My name is Bree Mead and I am a sixth year graduating senior from Novato, California. I have been here so long because I am double majoring. I have an Art History degree already completed with a focus in Mesoamerican Art Studies, along with a Spanish minor and I am just finishing up my Fine Arts degree with a focus in Printmaking. I have officially been a Community Relations Facilitator for OSU since early April 2011 and it has really altered my life. I have been reading on social justice and diversity and also attended the first ever Exploring White Identity in a Multicultural World Retreat (EWI), the sister to Racial Aikido for students of color. It is a retreat for white people to learn and understand their own white privilege and oppression. In addition, I recently completed the Building Inclusive Communities (BIC) workshop to better educate myself on oppression & privilege.
These emotional experiences have been the most valuable to me in my growth as a white person in this world we live in. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the last weekend, while visiting my family members, I was able to witness the reinforcement of societal prejudice. Although my they come from a conservative background, what was said during a conversation at dinner was inexcusable. With my brothers sitting at the dinner table, a family member openly made comments degrading people of the Middle East. Read the rest of this entry »
Through the last two years of working on understanding social justice and diversity I have had many battles within myself. I have worked hard to gain a better understanding of my white identity and how I may be perceived in our society. Yet, there is still something that I can’t understand or agree with that many white identified individuals have said. Many people who are White have said that they don’t believe they have a culture or there is no white culture. I’m shocked every time I hear someone say this to me as they believe they have no culture what so ever. Read the rest of this entry »
Being a person of color in a predominantly white institution can definitely have its challenges. I have been at Oregon State for over a year now and being here has been very interesting. It has been here at OSU that I have been more intentional in learning about my own culture and what it means to identify as a Latina/ Mexican-American than anywhere else. I believe the reason for that is because it has been not only here in Corvallis, but also here in Oregon that my ethnicity matters. I constantly find myself in conversations about who I am and where I am from and it’s not because of my job. These conversations have been occurring since my arrival to Oregon. Read the rest of this entry »
Whenever someone makes a mistake or does something wrong that might affect others, the world expects us to take responsibility for it and own up to it. In a sense, this is very similar to the way privilege works. In our world, there are millions of beneficiaries of societal constructs which define who will be the advantaged and disadvantaged group in society. This is something that is out of the control of most, but is reinforced by institutions and society as a whole. Although it is not intentional, it is imperative that we analyze where we fit in, and recognize the areas that we are the beneficiaries. By recognizing advantage, you are owning it, and can then learn how to use it to make this community more inclusive. Read the rest of this entry »
Dead week already!!?? Is it just me, or does anyone feel like it went by too fast? Many things happened, many things didn’t happen, but one thing that is for sure, transitions in the middle of the school year, at least for me, have not been the best. I like order and knowing what to expect, so when change occurs in the middle of the school year it tends to throw me off. As a fifth year senior, however, I have learned how to deal with change in my life and I hope you all do too. As many of you know, or don’t know one of the biggest transitions for me was coming here to Oregon State. I can still remember how lonely I felt even though I was surrounded by thousands of people. Read the rest of this entry »
On the morning of February 8th I was assaulted outside of the town houses on 10th and Jefferson. I was with two friends a man and woman. We were heading back from Qdoba to a friend’s house after a night out. Read the rest of this entry »
An ally is a person who identifies within a dominant identity, yet chooses to aid or fight alongside those who identify with subordinate identities. An example of what an identity can be is how I identify as being a white, straight, male. Those are all examples of dominant identities and the supplement subordinate identities would be a person of color, gay, and female. I now consider myself an ally to all subordinate identities, even though in the past I didn’t give my support. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the past couple of weeks I have been discussing where I identify with social class and how my new identity has changed my outlook on life. Now the question remains, what am I going to do from here? Being in an area of privilege, I have the opportunity to serve a community that is oppressed throughout society. Over the past three weeks I have been reading ad researching various ways to serve communities that are oppressed due to class. Although breaking the institutionalized classism in America is difficult, starting to slow the growth of classist remarks on a personal level is extremely feasible.
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In light of the recent attempted bombing of Pioneer Square in Portland, and the resulting burning of a mosque in Corvallis, I question how a person makes the leap from an individual’s actions to holding a whole religion responsible and thus burning a place of worship. As I reflect on the situation, the essay “The Moral Insight” by Josiah Royce comes to mind. Read the rest of this entry »
