#ppauteens

     A large part of the film focused in on Pahokee High School’s football team and their run to win the state championship. The movie documented the whole season and the hard work they put into their well deserved championship.

     The state championship was not only a huge win for the students on their way to college, but it boosted the morale of town writ large. Adults were approaching the players and thanking them for ‘saving the town’. This emphasizes the magnitude of the just the state championship on the town. It also cemented the reputation that Pahokee has — as a breeding ground for NFL stars. Stars like Anquan Boldin also made a surprise showing in the film, attending the high school graduation.

     Unfortunately, the school was stripped of their state title that year due to a processing error regarding a transfer player who was ineligible. Even in the face of this, the town knew in their hearts that their local Pahokee High School went undefeated and earned that title.

     There was another event in the movie that was quite significant. The camera team was recoding an Easter egg hunt at a local park when there were shots fired. The shooting forced the children and their parents to stay on the ground in hopes of not being shot, which reiterates psychological pain. This was a hard moment for the people affected by the event and the crew shooting the film, as the had to grapple with whether or not they should include this scene in the film. The directors discussed that they decided to include it because shootings are an issue for these communities that is swept under the rug by the media, so pointing out the reality of those situations is a more effective method of creating conversations of how to move beyond instances like this. I would also like to point out that there should be a trigger warning for this sometime before the movie, as experiences such as shootings can be a source of psychological trauma.

     One of the directors, Patrick Bresnan, said their goal with the film was to build bridges between different communities and humanize this misunderstood town. Towns like Pahokee have been homogenized through recent rhetoric of the “Anchor Baby” and the “Welfare Queen” that creates the division between the good and the bad minorities. The directors emphasized that the movie was made in aims to deconstruct those binaries and create trust between larger communities. By exposing the daily lives of towns like these, the audience is able to conceptualize how these communities live and humanize them to create an understanding and disrupt pre-conceived notions of race and class.

     The film begins with Mandy, the main subject of the film, waking up face down in her front yard. She remembers nothing of the night before. Hours later Mandy receives a text from her friend asking “Is this you?!”. Attached is a video. In it, Mandy is passed out on a bathroom floor with a crowd of boys huddled around her and… More begin to surface as Mandy looks for answers, but no one is confessing.

     Days later Mandy’s parents find the videos on her laptop and demand she go to the police, despite her cries to remain silent. They want justice for their daughter, as do the audience, as do the Hollywood film critics, but that is not how many sexual assault stories end. In fact, around three out of four sexual assaults go unreported in the United States according to the Bureau of Justice National Crime Victimization Survey.

     Justice comes in many forms. For Mandy, it was to find out what really happened that night. But she needed to do this on her own, not with the police. Many people believe if someone has the resources to come forward they should and this goes to show that often times the needs of sexual assault victims are pushed to the side. The process of coming forward can be traumatizing and in many cases, such as Mandy’s, it can cause even more harm to the person who faced the assault.

     Mandy’s parents and the audience need to listen to Mandy and accept her decisions. To everyone but Mandy, this may seem like accepting defeat, but to her this was the best way in which she could heal. Even after Mandy receives the last video, the one needed to put the man who assaulted her in jail, the one she has been searching for throughout the entire film, she deletes it. She found her answer and for Mandy discovering what really occurred is all she wants. She took control of her narrative, something not many assault victims are able to do.

     This film, although difficult to watch, needs to be seen. The truth about how sexual assaults are dealt with needs to be shared. The story doesn’t always have a “happy ending” or closure, but it should. As a community, we all need to work to alter our society so that more closure can occur. Really, we should work so that people don’t have to search for closure to begin with; that should be a right for every citizen, but currently, it is a privilege.

As a peer education for Teen Council I will support, empower and advocate for those who have experiences sexual assault through my teachings and individual outreach work.

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Every year 1.5 million teenagers in the United States experience physical abuse their partner according to the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. This statistic does not include mental abuse which often goes unnoticed among teenagers and adults. If you would like to get involved, want to learn more about domestic abuse, or want to report an incident you can talk to any Teen Council member, any Planned Parenthood employee, download the Safe UT app (if you live in Utah), or visit nrcdv.org.

     All three young adults are apart of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, A group that brought legislature attention to the DREAM act. They have stopped plenty of deportations before this scheme and have done many after. What sparked this idea was when Marco heard of a man Claudio Rojas who was detained while taking out his trash. Marco and soon later Viri 1.) Fool the guards into detaining them 2.) Give detainees a phone number to call to help get their case to the media to hopefully get enough attention to get released. 3.) Then get themselves released.

     From a young activist watching this, it was inspiring.The film had so many lingering takeaways about family, youth, and the power of being undocumented and unafraid. The Q&A was full of the directors, some of the cast and crew but most importantly Mo and Viri. It opened up topics about immigration reform , what can our politicians do to help , how can we help, what’s the next step? The Q&A was filled with answers for the future, Viridiana is going to be a lobbyist at D.C this summer , Mohammad runs the Detentionlifeline.org which is where anyone in the states can call to get help for someone they know who has been detained. The future seems bright, but we still have work to do.

     As Mo said “Hold Democrats accountable , they say they are our friends , prove to us you are”. The Q&A was feisty in all the right ways by calling out politicians for using words to gain specifically the Latinx vote. Obama formed DACA but left the parents of those undocumented students stranded when they needed help to keep their family together. “Immigration is a hot topic since Trump has been elected” - Mohammad Abdollahi. The 2016 election may not be so bad after all because people care more about immigrants than ever before. When things aren’t being oppressed to drastic levels , such as children being ripped away from parents arms and put in cages, people just look the other way. Since the mass missing children , immigration reform is a popular subject, It was one of biggest factors on electing people for office for the midterm elections 2018. Real people call out the fake ones, this is exactly what Mo and Viri were doing.

While talking to the directors of the film, it is apparent that they wanted to show a very a-political view on the siege. Being in Palestine and talking to the people, the directors said that the public opinion is not focused on a specific political group and instead are angry at the world for forcing them to live as they are by not stepping in or enacting change. Everyone is to blame who is complicit in the global isolation and ignorance that allows the people of Palestine to die for fighting for their freedom or. The tragedy shown in the film is, in my opinion, well balanced with the stories of the people. It is an incredible film that will send you through a gauntlet of emotions and hopefully educate you as to what is happening on the Gaza Strip.

     Ruth had a turbulent childhood full of heartbreak, sadness, and loneliness, so as soon as she was able, she set out on a hunt for love, passion, and everything from life which she didn’t know she would ever find. She found herself in the arms of two different men and in a completely different country before finding the love of her life while skiing with her 2-year-old daughter. This is only a taste of the fun, light-hearted, happy individual that we know as Dr. Ruth. So, how did she do it? How did she triumph over the pain of her reality to become a powerful, successful, exceptionally happy woman known worldwide? I found that she did this by living everyday to the fullest, always stopping to smell the flowers, and by never depriving herself of a good laugh along the way.  Dr Ruth never sweats the small stuff and in return leads a big life.      Being a sex ed. Peer educator, along with a young woman, I applaud Dr. Ruth. Despite hardships she defied the stigmas of the word “sex” and taught America it was okay to live a great life in every aspect, just as she did. Ruth is a trailblazer for a world where people are comfortable with their sexuality, sexually safe, pleasured, and exceptionally happy Dr. Ruth’s smile put a smile on my face the moment I saw her, what kept it there throughout the film was the resilience, courage, honesty and strength of the one and only, Dr. Ruth.