What We Talk About When We Talk About Guns
- What was your viewpoint regarding firearms, their uses and misuses, and legislation coming in to the project?
Since I was always raised around guns, I came into this project very weary of how my fellow classmates were going to react to my standpoint. I was raised to know how to use a gun, what gun safety looks like, and what guns are used for in everyday life. I knew that this set me apart from most of Animas because there is a great lack of knowledge around the concept of guns. I believe in gun rights, but that doesn't mean that I'm only with lives being lost. I notice that guns are misused in many cases, but I also don't blame that misuse on the tool themselves. America has many gun laws already, but those clearly haven't stopped criminals from breaking them. Throughout this project, I have learned many new things about my classmates and about guns themselves.
- In what ways was that viewpoint challenged by our class conversations, your research, and the exhibition?
I have gotten closer to some of my class mates through the span of this project. I have fought with many of my classmates, but because of this, I have grown closer to other classmates. I learned how to be more open to other peoples opinions even when they aren't open to what I'm saying. One major thing that I learned during this project is that I had very black and thinking to the stand points. Before this project, I thought every person who wasn't on my side was trying to completely ban guns, but now, I realize that some people just want some simple laws to pass, which I frankly support.
- What adversity did you face during this project and how did you overcome it/make your way through it?
After I realized that I had black and white thinking, I made it my goal to understand everyone view point for every aspect and try to get them to be detailed on what they believe. If I ever felt tension between a person, I backed off and gave them space to re-gather then I went back to try to understand and have a conversation again. This happened multiple times with one person but at the end of the project, we both understood each others thinking and accepted that fact. After this project ended, it felt like e big weight was lifted and everything went back to normal. This goes to show how a controversial topic can seem like it ruins everything but if people are level headed then things can get done.
- In what ways did you contribute to your group and the class as a whole?
With the factor of my attempts to understand and inform, I feel that I brought a positive vibe to everyone in my class in the terms of my stand point. This is very important for a serious topic like this because as I can personally relate, whenever someone feels that they are being attacked, they shut down. A controversial topic such as this once is hard to discuss in schools, so having positive encounters is key to not upset anybody. As we learned at the beginning of this project, one must be open to change, and positivity is how someone accomplishes this. If people of power were to realize this, I feel that so much more could be accomplished.
- What can you point to in the exhibition that is yours (e.g. something you made, researched, etc.)
I took part in creating the 'gun safe' room. This room was created for the community to gain knowledge on firearms. I created a few and edited every single document that was displayed in this room. I was an over looker of the group that chose to work in this room. I created the general lay out of the room and manned it during my free time in exhibition. Mainly, I focused on revising the documents for quality data and arrangement.
Since I was always raised around guns, I came into this project very weary of how my fellow classmates were going to react to my standpoint. I was raised to know how to use a gun, what gun safety looks like, and what guns are used for in everyday life. I knew that this set me apart from most of Animas because there is a great lack of knowledge around the concept of guns. I believe in gun rights, but that doesn't mean that I'm only with lives being lost. I notice that guns are misused in many cases, but I also don't blame that misuse on the tool themselves. America has many gun laws already, but those clearly haven't stopped criminals from breaking them. Throughout this project, I have learned many new things about my classmates and about guns themselves.
- In what ways was that viewpoint challenged by our class conversations, your research, and the exhibition?
I have gotten closer to some of my class mates through the span of this project. I have fought with many of my classmates, but because of this, I have grown closer to other classmates. I learned how to be more open to other peoples opinions even when they aren't open to what I'm saying. One major thing that I learned during this project is that I had very black and thinking to the stand points. Before this project, I thought every person who wasn't on my side was trying to completely ban guns, but now, I realize that some people just want some simple laws to pass, which I frankly support.
- What adversity did you face during this project and how did you overcome it/make your way through it?
