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LETTER EDITOR from the
The Sundial has seen many changes over the course of its 61 years in production, so as we approach the 2019-2020 academic year our publication is committed to reporting on the issues affecting our community and creating content that our student body can relate to. By embracing the multiple platforms of journalism, we aim to be a trustworthy publication for CSUN and the Los Angeles area as our community is not limited to the boundaries of campus. We are students with a passion for storytelling, which has pushed us to create a new look to our Wednesday publication that resembles a magazine format containing timeless stories. You, our audience, can flip through each page to discover a topic or community through long-form features, photography, or even through the lens of music, literature, and film. For those of you worrying that the content you are used to seeing in our past print publications will disappear, don’t fret! Our website is now dedicated to publishing timely content three times a day so you can keep up with news at CSUN and surrounding areas morning, afternoon and night. I hope you follow along with us on this new journey, which is starting with our issue dedicated to activism. We have worked all summer to take a deep look into what activism means in 2019 and what it means to CSUN as an institution that has a deep past of unrest on campus. We believe our generation is the one that will make political and social changes for human rights, to receive the equality we all deserve and fight to reverse environmental damage our population has created. This issue will take you on a journey that starts with our cover story of a student who initiated a pathway program for formerly incarcerated students, like herself, in higher education called Revolutionary Scholars (pages 10-11). We will explore today’s heated movements of human, education and labor rights (pages 14-15), how clothing items become symbols of protest in fashion (page 4), and the faces of activists working on the fight for animal rights, refugees, and environmentalism (page 13). We hope that you, our audience, are just as excited as we are for this new chapter for The Sundial. Please continue to keep us at the highest standards of journalism as we reflect the voice of all of you, our CSUN community, and shine a light on stories that may not otherwise be told. Thank you,
SUNDIAL Editor-in-Chief
Madison Parsley editor@csun.edu
Managing Visual Editor Joshua Pacheco photo@csun.edu News Editor Gillian Moran-Perez city@csun.edu Assistant News Editor Kimberly Silverio-Bautista city@csun.edu Chief Copy Editor Ivey Mellem copydesk@sundial.csun.edu Copy Editors Pradnya Kalgutkar Munina Lam copydesk@sundial.csun.edu A&E Editor Ivan Salinas ane@csun.edu Assistant A&E Editors Kayla Fernandez Deja Magee Moss ane@csun.edu Opinion Editor Raychel Stewart opinion@csun.edu Sports Editor Bryana Winner sports_sundial@csun.edu Assistant Sports Editor Andres Soto sports_sundial@csun.edu Photo Editor Logan Bik photo@csun.edu Social Media Manager Natalie Fina
sundialsocialmedia@sundial.csun.edu
Graphic Designers Ewan McNeil Elaine Sanders Illustrator Joelena Despard Audio Editor Pejvauk Shahamat sundialpodcast@gmail.com Video Editors Andrea Esparza Elaine Sanders Assistant Video Editor Brendan Reed-Crabb Web Developer Rugved Saurabh Darwhekar online@csun.edu Sales Representatives Kelly Salvador Olivia Vakayil Estefano Vasquez ads@csun.edu
Madison Parsley, Editor-in-Chief
Sales Support HaoWen Hsueh
CONTENTS “Fashion & Identity” Page 10
Thania Garcia
Protest art can send a powerful message that in turn serves as a catalyst for cultural shifts, here is a list of the top 4 historically influential pieces of clothing in activism.
“What does being an Activist Mean to you” Page 17
Rubolfo Acuna Michael Meek
Two activist from different generations share what activism means to them.
“Activism through LA community-based literary platforms” Page 18
Ivan Salinas
Historic CSUN Protest Photographs by Joshua Pacheco Logan Bik
Cover portrait of Lily Gonzalez by Joshua Pacheco
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Through zine, workshop, or publication, here’s how upcoming LA artists from communities of low income are publishing their work charged with socio-political critiques and protest art.
Distribution Lead Brendan Reed-Crabb Distribution Nicole Benda Emilio Bravo Publisher Arvli Ward arvli.ward@csun.edu General Manager Jody Holcomb jody.doyle@csun.edu Business Manager Sandra Tan sandra.tan@csun.edu
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Top Movements Worldwide: BLACK LIVES MATTER Date: Labor Day Location: Ferguson and St. Louis Numbers: 15 days, 600 people.
#1
PINK DOT
Date: June 13, 2015 Location: Singapore Numbers: 28,000 peo-
- According to Black Lives Matter website
WOMEN’S MARCH
#4
Date: Jan. 21, 2017 Location: Across 50 states Numbers: 4.1. million people
- According to the New York Times
TRAIL OF DREAMS
#2
- According to the New York Times
MARCH FOR OUR LIVES
#5
Date: March 24, 2018 Location: 800 protests across 50 states Numbers: 800,000 voters on Voter Registration
- According to the March for Our Lives website
By the Numbers:
100 air miles
100 air miles is deemed a reasonable distance by the federal government for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to enter without a warrant and search. - According to the American Civil Liberties Union July 2019 marks the
6th Anniversary
of #BlackLivesMatter.
- According to Pew Research Center
#MeToo has been used over
19million times
on Twitter. - According to Pew Research Center
450 young climate strike activists
gathered in Switzerland for SmileforFuture campaign. - According to the American Civil Liberties Union
Top Movement Makers: Movements would not be possible without groups of people standing together for a cause. This list of powerful men and women have started their movements and here’s why we should know about them.
