our homes away from others and the outside world. It is so disheartening and terrifying to see these protestors so hell bent about this and that they don’t believe in the science of it all. They’re damaging our society and freedoms even more with their actions.

Olivia Pietruszewski Reporting from Weymouth, Massachusetts

In the summer of 2020, the Black Lives Matter Movement was reignited due to a rise in police brutality across America. Throughout the entire country, protests were held with thousands of people participating in every city. With the state of the world being completely abnormal during the COVID-19 pandemic, people still found a way to show their opposition to police brutality. In my town, protests were held just about every night at the town hall and/or outside of the police station. As some time went on, we understood that just protesting would not be enough. A group of us got together to plan a vigil for the lives that were lost to police brutality and raise money for various charities that were important to the cause. With a whole lot of planning and teamwork, we were able to reserve a stadium in the town, and invite everyone to be a part of it. We made and sold t-shirts as well as baked goods in order to raise money. People came to talk about their experiences of racism in the town and in the country as a whole. Musical accompaniment came from black artists and moments of silence were held. The vigil raised over $7500 for the Breonna Taylor Fund, The Gianna Floyd Fund, and The Black Businesses of Boston fund. When people come together with a common goal, great things can happen.

Princess Raymond Reporting from Houston, Texas

Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy includes an unusual measure designed to ensure the law is enforced It’s no secret that the way we protest has changed, and maybe even increased during the pandemic.When Texas enacted the ‘Texas Heartbeat Act’ on May 19, 2021 the protests in Texas began immediately, and have been going ever since. Not only have the citizens of Texas been complaining about it, but people all over the country, all of the world even, have expressed their disapproval of the law and have expressed their views on the pro life vs pro choice debate.

The Biden administration of justice is currently seeking an emergency order to block the abortion ban in Texas and the Department of Justice is thinking of taking this case to the Supreme Court. This past week, there was a peaceful protest at a local park in Downtown Houston, Texas. I spoke to several Texans at the protest and asked them what they thought about the law, why they felt that way and asked them to express their views overall on the pro life vs pro choice debate. One thing that several of these activists mentioned that stood out to me is how the government of Texas is turning civilians into bounty hunters. Apparently, : residents of the state can now sue clinics, doctors, nurses and even people who drive a woman to get the procedure, for at least $10,000.

Hannah Corbett Reporting from Newburgh, New York

Standing alongside of the Hudson Rivers waterfront, stands women of all colors protesting texas’s abortion law. I haven’t seen a crowd like this gather in Newburgh protesting beliefs since the black lives matter movement in May 2020. The traffic that goes through this section of town is enormous. The voices I heard that day on October 2, 2021 as I pulled to the side of the road with my window down, were passionate and compelling. I couldn’t help but notice the plethora of pink, bold, glittery signs. Some saying “Keep Your laws off my body” and more vulgar “I like my p*ssy how I like my weed, LEGAL”, one of my favorites was a take on a Grease film “Keep your filthy paws off my silky draws”. Voices yelling “I can’t believe it’s 2021 and we’re still fighting this fight”. Women took turns sharing their words of support. Thoughts of women across the country begging for change in legislation was heard loud and clear along River Road that day. Allowing women the access and allowance to have the final decision on their body seems like a no brainer to the women out there across the hudson valley. As I left I heard the chanting in the background “My Body My Choice!

Natalie Davila Reporting from Time Square, New York

I would like to give a little disclaimer, I did not attend this protest. I would never, I fully believe in vaccines and science. I found this picture on Twitter. I find it very ironic that a lot of “local New Yorkers” would willingly go to Times Square, of all the places in this city. It just seems very odd to me that any New Yorker would attend this protest at all, despite this city being known for its left-leaning tendencies I think that most of us can agree it is not. It is interesting the lengths that anti-vaxxers are willing to go to. It is either that Covid is fake, or that masks are ineffective or that we do not need the vaccine, or that we need to wear a mask to protect ourselves against those who are vaccinated. Overall, this debate is completely unnecessary. It is impossible not to notice that a majority of white Americans are the ones leading this, for lack of a better word, argument. I think what we really need to discuss is the idea of individualism over community. White people specifically lack empathy, because it is indented into us that we always need to put ourselves first. I grew up in the Midwest but this pattern is, unfortunately, everywhere. It is outrageous to see people disagree over a vaccine or wearing a mask but at the same time being okay with watching Black and Brown communities being killed by COVID-19 at alarming rates. These protests keep happening all over New York and I cannot help but wonder how many innocent people need to die before this is taken seriously.