Derrick Parra

Soc 122 M/W

Chalking #3

            A few days prior to the march forth event our entire class went out to the free speech area to chalk the walking area. There were different groups ranging from the criminal injustice system and fighting to end hunger (just to name a few). Chalking, while not being a traditional way to raise awareness still proved to be affective. My group S.N.A.R.L. (Spay, Neuter, Animal, Rescue, Love) went out and began to write our acronym and bold lettering so it would get a lot of attention and advertise our cause. We also wrote down sayings such as "Adopt Don't Shop" and facts such as "2.7 million adoptable animals are EUTHANIZED ANNUALLY = 1.3 every second". Perhaps the best attention grabber was the drawings of a massive cat and dog, which proved popular and striking by our group and anyone who passed by that evening. As the days went by I would see people stop and read all of the comments and take pictures of our pets. A lot of people would read not just our chalking but walked by to every part of the free speech area and took noticed of our message. However, an area we could've improved on would be stronger/ longer lasting chalk, while they may have been thought provoking and noticeable they faded with the days proceeding to March 4th. The night we did them they stood out clearly due to the setting sun and lights so they stood out with bright color but during the day they would get walked on and hardly noticed. Buying darker colors would also be a benefit. While the lighter ones stand out at night the darker ones could be seen with greater attention during the day. Maybe if the class went on and over the course of several days could keep chalking pavement it would keep the student engaged and have more support for marching. Overall, they did prove affective during the evening but needed a darker tone for the day. While they faded during the course of the week they did grab attention during the beginning of the week.