Yan, H., & Fantz, A. "South Carolina Officer Charged with Murder - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
At 9:38 am on the Thursday of April 9th a police officer alerts a dispatcher that shots have been fired and one subject is down. The place of where this event occurred is North Charleston, North Carolina. The subject who was down is a 50 year old African-American man named Walter Scott. Walter Scott was shot 5 times by Officer Michael Slager, who is white. Walter Scott would unfortunately die later on the scene a few moments later due to his fatal gunshot wounds. A video was released that shows some sort of disturbance occurring between the officer and the subject and then the officer shoots the subject multiple times. Later in the video it would also show the officer giving CPR to the injured subject.The officer tells the dispatcher that the subject lunged for his taser right after the shots were fired. The officer fired at the unarmed man because he was threatened when the subject reached for his taser.
This event has caused a national outcry for people across the nation especially for black people since this incident had another white officer shoot an unarmed black person. This event is very closely tied to the Michael Brown incident too in where another unarmed black person was shot by a white police officer. Protests are occurring in North Charleston in which protesters are demanding an investigation of the Walter Scott case because black lives matter too. The FBI would open an investigation later of this incident and there are many mixed opinions of the shooting of Walter Scott. In the video it does show some shiny black object falling away from the officer which is most likely the taser. I personally feel like the officer did feel threatened enough the shoot the subject because his taser was missing at the moment. I also do understand the opposing viewpoint that Walter Scott was still an innocent man who was unarmed and was running away from the police officer posing no direct threat to him. I do believe though that 5 fatal shots were not necessary to subdue the subject at that time. Less lethal forces such as pepper spray would have been safer to use than a gun. Regardless of the mixed feelings, murder charges have been placed on Officer Michael Slager for the death of Walter Scott. With our nation growing more unrest with the numerous cases in where innocent black people have been killed, hopefully Walter Scott’s death will change our nation’s policing.
Walsh, Nick P. "An Afghan Nightmare: Forced to Marry Your Rapist - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
In Kabul, Afghanistan, a woman named Gulnaz was raped by a man named Asadullah and she was ultimately pressured to marry her rapist. Although the exact date was not given, Gulnaz was raped by her cousin’s husband when she was merely a 16 year old teenager. Although she was the victim of rape, she was jailed for adultery because her attacker was a married man. In her conservative society, a person who commits adultery is shunned and is shamed regardless of how it happened. Her friends and eventually her fellow family members shunned her because of she did which was forced upon by her rapist. The only solution to end the agony of being shunned was to marry her attacker/raper. This dreadful solution came about after some heaving pressuring to do so from the local population to even people from the government. She was told by the people that she and her daughter would not be protected if she did not marry the man who raped her. Because she was an uneducated, young, single mother, her living conditions would have been terrible if she did not marry the rapist. Losing all her family ties, the pressure eventually won out and Gulnaz married the rapist and she is his second wife.
This incident caused massive outcry from many women’s right groups across the globe. This event truly is demeaning towards women. A woman in Afghanistan forced to marry her rapist because that was her only choice in a better life. I am disgusted by how Gulnaz’s brothers completely disregarded her after the incident and how Gulnaz was sent to jail when she was the victim who was attacked and raped. In the twenty first century I would expect events like these to not happen but clearly women are still treated as property rather than a human being. I hope events like this will bring forth change in how societies perceive women. Gulnaz chose to marry her rapist also to ensure a future for her daughter. After this incident everyone abandoned and shunned her and her only option to keep a future for her daughter was the marry the rapist since Gulnaz was a uneducated and young woman living in a patriarchal society. Although this was a very tragic event I applaud Gulnaz for remaining strong and enduring through all the mental and physical pain. It is sad to see that she has to be trapped living with her attacker. After four years, Gulnaz decides to forget about the incident and decides to move on with her life. I wonder if she will truly forget the incident because she will constantly be reminded of what happened to her while living with her rapist.
Hancocks, Paula. "Defector Sends 'The Interview' to North Korea - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 11 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
Lee Min-Bok is a North Korean defector that is currently living in South Korea. In the early morning of April 11, 2015 near an undisclosed area in South Korea along the DMZ, Lee Min-Bok sent helium filled balloons with CD’s of the movie The Interview along with US dollars. During this whole event Lee was escorted and watched by the South Korean military and police for his safety. Lee studied the wind pattern and sent these balloons accordingly to eventually fall on North Korean soil where the people there would eventually find the wreckage and goods. Lee is sending these propaganda balloons to inform the North Koreans of the truth rather than the falsified information they are grown to believe since childhood. He is revealing to the North Koreans that their leader Kim Jong Un is a human rather than a god. By the North Koreans watching The Interview the idolization of their leader is completely destroyed because he is portrayed as a weak helpless leader with many moral and personal issues. Lee wants his fellow North Korean people people to know the truth but if you tell the truth in North Korea you will be executed so Lee sends the truth in safety from South Korea.
What Lee Min-Bok is doing is a small thing that might have a remarkable outcome. North Korea isolates itself from other nations to have is people shielded from foreign propaganda. By Lee sending propaganda balloons the people will learn the truth of its country and start to have a different perspective on the isolated country they are living in. As an individual with a South Korean background,I feel what Lee Min-Bok is doing is the first step in reunifying the Koreas since the terrible war that happened 60 years ago. I strongly feel that all tensions between the Koreas will be erased once the countries unify and for this to occur, it is imperative that the people of North Korea learn the truth about their nation. Although what I feel Lee is doing is beneficial for the future of the Koreas, the people living near the DMZ do not feel the same. They feel that they are in danger from the North Koreans as these propaganda balloons cause the North Korean government to become infuriated and fire back towards the people living near the DMZ. On a few occasions the people have physically tried to stop Lee from releasing the balloons because he is potentially putting them in danger by doing so. From coming from a family that suffered so much from the Korean war, I feel that unification would make all the suffering be worth it. The deaths of my great-uncles in the Korean war will have true meaning if the Koreas become unified again and I applaud all small steps taken for the reunification process to become successful.
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