7 responses to “Barricades Roundup”

1. – 11/28 from 5:30-7:30: Attended “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar” Co-Curricular

   – 11/6 from 3-4:30: Watched recording of “Listening to the Material World” Co-Curricular

   – 9/27 from 7:30-8:30: Attended BU Students for Reproductive Freedom Meeting

   – 9/13 from 7:30-8:30: Attended BU Students for Reproductive Freedom Meeting

   I really enjoyed attending and participating in events focused on community building and activism through “On the Barricades” this semester. My two main ways of doing so – my two different “themes” uniting the community involvement – were through the Kilachand co-curriculars and BU’s Students for Reproductive Freedom (SRF) club. These were two different avenues for getting involved, since the two co-curriculars I attended – Dr. Auslander and Rev. Willam’s “Listening to the Material World” and Dr. Evren’s “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar” – were about human rights issues that I wasn’t as familiar with, so getting to hear their presentations and create discussion around the topics allowed me to learn a lot about this sector of activism. On the other hand, I’ve always been particularly interested in activism around reproductive freedom, so I naturally became interested and involved in BU SRF and attended some meetings on discussions around different aspects of it, such as comprehensive sex education. The club also runs a Plan B machine, where students and community members can buy it for a reduced price. Although there have been many problems with the machine this semester, namely the manufacturer shipping the product in a box that didn’t fit the machine, and people damaging the machine (yes, this happened), SRF has been proactive in how they fixed/are working to fix such problems with the goal of accessible Plan B for BU and the local community. There wasn’t a specific challenge I wasn’t able to overcome during “On the Barricades” this semester, but moving forward, I definitely want to get more involved in some sort of student government role – I’m planning to run for Kilachand’s KLAB next semester, and looking into the Engineering Student Government. I’ve never been involved with student government before, but I feel like it will be a good way to make a direct change in the BU community.

   Reply ↓

2. – 10/6 6-7:30: Kilachand co-curricular “Environmental Justice and Faith Leadership”
   – 10/27 6-8: Learn To Be new tutor onboarding
   – 11/2 1-2: Exploring and reaching out to students about tutoring
   – 11/5 6-7: Following up on student tutoring
   – 11/12 6-7: Following up on student tutoring
   – 11/29: 6-7: Following up on student tutoring
   – 12/2: 8-9: Follow up on student tutoring

   The first “on the barricades” activity I participated in was the Kilachand cocurricular “Environmental Justice and Faith Leadership” with Reverend Mariama White-Hammond. She talked about her belief that the climate crisis is truly a spiritual problem, rather than a scientific one, and explained in a way that really resonated with me. My second “on the barricades” activity that I participated in was tutoring low income students through a new club at BU, which runs through the nonprofit Learn To Be. This was an experience that I was and still am extremely passionate about, but has proved pretty challenging to actually get involved in. I’ve had trouble connecting with and setting a schedule for students that I’d like to work with. I’ve reached out to ten students in total, and I haven’t yet been able to begin tutoring any of them. Many don’t respond at all to my initial outreach, but the ones that have responded have been challenging to find a time to meet with, due to turbulence in their schedules. Some of them are in foster care, in extremely chaotic environments, without a lot of stability, which has made it challenging to begin working with them. I have continued throughout the semester to try and find ways to work with students, because I believe it’s an incredibly important effort, and hopefully in the future I will have more success. As an education major, I care a lot about working with and helping children, and the more I learn in my classes about the inequities and injustices that take place within the education system to put certain students at a disadvantage, the more I would like to help.

   Reply ↓

3. – 9/9 5-6:30pm: Black Matriculation ceremony for Umoja (got to meet with co-founder and connect with Black Freshman)
   – 10/6 7-9pm: NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) Real Talk on Black Capitalism (community building and brainstorming session)
   – 10/31 7-8:30pm: SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) meeting
   – 11/5 7-10pm: Charcoal Magazine Art Showcase (magazine for creatives of color)

