You are a journalist for an independent, nonprofit news organization that focuses on societal changes. The news organization utilizes a unique social media platform not only to share the news with its readers but also to have a conversation about complex issues with their readers.
Your manager has asked you to create a presentation on a major social movement and its impact on society. The news organization and your manager hope that their readers will share their thoughts on social justice and its impact on them after reading your presentation.
You can choose from the Civil Rights, Black Lives Matter, and Me Too movements. You can also write about a different movement with approval from your faculty member. You will utilize this selection in your Week 4 assignment, too.
Create a 10- to 15-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation to answer the following questions in relation to your chosen social justice movement:
Define social justice.
Explain why it is important to teach and discuss social justice.
Examine an instance of social injustice of your choice related to your selected movement.
Assess which groups are most affected by this social injustice instance.
Assess how social injustice has impacted you personally and how it has impacted your thinking or how your thinking has evolved as you learned more about social justice movements.
Assess potential actions to properly address the social injustice instance.
Describe lessons that can be learned from your chosen movement.
Sample Answer
Presentation: The Black Lives Matter Movement and Social Justice
Slide 1: Title Slide
Title: The Black Lives Matter Movement: A Call for Justice and Equality Subtitle: A Conversation on Social Change and Its Impact Journalist: [Your Name] Independent News Organization: [Your Organization's Name]
Slide 2: What is Social Justice?
Content: Social justice is the concept that all individuals and groups within a society should have equal rights, opportunities, and access to wealth, health, and well-being. It is based on the idea of a just and fair distribution of resources, power, and opportunities, ensuring that all people have their basic needs met and can reach their full potential.
Slide 3: Why is it Important to Teach and Discuss Social Justice?
Content:
Promotes Empathy: Learning about social justice helps us understand the systemic struggles faced by marginalized communities, fostering empathy and compassion.
Empowers Action: It equips individuals with the knowledge to identify and challenge injustice in their own communities and workplaces.
Builds a Fairer Society: Discussing these issues is the first step toward creating meaningful, lasting change and building a more equitable and just society for everyone.
Slide 4: The Black Lives Matter Movement
Content:
Background: The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
Core Principle: It is an organized movement advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against Black people.
Not a Political Party: The movement is a decentralized network and is not affiliated with any political party. It is a human rights movement.
Slide 5: An Instance of Social Injustice
Content: Police Brutality and Accountability The core injustice at the heart of the Black Lives Matter movement is the disproportionate use of excessive force by law enforcement against Black individuals. This is often followed by a lack of accountability, with officers rarely being charged or convicted for their actions. This pattern has led to a profound sense of injustice and has eroded trust between Black communities and the justice system.
Slide 6: Groups Most Affected
Content:
Black Communities: This injustice disproportionately affects Black people, who are far more likely to be victims of police brutality and are often targeted with implicit bias.
Families and Loved Ones: The families of victims are left to deal with grief, trauma, and a sense of powerlessness, often with little to no legal recourse or emotional support from the system.
The Wider Community: The injustice erodes trust in law enforcement and the legal system, impacting the safety and well-being of the entire community, leading to heightened tensions and social unrest.
Slide 7: How This Injustice Has Impacted Me Personally
Content:
Before learning about the movement, I was largely unaware of the full scope of systemic injustice. My personal experience, as someone not from a directly affected community, shielded me from this reality.
Learning about social justice has forced me to confront my own biases and privileges. It has made me realize that fairness is not the same as equality, and that to achieve true justice, we must address the underlying, systemic issues.