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Reflection on community volunteer work
Short essay on how volunteering can change the world
Volunteering impact on public services
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As human beings we are born to help other humans, evolve, and change the world around us. We all have memories and times that changed us a person. The moment could be born from happiness, wonder, or simply from sorrow, anxiety, fear or pain. No matter what it is it changed us. Volunteering was one of these moments, it interested me to make a difference in my community. Some of these changes may be unexpectedly but they can also be positive changes. I myself have 10 days that changed me as a person and evolved me.
School can change you to have more knowledge and curiosity about the world around us. One day, I went on a field trip with the Honors Humanities Academy to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. I didn’t know that day was going to change me but it did. I had known about the Civil Rights Movement but not in depth. As I walked through the museum and saw the murals of Civil Rights activists and the people who dedicated their life in believing in fighting for a change. It
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This day changed me as a person to make a difference in my community and also to try new things. Another day when I volunteered at Chestnut Mountain Church impacted me as a person as well. My friend Hannah and I were volunteering to clean up the church. We went there at 7:00 am and was ready to volunteer. Her grandfather was the man in charge of guiding us of what to do. We were cleaning the windows of the church and helping out her grandfather. Although this was a small thing it made a huge impact on me. Volunteering made me establish strong relationships with Hannah’s family and also the church. Volunteering was fun and also impactful for both Hannah and I. It made me more committed to doing good things for society and meet the needs of people from all walks of life. Volunteering gave me a sense of purpose and also made me choose to spend time on issues I felt strongly
During this era, LBJ and the Civil Rights Bill was the main aattraction. July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed a civil rights bill that prohibited discrimination in voting, education, employment, and other areas of the American life. At this point, the American life will be changed forever. LBJ had helped to weaken bills because he felt as if it was the states job and not the goverment, but why did he change his mind? Was polictics the reason LBJ signed the Civil Rights Bill of 1964?
“There must be the position of superior and inferior” was a statement by Lincoln which formed the basis of discrimination towards black Americans as it highlighted the attitudes of white Americans. Although civil rights for black people eventually improved through the years both socially and politically, it was difficult to change the white American view that black people are inferior to white people as the view was always enforce by the favour of having “the superior position assigned to the white race”.
African Americans have a history of struggles because of racism and prejudices. Ever since the end of the Civil War, they struggled to benefit from their full rights that the Constitution promised. The fourteenth Amendment, which defined national citizenship, was passed in 1866. Even though African Americans were promised citizenship, they were still treated as if they were unequal. The South had an extremely difficult time accepting African Americans as equals, and did anything they could to prevent the desegregation of all races. During the Reconstruction Era, there were plans to end segregation; however, past prejudices and personal beliefs elongated the process.
The effects of this colonization has left the Black community with deep soul wounds, ones that have not been simple to heal. One of the leftover side-effect of colonization is what being “Black” means and represents. The term Black has come to represent everything that white is not. What this means is that if white represents purity, virginity, beautiful, and innocent then being black represents dirty, sullied, ugly, and guilty. It is this understanding of Black that has created the stereotypical image of what being Black represents. This stereotypical image remained, for the most part, unchanged by the end of the Civil Rights Movement nor did it change with the introduction of a new understanding of what culture was by Franz Boas. Boas’
In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of the Brown v. the Board of Education. This was a very historical moment because their ruling eliminated, the "separate but equal " doctrine. Their ruling called for school integration, although most school were very slow in complying if they complied at all. The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Color People, viewed this ruling as a success. The schools lack of the obedience toward this ruling, made it necessary for black activism to make the federal government implement the ruling, and possibly help close the racial gap that existed in places other than public schools. During one of the boycotts for equality, a leader emerged that would never be forgotten. Dr. Martin Luther King, who was leader of the Montgomery bus boycott, quickly became the spokesperson for racial equality. He believed that the civil rights movement would have more success if the black people would use non violent tactics. Some say he was adopting the style of Ghandi. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, was formed by King and other activist in 1957. They were a group of black ministers and activist who agreed to try and possibly help others see the effects of a non violent movement. Also following the strategies set by the SCLC, a group known as the SNCC or the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, began a string of sit-in and campaigns as the black population continued it's fight for equality. It was the undying efforts of the two groups that paved the way for the march on Washington. This march which drew a crowd of at least 200,000, was the place that Dr. King, gave his famous "dream speech." Both the SNCC, and the SCLC were victims of lots of threats and attempted attacks, yet they continued to pursue freedom in a non violent fashion. However near the late 60's they had another problem on their hands. There was a group of activist known as the Black Panthers who were not so eager to adopt the non-violent rule. The believed that the civil rights movement pushed by Dr. King and is non-violent campaign, which was meant to give blacks the right to vote and eliminate segregation, was not solving problems faced in poor black communities. This Black Panther group, stabled the term "black power", which was used a sort of uplifting for the black self esteem.
