Couldn’t attend CSJ: Ignite 101? No problem! We have all the information you need. This Round-Up was written by Women’s Center staff member Shrijana Khanal.

Critical Social Justice officially kicked off today with CSJ 101: Ignite! The presenters and leaders for this event were the Women’s Center’s very own Amelia Meman and Jess Myers. When the attendees walked in, they were welcomed with different tables which were each marked with a particular social justice issue–an affinity. The various issues included Immigration and Transnationality, Racial Justice, Economic Issues, LGBTQ Justice, Health Access and Equity, Government and Politics, Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence, and Ecological Justice. Individuals were invited to sit at the table with the issue which most resonated with them, whether it was due to passion, curiosity, or personal ties. After everyone chose their affinity groups, Amelia began with a presentation. She began with the essential question of, “Why Critical Social Justice?” The main idea that Critical Social Justice embodies is the importance of increased inclusivity.

“Critical Social Justice grows inclusivity on UMBC’s campus by helping more people feel welcome and comfortable engaging in challenging conversations about equity and justice, across all racial and ethnic identities, genders, sexualities, political ideologies, academic fields, and life experiences.”

Every year, Critical Social Justice has a different theme, so why choose “ignite?” CSJ: Ignite is focused on building partnerships across UMBC and catering to everyone’s personal strengths in relation to social change and social justice movements. As Amelia shared, we are stronger together, and we are stronger when we work from a place of authenticity. CSJ: Ignite exemplifies how a single light cannot illuminate a whole city, but it can begin the movement that changes through the world. Amelia expanded this description by drawing a parallel to a scene in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, where Pippin the Hobbit lights the beacon, symbolizing how UMBC is lighting the campaign of social justice activism through CSJ and invites each of us to reach out to others in the spirit of advancing social justice movements and change.

CSJ 101: Ignite was structured by first sharing examples of famous changemakers throughout history and then shifting the conversation to how we as individuals at UMBC can also become changemakers using their own strengths and interests. The examples of famous changemakers were:

• Sylvia River and Marsha P. Johnson, trans and gay liberation activists
• Kavita Krishnaswamy, a UMBC PhD candidate in computer science who increases accessibility of people with disability and seniors
• Ida B. Wells, an African-American leader, lecturer, and orator
• Audre Lorde, a black lesbian feminist writer
• FORCE’s The Monument Quilt, an activist collective that uses art to bring attention to and change rape culture
• Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark, a married team who conducted psychological research on children and internalized racism and self-concept
• Maysoon Zayid, an American Muslim actress and comedian of Palestinian descent

These various examples convey how social justice can be approached through different mediums like comedy, research, art, or writing. No lens, no skill, no perspective is better than another. They are all various and necessary tools to produce social movement and change.

Afterward, individuals in each group discussed what brought them all together at that affinity table. People shared their personal identities, experiences, and motivations for being an ally. Next, everyone was asked about their visions for that cause twenty years from now. The responses for this question included a mixture of optimism and hope combined with realism and anger.

Then, we all came together as a whole and reported out what we discussed in our small groups. The next of set of questions included sharing your major and career goals along with how our individual knowledge, expertise, skills, and talents can be applied to being a social activist and changemaker. It was fascinating to hear the different majors people had and how each major could serve a purpose in social movements, whether their field of study was computer science, public health, or financial economics. In addition, people’s diverse set of skills and talents including cooking, art, and animation also applied to the concept that anyone can use their hobbies for social justice. Our roles in our communities are not limited by specific boundaries or duties: we had a great turnout of RA’s, each of whom wanted to explore resources to better serve their residential communities.

CSJ: Ignite is just the beginning! Each and every individual has the capacity and ability to become a trailblazer and light the beacon of hope, activism, and justice. For a list of other CSJ events happening this week, check out our calendar!

