You’ve heard all of these stories before, they remain familiar due to a number of times they’ve been covered in the media, but what you might not know is that these issues are far from over. They will surely follow us into 2017, and it is our responsibility to recognize that our efforts cannot be even close to finished.
Approaching the termination of yet another year, there tends to be an incessant amount of New Year’s resolutions infiltrating the conversations and motivations of people everywhere. However, essential hope and determination may be for initiating new beginnings, for many people it is not just another pledge of “new year, new me”— social issues that have gone untreated or unacknowledged will remain prevalent even in the new year.
If there is any resolution one should add to their new year’s list, it should be to remain conscious of such social issues and to bolster productivity and drive for justice to be served to those suffering domestically and around the world. The new year may be symbolic of a fresh start, but in many situations across the globe, a fresh start can only be accomplished through persistent desire for change.
- POTENTIAL DANGERS LOOM WITH THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Nearly everyone at this point in the year has voiced or at least heard concerns regarding the future of the United States under a Trump and Pence presidency. This is an administration that does not believe in global warming, thus prompting worry about how the EPA will focus on combatting climate change— an issue worsening each passing day due to spikes in harmful human activity. Trump has also spoken publicly against abortion and a woman’s right to reproductive freedom, stating he would appoint as many conservative pro-life Supreme Court justice officials as possible— also leading to worry about the potential repealing of Roe v. Wade and the SCOTUS decision on the legalization of same-sex marriage. Issues also arise with foreign diplomacy; Trump has never been known for being soft-spoken and accommodating, his hateful and brash rhetoric has in fact already begun creating an even more potentially calamitous political climate with his “we need to bomb ISIS and kill their families” motives and sickening anti-immigrant attitude he has addressed to multiple different areas of the world.
Something you might ask yourself is, well, what can I do about it? The first step is to get angry. Exercise passion for these social issues through your constitutional right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Educate others. Donate or offer to volunteer for Planned Parenthood to defend reproductive freedom, donate to the Human Rights Campaign or the Trevor project to defend LGBT+ rights, find different environmental causes or organizations to support, learn how to reduce your carbon footprint, contact your representatives for meaningful reform. Do not stay silent when wishing to defend or protect something you care about.
- DEALING WITH A NEW FORTHCOMING OF WHITE SUPREMACY
With a new white supremacist group calling itself the Alt-Right gaining more and more exposure, obvious concern arises regarding this persistent and ignorant ideology plaguing our nation. The even more troubling aspect of this issue, is that the Alt-Right is gaining recognition. People are treating this cult-like group as an actual organization; thus reinstating the fact that we are desensitized to the fact that the Alt-Right, amongst other white supremacist groups, are persistently given a platform in our society. This neo-nazism and white ethnocentrism cannot be tolerated.
The most essential factor in combating this cause is to call it what it is. The name Alt-Right is just used to sugarcoat the heavily emphasized ideals of white supremacy, a commonly recycled ideology we see in the United States. The only difference is, these white supremacists seem more “civilized” and “dignified” because they hide behind bombastic philosophy and false integrity, yet these individuals are no better than any other white supremacist group — and that needs to be acknowledged and reported.
- POLICE BRUTALITY CASES
Abuse of power leading to the killing of unarmed civilians is no new foe, we have seen cases of police brutality riddle our society for decades. However, in 2016 we saw a dramatic spike in the targeting of African American lives. According to the Guardian, 258 of every 1068 killed by police were African American. A demographic that accounts for only 13% of the United States population dominates news headlines reporting incidents of police killings and dominates our prison systems. The controversial killings of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, and countless others sparked national outrage and gave birth to the mass movement: Black Lives Matter.
It might sound repetitive but one of the most important things to do with situations such as these is to remain cognizant. By ensuring your awareness, and educating others, it can be assured that wrongful deaths such as those aforementioned can be brought justice, and so other similar situations can be acknowledged and brought to light. You can also get involved with the Black Lives Matter movement or donate to the NAACP.
- CHAOS STILL REIGNS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
With the emergence of ISIS, chaos erupted all across the Middle East, with thousands upon thousands of deaths and cities turned to absolute ruin. Bombings and ambushes in Aleppo continue to this day, with hardly any civilization still notable in the war torn region. War in Yemen between Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition led to tens of thousands of deaths, and nearly quadruple the amount of casualties. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reached tumultuous heights as controversy continues to heat up and tensions only continue to steadily rise.
Donations can be given to the Islamic Relief, Ummah, the International Rescue Committee, the World Food Programme and Doctors Without Borders. Take solace in knowing you did something to help the thousands of lives taken each day in this region of the world.
It may be a new year, but efforts to combat social and humanitarian injustices must prevail just as before, it is now more than ever that we should remain aware of the world around us and help in any way we can.
