Humanities Homework Help

Cuyahoga Community College African American Criminalization Essay

 

Background: Since the theme of our class is “When History Repeats Itself…” and our focus is on racial justice, police brutality, racism, and the myth of the American Dream, I would like to encourage you to participate in some type of activism this semester.  Then, you will write about your experience or write a review of something you watched, listened to, or read. Of course, you might be worried about the risk of getting Covid, so many of these activities can be done at home. However, if you would like to attend a protest or some type of demonstration, I am totally in support of that! Express your First Amendment rights. 

Furthermore, while most of the resources below reflect the current reckoning of racism towards African Americans, I encourage you to write about other groups of people that are being marginalized or discriminated against such as the LGBTQ+ community, AAPI, Latinx, etc. If you would like more suggestions for resources, please let me know. 

Here are some Potential Options for this Assignment:

  • There are some incredible Ted Talks on race–check out this list and watch one and write a review about it (not one that we are watching in class).
  • There are a number of great documentaries, movies, or shows on Netflix (I would recommend watching 13thand When They See Us, Immigration Nation). Here are the shows in the Black Lives Matter category.
  • As June is Pride Month, there is also a good deal of LGBTQ movies or series (Links to an external site.) to watch on Netflix. 
  • Read this article, to get some other ideas on what you might possibly do.
  • Here is a reading list, and while you probably won’t have time to read a full book and write about it in the course of our semester (though you might), you could read one or more of these books moving forward (and if possible, buy the book from a Black-owned bookstore.
  • Here is a more extensive list of possibilities called Anti-racism Resources.
  • There are some amazing podcasts on race, and many of them are available on Spotify.
  • If you have additional ideas, please let me know!

Here are the General Requirements:

  • Write roughly 500-1000 words (about two pages), double-spaced and in MLA style about something you did, watched, read, etc. (it can be more than one activity by the way, but only write one report about it). Basically what I want to know is: why did you decide on this activism, what did you learn about it, how does it connect to the theme of our class, and why is this an important resource or type of activism, and anything else you would like to say about it.