I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little skeptical about some of the points that were to be touched upon by Doctor Davis, during her visit here to the University. After hearing what she had to say, I can surely and truly say, I have a understanding for what she spoke of. There were two very specific things that had jumped out at me during the course of her keynote appearance. These two ideas were, the comparing and contrasting of the Black Lives Matter movement versus the newer All Lives Matter counter, and the concept of the lack of reconditioning in prisons.
When I say Black Lives Matter versus All Lives Matter, I truly mean versus. These two movements in essence have the same sort of undertones, but simultaneously undermine each other. I can’t recall her exact quote, but Doctor Davis had made mention along the lines of, “For all lives to matter, then black lives must”. Like aforementioned, I couldn’t tell you the quote word for word verbatim. This spoke to me as a true issue, and the way I see it, people need to put their pride and personal opinions aside and work towards one true common goal. Without this, neither movement truly stands for anything.
When it comes to the concept of inefficient prison reconditing, I couldn’t agree more with the points made by Doctor Davis. She hit the nail on the head when she made mention to how we lock these people up for years on end, yet don’t do anything to better them as people whilst on the inside. This ultimately has led to these same people finding themselves back behind bars in the near future upon their release. Prisons are a very violent place, and if those in charge don’t do anything to change the ways of those locked inside, then they’ve proven to be far more detrimental than helpful to American society.
Listening to Doctor Davis speak, gave me a new perspective on many of the issues we face today in modern society. Hearing her first hand encounters, and the stories she had to bring have really allowed me to grasp the issues we see everyday. I believe sincerely, that the only way for any of todays issues to be solved, there needs to be the brave few who can put their differences aside and conjoin for the greater good. Pride and ideologies are not things worth tearing apart a nation for.
