Moonlight

The film Moonlight is about a black boy named Chiron. The movie shows Chiron growing up, from a child to teen to adult, and dealing with the struggles of his home life and sexuality. The novel Amazing Grace, by Jonathan Kozol, and the film Midnight are similar in topics and relate to one another. Amazing Grace includes stories of the struggles black children and their families face every day. In Amazing Grace, there are many people, moms included, who struggle with drug problems; 1000 of them are registered for the needle exchange (Kozol 65). There was even a child, Sara, who “had so much cocaine in her when she was born it could have killed a baby.” (73). In Moonlight, Chiron, the main character, ran away and hated his mother for the majority of his life because of her drug problem and what it did to her. It led to her calling him names, taking his money, and forcing him out of the house.

Moonlight is unique in its story; homosexuality is hardly ever portrayed in movies or shows, so by including this aspect in the story of black struggle, there is different side shown. Growing up with a drug-addict mother in a low-income home is struggle enough, adding the factor of being bullied and confused about his sexual orientation, Chiron’s story of massive struggle is one that society doesn’t see often. When the media shows black hardship, it is usually generic. There aren’t faces placed with their stories, which are usually sugar coated and easily forgotten anyway. In Moonlight, the audience sees an emotional story of a black, gay boy who has to grow up hiding a part of himself. Chiron eventually allows himself to be who he is when he is an adult, but because of the hardships he faced while growing up, he developed into being someone he isn't to stop the bullying (to look more masculine: a muscular drug dealer). 

Moonlight shows a struggle that is less accepted in society. By including homosexuality with being black and growing up in a poor neighborhood with a drug addicted mother, the audience is shown another side to where struggle might come from, creating another perception about these kind of hardships.  

Democracy and Civic Engagement

The key to a successful government is active and informed citizens. According to Facing History and Ourselves, “democracy thrives when informed, active, and humane citizens coexist with institutions that uphold the rule of law and shared values.” The important part of being informed is that is creates multiple stories, rather than having single stories (Adichie 9:26). Through schooling and the news media, citizens are given opportunities to learn and develop multiple stories (Adichie), however, even though the information is available, it doesn’t mean people are taking advantage of this. Being an active-educated citizen is equally important as just being educated. By being active and educated, the government is able to better represent and fight for what the people want.

            When educated, I believe people are more aware of injustices and therefore more likely to advocate or support those wrongs. Yet, one might also be overwhelmed after knowing the problem and feel like they “can’t instantly solve every one of these problems, we shouldn’t bother to become socially active at all.” (Loeb 8). Change is not instantaneous (Loeb 3); if people have the mindset that “individual involvement is worthwhile” (Loeb 5), then after one becomes educated, they have the drive to continue onto the next important step of being a citizen of a democratic country; being active.

            Being educated and having a growth mindset (Dweck 7) in believing that individuals are able to make a difference are the first steps in creating a productive democracy and civic engagement. The second step is to be active and use these tools in action. Like Alice Walker says, “…we can do nothing substantial toward changing our course on the planet, a destructive one, without rousing ourselves, individual by individual, and by bringing our small, imperfect stones to the pile.” (Walker 366). To make the changes to the injustices that are found through education, people must all be active and push to fix the problem(s). For example, voting is a huge importance in making sure you are represented and helping the government know what the American people want. Other things to be an active citizen could including being an activist, protesting, attending rallies, or even just helping spread correct information so other are able to make opinions based on facts.

            Democracy only works if citizens want it to. Everyone needs to become educated in order to be active and push for what is best for this country. Things are not perfect; there are still wrongs and inequalities in this country, but, like Mandela says, “to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” (Mandela 81). Active-educated citizens are the people who can help this country improve.

Works Cited

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, director. The Danger of a Single Story. TED, July 2009,

www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story. Accessed 7 July 2017.

Dweck, Carol S. "Chapter one: The Mindsets, Chapter two: Inside the Mindsets." Mindset.

London: Robinson, an Imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2017. N.

pag.Https://umich.instructure.com/files/4852769/download?download_frd=1. Web. 30

June 2017.

“Democracy & Civic Engagement.” Facing History and Ourselves,

www.facinghistory.org/topics/democracy-civic-engagement. Accessed 17 July 2017.

Loeb, Paul Rogat. Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times. New York:

St. Martin's Griffin, 2010. Print.

Mandela, Nelson, Chris Van Wyk, and Paddy Bouma. "Chapter Six: The Dark Years." Long

Walk to Freedom. London: Macmillan Children's, 2014. N. pag. Print.