Gaby Pacheco In 2010, Gaby Pacheco and three other students started a 1,500 mile walk from Miami, Florida to Washington, D.C. with four requests to then President Barack Obama: to halt detentions and deportations of students and the separation of families, to pass the DREAM Act, to protect immigration worker’s rights, and to pass just immigration reform. These requests were not met, but the journey inspired youth and the immigrant communities to share their stories across the Trail of Dreams. Pacheco is an undocumented Ecuadorian immigrant fighting for every immigrant’s basic rights — the right for an education and equal opportunity. She succeeded in putting a face to immigration reform and connecting DREAMers across the country to fight for their rights.
Tarana Burke Tarana Burke is the original founder of the Me Too movement back in 2007. Burke began the campaign to unify survivors of sexual assault, more so for people of color, according to HuffPost. Though Alyssa Milano started the hashtag on Twitter that has been used over 19 million times, according to Pew Research Center, Burke was active online in the conversation after creating a Twitter thread about Me Too. For Burke, the words were a way for one survivor to let another know they are not alone.
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Nadia Murad Co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts against sexual violence as a weapon of war, Nadia Murad is a member of the Yazidi minority located in northern Iraq that was targeted by the Islamic State in 2014 for genocide. She has told the world of her story when IS attacked her village, killing her family and 600 Yazidi men, and enslaving the young women. Murad was raped and abused by her captor, who she managed to escape from when he left his house unlocked. After escaping and seeking refuge, she fought back by creating Nadia’s Initiative to unite world leaders against the ethnic cleansing of the Yazidi by the Daesh. She works with women and children who have been victims of trafficking/sexual assault and stands for religious freedom for minorities, openly telling her people to fight back.
Greta Thunberg Greta Thunberg’s story tells people how to turn a disability into an action. She was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome among other disorders, but she uses her “black and white” state of mind to approach climate change, according to an article published by GQ. She has led school strikes in Stockholm, Sweden that have inspired the hashtags #FutureforFridays and #YouthStrike4Climate, where students from around the world walk out of school in solidarity. In a Times article, Thunberg states that these strikes make a big impact, because if students don’t fight for a future then they won’t have one.
#3
Date: Jan. 1 - May 1, 2010 Location: Miami, FL to Washington D.C. 1,500 miles Numbers: 4 students. - According to The Washington Post
POLLS
58% of women
are paying more attention to politics since Donald Trump’s election.
67% of Americans
believe social media is important for creating movements on social change - Both stats According to Pew Research Center - Social Media
Top Hashtags for Social Activism Hashtags for social media movements:
#MeToo #BlackLivesMatter #blueforsudan #Nowall #NeverAgain
Parkland Students Just days after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a group of student survivors became the activists known for the March for Our Lives campaign and the infamous hashtag, #NeverAgain. Among them includes Emma González, David Hogg, Jaclyn Corin, Alfonso Calderon, Cameron Kasky and others who have rallied support through social media and their communities. They’ve increased young voter registration across the nation, led a mass protest in Washington, D.C. and influenced a wave of gun control laws in 20 states. But they’ve accomplished their biggest goal yet — to be heard and seen.
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PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE CELEBRATION OF CONSTITUTION DAY
The Separation of Powers Under Duress: Is Congress Still a Coequal Branch ?
NOW HIRING!
The U.S. Constitution manifests an inherent tension between the
The Sundial is looking for experienced individuals in the fields of:
branches of government. In this annual forum, our presenters will explore several timely issues related to the Constitution. Professor John Evans will discuss the President’s assertion of his “emergency powers,” while Professor Leigh Bradberry will examine Congress’ power to investigate and the President’s refusal to submit to that power (resisting subpoenas, ordering officials not to testify, etc.)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 8:30 a.m. — Continental Breakfast 9:00 a.m. — Panel Discussion University Club – Orange Grove Bistro 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330 Free parking is available in the G1 parking lot adjacent to the Orange Grove Bistro. There is no cost for the program, but RSVPs are required by Wednesday, September 11, 2019. RSVP at go.csun.edu/ConstitutionDayRSVP
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PUSSY HAT In the western world, the pink “Pussyhat” became a symbol of feminism after Donald Trump became president. During the historic Women’s March of 2017, the sea of pink hats was a direct sign of uniformity in a time where the nation felt divided. But later, it became a topic of controversy. “The ‘This Pussy Grabs Back’ shirts were criticized for the same reason (using) the uterus as feminist art is critiqued — it excludes trans women,” White said. “But, I don’t believe the intent was malicious. I think people also wondered what the shirts, hats and sweatshirts would actually accomplish and brushed them off, clumped it together with show-y, white feminism.”
Fashion
&
IDENTITY
By Thania Garcia / Photography by Logan Bik
RED LIPSTICK There once was a time where it was an embarrassment for women to go out with visible signs of makeup on their faces. Red lipstick was among the most scandalous of the lot. “It’s subtle, but it was once synonymous with feminism,” said White. “For centuries, lipstick (especially red lipstick) was thought of as demonic because of the biblical story of Jezebel. Women were afraid to wear makeup period and specifically shied away from lipstick because of the negative connotation. Suffragettes protested in red lipstick.”
