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CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
MARCH 7, 2014
IN THE
NEWS THE ART OF HOCKEY
CALTIMES.ORG
VOL. 35, NO. 4
Creator of “Because of Them, We Can” photo series brings message of hope to Cal U’s Black History Month
___________________________ BY
STETSON PROVANCE
VWDͿ ZULWHU ___________________________
Cal U alumnus Jason Vogel (‘08) works in a unique position as the creative director for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey team where he applies many artistic skills he learned as a student of graphic design.
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OPINION GENERATION SMARTPHONE
How do you feel about today’s youth growing up with high-tech devices that were unheard of when you were a child?
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ENTERTAINMENT
Music recommendations based on bands you already like.
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SPORTS CAL U ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Vulcans Men’s Basketball junior Alonzo Murphy is in the spotlight as our “Athlete of the Week”. The six-footeight forward from Pittsburgh averaged ten points and six rebounds per game this season.
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During California University of Pennsylvania’s celebration of Black History Month, the university, according to Assistant Professor Harrison Pinckney, made an eͿort to both educate and inspire students. In order to achieve their goal, Cal U held events and welcomed speakers that that allowed students to be exposed to new ideas about things pertaining to both African American culture and pop culture as a whole. Pinckney pursued one speaker in particular, Eunique Jones, due to her initiatives within the black community. Jones, who gave Black History Month’s keynote address on Feb. 27 in the Vulcan Theatre, said she never would have envisioned herself becoming the source of inspiration when she Àrst thought about doing something to make a diͿerence. Back in 2012, shortly after the death of Trayvon Martin, Jones, who was at the time a manager of online ads and social media for Microsoft, decided to use her love of art and photography as an avenue for change. The result was the “I Am Trayvon Martin” awareness campaign, which used photos of everyday people dressed in a hoodie (the attire Martin was wearing when he was shot) to portray that anyone could have met the same fate as Martin. The campaign, which ran through April 10, 2012, was a success and its exposure on social media websites and online news publications gave Jones a following. However, this endeavor was only the starting point for Jones. A year later, right before Feb. 2013, Jones started thinking about the current state of African Americans in this country. “I thought back to the I Am Trayvon Martin campaign in relation to how the black community is portrayed in the media,” Jones said. “Much like that campaign showed images that refuted what some kids saw on TV with the coverage of the Martin incident, I wanted to start a campaign for Black History Month that refuted what kids see on TV about black America.”
photo: Jeff Helsel Photographer Eunique Jones Gibson, creator of the “Because of Them, We Can” project, signs posters for Cal U students Rashee Ferguson (center), sport management major and Danielle Burns (right), athletic training major, at the Vulcan Theater in the Natali Student Center Feb. 27.
As Jones stood in her kitchen, she found her inspiration from an unlikely source. “I was watching my son Chase run around the kitchen table and I thought, “Hey, he kind of looks like [Muhammad] Ali,” Jones said. “Then it dawned on me, because of those before him, Chase can feel free to be himself.” That thought, Jones said, led to the creation of a Facebook page entitled ‘Because of Them, We Can.’
The page, which contained pictures of African American children channeling and portraying inÁuential black leaders, athletes, and celebrities from both the past and present, was originally meant to have content posted on it during the month of February. However, as Black History Month 2014 drew to a close, people who came across the page commented about their desire to see the page continue to post pictures year round.
Not long after that, people began requesting that Jones’s pictures be put on posters, calendars, and even in a book. “It’s amazing how the page grew,” Jones said. “It really did happen organically.” And, although the page allowed Jones to pursue her aforementioned dream of using art as a means of social change, it also forced her to make a tough decision.
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Eunique Jones Gibson’s photo project features hundreds of young people posing as some of the most iconic and influential African American figures from the past and present.
F a c e b o o k – C a l T i m e s N ew s p a p e r
Twi t t e r – @ C a l T i m e s