Spotlight 2017

SPOTLIGHT 2017

From the Editors Spotlight Staff I distinctly remember the moment I realized I’d been “hoodwinked, bamboozled, run amok, led astray.” I was standing on the sidewalk outside of a QuikTrip gas station on the corner of Vandeventer and Chouteau in South St. Louis. Weeks earlier, I along with the rest of the nation, watched live streams on Twitter of the people of Ferguson, Missouri being tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets and charged at by cops while running away. People wearing t-shirts, jeans and holding paper signs protesting the killing of Michael Brown Jr., were faced down by military vehicles, kevlar vests and assault rifles.

Now, there I stood, waiting for the moment when these officers of the law, those I’d been raised to believe were there to “protect and serve” me, would decide to charge at me, restrain my wrists with plastic zip ties and throw me in the back of a van, simply for filming their actions. In horror, I watched officers of the “law” advance on protesters, who were sitting peacefully on the ground, while hitting their leg shields with their batons in cadence, making a terrifying rat-a-tat sound. I watched another officer, with his military-style boots, stomp on a protester who sat on the ground screaming as they pepper sprayed those who didn’t move out of their way.

Watching television and some print media, regurgitate without question, the highly inaccurate statements released from the police on what had happened, while statements from those of us who bore witness were ignored, was infuriating. It was then that I was fueled by new sense of purpose and wanted to pursue the goal of being a journalist who would learn the truth, tell the truth and hold the powerful accountable.

Many of us spend our entire K-12 education being force fed a sanitized, Disney-style version of history supplemented an educational system meant to prepare us to simply pass tests, rather than make sure we’re retaining actual knowledge. Until entering college, many people do not learn the true history of how this nation was built, nor how it has operated for the past 500 years. Even then, students only learn this if they take the initiative to attend the right classes because, even in college, European history is required, while history of minority cultures is an elective.

This publication that Katja and I put our hearts and souls into is a millennial edition news magazine. We wanted to address the issues that we believe millennials want to know about or should know about, as it affects their lives. Race, politics, social justice, feminism, domestic violence, technology, education and financial issues are all relevant, especially now.

With a Donald Trump presidency on the horizon, truth, sustainful action and above all, education are going to be paramount to our survival for the next four years and beyond. While there is so much more we wish we had the time and space to address, we hope this will serve as a jumping off point and that our readers will continue to pursue further knowledge on their own.

It is now, and will continue to be, the job of the millennial generation to demand transparency, hold the powerful accountable and challenge the system at all costs. Former Black Panther Assata Shakur said, “It is the one percent, the heads of large corporations, who control the policies of news media and determine what you and I hear on radio, read in the newspapers, see on television. It is more important for us to think about where the media gets its information.”

Always trust your instincts and question everything.

Amber Lipsey & Katja Liebing “No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them.

Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free.”-Assata Shakur

Editor-in-Chief: Amber Lipsey

Photo Editor: Katja Liebing

Staff Writers: Alexis Downey Emily Harper Peter Chao Bryan Owens Remington Annetta Esmeralda Quiroz Will Mauriz Photographers: Michael Watkins Irma Carrillo Kaitlyn Davie Erick Lemus Veronica Barriga William Nestlehutt Kathryn Zamudio Cristian Cotaya Contributors: John Orona Samantha Molina Eric Haynes Faculty Advisor: Nathan McIntire Photo Advisor: Tim Berger Special thanks to Samantha Molina, Kristen Luna and Keely Damara for their amazing talent, dedication and contributions to making this issue a success.

Pasadena City College Spotlight Magazine 2017

Contents 9

SPOTLIGHT 2017

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1 Black at PCC

30

Bridging the divide

Cover photo by Katja Liebing

6 She.Codes

Fighting sexism in STEM

7 A House is Not a Home

Why millennials aren’t putting down roots

9 Legalized Slavery Mass incarceration in the USA

15 Uproar in LA Protest in photos

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17 Waste Culture Couture Slave labor fashions

27 19 Concussion

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USA’s favorite sport under attack

23 Boys Don’t Cry

31 Afropunk

Punks of color in Pasadena

The violent cult of masculinity

33 College First

First gen students defy the odds

27 Online Dating

More people are swiping right

29 Mobile Evolution From rotary to smart phones

30 Your Voice, Your Vote

... or the lack thereof

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Story and photos by Katja Liebing

BLACK AT PCC 1

“I am invisible … simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.”

- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

Story and photos

by Katja Liebing

A

black man pushes a broom through the empty streets of downtown Pasadena in the middle of the night. He sweeps up the dirt people and cars leave behind and hardly gets seen by anyone. But once in awhile someone would notice the jacket he is wearing bearing the big letters USA. PCC alumni and Olympian Mac Robinson won a silver medal in 1936, but upon his return was forced to earn his income as a street sweeper.

“I heard a lot of people talk about how they thought I was showing off, wearing my USA jacket, but they missed the point,” Matthew ‘Mack’ Robinson said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “It was the warmest thing I had and when it was a cold day, it the warmest thing I owned, so I wore it.

I never did understand those people.

How do you suppose they thought I felt?