After I realized that I had black and white thinking, I made it my goal to understand everyone view point for every aspect and try to get them to be detailed on what they believe. If I ever felt tension between a person, I backed off and gave them space to re-gather then I went back to try to understand and have a conversation again. This happened multiple times with one person but at the end of the project, we both understood each others thinking and accepted that fact. After this project ended, it felt like e big weight was lifted and everything went back to normal. This goes to show how a controversial topic can seem like it ruins everything but if people are level headed then things can get done.
- In what ways did you contribute to your group and the class as a whole?
With the factor of my attempts to understand and inform, I feel that I brought a positive vibe to everyone in my class in the terms of my stand point. This is very important for a serious topic like this because as I can personally relate, whenever someone feels that they are being attacked, they shut down. A controversial topic such as this once is hard to discuss in schools, so having positive encounters is key to not upset anybody. As we learned at the beginning of this project, one must be open to change, and positivity is how someone accomplishes this. If people of power were to realize this, I feel that so much more could be accomplished.
- What can you point to in the exhibition that is yours (e.g. something you made, researched, etc.)
I took part in creating the 'gun safe' room. This room was created for the community to gain knowledge on firearms. I created a few and edited every single document that was displayed in this room. I was an over looker of the group that chose to work in this room. I created the general lay out of the room and manned it during my free time in exhibition. Mainly, I focused on revising the documents for quality data and arrangement.
With Justice For All Project:
Artist Statement/Poem:
Person-able
I came from across the seas
With P-T-S-D
Nightmares and cries of the the past
They promised me glory
What about honor I asked
Instead I was ignored or harassed by everyone I meet
For sitting on this lonely street
The tone of birds still hum in my ears
RPGs and afternoon airstrikes
Stars glimmer in my eyes
They look purple yet unreachable
False advertisements and broken promises
They see me as a tool
Not a man
Thus I sit
Once the most capable
Upon walking off that plane I am seen as handicapped
No longer seen as person-able
I am a person
I am a man
I sit here sad
For I was gifted with nothing but betrayal
I walked in a proud young man
And left sulen for my brothers’ and sisters’ deaths
Across the sea
The P-T-S-D can not hurt me
Yet constant pain takes my mind
Back to the sandy dunes and sunny afternoons
In the back of a truck
Before it all went sideways
Just like the sidewalks
I was seen then
But I’m invisible now
The only way people will see me is if I make a scene
Then I am seen as angry, malicious, a rabid animal
But I am no such thing
So why do I watch the blurry faces of passersby
Why can I not receive a simple “Hello”
Or even “Goodbye”
Why have I seen thousands
And only spoken to hundreds
Why can I not be person-able
I came from across the seas
With P-T-S-D
Nightmares and cries of the the past
They promised me glory
What about honor I asked
Instead I was ignored or harassed by everyone I meet
For sitting on this lonely street
The tone of birds still hum in my ears
RPGs and afternoon airstrikes
Stars glimmer in my eyes
They look purple yet unreachable
False advertisements and broken promises
They see me as a tool
Not a man
Thus I sit
Once the most capable
Upon walking off that plane I am seen as handicapped
No longer seen as person-able
I am a person
I am a man
I sit here sad
For I was gifted with nothing but betrayal
I walked in a proud young man
And left sulen for my brothers’ and sisters’ deaths
Across the sea
The P-T-S-D can not hurt me
Yet constant pain takes my mind
Back to the sandy dunes and sunny afternoons
In the back of a truck
Before it all went sideways
Just like the sidewalks
I was seen then
But I’m invisible now
The only way people will see me is if I make a scene
Then I am seen as angry, malicious, a rabid animal
But I am no such thing
So why do I watch the blurry faces of passersby
Why can I not receive a simple “Hello”
Or even “Goodbye”
Why have I seen thousands
And only spoken to hundreds
Why can I not be person-able
Project Reflection:
For this project, we started by studying Dr. King’s ideas of Civil Disobedience and his definitions of what makes a just and unjust law. We then studied various moral and political philosophies of justice that have influenced our legal system including Deontology, Utilitarianism, John Rawls’ and Libertarianism. We spend at least a day earning about each philosophy in depth. A brief explanation of Deontology is that every human being has a moral obligation to respond to situations with the highest moral standing. Utilitarianism is where every human should respond to situations where the most happiness would be created. Rawlsians believe that every human being should have equality of opportunities, and Libertarians believe that every human being should be allowed to do whatever they want as long as they are not harming another human being in which the government is only then allowed to intervene. After, we researched various issues of injustice in Durango and heard from community organizations about the issues they are working on from homelessness to immigration, to environmental issues. We researched these issues and each student group posed a persuasive argument in seminar groups which resulted in a unanimous vote to tackle the homelessness issue as a class. We did research on homelessness, also hearing from various community organizations who work on this issue such as Axis, Sherif Ed Aber, Food Not Bombs, Veteran Homestead Project, and more. After finalizing our project and gaining a bit of insight, we went to Test Tracks to be exposed to a homeless community. This helped our project as a whole because we were able to fully see how and where homeless community members live. We voted and defined the goal of our event after each student had a rough idea of what they wanted to do as their final project. Lastly, students collaborated with each other and separated ourselves into interest project groups and the project planning committee planned the event while the other student groups created beautiful work to achieve our class goal.
