March Forth Student Responses - Social Change (Soc 157)

Response Essays after participating in March Forth

These are the different submissions by students in the 2020 social change class.  Each new paragraph is a new student submission. 

In planning for this event I looked up slogans and chants as well as making up some of my own that’s went along with my topic. We also made posters/signs to use for when we protested. This protest showed me that there are many people who feel the same way about being pro-choice & women’s rights as I do. As well as showing me that when people who feel the same come together we can get a lot of attention. Walking around I noticed we drew a lot of eye to us which is exactly what we were all aiming for. When people notice you they’re also noticing your cause/ your poster. Something that I did learn about protesting that I know not to do for next time is to wear shoes that cover my foot completely because it left a bad tan. Another thing I wish I would have done differently is to make a poster that stood out more. Since there were many posters I feel like mind got lost in the mix. 

Protest Summary

To be able to have the opportunity to part take in the protest assignment was very

interesting, fun, and exciting to me. Seeing my classmates and I come together as one and to able to speak out to make a difference, and to have our voices be heard brought joy to my mind. It was satisfying to listen to us chant and see us walk together as a group.  What I did to plan for the event was make my protest sign two days before the event in class, which I thought was fun and helpful that everything was provided for us. On the day of the event, I made sure to wear

comfortable clothes and my walking shoes, which was helpful. When I arrived at our meeting spot, I enjoyed seeing everyone’s signs out on the walls. I also appreciated that people took pictures of us, it made me feel like we were being recognized. When we started out the march, I was shy to shout for my cause because everyone else around me was quiet, and probably feeling the same way that I felt. Another reason why I was shy to shout was that it was hard to follow the chants on the paper, and I could not hear what chants were being called out. However, halfway through I was catching on, and by the end, I was more comfortable and able to hear the shorter chants, and I was not ready for our walk to end, I wanted to continue chanting for our causes. During our walk, it was nice to hear positive feedback from others by simply saying, “We are awesome,” “We rock,” and “We are cool,” and even hearing the cars honk made me feel proud.

It was rewarding to hear all the positive feedback, even despite the one negative comment. What I learned about the protest for social changes was that for us to make a difference or for our voices to be heard, we must come together as one and stand tall and proud no matter what negative comments we hear or receive. This protest showed me that we do have rights, and maybe sometimes we forget that, and protesting can really remind us that we do have a voice, and we must come together to make our voices strong. What I plan to take with me in my future

from this protest is to use my voice, stand tall, be positive, and come together as one.

This experience was something I never imagined doing because I have always been terribly shy. I was actually super nervous about it because I pictured campus full and everyone staring or saying comments but it was not too busy during the time we were out there.  I chose rent control because I do believe that there is a domino effect, rent spikes and people cannot afford to live comfortably and then they live in poverty or even lose their homes and become homeless, which is another epidemic in Fresno.  Fortunately for myself and my parents, we have always been able to live decent and in nice areas as well as homes that fit to the size of our family. But I chose to speak for others, for those who have lost their  homes or at risk of doing so. I feel it is important to care about issues and have empathy for others situations, even if they do not effect you first hand because we are all human and anything could happen later in life. In preparing for this event, my and my boyfriend bought crafting supplies and made four different signs, all unique and colorful to attract attention of by standers. I also had to be up early and pack all my signs up as well as meet up with my recruits to give them their posters. I had such a busy morning that day preparing everything and making sure my glitter was dry on all my signs. I made sure i was prepared by wearing tennis shoes and even took a satchel with  a water bottle because the weather was warm. Overall, I truly enoyed this experience with my classmates and was happy to have included some of the closest people to me in this event. One thing that I realized from this is that you do not have to get rowdy in order to be heard or known. We marched peacefully and proactively. Another thing I will take with me is that you can march along side others even if you all have different points to get across, unity is the important part of it all. 

