The Current - Spring Edition by M3 Group Publications

SPRING 2021

221 W. Saginaw St., Lansing, MI 48933 Phone: 517.203.0123 Fax: 517.203.3334 Publisher Tiffany Dowling Account Managers Megan Fleming Liz Reno-Hayes Melissa DeMott John Tripolsky Senior Editors Kate Birdsall Mary Gajda Graphic Designer Grace Houdek Web Manager Jaclyn Krizanic Shelby Smith Writers Carolanne Stockton, Lacie Kunselman, Reneé Prvulov, Sierra Jezuit, Jarett Greenstein, Aleaha Reneé Editors Emma Kolakowski, Shelby Smith, Megan Elias, Jaclyn Krizanic, Patiense McKenzie, Kate Snider Social Media Jaclyn Krizanic, Aleaha Reneé, Patiense McKenzie, Mitch Carr Layout Grace Houdek, Shelby Smith, Megan Elias, Lacie Kunselman Marketing Kate Snider, Reneé Prvulov, Sierra Jezuit, Emma Kolakowski, Jarett Greenstein, Carolanne Stockton

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A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR By Shelby Smith Dear readers, You should know that this magazine is made for you by people who care about the world, about themselves, and maybe most importantly, about you. In caring, we cannot help but be dissatisfied by the institutions ruling an unjust world. Serendipitously and without deciding beforehand, our staff writers pitched articles rooted in care. They pushed to amplify the voices of marginalized communities and individuals, whether it be those on the asexuality spectrum, Black women growing up in the South or small business owners. There was an urgency among the staff as we put this issue together. Life as we knew it was collapsing around us in undeniably permanent ways, and we were left to watch and grapple with the injustice of this world, and of this country. With the pandemic being as universal as it is, there has been a great deal of talk about being in the same boat. The reality is that we are all in the same storm; but some of us have speedboats, while others drown in their wake, not a lifevest to be found. Asexuality. The societal and cultural nuances of Black hair. Traditional ideas of professionalism. These are not conversations that were had anywhere near the mainstream when we were born and as we grew. Now we are here to challenge previously unquestionable norms, and in this war we are far from alone. Our latest victory comes in the form of this, the Spring 2021 issue of The Current. If you are able to trudge through the tragedies of today, we hope you are encouraged, as we are, by the many bright futures offered by our writers in this issue, if only we are able to change the institutional realities that invoke these struggles. Warmly,

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Shelby

Interested in hosting a distribution location? Shelby Smith is a senior double majoring in English and professional and public writing with a concentration in creative writing. Outside her time spent on The Current and with the MSU Writing Center, Shelby likes to listen to audiobooks and hand embroider.

Give us a call at 517.203.3333 or email at mary@m3group.biz The Current is published seasonally by M3 Group, Lansing, MI. All rights reserved. © 2020 M3 Group No part of this magazine may be reproduced whole or in part without the expressed consent of the publisher.

CON TEN TS

Don’t Touch My Hair

The natural hair movement is an expression of culture, pride and self for the Black community

Endangered Education: How Art Education is Struggling Amidst a Pandemic How the pandemic left young artists flailing when we need them most

Asexuality: Defining it and Debunking the Myths

Self-Actualization: Maslow’s Most (In)famous Notion

Diving into the “A” too-often missing from the end of LGTBQ

How systemic oppression throws a wrench in self-actualization

Protection Turned Problem: How Covid-19 is the Newest Threat to the Environment

Instagram’s Impact on Mental Health

Navigating the line between benefit and detriment on social media

Young people are ready to abolish established ideas about professionalism

The harsh environmental reality of disposable masks and more

Pain and Pride: Being Black in the South Explore the nuances of being Black and proud in the American South

TikTok’s #AgeofAquarius: A Foray into the Gen Z Mindscape A spiritual community rises and thrives on TikTok

Rethinking Professionalism

A Labor of Love: The Perseverance of Small Businesses Why it matters to shop small

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DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR By Aleaha Reneé

Hair is so much more than something that sits on top of our heads. It’s more than strands we slick, braid, twist and straighten. It’s more than a politician’s surprise landing strip for a fly. More often than not, hair serves as an expression of culture, pride and self, especially within the Black community. In recent times, the natural hair movement took center stage within this community, emphasizing the importance of cultural expression through hair. While there are many definitions pertaining to what “being natural” truly is, in essence it involves donning nonchemically processed or straightened hair. Many naturals wear wash n go’s, usually showcasing their curl patterns, while others choose to wear protective hairstyles like cornrows, box braids, sew-ins, twists, wigs and bantu knots. “Being natural is such an umbrella term,” Grand Valley State University alumna Courtney Madison said. “To me, being natural starts from within; it’s all about embracing your natural beauty. As soon as you learn to love your curls, you realize how versatile a Black woman’s hair really is.” The first rumblings of the natural hair movement can be traced to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, but the notion recently resurfaced in the early 2000s and gained exponential traction during the early 2010s.

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At the beginning of the 21st century, the United States was on the verge of economic recession, and Black women, like many others, looked for ways to decrease the cost of health and beauty. The notion of keeping one’s hair natural, rather than pay for it to be straightened or curled, seemed extremely attractive to many women of color. “Some choose to do it out of rebellion to conservative white places of work; while others simply didn’t have the financial ability to pay for regular salon visits,” said Starrene Rocque from Vice. Financial practicality, coupled with their desire to break from societal beauty standards, drove many Black women to

make the switch. Then and now, when one dons their natural hair, it can be seen as a representation of pride in Black culture and African descent. Michigan State University (MSU) senior and applied engineering science major, Shellbi Stanfield, agreed with this sentiment. “For me, [being natural] means big hair and bomb curls that I wear 95% of the time. It means I can express myself through my hair and channel a lot of confidence through that.” In the early 2010s, similar ideas centered around empowering Black women to

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embrace their curls swept across the internet and social media platforms, eventually blossoming into what the natural hair movement is today. In its wake, countless companies like Shea Moisture, Mielle and Taliah Waajid erected product lines that cater to natural Black hair types, directly undermining societal standards of beauty— standards formed long before any of the current advocates were here. For hundreds of years, the coarse, coily texture of Black hair has been demeaned.

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According to “When Black Hair is Against the Rules,” an article written by Ayana Byrd and Lori L. Tharps and later published by The New York Times, “In the 18th century, British colonists classified African hair as closer to sheep wool than human hair.” Natural Black people’s hair was degraded and compared to that of an animal, but many did not stop there. To make matters worse, during slavery, slaves with looser, more European-like curl patterns (who were often the products of rape) gained preferential treatment over other slaves. This reprehensible historical implication drove many Black women to search for ways to loosen or straighten their curls.

Understandably shocked, Noble tried not to let this comment get to her, but began to realize studio executives had ceased inviting her to participate in commercials and sponsored events with fellow colleagues. To add insult to injury, when Noble filed a complaint with the news channel’s corporate entity, they responded by releasing a statement that declared, “…on-air talent could not have ‘shaggy, unkempt’ hair.” Ultimately, in March of 2018, after filing several other complaints with corporate and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Noble was fired. She is currently taking her discrimination case to court.

Enter Walter Sammons. According to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in December of 1920 Sammons, a Black man from Philadelphia, registered a patent inventing the hot comb. This invention, heated on a stove top, allowed Black women the opportunity to safely straighten their hair. However, while a practical hair styling tool, it also perpetuated the assimilation of Black hair with white societal beauty standards.

Unfortunately, this form of discrimination is far from rare. Many women of color experience what some refer to as “hair shaming” every day.

Even now, Black women remain subject to much scrutiny relative to the way they style their hair, especially in professional spaces. In 2018, news anchor Brittany Noble lost her job at WJTV for refusing to remove her natural hairstyle. According to “Today”, Noble, who was accustomed to wearing her hair straight, made the decision to wear twists while on-air. When she arrived on set, her supervisor made it clear he believed her new look was “unprofessional.”

Luckily, this narrative is changing. Many states have begun passing laws protecting women of color from hair discrimination. On July 3, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom passed the first version of the Crown Act, banning racial discrimination on the basis of hair type and style—“Crown,” being an acronym for create a respectful and open workplace for natural hair. According to The New York Times, Senator Holly Mitchell, a proponent of the act, said,

“I see normalizing natural hair as work that should have been done a long time ago,” MSU senior public policy major Imani Cole said. “[Black women] need to be able to exist comfortably, as who we truly are, without the mandate of shrinking ourselves into the mold of European beauty standards.”

“[hair discrimination] is a fundamental issue of personal dignity and personal rights…This bill has truly struck a deeply personal chord with people because there is something so personally offensive when you are told that your hair, in its natural state, is not acceptable in the workplace.” Likewise, several Black women have done their part in beginning to dispel stigmas surrounding what “professional” hairstyles are. “I wear my hair naturally and switch it up as I please so that my working environment has a clear example of how Black hair is professional,” said Cole. “My natural hair is an extension of my natural beauty which is meant for me to enjoy foremost.”

Don’t touch my crown They say the vision I’ve found Don’t touch what’s there When it’s the feelings I wear…” Countless Black people share the same sentiment, boasting deep, personal connections with their bold, beautiful locks. It’s more than just hair. It’s an expression of culture. Of pride. Of self.