The turn out at our final exhibition was immense. There were many community member present that had no connection to Animas High School along with quite a bit homeless community members. We had three main sessions/parts to the exhibition. First, we had two keynote speakers and a student at Animas High School to start off the exhibition. Next, we had student project time in which everyone was able to walk around and look at the beautiful work the students created. There was a wide range of projects exhibited from videos and murals to newspaper articles and photographs with many different projects between. To wrap up and create a safe space for conversational interaction, we had a big meal for every person attending and conversation starters at each table to widen our perspective of different members in our Durango community. I sat at a table with a shy homeless man. Stepping out of my comfort zone was intimidating so it was uncomfortable silence between the homeless man, another Animas student and a DHS student. After a moment of silence, small conversations started to spark. It was very hard for me to hold a conversation with the man, whom was my main conversation focus. This helped me to realize how socialization can completely change a person. After years of people pushing you into a group of people who get little to no normal human interaction communication skills start to decline. This makes it very complex to hold a strong conversation which, I believe, can negatively impact the community as a whole. I want to help the homeless community to develop their communication skills in hopes that this will influence how they interact with the so called “normal” community members and in time actually improve the whole Durango community. I am going to interact with homeless community members more in my daily life to achieve this, all thanks to this exhibition opening my eyes to the needs of other human beings that aren’t necessarily in my “group.”
As stated above, I stepped outside of my comfort greatly at the physical exhibition exhibition. Behind the creation curtains was a different story. The creation process of the mural was a relaxing scene for me and, as I perceived, my group members. There was the stress of getting the painting done in time, but the actual painting was very fun. I worked hard on painting aspects and communicated effectively with the members of my group as to what they wanted on the piece. A moment I am not proud of is whenever I did not bring the board that we were painting to school in time. I had to take it out of my car because I was traveling and it did not completely fit inside, but I wasn’t persistent enough in asking for assistance in getting it back into my car to get to school which resulted in a two delay on getting started on the final piece. Other than this one moment, I feel I worked hard and I am proud of my accomplishments.
This project had a great impact on my life as a whole. I have always felt compelled to help members of the homeless community, but I have always been intimidated because it was a far stretch from my comfort zone. I would occasionally give people some extra things I had if I were with other people. This project helped to push me back into the mindset to help people, and surprisingly helped me to open my eyes to how difficult it is for them to communicate effectively just as much if not more than me. During the dinner of the exhibition, sitting with the homeless man really showed this aspect to me and, as stated above, made me want to make a change no matter how minor it may seem. I believe that this project had the greatest amount of perspective from the six paper skills. This is because students had to place themselves into the shoes of other people in order to effectively communicate feelings and thoughts. All in all, this project was great success and one of the top exhibition Animas High School has ever conducted.
