La révolution cachée de mai 1968
This essay came from a French class I took in the Spring of 2021, examining the history of 1968 in France in terms of art, media, and protests. In this piece, I argue that there was an underlying goal motivating the student revolutions of the time, beyond what was proclaimed on posters and in battle cries. My argument was largely shaped by the chapter titled "Prendre la parole", in Michael Certeau's book, La prise de parole.
Mental Health Poster
One way activists and revolutionary students in 1968 made their voices heard and got their messages out to a broader public was through the creation and distribution of eye-catching, attention-grabbing posters. Part of the assignment for this course was to create our own posters around an issue that would motivate a student revolution today. My group focused on the "invisible" mental health pandemic. Below is a translated excerpt from my essay explaining the poster.
"Today, there exists a mental health crisis, but very few people are doing anything right now to fix it. The suicide rate for adolescents and young adults is three times what it was in the 1950s. In addition, one in four students is diagnosed with a mental illness in the United States. (Burrell, 2020). This crisis will only be amplified with the continuation of the pandemic and the isolation that is a result of it. People’s well-being is less of a priority than success or productivity. The majority suffer in silence. The stigmatization of mental illness and lack of access to mental health professionals continues. In creating a mental health poster, we wanted to emphasize that there are two pandemics that are devastating the world now: COVID-19 and mental health. The latter does not attract the necessary attention from the public, medical, or political communities. We described the situation as “the invisible pandemic.” In opposition to this description on our poster, we make the problem visible. We draw attention to the situation we say is neglected. This act of participation serves as a perfect example of how culture and its products can be used as dismantling the pre-existing societal conditions with which one disagrees."
"De nos temps, il existe une crise de santé mentale, mais vraiment peu de gens sont en train d’être fait maintenant pour le fixer. Le taux de suïcide des adolescents et des jeunes adultes est trois fois ce qu’il s’est chiffré aux années 1950. De plus, un sur quatre étudiants reçoit un diagnostic d’une maladie mentale aux États-Unis. (Burrell, 2020). Cette crise sera seulement amplifiée avec la continuation de la pandémie et l’isolation qui en est un résultat. Le bien-être des gens est moins priorisé que le succès ou la productivité. La majorité souffre en silence. La stigmatisation des maladies mentales et le manque d’accès aux professionnels de santé mentale continuent. En créant une affiche sur la santé mentale, nous voulions souligner qu’il existe deux pandémies qui dévastent l'état du monde maintenant: celle de Covid-19 et celle de la santé mentale. La dernière n’attire pas l’attention nécessaire du publique ou des communautés médicales ou politiques. Nous avons décrit la situation comme “la pandémie invisible.” En opposition à cette description sur notre affiche, nous rendons le problème visible. Nous attirons l’attention à la situation que nous disons on néglige. Cet acte de participation sert comme un exemple parfait de comment on peut utiliser la culture et ses produits comme une manière de causer la ruine des conditions préexistantes avec lesquelles on ne s’accorde pas."