Get ready for Critical Social Justice: Ignite with our What You Need to Know series. Written By Becca Mann, Mosaic Intern for Gender Equity, Social Justice, and Inclusion and Carlos Turcios, Coordinator for Student Diversity and Inclusion in Campus Life.

The term undocumented immigrant relates to a foreign-born person who is currently living in another country without legal authorization, whereas unauthorized migration relates to the action of moving to another country through means outside of what is permissible by that government. To most living in the United States, these definitions are not new. Although immigration to the new world began since the inception of the United States, the concept of “illegality” was something created in the late 19th century.  For each era of immigration, representation in the media clearly depicted imagery suggesting how immigrants looked like, the languages they spoke, why they were here, and how it affected the livelihood of Americans of that time.

In 2014, the majority of undocumented immigrants residing in the United States came from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and China. Forty percent have less than a high school degree and about half have very limited to no English language skills. (Migration Policy Institute, 2014). Foreign policy, poverty, violence and civic unrest in their countries of origin are just some of the reasons why immigrants leave to the United States.

The truth is immigration policies have always been convoluted to understand. Immigration policies have continuously expanded throughout the different waves of immigration that have created “gaps” to those who fall within “gray areas”.  These complications on determining the statuses of immigrants have led to recent executive decisions such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for various countries. More recent legislative decisions (i.e. attempts at terminating DACA and TPS), have affected general societal attitudes toward immigrants, especially the undocumented immigrant population.

Despite immigration being a common topic during election seasons, rarely do English-only speakers get a preview of what underlies in the experiences of the people living with this identity. Different nationalities, time of entry, age groups and socioeconomic statuses are only some factors that drastically affect the lived experiences of immigrants in the United States.

So you’re probably asking yourself “what can I do to help?” Below are some suggestions on what you could do to be a better ally:

Use the term “undocumented immigrant” instead of “illegal immigrant.” Undocumented immigrants are simply that, they don’t have official papers to be in the country where they are currently residing. Labeling them “illegal” is viewing their action of immigrating as an attack, suggesting their human existence is unlawful. In reality, being an undocumented immigrant is a violation of a civic law and not considered a federal crime.

Educate yourself on the U.S. immigration processes. Most people accuse undocumented immigrants of “skipping the line”and they just need to wait to live here legally. However, the official ways to legally enter this country have not changed since the Immigration Act of 1965 and sometimes this “line”does not exist for certain people. For those who have a line, the wait may be too long that it endangers their livelihood.

Remove needing a Social Security number from applications. Undocumented immigrants don’t have Social Security numbers and a lot of job applications, health forms, or other documents require that you include one. This excludes the entire undocumented population from opportunities like jobs, healthcare, welfare, and education among many others simply because they don’t have a Social Security number.

Stop assuming that immigrants “look a certain way.” Although statistics do show that the majority of immigrants come from Mexico and Central America, that does not mean that people from other regions can not hold this identity. Likewise, the nationality does not assume race and people can look very different regardless of where they are from. Be conscious of the diversity within the immigrant community.

There are ways to support immigrants and get involved!

Retriever Immigrants United, or RIU for short, is a brand new student organization on campus this semester. This org focuses on community building, education, and empowerment. The mission of this group is to provide a space for all statuses of immigrants (e.g. undocumented, DACA, Temporary Protective Status, first generation, second generation) and allies to provide support and share resources.

General Body Meetings are from 6 p.m. -7 p.m. every Wednesday in Math/Psych 105.

You can find Retriever Immigrants United on myumbc and Facebook. Also you can contact retrieverimmigrantsunited@umbc.edu with any questions or more information.

The Mosaic myumbc page also has a folder under the “Files” tab with a lot of helpful information.

To learn more, come to our event “CSJ Igniting Consciousness Into the Immigrant Experience” on Wednesday, October 24 from 5:30-7 pm in Commons Skylight.

October 24 is also “I Stand With Immigrants Day of Action.” Please join RIU for their event in recognition of this day from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. in the Commons Breezeway.