Janely Arroyo

Katrina
Univ 102
October 17, 2016

A social justice issue that I deeply care about is the Black Lives Matter movement. I
started to take notice of this issue when people talked about it on the radio or on the news. I
mostly heard it on the news when I was driving to school in the mornings and they talked about
the injustice the police were committing. It started to show more on social media and naming the
victims that had fallen into this issue. This is upsetting because I know how it feels to be
discriminated by race. I am Mexican and often times people give us dirty looks when we walk
around and think that we are criminals. Which is not true and society only makes this assumption
based on a couple of people that are criminals. We shouldnt all be judged as a race for
something a few people did. It just isnt fair and we shouldnt judge other races because
everyone has their own flaw. I try to spread awareness and let people know what is going on so
we could all join together and find a solution. The more people that come together the better
chance we have to make a difference. I believe that every little thing helps, therefore posting
things on social media to spread the news helps. I have also attended the Black Lives Matter
movement at Loyola and it was amazing to see how many people cared. I saw many races join
together and help each other reach an end to this injustice.
I have never confronted this issue before in person but I know that I wont just stand by
and watch this cruelty happen in front of me. Until this moment I dont know what exactly I

would do to prevent it but when the time comes Im sure I would know. I know myself and the
beliefs and values I have. Im the type of person that wasnt peace in this world and end the
discrimination that has never ended. I believe that we could have a better place to live if we all
just work together. Violence still plays a role in our everyday lives and it shouldnt be like this. I
want for us to learn from each others cultures and become one country rather than one that is
segregated into races. As I mentioned before, I am Mexican American therefore I have
experienced some form of discrimination during my life. My family and I had gone into a
dealership to look at a new car to purchase and the people that work there told us that we
possibly couldnt afford these cars therefore to look somewhere else. They didnt even know us
and they just judged us by the way we looked. I found this to be very rude made us feel very
unwelcomed. People judge us by what we look like and think they have us all figured out. This
type of behavior led me to become more interested in the Black Lives Matter movement
because I know what they go through. What we all want is equal opportunities for all races and
have justice.
I know what I want to change and I know the direction I want to go when talking about
this issue thus, I know my consciousness self. This is important because you then know what you
want to achieve and focus on. It becomes easier during the process of changing the issue that I
care about. Paying attention to my consciousness self is important because it leads me to a
different direction. This may change often as I start to get more ideas and more information on
the topic/issue. I follow my heart and do what I believe is right to me and for the benefit of the
people. I am the type of person that care about others and not just myself. I dont let others force
me to change my beliefs and values, that would only make ne believe their thoughts rather not
mine. I know that everyone has their own view of how the world should be but that doesnt mean

I have to agree with them. Therefore, I want to tell people pursue their beliefs and not let people
change their mind. They should not be afraid to express themselves and let others know of a way
to create a change.