   A lot of my activities this year centered around building community within the Black population on campus. In doing this, I was able to have discussions around the issues that often affect the Black community. The Matriculation ceremony was a perfect introduction to the Umoja group on campus, the Black Student Union that holds various community building activities as well as opportunities to discuss Black issues. Andrea Taylor, co-founder of Umoja, shared with the class of 2026 how inspiring the group was for her through her years at Boston and yet, how disappointing it is to see so many of the same issues on campus still being dealt with 50 years later. This theme of Black community building was apparent in the Capitalism talk I attended on 10/6, where I was able to debate with other Black students how we can break the cycle of economic disparity within the Black community in America, and how our economic system is built on the understanding that there has to be a group to profit off of. The Art Showcase was for a magazine “dedicated to celebrating young artists of color and their stories.” Charcoal Magazine showcases tens of artists who come from marginalized groups and allow them to share their unique, at times troubling, stories. The magazine showcases emotional writing pieces as well as photos and videos (in their in-person showcases and online spaces). I submitted photos centered around Black, Queer expression that, as a photographer, I have tried to help showcase on as many platforms as possible. I believe that art can be used to advocate for inclusivity and open-mindedness. The meeting I attended on Halloween, however, was separated from the black community and instead focused on the injustices occurring in Palestine. The SJP, or Students for Justice in Palestine, taught me so much about Boston University’s relationship with unjust practices in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The group, through petitions as well as social media, is currently working to end the “Deadly Exchange” that supports the US-Israel Law Enforcement Exchanges. This group opened my eyes to so many more ways in which just BU alone can work to stand against the current devastation in Palestine. Through all of my experiences I was extremely happy to meet so many people passionate about building community and perpetuating inclusivity and peace.

   Reply ↓

4. – 9/15- 12/1, 5:00-6:00, 12 weekly meetings: The Urban Garden Initiative
   – 10/12 2:00-4:00 TUGI bake sale (3 hours of preparation 10/11 as well)
   – 11/8 5:00- 7:00: “A Mathematical Journey Through Art” Co-Curricular
   – 11/28 5:30-7:30: “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar” Co-Curricular
   My two main contributions to this semester’s On The Barricades were expanding my worldview through KHC Co-Curriculars and through participation in TUGI. The KHC Co-Curricular events have provided incredible opportunities to grow my knowledge of the world, including broadening my understanding of different communities that I had not previously been learned about. The final events that I attended, “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar”, was able to provide me with such an experience. This incredible talk given by Dr. Can Evren was very interesting and broadened my understanding of the effect the World Cup had on migrant workers in Qatar, a topic I previously knew nothing about. Along with this talk, the high point of my On the Barricades Experience has been my weekly TUGI meetings. These meetings quickly became something that I looked forward to every week and I am excited to continue my involvement in the club next semester. TUGI is an environmental club that focuses specifically on educating youth about the Earth and environment. They work with local elementary schools and hold after school programs where the school children show up to complete fun activities that teach them valuable lessons about the Earth. In our most recent meeting, we set up a plan for the after school curriculum next semester. We centered a lesson on seeds, soil, weather changes and more. We came up with some ideas of engaging activities that would create a fun learning environment for the students. This was one of my favorite meetings so far and was one of the times that I felt as though I was able to make a real impact.

   Reply ↓

5. – 11/8 from 5:00-6:30: Attended “The Mathematics of Perspective in Art” Co-Curricular
   – 11/28 from 5:30-7:30: Attended “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar” Co-Curricular
   – Attended various club meetings throughout semester

   My community involvement this semester mainly consisted of building knowledge on today’s critical issues as well as attending events that generally address and discuss these issues. Synthesizing this into a theme, I believe my involvement unites me into passively learning for a more active future. The events I attended were split between KHC Co-Curriculars and clubs that I joined. This began with Professor Sarah Hart’s “The Mathematics of Perspective in Art,” where she described how even the most basic pictures seen today exemplify the idea of perspective and having focal points. There were key examples used throughout her presentation, including Holbein’s Ambassadors, which I was unfamiliar with before the presentation. The event was a great opportunity in the sense that it pushed me to view the world of art through a new lens. However, my high point came from the second Co-Curricular I attended, “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar,” led by Dr. Can Evren. Throughout the event, Dr. Evren highlighted key topics, ideas, and statistics that were profound and stood out to me, which included the number of migrant worker deaths during the construction of the Qatar World Cup stadiums, the responsibility that large multinational enterprises must take, like FIFA or IOC, and the issues moving forward regarding future World Cup host countries as well as the detrimental lead up that needs to occur for the hosting to take place. Notably, Dr. Evren described how heat can disrupt embodied cognition, which opens up the idea that the issue is much greater than first perceived, stemming from problems such as climate change. Additionally, by looking into the future, he showed a step towards promoting worker rights in the 2026 World Cup with an executive council statement, given that the U.S. is part of the host countries. However, it is all up to the community for the solution moving forward, and as Dr. Evrens said, “listen[ing] to the communities” is the most important step for future decisions and a critical lesson to learn from what we have experienced from the past and currently from Qatar. This event specifically made me overcome the challenge of finding connections between my academics, extracurriculars, and community involvement, as a key takeaway from the Co-Curricular was the effects of climate change, and it was a connection that I could make between that and our class, given the discussions we had on environmentalism in the sixties. With this in mind, a challenge I was not necessarily able to overcome was broadening my involvement to more palpable change, as I was able to get involved with the various club meetings I attended, but only to a certain extent. Looking into the next semester and the future as a whole, I hope to apply the valuable insight I gained from this class and my community involvement thus far to ultimately be a part of the change I want to make.

