This lecture was amazing. After watching the recording of it, I feel moved to go out and make a difference, research more on racial injustice, and fight more for what is right. Ersula Ore did a great job of creating ethos, pathos, and logos with her audience. I was pretty familiar with Sandra Bland’s case, I did a speech on her in high school, but it was very interesting to hear what Ersula had to say on the case. As someone who is white and does not know what is like to live in America as a black person, it was hard to hear what Ersula had to say. When she talked about how it is hard for her to continue to see images of black people dead and how it is scary because she looks like them, that really spoke to me. I wish more people could hear what Ersula had to say. I am a big believer in the fact that in order to help a community, you must listen to the people within that community. So for me being white, listening to Ersula’s experiences, helps give me a better idea of what I can do to help. When she stated that “the way that an individual’s efforts to live is literally criminalized” stood out to me. It was such a powerful statement with so much loaded meaning. Then she went on to talk and define resistance. The way she described and used the word resistance was new to me but it made so much sense. She talks about how a big part of her work was to provide multiple different lenses to the public so that people can see the different types of citizenship and how they manifest. I thought that was interesting and selfless of her. She has put so much time and effort into educating people, it just shows how determined she is to make a difference, it is very inspiring.

The quote she included in the beginning of the lecture: “there is power in looking” also stuck with me. I think many times people who don’t look for the problem can’t help fix the problem, especially when it comes to race. As a white person, it is easy to take advantage of the privledge not to look for the problem, however then there is no power. It reminds me of Trump’s presidency, often times he did not look close enough at an issue or want of the citizens, and so how powerful was he actually?

To conclude, I really enjoyed this lecture and I am happy Penn State put it on. I definitely will be leaving with knowledge and tools I can use to help fight for racial justice. I think of the death of George Floyd. I live 20 minutes from where he died. These acts of injustice are happening in my home community and it is disheartening. With that said, thanks to Ersula, I can go on and start to advocate more for equality for Black people in the United States.