Overall, on the day of the protest I tried to put on comfortable clothes and shoes because I didn't know what to expect for that day. It was my first protest of any type and I was excited, that morning I also decided to eat something healthy that could give me energy, to which I normally don't do. The protest to me started to become in  a sense "something real", when I started to see all my peers showing up at the free speech area to do the walk around the school holding their protest signs. I felt like I was not participating in a mock protest. I felt like I was belonging to a group that shared a common cause but of wanting change through protest. The feeling that I felt was of adrenaline because I felt hyped up once the class started to march and protest. At the begging of the march some classmates and I were at the front of the protest which made me feel kind of important because people would watch us first and I felt the urge of wanting to chant even louder.  I feel that when people see protest marching they know they are protesting for a cause and I hope that even though it was a mock protest my slogan for my poster caught attention because it is something important to me. What I learned about protesting is that it is time consuming and it involves organization in order to organize either a small or large protest depending on the group size and the cause. An important key factor on protesting is that we want to be loud and try to get as much attention as possible. The social change that I will take with me is that in order to be heard I have to speak up and stand for what I believe  and want. 

This was my first experience every participating in a protest. I planned by preparing my poster in big bold letters so that it could be easily seen from far away. I also did alot of research on human trafficking in case somebody wanted to strike up a conversation with me regarding my sign, and to give them as much information as possible about the cause I was protesting for. I even had the number written down for a human trafficking hotline if they wanted to learn more themselves, and if they ever needed to report a specific situation they would be able to contact somebody immediately. This event was very meaningful because although I was nervous at first to participate and attract attention, having everybody in class participate and chant at once made the experience much more enjoyable. I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself, and it was really inspiring to see everybody so passionate about their topic and to learn more about other topics as well, such as migrant camps and the abuses they face and climate change activists who made creative signs. Hearing the chants was also really inspiring, to explain the issue in an easy way and clearly state it in a chant that everybody could yell together. The group aspect was what really made me feel like I was in a comfortable, safe environment. I learned so much about social change and got so many questions from people that I know asking what I was doing and what class it was for. It was such an interesting lesson, and is the perfect example of how hands on learning can be so much more effective than learning something from a textbook. I will take away so much from this experience, and I truly felt the power and privledge of having a voice and how it is a right that has made so much progress in this country. If people do not band together and use their voice, how should we expect to get anything done? This experience made me realize that I really enjoy protesting and the power that it has to create change, and I definitely think I am going to be more involved in my community and actively participate in protests. 

My experience of the March forth on March fourth event was great. It was my first protest that I had ever been a apart of and it was the first time I made a sign that said what I believe in towards immigration. I knew it would be a hot day and I wanted to be fully involved so I made sure to wear comfortable clothes and leave my personal belonging in my car. I wanted people to know about the event and he aware of the different causes we were marching for so the night before I handed out flyers as well as posted some in some of the buildings like the social science, library, and food sciences buildings. I knew that posting the flyers the day of as well as the day before would get people wondering what they were for and where they were coming from whether they agreed with them or not. It meant a lot to me that students on campus were video taping and taking pictures of us with our signs because it gave me hope that other students have the same views and that we could possibly make a difference in the future. Protesting was definitely something new but something that I would like to do again. It gives a sense of empowerment to let everyone around you know what you believe in and that you will stand for that cause. I also was so happy to see that a lot of my classmates had great views and similar ones to mine too. In the future I would like to attend another protest at school because I think we have a lot of influence to the community since we are university students as well as the future of this country. I had a good friend of mine from my hometown attend this event for me not only for the cause but to also help me out with extra credit. 

As soon as we discussed the protest in class, I already knew what cause I wanted to support. I chose to support pro-choice because I’ve felt strongly about it for a long time. While we were making our signs in class, I was kind of nervous that I wouldn’t find anyone with the same cause, so I kept to myself during class. Each day leading up to the protest, I became more and more nervous. I wasn’t sure why at first, but I think it was because I was scared of confrontation. When I got to the free speech area on the day of the protest, I wasn’t as nervous as I was the night before; I was more anxious than anything else. As soon as the protest started, my anxiousness went away because I found a few more students who supported the same cause. Walking with those students made me more comfortable to be loud during the protest. I also got more comfortable when people honked as we walked down Shaw and when people stopped to talk to us. At the end of the protest, I felt like I did something to help my cause. Even though it was only on campus, I felt like I was able to spread my message. Doing the protest made me want to be more vocal about my cause and other causes I believe in; I also want to participate in more protests someday.