Aleaha Reneé is a senior marketing major with a passion for magazine journalism. She currently authors a column entitled The Face Of, established with the primary focus of encouraging self-actualization within individuals. One day, Aleaha Reneé will become a columnist, editor and ultimately editor-in-chief of a magazine. When she is not working, you can find her surrounded by her dearest friends, binge-watching “New Girl” for the billionth time or mentoring Spartan underclassmen. Follow her on Instagram or Twitter @aleaha_renee

Madison agreed, saying, “It is very important for people outside of the Black community to understand that beauty comes in various forms. Just because Black hair is different does not mean it looks unprofessional, our hair doesn’t have to look flat or tucked away for it to look up to ‘standard.’” All in all, it’s important to understand the expression of culture through hair is a deeply personal matter. Many people of color feel so strongly about it, they’ve created books, movies, paintings, poems and other forms of art to convey pride. In her 2016 song, “Don’t Touch My Hair,” singer-songwriter Solange expressed just how sacred her hair is to her by writing: “Don’t touch my hair When it’s the feelings I wear Don’t touch my soul When it’s the rhythm I know

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ENDANGERED EDUCATION: HOW ART EDUCATION IS STRUGGLING AMIDST A PANDEMIC By Sierra Jezuit “Art can move hearts and minds and have a lasting effect on the world.” –Elizabeth Botkin. Elizabeth Botkin is currently pursuing her love of the arts. She studies illustration at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI and, like many others, has a passion and fondness for all things related to art. For most, this kind of passion grows from strong positive experiences throughout childhood. Many of these experiences happen in the classroom. In fact, children are exposed to art in classrooms as early as preschool, where they participate in activities such as finger painting or drawing. These specific exercises are created to be hands-on activities to engage young students, to support sensory development and integration, to teach spatial relationships and to help improve fine motor skills. Many who have positive experiences in art courses early on often choose to continue their involvement in the arts. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics even encourages students to consider subjects and activities they are especially drawn to when thinking about potential careers. Joey Swinkey, the director of bands at Monroe High School in Monroe, MI, became an instructor because of his own classroom experiences.

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”I wanted to teach music because of the positive cultural experiences I had as a high schooler in band,” said Swinkey. “Band was my community, my support group and a place where I learned to grow into my own skin. I wanted to be a part of making that same experience possible for others.” Similar to Swinkey, Botkin had an easy decision when it came to which career path she wished to pursue. Art was the obvious choice. “There are endless career paths with illustration. I picked one of the more straightforward ones. I don’t know if I was so much inspired to study art, but more of it came naturally and when it came down to deciding what I wanted to do after high school, there was nothing I could see myself doing other than art. It was an obvious choice for me.” Unfortunately, there has been a longstanding discussion of pulling art classes from schools and stripping away valuable experiences for children. Many districts have already cut art-related courses. Though many have fought to protect art programs, the global COVID-19 pandemic may prove to be the final nail in the coffin, especially in Michigan.

Although both Swinkey and Botkin, like many others, valued their involvement in the arts, art programs are currently struggling to stay afloat amidst this gruesome conversation. Many school districts funnel disproportionately large amounts of cash towards other programs and subjects, particularly math and language arts. This leaves little funding to support other programs. Although a harsh decision, it is not a random one. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 redesigned the elementary and secondary education system. The act itself requires yearly testing of students in both mathematics and reading, with at least one other test given in high school. Additionally, if schools don’t meet predetermined benchmarks in both math and English, they are classified under “program improvement status.” These benchmarks are monitored through student test scores. In order to avoid unwanted penalties, many schools prioritize meeting both state and national standards for these subjects. This means large proportions of educational budgets are funneled towards core subjects like math and English and away from electives in the arts. Now, Michigan schools are facing even tighter budgets as funds receive drastic cuts.

For instance, according to Bridge Michigan, the state of Michigan is currently facing a $2.39 billion decline in its school aid fund over the next year and a half, seeing a $1 billion shortfall within the next full year alone. This would mean a $685 slash in per-student funding, which is the largest slash since a $470 cut in 2011. For perspective, a nearly $700 cut in per-student funding equates to roughly the pay and benefits for 67 teachers in the Novi Public School District. Additional cuts may come from the detrimental effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on businesses. The issues have only escalated from there. As the coronavirus pandemic struck the country, schools were faced with other budgetary problems. In order to prioritize the safety and well-being of students and communities, many districts within Michigan made the decision to operate virtually for at least a portion of the school year. For some districts, the switch to virtual instruction requires the purchase of additional digital equipment and internet access. This is often an expensive task. Many areas are also allocating money towards mental health services for students, as the pandemic has caused new or worsened problems for many. The cut in per-student funding makes acquiring these additional resources tough. Along with budgetary concerns, the switch to virtual operations drastically affected the material being taught. Instructors were tasked with creating content that both engaged students and communicated the necessary information, all while having little or no training on how to instruct virtually. This has been an extremely difficult process for many

teachers, but the act of teaching art-based courses virtually is a feat of its own. Swinkey’s day-to-day operations used to involve teaching band classes with anywhere from 20 to 75 students in a room at a time. Students would play through pieces as a whole band and were also given opportunities to work in small groups. These activities worked to foster a strong sense of community among students. Now, they only communicate through a screen and rarely play together.

Assignments are all online and students practice pre-recorded segments at their own pace. ”The engagement is way down. Kids are buried in assignments and stress and struggling to manage their time. They need the socialization of band,” said Swinkey. “They are more engaged during my classes than my colleagues are reporting in their own. They just aren’t doing homework because they are overstretched and struggling to prioritize.” THECURRENTMSU.COM 09

benefits it has with mental health” said Botkin. “Without art programs in school, I feel like the stress levels of the students will go through the roof without that sort of release or break. It’s important to give students the opportunity to express themselves through art, and if they end up liking it and turning it into a career, all the better. Art holds as much value as science and math, because they all have the power to change the world. It should be taken just as seriously as other subjects, as it takes just as much time and dedication to succeed at.”

As student engagement falls and funds continue to diminish, districts may begin to question the importance of these courses yet again, which could further jeopardize art programs. However, administrations need to recognize and prioritize the benefits of creative courses. Not only do art courses and their practices offer opportunities to learn hands-on skills, they have also been known to improve student performance. For instance, according to the Teach and Kids Learn Organization, a middle school in the Bronx added a four-year art-integration program into their curriculum. The Bronx is one of the lowest-income districts in New York City, and this decision had outstanding results: an 8% increase in English language arts scores, a 9% increase in math scores and an overall increase in student attendance. Despite the positives, many are still insistent that art courses are a waste of time and money. As school funding in Michigan continues to thin, the 10 SPRING 2021

benefits of these classes may be increasingly ignored and programs may begin to see cuts. Many instructors are already worried about how their students would suffer without the arts. “They would shut down completely. Some kids told me this morning that they get more personal attention during band zooms than they do from their own families,” said Swinkey. “Sometimes, I feel like our band community is the only place providing a lifeline to the kids.” Botkin worries the lack of art instruction in schools could have additional negative effects on the mental health of students. According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, mental health issues such as depression and anxiety can lead to lower grade point averages for students. “I think a lot of people underestimate the arts, not just as future careers paths, but the

Both Swinkey and Botkin have realistic concerns regarding the issue. Unfortunately, there is no cut-and-dry solution to this issue, as money doesn’t “grow on trees,” and districts will continue to see dwindling budgets. However, it’s hard to ignore the numerous benefits associated with art courses. They offer opportunities for students to learn handson skills and engage with their community. Their absence could in turn have detrimental effects on student populations, even leading to strained mental health and lower student engagement. Prioritizing courses that value community and student participation while allowing students to express themselves may be extraordinarily beneficial. Perhaps in a time of crisis and global sickness, the arts could be the key to successful student experiences.

Sierra Jezuit is a fifth-year studying professional writing and English. She plans to work in the editing field after graduation, and hopes to share her passion for literature with the world. In her free time she can be found listening to all kinds of music, browsing netflix and writing poetry.

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ASEXUALITY: DEFINING IT AND DEBUNKING THE MYTHS By Renee Prvulov The LGBTQ community expands beyond these intial letters. Typically a plus sign is tacked onto the end of LGBTQ to represent other identies. Asexuality is a part of this addition, and a whole community and spectrum within itself. Asexuality is defined as someone who has little to no sexual attraction or desire, regardless of gender. Kathryn*, a professor at Michigan State University, identifies as asexual. Her personal definition is as follows: “I don’t feel the need to have a sexual relationship. I don’t find value in it, and it’s not something that, when I had it in the past, I appreciated.” According to the Trevor Project, “asexuality is an umbrella term and exists on a spectrum.” This spectrum and community is commonly known as ace. Sexuality is a spectrum, meaning there are a variety of sexual identities even within labels. Under the category of ace, there is asexual, aromantic, demisexual, greysexual, greyromantic etc. Under the ace umbrella is aromantic. Sexual attraction differs from romantic attraction. Aromanticism is when someone does not desire a romantic relationship. A person can be both aromantic and asexual, just one or neither. Someone who is demisexual can experience sexual attraction, but it is typically only if they have a deep, emotional connection to the person. People who identify 12 SPRING 2021

as greysexual or greyromantic fall somewhere in between, experiencing little or limited sexual or romantic attraction.

sexual relationship are inherent, and it is not influenced by their external experiences, such as who they meet.

Common Misconceptions It is a common misconception that being asexual means you don’t have sex, but that is not nessarsrily true. Being asexual means that a person is not sexually attracted to other people, but it is up to the individual whether they participate in sexual activity. Some people are sex repulsed and prefer to avoid sexual relationships, while others may choose to have sex for a variety of personal reasons.

Being asexual does not mean they do not date or have relationships. Asexual people can still be in happy, healthy relationships. Many asexual people want and are in romantic relationships. Although they are not sexually attracted to people, they still have the right to a loving romantic relationship, if they so choose. There are even dating apps that tailor to the asexual community, such as ACEapp. ACEapp gives a platform to asexual people to share their interests, meet new people and find relationships. Most dating apps don’t take asexual people into consideration.

