Tag Archives: Event

Feminist Jiu Jitsu!

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Back in the beginning of March, I participated in a Gender Equity Week event. On Thursday, March 7th from 6:30-7:30pm, I was in the Silcox Gym in TD Arena learning about self-dense and jiu jitsu! The event was officially titled “Feminist Jiu Jitsu for Self Defense Training.” However, it welcomed individuals of all genders and identities to come learn a few moves to feel safer and confident as we move about our daily lives.

I will admit, I was a little skeptical when deciding on if I should go or not, just because I had never tried any sort of jiu jitsu or martial arts before. Also, I couldn’t find a friend that was free to go with me. But, I had a friend that went to middle school with me that had done jiu jitsu for several years, and ever since then, i vowed that I would try it one day. So I told myself I was gonna go no matter what (even if I was going to make a fool of myself or be a bit awkward at first).

So I went to the gym and the first thing I saw was a large mat (like what you would expect to see for a wrestling match) on the floor. That made me nervous, but yet intrigued, because like I said, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. There was a pretty large group of students there already. I started talking to a few people and quickly found out that the majority of them were all involved in one of the Women and Gender Studies courses and attending the event was mandatory for them. They all seemed excited though, and that made me feel more comfortable and excited too. Soon other students, outside of that class (like me), showed up too. Then a few minutes later, older students and a handful of adults came in, all dressed in the robe-looking things (typically referred to as a “gi” – I learned). One of them was the instructor of the Women and Gender Studies course, and then there was a husband and wife, who I found out actually teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes at their place on James Island, as well as through a course in the College! I had no idea that there was an actual class available for sign-up at CofC where you could learn jiu jitsu – seriously, it counts for a PE credit, crazy! The other older students (there were about five girls) had either been members of their class they teach at the College or had been going to their separate practice.

They started by showing us a few demonstrations. It was insane! There was one 13-year-old girl and she was going against the adult man (he said he was 250 lbs) and she would literally flip him over her shoulder like it was nothing!

After they blew our minds, they explained that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is all about leverage and angles, not about strength. So this made more sense about how she was able to defend herself so easily against him. They explained that learning these moves and getting into the habit of practicing jiu jitsu is not only good for the body but for the mind as well. It was honestly so inspiring and so cool! For the next half, they showed us four moves for us to practice on each other and have to take away with us for the night. Although they were simple (e.g. how to break away from a simple arm-hold), they made you feel so empowered and a little more confident when walking around campus. It was such a cool experience and I am so glad I ended up going! I hope I go to another session like this (maybe over the summer?) and hopefully even take the course at CofC in the future!

 

Lowcountry Citizens’ Summit

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A couple of weekends ago, on March 30th, I was lucky enough to participate in the Lowcountry Citizens’ Summit! The event was from 10:45am-3:45pm and was hosted by CofC’s very own Honors College. The day welcomed all those who were dedicated to learning more about the pressing issues facing both our society in general, as well as our Charleston community. Students, faculty, and community leaders joined in the Stern Center for a panel discussion, followed by boxed lunches provided by City Bistro! The remaining hour and a half, we spent time participating in breakout sessions.

Dr. Folds-Bennett introduced the panelist that would be speaking on the topic of “Redefining Leadership.” There were five individuals, all different ages and having different backgrounds and professions. Their leadership ranged from being involved in the Charleston School District, the Shared Future Project, the College’s Farmer’s Market, the League of Women Voters, a local education-rights activist, and a very own CofC faculty member! These individuals were all asked several questions from an Honors College student that was in charge of leading the discussion. Questions were all surrounding the topic of leadership (i.e. “What kind of leader are you?” or “Can a leader be made or are you born a leader?”). Each member offered a unique perspective to each question and was able to pull from their own experiences to provide the audience with a wide range of answers.

After several aspects of leadership had been touched on, the discussion dove into more about the issues our Charleston community faces. Most of the panelists answered with something similar to the following; racism, classism, education, climate change/sustainability, and many more that most people do not even realize. This lead into the audience being given the opportunity to then ask the panelists any questions they wish. The panelists, again, answered the questions thoughtfully and offered several solutions and perspectives.

After a quick break for lunch, we were each given the choice as to which small-group “breakout session” we wished to participate in. The choices ranged from justice, to southern hospitality, to hunger and homelessness, to leadership. I chose the topic of southern hospitality, because underneath the description it touched on environmental aspects, which are of interest to me.

