On February 23, Georgia’s House of Representatives passed the Campus Security Act, HB 859. If this bill is also passed by the Georgia Senate then people ages 21 and older who are licensed gun holders are permitted to carry concealed weapons on college campuses throughout the state of Georgia. One of the two republican State Representatives, Mandi Ballinger, who sponsored this bill stated “We have heard entirely too many stories recently of Georgia’s students being robbed and held at gunpoint with no way of defending themselves because of the existing laws on our college campuses.” She also stated, “By creating gun-free zones, we are only making it easier for criminals to commit crimes and making our students more vulnerable to violent attacks. This legislation is common sense, and necessary for the protection and safety of our students.” Thus, she justifies allowing concealed weapons as a means for students to defend and/or protect themselves on college campuses. My question is, how do concealed weapons make college campuses safer? Who is actually protected by the possible passing of this law?
My answer is no one. First, Georgia is a racist state and its politicians base their decision-making on notions of race. For example, Georgia is one of 20 states that refused Medicaid expansion, which limits the number of people able to procure Medicaid. If you are poor and don’t have children then you are ineligible for Medicaid. African Americans compose 31.5% of Georgia’s population and 27.9% of African American Georgians live in poverty (Center for American Progress, 2016; U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). This suggests that many African Americans living in Georgia lack access to affordable healthcare. Georgia ranks as the 48th worst state for medical insurance coverage, meaning only two states in the whole country have less residents that are insured medically (Center for American Progress, 2016). Due to the racist nature of Georgia, I am concerned that African American students will become targets of gun shooting, which will then be permitted by law. We have all seen through national news, that young and weaponless black men are often victims of gun shootings, while their offenders are set free based on the notion of “self-defense”. Self-defense in and of itself is a blurred argument and could lead to unnecessary deaths on college campuses if this law is to pass. Thus, African American students, could be murdered under the pretense of “self-defense”. Again who is this law really protecting? Under this argument, the Campus Safety Act will protect white political elitists by granting a means to murder black students seeking higher education. Who is protected by the passing of such a law? Not students, regardless of race. I shiver when I think of the possibility that one of my own students might be accidentally and or intentionally murdered because concealed guns are allowed on college campuses. Let’s just imagine that a female student is being stalked by a male classmate due to unrequited interest. What if that male classmate decides to shoot her and say, “I was defending myself because I thought that she had a concealed gun and was going to shoot”? What if a student becomes angry because another student challenged him/her in class and decides to shoot? What if accidentally, one of the concealed weapons goes off during class and a bullet ricochets into the heart of another student? How are we protecting students by allowing concealed guns on campus? What type of message are we sending to our youth by promoting guns and/or violence as a means to “defend” themselves? I was always taught two wrongs don’t make a right and that violence breeds more violence. How about educators? Thankfully, I will no longer be an instructor in Georgia by the time this law goes through Georgia’s Senate. What if I was still an instructor? What about all those professors, teaching assistants, and adjunct professors that will teach after the law is passed? Professors are already stating that they will not fail students if this law is passed for fear of being shot. This law then negatively impacts the quality of education because professors will be too afraid to give students the grades they earn for fear of death. Who does this law benefit? Not educators, and certainly not students seeking a quality secondary education. I really believe the passing of this law through Georgia’s House of Representatives was caused by a desire to maintain the white status quo in Georgia. I work with at-risk African American youth in Athens, Ga. Many of them have told me that they have been pulled over by police just for walking the streets. One client recently said to me, “I’m sick of dealing with white people” then clarified she didn't view me as white, "You're not a white girl.", she said, so that I wouldn’t get offended by her statement. African American youth already face a variety of challenges in the state of GA that create barriers to higher education, such as high poverty rates and segregated public schools that are failing them. A law like this could deter young African Americans from enrolling in institutes of higher education since they already view themselves as targets of white aggression/oppression. Let me emphasize that African Americans in Georgia fear violent retaliation from whites. A former African American classmate of mine shared that she will not allow her son to wear a black hoodie because she believes that will mark him for police brutality. This classmate is getting her PhD and her son is by no means a hoodlum. If this law passes, I believe it will deter African Americans in Georgia from pursuing higher education out of fear for their own safety. Who is this law protecting? This law protects white politicians continuing to base legislative decision-making on old racist notions that have existed in Georgia since its onset as a state. This law is another means to maintain the white hegemony that exists in the state of Georgia. Social workers in Georgia, students, professors, and the community at large must act in order to prevent this law from being passed in the Senate. Is maintaining the white status quo really more important than life? I think not. I think we must fight this law to protect our children, especially our youth of color living in Georgia. We must not allow the implementation of a law that can deter students of color from attending college. We must not allow the implementation of a law that endangers the lives of students, professors, and common people walking on college campuses. Who does this law protect? No one. In closing, residents of Georgia must band together to ensure that Campus Safety is truly maintained rather than dismantled by the passing of a racist law. References: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13000.html http://talkpoverty.org/state-year-report/georgia-2014-report/
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St. Paul said “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.” This quote by St. Paul is repeatedly used to symbolize the way in which two souls inspired by love should engage in joining. This text that has consistently moved hearts throughout the ages. These simple words capture the essence of love we all so desire to receive, and provide us with a goal as to how we should love our significant others. St. Paul makes no mention of gender, gender roles, sexual orientation, sexual identity…he simply depicts a pure understanding of love that is limitless by being unconditional.