This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our states, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country” (Lyndon B. Johnson). The civil rights were the hardest times for African Americans to do anything from going to school, to even going to the bathroom, they were not aloud to be associated with anything the whites were able to do. They were sprayed with water hoses when they marched the streets fighting for their rights. Most people saw them for being nasty people because of their skin color, not everyone saw them for who they were, they were just like the whites just a different skin color. It is unfair how they were treated, looking back and seeing how they were treated, us whites should be ashamed of how we treated them. When people become dissatisfied with the way they are treated they fight for their rights: Dred Scott v. Sanford, Shelley v. Kramer, and Brown v. Board of the Education.
I am so glad that I was able to get this once in a lifetime opportunity because I was able to learn many things that I wouldn't have been able to learn without volunteering. I also felt accomplished because I was able to do something productive for these ten hours rather than sitting at home. I was able to impact my community and people that I care about. In conclusion, volunteering was a great
Every time I do some kind of service – I have the opportunity to learn new ideas, discover new perspectives and I've have grown as an individual. By giving back I like making people feel as though they matter, and it gives me a good feeling at the end of the day because I feel I have made a difference. I grow as a person each time I do volunteering. Some people do volunteering because they have to, but I do it because I want to. I love volunteering.
The civil rights movement worked magic, all of which made possible by the grand wizard Martin Luther King, the great speaker with a sonorous voice and gripping words that drove the oppressed African Americans to truly fight for equal rights. In the civil rights movement, the often religious texts enacted change by leading Negroes to fight for a peaceful future. Likewise, the words of Robert Kennedy brought moral fortitude. The driving force of language exemplified by the blur of action. Along with MLK, Kennedy spoke for freedom and understanding.
Can you single out just one day from your past that you can honestly say changed your life forever? I know I can. It was a typical January day, with one exception; it was the day the Pope came to St. Louis. My brother and I had tickets to the youth rally, and we were both very excited. It was destined to be an awesome day- or so we thought. The glory and euphoria of the Papal visit quickly faded into a time of incredible pain and sorrow, a time from which I am still emerging.
Volunteering is an important contributor to our society. It is also a great opportunity to learn different skills, especially young people, and they will become a part of who you are. Your future employers will thank you for it, as will any college or university that you decide to apply too. It is also a perfect way for everyone to meet different people and experience different things. Volunteering not only actively will help people; it also helps the environment. Most of all, it allows you to become a better person for what you have
Volunteering enables an individual to make a positive impact on his or her community, while empowering the individual to better his or her life. This summer, I had the opportunity to volunteer at many diverse locations. From the hospital to the local library, I truly value my experience and treasure everything it has thought me. Volunteering lets us experience and learn things that we otherwise would not have learned; volunteering opens doors for us that we may not have been able to open before. Volunteering provides us with guidance and tolerance which we may use in the future to aid us in our decisions. At first glance, volunteering may seem to only benefit those who are helped, but on a deeper level, one can realize that volunteering benefits the volunteer as much as, if not more than, those who are helped. Not only does volunteering make a difference in one’s community, but it also helps the volunteer become a smarter, happier, friendlier and more caring individual.
A reflection of my volunteering experience can be summarized in two words: Life-changing. It is hard to explain the feelings that occur when you involve yourself in selfless acts for your community, such as volunteering. There is a feeling in your heart that you cannot ignore, maybe it is the happiness you feel or the overflow of emotions in helping others. In other words, it is a feeling in which you want to share with others. Maybe with a friend, maybe a classmate, maybe a family member, or maybe even a stranger. Either way, spreading how life-changing volunteering can be is a great start to making a positive change in your community by simply by involving others.
Volunteering benefits a person by building connections with peers, improving family life, expanding career skills, overcoming self doubt, having lasting life impressions, and creating new opportunities. Just a small act can make a huge difference in someone’s life. The future is dependent on the individual person and the people they surround themselves with. Just a few hours will change both the volunteer’s life and the one that is in need.
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations and private individuals, and which ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society and state without discrimination or repression.