Vocabulary of Motives Regarding the Vancouver and Olympic Protests

“Our nation does not know us as Olympians. Our sublime moments of exertion and triumph do not exist. We have no memories and you have no memories of us” (DeFranz, qtd. in Caraccioli 17). In 1980, the United States led a 61 nation boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics. President Jimmy Carter called for the boycott to protest the Soviet Union Invasion of Afghanistan. Many people have debated whether the United States should have boycotted the games, which impacted President Jimmy Carter’s diplomatic relations and had serious consequences for athletes around the world. The boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics was problematic for both cultural and political reasons. The United States should not have participated in or led the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics because the US government was blending the spheres of athletics and politics, government officials were solely concerned with the international reputation of the US and its relations with other nations, and the athletes preparing to participate in the games to represent the US were treated unfairly.

Propaganda is a pre-planned use of any type of public announcement or for a large source of communication designed to influence the minds and trigger emotions on a given group for a certain purpose, whether for an economic, political or military purpose. The reason for propaganda is to gain the support of the viewers on an issue that usually presents false or misleading information, which has been used in both the winter and summer Olympics. The Olympics are supposed to an inspiration to many people around the world and bring nations closer together. For Canadians there has been many Olympics moments that have brought the country together from 1996 Summer Olympics in Seoul when Donavan Bailey won gold in the men’s 100 metre dash

Similarly, the United States LGBTQ+ community suffers from similar assault cases and psychological damage. Violence towards the LGBTQ+ community in America is not as publicly seen or heard of as in Russia, but it is still there. Russia and the U.S have similar, yet different forms of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ persons. In the United States, sexual assault and gun violence are often what you hear in regards to hate crimes; that is if it is large enough to make the news at all. Unlike in Russia, the police must investigate the crime, since it is an act of discrimination. The difference in the United States and Russia in the regard is that by law (depending on the state) the United States must stop discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

Humiliated, beaten, and neglected; an entire group of people are constantly under abuse. They must hide from their own government in fear of death. The citizens expose their neighbors in order to create a more perfect country. No documentation exists that outlaws the violence towards these people. Their leaders do not want to recognize that they have any existence. All of this is happening while surrounding countries sit idle and wait for a resolution to happen. When hearing this description, many people think of the Holocaustic horrors during World War Two. This type of violence and cruelty surely could not happen in our world today without headlining the news everywhere. Could it? Today, thousands of homosexuals are under attack throughout the country of Russia. We are witnessing an attempt to kill off an entire society of humans. Are we going to sit back and allow this genocide to occur? As a progressive nation, we must try to end this tyranny through creating an opposition to the Russian government’s policies and through strengthening the equality in our own government.

One response to struggles against classism, racism, and other key social issues comes about in the form of organized protests or acts of protest. To refer to my previous definition of public space, I will be focused on art that currently exists within the public realm of the street. For the purposes of my argument, protest art will be focused on. Although there were actual riots involving members of communities, as seen in the case of the riots against police in the eighties and again with Duggan’s wrongful death, recently there has been an insurgence of nonviolent politically charged activist movements within the UK (Piper 86: Olcese 27). Such nonviolent practices have taken the form of acts of artistic expression,

Comparing to other journals, four articles in this volume of ATP utilize different research approaches and, they focus on interesting and distinctive research subjects. First of all, Catlaw, Rawlings, and Callen’s study theorizes that the capacity to listen can be understood by examining the relationship between forms of truth-telling and the practices of government. I, and it concludes that it is by caring for ourselves that we learn the guidelines within which we might approach participation in governing others, since at last, “the only thing that I must and can truly command is myself. And if I am deprived of the command of others, I will not be deprived of this command over myself” (214). Eagan’s article questions: “what happens when you interpret the Occupy movement by focusing on the bodily and physical nature of resistance through the lens of Foucault?” (p. #) and tries to explain why the violent reaction to the protesters from police departments happens by theusing Foucault’s theoretical perspective.

