Political Agenda Segregating My Community

False media representation is a barrier that has influenced Arizonans in a negative manner, especially in regard to Law SB 1070 against illegal immigration. It is a law that promotes racial profiling, although Governor Jan Brewer said she would ensure authorities were properly trained. The training is not composed of empathy, compassion, and human rights; the result is segregation and uninformed opinions toward immigrants.

Political priorities surpassed human priorities when Brewer decided to lessen abortion services, decrease licensed health care professionals, and ensure abstinence-only education is being taught in schools instead of offering resources about safe-sex, and information on the prevention of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Children in this state and in America cannot escape the promotion of sex in everything they see from billboards and magazines to Burger King commercials and cartoons. If there was truly separation of church and state, religious ideals would not influence the common well-being and education of our state.

LDS affiliates in Arizona donated 6.9 million dollars and preached during services against the passing of Prop 102 in 2008 to deny heterosexuals and homosexuals legal rights through partnerships. I have spoken to many women as well who have been ex-communicated from the Mormon Church because they divorced abusive husbands, another example of religion surpassing the safety of women.

Solutions: I am united with women in my community who are in positions of political change, education, and are responsible for empowering girls. I teach empowering workshops in the community to make people aware of the issues we face and develop strong voices in relation to those issues; develop programs for LBGTQ youth which enable them to understand the actual roots of religious oppression and how to be compassionately active; and ensure that the time I spend with the most empowering women in my life focuses on positive change around us. This is the most crucial aspect – connecting. I am one woman, but united with even ten other women who are powerful and aware of our community’s needs enables us to be a collective of change. We can draw from each other’s resources, support each other’s causes, and constantly make each other aware of the issues we intimately face and passionately want to change. It may be exhausting, but it is hard for my friends to leave my dinner table without being asked how to change the world – every visit.

I use online communities for awareness. I post articles and documentaries that counter-act mis-information offered as news. I share links to World Pulse stories to ignite the same passion I have for global change and local community. Pulse Wire helps break down the barriers in my community by making issues and stories accessible, offering action-oriented resources, and connecting people in an intimate way. The biggest threat to the people who govern unjust laws is communication, collaboration, and support amongst people who are affected. Pulse Wire says no, we will speak anyway, and we will be very loud – and watch out, because everyone is listening.

(Please do not include this or the following in the word count: resources regarding SB 1070, Prop 102, and the Governor's detrimental decision-making can be linked to the following websites: