manikadenglishblog

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BLOG #3: Taking A Stand Through The Arts

Film Viewing

Before we had this activity of watching the movie Slingshot Hip-hop, my only exposure to the Palestinian struggle was through the news and social media after October. I had seen the suffering and plight of their people and thought, “Why?” Why was this happening to them? What is the reason? I then sought out educational resources that explained the history of the current Palestinian occupation, and I was even more horrified by the current events. I immediately knew what stance I was going to take, and that was with the Palestinian people. 

After we had watched Slingshot Hip-hop, a few weeks ago, I was now exposed to the everyday life of Palestinians. I saw how they live everyday under occupation, I saw how they are oppressed, with gigantic walls, shootings, arrests, and discrimination. I think to show the everyday human life of the Palestinians is very important in order to get people to care. Usually, oppressed people are only presented as a statistic, the media never shows how they live their lives. Humanizing them by showing their culture, life, and history is a vital step to get people to stand in solidarity with them. 

Zine Making

Now, my teacher taught us how to make a zine, and its history of being used when the truth was being censored. My concept for my zine was to highlight the experiences of the Palestinians under occupation, how they were being oppressed inside their own land, and how they fought back against it. I expressed my feelings and opinions through both art and words. I may not be the most skilled at drawing, but I felt that I had truly projected my own feelings into my zine. A page is dedicated to a drawing, and the next is where I write my thoughts and opinions. I wrote about why this occupation creates an unjust and inhumane system within the Palestinians’ own land, and how this must end for them to finally reclaim their own land and be free from this colonialist occupation.

I gave this zine to one of my friends, they do not attend Manila Science High School, but they immediately understood what I was writing about, since they are also educated on this topic. From what I gather from their response, we share the same opinions towards the occupation and we both had an insightful conversation about it. I was quite glad that we both heavily agreed upon this.

Rap Song Writing

Another activity that was assigned to us was to create a rap song, and just like the movie we watched, Slingshot Hip-hop, we used this opportunity to speak up about a prevalent issue in our society, which is LGBTQ+ rights and discrimination. The song has an aggressive and provoking tone, which is very fitting as it seems the song’s perspective is from an individual who has been discriminated against for their whole life. Writing these experiences, especially through rap, helps a person to express themselves in a creative and “safe” way, and what I mean by that is it is better to channel your anger through creative mediums like this, instead of violence. Because with these songs, you are creating art that can be shared with other people and can possibly inspire them to make art like this too. I find this experience to be really inspiring and empowering, because I find it very beautiful that we humans can turn our life experiences into a piece of art.

Creativity and Criticality

What I find very interesting is how we are able to use our ability to create art and to be able to use it critically. So many art forms emerged from critics of societal issues and rebellion, so creativity and criticality might even be intrinsically linked in the first place. A great example of this are visual art forms. In my observation through social media, many digital artists create art to show their support for many good causes, particularly Palestine in recent times. Creating art is a way to revolt, in a way, because it gives a person freedom to say their thoughts or protest. Another reason why is because art builds solidarity with other people that support the same cause, because through this medium, we find a way to make statements with one piece of art, and through our mind we are able to know what this art piece is saying.

[manikadenglishblog]

The Challenges of Climate Change, Pandemics, Mental Health, and Education

Climate Change and Pandemics

Climate change alters the dynamics of infectious diseases. Rising temperatures and changing weather patterns create ideal conditions for the spread of pathogens, such as the emergence of new vectors for diseases like malaria and dengue fever. Climate-related events, like extreme weather events and wildfires, disrupts healthcare systems, making it harder to respond to pandemics. As seen with COVID-19, the degradation of natural habitats due to climate change can also bring humans into closer contact with wildlife, increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases.

Pandemics and Mental Health

The fear of infection, social isolation, and grief over the loss of loved ones all contribute to rising rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders. The disruptions caused by pandemics also strain healthcare systems, making it challenging for individuals to access mental health services when they need them most. Having poor mental health can also affect an individual’s ability to respond to a pandemic effectively or responsibly. Not being in the right state of mind can lead to poor decisions and the impact of the pandemic will worsen their state even more.

Mental Health, Education, and Climate Change

Mental health issues can significantly hinder a student's ability to learn and thrive in an educational setting. Anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders can impair cognitive functions and decrease a student's motivation and engagement in learning. This leads to poor academic performance and long-term educational disparities. Even though being educated about climate change is objectively a good thing, and you should absolutely always be informed about developments and progress involving it, being aware that the planet is slowly dying and that you too might as well is extremely damaging to your mental health and can cause mental disorders like depression and anxiety. Climate change also destroys homes and livelihoods, which also plays a role in a worsening state of one’s mental health.

Education and Climate Change

Education plays a very pivotal role in addressing climate change. Informed and educated individuals are more likely to make sustainable choices and advocate for climate action. Education can also empower communities to adapt to the changing climate by promoting resilience and sustainable practices. The lack of education creates uninformed individuals who would be ignorant about the effects of climate change and can possibly be harmed because of their ignorance. They are also more likely to deny that climate change even exists at all! They can spread misinformation, thus convincing other similarly uninformed people to believe in their lies and create a false narrative and believe that we are doing “fine” and that there is no need for action against climate change to be done.

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Climate change, pandemics, mental health, and education are deeply interconnected challenges that demand holistic solutions. Addressing one issue without considering its impact on the others is no longer feasible in our interconnected world. In order to do this, everyone must be able to work with each other and address each issue very carefully and with a smart mind and a strong heart. Losing a cog in a machine, means that the machine stops working entirely.