Recently, I completed my final composition assignment for the semester, which was to create and write about a superhero.
Not just any superhero, however, but one that would find an oppressed, ignored, or silenced community of people and come to their rescue.
A community of people that often fails to be the center of our everyday cultural discourse.
"Think about who needs a superhero," my professor instructed.
I knew almost instantly that this could be a difficult assignment for me.
When you think about it, there are a ridiculous number of communities in need of a superhero, or just any help at all, really. The fact that I can name more groups of people that can fit on all ten of my fingers is distressing.
I knew the assignment would be easiest if the group were something personal to my own life.
So I chose mental illnesses, specifically ones like depression and bipolar disorder because they play a very important, specific role in my life.
Even as I continued with the assignment, in love with my topic, research, and superhero personality, something still nudged at the back of my head.
The assignment was LITERALLY centered around groups that need help and can't get it for one reason or the other.
There was a ton of variety of topics in my class and hardly any repeats. And even aside from the topics shared in class, I could think of countless more.
So why aren't we talking about them?
Why aren't we talking about mental illnesses, specifically, the inaccessibility of mental health professionals?
Why aren't we talking about the victims in Puerto Rico, who, yes really, are still in need of aid and supplies from the U.S.?
Why aren't we talking about foster children who never get to call someplace a home?
Why aren't we talking about bullying in our school systems?
Why aren't we talking about the increase in poverty rates throughout the country and the world?
Why aren't we talking about the things that need to be talked about?
It seems that the only things that we can readily discuss at any given moment are politics or the possibility of a nuclear missile hitting the U.S.
Sure, these things are discussed on a smaller scale, but when was the last time you heard about any of these things being the center of national discourse?
In any given conversation, I'm sure that you can bring up Trump's foreign policy or change in healthcare or even his appearance. I'm sure that you can talk for hours about North Korea's nuclear arsenal and the likelihood that they're going to send a missile our way.
But did you know that only 7,500 healthcare professionals serve the needs of children and adolescents, while 20,000 are actually needed? Did you know that on average 20,000 foster kids "age out" of the system each year?
It's so easy for us to talk about the things that are the most controversial, but what about the things that are obvious?
These people are crying out for help, and we are not doing them any justice.
Simply by bringing these topics into our everyday conversation, we are helping them by raising awareness.
While there is more you can do, simply talking about it makes a difference in the community, because they are no longer being ignored or silenced.
This assignment hit a personal chord with me, and it should for you too.
You can make their voices heard. All you have to do is speak up.
