Throughout the unit, we’ve read numerous examples of activists standing up for what they believe is righteous and best for the justice of the world. It was empowering to listen to people like MLK and read his letters or speeches. It shows what a single person can do with the right will. “A Time to Break the Silence” was a speech that MLK gave about the Vietnam War and its issues in the United States. And Michelle Alexander also used that title and applied it to some other global issues. So there are so many ideas that this title can be applied to, especially in the world today.
I think I can write about breaking the silence of racial discrimination in Canada. Being a person from Western Canada and not living there for quite a while gave me a different feeling as I travel back every time. I keep myself updated with the local news and I see the repeating racial discrimination cases recurring. That made me begin to feel anxious every time I return to my home town where I wonder if being the ethnicity that I am would bring discrimination to me too, even though, we are all Canadians and have a similar history of how we came to be. With a reputation that Canada is very peaceful and welcoming, it sets a cushioning effect and at times assuaged the social issues that can be happening within the country. It is true that compared to the United States, Canada is extremely peaceful and have way less racial discriminating actions. Though, it’s that anxiety that was set into the races that are being discriminated against. Canadianism is very real and strong amongst the people of Canada. And yes, I haven’t personally felt that discrimination back in Canada, everyone seems very welcoming and warm. I would never forget when I go through passport control, the custom gave told me, “welcome home buddy”.

Now I’m writing as we move into the second semester. My thoughts on the global issues that we’ve been studying have transformed with watching the 13th documentary. The first few scenes explaining the statistics of the US having only 5% of the world’s population, yet, 25% of the prisoners are in the US. Not only was this surreal, but the history behind how this happened also seemed so bizarre and it almost makes us question how that could happen. It was interesting to realize the believes and actions of people can be swayed so easily.