SLOGAN TEE The slogan tee made one of its most notable appearances in 1980 when Katharine Hamnett met Margaret Thatcher and sneakily revealed a shirt under her coat that read “58% DON’T WANT PERSHING.” According to Dazed magazine, the shirt was representative of the opposition to the Prime Minister’s agreement with the U.S. to station nuclear missiles in Britain. Since then, “runway activism” has become more common in high fashion. Most recently, Maria Grazia Chiuri, the first female creative director at Christian Dior, created the “We Should All Be Feminists” slogan tee.
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MINISKIRT The miniskirt became politicized when designers like Christian Dior declined to show them on the runway because of the raised hemlines. According to W magazine, Dior’s failure to show the miniskirt on the runway in 1966 sparked the commencement of the British Society for the Protection of Mini Skirts. The group protested outside of high fashion shows with signs that read “Mini skirts forever.” Since then, the miniskirt has long existed as a symbol of women’s liberation.
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GOD CONTROL Madonna The ‘80s pop star icon has created a controversial song that graphically brings light to America’s issue with gun control. She wanted to address that she is aware that it could be crushing to see and hear, but mass shootings happen every day. As time goes on, mass shootings seem to be a regular thing happening in America and people are living in fear of the next mass shooting. What will the future be like if we don’t take action?
LOVE IT IF WE MADE IT
WILD LIFE The Wings Paul McCartney and his band, Wings, released this momentous anthem back in 1971, advocating for animal rights. McCartney talks about taking a stroll in an African wildlife park and coming across a sign that stated: “The animals have the right of way. The word ‘wild’ applies to all of us, as we are just like these wild animals invading their space and taking their territory.” Later, McCartney sings, “You’re breathing a lot of political nonsense in the air,” a direct critique for listeners to reflect on the environment we live in.
WHAT ’ S GOING ON Marvin Gaye This powerful song about police brutality was released back in 1971 and still resonates with America’s society today. Composer Renaldo “Obie” Benson felt heavily inspired after witnessing a police brutality incident. In the 1970s, America dealt with racial misunderstandings, drug addiction and a bemusing war. Gaye created a soothing track that raises awareness for the unjust situations African Americans have been put through by the police, sparking a national discussion on how social problems should be tackled.
THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING Bob Dylan When you think of a political anthem, this might come to mind. For decades people have been influenced by the song’s universal lyrics. Dylan helped younger generations voice their opinions to push social change all throughout the world. In the fourth verse Dylan sings: “Your old road is rapidly agin’ / Please get out of the new one / If you can’t lend your hand.” He was referring to the World War II generation, pointing out that their social norms were coming to a halt. Younger generations are not interested in the old regimes and are not afraid to create change.regimes and are not afraid to create change.
The 1975
AMERICAN OXYGEN
The 1975 are no strangers when it comes to speaking up about political issues. This ardent track highlights the overwhelming feeling of the internet in the current political climate and how modernity has failed us. In the third verse of the song, frontman Matt Healy screams the line, “I moved on her like a bitch!”, an excerpt from President Donald Trump’s interview with Access Hollywood back in 2005. The passion and anger from Healy’s voice stem from his frustration that the media seems to sweep this under the rug and continues to leave Trump in power. How can American citizens be more outraged by a man peacefully protesting rather than a political figure who mistreats and degrades women? Healy also references football player Colin Kaepernick’s protests about police brutality in the line, “Kneeling on a pitch.”
THIS IS AMERICA Childish Gambino Unless you live under a rock there is no way you haven’t heard of this instant classic. From police brutality, weapon ownership, referencing Jim Crow and the 2015 Charleston shooting in his controversial song, Childish Gambino sheds light on the horrors of America. His intense, truthful lyrics bash social media culture and how we become desensitized by heartbreaking events when clips of them get uploaded online. American citizens are obsessed with the idea of the superficial environment, and while we are so caught up in it we don’t take the chance to look at the real problems.
Rihanna Inspired by the 1984 single “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen, Bad Gal Riri’s track discusses chasing the American dream in modernday society. Listening closely to the lyrics, you can hear that Rihanna is telling a story through the perspective of an immigrant. Our founding fathers built the foundation of what the American dream is supposed to be, but over time Americans have sought to achieve their own interpretation of what that is. In this track Rihanna expresses freedom, equality for all and achieving happiness.
MOTHER’S DAUGHTER Miley Cyrus As everyone knows, the exDisney star is not afraid to speak her mind. “Mother’s Daughter” is a bold declaration tune supporting gender equality and protesting discrimination and sexual harassment. With Trump in office, the topic of abortion rights has been very hot. Ever since Alabama passed a law that states a woman can receive up to 99 years of jail time if she decides to get an abortion at any stage of pregnancy, there has been major outrage and a push to fight for women’s rights. Politicians, especially male politicians, have no right to dictate what women decide to do with their bodies. The main theme of Cyrus’s new single is that anyone that identifies as female has the right to own their body. The female body is not just for the male gaze.
WE THE PEOPLE . . . . A Tribe Called Quest The political rappers from New York hit the hard topics such as xenophobia, racism, misogyny and homophobia in their 2016 track “We the People....” Group member Q-Tip references the Preamble to the Constitution, a piece of history our Founding Fathers wrote in the hopes of leading us and giving us a pleasing outlook on humankind. The rap group has gathered all the communities Trump targeted during his presidential campaign in their lyrics: “All you Black folks, you must go / All you Mexicans, you must go / And all you poor folks, you must go / Muslims and gays, boy, we hate your ways / So all you bad folks, you must go.” The track is clearly anti-Trump and leaves you thinking about his bigoted agenda and the hateful remarks he has made all throughout his career.