Overall my experience went amazing. This was the first time I've ever done a march/protest and I'm glad this class gave us the opportunity to do so.  Although, it was something for credit I actually wanted to take place. I wasn't scared, nervous, embarrassed. I was ready to start raising my voice and have people notice us and what we were doing. The day of the march I actually wasn't anxious. I was ready to do this not only to see how it is but to let people know this is what we can do when we don't agree with a certain policy or what's going on in our society. I also had to finish my poster so I woke up a little earlier to make sure it looked the way I wanted it to. What I do regret is not bringing something to be louder. I thought maybe someone else would bring something but that's what i get for relying on others. I would've brought bangers or a speaker to play some music. However, our voice was loud because while walking down shaw many cars started honking at us to show they supported us. Not only did it show us they cared but it brought attention to other cars that might not have seen us. That just made me feel that much better about what we were doing because it wasn't just us that believes in these issues it's much of society. Also, when we were walking through campus other students would shout and get us high fives. Funny enough we only had one bad comment and that was someone in the student dorms being closed minded. Throughout our entire march overall we all had great experiences because we were all there for our own cause. Which made it a little more enjoyable because we were given the choice to pick what we wanted to protest about. It just wasn't one issue, it was a handful of them. I really can't wait to do something like this again! We have the right to have our voices heard.!

I have done and been a part of several protest before, the main two were the Farm Workers Rights and Pro-life/Pro-choice protest. I even have plans to go to one later this month (March 19th) in Sacramento to ask the capital to help provide more funding for community colleges. With that said, I am no stranger to chanting, holding up signs or receiving criticism from people that have opposing views.  This experience however, has been different from my prior experiences in the sense that this took place at school rather than outside a building or marching downtown. Another thing that was different was that this time there were many different causes that people were protesting for rather than just one cause. I was happy to see how many causes people came up with and how we all bonded together to march as one.

    In every protest, you will hear negative comments and an occasional curse word but for this march, we got a lot of positive responses and feedback from both students and staff as well as people from the community. The only negative comment we received came from a lady that lived in the dorms. Perhaps she was trying to sleep, had a bad day or flat out disliked us but this is why it is important to fight back or argue but instead show people kindness since you never know what is going on in their head. The proper way to respond is to be kind and show love like how one of our classmates did when that happened.   My favorite part of this whole experience would be the sign making part because in every protest I have been to already had premade signs. It was always what other people have written and their words, not mine. So by making my own sign I was able to say what I wanted to  and that felt amazing.

My experience for the march was a very positive one.  To prepare for the march, I did take my sign home because I did not finish both sides or staple it during class time.  So before the march I had outlined my sign on both sides with pencil and then traced it with markers to make sure it was legible and in big letters.  The staple gun had run out of staples so I went to Walmart and bought two different types of staples and then watched a few youtube videos on how to put them in.  I was not able to put them in, even with the help of my boyfriend. The next day I remembered that one of my classes was cancelled that was during your office hours and decided I would go during your office hours to get help in stapling the sign so I would be ready to go by the time we had to meet at the free speech platform.  I also passed out the flyers of all my classmates to people I walked past on my way to my car after that class. I also prepared the day of the march by wearing comfortable clothing and comfortable shoes, bringing a clip to put my hair back since it was going to be hot and also bringing sunglasses.  

This event was honestly really eye opening, I felt like a stronger voice when we were all together saying the chants and we were all on the same page of protesting important issues, compared to if I was out there protesting myself on one issue.  It was fun overall too because I have made a friend with Alondra in class and we marched side by side with each other and encouraged each other to scream the shouts. If I had walked by myself and not made a friend in class, I most likely would not have felt comfortable to shout the chants, even in a big crowd.  

