G5: In Bloom and Me

My In Bloom reflection.

How can you connect the workshop with your feminist topic that you have been researching?

In Bloom had a lot of topics covered that can be applied to my topic. For one, as I discussed in my "This I Believe Speech," self-care is something that is often neglected in the Black community. There is a stigma around taking a break; you have to deserve a break and if you don't deserve it but you take one anyways, it makes you lazy. Black people in the LGBTQ+ community can also have a lot of weight on their shoulders, especially if they are closeted or in a strained relationship with people they are close with. In the midst of these hardships, self-care seems easy to forget but it's so important.

How can you correlate overall messages, cultural connections, personal experiences?

An overall message of In Bloom that I noticed was self-empowerment/improvement/awareness. All of these are important in the context of today's society. With social media being such a prevalent part of almost everyone's lives, it can be easy to get lost in what's real and what's edited to look real. To use healthy relationships as an example, many couples on Instagram seem so cute; goals. But that may not be the reality. We never know what that couple has going on outside of the screen. That's why taking breaks from social media is so necessary. Long story short, it all relates.

Thinking forward, if you could ensure that aspects of your MGP feminist topic were embedded within In Bloom, what would that look like?"

One aspect of my MGP that I'd like to have ensured in In Bloom would be intersectionality. I would make sure that every kind of person that came to the workshop felt included. In slideshows, I'd make images diverse and applicable. During the oral presentation, I'd use gender neutral language as to not exclude anyone. Lastly, I'd make sure the topics can be applied to everyone regardless of their race, gender identity/expression, etc. Intersectionality is such an important concept especially now that our generation is dismantling a lot of outdated concepts. In order to keep this progress going, we have to make sure everyone is included in it.