Asexuality is not the same as abstinence or celibacy or waiting until marriage. People who are celibate are choosing not to have sex. For asexuals, it’s not a choice. It is how they feel and how they are wired. They aren’t waiting for marriage or the right person; they do not have a want to engage in sexual activity regardless of their marital status. When people come out as asexual, a lot of backlash they get is that they are being too rash with this decision and have just not found the right person yet. This is false and something Kathryn hears a lot. Even without using the label of asexual, friends and family will tell her this. They think she is being too picky. For an asexual, it doesn’t matter who they meet or who they are with, their feelings and lack of desire to have a

These misconceptions and harmful stereotypes are something Kathryn has experienced. People think the way she feels is unnatural and must be tied to a mental health disorder or past trauma. They want to fix her, but she is not broken. Asexuality is real and valid, and our society needs to be informed about this community and what it truly means to be asexual. Kathryn only came to the realization that she’s asexual a few years ago, already into her thirties. She thought she was just odd compared to others. In the past, she dated and had sexual relationships, which made her hesitant to claim this label. Like many people, she thought she couldn’t truly be

Liliane Vasquez, an MSU freshman majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, is a new member to the A-Spectrum club. She identifies as demisexual. For her, this means she is uncomfortable engaging in sexual activity unless it is with someone whom she is deeply interested in. She is not typically sexually attracted to people, but instead is drawn to certain individuals because of their personality. She is open to having sexual relationships, but focuses more on the romantic aspect and being supportive of her partner when in a relationship. asexual since she dated or was inolved in sexual activity, but this is not the case. There is no set timeline to exploring one’s sexuality, nor a rule book to tell people what they are or are not. Everyone has the power and right to self discovery and claiming a label, or not, whatever that may be.

“Sex is not a basic necessity. You can survive without it, and wanting to go through life without it is valid. Having a lack of interest in it is valid,” said Vasquez.

in the media. A few television shows and movies have incorporated asexual characters, but even most of those characters are fanlabelled —or “headcanoned”— as asexual rather than being explicitly stated as such. A minor character in “Sex Education”, Florence, has no sexual attraction to anyone, which is stated directly in the show. The number of asexual characters is starting to grow, but there is still a long way to go. People who struggle with their sexuality have few role models in the media, and those with little to no sexual or romantic attraction have even fewer places to look. Awareness for asexuality is starting to increase, but there is still more that needs to be done. Everyone has different experiences and a unique perspective they bring to the table; thus, it’s important when talking about asexuality, or any sexuality, to focus on the individual’s specific experience. Being asexual is valid. Everyone is different and has their own unique definition of how they belong to the ace community.

Many people still have either never heard of asexuality, or know very little about it. It is crucial to spread awareness and acceptance for people who identify as asexual. Kathryn Identifying as asexual and discovering first thought that the “A” in LBGTQIA stood for the community made Kathryn feel more accepted. She realized she wasn’t weird and ally, so she always thought it referred to her. It she wasn’t the only one who felt like this; she wasn’t until years later she discovered it meant asexual, and even then, without knowing it at *Last name omitted for privacy. just fit in with a different group. the time, she was always part of the acronym and the community. Within the MSU community, there is a club Renee Prvulov is a senior majoring in called A-Spectrum, “a group for asexual professional writing with a minor in creative Asexuality Awareness Week is the last week in and aromantic spectrum people in East writing for fiction. She is a consultant at the October, but society should be more informed Lansing, MI.” This club is open to all MSU writing center and a publishing intern for the Cube. She hopes to attend a publishing students as well as residents of East Lansing. and include more representation for this institute after graduation, and find a job They have weekly meetings, host events and community beyond the designated week. There editing at a publishing company. To destress, she loves to is extremely limited representation of asexuals spread awareness. read, write and binge watch on Netflix. THECURRENTMSU.COM 13

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SELF-ACTUALIZATION: MASLOW’S MOST (IN)FAMOUS NOTION By Aleaha Reneé Self-actualization, or the art of discovering and implementing one’s potential, is a concept introduced by Kurt Goldstein in the mid-20th century. Goldstein, both a psychiatrist and a neurologist, believed this fulfillment of potential was the main goal of every living organism. Roughly 20 years later, Abraham Maslow took this theory a bit further to construct his own definition of the concept so that it explicitly pertained to human beings. In 1943, Maslow published a paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” outlining his viewpoints, as well as explaining them in further detail, in his 1945 book “Motivation and Personality”. Within these texts, Maslow introduces what he claims to be every human’s “hierarchy of needs,” or the motivating factors that drive their behavior. These factors include:

and physical safety. In a perfect world, these needs would typically be fulfilled by societal provisions like law enforcement, educators, business persons and healthcare workers. 3. Love/Belonging: the innate need for relationship and companionship. Usually can be fulfilled through family, friendship, identity within a social group or relational intimacy. 4. Esteem: the desire to feel accomplished, confident in achievements and respected by others. Maslow proposes that only after every one of these needs is met, the individual can truly self-actualize—or reach their full potential.

1. Physiological needs: the biological necessities for human function and survival including food, water, oxygen, shelter, sleep, warmth etc. Without first meeting this basic level of need, no other level of the pyramid can be achieved.

Even back then, fully self-actualized individuals were few and far between. According to Maslow, only a handful of individuals in history made the cut by 1954. He believed Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and a few other humanitarians, philosophers and scientists had in fact realized their full potential and implemented it thoroughly.

2. Safety needs: encompasses the desire to maintain a level of order in life. This can take many forms, including but not limited to financial stability, overall wellbeing, a sense of freedom

While it is hard to deny these individuals were anything less than brilliant—leading many to believe Maslow’s assumptions were correct—others couldn’t help but wonder why

Maslow’s list seemed to be so…white. Not to mention heavily skewed toward males. While some pointed to the historical contexts of the time to explain this (e.g. discrimination, lack of representation etc.), others believed looking at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs through the lens of inequality offers a more telling conclusion. Back to Basics Now, before we swallow the red pill, it is important to mention once again that Maslow theorized one could not begin to conquer a portion of the pyramid until mastering the portion below it. For instance, one’s need for safety could not be fulfilled until their physiological needs were first met. In Motivation and Personality, Maslow classifies the bottom two portions of the pyramid— physiological and safety—as basic needs. They are vitally essential to the physical and mental well being of a human. It is no secret the basic needs of marginalized groups are seldom met. Therefore, some hypothesize that systems of oppression prohibit minorities from reaching the top of Maslow’s pyramid and self-actualizing. Much evidence exists to support this hypothesis, the first example being that minority individuals lack equal access to resources which fulfill their physiological needs. For instance, access to adequate shelter has been systematically withheld from marginalized THECURRENTMSU.COM 15

communities for decades. According to the Forbes article, “A Look At Housing Inequality And Racism In The U.S.”, by Dima WIlliams, “After the passage of the Housing Act of 1937, low-income public housing projects mushroomed in inner cities, replacing slums and consolidating ‘minority neighborhoods.’ Major road construction and suburbanization further segregated American cities.” In essence, price discrimination ran rampant, barring minorities from living in nicer 16 SPRING 2021

neighborhoods and instead driving them to move into cheaper areas, at times referred to as “ghettos” or “projects.” This furthered the racial divide within the United States and restricted social mobility for minority groups, making the upper levels of the pyramid, and therefore self-actualization, only accessible to white people. Additionally, since then minorities have found it extremely difficult to obtain substantial mortgage loans for homes, which positioned

them to be more likely to rent property than own it. The ramifications of this directly impacted modern real estate trends. Forbes explains, “In the first quarter of 2020, the Census Bureau reported that black households had the lowest homeownership rate at 44%, nearly 30 percentage points behind white households.” These statistics demonstrate that, even now, it is harder for minority groups to secure adequate housing than for their Caucasian counterparts; meaning minorities are not guaranteed even

one of the seemingly simplest needs Maslow proposed: shelter. Furthermore, for argument’s sake, assume that in a perfect society the physiological needs of every individual are met. This would imply that things like housing discrimination, food insecurity and lack of access to clean water would not exist. Even then, as minorities seek to travel up Maslow’s pyramid, they are hit with yet another roadblock; modern society does not fulfill their need for safety either. When it comes to the physical safety of minorities within their communities, they often feel threatened by the very faction allegedly established to protect them: the police. According to a Pew Research study published in 2016, when asked whether a police officer’s primary job was to protect citizens or to enforce laws, Black and Hispanic individuals were more than two times more likely to pick the latter than their white peers.

Countless instances of excessive force and police brutality within minority communities heavily contribute to this view, driving many who identify with minority communities to spend more time worrying about the safety of their community and themselves, rather than actually experiencing the comfort of safety.

assume that while it is impossible to deny discrimination and inequality makes it more difficult for minorities to self-actualize, it isn’t completely impossible for self-actualization to be attained. So why did Maslow choose to omit minorities from his list of selfactualized individuals?

Overall, societal neglect to fulfill the basic needs of minorities causes many to hypothesize that systematic oppression prohibits minorities from self-actualizing. While this may appear to be true, it isn’t entirely. Upon further research, psychologists believe they have in fact identified minority figures throughout history who were indeed self-actualized. According to the Pacifica Graduate Institute, American abolitionist, writer and former slave Frederick Douglass fits the criteria. Douglass lived during a time of intense oppression, yet still managed to fulfill his true potential, regardless of whether his basic needs were met. Therefore, one can

Who knows, he could have just been a racist.