LAND OF THE FREE The Killers The band’s newest single is quite ironic because it depicts the depressing reality of living in America, especially if you are a person of color. The band is censuring Trump’s border proposal, racism and our government’s failure to take action on stricter gun laws. Brandon Flowers sings: “So how many daughters, tell me how many sons / Do we have to put in the ground / Before we just break down and face it / We’ve got a problem with guns?” In addition, writing from a white man’s perspective he states, “When I go out in my car, I don’t think twice / But if you’re the wrong color skin / You grow up looking over both your shoulders.” The band is trying to convey that if we are a country who is supposedly built on freedom, hopes and dreams, then our nation needs improvement. What we see in the news today does not look like liberty and independence.
Photography: Paul McCartney - Silvia Flores/Fresno Bee/TNS, Bob Dylan - David Gahr, Madonna - Nancy Kaszerman/Zuma Press/TNS, Marvin Gaye - Wikimedia Commons, The 1975 - Brian Van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/ TNS, Rihanna - Brendan Thorne/Getty Images, A Tribe Called Quest - Pete Mariner/UPPA/Zuma Press/TNS, Miley Cyrus - Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS, Childish Gambino - Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/TNS, The Killers - Doug Peters/Abaca Press/TNS, CD - Joshua Pacheco.
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Budget Cut Protest, August 31, 1992. Photography by Akiko Akita.
Student protest of 40% fee hike, March 1992. Photography by Akiko Akita.
HISTORIC CSUN PROTEST PHOTOGRAPHS Photos courtesy of CSUN Oviatt Library Special Archives
Campus Unrest, 1968. Photography unknown.
Student protest of 40% fee hike, March 1992. Photography by: Akiko Akita.
Campus Unrest, 1968. Photography unknown.
Student Unrest, 1968. Photography unknown.
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PHOTO@CSUN.EDU
Student Unrest, 1968. Photography unknown.
Campus Unrest, 1968. Photography unknown.
Student protest of 40% fee hike, March 1992. Photography by: Akiko Akita. SUNDIAL
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FROM INCARCERATION TO HIGHER EDUCATION Revolutionary Scholars co-founder created a program for formerly incarcerated students, like herself, in higher education. By Gillian Moran-Perez / Photography by Joshua Pacheco
Lily Gonzalez was restarting her life at CSUN when one day she read an article about Danny Murillo, a formerly incarcerated student at UC Berkeley, who founded the Underground Scholars Initiative. After reading the article, she thought, “Wow, people like me do go to school.” As a formerly incarcerated student herself, Gonzalez reached out to him, asking how she could bring something like USI to CSUN. Murillo connected her with Johnny Czifra, whose brother Steven was Murillo’s co-founder of USI. Gonzalez and Czifra would meet every Thursday after class in the Chicano House on campus; they had no idea what they were doing at first, but they knew why they were doing it. “We just knew from our own lived experience that there was a huge fissure at CSUN and people like her and me were falling through it,” Czifra said. As a formerly incarcerated person, he recognized the potential for improvement that higher education would lead him to. She was working at Homegirl Café, cutting chilis, when she got notified of her acceptance letter from CSUN. “Fuck these chilis, I’m going to school,” she said to herself. For her, education wasn’t in her
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“We don’t cast them aside, we embrace them and help them, to help themselves, to help others,” plan, it was purely survival. The formerly incarcerated have trouble finding a way back to school, a support system or a job because of their background. They face barriers while enrolling in college such as discriminatory admissions practices, financial aid restrictions and even occupational license negations, according to a report released by the Prison Policy Initiative. Their chances of finding employment is slim due to these barriers. Los Angeles County has the largest jail system in the U.S. and holds the most inmates, and also happens to be one of the few jail systems that offers rehabilitation, vocational and educational programs, with 58% of inmates participating in these programs, according to the Los Angeles Almanac.
But Gonzalez and Czifra know that LA has a long way to go for providing more opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. That is why they first attempted to bring Project Rebound to CSUN. Project Rebound is a program that provides formerly incarcerated students the resources and opportunities they need for transitioning to college. It was originally established in 1967 at San Francisco State University. Gonzalez explained that in 2015, SFSU offered grants to extend Project Rebound to all 23 CSUs, but by 2016 it only reached nine campuses. “CSUN was one of those that said, ‘Nah we’re out,’ and their response was lack of infrastructure,” said Gonzalez. To this day she still does not know what that meant.
Gonzalez and Czifra, meanwhile, created Revolutionary Scholars. From CSUN they built access to resources such as Homeboy Industries and other correctional facilities. They became involved in the community to help those impacted by criminalization, but their main efforts have been to get Project Rebound established at CSUN in order to provide academic and peer counseling, mentorship and help with financial matters. Earlier this year Gonzalez fought for an extended budget for Project Rebound with Governor Gavin Newsom’s new budget proposal from January. The budget was approved for $3.3 million to expand Project Rebound to all CSUs on June 27, including additional funding for other areas in the CSU/UC system. However, for CSUN to establish Project Rebound, Revolutionary Scholars needs a letter from the administration to bring the formerly incarcerated the support they need. “We need actual tangible support,” said Gonzalez. She has been working with William Watkins, CSUN Vice President for Student Affairs, in getting the letter through administration. Watkins commented that faculty and students are working on
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positioning CSUN within Project Rebound. Several students have worked with Project Rebound and they have been quite helpful as they clarify the information necessary to submit a request for funding, he said. “I understand that a letter of support from university administration will need to be a part of the university’s request and I fully anticipate that such a letter will be provided,” said Watkins. Czifra acknowledges that Revolutionary Scholars is a grassroots organization compared to Project Rebound, and social justice for the formerly incarcerated is picking up steam. However, money seems to be the number one hurdle in moving full steam ahead. “Money is tricky and the approach to spending it has to be responsible, I get that. I also understand that a practice in patience may serve RS well,” said Czifra. “That being said, this is 2019, going on five years of work on this project for Lily and myself. Things could move a little more quickly.”