What I took away with me through this march was the power of unity and the power of prepping.  Passing out the flyers and writing the chalk, I felt like it kind of in a way prepped me mentality that I was going to be taking a stand on my issue and be vocal about it.  Seeing people stop and ask us what we were doing, taking pictures of us and honking when they saw our signs; it was really encouraging and showed me that people do take notice when people are gathered together doing something bigger than themselves and are united in issues.  I think the march was organized very clearly and we used our resources of using our class time effectively, having signs with the wooden stakes so we could be seen from far and from the streets with passing cars and marching on campus is a prime location for a march to get others to join.  I will keep that in mind for the future if I do get involved with future marches. 

On march fourth, we marched forth to represent our causes on campus. On this day I represented national clean up day. What I did to prepare myself for this day was to make a sign and do some chants to make people notice it. Going into it I didn’t think people would actually care about what we were saying and just stand there and look at us like why are these people causally walking around with these signs and saying random stuff.The longer we were out there for the more confident that I got into what I was protesting for. We got honks, people were saying the chants with us, noticed people had smiles on their faces because we had a specific movement that they also cared about. This all felt pretty good to me because as a collective group we made people notice us and stand by us for what we were doing and not look at us as if we were some out of place people. There were some people that didn’t agree with what were doing as we were walking, but that a small amount compared to the larger about of people that had our backs. What I learned from this protest and social change is that you can never be shy or afraid of something that you truly care about and should go ahead and make your voice heard because majority of the time you’ll have people that will back your opinion and will join you. This protest around campus gave me a lot of insight on how powerful a group of people with a social movement could. This was a overall great experience and would love to try to be apart of another protest in the future they are very fun and powerful. protest are something you got to experience hands on to understand.

The week leading up to the event "March Forth on March Fourth," was spent collectively coming up with different topics each person could protest. This was one of the more difficult aspects for me because there are so many things I am passionate about. I decided to protest on Mass Incarceration because the problem was truly brought to my eyes when I took a class at a different university with a professor who had formerly been incarcerated. He really made me critically think as a student about how and why this problem has become the issue it is today. Once I made the decision that was going to be my topic, the rest was much easier and a lot of fun. I have been to a few protests in the past so it was a setup I was familiar with. I love making the posters and coming up with catchphrases or eye-catching graphics so it was really cool to be able to do something like this for a grade in our class. The day of the protest was a little nerve-racking because I have never been a part of a protest on campus, especially on a campus like Fresno State where there is a large portion of more conservative people. The beginning of the protest was a little awkward and it seemed like everyone was a little afraid of going all out, but by the end, everyone was yelling and having a good time. While we were walking around campus, the overwhelming majority of people who walked past were supportive and cheered on all our causes, but there were at least two individuals I encountered who were not happy with our protest. When we walked through the University High School and walked past the dorms we had a little backlash, but everyone was so into at that point we just kept going. It was an extremely interesting dynamic for me because I was at the protest alone but it didn't feel like that once we started going and walking around. It ended feeling like we were one cohesive group all supporting each other and each other's causes. I learned that groups become closer when protesting and fighting for social change together. To a certain degree, you have to be vulnerable enough to be loud and fight for what you believe in so when everyone is going through that together, I can see how these social movements gain the strength and power needed to create change because it emotionally affects the people who are in it.  