Aleaha Reneé is a senior marketing major with a passion for magazine journalism. She currently authors a column entitled The Face Of, established with the primary focus of encouraging self-actualization within individuals. One day, Aleaha Reneé will become a columnist, editor and ultimately editor-in-chief of a magazine. When she is not working, you can find her surrounded by her dearest friends, binge watching “New Girl” for the billionth time or mentoring Spartan underclassmen. Follow her on Instagram or Twitter @aleaha_renee

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PROTECTION TURNED PROBLEM: HOW COVID-19 IS THE NEWEST THREAT TO THE ENVIRONMENT By Sierra Jezuit

“We only have one planet and we’re destroying it. When this one is destroyed, we don’t have a backup.” –John Dragonetti John Dragonetti, a Michigan State University alumnus, graduated with a degree in environmental economics and management and is an advocate for environmental issue awareness. He believes awareness is the first step to enacting positive change. In Dragonetti’s view, humans could do wonders for the state of our environment. The issue is, human actions are instead causing negative reactions. Dragonetti believes even the small things, such as driving cars or neglecting to recycle, are producing negative results. As the small things start to add up, they’re putting an exorbitant amount of stress on the earth and its environment, resulting in dangerous situations for all. “Earth is currently going through a mass extinction period like we haven’t seen in 66 million years, and it’s being caused by humans. We’re losing thousands of species, roughly 150 each day, because of humans,” said Dragonetti. “The choices we are making are destroying animal habitats and are having negative effects on various food chains and other ecosystems. Oceans are becoming

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more acidic, more wildfires are devastating communities and companies are fueling the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. People either don’t care about it or they just don’t know.” All of Dragonetti’s concerns are valid, and various environmental issues need to be addressed in order to prevent detrimental harm to both the land and the living. Unfortunately, the state of the world is far from improving and more problems arise each day. Early in 2020, a new strain of coronavirus, called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), took the world by storm. Devastating numerous countries and communities, the virus caused many individuals, communities and states to take extreme caution and enact new safety measures. For perspective, on March 24th the Secretary of Health and Human Services declared the public health emergency introduced by the new strain of coronavirus had become serious enough to encourage the emergency use of various protective equipment. The Federal Drug Administration then issued an Emergency Use Authorization for face masks on April 24th, 2020. An EUA allows the

FDA to strengthen the health protections of the nation’s public by facilitating the access to certain necessary protective materials. This came in response to the Center for Disease Control’s recommendations on how to protect oneself from contracting or spreading the new coronavirus strain. In order to most effectively protect oneself and others, face masks were encouraged to be worn over the mouth and nose. By wearing face masks, one would be less susceptible to germs spread through coughing, sneezing or even talking. In order to meet the recommended standard promoted by the CDC, face masks should have at least two layers of material, fit snugly around the face and not have exhalation valves or vents. Due to the high demand for face masks and other face-covering equipment, many manufacturers reallocated their time and resources towards making effective coverings. These companies included Gap Inc., MyPillow, Apple and Hanes. In addition to this, General Motors and Ventec Life Systems partnered with the intention to produce 50,000 face masks per day. The use of face masks is still ongoing in November of 2020. Ford will also be working with 3M and GE Healthcare in order to produce ventilators,

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face shields and respirators to meet a surge in demand for the products. As the public is continually encouraged to protect themselves by wearing face masks, many have come to choose their favorite type of mask. Some choose to make their own cloth face masks, which they can then wash and sanitize in their own home before reusing. Others have chosen to buy masks, which are abundantly available in many stores and shopping centers across the country. A portion of masks available for purchase are created for reuse, but many of them aren’t. Disposable masks are often made from small plastic fibers and bought in larger quantities. These masks tend to be preferred for their brevity of use, as

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one can adorn a clean, fresh mask each time they go out in public, for reasons ranging from braving the grocery store to attending their in-person job. When a consumer believes they’ve exhausted the cleanliness of a mask, they dispose of it. The FDA states that the proper way to dispose of a used disposable face mask is to place it in a plastic bag and put it in the trash, but when people don’t follow this procedure, germ-infested masks end up in areas they shouldn’t. Although most disposable masks meet the recommended requirements for protection, they also come with a downside: they’re bad for our environment. The idea that a product made with the intention of protecting

us is actually bad for the environment can be surprising, but it shouldn’t be. There have always been products made with the same intent that end up causing damage in other ways. Disposable masks just happen to be one of the newest offenders. According to UN News, based on historical data, 75% of used masks may end up floating in waterways rather than being placed in the trash. Videos of divers fishing masks and rubber gloves out of waterways have already surfaced in various areas of the world. So far, disposable face masks have been found discarded in grocery store parking lots, on hiking trails and in storm drains. Unfortunately, this is not their intended final destination.

When scattered to the wind, used masks are still carrying a dangerous number of germs, so those who are brave enough to touch and properly dispose of these littered masks are potentially exposing themselves to illness. The same goes for rubber gloves or other discarded personal protection equipment. If germ-infested masks or gloves aren’t picked up and disposed of by kind strangers, they can end up posing an even larger threat. One of the most dangerous places a used face mask can end up is in a storm drain. This risks the masks clogging up the drains or ending up in our waterways. Unfiltered storm drains lead to different rivers and bodies of water, and in Michigan, that means they ultimately end up in the Great Lakes.

of drinking water, these plastics that end up in the lakes are ultimately consumed by humans. The water may be treated before consumption, but wastewater treatment plants can’t always filter out such small fragments, so microplastics have been detected in both drinking water and beer made with water from the lakes.

The Great Lakes are a staple of the midwest. They provide drinking water to 40 million people, are the source of recreational entertainment for many, are the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem and are home to numerous wildlife species. Despite this, plastic and chemical pollution in them has been a serious issue for years. As of now, 22 million pounds of plastic end up in the Great Lakes each year and this number will only continue to increase as masks and other sources of plastic continue to end up in the water. Although half of the world’s plastic has hit the market within the last 13 years alone, only 9% has been recycled, while much of the rest continues to be improperly disposed of.

“The fact that masks are made of plastics is kind of a necessary evil. We need to stay safe while we can, but we don’t know how big of an effect the use of these will have on us in the future,” said Dragonetti. “We don’t know how long we’ll be needing to use masks, so we’ll continue to produce them and wear them.”

Disposable masks are made from incredibly tiny plastic fibers, and when they end up in waterways, and eventually the lakes, they break down over time. After they break down, the plastic fibers find their way into the stomachs of aquatic species. Additionally, since the Great Lakes are a large source

Although the long-term effects of plastics in these aquatic species and humans are currently unknown, a recent study on the effects of plastic on water fleas showed hampered growth and reproductive output. These results have begun to cause concern for the scientific community and government. The general population should be wary as well.

While face masks are environmentally harmful, they aren’t the only form of protection in the global COVID-19 pandemic causing issues. With increased safety concerns across the nation, many have turned to stocking up on cleaning supplies to keep their homes clean and their families safe. Hand sanitizer and disinfectants leave the shelves almost as quickly as they’re stocked, and manufacturers have worked overtime to meet the increased demands. While people are merely trying to keep themselves safe, these products are also causing damage to the environment as chemicals from hand sanitizer, soaps, detergents and other cleaning products end up in waters.

Chemicals used in the production of said items have been detected in the water before, but as production increases to meet the evergrowing demand, more and more chemicals are flowing through our rivers. Their end destination? Our Great Lakes, yet again. Safer Chemicals, Healthier Families is an organization working to discontinue the use of hazardous chemicals. One of the chemicals they’re raising awareness of that is currently found in the Great Lakes is galaxolide, a fragrance product used in many cleaning products. It is primarily used to give products their trademark scents, particularly of a lemon or pine variety. Though it has a great smell, it doesn’t belong in lakes. The chemical is known for its inability to break down in the water and its toxicity to fish and other aquatic species. There is also worry the chemical could pose health risks to humans as well, such as faltering mental and reproductive development. Unfortunately, studies have continually found the presence of galaxolide in water sources. One study found its presence within 81% of samples from tributaries that happen to run through urban areas and eventually drain into the Great Lakes. Another study found the chemical in 92% of samples taken from Lake Michigan. Sediments from both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario have shown that concentrations of galaxolide double every eight to 16 years. There are still more chemicals to be wary of in cleaning products that are unscented. Triclosan is used in a variety of soaps, detergents, hand sanitizers and other cosmetic and health products. According to the Lake Ontario Waterkeepers charity, the THECURRENTMSU.COM 21

chemical migrates from homes to waterways upon disposal, but treatment plants are unable to entirely filter it from water. The chemical is present in extraordinary amounts in fish within the Great Lakes and threatens the general food chain. There is evidence it contributes to the formation of toxic dioxin compounds, and the Candian government has declared it toxic to the environment. Triclosan is also expected to interfere with hormone production in both wildlife and humans. Minnesota banned the use of triclosan in cleaning products in 2017 and was the first state to do so. Though it would be helpful for consumers to avoid using products that utilize chemicals such as galaxolide and triclosan, it’s not required for companies to identify galaxolide’s presence on product labels or company websites, and there isn’t much to be done to stop triclosan from infiltrating waterways and ecosystems until more states take action against it. The increased production of cleaning products and soaps due to the COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened worries for both humans and wildlife. In addition to harmful chemicals in waterways, additional pollutants from soaps, detergents and other cleaning products end up in runoff during rainy periods. The presence of these chemicals can lead to increased levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in the water, leading to nutrient pollution and excessive algae growth. When algae grows too fast for an environment, it can substantially harm the water quality and food resources, as well as decrease the amount of oxygen in the water. Without adequate oxygen, aquatic life will struggle to survive. Large algal blooms can also present issues for humans, as they produce toxins and 22 SPRING 2021

bacteria. If humans were to consume fish or water that is too high in toxins or nutrients, they may become very ill. Additionally, infants are even more susceptible to nitrogen in water. One of the ways households can lessen their contribution to nutrient pollution is to choose phosphatefree cleaning products. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, nutrient pollution is one of the country’s most challenging and costly environmental issues. As plastics and chemicals continue to be funnelled into lakes, toxins will keep stockpiling. Although large quantities of water flow into the Great Lakes, not much flows out. In fact, according to the EPA, the outflow is less than 1% of the total volume of water in the lakes. This means pollutants won’t filter out naturally, and these issues will only worsen with time. There is some governmental help when it comes to battling these issues. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was created between the U.S. and Canada to restore and protect the water of the Great lakes. Originally created in 1972 and later updated in 1983, 1987 and 2012, the agreement works to address the effects of invasive species, climate change and toxic chemicals to the water. According to the EPA, the agreement outlines a framework for identifying and addressing issues prevalent to both nations and their shared lakes. Though the agreement is currently in place, its work may not be able to keep up with the growing number of issues plaguing the lakes. Although people are doing our best to stay safe, the consequences of human error are evident. The lost face mask in the grocery

store parking lot could end up in the lakes and the resulting plastic fibers could end up in drinking water. The making of cleaning products used to keep homes sanitized could result in more chemicals in lakes and wildlife. The little things are adding up, but unlike more distant, more general problems, these hit closer to home. There may not be a straightforward way to mitigate the effects of the use of these products, but perhaps the best ways to individually combat these issues are to wear reusable cloth masks, avoid scented cleaning supplies and choose phosphatefree products. Either way, it’s important to be aware there is an issue at all, especially according to Dragonetti. “All the little things matter and add up to create larger problems. The Great Lakes are very important, and if things continue to happen the way they are we won’t be able to use them the way we need to. Some people may not care about what’s happening right now, but knowledge is power. The more people who know, the more that can be done.”