When Gonzalez was at CSUN she applied for a position on campus but was denied because of her background. She later worked on a hiring initiative to be passed in LA County where restrictions on employment based on criminal records were lessened, according to the LA Times. UC Berkeley is one of the many institutions that have banned the box option to check for criminal records from employment applications, Gonzalez said. Czifra pointed out that seeking assistance can be difficult for those impacted by incarceration, but both Gonzalez and Czifra know that speaking up about their identities has helped other students persevere through their challenges. “We know what it is to walk in those shoes, so we show that it can be done. We also let them know that the same way we do for them, they can do for the next person,” said Czifra. Gonzalez stated that people like herself are out there writing the policies because no one will hire them.
“How are they going to come home,” she said, “to a place where employment is not offered, and society treats them differently? If I came to CSUN and I didn’t do anything for the formerly incarcerated people after us, then I didn’t do shit.” Gonzalez is a grad student at CSUN, with two daughters, the eldest off to SFSU for the fall. For her, getting her daughter to college has been her biggest accomplishment. She said that what CSUN needs is allies with its administrators to find solutions for people like her. Though Revolutionary Scholars is new, Gonzalez pointed out that the stigma is still big at CSUN and that is why she feels people are not vocal of their past. That’s why it’s on Revolutionary Scholars to take charge in the march for social justice. “We don’t cast them aside,” said Czifra. “We embrace them and help them, to help themselves, to help others.”
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Faces
Photography by Logan Bik & Joshua Pacheco
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ACTIVISM 1
Marshsall James
“I feel just like anybody else and I’ve always thought about the darkest times in history and what I would have done, and we are now at another dark time and I’m going to be on feet being loud”.
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Aisha Rahmat
“For me, it is important to encourage people to stand up and take advantage of your rights because in Afghanistan, where I am from,women do not have the same rights as men. Everything in the US is different, but I am very happy and to be here”.
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RL Miller
“One of the main things motivating me at this point is that I am a woosley fire survivor. I watched my son’s preschool burn down on television”.
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Gordon Clint
“I have seven grandkids and I need to stand up for them because nothing is new here, our problems are just accelerating in a positive feedback loop”.
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Anahita Anahi
“Within the past couple of years there has been a lot antiminority rhetoric and we need to stand up and fight against the current administraion”.
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Emily Altschul
“We can’t stay silent anymore, its everyone’s responsibility to step up for our neighbors, our brothers, sisters, siblings within the immigration crisis and prison industrial complex that’s been going on for years, not just now”.
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SUMMER 2019’S HEATED SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES Summer of 2019 featured a spark of movements fighting for human rights, education, labor rights and even tobacco control. Below are the five movements, in and outside of CSUN, that are worth fighting for.
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EQUALITY FOR WOMEN
Shira Brown, director of the Women’s Resource Center at CSUN, says that the women’s rights movement has evolved over the years to fight for other people’s lives, even if it’s not directly related to them. Historically, she said, “Women have felt marginalized and disenfranchised and have that empathy to fight for other people’s rights so it might not be necessarily something that’s impacting you directly, but you see the value fighting for it.” Feminism itself is not gender exclusive anymore as it fights for issues that affect anyone, such as sexist
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oppression, according to Brown. She said that the movement is looking into how everybody is being treated, asking questions such as, “Are all the lives of black people better than they were yesterday? Are the lives of trans people better than they were being treated for yesterday?” The Women’s Center has created spaces to talk about these issues and seek justice, to organize all identities impacted by social injustice. For fall, the center will be organizing a menstrual campaign to dispel menstruation taboos and show students how to think of menstruation sustainably. Photography by Matthew Delgado
GIG ECONOMY
Uber and Lyft drivers traveled to Sacramento on July 10 to support a bill that would reclassify the workers in the gig economy as employees. They passed out T-shirts that said “Support AB5” or “Assembly Bill 5,” signed petitions, and spoke at a public hearing to voice their support. Under the ride-hailing companies they work for, drivers are classified as independent contractors instead of regular employees, which prevents them from receiving the same benefits such as workers’ compensation, minimum wage and
unemployment insurance. The workers that came to protest had their share of reasons to advocate for the bill. Juda, a Lyft and Uber driver, said she used to make up to $3,000 in a week, but now is lucky if she makes half that amount. She continued to share how difficult it is to file a sexual harassment report, based on her own experience where a customer put his hand between her legs during a ride. The bill will move to the Senate Appropriations Committee where many protesters are hopeful it will be passed into law.
Photography by Elaine Sanders
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CITY@CSUN.EDU
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EQUALITY CALIFORNIA
Equality California, a statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, has recently launched their campaign “OUT Against Big Tobacco,” fighting back against tobacco companies that have largely affected LGBTQ youth. Chris Records, campaign manager, said their movement began after noticing the marketing techniques of tobacco companies that attract their youth. Throughout their campaign, Equality California has conducted 18 presentations to LGBTQ activists and other community members in LA County. They will continue
their presentations to GayStraight Alliance groups throughout the country and at national conferences. “Ultimately our goal is to engage the community and inform policymakers, so that they have the resources they need to address these issues and stop Big Tobacco from preying on our community,” said Records. Records encourages students to empower themselves, to learn of organizations like Equality California and create support clubs that fight for LGBTQ civil rights and social justice.
