Reflection

I honestly take every class I can that has the word "race" or some permutation of it in the title. I am a feminist studies major because I care a lot about race issues and the way I am able to better understand the world through ideas connected to race. I came into this class with a lot of hopes and expectation for it, and it, but I am not sure how much (in a sense of arrogance) I considered the other voices that would be in the class. It was illuminating and awesome to hear from my classmates on their personal experiences with the issues that we discussed in class. I find it difficult to speak up in classes in general, but the bravery to talk about family and personal issues that have so long been invisiblized or demonized in society is incomprehensible to me. It really shows how real life what we're talking about is, how we can't pretend the last time revolution was on the table was in the 1960s, and the types of oppression going on today have greater effects than we might readily admit. It was also good to see the ways that people's perspectives changed throughout the quarter, a lot of people began the class new to the university or to literature or to classes around race and labor issues and looking at our discussions now they are so nuanced with different perspectives and ideas. I think the constant loop back to class consciousness was also really great and important, considering the ways we often try to understand one of the other, without the ways they are undeniably intertwined. I am happy to think about the web of conversations we have had, and the ways that they have evolved from the beginning of the course, especially with the demonstrations for rights going on around the world and on this very campus in the last couple of weeks. I hope we can all take this class and put its ideals into practice in our futures, myself very much included.