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INSTAGRAM’S IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH By Renee Prvulov Every second, people are scrolling through their phones, checking their Instagram feeds, obsessing over how many likes their posts got and what others are doing. Living in the social media age means that we have access to people’s stories and connects us with individuals and organizations from around the world. But are platforms like Instagram doing more harm than good? According to the #StatusofMind survey conducted by The Royal Society for Public Health in 2017, Instagram has the most negative effect compared to other social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. This is due to the fact that Instagram is more imagebased, giving viewers a false idea of what beauty is and what a happy life looks like. Younger generations anchor their lives around social media. We watched many teens and people in their early twenties rise to fame through social media and become influencers with millions of followers, making thousands of dollars per post. According to Fox, on average, influencers can make up to $100,000 per year on Instagram. The more followers, the more money they can make per post, incentivising people to post more and accumulate a bigger following. According to BroadBandSearch, we spend an average of 144 minutes—over two hours—

on social media each day, and this number keeps growing. Checking social media becomes an addiction, a constant action and something always on your mind. Social media addiction is a coined term. Social media can affect the brain the same way certain drugs do. The Addiction Center’s website states, “When an individual gets a notification, such as a like or mention, the brain receives a rush of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways, causing him or her to feel pleasure.” Through this positive reinforcement, the brain rewires itself to crave more likes, comments, retweets etc.

think they are unwinding, this could further negatively impact their mental health, feeding the addiction.

According to Statista, 82% of college students use Instagram on a regular basis. Active Minds, a nonprofit organization for mental health awareness, reveals that a fairly high number of college students also suffer from mental health issues—39%. There is a correlation between social media use and anxiety and depression in teens and young adults. As college students, we are already under a great deal of stress and pressure from managing our course load, on top of balancing extracurricular activities, jobs and internships. It can be overwhelming. When there is finally a free moment, people instantly reach for their phones, often looking at Instagram. They need to know what they missed, who posted what and how many likes their post received. While they may

But what we see might not reflect reality. Photos, especially those of famous Instagrammers with large follower counts, are edited, idealized versions of their lives. We post the best version of ourselves. Eema Ibrahim, in “How Social Media Can Affect College Students and their Mental Health” for Medium, said “In fact, we may sometimes see ‘edited versions’ of people’s lives, meaning that the content they post may not be an authentic reflection of how they feel. This can often lead to idealized versions and ‘competitions’ between one’s real life and one’s virtual life.”

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Seeing pictures of people we know can cause FOMO because others might seem to be living more exciting, adventurous or glamorous lives. Viewers feel jealous that their own feeds and lives don’t look the same. They might become envious of other’s posts and how many likes they receive, creating a sense of anxiety that they are not doing enough with their daily lives.

With Instagram, we are aware of what others are doing and what we are missing out on. As a result, we feel inadequate and may become THECURRENTMSU.COM 25

use photo-editing apps, such as Photoshop, to make their teeth white, legs skinner, hair more perfect and background brighter. But when these photos are posted, you don’t know what’s real and what’s fake. Some influencers have used their platform to expose the reality of these photos on Instagram. They post a before and after, also labeled as “Real vs. Instagram.” The two images look completely different. It is all about the just-right angle to make themselves look slimmer, finding the right lighting, taking dozens of photos before getting one that’s acceptable and often using heavy filters or photo-editing apps to get the final result seen on social media.

Unrealistic Body Image Instagram is centered around creating an image of what an ideal life and perfect body look like, which creates unrealistic standards from staged and highly edited photos.

Creating filtered or posed content can be detrimental to viewers. It creates unrealistic expectations of what our bodies should look like. When we look at our bodies in a mirror, we compare ourselves to those we have seen on Instagram, perpetuating this false idea of what beauty is. People might develop unhealthy eating habits and experiment with new fad diets to mirror what is being represented in the media. Movements such as the Body Positive Movement have helped to change this ideology, but these toxic beauty standards are still prevalent in our society. Cellulite is normal. Stretch marks are natural. But it’s hard to remember this when your eyes are glued to a screen seeing these “perfect” bodies.

How real are these images on your feed? Some influencers take dozens of photos, rotating poses to get the right picture. On top of that, filters are added, distorting an image from its true form. In addition, some people

Powerful and famous influencers such as Addison Rae and Charlie D’Amelio have received hurtful comments online, some pertaining to their body image. Both young women rose to fame on TikTok, obtaining

depressed about our own lives. Everyone’s lives look different and we shouldn’t be competing for status and clout online.

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millions of followers. They admitted that being in the public eye affects their mental health. They are 16 and 20 years old, respectively, and the online world is under the false impression they have a right to comment on these young women’s bodies. Seeing these influential, young and beautiful women constantly under fire sets a bad standard. Bullying and Low Self-Esteem Instagram and social media, in general, tend to be a hub for negative comments on people’s posts. People troll social media accounts, deliberately and relentlessly leaving harmful comments. Hiding behind a screen allows people to say hurtful things they wouldn’t say face-to-face. They can leave hateful comments for everyone to see and level hateful words in your direct messages. We have no control over what others post or do with what we post and this feeling of not being in control can lead to anxiety and depression. Social media does have positive impacts, when used in moderation. Apps, such as Instagram, give people a platform to have a voice, express themselves, discover who they are, find their community and connect with others around the world. It is a powerful weapon that can be used for good, but also has the potential to cause mass destruction.

Renee Prvulov is a senior majoring in professional writing with a minor in creative writing for fiction. She is a consultant at the writing center and a publishing intern for the Cube. She hopes to attend a publishing institute after graduation, and find a job editing at a publishing company. To destress, she loves to read, write and binge watch on Netflix.

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RETHINKING PROFESSIONALISM By Jarett Greenstein When asked what she felt when she heard the word “professionalism”, and what her opinion of it was, Anna Rose Benson, a business marketing and Spanish double major in her third year at Michigan State University, said, “The word ‘professionalism’ strikes a negative tone with me because I know it’s another way to separate groups into a hierarchy creating inequalities, social divides and prejudice. I do understand the textbook examples of professionalism [...] and I do abide by it, but one of the things I want to abolish and normalize in my career is business attire, look requirements and the way we talk to each other.” There are many aspects of professionalism, but it can most easily be divided between immaterial and material applications. In The Balance, a personal finance site, certified career development facilitator Dawn Rosenberg McKay writes that some of the immaterial conduct expected of a professional is that they arrive on time, are positive, are honest, own up to mistakes, fight fair, help their colleagues out, don’t swear, don’t gossip and don’t overshare. The most obvious example of a material aspect of professionalism is following a dress code. This could mean dressing in business professional clothing in an office or wearing the proper uniform at a restaurant.

But what makes professionalism so important, and why does it play such a pervasive role in the workplace? From a business perspective, professionalism standardizes employee-client interactions. The ability of a client to predict what interaction they are going to have with a business is vital to building trust, which is what gets things sold and brings in new business. One thing inarguably hindered by professionalism is freedom of expression. Benson alluded to this issue when talking about a career fair she went to with a friend: “I was nervous and I had to step outside myself and be this professional version of myself, someone my friend wasn’t used to.” When professionalism’s hindrance of expression is blind to the outside world, companies can get into hot water. After the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, there was an upswell in support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Employees at Starbucks showed their support by donning BLM shirts and pins, but the company, as reported by Heather Murphy with the New York Times, “banned the phrase because it could ‘amplify divisiveness.’” Here is a clear attempt at undermining expression in order to make employee-client interactions go more smoothly. However, the ban caused a large amount of backlash and Starbucks later reversed its decision.

The dress code has been weaponized time and time again. In the name of professionalism, Black women have been told their natural hair does not comply with the rules. Ariel W., in an interview with Teen Vogue, recounted how, in her business program at college, it was reiterated that hair should be “well-kept.” She of course knew they implied “straightened.” Dress codes can also reinforce gender stereotypes by requiring women to wear heels or men to wear suits. Not only can this use of a dress code be sexist, it can also reinforce the gender binary and make it hard for nonbinary people to express themselves. This can also be hard on transgender people who are transitioning, as was the case for Katelyn Burns. In her article, “Here’s What Trans People Really Think Of Your Dress Code”, in Everyday Feminism, she talks about how a slower transition into a new gender presentation can be an easier adjustment for everyone at the company, not just the person transitioning. Another aspect of professionalism is being prepared for work, and that means having the proper education to do the job. In an article from Psychology Today, Tami Winfrey Harris talks about how speakers of African-American Vernacular English often have to code switch to achieve upward mobility in the workplace. In a society where white is normative,

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anything that doesn’t sound white is deemed “bad” English. Derick Longley, as is detailed in an article by Erik Ortiz for NBC News, sued Saks Fifth Avenue for racial discrimination. What tipped Longley off as to the reason why he was not being promoted was that one of the brand ambassadors at the store told him to stop speaking “ghetto” and “ebonics” to Black customers. In a work culture where a Black accent is viewed as undesirable, managers have something to hold onto and criticize in the name of professionalism. This brings up a deeper point. If professionalism is meant to encourage honesty, integrity,

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transparency and respect, then why, when it is actually applied, are there such adverse results? Might it be for some of the same reasons the law is sometimes applied in a biased manner even though it applies to all? If we are to analyze professionalism as a means of building trust between workers and between businesseses and their clients, what does professionalism say about us? Is trust not another word for comfort? Traditionally in the western, white-collar workplace, anyone who was not a white, cisgender man was a foreigner. The definition of xenophobia in the Oxford English Dictionary is, “a deep antipathy to foreigners.”

