Eastern Michigan University finished up Women’s History Month with a panel discussion last Thursday about social justice in the Student Center.
The Women and Gender Studies department hosted the discussion. Guest speakers Crystal Griffith, Helen Quan and Marisela Marquez talked about their work and experiences in social justice.
The fourth speaker, Katherine Borland, a professor of humanities at Ohio State University was unable to attend.
Crystal Griffith and Helen Quan are both members of Quad Productions, a nonprofit film company whose documentary, “Mountains That Take Wing,” about Angela Davis and Yuri Kochiyama and their struggle for justice, was shown earlier that day.
Griffith, a professor of film at Arizona State University, went on to discuss how she got into filmmaking.
One of her main points was showing the truth.
Quad Productions does not do any voice overs or big edits.
Griffith said she believes main stream media stories are full of fluffed articles and that it is a major problem.
“Communication is a human right,” Griffith said.
Marisela Marquez is a professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a researcher in education and social movements.
Marquez spoke about her policymaking views for higher education.
She said education is not at its best, but with the possibility of more reliable programs for students, it could help tremendously.
“There are never too many after-school programs,” said Marquez.
She went on to share her views on minority students and the school system.
“Math and science are the filters that keep women and people of color out of college,” Marquez said.
She said some know the subjects but are penalized and not offered the chance because they could possibly have come from a South American country to the U.S. illegally.
“Education is a human right,” Griffith said.
Quan, a professor of social justice at the Arizona State University, spoke about her work in the women’s prison system.
“How do we begin to restore dignity?” Quan said.
Some of the women Quan worked with were convicted for small illegal things, which in turn, ruined possible opportunities.
She has been counseling for more than five years and has worked with the inmates in helping them seek new paths in education and careers.
One individual she worked with was accused of writing a false check, lost her job and would not be able to get another job in her chosen field.
Another individual, a 19-year-old, was a college dropout who got mixed up into the wrong things.
“It’s not ‘sexy’ work,” Quan said of her profession.
She went on to talk about the process women go through to seek forms of justice.
Women push boundaries, Quan said. They attempt anarchy, leaving Mexico and Guatemala to come to the United States or sometimes they’ll find their own ways to communicate.
“Define your own way of living,” Quan said.
When asked what besides education and communication should be considered a “human right,” Griffith said water is a right that has not been tended to as well.
“Water that is plentiful and clean, without disease is a right,” said Griffith. “Not having to walk miles to your water source and not having to worry if it’s clean is a right.”
