Blog Post 4

Yes, I have felt invisible but I have also been stared at so it sucks both ways. Hobson helped me think about the visibility of the color blind issue that is prevalent in the United States nowadays by defining it. Rather than being color blind Hobson urges us to be color brave which is the harder path to take because we have to confront the issues of race. This is the part where Hobson brings out statistical data about there only being seven minority CEOs out of all the Fortune 250 companies out there. Even more shocking was that while there are thousands of public traded companies within the United States there are only two that are chaired by black women. I can relate to Hobson’s story because as a minority there is a lot of truth to what she is saying. It is hard to change things when people are claiming they are colorblind and everything is okay. The truth is that things are not okay and it just makes it harder to have an honest conversation about race in the United States. This is one of the reasons why sometimes I just don't bother talking in classes like political science because this is something that gets brought up by students when issues of race come up.

“Currently, the most pervasive approach is known as colorblindness. Colorblindness is the racial ideology that posits the best way to end discrimination is by treating individuals as equally as possible, without regard to race, culture, or ethnicity.” (Dec 27, 2011)

With a space like YIA youth have the opportunity to expose themselves to people of different cultures and races due to the amount of diversity that is available in Providence, Rhode Island. Youth get to share their struggles together and see their strengths that they have and the similarities they share rather than the differences of race. This happens not because of coincidence but because YIA youth are exposed to each other on a daily basis and have meaningful interactions. Within YIA, youth are working to create a safe space where they can focus on bringing about meaning change in their communities. This is accomplished by utilizing project-based learning, cooperative learning and service learning with youth rather than traditional methods used in the classrooms. By training the youth of today we ensure that they will become future leaders who are color brave rather than color blind.