For planning, I invited my significant other to the protest but unfortunately, he could not make it due to work.  Then, I passed some of the protest flyers to my fellow classmates during my night class.  I also passed some flyers at work.  They all asked, “What is this?”  I explained, “It’s for my social change class.  We are having a protest during class, it’s part of a class assignment, and if I take people to the protest, I get extra credit.”  This protest was not my first protest to attend nor my first experience at protesting. My  first experience protesting was in high school, back in 2005 when fellow classmates were doing walk-outs to protest against I.C.E raids and deportation.   Anyways, I did not expect it was going to be that hot, but it was.  So, I did not prepare myself for the weather.  I did not bring with me any water, a cap, or sunglasses even though it sure would have helped a lot.  Before the protest, professor Kubal went over some rules, specifically safety rules.  Then, he took a picture of all of us with our signs.  My protest sign read, “Free health care 4 all! And, the greatest wealth is health.”  As we began our protest, I remember being all the way in the back and it was hard to hear Kubal.  So, I cached up in order to hear better.  There was a police car parked by the Joyal Administration building- on Maple Ave and Matoian Way.  We gathered around the police car and Kubal took another picture of us with our signs, then he said, “Police officers love protests.”  We continue with our walk through the University High School, then cut through P1 parking lot and onto Shaw Ave.   A few cars driving down Shaw Ave honked in support of our protest, and that made us respond with a happy cheer.  I personally, waved my sign up and down to respond to the cars that were honking.  Then we walked through the dorms, and someone from the dorms yelled, “Shut the **** #p.”  A few people replied to that person with comments like, “No.”   I learned that it is possible to have peaceful protests.  Protests  need to react to certain situations in positive ways.  Other people (the cons) are going to be negative and rude by acting in a provocative way, protesters need to work around them in order to get their message sent.  I learned that motivation and participation are key factors to a protest.  Protestors need motivation in order to get their cause/message across other people.  The participation of protestors, the participation of media, and the participation of leaders all play a role in protests.  The role is to get the message across society.   Overall,  my experience from the protest was good, even though the weather did not help as much because it was hot.  

The experience from the protest was great because the amount of pride, enthusiasm, and energy that the class had. In the beginning most of the class skeptical on why we were protesting or if there was a certain topic that the whole class had to have a consensus on. As the class went through the process and had a better comprehension on what was going to happen during the protest. The guidelines were set that we had to choose a topic that we felt was important to us. One we all had a topic we had to do some research to which we created flyers so post around campus and hand out to the public. Moreover, we had wrote with chalk around at different places around the university with different topics and the date of the event, giving the student and staff time to prepare if they were willing to join us. Following the chalk, we created posters with a slogan that will captivate people’s attention. Moreover, we did research to inform people about our cause even if some had disagreements towards the topic that we choose. Once all was complete, we gathered at the Fresno State Free Speech area with our signs and chants in hand that were provide by the professor. Once we were all ready, we proceeded to start walking toward the middle of campus say our chants past the water fountain. One thing I found amusing is that many people that were not in the march stopped either gave odd looks ,take pictures , or question some of our peers which was very amusing because I would think that people would just walk by and not care but it was the complete opposite where many were very interested and glad that we were expressing ourselves. As we started many peers were quite or embarrassed but as we walked, they got more comfortable and were getting louder. As we walked, I felt the same way I was uncomfortable but knowing that I wasn’t alone gave me a bit more confidence. Over all the march experience was great because it made me get out of my comfort zone and made me think that marching is not  bad and made me want to find a group that I can march as well as be more involved in the community.

For the protest I posted on my social media to get the word out about the protest. I also handed the flyers out that where given to us in class; to classmates in my other classes. I had not been to a protest so I did not know what to expect at the beginning. As we started walking around and protesting for a cause we believed in; it felt good to be doing it for a good cause. It was a great experience over all. We were encouraged by bystanders and well there where some that did not agree with some of our posters. But overall the experience was a great one. 

To summarize my experience with the protest I would say it was a little uncomfortable for me at first. I did not get my sign because I showed up after they were already passed out and when the march started, I reverted to trying to blend in the middle of everyone in order to not stand out or be seen. I did do a few of the chants but I did not have the chant list so I was lost for a majority of them. I was most uncomfortable when bystanders at the beginning of the march were taking photos and videos of us and I really did not want to be part of that. The turning point of my comfort-ability started when we cleared the main campus way and posed by the police car. That kinda gave this protest a little bit more chill and fun vibe. As we passed the high school and started on the busy Shaw sidewalk, cars honked their encouragement and people walking to their cars in the parking lot shouted their excitement. The protest ended by the social sciences building where we chanted our final statements through an aisle of confused students that gave little feedback, which was pretty contrary to what we had seen the whole rest of the march, making it kind of awkward.

