BreakBlog #7

                                               

These two images help represent my reflection of the past eight days on the Civil Rights Pilgrimage.  The one on the left is of the footprint castings of the foot soldiers that marched from Selma to Montgomery over Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.  It reminds me that it takes ordinary people doing extraordinary things to achieve social change.  The image on the right is of the dome in the Alabama State Capitol building in Montgomery.  This image represents some of the hindering forces against social change.  The murals around the base of the dome are misrepresentations of historical events shown to young people everyday, to conceal the guilt and shame of those who oppressed in the past.  This is no way to confront social issues and hinders change because it can never be learned from. 

When I get back to Eau Claire I want to listen better.  This is a skill that everybody potentially has, but can always better it. I feel that I can very easily be motivated to do and act upon things, but to assess the real need of action is the base of social change.  This requires listening, which I will try to better as a skill in myself.  I will assess situations first before trying to help, so that I will only bring positive change instead of forcing it back.