K. McQueen

Currently we are experiencing a pandemic that many of us have never dealt with in our lifetime. My photo project features intimate photos of my family members as we try to coop with the shelter-in-place that was put into place by Michigan’s governor along with several other states throughout the United States. The sequence of the photos initially starts off with our normal morning routine such as making breakfast and then I continue to capture the  day as things progress. Capturing the emotions of my family members throughout this experience has been key. Many of us have never been through a time like this before so adjusting has not been so easy. In a way for many, including my household the world seemed to flip upside down in just one instance. What most know as normal, seems to be no longer normal. This has become more than just a small issue, it is affecting thousands of lives. These photos display just how important it is to play your part as a decent human being to stay in doors. These simple gestures will save the lives of many. 

Bio: Kierra McQueen is a junior at Oakland University studying Journalism and minoring in criminal justice. She has always aspired to be a journalist with a focus on the sports world. As a kid she was heavily involved in sports specifically basketball, and that is where her passion for covering sports stemmed from. After earning her degree she plans to pursue journalism full-time and become a broadcaster for news outlets. In her free time she often enjoys capturing moments on her phone of family and friends, attending sporting events and researching current event stories. 

Lakiedra Broadnax checking on the almost done turkey bacon in her kitchen in Royal Oak, Michigan Sunday, March 22, 2020.

Lakiedra Broadnax grabbing extra items from the refrigerator in Royal Oak, Michigan Sunday, March 22, 2020. Being that she is considered an essential worker, preparing meals for her children that are home seven days a week has become a second job.

Kennedi Broadnax relaxing on a workout bench in the basement of her Royal Oak, Michigan home on Sunday, March 22, 2020. Kennedi’s first year as a preschooler has been sadly interrupted due to COVID-19. Her teachers check in via email a few times a week.

Cameron Broadnax in the basement of his home in Royal Oak, Michigan on Sunday, March 22, 2020. The remainder of Cameron’s 8th grade activities have become questionable due to the pandemic. He enjoys organizing and playing his XBOX 1 to keep in high spirits.

Cameron Broadnax in the basement of his home in Royal Oak, Michigan on Sunday, March 22, 2020. NBA 2k20, Madden, and a handful of other video games has been his go to daily for a sense of fun and connecting with friends online while practicing social distancing.

Madison and Makenzie Broadnax spend time in the basement of their Royal Oak, Michigan home on Sunday, March 22, 2020. The twins often find entertainment in each other despite the current issues we our facing. Teachers from Royal Oak continue to send students out work packets online, and drop food off weekly.

The population in Israel is about 8.7 million, West Bank is 2.8 million, and the Gaza Strip has 1.8 million.

My understanding of the Middle East situation is that there tends to be a lot of wars and physical conflicts in general. I usually get my information from national news such as CNN, Fox, or social media.

My understanding of occupation in this situation would be basically troops are expected to protect certain areas for specific reasons. 

The main thing that I get from these three terms is that the main purpose is to influence, or get someone to agree on something specific. 

Terrorism is misunderstood in several ways. Most people only see certain attacks that have taken place, and have been reported in the news. Most automatically see terrorism as a huge threat to their daily life, when in reality we have a better chance at drowning in a bath tub, or getting struck by lighting rather than being physically effected by terrorism. Terrorism also comes with a lot of stereotyping and false visual representation. 

Defining terrorism in textual words makes you think that anyone in general who uses violence against certain people for the purpose of political aim is considered a terrorist. However, if you were to image search the term terrorism you pretty much only see Brown men with breads, often wrapped in scarfs. What you don’t see is White men who are indeed terrorist, for example Dylan Roof. 

The connection that was made between the Muslim Ban, and the Japanase Americans was that since the Japanese government dropped bombs down, because of that every Japanese American was held responsible just because of what they looked like, and they were treated as such. Muslims were dealing with almost the same exact issue.

Responding to the statement about our imaginations being constrained, I somewhat agree. Most of our worries and fears come from the reports that the media puts out which I feel automatically causes panic and changes your viewpoints. If I’m understanding the last part correctly, I feel as though it somewhat focuses our attention on radicalized threats, but I don’t see that as a huge conflict. In my opinion I think that it is important that everyone is exposed to radicalized issues.

This process can definitely change. In my opinion if we could get people to become more educated on the subject of terrorism that forsure could be a starter. I also feel like the way the news is reported to the world needs to change. Journalist have a big part in how interviews and stories go, it is important that we recognize people for what they really are and Label them correctly instead of stereotyping. 

When you hear the word social media you automatically may think of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram just to name a popular few.

If you own a smartphone or any type of technology, chances are you have some sort of social media platform that you visit daily.

Social media honestly may be the easiest way to keep in contact with family and friends, but the question has become is it the best form of communication.

First thing in the morning most people get up to brush their teeth, but there are also a lot of people who check there social media first. You may even go out with a group of friends or perhaps a date and notice their faces buried into a phone.

That is when social media becomes a huge issue. Many people find themselves snapping pictures to show social media instead of enjoying their current outings.

While there is no actually “cure” to resolving this social media problem there are things you can do to cut back.

For any Apple users, there has been a new update that allows you to control your screen, and app time. You are able to set yourself a time limit each day before your phone locks you out of selected social media apps.

In recent reports some restaurants are even offering discounts if you are able to keep your phone tucked away at the dinner table.