To prepare for the event I created a sign that read "No BHT If The Data Is Absentee![.]" I also tried to dress as cool as I could because I did not want to be burning up during our march. The meaning of the protest to me is is the learn experience it gave me. I would probably never have attended a protest in my life, surely never before this, but it showed me the power of unity and what that holds. If I had just started marching and chanting alone around school for the assignment, then people would probably think I was crazy, but since it was around 50 of us, all marching and chanting together, it made the protest seem real and brought it to life. Overall, I am happy we had the protest. This is not something that a student would do in almost any other class and that is what made it such a unique experience. I do not necessarily see myself doing any protest in the future but it has given me a newfound respect for those that do exercise their right to protest.

This by far as being one of the most, scariest but realist things I've ever been a part of. I never really saw myself or imagined being part of a protest. Well at first I wasn't so sure about doing it but after doing so I actually think it was one of the coolest things I've been a part of. being able to see other people's reaction whether it was positive or negative was amazing. people supported us when we began the protest. people honking at us, teachers stopping to thank us and ask us why we were doing it. everything felt good. it's always good to go out of your comfort zone and I can honestly say this was one of them. Would I do it again? I most certainly would do it again.  I felt embarrassed at first if I'm being quite honest. thinking people were going to judge or make fun of me for doing something like this on campus, but after the first 5 minutes I realized this was bigger than someone's opinion, this protest was to show people a change is needed. realizing now that people's voices need to be heard and it's okay if they don't support your cause, as everyone as there own opinion. It was cool to see the whole class participate but it was even cooler than i even got some friends to join our protest. shows that people do care about or the world. I figured that people wouldn't have cared but we actually got quite the attention. I saw people recording us as well and thanking us which was also something ill always remember.  I think moving forward I will do my best to let my voice be heard if I think something needs to change because after this protest I think there's a lot of people that have thoughts about improving the world as I do but it's just the fear of saying it to the public and having people say negative things about you, is what makes people not speak up. 

To prepare for the protest I woke up and decided on what to wear so I could be comfortable when walking. I made sure my backpack did not have too many things in it. That day I also thought about how the protest would go and I was a little embarrassed at first. The protest was out of my comfort zone but I am glad I participated because it was actually very fun. I think that everyone staying together as a group really helped me feel less shy. On protest day I also posted on my social media to see if anyone would be interested in joining last minute. The March was really an experience for me and I think I would do it again. The meaning of the protest for me was to understand how a protest works and realize how much attention we got from not just people on campus but people driving by. Something that I learned about social change is that you cannot change the hearts and minds of the people if you protest quietly you have to create chants and gain attention first. Another thing I learned about social movements is that they take a lot of work and time. Protesting for an hour in the sun and walking around campus got me tired so I know when people go out to protest an hour is not enough. Something I wish I would have seen is people joining our protest. I learned that social movements take many tries and timing is key because there was nobody really out on campus because everyone was in class at that time, so that made a great impact on the march. In the future I will participate in protests that share my beliefs and I will listen to opinions without judgement.

On the day of the event, what I did to plan was let some of my friends know about the march to see if they were able to join. In addition to that, I posted my flyer with the date of the march on my snapchat/instagram story in order for others to see as well. The sign I made was to encourage people to create less waste and go green by using reusable products. This meant something to me because it gave me a platform to express my social issue and also help others become aware of all the other social issues in this world. With the signs everyone was holding and the various chants we chanted it made a lot more people stare and listen to what we had to say. What I learned about protests and social change was that if you get enough people involved there is a greater chance of creating change and bringing awareness. This was shown the day of the march by others staring and clapping/chanting with us, also with the cars honking as we walked down Shaw. Not to mention that some of the students brought their friends and family members to march with us as well. 

Considering this was my very first protest/march I have been involved in, it was fun. Personally, I would do it again if the time ever came. Seeing everyone unite together in order to bring awareness on social issues made me realize that there are a lot of people that are passionate for something. I was expecting it to be boring since we were just going to walk around with signs but I was incorrect. Overall this was a great experience and I am glad that we were able to march around campus and down Shaw in order to make our voices heard.