If you had asked me a year ago what I thought about the area of social justice, I probably would have given you that “deer in the headlights” look. However, after taking a Human Relations class, my perception and outlook on life totally began to change. In the class, students were asked to consciously think throughout the entire semester about what social justice really means.
Sometimes students do not fully listen to what we are told. In our hungry search for an answer, many of us began to see there was no quick or easy solution. This was something that would take us the entire semester to discover (and possibly even longer). I, for one, began reading various books on censorship, war, peace, the environment, and animal rights.
Reading did much to strengthen my awareness and understanding of issues, but it was activism that really got me to see more of the whole picture. Some classmates and I decided to form an animal/environmental rights group on campus. Other classmates formed another group on peace/war. Together we were all virgins to the life of activism, but quickly became familiarized with its ins and outs. One of our mutual struggles was that for peace. When you are passionate about something, you generally want others to share in that passion or at the very least have an understanding about the issue.
Unfortunately, it is not that easy. Rather, you are constantly challenged with negativity and cynicism, which, if left unaddressed, can breed negativity and cynicism within your group. To counter this, we gave each other support and shared ideas and suggestions to avoid burnout and cynicism. By the end of the semester, I felt I had a much stronger understanding of what social justice is, but wanted to continue to learn more. So, I applied for the Master’s of Social Responsibility program on campus.
What attracted me to the Social Responsibility graduate program is that it incorporates all social justice issues together. Rather than having separate, independent issues, you see how all of these issues intersect. This intersection is an important part in understanding about social justice.
With my passion about animal/environmental rights, I have been able to link to so many other areas. For example, the production and consumption of animal meat impacts all beings and can cause hunger, war, and environmental change (e.g., water scarcity and destruction of land/resources). You may be wondering, how does the production and consumption of animal meat contribute to hunger? Hunger can be attributed to the “maldistribution and the resulting waste of food resources . . . food resources which are closely controlled by powerful economic interests” (“Eating Simply That Others May Simply Eat”).
With this in mind, can you see how increasing hunger may escalate into a larger issue like war, when people start to resist, realizing they are sick of their children starving, only for the “interest” of others’ appetites? War may also be an extreme act to gain or protect land. Farmable land is very profitable, and there comes a point when people may be driven to attain this property.
In fact, “a meat-based diet requires 10-20 times as much land as a plant-based diet” (“Eating Simply That Others May Simply Eat”). This need for land not only intensifies property battles but destroys the environment. Forests are cut and cleared to create grazing land. The land soon becomes “laden with minerals, fertilizer, and organic debris, which are eventually carried into streams” (“Eating Simply That Others May Simply Eat”). So, right here, animal rights intersect with other social justice areas – human rights, peace, and environmentalism.
People will continue to be faced with the intersecting challenges of social justice: peace, war, human rights, environmentalism, and animal rights. However, it is how we seek to solve these issues that sets a path for the future. Whether you choose to further your education formally or simply read up on issues in alternative media sources, education is the first step. Individuals have the ability to combine knowledge with activism, educating others with what they have learned in an effort to move a troubled world forward.
LINK: “Eating Simply That Others May Simply Eat” by the Global Hunger Campaign: www.globalhunger.net
I grew up in Woodbury, MN, and in 2004 moved to St. Cloud to work on my Community Psychology degree at St. Cloud State University. After receiving my BA in 2008, I enrolled in St. Cloud State University’s Social Responsibility master’s program. I have remained passionate and active in programs offered within the university’s Women’s Center, completing Sexual Assault Advocacy training as well as being active with groups and programs offered. I also keep busy with the animal/ environmental rights group I started, AniMent, with activities such as leafleting, film screenings, seminars, tap water challenges, and more. For the future I have many dreams and would love to work just about anywhere (whether it is at a women’s shelter, in human-, environmental-, or animal- rights organizations/nonprofits, or even as an educator). Someday I hope to get my PhD, but for right now, I am excited to put my education to use! |
