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Briona Hill
Professor Marie Lo
FRINQ Race & Social Justice
1 October 2015

Introduction/Reflection
I would like to firstly start by formally introducing myself, my name is Briona Hill and I
am from San Diego, California. I come from a very split-structured family, being that my parents
were teenage parents. They never married and never had any other children together so I was
raised primarily in the care of my mother. Even though I was in her care I was mostly raised by
my great grandmother, grandmother, aunt and uncle. My great grandmother is a very strong
maternal figure whose presence and very being exudes grace, kindness, and care. She was born
and raised in a very small town in the rural south of Jonesboro, Louisiana. So in turn I was raised
with many traditional Southern styled traditions. Since, I was raised by someone who had such a
strong sense of pride in our heritage, culture, and race I was taught to respect and become
cultured with my history. Growing up in a traditional yet very untraditional environment I was
exposed to a lot of different aspects of life. I lived in a very culturally diverse city and up until I
was about nine I attended a very diverse school. My mom decided to leave California in the
middle of my fourth grade year and move to Mississippi for a change of scenery. It was a total
culture shock. I went from diversity and being one of the very few African Americans in my
grade to being amongst more African Americans. Life there was proving to be more black and
white. In the small city I lived in, you were either white or black there was no in between. In a

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sense I was used to life having speckles of greys immersed throughout, in Mississippi I saw a
whole new side of life I had no idea existed.
I would say my primary reason for taking this class is to become more knowledgeable in
the area of race but also the social aspect and the constant injustices that are occurring. My
experiences in Mississippi and California: dealing with racism (something that is very much still
alive), differences in cultures, and injustices that lead to violence have sparked an interest and
subjects that I hold dear to my heart. Ive experienced injustices and seen them inflicted on
others and because of that Ive always wanted to learn more and see how others have dealt with
the issues. Racism is often a taboo subject people avoid and it is often swept under the rug. I
believe it shouldnt be, its prevalent and widely important. Even though the world is evolving
into more shades of brown (as some would say), there is in many places a sense of entitlement
and the power structure has not yet been broken. It is a topic that I can never find enough words
to paint the never ending canvas that blankets my mind.
I went from one culture shock to another. I never knew the world still existed in such
terms. I thought all the cases of inequality, injustice, and unequal opportunity were just the
stories in the history books, something that we had evolved from. The ignorance that I had
embodied was proven wrong and it lead to an eye opening experience that changed my views of
the world indefinitely. I feel as a person of color, especially a woman of color, it is vital to know
about not only your heritage but also the social standings of your race and gender. Being
educated on topics that pertain to who and what you are brings a great social standing and that is
what I want. I want the knowledge in which I already have to be applied and expanded so overall
I have a greater understanding and see the world in more shades of grey.

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In the realm of social justice, I feel as if it is an issue that goes hand in hand with racism.
As different as it is it still deals with the same theme of issues. Social injustice is occurring
everywhere, to all different walks of life and it is a subject that is avoided and often overlooked.
Social injustice is everywhere, not only in the subgenre of race and race related issues. We live in
a world of great diversity and social justice and social issues are seen as attention warders or
those who need representation are a walking pity party. It is quite the opposite. Everyone needs
representation and it is lacking in many different areas. I know that if I take a class that focuses
on social justice issues I can educate someone else who may or may not be as educated in the
subject. We live in an ill-informed world and knowledge is power. The more people I can touch
with my knowledge and findings in this field the better. That is one less person in society who is
ill informed and has little to no idea of what really is going on out in the world.
My biggest goal in insuring that I do well in the real world is having accurate educated
based information that I could use in intellectual conversations and to better inform those around
me with the information that is correct and makes our society a better place. I really just want to
get a greater understanding of all the forms of racism, often times the only side you see is the
textbook whites against blacks. That form is very important too but there is many other races
that deal with the same level of racism and are often overshadowed. When you speak about
racism it is not cookie cutter and it shouldnt be. I look at it as an umbrella and weve only
explored one-fourth of the umbrella. I primarily just want to be knowledgeable and able to have
an educated discussion with others and pass on the wealth of knowledge that I know I will gain
in this class.