Although other texts in the bible, including some written by St. Paul, have been used time and time again to argue that being LGBTQ is a sin, I beg to differ. For one, none of us think of those religious texts when we think of love. We, as a people, usually return to Corinthians 13:4, a love that is described as unconditional. Now let me start with the bible to argue that LGBTQ love is still love and by no means is this love a sin. The portion of the bible most often applied to attack LGBTQ love is the book of Deuteronomy. I’m sorry to inform readers, but all of us are going to hell if this document has any validity. For example the Book of Deuteronomy states that to eat meat you must pour all the blood of the animal on the ground first, you can’t eat cloven-footed animals such as pigs, every seventh year all creditors shall relinquish the debts owed them (my credit card companies will tell you that’s not happening), you shall not destroy trees, and my favorite “you shall not wear cloth of two different kinds of thread, wool and lines, woven together”. That means if you are a devout Christian wearing a wool-blended sweater and preaching against LGBTQ love based upon what is said in the Book of Deuteronomy, then guess what? You are going to hell too because you just committed the sin of wearing cloth consisting of two different threads blended together. In other words, this book is an invalid argument because if it were true, every person in this world is sinful and going to hell. Now let us look at LGTBQ love from Jesus’ standpoint. Actually we cannot accomplish this task because nowhere does it mention in the four gospels how Jesus felt about LGBTQ love. Maybe later apostles, including St. Paul, discussed a gendered notion of love, but Jesus did not. I would go as far as to say that Jesus probably said it was okay and his views were edited out because they were unpopular at the time, just as they are today. However, that is just my opinion. If anything, Jesus is another that speaks of unconditional love. From Jesus we got- love thy neighbor as you love yourself, ye that never sins throw the first stone, and the blessed are those treated most harshly by society. Based on what he did say, I think we can argue that Jesus would have been a proponent for LGBTQ love. The simple fact that this portion of the bible, the one that specifically reflects Jesus’ teachings makes no mention of LGBTQ love, speaks volumes to me. Sometimes we learn more from what isn’t said than what is said. In this case, it is strange that the authors of the four gospels omitted Jesus’ opinion of same-sex love. So now that we have established that religious arguments against LGBTQ love are unfounded, let us take a look at society. Ancient Greece and Rome are credited with the establishment of civil society; both societies popularized same-sex intercourse and certainly did not consider it a “sin”. Thus, the two society’s that helped us create modern society as we know it, frequently engaged in LGBTQ forms of love. In Shakespearean times, males frequently dressed as females to act out roles in plays. There are also rumors that President Franklin Roosevelt enjoyed wearing women’s pantyhose. So how did we get to where we are today? Today, where only 22 countries out of approximately 200 countries, have legalized same-sex marriage. What about the other 178 countries? And even in the countries that have legalized same-sex marriage, stigma steal remains as a plummeting force that makes people feel bad who they are and whom they love. Now let’s talk about societal change. A lot of progress has been made in recent years regarding how we view same-sex love and gender identity. Largely in part due to the courage displayed by people present in popular media. Thank you Freddie Mercury. Thank you Ellen DeGeneres. Thank you RuPaul. Thank you Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Thank you Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner. My question is, what more can we do to eliminate stigma associated with LGBTQ love? More specifically, how can we support LGBTQ youth to embrace who they are, how they want to love, and whom they choose to love. I was at a gathering recently with many helpers professionals and shockingly, one attendee said something to the effect that we should make youth identifying as transgender face reality about their gender. A helping professional suggested discouraging transgender youth from embracing their true internal gender identity. This is unacceptable. All helping