Photography by Antonie Boessenkool
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Photography by Hanna Von Matern
Assembly Bill 1460 would require every CSU student to take at least three units in an ethnic studies course. Rocio RiveraMurillo, former leader of the Students of Color Coalition, said that it’s important now more than ever to fight for the right of ethnic studies. Rivera-Murillo flew out to Sacramento to testify before the Senate in support of AB 1460. She had been fighting for an ethnic studies class in high school to be an A-G requirement under LAUSD and was doing the same at the CSU level. It felt like her responsibility, she said. “We are already required
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Photography by Logan Bik
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AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2019
AB 1460 under Title V mandate to take a history course, why not require ethnic studies? It’s not just about culture, it’s about learning and unlearning,” said RiveraMurillo. “Ethnic studies is important because it teaches you to imagine a different world and AB 1460 would enable students to do that.” The bill is currently at the Senate Appropriations Committee. Rivera-Murillo said that the CA Education committee is pressuring each CSU Academic Senate to vote on the Ethnic Studies Task Force’s recommendation to require at least a three unit ethnic studies requirement for graduation.
NEVER AGAIN IS NOW
On Aug. 5 Jewish activists were arrested as they blocked the entrances of the Los Angeles office of the GEO Group, a correctional institutions company also known as a private prison company by its critics who claim that ICE is their biggest customer. The “Never Again is Now” movement organized the protest in front of the GEO offices to spread their literature and speak out against the company. Activists chanted “We shall not be moved,” “Show me what democracy looks like,” and “Never again is now.” Their chants grew louder as more supporters joined in and hold signs saying “Never Again Means they Close the Camps” and “Never Again means Abolish ICE,”
running a banner over a parking facility which read “GEO Group runs concentration camps for ICE #NeverAgain.” The activists that spoke recalled the Holocaust and claimed that they would not let the same thing happen to the people stuck in U.S. detention centers. One of the activists, Donna, said she visited the Adelanto Detention Facility, one of the facilities owned by the GEO Group, and described the conditions as horrible. She said she tried talking to the detainees but was unsuccessful. Her family is filled with survivors of the Holocaust and are activists themselves. Her goal during the protest was to get arrested so that the world would see and move to shut down the corporation.
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slacktivism: Moving beyond the hashtag to create real change offline
W
hether it’s #BlackLivesMatter or #MeToo, there’s no doubting the power behind social media in terms of generating awareness about different social movements. This past month, we’ve seen #guncontrol become a trending social media topic after incidents in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton. But activist efforts have to move beyond awareness to see real change, and it’s been shown to be quite difficult to move people to action using social media based on several recent research studies. By Richard D. Waters, Ph.D. Associate Professor School of Management University of San Francisco studies how activism is communicated through social media
Illustrations by: Joelena Despard
Social media is great for engaging in siloed conversations within our own personal networks, thus we rarely engage in meaningful conversation with those of different mindsets. When we do, it usually doesn’t take long before the conversation spirals into trolling, memes, name-calling or straw man arguments. Our closest friends and family may click through hyperlinks in our posts to sign an online petition or donate to a cause, but most simply scroll on to the next eyegrabbing influencer post. Social media once felt like an environment where people could actually talk about issues and solutions to social problems, but it seems to have become more slacktivist in nature. Essentially, slacktivism is giving the minimal amount of support to a cause while wanting to appear connected to it. Social media is the perfect environment for slacktivism because even our own networks are prone to liking or sharing content without really paying attention to it, based on recent Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication research. Individuals don’t have to do much to appear connected to various social causes. For example, I can share content and “do my part” in educating others about gun control from the comfort of my own couch without having to even think about the issue because you wrote the post for me to share. That’s leading some critics of social media to ask what the value of a like or a share is — especially when thinking about activism. Does social media activism still matter? Even with slacktivism, I believe the answer is resoundingly yes, but activists have to do more. To make social change, activists have to be more active in moving beyond social media and connecting with people offline. Social media is good for getting information in front of people for brief glimpses, but it isn’t making a meaningful impact and certainly isn’t getting people to respond to various calls of action.
If you want people to protest, don’t rely on Facebook. If you want people to call their elected officials, don’t announce it on Instagram. If you want people to donate money, a Twitter post will not result in waves of online donations. Generally-speaking, people simply don’t react in meaningful ways to social media content. Social media can help spread awareness, but action takes place offline. The 2017 Women’s March after President Trump’s inauguration became a reality after offline conversations between friends. Those conversations led to a Facebook event being created, and momentum grew to bring 200,000 people to Washington to march and nearly 5 million others to participate in other marches across the United States. Similarly, #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo became powerful activist hashtags because people were moved to action offline. Protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and reports of harassment incidents to authority figures helped propel more conversation online. Activists behind these issues recognized that social media could be a part of spreading awareness, but that real action takes place where people live. Activists have to remember how people cognitively process their persuasive messages. People will not jump to action without being educated about an issue and shown that it impacts them in a way that could harm (or help) them. Awareness and education is simply the first part of the process, and that’s where slacktivism stops. Activists that want to create lasting change should take note of successful movements of recent years. Have conversations with others offline to develop an action plan that’s going to get others interested in joining the movement offline. Then, use that spark to spread awareness throughout social media on how they can join the efforts in their own community. Discourage liking or sharing in favor of actually doing something meaningful. When we refocus our social media efforts to move people to offline events or actions, we can put slacktivism behind us and move beyond the hashtag to really make a difference.
