#Standing4BlackGirls Missing and Murdered March & Rally: April 19th
Behanka Adonis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Watch Behanka’s video here:
I come from a very religious family that believes mental health is nonexistent, and, if you’re struggling, you’re not putting in enough effort to worship God. I believe religion should not be used as a weapon or as a scare tactic to get children to follow God. It should not be used to teach them that if you don’t go to church good things won’t happen to you. Despite my family’s belief, I choose to participate in organizations that help me make a real difference as a secular youth of color, rather than just praying to make things happen. I’m currently involved in an organization that focuses on food and clothing security, as well as the Stamford Youth Leadership Council, which advocates for youth mental health, especially in the Black community where mental health is silenced.
Being a first-generation immigrant student, the idea of mental health is hardly acknowledged within our community, and being part of the LGBTQI+ community is considered a ” sin” therefore, I attempt to eliminate such stigma. The act of performing humanism has allowed providing resources so we can ensure that every student, despite their circumstances, is treated equally. That’s why I joined my city’s Mayoral Youth Leadership Council, where I can use my voice for those who are silent because there is nothing more terrifying than someone who chooses not to speak against such an issue.
Stephanie Avitia (sophomore, 2021-22 awardee), UC Berkeley
During my first year at the University of California Berkeley, I faced various obstacles that contributed to a year full of uncertainties. From the hardships of academic rigor, failing my first class and having unique opportunities such as participating in a Meta Reality Labs research.
There are many salient political and cultural issues I resonate with as a Latina atheist.
One that I think many can relate to is that in June, the U.S Supreme Court took away the constitutional right to abortion. Their decision negatively affects POC because institutional racism has long barred access to healthcare. Not to mention their ruling is another example of how the separation of church and state is further crumbling. As a person with reproductive organs, I should have the right to choose. This is also frustrating because I know their decision was heavily influenced by their religious beliefs.
Colorism in the Latino community is a cultural issue that resonates with me. Unfortunately, growing up in the Latino community, you’re taught at a young age that lighter skin is more beautiful. This of course traces back to colonization and how Europeans invented race to divide themselves and make themselves appear superior. It causes a lot of discrimination and hatred within the Latino community. Coming from a Mexican and Salvadorian household, I witnessed firsthand how colorism also contributed to the mistreatment of Central Americans by Mexican people.
Ashton Hall, North Carolina A&T University
Watch Ashton’s video here:
As human beings, we tend to use religion as an “excuse-haven” for how we treat others. We live our lives full of contradictions but use scripture to control how we treat and judge others. Being contained by the clutches of religion hinders our own decisions and lets in outer sources to control us. Loving “thy neighbor” shouldn’t be a religious test; it should apply to everyone and anyone. Being a homesexual man, I faced adversity, especially from my own mother, who identifies with a religion herself. That’s why I encourage people, specifically my African American community, to guide their decisions by humility, individualism, logic, and reason. We get caught up in manmade ideologies so much that we stray away from the dignity of mankind. There’s so much discrimination, homophobia, and prejudice that faces our community, and it’s caused by traditional ideals and oblique teachings that are passed down throughout history. If we follow the ideal of Humanism, we can all come to find the positive life we want to be in. All of us want to reach happiness, in whatever way that comes, but to do that you have to work towards that. You have to separate yourself from society’s “powers above”, and tap into the knowledge and free will you have. Change doesn’t happen by miracles, it happens through self-actualization, finding your belonging, creating a positive esteem in one’s self, bodily needs, and sense of security.
Kaylin Nelson (sophomore, 2021-2022 awardee), University of Central Florida
My first year of college was certainly interesting. I made several very close friends, and met many individuals of diverse backgrounds. I took several equally fascinating and challenging courses, and managed to succeed in each of them, even in subjects that are decidedly out of my wheelhouse, like Physics and Statistics. However, the most significant challenge that I encountered were in my discussion-based classes, such as Sex and Gender in Society or Race and Ethnicity. Because I attend a predominantly white institution, it is significantly more difficult to find people that I can relate to. So many things that I took for granted attending a predominantly Black high school and surrounding myself mostly with Black women suddenly became glaringly obvious. There are many people out there who, despite being well-meaning, carry deeply ingrained prejudices that will make themselves apparent during politics-based discussions. It was very challenging to have to hear someone say something racist, homophobic, or sexist, and then gently educate or correct them rather than being personally affected or upset by the things that they said. Despite this, I would rate my experience during my first year in college as a largely positive one.