The Olympic Games has been a lens through which to scrutinize the world’s political, social, and economic spectacles. It has seen tsarist autocracy, fascism, despotism, and the great associated movements of the political solidity and contrariety of communism and capitalism. During the Cold War, sport was a sphere in which the USSR and the West competed bitterly. Following World War II, the Soviet Union utilized the Olympics to assure the world of its superiority and to prove communism’s stability as a political ideology. Purportedly amateur, sport meant a lot to Soviet authorities, as did awards and gold medals. Athletes often spent most of their time training in world-class facilities, even though they were meant to be factory workers or army officers. From 1950 to 1980, the United States exploited the Games as a platform to undertake a propaganda operation against communism, releasing an abundance of material to promote American ideals. On February 22, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York at the XII Winter Olympics, one unlikely hockey game served as a catalyst for newfound patriotism in America and marked the commencement of a new era in Soviet and American Cold War politics. The tensions between the United States and the U.S.S.R following the 1980 Winter Olympics and the Miracle on Ice represent strong, unwavering surges of nationalism. By analyzing the story of how 20 men and a determined head coach shocked the world- through the words of those present and affected-

Athletes can cause political uproar in many ways, but should they? The article “Athlete as Agent of Change” written by Lonnie Bunch and David Skorton is a nonfiction piece discussing some of the actions athletes take to protest against a problem they see, particularly involving the government, using their influence on the populace. Athletes should use their fame to promote a political agenda, as long as it is peaceful. First off, everyone has the right to free speech, and as long as the protest is peaceful, they are within that right. Also, athletes can help influence the populace to bring attention to an important topic that is affecting the world or their lives. This article supports athletes using their fame to influence the public for

From a western, secular perspective, it seems that Russia has not yet reached a place where it is really laic. It is believed that political power and religion are tightly intertwined, and that one can’t go without the other. However, when we look further than what the media tell us, we actually notice how complicated this relations are. This is why this essay is going to explore how in Russia, religion and political power really work with each other, and to what extent. It is meant to see how religion can be manipulated by politicians, and why, but more specifically how can religion shape a society.

The current state of national and even international protests is one that has engendered a great deal of conversation and debate. The level of damage caused by the existence of protesters in many different cities in the nation, has been felt financially and emotionally by those involved and those on the outside and also by the private and public entities charged with the job of cleaning up the messes. The manner in which the occupy movement evolved over time demonstrates a significant social movement and responses by officials that responded to concerns all over many cities where protesters gathered. As someone who was witness but not a participant in the protests there were many questions despite wholehearted agreement in the cause that was being protested, income disparity and the privilege of the wealthy. This writer was keenly interested in how the occupy movement evolved in Portland Oregon as it to me demonstrated a fascinating social development. Few arrests were made but an outrageous amount of damage was done to first the park and then later businesses that were blockaded by protesters.

The protests in the United States today are hard to choose from, but it is easy to drown in others’ convoluted view on each individual topic with

Sochi, Russia the city in which the 2014 Winter Olympic Games are being held at is currently under an anti-gay law; along with all of Russia. Vladimir Putin the Russian president signed off a law banning “Propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships to minors” the law coming into full force on June 30, 2013 (“The Facts on LGBT in Russia”). America began to wonder how would our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes fare in an anti-gay environment, as well as other athletes from the other countries. Is it safe for them in Sochi? Russian protesters of the anti-gay law have been violently attacked and detained by the Russian policy, others have been attacked on the streets by other civilians. Fines are being handed out to those who show “gay pride” upon themselves such as in the form of a small pin to large a rainbow flag; “Breaching the law will carry a fine up to 5,000 rubles ($156) for an individual…” (“Russian anti-gay bill passes, protesters detained”). Making us wonder about the Olympic athletes who are open with their sexuality, if they break the law will they be fined as well? The law was certainly put into place at a shocking time, with Russia already being known to be the holder of the winter Olympics for 2014. It can be a distraction to athletes and even make a few uncomfortable with the situation, making Sochi a negative zone. Yet the as the games go on it’s safe to say that the focus on the law is not so

Stories are a powerful tool as they tend to resonate more deeply with us that a list of facts do. They affect our emotions, make us question our morals, and can sometimes even force us to examine our place in the world and in society. As such, stories have the potential ability to cause action. Stories about the plight of a race, the brutal actions of a rebel group, or the successes of once poor immigrant, for example, instill a sense of inspiration and allow us to feel closer to, and hence more likely to get involved with, an event or idea. Protests are one such scenario

LGBT people living or visiting Russia face homophobia on a daily basis. There are many hate crimes against LGBT people. In 2013, 25 hate crimes were reported against LGBT people and two murders were reported (“Make Olympics In Russia The Gayest Ever.”CNN Wire 2 Aug. 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context). These hate crimes are directly targeted at people who are LGBT and show the danger and homophobia these people have to face. This shows that Russian homosexuals cannot feel safe in their own country, and that there are many people who feel so strongly against

Often times protest is associated with violence. From riots to strikes, violence is usually linked with the oppressed people as a form of retaliation. However in protest literature, it takes more of the form to show the struggle the oppressed are facing and represent suffering. A main goal is to inflict an emotional response for the reader. Works of protest literature that provide evidence of this is in Richard Wright’s story of Big Boy Leaving Home and in