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.

Comments

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...

Alumni Spotlight: Troy Andrade 2007

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 ...

A View from the Middle

“What are you?” People of color have so much beef with this question and for good reason. At its heart it is an inquiry rooted in ignorance and misunderstanding of race, culture and the scope of human diversity. Regardless, it is a question that I have asked myself time and time again as a part of a long process of developing my identity as a mixed-race person. That being said, I am not mixed in that my parents are of different races. As I have thought about who I am, I have started to redefine what it means to be a mixed race person. Phenotypically I am brown skinned, black haired, and brown eyed; and while I lived in Ecuador as an exchange student, friends and family referred to me as “negrito” from time to time. By this standard I am a person of color without a doubt. People still ask me “what are you” or “where do you come from” because of my initial appearance and I have come to understand the implications of my being a POC as I navigate PLU. On the other hand, my...

A DJS Journey

Search This Blog