professionals, regardless of their religious beliefs, should make no child feel wrong about being authentic and owning their true nature. Parents, teachers, administrators, social workers, therapist, etc. anyone engaged with children should promote the notion that LGBTQ love is still love all the same. Research shows that youth who identify as LGBTQ are more likely to experience suicidal ideation and/or attempt suicide than any other youth population (Youth Suicide Prevention Program, 2011). Research also shows that these youth are more likely to be targets of bullying, harassment, and even violent assaults (Youth Suicide Prevention Program, 2011). However, schools tasked with keeping children safe, often ignore the victimization of LGBTQ youth (Suicide Prevention Program, 2011). Many of these youth often end up homeless and living on the streets. Obviously something needs to change so that LGBTQ youth and adults too, feel embraced by their social environments and encouraged to be true to who they are. Things need to change. Parents need to be accepting of children’s choice to identify as LGBTQ. Parents, you need to accept your children and love them for who they are, not abolish them from your households. Schools need to become safe zones. For example, schools can institute days to celebrate life and love for LGBTQ youth. Bathrooms at schools should become gender neutral so youth identifying as LGBTQ aren’t made to feel uncomfortable. More education about being LGBTQ needs to be provided for anyone working with children. Helping professionals cannot approach LGBTQ as needing to give them “a reality check”. Helping professionals must recognize that reality is complex and not everyone was blessed with being born into the gender they most identify with. Helping professionals must also normalize LGBTQ orientation and identity since in reality, this type of love has always been present in our human existence. Remember Alexander the Great. Hello reality, Alexander the Great was a homosexual. Why don’t they teach that in ancient Greek history? Really, no child should be made to feel ashamed or be attacked because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Finally there needs to be more programs and financial assistance for those who desire to undergo a sex change. Although Caitlyn Jenner was wealthy and able to financially embrace her true nature, the majority of transgender people simply don’t possess the funds. Let’s help them be able to live authentically by making sex-change a viable option, especially when it ensures the happiness allotted by living life authentically. Media also needs to realistically portray what it feels like to be transgender and also the true essence of undergoing a sex change. We all saw Caitlyn Jenner after she had completed her transformation. I feel like media can step it up and portray real people going through the full process, while also focusing on their right to love. We all need to step it up and make LGBTQ people know that we support them and their right to love however they so choose. We celebrate Valentine’s Day to honor Saint Valentine, the saint that would perform illegal marriages for people that were in love, which caused his jailing. Like Saint Valentine, I think we need to encourage love, allow it, and promote it at all costs. LGBTQ love is still love. In closing, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.” This is true for all members of society. Happy Valentines Day! References: http://www.yspp.org/about_suicide/gay_lesbian_FAQs.htm Today is my 32nd birthday and it has me thinking a lot about who I am now, and who I want to be. WHO AM I AND WHO DO I WANT TO BE? I am Jessica Nobile. I am first and foremost a human being that cares acutely and chronically for the well-being of the world and its members. That has been a priority for me as long as I can remember. I am strong, hard-working, ambitious, and 100% determined to institute structural change for the promotion of equality, justice, and also as a means to ameliorate tensions that exist because of the imbalanced and discriminatory nature of society. If given the choice, I with all certainty would not choose me as my opponent under any circumstances, most especially when the stakes are high. Meaning, if you are unethical, power-hungry, greedy, selfish, and against the betterment of society then you should avoid me. I myself would not want to engage in battle with me no matter my size. I am relentless, smart, resourceful, unafraid of death, and never give up.