   Reply ↓

6. – 11/8 from 5:00-6:30: Attended “The Mathematics of Perspective in Art” Co-Curricular
   – 11/28 from 5:30-7:30: Attended “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar” Co-Curricular
   One of the main events that I attended this past semester was the “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar” Co-Curricular.
   I was really interested in this topic since I am already interested in the World Cup and additionally I had heard about the injustice to southeast asian communities within the whole World Cup organization. Over thanksgiving break, my brother was telling me about how Bangladeshi people are impacted by the atrocities of the world cup which Professor Can Evren expanded on during his presentation. I found it very interesting to watch because just as how soccer and the World Cup unites so many people and how so many people enjoy the World Cup, there are just as many or even more people who lose their lives in the process of organizing the World Cup. The main 3 counties that are impacted in this way are Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. Thousands of workers who build the arenas and stadiums lose their life and are separated from their families to migrate over to the country of the World Cup. Another interesting thing that Professor Evren talked about was the clothing industry and the parallels between the clothing industry and the World Cup and how they are very synonymous in the way that they exploit poor and impoverished people from these specific countries (Nepal, Bangladesh, and India). This was extremely relatable and personable to me because my family works in the garments industry in Bangladesh. I have witnessed firsthand the effects of the workers in the factories and the conditions they work under. I thought it was interesting to see someone present on a topic that I knew so much of but from a different perspective. Professor Evren mentioned all the regulation and legislation within the clothing industry as of recent that is beginning to try and prevent this type of exploitation that is not prevent within the World Cup and FIFA as a whole. Although there is not much I can do with my involvement within my Bangladeshi community from here in Boston, the presentation was very eye-opening and inspired me to try and take action where and when I can. I plan on visiting Bangladesh over this winter break and I hope to get involved in the ways that I cant, pertaining to the workers in the factories that mass produce these fashion items that is so synonymous to the FIFA industry.

   Reply ↓

7. – 11/28 from 5:30-7:30: Attended “Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar” Co-Curricular
   – Attended various club meetings throughout semester

   With attending Global Sport, Human Rights, and the World Cup in Qatar, I gained a better understanding of the underlying truths within the 2022 World Cup. With a spectacle such as the World Cup, often times viewers forgot the inner issues within the host country. I sure did, and this Co-Curricular reminded me of why I shouldn’t. In this talk, Dr. Can Evren highlighted the struggles residents in Qatar. He told us about how when selected to be the host of the 2022 World Cup in 2010, Qatar lacked the infrastructure necessary to satisfy the players and fans. So obviously, they got to work. But the problem was that with being in such a rush to build such infrastructure, Qatar violated many human rights, ranging from horrible living conditions, exploitation of workers, and even deaths. It also doesn’t help that Qatar is in the midst of many LGBTQ controversies either, for they have many laws withdrawing LGBTQ rights. Overall, this talk allowed me to realize that there’s always a deeper story to an event. The problem is that we’re distracted by the superstar names of the tournament, the bright lights, and the joy football brings us to realize the glaring flaws happening right in front of us. As for clubs, I’ve been to many meetings involving NSBE (National Society for Black Engineers). This club is honestly one of the best I’ve ever been to, for it has a nice combination to active community work along with coming together to help one another in work. It creates a community of people with similar interests so that you don’t have to, which can hard in a school as big as BU.

   Reply ↓