In an article for fashion site Coveteur, Camille Freestone writes on the use of shoulder pads by women in the 1980s. Freestone said, “Women began to embrace the idea of dressing for the job you want by, quite literally, dressing more like their male colleagues.” She then talks about politicians such as Margaret Thatcher and Hillary Clinton, both shoulder-pad wearers, both breakers, or scrapers, of the glass ceiling. Why, though, must they change their gender expression to be found trustworthy enough for their positions? In the article by Tami Winfrey Harris, she writes that, “During the 2008 presidential

election, both Barack Obama and some of his high-profile supporters were criticized for what some viewed as nefarious use of a black accent or the cynical unleashing of a ‘hidden’ black accent when among other African Americans.” If a CEO must be professional, then certainly the President of the United States must be the most professional, but what does honesty, integrity and respect have to do with shoulder pads and speech patterns? In looking at how presidential candidates imagine professionalism, one can gauge what their constituents view as professional, and the result is not only a quelling of selfexpression but an alteration of identity to fit a socially-constructed model, and that model is xenophobic. So, how can it be fixed? For one, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted the flow of everyday life and it is in this disruption where old patterns can be broken and reorganized. Sam Juric, for CBC, took the opportunity presented by this reflective time to see how people answered the title question, “Will workplace flexibility extend to employee dress codes in the post-COVID world?” While one person talked about the classism associated with professional dress, and another talked about how it costs more for people with different body types, they all came to the conclusion that change might be a good thing and that cultivating enjoyment in life should be more important than a dress code. Benson expressed much the same sentiment when asked if she thought professionalism should change. “I want professionalism to have different connotations.” She continues, “I want

professionalism to mean more inclusion and respect. Lastly, I want it to be more friendly and not so serious.” While more and more companies are dropping or loosening their dress codes, it has not historically been for the purpose of social justice. According to NPR, companies are instead making the shift to compete for the millennial talent being absorbed into Silicon Valley. Either way, for companies that do still have a dress code, the Human Rights Campaign recommends that it avoid gender stereotypes, and if grooming guidelines are presented, that they be reasonable and serve a legitimate business purpose. Aysa Grey, writing for the Stanford Social Innovation Review, also recommends employers recognize and foster awareness of implicit bias and white supremacy culture, but warns that one implicit bias workshop will not be enough to create systemic change. Instead, they should work with consultants who specialize in white supremacy culture

to create HR policies that embrace cultural differences, critically look at accepted professional tenets, center traditionally marginalized voices in assessments and examine work culture and hiring, firing and promoting practices in real time. After the pandemic passes, the plague of systemic issues will still exist. No longer are the words “return to normalcy” acceptable because what was normal was unjust. While the solutions to these problems are not going to come overnight, none will come until concepts like professionalism are rethought and the implicit biases that have historically defined those concepts are confronted. Jarett Greenstein is a junior double majoring in professional and public writing as well as English with a concentration in creative writing. He is currently the assistant managing editor at the Red Cedar Review, and you can find him on Twitter @JarettWrites.

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PAIN AND PRIDE: BEING BLACK IN THE SOUTH By Lacie Kunselman Racism does not solely exist in the American South, but the region’s history and culture has shaped the narrative of the nation. The South is home to states that go red every election, plantations, cotton fields, monuments to Confederate generals and white-supremacist hate groups. But for many Black people in America, the South is home. Although much has changed in the past century, the parallels of a Black female’s experience in the South remain. When Elizabeth Bentley Simpson, 72, and Keyonna Mills, 20, shared what their lives have looked like, both had a love-hate relationship with the South. Born in Augusta, GA in 1948, Elizabeth Simpson grew up during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, watching legends like Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis on television. Her father was a painter and interior designer and her mother worked as a private duty nurse, meaning Simpson’s family was well-known and respected by the white families for whom they worked. Augusta was calmer than other major Southern cities at that time, such as Birmingham and Jackson. Simpson’s parents worked hard to keep their family protected, turning off the news during violent protests 32 SPRING 2021

and teaching them their skin color had no adverse effect on their worth. “They wanted us to have a sense of comfort in who we are. They wanted us to recognize that we were not inferior to anyone, and that was part of what many parents of color would teach their children.” Simpson said, “There would be people who, out of ignorance, [my mother] would say, would feel that we were less than.”

Simpson attended the historically black Paine College in Augusta, and the small private Methodist college expanded her horizons further. It felt similar to high school except she now had many white instructors, all of whom valued the Black students and treated them equally. Simpson’s other friends, who went to more integrated schools, were surprised by the general civility they encountered, saying “they didn’t even know they were white kids” because most of them respected their Black classmates.

The reality of what being Black meant at that time was something Simpson didn’t understand at first. As a child, she would ask her parents what “white water” was when she walked by water fountains. It wasn’t until sixth grade she began to grasp the depth of racism and segregation. Each day, she had a long bus ride to her segregated school and, during the ride, she would pass a beautiful new school with gorgeous landscaping so close she could walk to it. But, that school was for whites only.

The one black cloud over Simpson’s college career came when the Ku Klux Klan fired a gunshot in the school. Because of that act of hatred meant to spread terror and threaten the peaceful atmosphere of Paine College, Simpson’s class was unable to walk at graduation. Their caps and gowns were replaced with a reminder that the unison and camaraderie of Paine College was not universal to the South.

The schools in Augusta, and most of the South, remained segregated until the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Simpson’s school was still majority Black, but she knew many of her new white classmates because of her mother’s job. There were people who disagreed with integration everywhere, but it was nothing like in the South.

Simpson proceeded to do incredible things and accomplish all the goals her parents constantly encouraged her to pursue. She traveled the world working for the United Service Organizations, which provides entertainment to the armed forces, moving across Europe and Asia to countries such as Greece, Japan, Thailand, Germany and Italy,

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while getting her Masters degree from Central Michigan University. She worked as a senior executive in human resources in Boston, which allowed her to advocate for diversity and inclusion in the corporate world. Now, she and her husband live in Macon, GA. Keyonna Mills is just 20-years-old and has lived in Macon all her life. Like Simpson, she had a lot of support from her family to give her a relatively sheltered life. But, also like Simpson, Mills still faces challenges because of racism. Although segregation officially ended in 1964, Mills and other Black people still experience its effects. For example, in Macon, and many other Southern cities, white families responded to the call for integration by opening private schools, which even now are primarily white. All but one of the eight major private schools in the area were established as segregation academies between 1960 and 1970. Mills attended the one that wasn’t, which was founded in 1840 and was the first school in Middle Georgia to integrate. The effects of segregation are still prevalent in churches, as well. “We have two of the same churches, and nine out of ten, the other one is down the street, and it’s the black version and the white version,” Mills said. The church Mills attended had only Black members. This separation of races may no longer occur by obligation, but still exists out of habit. For the most part, Mills felt comfortable during high school. She knew some people thought less of her because she was Black, but she focused on those who saw her worth. However, this was not always easy. During Mills’ sophomore year, five white, male

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students were exposed to the administration for having a racist group chat, comparing Black people to monkeys who needed to be chained up. The boys’ only punishment was one-day suspension. Mills, and many other Black students, felt invalidated by the lax response to the offense. One of the boys was someone Mills thought of as a friend, and that hurt more than anything. Although he apologized to her, the other boys went on

with their lives as usual, not changing their behavior. Other white students even started a hashtag in support of the offenders, spreading #freetheboys during their suspension. One thing Mills noted that stood out from Simpson’s narrative is the microaggressions she experienced from other Black people. Because she attended a primarily white school and was friends with white students

even say anything to me.” When Mills went to college in Atlanta at Georgia State University, which has high Black enrollment, she worried about making friends, wondering if all Black people hated her for a reason she couldn’t understand. “I’m used to being the only Black person in the space,” Mills said. Life in the South is all she knows, so she can’t imagine leaving. That doesn’t mean she lives without fear, however. She worries about her 11-year-old brother. Every time she sees the news announce another Black man dying, she can’t help but think of her little brother. So can the South ever change? Can America ever change? It won’t be easy, and it will take a long time. Simpson and Mills both emphasized that, saying younger generations give them hope. Simpson sees a lot of similarities between the Black Lives Matter movement and the Civil Rights Movement. The parallels between Simpson, a teen during the Civil Rights Movement and Mills, a teen during the BLM movement, are clear.

instead of Black ones, she often receives judgement from other Black people. When she started attending private schools, other families would say things like, “Why are you going there? You think you’re all that?” When her Black friends from outside of school found out she had only white friends, they told her “Black people need to stick together.”

