Name: Charlie Lawson

Social Justice Group: 2023-2024, Athletes and the Mental Health Crisis

Date of Fieldwork: January 17, 2024

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Museum of the City of New York, Tour Guild

Type of Fieldwork: [69]

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

At the Museum we met our tour guide and they taught us about activism in New york. I learned about many different strategies used to protest and make change. I really liked how they made art be a type of social protest, and how Black Lives Matter protests make really creative signs to try and make change. I couldn’t believe that 1 in 20 train stations are accessible to people with disabilities. New York says all train stations will be accessible by around 2035. That is 11 years from now. I couldn’t imagine how hard it is for people in wheelchairs or people with other disabilities to use trains or transport around New York. Right now I use a car to get around because I’m currently in crutches and I know I am very lucky to have a car in New York because not many people have one. I saw a few acts of activism that I have learned about before, such as Rosa Park not sitting at the back of the bus, and the transgender activists starting the gay pride parade.