Thus, in my small group, we first talked about the “myth” that surrounds our city and about how when you tell people you go to the College of Charleston they are in awe because “Charleston is so beautiful!” However, in reality, those that have not spent a lot of time in this city, do not really know or understand that Charleston faces many societal problems, ranging from racism, classism, gentrification, sustainability issues, food waste, and large amounts of homelessness. We like to put bandaids on these issues and make the tourist areas (i.e. King Street) all pretty, for economic reasons, when the majority of the rest of the peninsula is suffering in other ways. This was one of the most influential parts of the day, in my opinion, because it made me think of our class, and how everything is truly connected. It made me use more systems thinking and more interdisciplinary.

At the end of the small discussion, each of the groups came together and told the larger, entire room about their findings and conclusions. Overall, I thought the day was productive; I learned about several problems that exist around me all the time that I had no idea about. However, at the same time, I still feel overwhelmed, because there are so many! All I can do is continue to talk about these problems with other people and educate others and do my part to ease their effects.

 

 

“Faith, Justice, and Global Warming: Discussing the Climate of Our Times”

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Last Tuesday, February 12th, I went to an event on campus called “Faith, Justice, and Global Warming: Discussing the Climate of Our Times.”

 

The event was in the Education Center (Lecture Hall 118) from 4pm-6:30pm and was hosted by Professor Todd LeVasseur and the Sustainability Literacy Institute. The discussion featured Peterson Toscano and Corina Newsome.

 

Toscano described himself as a “queer and quirky” individual from rural Pennsylvania, where evidences of wildlife were abundant. He grew up as a Quaker and explained how it was considered “against the grain” to be gay and come out as a young adult, in his church community. Due to his love and support for the LGBTQ community, he began to view the issues of climate change as one directly associated with civil rights. Therefore, Toscano took a year off and began to educate himself on climate science and got involved with citizens climate policies. He explained that he is now a Bible Scholar who has his own podcast, inviting different perspectives, ranging from everyday people with a story to tell to pastors and preachers from neighboring states. Toscano is interested in hearing what people have to say regarding what the Bible has to say about climate change.

 

Newsome explained that she grew up in the city of Philadelphia and experienced a very different childhood from Toscano, when it comes to nature. She discussed how she was never really exposed to animals until she went to visit them in zoos when she was older. This experience combined with learning about how so many species are endangered and threatened, instantly spiked Newsome’s interest in wildlife preservation and ultimately, climate change as well.

 

She explained that once she brought up this concern of climate change to her church community, she was immediately shauned. She was frustrated, but soon joined the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action in college.

 

Newsome explained that one big change she made in her life was beginning to participate more in her civil engagement duties. In other words, she encouraged us in the audience to become educated on what local and national individuals were running for office (i.e what policies they support) and vote! She said that this was a small, but great way to make your voice heard.

 

Newsome also explained that she has tried to “build bridges” where she can, when it comes to discussing climate change to others. We had a mini discussion during the event about how a large portion of the older generation simply dismisses the topic of climate change. Newsome gave advice of trying to build bridges that lead into the topic. She explained that by not beginning with the topic, but instead relating with the other person on another level, could eventually lead into them trusting your views and opinions moreso.

 

Similarly, Toscano discussed how he typically uses the strategy of letting his audiences come to him. He explained that he tries to come up with things that others are curious about and interested in. Once that connection is formed, he is able to able to form the bridge to how that important thing is affected by climate change. For example, he discussed how many people care about their pets and this is a great conversation starter. He explained that once you ask someone, “Have you ever wondered how climate change affects your pet?,” this makes them curious and ask you to tell them the answer.

 

Another main point that was discussed, was the fact that our world and those individuals within in, will see an increase in suffering due to this wicked problem of climate change. Toscano tied faith into this discussion by bringing up the fact that he feels churches will miss out on an integral way to gain more followers with this situation. He explained that with this suffering, individuals will need more guidance, empathy, and something to believe in; thus wanting to turn to religion. He believes that if churches do not choose to admit climate change is happening, they are missing an opportunity to help those in need.

 

Ultimately, many different points were touched on and brought up during the event regarding how faith, class, and race are all connected back to climate change in different ways. It was interesting to hear these perspectives, because I had never really applied this form of systems thinking prior to learning what it means in class and then attending the event to actually see it in action.