For this project, we started by studying Dr. King’s ideas of Civil Disobedience and his definitions of what makes a just and unjust law. We then studied various moral and political philosophies of justice that have influenced our legal system including Deontology, Utilitarianism, John Rawls’ and Libertarianism. We spend at least a day earning about each philosophy in depth. A brief explanation of Deontology is that every human being has a moral obligation to respond to situations with the highest moral standing. Utilitarianism is where every human should respond to situations where the most happiness would be created. Rawlsians believe that every human being should have equality of opportunities, and Libertarians believe that every human being should be allowed to do whatever they want as long as they are not harming another human being in which the government is only then allowed to intervene. After, we researched various issues of injustice in Durango and heard from community organizations about the issues they are working on from homelessness to immigration, to environmental issues. We researched these issues and each student group posed a persuasive argument in seminar groups which resulted in a unanimous vote to tackle the homelessness issue as a class. We did research on homelessness, also hearing from various community organizations who work on this issue such as Axis, Sherif Ed Aber, Food Not Bombs, Veteran Homestead Project, and more. After finalizing our project and gaining a bit of insight, we went to Test Tracks to be exposed to a homeless community. This helped our project as a whole because we were able to fully see how and where homeless community members live. We voted and defined the goal of our event after each student had a rough idea of what they wanted to do as their final project. Lastly, students collaborated with each other and separated ourselves into interest project groups and the project planning committee planned the event while the other student groups created beautiful work to achieve our class goal.
The turn out at our final exhibition was immense. There were many community member present that had no connection to Animas High School along with quite a bit homeless community members. We had three main sessions/parts to the exhibition. First, we had two keynote speakers and a student at Animas High School to start off the exhibition. Next, we had student project time in which everyone was able to walk around and look at the beautiful work the students created. There was a wide range of projects exhibited from videos and murals to newspaper articles and photographs with many different projects between. To wrap up and create a safe space for conversational interaction, we had a big meal for every person attending and conversation starters at each table to widen our perspective of different members in our Durango community. I sat at a table with a shy homeless man. Stepping out of my comfort zone was intimidating so it was uncomfortable silence between the homeless man, another Animas student and a DHS student. After a moment of silence, small conversations started to spark. It was very hard for me to hold a conversation with the man, whom was my main conversation focus. This helped me to realize how socialization can completely change a person. After years of people pushing you into a group of people who get little to no normal human interaction communication skills start to decline. This makes it very complex to hold a strong conversation which, I believe, can negatively impact the community as a whole. I want to help the homeless community to develop their communication skills in hopes that this will influence how they interact with the so called “normal” community members and in time actually improve the whole Durango community. I am going to interact with homeless community members more in my daily life to achieve this, all thanks to this exhibition opening my eyes to the needs of other human beings that aren’t necessarily in my “group.”
As stated above, I stepped outside of my comfort greatly at the physical exhibition exhibition. Behind the creation curtains was a different story. The creation process of the mural was a relaxing scene for me and, as I perceived, my group members. There was the stress of getting the painting done in time, but the actual painting was very fun. I worked hard on painting aspects and communicated effectively with the members of my group as to what they wanted on the piece. A moment I am not proud of is whenever I did not bring the board that we were painting to school in time. I had to take it out of my car because I was traveling and it did not completely fit inside, but I wasn’t persistent enough in asking for assistance in getting it back into my car to get to school which resulted in a two delay on getting started on the final piece. Other than this one moment, I feel I worked hard and I am proud of my accomplishments.
This project had a great impact on my life as a whole. I have always felt compelled to help members of the homeless community, but I have always been intimidated because it was a far stretch from my comfort zone. I would occasionally give people some extra things I had if I were with other people. This project helped to push me back into the mindset to help people, and surprisingly helped me to open my eyes to how difficult it is for them to communicate effectively just as much if not more than me. During the dinner of the exhibition, sitting with the homeless man really showed this aspect to me and, as stated above, made me want to make a change no matter how minor it may seem. I believe that this project had the greatest amount of perspective from the six paper skills. This is because students had to place themselves into the shoes of other people in order to effectively communicate feelings and thoughts. All in all, this project was great success and one of the top exhibition Animas High School has ever conducted.
