Aaliyah Rigby

Global Journals and Reflection

November 27th, 2017

I wrote:
1) “The ISIS conflict, which has seemed to have gotten worst in Iraq and Syria is contributing to
a large influx of immigrants. Reports state that in the last three months, Greece encountered
numerous amounts of families. This situation is becoming increasingly worst and frightening not
only for locals but the immigrants themselves. Many don’t realize the long, traumatic, yearning
journey required by these immigrants. Conditions sometimes are so bad due to weather and
overcrowding that many dies before they reach their destination. Most of the casualties are
actually young children. Since January there has been 3,000 deaths most being children. There’s
also a fear that most of these children are exploited and sold into human trafficking. The ISIS
situation that flared up in 2014 is really proving to be detrimental worldwide. I really do hope
that things improve to prevent these young children and adults from leaving the only home
known to them. It truly seems like a lose/lose situation in my opinion. If they stay, they’re
risking their lives and if they leave, they’re also risking their lives, either by dying from disease,
hunger overcrowding and or human trafficking.”
 
September 4th, 2018
I wrote:
2) “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” This short yet powerful quote
really stood out to me. For those that have been following Kaepernick story knows that about a
year or so ago he took a knee during the national anthem in an attempt to fight for racial equality
and against police brutality. Although many were proud and encouraged Kaepernick he received
a lot of backlash from players, officials and President Trump. Kaepernick even lost his job as a
football player and despite his major source of income taken away from him, he continued to
express how he felt about his movement. This has led to many successes for Kaepernick
including his recent deal with NIKE! Of course, with this topic being so controversial Nike was
met with an uproar from individuals burning its items, cutting off the just do it label and so on. I
wish that one day everyone sees the bigger picture behind Mr. Kaerpernick movement.

Reflection 
I decided to select two entries, one from 2017 and the other from 2018. The reason why I
personally selected these particular topics are because the issues presented are still occurring
today and it has been two-three years. As I am researching to see the progress on the first issue, I
am realizing that there has been some improvement. However, to what extent? As of August
2019, Iraq host 228,852 Syrian refugees and 1.6 million internally displaced Iraqis compared to
the 245,543 Syrians and 3.2 million Iraqis in 2016. Sadly, out these numbers more than half of
them are still children. These kids were forced to grow up in exile and is still separated from
their families. This have been one of the major issues surrounding the ISIS conflict to date. Many
of these kids are still facing violence and have been forced to marry early. Although the number
of internally displaced people (IDP) has decreased they are still facing significant challenges in
terms of security, access to essential services and livelihoods.
 
For this specific entry I would like to focus primarily on police brutality and racial equality and
less about the controversial topic of “taking a knee”. It sickens me to know that US police
killings of black people are at disproportionate rates. It is even more sickening to know that we
only make up a small portion of the US population, yet more than 60% of unarmed minority
individuals are killed by police. It has now been four years since Kaepernick decided to kneel
and despite the career sacrifice he has made; he has made a difference. In my opinion it is
because of his brave actions along with the increasing popular movement, “Black Lives Matter”
did more people began to shed light on racial inequality. Additionally, the gap between blacks
and whites in education, health care, the workplace and forth has also decrease. This change that
is happening before my very own eyes, is making me so much more confident in our world and
the future leaders of our world.