Kickback Reflection

From my perspective Fr. Arrupe meant that it isn’t right for people to just love themselves or god but ignore those in need of help. He wanted the students to be selfless members of society, the kind of people that aid others without hesitation. Please note I'll be using they/them/their pronouns for the person I'm talking about because they are genderqueer.

Kenneth, one of the leaders in the LGBTQ+ Kickback organization is one of the most selfless people I know. In the time I've been in Kickback, Kenneth always talked about what we can do to combat racism, xenophobia, sexism, islamophobia, queerphobia and things we can do to help the community. They would also make sure everyone in the group got the opportunity to voice their opinion. My voice

I greatly admire them for all the effort they put in to help their community and for being able to speak even in front of crowds of thousands of people. Watching them in action motivated me to do more to help others around me. I wanted to be the kind of person that helps others despite the mental turmoils I was enduring. I wrote essays, scripts, and poems related to topics like racism, sexism, queerphobia and the stigma on mental illness. I even performed the poems at showcases at my school. I feel that my poem Welcome to the United States of America had a significant impact on the audience. A lot of people commented on it after the showcase and even some have mentioned the poem to me recently even though it's been almost a year since I performed it. I wanted people to respect others regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion, place they came from and mental health as well as other differences a person may possess. I wanted to encourage people to work together with others who may be completely different from themselves. We can learn a lot from those who walk different paths than ourselves and we can help others with struggles that