It Get Better Project

President Obama’s 2004 keynote speech gives a timeless message of hope, which especially resonates with minorities who face an uncertain future. Similarly, in her novel Beloved, Toni Morrison demonstrates through the relationship between darkness and light that hope gives the oppressed a sense of purpose and the strength to overcome persecution. The contrast between light and darkness is prominent throughout the novel and parallels the polar opposites of hope and despair.

On May 13, 1990, an eager yet serious Shelby Steele claims that affirmative action is “reformist and corrective, even repentant and redemptive”, in the New York Times. Despite the different political views, Steele does not want to insult these sincere intentions despite the conflicts that will arise once these policies take effect. Steele believes that affirmative action is similar to a “...Faustian bargain” as it creates more moral problems rather than fixing them. Shelby Steele points out the flaws of affirmative action and hopes to bring awareness to affirmative action by using appeals to logic, credibility, emotion, and other canons of rhetoric. Steele’s plan is to persuade the readers into believing the harmful effects of the policy.

One of the most basic human desires is the desire for love. No matter how different we are, almost every person in the world wants to be loved. Justin T. Weller addresses this issue in his article “Gays Are Different & It’s A Good Thing,” which was published by The Huffington Post in March of 2017. Weller wrote his article to explain certain differences between the LGBT community and people that are not in the community. He also detailed differences within the community. In addition, he clarified that differences between all people can be not necessarily put aside, but respected. As a member of the LGBT community, and as an LGBT rights activist, Weller wishes to give insight on why it is okay to be different, particularly as a part

For decades affirmative action has been an issue of much controversy in America. Affirmative action’s goal is to help those who suffer from discrimination, giving them a boost by favoring them in areas like education and employment. Someone always has something to say, whether it be for affirmative action or against it. With personal stories from And Still We Rise, “Carlos Doesn’t Remember”, and “The LIfe and Times of Strider Wolf” we can see evidence for both sides. Where Anecdotes from Olivia’s, Toya’s and Carlos’s life bring to light their struggles as minorities in inner cities, Strider Wolf’s hardships exist just an hour away in a rural Maine town. Even though the lives of Olivia’s and Carlos’s may seemingly appear to be very different

One of the controversial topics and philosophical questions that really sparked my interest was affirmative action. The author of text that I will be drawing connections from is Tom L. Beauchamp and his publication is titled “In Defense of Affirmative Action”. The theme behind his work is self-explanatory from the title. Beauchamp states the strong arguments as to why people want to abandon affirmative action, but also gives his own insight and support to defend its existence and continued implementation. He understands that there is flaws with affirmative action, but the policy does more good than bad, thus it should be continued.

In the 65-year history of LGBTQ activism in the United States, the present moment stands out on the basis of gay marriage being legalized. At no other time would an observer have imagined that the LGBTQ movement was likely to succeed in such a manner that any gender can marry any other gender with the permission by the law (Stewart-winter

All families face challenges in their everyday life. For some, the challenges are easier to handle while for others, surmounting those challenges can be more difficult. Over the years, the LGBT community in the US has faced many hurdles. Whether it’s the legalization of same-sex marriage to adoption rights to alimony, child support and child custody in case of divorce, legislation specific to gay and lesbian couples still has a long way to go.

The struggles not only happen by outsiders for African Americans LGBTQ individuals, but within their own communities. Yet the LGBT movement’s lack of substantive work on issues most relevant to people of color leaves the movement vulnerable to irrelevance and division—and leaves fully one-third of the members of the LGBT community underserved.

Due to the increasingly negative view of homosexuality in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the LGBTQ community was facing a world altering decision; they could either shrink into the background, and allow the world to continue to draw its opinions based on speculation, or claim the spotlight and allow themselves to be judged based on their own merit. Harvey Milk, “the first openly gay elected official in the United States” (Hope Speech, Commentary) saw a need for an uprising of the latter. When addressing a crowd of his supporters and the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) people in “The Hope Speech” at San Francisco City Hall on Gay Freedom Day in 1978, Harvey Milk uses the I-You/Us-Them relationships as defined by Martin Buber, pathos appeals, and shared experiences to establish an emotional bond with the LGBTQ community. This relationship of comradery and mentorship, deeply rooted in shared values, best prepared the crowd to absorb his message of activism and hope.

Looking back throughout history at the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender individuals, it isn’t hard to see that we have made the majority of our strides in the past 10 years. As a society we have decided the time is now to put an end to the lack of rights for people of different sexual orientations. Accepting LGBT individuals and providing them the same rights and protections as all other Americans makes us a more united, respectable Country. Everyone deserves equal treatment and opportunities regardless of what their sexual orientation may be.

Life is not always easy as we think, each and every one had a bad experience in your life that teaches you a lesson for us in order to win the journey of our life. In the essay, "Graduation", Maya Angelou states about the unfair treatment of whites against the African Americans during the graduation. There are situations in life where we feel discriminated but no matter what we have to gain the strength to prosper.

As a testament to the next discussion point of opportunities, especially within the realm of college admission, I have experienced firsthand the opportunities presented by affirmative action. As a low-income, first-generation college student, Virginia Tech had offered me a full scholarship based solely on merit and financial need. As a “minority” according to Virginia Tech, I had an

The LGBT community has been silently suffering through generations. But in this generation, they are finally showing the world their voice. There have been many instances where young adults were denied their right to be who they are and now they are speaking out about the mistreatment. Even though the united states have begun to be more open about the LGBT community here is still more change it come. These changes can be explained through many sociological perspectives including: functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionism and interactionism. Along with these perspective religion, norms and deviance all impact these individuals who are striving to be open about who they really are inside and out.

The struggle for equality has been intense, and still continues to this day. With this being said, much progress has been made in establishing respect and external acceptance for all individuals sense of identity. For example, in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Same Sex Marriages, marking a pivotal point in the civil rights movement for the LGBTQ community. For many, this act helped to support their sense of self, a right that been denied for so long. The United States effectively validated the LGBTQ community, giving this group all rights granted to all other citizen’s, However, the creation and acceptance of this community has not had positive benefits for all members. The Gender Binary has been changed, but many distinctions

Professor Johnson’s lecture sparked conversation about whether or not the Supreme Court ruling accomplished enough for the LGBT community. At the time, I was unaware of how the ruling could be something that wasn’t an all-around win for the community, but after being introduced to queer politics