A DJS Journey

"So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street? When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me? Hypocrite!" – Kendrick Lamar- The Blacker the Berry Listening and re-listening, debating, and listening again, has had me in a frenzy trying to understand where I stand in all the rage. Are we valuing every narrative? How can we call our own ignorant when they are simply telling their stories? How does our debate distract us from the real work of saving our own lives? To begin unpacking, I began to shuffle a flurry of ideas, debasing single stories and recognizing the value of a more complex narrative, that has evolved into three muddled poems because BLACKLIVESMATTER. Part One: Envy The worst of the deadly sins.  It's the fear of worthlessness Commitment to deficiency An unresolvable yearning Urgently declaring I am not enough... BLACKLIVESMATTER Mine too? My awkward goofy? My loud disruptive? My nappy jovial? My s

Troy J. H. Andrade is a 2007 graduate with a BA in Economics and Political Science, and a minor in Music.  As a student, Troy was heavily involved in The dCenter’s Rieke Leadership Program.  In fact, Troy created the Rieke Leadership Award poster that hangs in the dCenter today (right next to the bookcase, check it out!)  Troy is originally from Manoa Hawaii and still remains close to many of his friends from PLU. Troy, Jackie (Sasaki) ('07), and Noah What type of work are you doing and why is it important to you? I am currently an attorney at McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon, LLP, where I specialize in complex commercial litigation, administrative law, and appeals in both state and federal courts.  Working as one of two Native Hawaiian attorneys in a prestigious and large law firm provides me with a unique opportunity to educate my colleagues on the socio-historic and political struggles of the Native Hawaiian people when dealing with issues sensitive to our people, suc

An Incomplete poem with 28 Questions for the 28 days we are permitted to talk about history from the Black perspectives instead of the White savior complex pedestal, because #BLACKLIVESMATTER... Why Are You Mad? What is news? To whom? How do we project? How do we reject? How do we speak? To whom? Who matters? Who is validated? Supported? Discredited? Humiliated? Dehumanized? Superb? Outstanding? Why? Why Outstanding? Why not? What weighs more? What you can do? Or, At least chose to? Limits. Are self-declared Internalized and understood as Personal choice influenced by Media An interpretation of facts Regarded as truth Twisted. Defining correlations as causations, Falsely, Again, Against. Truth. How is it understood? How is it valued? Who says? Who listens? For what? Who decides? What is news? Who has the right to live? Nicole Jordan, Diversity Advocate

One of my favorite Ted Talks is by Kwame Anthony Appiah (https://www.ted.com/talks/devdutt_pattanaik) because religion is not just one idea or one set of beliefs, but a series of ideas that are transmitted through morals and storytelling. This talk dialogues on how religion impacts belief systems and ways to look at the world. I find religion one of the most fascinating and valuable concepts to understand. Ironically, religion is one of the topics that often seems to make people uncomfortable. This in part is due to the idea that religion being seen as a dichotomy. Religion seen as something good or bad. Something that can be seen as a spiritual connection or as an oppressive force.  I wonder if instead of looking at a dichotomy, we could look at religion as a spectrum. Furthermore that religion can be seen as a key identity to an individual encouraging peace and compassion, but religion also can been used to exploit, manipulate, and destroy culture, life, and identity. One of t