Two salient political or cultural issues that resonate with me as a secular woman of color include COVID-19/Monkeypox and abortion rights. Although disease is frightening on its own, knowing that there are two pandemics occurring at the same time, and that the government is doing little about either, is upsetting and terrifying. Black women within the healthcare system have a track record of being ignored or not given the attention that they require. This makes health-related crises even more devastating. COVID-19 has ravaged underprivileged communities, and will continue to do so as the government continues to fail to intervene and put into place protective and preventative measures. Additionally, the concept of weathering (which explores the exaggerated impact of health-related issues on marginalized individuals when viewed in conjunction with the oppression that they experience within society) only works to further the susceptibility of people who exist at the intersection of several marginalized identities to illnesses like COVID-19 and Monkeypox.
The current issues with Roe v Wade have perfectly highlighted the importance of intersectionality. The politicization of people with uteruses sets a dangerous and terrifying precedent, and works to effectively control and force underprivileged people into parenthood. Many underprivileged people, in this specific example – are women of color or low-income women, who are no longer afforded the freedom to control their bodies because they do not have access to the necessary resources. Additionally, much of the basis for limiting abortion is based on religious beliefs held by the members of the Supreme Court. These rulings will affect women everywhere, even those who do not hold the same religious beliefs. This frightening combination of facts has made this issue a particularly alarming one. I have found comfort in the fact that many grassroots organizations across the nation have been working tirelessly to ensure that people everywhere continue to have access to reproductive justice.
Belen Padilla (sophomore, 2021-2022 awardee), Scripps College
Watch Belen’s video here:
Two political/cultural issues that resonate with me as a secular woman of color are immigration and healthcare inequities. Currently, there is an intertwining of these two through the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade. States that have already implemented abortion bans or restrictions are immigrant-heavy Southern states. Black and brown immigrant women will experience the greatest disparities. Black women are more likely than white women to die from childbirth. This statistic goes hand in hand with Southern states tending to be predominantly BIPOC communities where abortion is not a right. In Miami, Black immigrants are a large population, and, in Florida, where abortion is banned after 15 weeks, Black women will be forced to give birth (Or get illegal abortions which usually harms/kills the person) Abortion rights being unprotected will only lead to further health disparities of more black and brown women dying during childbirth, affecting Midwestern and Southern (where immigrants are largely concentrated) BIPOC women the most. It pains me as a BIPOC secular woman to see my own immigrant family and culture tell me that I must vote against abortion rights. As an aspiring neurologist/healthcare provider at the U.S-Mexico border who aims to be as culturally sensitive as possible to combat health disparities, I must stand on the side of science and social justice.
Luz Santos, UC Davis
Watch Luz’s video here:
What I’ve learned through my experiences is that religion only restricts who you are. No religion was going to fully accept who I was in terms of gender identity and sexual orientation. No religion was there when my parents forced me to keep going to church. No religion has been there when I’ve had to cry myself to sleep every night, yearning to one day feel acceptance. Instead of following a religion, I would like to focus on the discrimination that LGBTQ+ youth face every day for being who they are. I’ve met First in the Family Humanist Forward Freethought Scholarship many individuals who have gone through the same experience mostly because their parents and family members can’t seem to accept them due to the religion they follow. Humanism on the other hand never judges people based off of their race, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or class. The only thing that matters with humanism is making a positive difference to the world. By creating social change in my community, many more LGBTQ+ youth would feel accepted by society. Depression and anxiety would decrease and there would be no people getting kicked out of their homes. From my perspective, humanism can create a more powerful impact than religion.
Black Skeptics’ annual First in the Family Humanist Forward Freethought Scholarship fund, providing up to $5000 in scholarships to BIPOC secular, undocumented, LGBTQI+, foster care and unhoused youth, is generously supported by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Bredvold Fund. The BSLA review committee is Imani Moses, Darrin Johnson, Deana Williams and Sikivu Hutchinson.
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