social justice – The 255: Homebase for Humanities & Social Sciences

In today’s tech obsessed fast paced world, what counts as political action? Senior Allie McInerney has built a site she hopes will inspire and encourage folks to send more tactile feedback, which she says stands out from online complaints. “I built the site more out of frustration than hope”, she says. The site, found here, allows constituents to enter in their address and send mail to their senate reps. Allie, who worked for Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill before transferring to MMC, says that actual mail has great weight on Capital Hill (#nopunintended). “Phone calls can go unanswered and unrecorded, but every piece of mail gets scanned and entered into a database [called VOICE], which they have to look at an engage with.” This outdated process is, Allie says, the best way for folks to be heard by their reps.

Here’s how her site works:

The homepage allows you to pick which side of the impeachment debate you’re on. You can send mail directly to the White House, or (as shows in the above screen shots) you can enter your address and send mail to your Senators. Once you’ve selected where the postcards will go, a pre-written message appears. You can edit that message, or sign and send. Each card costs $1 #affordable, and Allie plans to send 50% of the profits to a non-profit daycare center for single moms back in Missouri called Operation Breakthrough.

Eventually Allie and her partners plan to expand this site to include other hot button issues (like taxes, campaign finance reform, healthcare, immigration, climate change, gun policy, and our education system, to name just a few.) Allie is double majoring in Politics and Human Rights, along with Philosophy, and says that despite her frustration she does still have hope. While working for Senator McCaskill she made friends with a Republican staffer, a relationship she still cherishes, and says they were able to peaceably discuss issues and still care about one another “I don’t think ideology defines us, or separates us inherently.”

Head to Allie’s easy to use site to make sure your voice is heard during what can be an extremely confusing process, and check back for more issues to be heard on soon! Stay woke and be kind, and thanks for reading.

This semester, students had the opportunity to participate in the Social Justice Ambassador program, a 6 week program for folks looking to explore issues of social justice through different lenses and deep discussion. Today this program culminates in a talk back for these students to share their experiences.

Students participating in the program gave #humsoc some exclusive info, providing the following thoughtful response to their experience:

In this 6 week Social Justice Ambassadors Program, we had the opportunity to become a part of a safe space where we were able to discuss our ideas and experiences regarding the world of social justice. The themes we examined were Class & Race, Sexuality & Religion, Power Privilege & Oppression, and Social Justice Strategies, and discussing and learning the ways in which these ideas make up the social norms, giving power and privilege to a selective few. Moreover, we talked about the importance of identifying our individual privileges and learning how to use them best to advocate for social equity and equality. Coming from different backgrounds allowed us to expand our dialogue by sharing our knowledge and ideas based on our own life experiences. This was an amazing opportunity to further our global understanding by listening to other members’ input and creating vibrant conversations surrounding social justice. In the world we live in, we are desperately in need of Social Justice Ambassadors, and we hope more students have the opportunity to further expand these pivotal discussions and be a part of this incredible program!

-Dominique Cagliuso, Dorian Provencher, Manuela Arap and Olivia Luis-Charles

Thanks to SDA for putting this program together! Get more info here, and reach out to fhe@mmm.edu or get at their social medias if you’d like to see more programming like this going forward. Stay warm and be kind this weekend, and thanks for reading.