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OPINION@CSUN.EDU
Photo courtesy of Rodolfo Acuna
Michael Meeks protesting against EO 1100-R. Photography by Justin Lee
WHAT DOES BEING AN ACTIVIST MEAN TO YOU?
By Rodolfo Acuna
I entered education because I wanted to make a difference; the next step was to apply what I learned to my life and make a difference. This was difficult for me because I worked 50-60 hours a week to raise a family and pay for book learning. Activism was about life, something that could not be learned in the classroom. It was like stepping into the Twilight Zone and the world of another reality. You learned a counter narrative that became more sophisticated over short bursts of time. You gradually peeled the onion as you learned more and discovered the rotten pieces of the onion. I had a lot of learning to do outside academe. I had a Jesuit education, studied Latin and trigonometry, but did not learn about the lives of others. My education was limited and I was oblivious to society. Activism is a laboratory where many questions have to be answered; why some students are successful and others dropped out. I taught K-12 for eight and community college for two years. During this time I was active with students and where they
By Michael Meeks
lived. I often learned more about how to teach them than I did at the university. When I arrived at San Fernando Valley State College in 1969, it was a beautiful laboratory, a citadel of anger. I learned that change is not possible without informed moral outage. This is the energy that opened doors. I learned new words such as feminism. My high school was an all-boys school. We never took typing and the teacher told us that if we wanted to type we had to marry a typist. This contradiction and others broadened my world. Feminism became the reality. Notions such as homophobia and racism became windmills that could not be tolerated. As a consequence, my students became more complex. They were like the people in the movie “Pleasantville,” and they took on different colors as they learned. They were different, but at the same time the same. My failure to grasp these differences could only be attributed to a lack of education in things that matter.
In basketball, conventional wisdom says that dunking is more accurate than trying to imitate Stephen Curry. That relationship explains the “inside-out” principle of basketball, where scoring at the basket is preferred for its accuracy. Yet when it comes to government and the laws around us, relying on insiders to create change can be a little more dangerous. Now that we are all officially adults, I propose we actually look to Curry for the best approach to affect our system; the man who changed the game by playing outside-in. I believe because I worked from the outside-in, I’ve become politically aware on campus. We couldn’t find any institutions to support the cause, so we made something; we relied upon “old-fashion” grassroots organizing to keep ourselves involved. Life, like basketball, will get prettier from this approach. Playing from the outside gives us all a voice, and a chance to affect the biggest issues we care about. Just like Curry with his three-point shot, we can overcome the tallest titans, who might rely on their
natural advantages. To be clear, I am also not Stephen Curry. I may have suffered an abnormally-but-notunreasonably-late growth spurt, because I find myself in student government representing our College of Humanities in our Associated Students. This makes my peers and me the new inside players. So you all have to keep us accountable. I try my hardest to stay grounded, and let an activist spirit motivate everything I do. When we make the ruling powers more like the people who don’t rule, we create a truer government. It all starts with you being active in it. Just remember, you don’t need to be on the inside to change the game.
POLITICAL CARTOON
Illustration by Joelena Despard
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Social Justice Through Art Community based platforms focusing on arts and literature By Ivan Salinas / Photography by Logan Bik Every Tuesday evening Luis Antowould change,” he said. “Somebody was nio Pichardo hosts the Conchas y Café creating that dissipation. Disorder doesn’t workshop at the Chicano Resource Cencome unless it’s provoked by something.” ter in East Los Angeles, open for adults More attendees kept arriving, many interested in developing skills through the wearing clothes from their workplace. One arts. During a recent meeting, the evening of them was Radu’s wife; while they learned workshop began with discussing a quote by about art, the couple’s toddler would wanGerman playder through wright Berthe aisles filled “That is how I see our zines tolt Brecht: with rich liter“In times of ature, accessible functioning. Everything DSTL disorder, of to her just by organized stretching out publishes is all about giving a platform her arms. That confusion, of inhumane need for accesand allowing the community to humanity, sibility is what nothing drove Pichardo should appear disseminate their message. That’s the to create worknatural.” The shops through group shared his non-profit power of publishing.” their thoughts organization, casually like DSTL Arts. friends having breakfast with conchas and Many of the recently-written works encoffee, but the gossip was focused on their gaged in a form of activism with sociopolitexperience living in “times of disorder.” ical statements and a protest-art approach. This type of discussions is usually held in Pichardo finished the discussion by a university setting, but Pichardo’s audience stating that “a lot of the times calls to action had a diverse age range and knew that not use symbols to push us to do something,” all of them had access to higher education. recognizing the timeless activist nature The quote reminded Fabiola, an elder reguwithin the quote and writing itself. The lar attendee, of the inhumane death of jour- upcoming artists from the community take nalist and civil rights activist Ruben Salazar what they learn from the workshops and in 1970. Abraham Jaramillo, a younger apply it to their visuals and writing, which attendee, was reminded of government can eventually be published in the zines dictatorships. Radu, sitting with his toddler DSTL releases throughout the year. daughter, was reminded of his experience One of the writers taking this direction is during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Jeremy Arias. “It needed disorder but organized to “Like other people (I am also) concerned disrupt the natural things so that something about the current political climate and it
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Luis Antonio Pichardo, 35, hosts weekly workshops across various underserved communities of L.A. Pichardo grew up in San Diego and has lived in Panorama City, Echo Park, and Glassell Park in the L.A. area.
