Sydney Brooks

April 17th, 2013

5th Hour
Civil Disobedience

What does one do if they are not satisfied about the outcome of a situation? If someone
cares enough, they will try their best to do something about it. If people are being treated
unfairly or feel strongly about an issue, some will practice civil disobedience. Civil disobedience
is when people take a risk by going against society and protesting in any way, shape, or form for
something that they are deeply passionate about. A few examples of civil disobedience are
people protesting about abortion, justice for Trayvon Martin, and a protesting group called
FEMEN.
Abortion is a sensitive issue that is much debated and protested. Many people feel
strongly against it, but there are still a handful that favor it. In order to influence laws made
regarding abortion, groups of people physically meet and protest it. Some even make websites,
videos, blogs, and petitions advertising being pro life or pro choice. Almost everywhere there
are signs, pictures, and even bumper stickers imploring people to convert to their side.
I do not personally agree that women should get abortions unless they are under
extreme circumstances. For example, if the baby is a product of rape, why should the woman be
forced to relive the violence every day for nine months when she looks down at her stomach? I
think that women should be able to have abortions if they chose. I believe that if abortions were
to become totally illegal, babies would still be aborted, but the mothers would be in much more
danger. Another important point is that a great amount of the people that are pro life and are
strongly against abortions are men. I do not think that men should be held responsible for
deciding if women should or should not have the right to abort.
Late term abortions should not be performed unless the mothers life is jeopardized. A
woman should not be getting pregnant if she does not want a baby, but in the event that she

Sydney Brooks
April 17th, 2013
5th Hour
does become pregnant, she should have a choice. If a child is not wanted, then the proper
contraceptive methods should be used. Before a woman has to resort to abortion, she should
deeply consider keeping the child. If she is not able to keep the baby, there are a lot of couples
that are unable to have children and expectantly anticipate the day that they can adopt a baby.
There are multiple choices a woman can make before turning to abortion. Pro choice does not
have to mean pro abortion.
If I am ever able to vote for a law about womens freedom for abortion, I most likely
would vote. I would take a poll or sign a petition online to support liberty. I do not plan on joining
the protesters, though. This is mostly due to the fact that I trust that, since we do live in America,
we should always have freedom. I will inform others about my pro choice view, and I do
encourage others to protest for what they believe in. Even if they are strictly pro life, I still would
encourage them to peacefully protest for the opposing side, because it is what is important to
them.
How would does one feel when they hear that a young family member of theirs has been
killed? The family of Trayvon Martin was devastated to hear that he had died on February 26th,
2012. One rainy night in Sanford, Florida, seventeen year old Martin bought a package of
Skittles and an Arizona tea at a gas station. On his walk home through the subdivision where he
was staying, Martin was shot to death.
Twenty eight year old, George Zimmerman was a neighborhood watchman in the
subdivision. Zimmerman thought that Martin looked suspicious, so he called the police. They
asked Zimmerman if he was following the boy. He replied yes. The officials told him that he
should not do that, but he did anyway. After Zimmerman hung up the phone, something
happened between Martin and Zimmerman.
We do not know exactly what happened because there are no witnesses that saw the
incident. However, some people did hear it, and called the police. The struggle ended with

Sydney Brooks
April 17th, 2013
5th Hour
Martin being fatally shot in the chest by Zimmerman, supposedly as an act of self defense.
Martin had no wounds except for the one from the single bullet. The police reports say that
Zimmerman had a bloody nose and cuts on the back of his head. Zimmerman refused to go to
the hospital for his injuries. He was not arrested at the scene.
For almost a year, people have been protesting and rallying for Martin to get him the
justice that he deserves. Protesters want to keep Martins name in the news and keep
Zimmerman in jail. George Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder on April 11th.
He could get life in prison. On April 23rd, Zimmerman was released from jail on a one hundred
fifty thousand dollar bail, but on June 1, 2012 he was called back to jail and his bail was reset
for one million dollars. He will be on trial on June 10th, 2013.
I think that Zimmerman should be guilty. The sad thing is that we can never really know
if he is telling the truth or not. He may be convicted to life in prison for just defending himself or
he will be convicted because he killed an innocent seventeen year old kid. I do not believe that
he will be set free. The police told him not to follow Martin and he should have listened to them.
Florida has a stand your ground law that says a person may justifiably use force in self-
defense when there is reasonable belief of an unlawful threat, without an obligation to retreat
first. Zimmerman plans to use this law in court to justify what he did.
I would protest this issue because I do not think that Zimmerman feared for his life, and
therefore had to kill Martin. I do not know if George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin in fear or
not. I believe Zimmerman should serve jail time for killing someone that had so much life ahead
of them. I would go to a rally with a group. I think that it would be awesome to see how many
people are passionate about what happened to Trayvon Martin. It really would be inspiring to
witness the groups of people rallying and protesting for the justice of one boy that died. I would
persuade other people to protest also.
A Ukrainian group called FEMEN, about protesting for womens rights was created in

Sydney Brooks
April 17th, 2013
5th Hour
2008. The group has been constantly increasing in size since its beginning. They hold topless
protests regarding numerous issues in which women are being treated unfairly. They feel that
the best way to be heard, that attracts the most attention is to be topless. FEMEN has a website
and people all over the world are using social networking sites to help support them. There are
also many people, fully clothed and not, that actually go and protest with them. There are even
a few male members of the group.
Recently activists in Iran adopted the idea of a topless protest. They are protesting
against the hijab headscarves that Islamic women must wear. I think that it is great that these
women are standing up for themselves. If they want to be Islamic and not wear the hijab, why
should they have to? The Islamic beliefs do not contain very many rights for women. I think that
women should have the same rights as men in every religion.
I am proud that so many women are standing up for what they believe in, although I do
not necessarily approve of the manner in which these women are doing it. I do not believe that
the protests have to be topless to get attention and make a difference. It is possible that in the
adverse situations that these women are in, they need as much media attention as possible. I
must agree that topless protests are a fast way to get the desired effect.
If I wanted to go against something like the hijab, I might participate in a group protest.
Granted, I would be one of the fully clothed members of the group. I would still be supporting
the cause, but I would not be as spirited as some. I would also motivate others to participate in
the disobedience.
Some instances of civil disobedience are abortion protesting, protesting about the
Trayvon Martin case, and the topless protesters that call themselves FEMEN. Civil
disobedience is so important to people everywhere. Without it there would be no governmental
controversy, there would be no justice for wrongdoing, and there would be no change. If people
did not practice civil disobedience and stand up for the things that they believed in, our world

Sydney Brooks
April 17th, 2013
5th Hour
would be a very melancholy place. Stand up for what is right!