In my last post, I talked about how anti-Semitism and give a brief description of what is it and how it affects me personally. This was supported by charts of the ADL and other pictures showing it happening. First Post In my ongoing research, some things have been done are done to raise awareness of your issue. Some of them include the ADL becoming more and more public and going into places where more and more people see them and hear their voices. Another example is that antisemitic acts have been getting reported on more and more by mainstream new companies. This is the ADL’s website This site that I am talking about has some of the most accurate data on my topic and much more. My opinion on the way that is improving this scenario is all great. The only problem with these methods is that they are slow. Some ways to fix this is to stop forcing on the collective people but to focus on the singular person to show that Jews and other people are more alike than other people think. This is a new source The source that I have listed is state.gov they are a part of the government and know what they are doing. For my agent of change project, I chose to make a video explaining all I know about anti-Semitism. This is from biblical times to the 1940s to now. I chose to do this project because for one, as the internet becomes more and more examples to people this will be the main way that people look for their brand new information. I chose a youtube video because it is one of the most popular video streaming services and is built into a lot of platforms. My experience doing this was a mix of highs and lows. By far the highs were writing the script. This was fun to do because I had very few rules to hold it in place. Some of the low was waiting for my video to download. (It took over an hour.) And actually posting it on youtube. Some of the more mediocre parts were picking out the music in the background and the image in front of it. That was both hard to do because I wanted something nice to listen to but not something the would ruin the mood of the video. The image was a pain because I wanted something that was nice to look at and not hurt your eyes at the same time. One of the hardest parts of the scripting process was to not get sidetracked. I found myself writing about martin Luther in one sentence and then had to pivot to a new subject in just a few words. This was very changing, to say the least. I hope you check out my video [here] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd39n9mgxEA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yIpqwD_gHA) and [here] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yIpqwD_gHA). I hope you learn a thing or two about this issue that we must solve together.

In my previous post, I discussed what problems happen often with police mishandling situations, and what programs we can implement to help stop police brutality. This is a very big problem that has a lot of media attention already, unfortunately because of the people who lost their lives at the hands of police. We see this primarily with the Black Lives Matter movement and I see a lot of people raising awareness over social media. An interesting website I found called Campaign Zero, is a national organization which focuses on stopping police brutality by pushing to pass legislation to create anti brutality laws. They also find solutions to police issues and organize protests. Another website that I found is Dream Defenders. They are based in Florida and believe in creating our own programs to uplift our communities instead of relying on the police. I think these kinds of organizations are the most effective way of making positive change, by really acting on the issue. While being educated is a great step, not using that knowledge to act on a problem is not as helpful as it could be. So this organization is a great way to act on the issue. On raising awareness, I think social media is the fastest way. This could be a problem though because sometimes false information is spread around. But usually I find that it’s a good way to bring attention to a cause. My agent of change was creating a website that educates the reader more on my topic of police brutality and provides sources to how they can help by donating or signing petitions. I decided to share my website in three ways.The first way was by sending out an email to orange stream. Second, I put it on my instagram page in my bio, and lastly I posted it on Padlet. My experience creating this was good. I enjoy making websites so this was a more enjoyable project for me. I was effective in making change in the way so if someone decides to view my website, even if they decide not to donate or sign petitions, they will at least be educated on how we can stop police brutality.

The home page of my website

I learned a lot during this project. I learned a lot about police brutality in general, and it’s terrible effects. I also learned about the big question; how do we stop police brutality? I hear frequently “defund the police” and “police reform” but not actually how to do this and what steps to take. And I’m happy to say I learned a lot of ways to do this properly so that communities and people get the support they need. I felt like researching this was my point of pride in this project. It really is a really interesting topic thats so important. What I liked seeing in other people’s projects is what interested them or what they’re passionate about. Just their choice in their topic alone is interesting. What I felt that I could do better is time management. I struggle at many points to get it in on time. All that is left for this project is hopefully more people click the link to my website so they can learn more about how to stop police brutality.

In my previous SLATE post, I talked about the recent hate crimes going around, affecting the AAPI community during the Pandemic. I gave awareness by talking about the sources that I used to help me give off this information, gave some of my opinions on recent hate crimes, and why these hate crimes are happening towards the AAPI community. But overall, giving knowledge to the readers that there is a major issue that is not being taken seriously.