There I was, a silver medalist in the Olympic games, sweeping the streets in my hometown. Maybe they didn’t think I was proud, but I had kids at home to feed. I had to take whatever I could get.”

Robinson was a freshman at Pasadena Junior College (now PCC) when he qualified for the Olympic trials and went on to finish second behind Jesse Owens in the 200 meters. But when he returned home to Pasadena there was no parade to celebrate him and no hero’s welcome.

“I was standing on the victory stand in Berlin and all I could think about was how proud I was, how proud for my family and for everyone in Pasadena,” Robinson told the Los Angeles Times.

“If anybody in Pasadena was proud of me, other than my family and close friends, they never showed it. I was totally ignored—the way I was ignored in Berlin—when I got home. The only time I got noticed was when somebody asked me if I’d race against a horse during an assembly at school.’’

After his return, the Olympian could not find a decent job and for many years worked as a custodian cleaning the city’s sewers before being promoted to

sweep the streets of Pasadena.

“I really believe that if he were a white silver medalist coming home from Germany,” Robinson’s wife Delano said to KPCC, “he wouldn’t be digging ditches or asphalt.”

When Robinson qualified for the trials in New York, it was uncertain if the young athlete could attend the trials on the other side of the country.

“Pasadena Junior College didn’t have any money to send me,” Robinson said.

“And I didn’t have a dime to make a trip like that on my own.”

Eventually a group of Pasadena businessmen got together and raised the money for his ticket to New York. The Olympics were the biggest international event any PCC athlete had ever attended, but Robinson was not even equipped with new running shoes to compete in.

“One story he told on a consistent basis was that had he had a decent pair of cleats, not the ones that he ran with here at the college, that he would have at least cut the distance [to Jesse Owens] and maybe even pushed to win the gold medal,” PCC history professor Dr. Christopher West said.

Just like Mack Robinson did not feel appreciated on his return to Pasadena, neither did his younger brother Jackie, whose face is used as advertising for student success at PCC. “When Jackie Robinson talks about his experiences in Pasadena in general, it’s of a city and a community that he found to be extraordinarily racist,” West said. “And of an institution, being the college, that’s celebrates him with jerseys and naming a stadium, but in the time that he was actually here—it’s one of the reasons why the family is quasi distant from the institution—because his lived experience when he was here as a student wasn’t one of celebration and honor.”

While he was popular amongst many students, racial hostility was an everyday reality, even on the field.

“I felt that because I was a Negro I was being passed over, not considered, for many things. All the clubs were white. You can look through all the old yearbooks and see that so clearly,” Robinson said, according to a biography

by Arnold Rampersad.

West points out the importance of acknowledging history to be able to make a change in the future.

“It’s not special treatment. If we are going to erase the past of how we treated black students but then celebrate

them or not celebrate them or celebrate them in a way that doesn’t tell their real story when they were here, why are we then surprised in the contemporary moment that the experience of black students is troubled, problematic and complicated?” West asked.

Today, black students at PCC are often still battling bias, are still exposed to microaggressions and are still not as connected to the college as they should be. But they also find a lot of support and a few very bright spots on campus.

Dani Williams-Jones, who recently transferred to UCLA with the end goal to earn a Ph.D. in history, felt that she never fit in during her time at PCC. There was no pocket for a well-prepared student like her, who wanted and saw a life in academia for herself.

“There is this sentiment that if you are a black student then you are not up to standards, you’re not well prepared for collegiate life,” Williams-Jones said.

“You need to be remediated. And if you are not falling into that paradigm, if you are not a black student that needs to be remediated, then they don’t know how to engage you.”

Williams-Jones created the route for herself with the help of a few mentors like West and English Professor Michelle Banks, who helped her hone her abilities. During her time on campus she felt as if her hard work and engagement were not appreciated. She felt an animosity from students because she came to learn and engage, but instead students were thinking ‘Why are you making all of us look unprepared?’

An undeniable sense of being put in a box labeled with certain characteristics followed her across campus.

“It was really heartbreaking for me, because I really really really wanted it to be extra special,” she said. “School for me was a lifeline. I didn’t have anything else. I wanted and needed the people who were there and whose jobs were to support me and all students to do that. And most times, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. It made me feel like people didn’t want me to be as successful as I was and people treated me poorly.”

Time Magazine defines microaggressions as “quiet, often unintended slights—racist or sexist—that make a person feel underestimated on the basis of their color or gender.”

Often people are told they are being too sensitive or read too much into what

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others may say without intentionally wanting to offend. The only thing micro about them, however, is their subtlety. Their repercussions can often be enormous and devastating. Just because someone is oblivious to the racist undertones and the impact of their words, it does not mean that the consequences are any less hurtful, disrespectful and ignorant.

Williams-Jones experienced microaggressions directed at her from students, staff and faculty on a constant basis and believes it had “everything to do with being a black woman” and people either not believing that she could do well or wanting to discredit her abilities. In a math class she was up at the board and the whole class ganged up against her to prove what she was doing was wrong.

Her calculations were correct and she was left wondering why her classmates were so hostile. She was the best student in class and the only black girl. She could not shake the feeling of others asking, ‘Who do you think you are?’

