April 18, 2014
Carrie Cabush ’15 opened a student panel discussion on Monday, April 7 by quoting 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen’s Oscar acceptance speech: “Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live.” This compelling passage from McQueen’s speech articulates the aim of Justice Week. Stop Traffik held events from Sun., April 6 to Sat., April 12 to raise awareness about sex trafficking and encourage an open discourse about modern-day slavery.
Stop Traffik made a conscious choice to use the name “Justice Week.” Stop Traffik focused on bringing justice into the world rather than dwelling on the injustices that seem to inevitably exist. “That message of hope is key,” explained Cabush. “We don’t want students to be paralyzed by the impossibilities but encouraged and propelled by the possibilities.”
Cabush, leader of Stop Traffik, said that the group has been planning Justice Week since she started the club two years ago. The week comprised of a range of events that incorporated other clubs on campus, including Slow Food and Random Acts of Kindness. Cabush mentioned that she did not “expect everyone to come to every event,” but that she hoped to “teach more people about trafficking in persons by having a wide array of events.”
On Monday, students from several different organizations on campus came together to discuss what justice means to them. Cabush explained that she purposefully asked other organizations to join the panel discussion in order to “broaden the scope of Justice Week, so that people who might not be riled up by trafficking could find a way to relate.” The panel included organization leaders from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Liberty in North Korea, Hamilton Environmental Action Group, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, Random Acts of Kindness, Muslim Student Association, Pre-Law Society and the Post-Structuralist Society.
Each organization leader had a chance to define the term “justice.” An open discussion about the word, its connotations and its controversies followed. Matt Ha ’14, president of Liberty in North Korea, asserted, “Justice is an ongoing fight.” He asked students to use what they had learned at Hamilton to create change. “There are a lot of problems out there, and they’re not going to solve themselves.”
Denise Meza ’16, president and founder of Random Acts of Kindness, noted that it is difficult to “pinpoint what justice is,” but to her, it is essentially the “golden rule” of being treated the way you would like to be treated.
All of the panelists agreed that taking action against injustice must be a conscious effort. Muslim Student Association president Ishaq Pathan ’16 said that being a proponent of justice must include breaking with the status quo in order to stop injustices from continuing.
Other events for Justice Week included a fair trade snack time, a lecture on sex work in Japan given by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Haeng-Ja Chung, a bake sale, a movie showing of Half the Sky and a scavenger hunt with Random Acts of Kindness. Stop Traffik planned each event specifically to reach a wide range of students and to integrate different clubs and interests on campus. Cabush explained that the fair trade snack time is a “way to demonstrate [how] we can make conscious choices to promote human rights via fair trade foods,” and pairing with Random Acts of Kindness was a “way of trying to find a fundraiser that fit with our mission—to humanize those who are too often overlooked.”
Although Justice Week focused on human trafficking, Cabush wanted it to raise consciousness about social justice in general and rally people to action. “We hope to show the campus that everyone can make a contribution by simply doing what they love,” said Cabush. “It’s a specific cause, that’s for sure, but it needs all kinds of people and all kinds of gifts.”
Cabush also discussed her concern with the Hamilton community’s apathy. Although there are many community service oriented groups on campus, and students are generally well versed in issues of social justice, people seem to “lack the momentum to do much.” As Cabush pointed out, “We tend to publicize and praise personal achievements over everything else.”
Justice Week attempted to make people envision what a just world could look like and inspire people to take action to initiate change. “In my experience, Hamilton students are very good at critical analysis,” noted Cabush, “but my hope is that Stop Traffik will help them move past critical analysis and into problem solving.”
The week’s events certainly challenged Hamilton students to consider their place and purpose at the College. “Obviously we won’t revolutionize the campus,” Cabush concluded, “but it only takes one passionate person to make a difference, and the more people we reach, the more likely we are to ignite that spark in someone.”
No comments yet.
Comment Guidelines
Please log in to post a comment