Civic Engagement Reflection

In “Teaching Resistance: The Racial Politics of Mass Media,” bell hooks focus her message on the role of the media when depicting black and white characters, how it negatively makes an impact on the public, and how white and black people see each other. Although racism began centuries before mass media could spread stereotypes, media’s artful approach to the masses has been useful to continue what has long existed. Mass media’s contents are so subtle and morphed into jokes and entertainable means, that the public becomes easily distracted and over time, they unconsciously absolve stereotypes and false ideas. The fight against these channels has long ago started, and as hooks states in her article, people should turn to “low-risk small acts that can become major interventions.” She suggests boycotts and protest letters that will bring awareness and will be used to gradually deconstruct the negative ideas media strongly built.

The focal point of current educational trend in the United States is on preparing the leaders of tomorrow (National Task Force, 2012). Student success has been expanded to include civic responsibility which is a dimension of the college experience largely ignored until recently (Upcraft, Gardner, & Barefoot, 2005). The Department of Education has taken this charge and developed the National Task Force for Democratic and Civic Engagement. This initiative places developing civic responsibility as a national priority based on the tendency of young people who are often too caught up in ‘narrow collegiate worlds’ of their own existence to understand the larger role of being a contributing member of society (Upcraft, Barefoot & Gardner, 2005). Thus, engagement as a participating citizen living in community is frequently beyond the scope of young student leaders in college. Due to this, the government has renewed its interest in creating civic-minded young people prepared to advocate for change. This has led the charge for a civic engagement initiative nationwide.

In the article, The New Laboratories of Democracy How Local Government Is Reinventing Civic Engagement. Part One: Structure and Form, National Critique Review invites us appraise the benefits of communities that engage their citizens in collaborative problem solving. Through specific examples, National Critique Review demonstrates the positive impact of civic involvement when government or local officials sanction it. National Critique Review references books, studies, and statistics to validate the positive impact of citizen’s involvement in their community. Ultimately the goal is a positive persuasion toward civic engagement however they do provide an ethical approach by including examples of mediocre and unsuccessful scenarios of civil

Civic engagement is extremely important to our state to stay aware of what is happening in our state. However, Texas also has a low rate of civic engagement. Being a part of something is a big advantage. You have support and your voice is more likely heard. According to TCHI “working in a community organization, donating, and being in charities is great ” (Texas 4). It is good to give to the community and let them know you care about the community. Another form of civic engagement would be writing to your elected officials. If, there is something wrong with your community that you want improvement in it is your responsibilities and freedom to talk to a representative to fix it! There is no shame on asking for something you deserve for the community.

Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication will aid me in my journey to overcoming these imbalances while exploring the art of writing and communication through journalism. I aspire to write for revered magazine publications such as The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. While pursuing my dream, I want to become an influential figure in the African American community to further demonstrate the limitless success black women are capable of. This is not to say that role models of this stature don’t exist today. Thriving black women such as Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Condoleezza Rice continuously serve as groundbreaking women of color in society. I only wish to add to their progressive achievements in order to further communicate positive messages of African American women, and with Grady College I will undoubtedly do

I was born and race in Cuba, and since I’ve lived here in the mid-west I have found a lot of people that don’t even know where Cuba is. So imagine my surprise when I saw, last Wednesday, a fellow Cuban on the Legacy Wall. For that reason, the person that I chose from the Legacy Walk website had to be the gay Cuban author and activist Reinaldo Arenas. One of the tenets of the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience is recognizing the social responsibility of the individual within a larger community, as stated in the ECCE syllabus, and Reinaldo Arenas was definitely someone that believed in this, and practiced his whole life. He felt the discrimination and the persecution of homosexuals by the Cuban Revolution, but instead of hiding he start

When deciding what topic I wanted to write for my Civic Engagement Project, I already had in mind that I wanted something that most of us are not use to seeing nowadays. Many of us compare courts with punishment, but what if there was a court that did the opposite? When I was starting my research on the different courts we have here in Florida, I came across Drug Courts. The more I read up on drug courts, the more I became fascinated and intrigued. Drug courts do not aim to "PUNISH”, but yet to provide treatment to drug abusers. This kind of court believes that everyone deserves a second chance, that extra push. During my research, I was interested in learning a few things. Such things I 'd like to learn about this kind of

Civic Engagement Fair: Reflection Essay Socrates once said, “Perfection is constant change”. We live in a world that is constantly changing from the economy to the technology to even our everyday lives. This constant change can be seen particularly through the political process. The Civic Engagement project reflected these changes immensely with differing parties and their platforms, the various ways individuals could participate in the political process and how people discover their own ideals.