Now, in my journey of making my website, I came across sources that helped me a lot to make the way my website looks and the information that lies in it. The first source that I used to make my website was NextShark. I couldn’t have made any of this without NextShark. NextShark gave me the information and knowledge, that I needed to help me translate the information back to people who didn’t know about AAPI hate crimes, during the Pandemic. The website is just filled with the latest information on AAPI hate crimes or just typical news in the AAPI community. They also talk about the latest AAPI “business, culture, entertainment, politics, tech, and lifestyle.” - NextShark. The second source that I used for my website, is this gofundme page. I talked about if people wanted to help, to stop these hate crimes, they could donate to that gofundme page. And the people who are raising 8 million dollars for the AAPI community will help “organizations that empower and uplift the AAPI community, with initiatives such as increased ​community safety and support for those affected by violence.” - gofundme description. And finally, the third source that I used was SYSTRAN Translator. I used this translator to make my digital flyer in different Asian languages. I translated my English sayings to Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Thai. I translated my words into 5 languages because I didn’t want my digital flyer to just have Asian Americans helping the AAPI movement, but elderly AAPI too. The elderly AAPI are always the “easier targets” for hate crimes. But they have been through the thick and the thin, just to live a good life in the U.S. So, giving them this type of information would help the AAPI movement impact others more quickly.

When thinking about what I could do for my Agent of Change project, I didn’t really think of doing something big. For my topic, I knew it was a big issue to tackle. That is still happening in the world. Then the idea of making a flyer about AAPI Hate, and putting those flyers up around my neighborhood seemed like a great idea to me. Then my sister suggested making a website with a digital flyer instead. I wasn’t really into that idea but as I continued thinking about my sister’s suggestion, I thought that it wasn’t that bad of an idea, and I could add more information about AAPI hate. So, I started my website by not knowing what I was doing and wondering if I should change my Agent of Change idea but pulled through. I first started working on the format of my pages, then settled on good-looking formats and went with that. Afterward, I started working on my page backgrounds, and decorate them with Stop AAPI Hate posters, created by artists: Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, JULIA KESTNER DESIGNS, colorsofhoney, Danielle Chandler, pauline.c.cuevas, Pi Delta Psi, Michelle Wang, Yuk Fun, Lauren YS, evexcristina, Eric Lee, Tika, and Brett Sayles. To make my website have an indie, friendly feel.

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: JULIA KESTNER DESIGNS, colorsofhoney, and Danielle Chandler

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: pauline.c.cuevas, Pi Delta Psi, and Michelle Wang

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Yuk Fun, Lauren YS, and evexcristina

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Eric Lee, Tika, and Brett Sayles

And, after finishing with all the requirements that I thought my website needed, I began to notice that this was a good first experience making an actual, professional website. I enjoyed researching this topic because being part of the AAPI community made me passionate about reading victim’s stories. I feel that doing this initiative, making a website to get individual’s attention about Stopping AAPI Hate was a great idea after all. I know for my project, I could’ve joined in Stop AAPI Hate protests in Philly, but since of COVID-19, I decided to make my project virtual. Overall, I hope that I affect many people in the SLA community, to know more about the struggle that the AAPI community is facing.

After looking at the final product of my website for a few days, I felt pretty proud of what I made. Even though the process of making my website was pretty stressful and difficult, I still was fulfilled with the final product. I learned that I am capable of more things than I thought. I would’ve never thought that I was able to make a website that might impact other people’s lives for the better good. And, I learned that other people who are supporting the Stop AAPI Hate movement can really benefit by impacting the world. The Stop AAPI Hate community is very diverse and has a lot of different perspectives from this movement. The movement isn’t just to help the AAPI community but could also help other voices that also need to be heard. For example, “Over 85 Asian and LGBTQ+ Groups Band Together to Oppose COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act” - NextShark. Currently, in NextShark news, the LGBTQ+ and the some Stop AAPI Hate organizations have banded together to support each other in ways society never supported them. By helping each other to spread awareness and support for one another.

Some things that I thought that I could’ve done better for my project was, to try to put more information about the Stop AAPI Hate movement. For my “About” page, I put questions that are very essential to learn about the Stop AAPI Hate movement. But specifically, I didn’t get to tell the stories of the victims that were affected by the hate crimes. I knew that there were things that needed to change for the movement to make the AAPI community feel safe. And the things that we could start with: peaceful protests. It could catch the attention of the news, and make the government think about making a new equal rights amendment or act, that will help affect the AAPI but also communities that are in need of being heard. To fulfill their safety and equality. I know doing a protest sounds like a lot because it is. But this is a big issue that we’re dealing with. So, taking big steps for a big issue may just be an acceptable idea for what we’re dealing with.

Finished Annotated Bibliography

At the start of the lockdown I was relieved to have a break from school for a while because I thought the start of quarantine to be a 2 week break and then we would have to eventually go back to normal. When it went a little longer than I thought it would, I was still very optimistic about going back to school and having a normal life. It was until I heard I was entering the 9th grade through zoom, when I started to feel helpless.

