Name: Theo Squadron

Social Justice Group: Humanitarian aid to victims of war (C)

Date of Fieldwork: December 19, 2024

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Emily Thomas

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:

The interview I had with the high school teacher, Emily, was really interesting. Our conversation was great and we discussed what it was like for people who had to experience tragedy. She told us how about her experience with Ukrainians and what that meant to her. Emily said we need to do more for people not from our countries. She also told us how her opposition to this topic stemmed from an almost poisonous fear of outsiders. We all have an almost subconscious bias towards people like us. In the media almost every day we see stories of crimes committed by people who look nothing like us. This constant stream of negative media creates a fear of outsiders whether we like it or not. What I took away from this meeting with Emily is that we should trust people from different countries, races, or sexes.