Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression; Connections

Title of article: Interrupting the Cycle of oppression: The Role of Allies as Agents of Change.
Author of article: Andrea Ayvazian

     Let me say first, that this article kind of hinted to me that maybe I should stand up as an ally and use the dominance I have more often. Always become an ally if possible, and if there is a good reason. I mean, if you can help someone a little less privileged, why wouldn’t you? Maybe this is how the whole “Occupy Providence” started…

     So I decided to use connections for this blog on Ayvazian because I could not stop thinking about one author the whole time I was reading through this text; Johnson. There are many connections between Johnsons work and Ayvazian’s, let’s talk about them below.

     The first connection I would like to make is on the topic of privilege. Ayvazian talks a lot about privilege, and I could not think of anywhere else I’ve heard about privilege more than from Johnson. Ayvazian states, “In each form of oppression there is a dominant group- the one that receives the unearned advantage, benefit, or privilege- and a targeted group- the one that is denied that advantage, benefit or privilege.” Johnson talked a lot about the privileged versus the unprivileged. Ayvazian brings up the fact that as you are around all different kinds of people, your advantage may change. This leads to the topic of oppression. Johnson talks about how as you become the minority, you are less privileged.

     Ayvazian goes on to talk about how you should use your privilege as power. This is a clear connection to Johnson through his title: “Privilege, power, and difference”. Johnson makes it clear that you are either born into privilege, or you are not. Things you do on a daily basis to make yourself a better person does not affect the amount of privilege you have. Ayvazian talks about how privilege people are dominant, and dominant people have power. They have the power to stand up and make a difference. She talks about how if you have dominance in a community, you should do something with it. Like Johnson said, if the minority could do something, they would have already.

I’m not very good with words so I hope you understand the connection I am trying to make here.

     My POINT TO SHARE in class is going to be about Occupy Providence. People obviously used their dominance and privilege to make this whole thing start. One person’s voice was loud and dominant enough to be heard over the others when they stated their purpose and what they were going to do until the situation is fair. So this should be an outlook on the way you should act if you are privileged. Do something with your voice and stand up for what is right when you have the chance, because not everyone will get the chance in a lifetime. I’m excited to go down to Occupy tomorrow and learn all about these people and how they feel.  I most of the time get caught up in these types of things and end up wanting to get involved. So let’s see how this goes.