Injustice and Responsibility

Hello DJS blog readers! My name is Andres Pedro. I am a 3rd year student at PLU studying Biology with the intention of majoring in it. I come from the beautiful bike riding and rose loving city that is Portland, Oregon. I spend most of my free time currently (which has been frequently due to this pandemic) with my cat named Heath or listening to music.

I have learned recently that as a person of color racism works in ways in which we can’t always see. Sometimes, racism doesn’t affect us directly. Regardless, as person of color I should stand up for others who are being affected by racism.
Last late spring/early summer racial tensions were high due to the killing of George Floyd; it had me wondering what my place in the matter was. It was not my responsibility for me to speak on the matter but simply aid in fighting for a better future. To reiterate, I can not speak for the black community because I am person of color but it is my responsibility to speak up against the injustices faced by others.
During the summer, I protested for the first time. It was a life changing experience; life changing in the sense that I finally was able to see past my own issues and see what others were going through. It might be hard for some people to understand that because something doesn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it isn’t happening to someone else.

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Thank You DJS Leaders

Rosario Jesús Treviño Yoson is a 2nd year majoring in Economics. They identify as a mixed queer transmasculine person using he/they pronouns. He plans to use their degree to address food insecurity. You can find him in the Diversity Center, the library, or the student radio station in the Neeb building. Dear DJS Student Leaders, It has been an honor to organize your stories this year. When I started, I was a little lost. I hadn’t attempted something like this before. What I uncovered became larger than the website. In conversations I had with each of the writers, I sought to go deeper into their motivations, why they are committed to the work they do towards anti-racism; outside of school and sometimes unpaid. It is the right thing to do, but these students stepped farther, they took initiative and leadership in their own communities, rather than waiting for direction. I was encouraged after hearing from a few writers “this conversation help...

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