While all of these options could be seen as helpful, it is up to you to control your social media addiction.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/04/25/social-media-addiction/

For my discussion leading post the topic that I focused on was Gender. My partner Paige and I decided to work together when presenting to the class.

My first initial thought was that we needed to give a few clear explanations on what the term Gender meant. The two we decided between came from the Urban dictionary, and Webster.

The standard meaning behind gender is a reflection of one’s self-image as relating to sexual nature.

Once we were able to give a clear understanding it was time to explain the difference between sex and gender. In today’s world knowing the difference is extremely important because there is a lot that comes with knowing.

Sex “are the biological traits that societies use to assign people into category of either male or female, whether it be through a focus on chromosomes, genitalia or some other physical ascription.”

Gender “is the range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity. Typically depending on the context, these characteristics may include biological sex, sex-based social structures, or gender identity.”

Gender and population in the United States was another huge focus in our presentation. To know how people identify, and specific statistics can be helpful.

Since this is a journalism class, gender in journalism is something that needed to be discussed. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/journalism-gender-problem

All in all my experience behind this discussion leading was interesting. Many of the included facts and statistics I was not aware of before. Everything was quite a learning experience when putting this together.

During my NY Vr experience I decided to focus on “Notes on Blindness”. From beginning to end I was pretty excited to see what was in store, and what new things I might discover.

There are many disabilities that a lot of people around us battle with on a daily, maybe more than we’ve actually noticed. Most of these disabilities are not showed the amount of attention they deserve nor are they taken that serious.

My experience wasn’t everything I expected, but it was still pretty interesting. Almost immediately I found myself a bit confused as to what was going on. The more I listened to the narrative of the man speaking things started to make more sense.

What I found to be most challenging was having the ability to take in all of the many sounds that you hear around you without any visual. I found it interesting that the man speaking could say exact where each sound was coming from when it came to giving directions.

In a way I enjoyed just listening to the many sounds, it was quite peaceful. I feel as though it makes you think harder, which could be a good thing.

Interviewing a person with a disability might become easier after experiencing something like this. Instead of not really having an idea on how to go about it that all changes because of the VR experience. You are able to be more relatable when asking questions.

The way you view a person with a disability might change for the better once you become more informed on the issue. If I could ask one thing while interviewing it would be how is it taking in so many sounds from your surrounding at once all of the time and being able to distinguish them.

Oakland Universities Organization ‘ABS’ which stands for Association of black students partnered with another black org that goes by the name Love naturally for a hair expo.

The expo took place in the banquet rooms of the Oakland Center. The night brought out a decent crowd, which was not that surprising. When taking a look around the room I took mental notes of who was in the crowd.

It was pretty diverse far as ethnicity, with a widespread of genders as well. When you think of a hair expo you might automatically assume it would mostly be filled with women, however there were a hand full of men present.

The main speaker of the event was a graduate from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Right away she seemed like the perfect fit for that nights event with her big curly natural hair due. When speaking with the crowd she was very relatable when discussing her experiences when it came to her hair journey, and new eating lifestyle she adopted.

Many of the guest in attendance kept throwing her great open ended questions the entire night, and she was easy going with her answers. She expressed the importance of good eating habits, while also promoting her own hair supplies that everyone is open to use no matter your hair texture. Overall the experience was great, and if you have not been to a hair expo yet I highly recommend finding one to attend in the neat future.

Discussing topics that contain bias situation or requires a statement on white privilege, I have never had a problem opening up about it. I feel as though it is a topic that may not always be a comfortable thing to discuss, but it should be considering it is an ongoing issue.

I definitely feel as though educational environments challenge the implicit bias issues in daily life. Being in a classroom setting and talking about it gives you a chance to look at things from a different perspective when you hear other classmates or even the professor give their take on it.

Most times people who are caught up in this, and are usually bias they just aren’t educated on whatever other party is being discussed. Different videos or readings showed in class has helped me realize that while so many people in the world may come off as bias, most of the time they don’t even realize it.

The biggest challenge I would say is acknowledge the fact that you may come off as bias somethings, and work towards trying to fix it. Before taking my Storytelling Media & Diversity course I had in fact never heard of an ‘implicit bias’ test. Reading the disclaimers and following along through the actually activity was quite interesting.

The first one I had decided on was the Asian ITA test. There was no particular reason as to why I chose that one first. In all honestly my initial reaction was that this was pretty different. At first, I didn’t really understand how the activity was going to be able to determine whether or not I was bias. The results caught my attention, so I read as much as I could for a better understanding.

https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/understanding-biases

When I first got onto the website, everything about the layout was quite interesting to me. The project held many different choice to further look into, so I had a few things to think about. Each option was pretty interesting so I definitely had to stop and think about which topic I wanted to look into first. I hesitated a bit first between two, but for some reason I decided to click on colorblindness. That word stood out the most to me because I felt as though I had one to many encounters with the term. “Colorblindness” means to me that you are aware of the difference in ones skin tone, but you do not let it dictate situations for you. I mean obviously, if you have the ability, you can clearly see their is no doubt different skin tons. Listening to the different individuals give their opinions, none of their responses really surprised me if I’m being totally honest. I hesitated the most when I saw the term ‘Racism”. Sometimes I feel as though the term can be used too broadly, and in a way I just did not feel like listening to what the people in the video might of had to say regarding the topic.