Stay Safe and Peaceful FIT!

Yesterday was a pretty eventful day for FIT. I wasn’t aware of what was going on until four o’clock in the afternoon when my dad sent me a screenshot of a tweet. I’m not really sure how my dad saw it before I did; he isn’t even a Twitter user. I had two night classes yesterday, so I wasn’t able to check what was going on until after. I was really in the blue until my second class. My professor told us class was ending early so we could get home safely. I thought that was pretty weird because I live across the street, but I wasn’t saying no to getting out an hour and a half early. When I started this blog, I wanted to make sure I didn’t get political at all. I don’t want people swiping up into my Instagram messages telling me I’m an awful person. A good way of avoiding that is by not saying anything at all. I’m gonna walk on the tightrope this whole post, and I’m not picking sides. When it comes to politics, I know very little. My social media pages are full of sports and art. I don’t watch the news, and I don’t care to watch the news. I like living that life. Everyone involved in politics is always so angry and mad. I’m so happy in the middle. I recognize that there is a lot of injustice going on, but I know my voice won’t make a difference. So what even happened here at FIT? Apparently, a bunch of students “stormed” the museum and set up tents. They must all not have Friday classes. They are doing a demonstration or encampment saying they won’t leave until their demands are met. Some of their demands are fair, and some are just asking for a little too much. I understand these things can get dangerous, but I think my professor made it sound much worse than it actually is. These are not violent people. Nobody is getting hurt, at least to my knowledge. They are walking in circles, cheering, and screaming at security guards to “let them in!” I think that part bothers me. Those security guards are just doing their job to make sure everything is safe. I can’t fucking believe someone would be willing to sleep in basically a glass case. There is no cause I would sleep in there for. I also pay to be here. I’m not missing classes that I paid for to sleep in a glass enclosure. I really don’t understand how these people call the president of FIT a fascist, but all pay to attend the school. I know it isn’t identical, but I feel like it is giving money to the Nazis but saying they are awful people. That's fucked up. Maybe FIT is a bunch of fascists, but I think that is a little dramatic. I’m totally for freedom of speech, more so than probably anyone else, and I’m totally for people’s right to protest. I, personally, don’t see a point. The FIT community isn’t going to solve world issues. It needs to be bigger than our 10,000-person “campus”. Most people here aren’t even participating in all of this. I know if I were a parent, I would tell my kid to knock it off and go to class. I admire these people’s dedication to their cause. There is certainly passion there. I feel like some people do believe they can make a difference, and I’m sure there are people down there just to get pictures for social media. “Look everyone, I fight for human rights!” I applaud these people for their dedication, but not for me. They are making so many signs to decorate the walls of the museum. They post them against the inside glass so you can see them outside. I’m not going to lie, for an art school, some of the signs sucked. Some were really cool. Whoever painted the portrait of Joyce Brown, maybe you shouldn’t be skipping classes. I wonder what will happen. How long will they camp there? Will their demands be met? What do they do in there? They aren’t accepting donations from Israeli-backed companies. They won’t take Coca-Cola donations, which is fucked up. Don’t take this out on god’s nectar! The only thing I know about this whole thing is that I’m pro-peace. I don’t like conflict. Never have and never will. Innocent people dying isn’t good no matter what side they are on. I’m pretty sure this whole post sounds like I am tiptoeing around eggshells. I am. I’m also uneducated on the topic, so please leave me in my state of unknowing. Happy Friday and stay safe with whatever you are doing this weekend!