I chose this topic with the sole purpose of trying not to feel alone. I thought that I was the only one having trouble with depression motivation throughout the school year. I didn’t want to be a Debby downer but I genuinely thought we weren’t ever gonna get out of this pandemic. When I was researching I shared a lot of my thoughts in the teenagers that the articles talk about. I feel we need to talk about this topic because I feel like it has not been talked about as much as it should be, obviously everyone is having a hard time but teenagers need socialization to grow and thrive. I think it’s most important for adults to know about this topic because they think this is just a time were we teens have all the time in the world and it has been really stressful and adults really don’t seem to understand that.

Many teens are experiencing eating disorders, new suicidal thoughts and new waves of anxiety, with a 40% increase of teens calling The National Eating Disorder Association since may reporting that they have been binge eating during the pandemic and with online school and always being on our devices we can lose track of how much we eat. An issue like this is significant because the spike in self-harm within the teen community since the pandemic started, is serious.

According to FAIR Health there was a 334% spike in self-harm in teens and young adults amid the pandemic, teens and children feeling trapped inside. Usually when kids are feeling depressed adults try to make them engage in outside activities such as hanging with friends or going to the park, which we all can’t do now. Not having the space to fully develop teens are not ok, the proportion of mental health emergency admission was up 31% higher than it was in 2019 according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 14.3% of teens will be affected by depression and bipolar disorder and with the added trauma from the pandemic, teens are now one of the most affected groups.

Researching this topic for the You & The World project made me realize that I am not alone and there are hundreds of people who are struggling with the same things I am. One part about my research I still want to know more about is the child abuse and how children and teens are living with their abusers, and if there is any way to get them help. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be trapped with an abuser for months on end not knowing when it’s going to be over. Another thing I still want to dig deeper into is to eating disorders and if binge eating is the only eating disorder people are struggling with, I know some people have bulimia and Anorexia and I want to know if the pandemic made it worse for them and if there are coping methods they have.

With the pandemic not being over soon I am feeling apprehensive about the future for teens during this pandemic knowing a lot of them aren’t in their right state of mind.

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/health/covid-teenagers-mental-health.html

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/impact-of-covid-19-lockdown-on-teens-mental-health

https://edsource.org/2021/eating-disorders-among-teens-surging-during-the-pandemic/650882

https://time.com/5943896/covid-19-teen-mental-health/

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/14/977215385/professionals-see-uptick-in-teen-mental-health-issues-aggravated-by-pandemic

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/teenagers-covid-pandemic-mental-health/2021/02/10/3389983a-39d6-11eb-9276-ae0ca72729be_story.html

When the pandemic first started, witnessing the world I once knew faded away, it opened my eyes to those who were the real victims of COVID-19, the homeless. So when I was given the chance to bring awareness to the struggles that much lower class and homeless people face due to the COVID-19 virus. Although COVID-19 is a threat to all of us it poses a unique danger to America’s homeless population due to a lack of social services as well as the economic aftermath of the pandemic more Americans are at risk of entering homelessness.

Infographics and statistics are supplied by United Way

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development noted in its 2019 annual report that in America’s 50 most populated cities, African-Americans make up the majority of the homeless population. Of the top 10 cities with the most eviction filings, numbers one through eight all qualify for that top 50 designation, meaning that the added stress these evictions are placing on resources dedicated to assisting those experiencing homelessness may be producing outsized negative impacts on homeless populations that are primarily composed of minorities.

There was no clear region in the country where COVID-19 led to the largest jump in unemployment. Nevertheless, it is clear from the data that statewide unemployment has been closely tied to local industries and their pandemic-related losses. For instance, the top two states for unemployment as of October 2020 were Hawaii and Nevada, both of which depend on tourism to fuel their local economies. In these states, people face unique challenges in moving away from homelessness as a lack of income severely limits their housing options, cited by the National Coalition for the Homeless. People experiencing homelessness in the United States are among the highest risks for infection, complication, and death from COVID-19. Many of the issues of white homeless Americans are amplified in black and native communities due to the systemic oppression they have faced prior to COVID-19. To halt the rapid growth of homelessness and thus the spreading of COVID-19 we must connect all people on the streets with safe accommodation and all those in temporary accommodations must be moved into permanent homes. There are many ways to avoid COVID-19 if you are homeless. You can do this by obviously taking part in social distancing mandates, traveling on social transportation at less busy times, and avoiding other crowded public settings. If you are not homeless there are many ways you are able to help the homeless population in the United States. You can do this by partaking in helping, and working with food drives, homeless shelters, and COVID-19 screening at homeless shelters. Hopefully my writing will open your eyes to the struggle of the homeless and lower class face during these already hard times because of COVID-19. With this information as a society we can go forth and better the lives of our fellow Americans.

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14Cz8Zi6ptOD9Xphm_QVfjb39uwmyGOXDqCbOEl6jM58/edit?usp=sharing

Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XKD-6C6vbQ9l5cxmF5J8u4iDjyZcaFV7r4FKX1Nal-w/edit?usp=sharing