I happily spent this semester meeting with my mentee twice a week to hang out and assist with his classes! I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to do so with EMPOWER.
The petition that I signed is titled “Change KKK status into Terrorist Organization”. The purpose of the petition is to call for the Department of Homeland Security to declare the KKK a terrorist organization. I signed this petition because they should have been declared a domestic terrorist organization during Reconstruction. It has been allowed to operate for far too long and the fact that it has is disrespectful and is one of many systemic errors that invalidates the status of African Americans as complete citizens of the United States. The KKK historically has fit the definition of a domestic terrorist organization and has used fear tactics and violence to intimidate African Americans to influence Black populations and to influence politics to achieve their goals. They commit the same acts of violence against innocent people as already declared terrorist organizations such as ISIS or ISIL. The reason they have been able to get away with not being labeled a terrorist organization for so long is because it does not impact white Americans, it is a great example of white supremacy and privilege in live action. Today, this organization is allowed to congregate in public spaces, harass American citizens, plan acts of violence, run for office, flee legal persecution, and “march in the capitol of the country”. If American society and the federal government truly do seek to achieve equity, this is one of the many necessary steps it needs to take to do so.
https://www.change.org/p/department-of-counterterrorism-change-kkk-status-into-terrorist-organization
Today, I attended Recess at the Honors College! It was finals themed and they gave out small goodie bags, snacks, and face masks for relaxation.
Registering to Vote
When I registered to vote shortly before graduating high school, I did not plan on it. I was 18 at an office whose name I did not know. I was getting my State ID made and taking the picture for it when the woman who was organizing my paperwork asked if I wanted to register to vote since I was already there. The process was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I simply gave her my address and where I wanted to vote, which was my home county at the time, and it was done since she already had the rest of my information. I was not sure what exactly I expected, but I expected it to be a much longer and grueling process. Growing up, my family never talked about the voting process. They briefly spoke about politics, which candidates they would vote for if they did vote, and why we were to always vote Democrat, but my sister and I were never taught how to vote. I did not know anything about the voting process until I came to college, and I probably would not have registered until college if it were not for that woman who registered me. Since I did not know anything about the process or how important voting actually was, I felt intimidated about it all and avoided the topic. Since coming to college and learning more about the process through my research and other Honors programming, I do not feel intimidated anymore and I hope that through the app my team is developing, we can help other young adults feel the same way by sharing the information they need in a way that is digestible and by sharing our own personal experiences to make it less intimidating.
Throughout the semester, I enjoyed volunteering at the AAST department by assisting with events, cleanups, stocking the lounge, and other various activities.
To meet my Honors Academic Event requirement, I decided to attend Dr. Hancox's "Internships 101". I chose this event because I recently switched majors and realized that I did not know anything about internships in this new field of study. I had already done an immense amount of research about pre-medical internships but none yet about political science. I found out that the university actually already has websites/databases for internships for different fields of study that I can use to find paid and unpaid internships. I also learned that if I begin an unpaid internship, I can apply for university grants to receive funding. I will definitely be using this knowledge to navigate internships in the future.
I spent my Friday tour time hand-writing cards to families who toured campus recently! It was great.