just seems we have a voice. We write down what we think and people can see they’re not alone on this,” he said. Arias, from Boyle Heights, first got involved through the mentorship program and had a chapbook published. He now oversees submissions from the Art Block Zine for upcoming artists between the ages of 16 and 21. Even though the zines are not always politically charged, a lot of them end up having a sociopolitical statement to them. One of the zines created by DSTL is NoBias, which mostly consists of protest poetry. The Artist Residency workshops are usually social justice-based, the most recent one being the No Fake News series in response to this idea of the media in the current administration of the White House. Karo Ska has seen her poetry published in the Conchas y Café zine Vol. 4. One of her most recently-published pieces was featured in the 2019 edition of the literary magazine, Dryland, another community-based platform in South Central Los Angeles. Ska’s poem “Lava-scorched veins > eyeliner” had the following lines: “I don’t show / my regulars the Molotov Cocktail tattoo on my arm. I don’t / tell them I want the world / to smolder. I don’t say in 2014 we blockaded / the 110 freeway for Mike / Brown.” Ska turns to art as a way to heal and as a way to talk about what’s happening in the hopes of inspiring future generations to continue the work if they don’t want to live in a society that’s as messed up as it is now. Dryland is overseen by founding editor Viva Padilla, who was interested in starting the Dryland series as a platform to express what people feel now. It is not so coincidental, however, that writers choose to write about Trump or other political subjects; the intention to create these kinds of works is there. “I’m glad people are talking about these things,” she said, “but it should come from a genuine point of view of the writer, it
shouldn’t be forced.” Poet Brian J. Andrade, CSUN alumni, was featured in Dryland, and he engages in activism through writing. “I write a lot about what it’s like to be working class,” Andrade said. “To this day writing doesn’t prioritize class. It does prioritize race and sexuality but it never integrates that with class and that bothers me. Class affects people’s survival and accessibility to the most basic human needs, even the ability to think in a recreational matter. If somebody has to work all the time they don’t have time to think about fucking Plato.” Andrade was also a mentee at DSTL Arts during his time at CSUN, where he said he was reading poetry he couldn’t relate to. But at DSTL he found a community around people of similar class with the same aim to be a working writer. “It showed me that writing could be something sustainable. I could incorporate it in my everyday life and something I can prioritize living in a capitalist society,” he said. For writers living in underserved communities, Pichardo recognizes that art is not as valued nor supported since it is seen as a hobby rather than a form of employment. According to the 2019 Otis Report on the Creative Economy, 2.6 million jobs were generated within the creative industry, including fine arts and performing arts, fashion, and digital media, among others. Pichardo, as well as Padilla, have aimed to legitimize the writers’ voices by including an ISBN number on their zines and publications in order to be accepted into branches of the LA public library and local bookstores. “Zines are typically handmade,” Pichardo clarified regarding the ISBN number. “We’ve been conditioned to believe that’s what makes something valuable. It came more from necessity. The more people started submitting, the thicker it got. Perfect bound books are professionally design page.
ANE@CSUN.EDU
Abraham Jaramillo and Gladys hold a conversation at the weekly Conchas y Cafe workshop. The papers on the desk hold the lyrics to a song discussed in the workshop regarding the value of myths and legends in Mexican culture.
Every single page in the Conchas y Café zines looks different.” Similarly, Padilla’s platform is not backed up by an institution nor does she have an academic background. She added, “I’m doing something to counterculture the elitist super-hyper-educated literary scene that’s boring and bland. I’m interested in
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new ideas, in revolution, Chicano dreams, tearing down the government. I’m interested in freedom.” Historically, artists have been attacked for critiquing the status quo. According to Chicano artist Harry Gamboa Jr., whose political satire piece is also featured in Dryland, “Art has the potential to affect
AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2019
subjective judgment thereby altering perception, belief in reality, and can also affect language usage thereby determining what will be discussed and what will be ignored. Art has the ability to generate empathy or antipathy in a viewer.” Altering someone’s perception is powerful for writers, which is why they’re a target
in times of oppression. Pichardo and Padilla have seen the positive effect on communities as more upcoming artists continue submitting and attending workshops. “When I think of other writers that had to be exiled out of the country, someone like James Baldwin comes to mind,” Pichardo said. “He couldn’t (critique the U.S.), his home country. Going to France was a way to feel freer and be critical of the government. (Pablo) Neruda had to go through it as a Chilean writer and journalist, he was very critical.” Nevertheless, upcoming artists on these platforms feel the sense of importance to continue expressing the political status quo of the country. On that note, Gamboa added, “In the United States, the official support for guns outweighs the valuation of human lives. Art accentuates life. Guns might kill artists where creativity and individuality are not welcome but the art will live beyond the lifetime of mass killers.” At the end of the Conchas y Café workshop, Pichardo concluded it with a homework assignment: writing a poem about what they considered to be their symbol of power. Soon after, the room emptied out as the attendees went home thinking of the next poem they will disseminate. “For writers is the dissemination of their work, that is their way of being activists,” Pichardo concluded. “That is how I see our zines functioning. Everything DSTL publishes is all about giving a platform and allowing the community to disseminate their message. That’s the power of publishing.”
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