The Presidential election of 2000 was the first time we can account for having an election on both sides of the political parties making a real outreach to Latinos, but why is it that although we have been a part of this country’s history since before the beginning did it take so long for the Latino to final be a part of this civic engagement process?

At the beginning of this summer, I embarked on a journey through history by going to the Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The museum is one of my favorites because of its variety of exhibits of history in both science and art. With every trip, the museum always has something new to offer. Going to the museum felt like a completely new experience with the new perspective I have coming from this class. There were many parts of history to look at, but the ones that stood out to me the most was their exhibit on Ancient Egypt. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit’s information on the artifacts and the funerary practices of this ancient

Civic Engagement is a necessary focus that many young adults overlook. It is about learning and knowing how to fight for one’s belief or a noble cause, and trying to bring about change to a social or political condition (Parisella, 2013). The Washington Center’s Civic Engagement Framework required some components such as attending two modules that addressed issues of public concern and strategies for citizen participation, a public policy dialogue, and direct service. The first two served as an educational purpose to teach students how to get involved and finally the direct service allowed the opportunity for students to take action and volunteer. Therefore, I wanted my civic engagement to relate to the hazardous things that humans are exposed

I would like to nominate Dr. Johnson for the Civic Engagement Award based on her inspiring vision of service in Women’s and Gender Studies. Most recently, she organized the 7th biennial Bodies of Knowledge Symposium on the topic of queer kinship and queer community building. Her work in LGBT programming on campus is important for students and community members who identify as LGBT and for others who want to know more about it, especially in South Carolina where this identity can be controversial. She is also teaching a Girls Studies course this semester that includes service learning so that students can learn about the subject in class and apply what they’ve learned by working with young teenage girls in Spartanburg. This past fall, she organized

Throughout my life and educational career, I have always been the person who was “called on” to be the Master of Ceremonies for a program or to speak at an event. Like most people, I often changed my career goals—wanting to be a dentist one day, an educator the next. One thing remained constant, however—I talked and people listened. Since elementary school until present, I have been an anchor on my schools’ news teams. Currently, I function as anchor and producer of my school’s news team which I helped begin from the “bottom up”. I now realize that creativity and media are my passions, so now I am determined to pursue them as career goals. Aspiring to become a high-profile individual in the media, I intend on revolutionizing how individuals are portrayed in the media—particularly African Americans. Without a college education, I would not be able to become the media professional that I intend to become thus not being able to make an

Community life and civic engagement are a huge responsibility of citizens, although it is not required by citizens, it is an important aspect of a proper citizen. Residents of a community have the constant responsibility of making the society around them reflect an advance in the eminence of lives in the community. The simple duty of any citizen is to give to the common good. Civic responsibilities are achieved by volunteering and choice. Volunteering, involving in positive organizations and aids, or tutoring people in certain subjects, are all ways that people can subsidize to the good of the community. Small deeds that seem to prosper someone in some way or the other is still a way of helping. To learn something from the assistance that one does to another, the deed does not have to be big, as long as the person providing the assistance is doing it with a good heart they can always acknowledge a lesson. Compassion and love is necessary in helping others. When people have the opportunity to help others they may not always get a gift in return, sometimes they may not even get a reply back. This is when the person has to realize that the purpose of helping someone is not for the thank you or the gift, but is for the satisfaction of their soul, betterment of the other, and the ability to learn a lesson. Assisting people needs to be done in a thoughtful and effective way for it to create a lasting impact on his/her self and on society itself.

Civic engagement refers to the ways in which citizens participate in the life of a community in order to improve conditions for others or to help shape the community’s future. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.