Mills always felt she didn’t fit in with either group. Her skin color and culture separated her from her white friends, but she never seemed to be accepted by Black people either. The blame was always placed on Mills for not having Black friends, but when Mills attempted to hang out with them, she said, “they were not having it. They wouldn’t

“Young people today, between 18 and 35, are seeing things through a very different lens. They’re open to change and they question inequities.” Simpson said. “I go back to when I was growing up and my mom would question inequities, but people who were not people of color just said, ‘Oh it is what it is.’ But young people like [the author] and others who are part of this movement with people who look like me are saying, ‘Yeah, but that’s really wrong.’ Now there are people who don’t look like me who are THECURRENTMSU.COM 35

saying the same thing and feeling that same sense of ‘But why?’” According to Simpson, it was rare to see many white people arm-in-arm at the protests during the Civil Rights Movement. Black people had to fight mostly on their own for their rights, but this time the support from other races is showing. That, Simpson said, gives her hope, and that is what will make the protests successful. Mills says the first step is admitting something is wrong. That’s the step going on right now as advocates everywhere push for awareness of the systemic racism pervading this country. “We shouldn’t be glorifying the parts of America that were holding people against their will. Taking down the monuments that stand for hatred, the Confederate flag, that’s the first way to make the South more welcoming to everybody,” Mills said. Education, she added, is equally important. The history of the United States cannot keep glossing over all the bad parts and hiding the true narrative of racism. In a 2018 study from the Southern Poverty Law Center, “Teaching Hard History: American Slavery”, 58% of teachers said they weren’t satisfied with their textbooks, and 40% said their school provided no additional resources for teaching about slavery. Until people learn how to recognize their own biases, they’ll never go away. Simpson says it all starts with the nation’s leaders. Simpson spoke to The Current before the 2020 presidential election was called and Trump was still in office. 36 SPRING 2021

“It always starts with leadership no matter what you are trying to do,” Simpson said. “Leadership has played a huge role in the last four years. When we have a leader whose mindset is more closed than a leader should be, the messaging is very one-sided, very closed; it’s not seen as participative in any way and not a democracy.” When Donald Trump could not renounce white supremacy, and when his administration said in an executive order that racism ended with the victory of the Civil War, he discredited the struggles of every single BIPOC in the nation. Whether directly or indirectly, he further establishes racist stereotypes and perpetuates the racial divide. In a speech in October 2020, Trump said, “Suburban women, will you please like me? I saved your damn neighbourhood.” This is an example of what Simpson meant when she said he reinforces stereotypes. “Everybody knows what that means,” Simpson said. “There isn’t a person who doesn’t see that he’s saying, ‘I’m not going to have these public houses built by you; you’re not going to have to worry about a prison being over there. And you know it’s going to be more minorities if we do, so I saved you and your neighborhoods.’ People know what that means! He’s saying you know it would be people of color and they’ll mess up your neighborhoods.” That indirect racism allows his supporters to say he is not really racist, or as Trump might put it, that he’s “the least racist person in the room.” The same applies to his sexist and otherwise disrespectful comments.

“I can’t even conceive a woman voting for him,” Simpson said. “But a whole big slew of them did.” Ultimately, Simpson stressed the need for a less-divisive leader; someone who will heal our nation and bring unity instead of further polarization. But she is hopeful. States like Georgia can go blue. White people can join in the protests. Better leaders can get elected. Healing can finally come to a nation. Black people have been made to feel inferior in this nation for centuries, but the pride they have in their culture, their heritage and their ancestors cannot be stomped out. “I love being Black. It’s awesome. As a collective, we all share some of the same experiences. When we need each other, we’ll pull together,” Mills said. “I have no reason to be embarrassed or ashamed by who I am. If God made me in his image, why should I feel inferior in any way? And why would I allow anyone to tell me that I’m not?” Simpson said. Simpson thinks back to when she was little, dancing down the street singing to James Brown’s “I’m Black and I’m Proud,” and she still feels the same as that little girl.

Lacie Kunselman is a second-year student pursuing a double major in professional writing and public relations. She aspires to one day be managing editor for a magazine or be a PR executive at a sustainable fashion or lifestyle brand. Her less-academic pursuits include beach volleyball, macrame and thrift shopping.

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TIKTOK’S #AGEOFAQUARIUS: A FORAY INTO THE GEN Z MINDSCAPE By Jarett Greenstein An Introduction to TikTok TikTok, besides being what a serial killer might scream when chasing their next victim, is an intensely popular video-based social media platform. It launched in 2016 by Chinese company ByteDance and, as of November 2020, has surpassed 2.5 billion global downloads according to trusted market intelligence site Sensor Tower. A lawsuit filed in August against the U.S. government over the potential banning of the app TikTok, as reported by Alex Sherman with CNBC, revealed there are about 100 million active monthly users in the U.S., with 50 million daily active users. These numbers continue to trend up. According to Hootsuite, the average user spends 46 minutes a day on the app. About 35% of users have participated in a hashtag challenge, which typically involves making a video doing a popular dance and tagging it with the appropriate hashtag, and 64% of users have tried face filters or lenses. With 69% of users in the age range of 13-24, Gen Z dominates the app. The video-sharing platform is not unlike Instagram and Twitter in that users are presented with a feed or “timeline” they scroll through to view content, but TikTok’s secret weapon is the “For You” page. Instead of being curated by who you follow, the “For You” page is an endless stream of diverse content tailored to the user by data mining.

In a blog post from the company, they detail measures in place to disrupt repetitive and boring patterns in the “For You” page by not showing two videos in a row by the same creator, or two videos with the same sound. They also diversify users’ feeds by recommending videos the user may not have previously shown interest in or ever interacted with in an effort to give users “additional opportunities to stumble across new content categories, discover new creators and experience new perspectives and ideas as you scroll through your feed.” TikTok appears to be a new frontier on the internet and has given many cultural niches space to flourish in the realm of content creation and followers. In fact, when people thought TikTok was going to get banned in the summer of 2020, YouTuber MacDoesIt made three different videos reacting to “Every TikTok Community,” totaling an hour and 13 minutes with 3.4 million views. He must have missed some, but he covered Frog TikTok, Sword TikTok, Twilight TikTok, Doctor TikTok and many more. That may be a lot of different communities, but they all fall under the umbrella “Alt TikTok,” as opposed to the mainstream monolith of “Straight TikTok,” where you will find the likes of Addison Rae and Charli D’Amelio dancing while conventionally handsome teens like Chase Hudson make thirst traps.

While it technically falls under the umbrella of “Alt TikTok,” Spiritual TikTok is a world of its own. The ideas circulating there are not necessarily new, but a number of the people engaging with them certainly are. It has afforded both members from the fringes of modern spirituality and those skeptical of mainstream religions a space to trade ideas and find resonance in them. Manifestation One telltale sign of the power of this new rise in spiritualism is the use of manifestation by Gen Zers. #Manifestation has 5.6 billion views on TikTok and is described by TikToker @littleriverwitch on the channel @witch.camp as, “the act of actively and consciously using the law of attraction to fulfill and bring things you want into your life.” To describe the law of attraction, she says it “states that similar frequencies attract like frequencies” and that our thoughts have different frequencies. Using this logic, she then talks about how positive thoughts put out positive frequencies or vibrations, which then attract the object of those thoughts into our lives. Though you can find this description of manifestation in terms of vibrations all over TikTok, this description is markedly different from the ways in which the Law of Attraction has been described in the past. According to Katherine Hurst on TheLawOfAttraction.com, THECURRENTMSU.COM 39

it was first brought to public consciousness most notably by 19th century spiritual thinkers, Helena Blavatsky and Thomas Troward, who both believed people would “...learn the most by combining teachings from a range of spiritual traditions.” Blavatsky contended that the way we think about ourselves is what defined our limitations. This belief is parroted by Troward, who is quoted as saying, “Belief in limitation is the one and only thing that causes limitation.” Now, as is pointed out by Dr. Denise Fournier in Psychology Today, this way of looking at the world implies that what happens in one’s life is a choice. She also brings up that a large part of the conversation on manifestation is less about how to actually achieve the goals being manifested, but is instead focused on the act of manifestation itself. That isn’t to say manifestation isn’t helpful. To put it in psychological terms, Dr. Fournier equates manifestation to mindset and demonstrates 40 SPRING 2021

through the use of Victor Frankl, author of “Man’s Search for Meaning,” and his survival of the Holocaust how the way one looks at one’s circumstances greatly affects how they maneuver through them. For someone wondering how members of the spiritual community on TikTok actually practice manifestation, the most common way is to write down affirmations in the form of “I am” statements. A person hoping to be more happy might write, “I am happy.” Writing things in the present tense, as if you already have the things or traits you want, is what differentiates manifestation from journaling or writing in a diary. The reason why you might not be getting or becoming what you are manifesting, according TikToker @taraelle_, is because you aren’t writing in the present tense, you have a subconscious block or you have doubts. To remedy these doubts, you should “realize you are the creator of your own destiny and that you have full control.”

Another use of manifestation is in “shifting” to what are called “desired realities” through the use of “scripting.” According to user @shifting. help_, when you are “scripting,” you should write down who you are “shifting” into, what their personality is, where you are going to wake up, what it smells like, etc. They also state that one day in your “dr” is one second in your real life and that you should have safe words to take you out of wherever it is you go. You should also write statements like “I will be safe and I will be fine mentally and I will not die in my ‘dr.’” Once you are done “scripting,” you use any one of the many “shifting” methods to reach your “desired reality.” The logic behind this, according to @sakeiya, is that “reality is a simulation and a reality out of infinite ones, and you can shift to any reality you desire as we live in a multiverse.” A common “dr” among shifters is Hogwarts. Spiritual Awakening The spiritual awakening crowd on Spiritual TikTok probably has the closest ties to the Age of Aquarius preachers of the 60s and 70s and to the beliefs of the New Age movement of the 20th century more broadly. Spiritual Awakening folks believe in the attainment of 5th dimensional (5d, also called 5th density) consciousness through a raising of one’s vibration in a process called “ascension” or “waking up.” The vibration that one reaches at the end of this ascension is love, or the highest vibration/frequency. According to user @ lilliana72, someone with 5d consciousness has “dissipated” their ego, meaning material

things have no value and they live by love and peace. Someone with 4d consciousness is in the process of awakening, while the grand majority of people have 3d consciousness and lack a larger purpose. This is another complex system of beliefs and ultimately one that is continuously developing, so people even within the community will believe in different things, but as @hallow_ hollis describes it, one aspect of this belief is the understanding that there are three types of children here to help with the transition into the Age of Aquarius, the age of universal love and higher consciousness. Indigo children are the revolutionaries, the ones who are meant to break the old world and usher in the new. Crystal children are the designers of the new world. Rainbow children are the ones who already live in this new world and are here to encourage others to “awaken” and join them. The role that resonates most with you is the one that “will help you find your spiritual purpose here on Earth.”