Let me reiterate, I never give up. Not on society or this belief that progress and positive change is possible. I also never give up on me-my morals, my principles, my faith, my sense of self, my ideals, my purpose, etc. ME, I never give up on me. I love myself. Reflecting back on the past 32 years, some of which was filled with suffering, oppression, strife, turmoil, I recognized and now own my inner strength. I am strong. I am stoic. I can move mountains, shift their texture, depth, and height so that they no longer appear or manifest oppression. I am resilient. I am stoic. I am simultaneously passionate and creative about social work, helping people, changing the world, and fixing what is wrong. I am immensely passionate and creative. I am moral, soulful, vibrant, intelligent, friendly, self-less, silly, funny, playful, active, artistic, caring, and compassionate. I am a free-spirit, bound to the world. I can always, without fail, find a positive about someone….anyone. I frequently and authentically compliment people. My mom tells me that I have been doing that since I learned to talk. I do my best to never lie and immediately correct any accidental lies. I exude integrity. I am whole, complete, and authentic. I seek to empower. I stand behind empowerment and embrace interactions with clients, students, mentors, and good colleagues as a space for my own growth, learning, and development. I also view empowerment as a method to reform society. I believe in empowerment…I believe that people can overcome anything using their own unique strengths. I am unique and much of what makes me unique is really subdued here in the South where racism, sexism, and discrimination continue to be normalized and applied in daily interactions. I am sick of being subdued. I am a humanist, a feminist, and a person that vehemently detests any form of discrimination, aggression, or violence. I love diversity. I love people, especially the outcasts. I love snow, especially when it snows in Georgia on my birthday. I love my family, friends, and animals. I love my mentor, Dr. June Gary Hopps (she's inspirational). I love being inspired. I love education. I love books. I love the sky, most especially when it is illuminated by a crescent moon and stars. I also especially love the sky when it is painted brilliantly by a multitude of different colors. I love yoga- balancing half-moon is my favorite pose. I love flowers- peace roses are my favorite. I love languages. I love traveling. I love all religions, faith, and spirituality. I love to laugh. I love to sit and talk with kindred spirits. I love stretching, walking, swimming, and climbing. I love all wild-life and being outside. I love art and poetry. I love music and bird-songs. I love my profession profoundly. After, God, social work is my highest truth. I love social work! I love being a social worker. I love being a social work educator. I love being a social work researcher. I love being a social work writer. I love social work! I love so many things and care about all of them so deeply. I love profusely, in this deep manner, to move mountains. I must love particularly, powerfully, and completely to make society be better/do better in order to improve the well-being of all its members. Our greatest weapon, my greatest weapon against hate, is this impermeable love for all things. I love love. However, the way I love is parametric. I think that this is the difference between loving and being in love- being in love eliminates parameters. In retrospect and probably as a protective mechanism, I have never been in love because I have always loved parametrically, although deeply. So now, who do I want to be? WHO DO I WANT TO BE? WHAT DO I WANT TO DO? I want to be a social work professor. More specifically I want to be a social work professor employed at one of the New York City universities. I plan to make use of spatial attention, variety, and the multitude of people living in NYC. I want to empower students to make use of these public spaces in NYC in order to extend social work values, ideals, and attitudes to the rest of the world. I want all people to know what social work means and what we believe. I want to collaborate with professors at all the NYC universities and across different fields. I want to collaborate with professors, researchers, social workers, and people all over the globe. I want to establish a visible international federation of social work headquarters in NYC and also one in Italy in order to promote supra-national social work collaboration. I want to help others establish headquarters throughout the world so that we work communally to help a global population. I want to synthesize social work across countries, not simply in the academic realm, but also in how we reach people. Not simply people in need, but all people, since every single one of us collectively creates humanity. I want to help social work prosper politically and influentially by working together to share our values with the masses. A global organizational movement that reflects social work values and pulls together social work resources. Social work that transcends divisions and uses all people, including those accessing services, to improve society. Reformation, transformation, revolutions so that all members of society are treated fairly, equally, and with respect. I want to eliminate the space between social research and social practice. I plan to use media, creative arts, colleagues, students, and everyday people to accomplish this goal. I want to exist in NYC, so I can collaborate with UNICEF as a social work professor. I want to extend our social work profession outwards. Encourage collaboration across countries, help establish an international/supranational social work face. I want to share my thoughts and ideas with the whole world. I want to integrate everyone, not by eliminating differences, but by creating an appreciation for them. I have a blue idea notebook that includes journal article topics, new teaching approaches, and three qualitative research studies I have designed in addition to my dissertation. One of the research studies already has a completed IRB form ready to go as soon as I become a professor. One of those studies centers on my public school of origin and will be a case study that hopefully grows into a documentary and/or a book. Why? Integration occurred and worked where I grew up. I want to be a professor and showcase why integration worked, what made it work, and the positive outcomes associated with integration. I want my whole being to encompass societal change through social work. Lastly, I want to love life without parameters. I want to learn how to be in love with life. |
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