Why Now? The 1960s and 70s saw an explosion in the use of psychedelics along with the rise of the counterculture hippie movement. In an article discussing the book “Encountering America: Humanistic Psychology, Sixties Culture & the Shaping of the Modern Self” by Jessica Grogan, Bill Kohlhaase writes “America after World War II was awash in subdivisions, new appliances, Cold War anxiety, and applied psychology,” and that “Americans felt alienated.” He also writes that, “The pressure to conform was also a central reason for a plague of American anxiety.” Of the New Age movement, Melton in his Britannica entry writes, “The movement also spoke to the sick and psychologically wounded who had been unable to find help through traditional medicine and psychotherapy.” Here we can see some of the similarities between the conditions of the 60s, which gave rise to the counterculture hippie

movement and its spiritual equivalent, the New Age movement, and the conditions of Gen Z, particularly in terms of alienation. According to Grogan, psychologists of the 50s and 60s placed little emphasis on the individual, as did society as a whole. In reaction to this, the humanistic psychology movement arose, just as the countercultural movement arose in reaction to conformity. But why? Because conformity is another way of telling the individual that they don’t matter and this is the root of alienation. Alienation is “a distinct kind of psychological or social ill; namely, one involving a problematic separation between self and other that properly belong together,” according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. In the 60s, this separation was between the self and the actions of the body that resulted from the crackdown on self-expression. Whether it was conscious or unconscious, this fight for individual expression can be seen as a sort of survival mechanism triggered by the immune system of society: the youth. The more severe

The belief in the coming of a new age, which gives the New Age movement its name, is rooted in Helena Blavatsky, along with manifestation. According to the entry on the New Age movement by J. Gordon Melton in the Encyclopædia Britannica, Blavatsky “believed that theosophists (who embraced Buddhist and Brahmanic notions such as reincarnation) should assist the evolution of the human race and prepare to cooperate with one of the Ascended Masters of the Great White Brotherhood whose arrival was imminent.” It is out of this seed that the New Age movement grew, then died, then came back again on Spiritual TikTok. But why?

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the degree of alienation, the more severe the reaction in the youth, only now the alienation is not between the self and the body but between the heart and its beating. Time and time again, Gen Z has been shown that they do not matter, but not in the same way as the children of the 50s, who in a short time would tee off the counterculture movement. Now, in addition to being shown that their individual traits don’t matter, they have been shown that their lives don’t matter. Since the Columbine school shooting, almost nothing has been done on the federal level to combat mass shootings at schools. Since the simultaneous burning and drowning of the planet, America has left the Paris Agreement. Since the rise of social media, little has been done to protect people from the measures taken by Silicon Valley and the like to heighten popular addiction to their products. According to the Center for Disease Control, the suicide rate for people between the ages of 10 and 24 has more than doubled to 56% between 2007 and 2017. And according to Forbes, so has the sale of sci-fi and fantasy books. “Are you going through a spiritual awakening?” reads the caption to TikToker @malisiacallahan’s video. In it, she dances to a song while the text, “How to know if youre [sic] going through a spiritual awakening,” flashes onto the screen. The text is subsequently replaced by the various symptoms of a spiritual awakening. “Constant anxiety.” “Vivid dreams.” “Depressive episodes.” “Constant feeling of somethings [sic] ‘wrong’ or fear.” “Feeling disconnected from friends and family.” “Feeling overwhelmed and alone.” “Picking

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up on others energy.” “Constantly waking up between 2-4am [sic].” She parts with, “Welcome to spiritual tik tok [sic], you’re an Empath!” If you noticed a correlation between these symptoms and mental illness, you are not alone. The first rule of moral psychology, according to Dr. Jonathan Haidt in his book, “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion”, is that “Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second.” He illustrates this by looking at the mind like a rider and elephant. The elephant is intuition and the rider is post-hoc reasoning. This post-hoc reasoning is presented as rational thinking to others but, according to Haidt, it is really just a person making sense of what they feel intuitively. Because so much of spirituality is about channeling your intuitions about the universe, looking at Gen Z spirituality and what ideas from the past resonate with them while using this tool from moral psychology could be useful in understanding Gen Z’s gut reaction to the conditions they were born in. In a video called, “what is it like to be a starseed?” by @unicoleunicorn, she explains that “Starseeds are alien consciousness born into human bodies. Because of our unique energy signatures, we have pretty hard lives. Being a starseed is a super lonely experience. It feels like nobody understands you and it feels like your family is far away in space. Starseeds have a super different energy signature than other earthlings. Because of this, they’re often diagnosed with severe mental illness because of their inability to just go about life like nothing is wrong.” If I was

a little more open-minded or got on TikTok a little earlier, I might have thought I was a starseed too. The user continues, “-as the internet expands on these topics you can find other starseeds like you.” While some of the content on Spiritual TikTok is purely escapist, the bulk of it is about community building, something that is of the utmost importance, not only in helping victims of alienation but also in solving the problems that cause it. According to Dr. Haidt, even before the Holocene epoch, the groups whose gods promoted cooperation were the ones that survived. As humanity teters at the edge of midnight, maybe we could all learn a little something from listening to our gut.

Jarett Greenstein is a junior double majoring in professional and public writing as well as English with a concentration in creative writing. He is currently the assistant managing editor at the Red Cedar Review, and you can find him on Twitter @JarettWrites.

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A LABOR OF LOVE: THE PERSEVERANCE OF SMALL BUSINESSES By Lacie Kunselman Machines made life a lot easier, but they also made it a lot less special. When the Industrial Revolution brought new technology, it meant items could be mass-produced in huge quantities at record speeds. Things like interchangeable parts and assembly lines made it easier and cheaper for ordinary people to make things, so companies could roll out thousands of identical products all in a day’s work. Less training and cheaper products sounds great for companies and consumers, but it comes with a catch. Not only is this model wasteful, but products lose individuality and,

often, their quality. Now some products are produced in sweatshops by laborers earning unfair wages, calling the ethics of big companies into question. There are plenty of reasons to shop small, including the desire for one-of-a-kind products. If someone sat on a bench on Grand River Avenue to watch students go by, they’d probably see hundreds of girls wearing Nike Air Force One’s, countless boys wearing the same version of a Champion hoodie and a fleet of North Face backpacks. The view gets a little repetitive thanks to mass production, big businesses and must-have trends. The individualist might reject that notion and shop small so they can customize their belongings beyond the crowd. “Independent businesses bring originality and variety in a world that’s becoming increasingly homogenized,” said Craig Costello, artist and founder of KRINK. Others shop small to be ethical. When a product is made by a local artisan and priced with that in mind, the consumer can see the faces behind the company and know their money is not perpetuating the sketchy practices of big businesses. Many small businesses commit to using responsiblysourced materials or eliminating production

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waste, something that is hard to find on a corporate scale. Shopping small can make a difference. Tamara Santibanez, a tattoo artist and publisher, said, “By doing so, you’re directly putting money back into your own community. You’re funding great ideas and ventures that can only exist outside of mainstream, corporate chains.” Someone may shop small because they have a specific taste that isn’t well-represented in big companies. Others shop small out of a respect for artists and a desire to support them. Regardless of the reason, supporting small creators plays an important role in shaping the direction of the economy and often changes the lives of the business owners. As Foster Kamer, writer and director of online magazine Mental Floss said, “Supporting independent businesses is substantially important to supporting what you love about a city.” Jessica Williams is the owner and founder of Beyond the Stars Boutique, which sells unique and handmade jewelry. Her products are carried at retailers in the Georgia area and can be purchased from her website. It has been her full-time job for five years. Williams has a college degree in Psychology. She worked as the activities director at a local

retirement community, but she started making jewelry on the side as well as doing wedding planning. When both businesses took off, she decided to jump in and pursue them full-time. Williams’ family and friends were always supportive, but her decision brought a lot of judgement with it. “At first people would say, ‘What do you do? Is that your real job?’” Williams said. “At the time, people were shocked because [my husband] and I hadn’t been married very long, and we didn’t have children. Your traditional role is that if you’re going to stay and work from home, it’s something you do for your children.” Many small businesses begin as ways for mothers to control their own schedule and balance the demands of working and family, but it certainly isn’t the only reason to pursue more personalized, creative endeavors. No one should need justification to do what Williams did, but American culture emphasizes a one-way path to success: get a degree, get a corporate job, get ahead. Not everyone is meant to work a nine to five job and success isn’t only found in a cubicle. Creative work is often undervalued and under-respected. It isn’t considered a “real job” in many people’s eyes and they think a product is only worth the time and materials it takes. Creating things takes skill. The expertise and invention that each product requires add to its value. Being unique adds value. Being intentionally and thoughtfully made adds value. Unfortunately, not everyone sees the value in these things. Many small businesses, such as Beyond the Stars Boutique, have only one employee.

Williams designs and creates the products, updates her website, orders materials, promotes them on social media, packs orders, coordinates with local store owners and manages the finances. Her husband helps with the financial records and builds all of her displays, but generally, Williams is the sole employee running the whole show—and it’s not the easy job people make it out to be. A lot has changed since Williams opened Beyond the Stars Boutique and it is becoming more acceptable to be a maker. It’s also becoming more common to shop small. People choose to find gifts on Etsy, the digital platform allowing anyone to sell handmade products, or they buy from the creators they see on social media such as TikTok. A lot of times, young people are the driving force behind supporting small businesses, even with college debt and minimum wage jobs. The higher price makes it less accessible, but young people see the value in creative work and want to put their money somewhere they know it will be appreciated. Millennials and Gen Z feel connected to the items and their makers, feeling more inclined to spend when they know exactly who their purchase benefits. “When you shop small, it really does impact a whole family, not just the maker.” Williams said. “There’s so much hard work and dedication that goes into what makers do, and the quality of the products is so different.”

art matters and it reminds these tired artists that people love their work and are willing to support it. “People don’t just pump things out to pump things out. Money’s nice, but it’s not about that.” Williams said. “The time they take, the effort they put into making something, and the love, that’s coming from a person wanting to create a quality product.” And that won’t be found at typical stores. You can find Jessica’s products online at https://cutt.ly/beyondthestars.

When a customer chooses to shop small, it makes a statement. It shows that creative work has value and allows someone to do what they love and it supports the people who stick with their values and commit to making quality, ethical products. It says that THECURRENTMSU.COM 45

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