“Dr. West always said, ‘This is going to follow you,’” Williams-Jones said.

“People are going to get offended by you because you show them what’s actually possible.”

She does not agree with standardized programming and looking at a student population that shares a racial or ethnic background with a “one size fits all” approach.

“It’s frustrating to me because before I came there was a certain level of, ‘This is what this type of student should accomplish. This is what we’ve seen this type of student accomplish in the past.’

And so I came and I changed that. I am trying to show you what’s possible with hard work, dedication, mentoring and support, but you don’t get that.”

Despite her negative experiences at the college, Williams-Jones is still grateful to PCC because she found mentors who saw her potential and helped her grow. She just wished that all faculty would do the same for every student.

“If you come across a student who had a high school education that did not prepare them,” Williams-Jones said, “you have to do all that you can to help them to get prepared. Don’t leave them vulnerable.”

Vice President of Student Services Dr. Cynthia Olivo leads many of PCC’s efforts to close the achievement gap and to raise awareness. Off campus these efforts include connecting PCC to the community and black churches as well

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as creating partnerships with African-American fraternities and sororities.

On campus PCC has started offering workshops to educate faculty and staff about microaggressions, hosting black faculty and student mixers and strengthening the Ujima and Blackademia programs, which both aim to connect every black student to some supportive program.

“Budgets are moral documents, and we are making immoral decisions on our black students.”

- Dr. Christopher West Ujima, run by director Gena Lopez, is one of the bright spots for black and brown students. It’s a space where they feel safe and supported. The program is a learning pathway designed to help African-American students be successful by using a holistic approach that includes counseling, tutoring, mentoring and instruction.

“Everything I have done after coming from Miami I owe to Gena Lopez and to Ujima,” sociology student Terron Turrentine said. “Really putting me in the right direction.”

Turrentine, who greets everyone with a warm smile and offers hugs easily, is a returning student. He struggled the first time he attended PCC. Lopez not only connected him to Ujima, but also helped him get a job and the classes he needed. For the first time he felt connected to the school and through Ujima he learned how to engage with teachers.

An in-depth report published by the Education Trust shows that when black students are connected to something on campus, it helps not only to retain them, but enables them to persist and complete.

“One of the fundamental pillars of Ujima is that we do set the structure as a family,” Lopez said. “We come in talking family, we live up to family expectations, and we try to instill in our students that sense of family so that they can know that they’re not alone.”

Turrentine is a student worker in the Ujima program. While he is not subjected to many microaggressions in the classroom, it is a different story when he walks across campus.

“Sometimes I have different obstacles to overcome just to do my job,” Turrentine said.

It’s all the little things that add up.

He may get ignored when holding doors open or not receive the same courtesy in return. He gets questioned about his right to walk into a department on campus, but his white co-worker wearing the same ripped jeans and t-shirts never does.

“I’m trying my best to give them the benefit of the doubt. I try not to ask, ‘Is it because I’m black?’ because it’s not always like that,” he said. “I feel that’s the default because it happens a lot. I just refuse to believe that everyone is so messed up.”

The privilege many people are not aware of is that a white person does not have to wonder if the actions directed at them are due to the color of their skin. Associate Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women Peggy McIntosh describes this privilege in her article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.”

“If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones,” McIntosh writes. “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.”

Lopez, who is a confidant to students, deals on a constant basis with them being subjected to microaggressions in the classroom. Bias is often unconscious and faculty might not even be aware of the damage they inflict on students.

“Those microaggressions can be very devastating for them, because they don’t understand it and they don’t have a label to put on it to define their experience,” Lopez said.

Battling microaggressions is a task Olivo has also taken to heart. The firstyear counseling and College 1 classes aim to empower students to speak up if they sense racial overtones in what their teacher says or to at least know where to report that it is occurring.

“Sometimes teachers may not be aware that they were actually saying something that is a microaggression toward a student,” Olivo said.

Suzan Kwidja, who came to the U.S. from Cameroon three years ago to study mechanical engineering, experienced this bias herself. She was doing well in her math class and turned to her math professor for help with a specific problem. Instead of assisting her, he told her that he thinks she is in the wrong math level.

“He said to me, ‘Hang out with those Chinese people over there, they are really hard workers and they score really high,’” Kwidja said. “That really hurt me. He assumed just because I’m black I couldn’t do it.”

Kwidja started doubting herself because of her professor’s comments and she began to wonder if there might be truth to the stereotype.

“If someone tells you this is not right for you and if you look most of my people are the ones doing most of cleaning,” she said. “That kind of hurts me.”

According to the PCC’s Equal Employment Opportunity Plan, which reflects the numbers from Fall 2013, African-Americans are underrepresented in both adjunct and full-time faculty.

Out of 1,148 faculty members only 85 are African-American.

“Sitting in a classroom and a teacher is ignoring you or a teacher thinks you don’t belong there and you don’t have anybody to connect with, that is not just stressful but discouraging.”

- Gena Lopez African-Americans make up 7 percent of PCC’s faculty, according to the above number. In contrast, 25 percent of all classified service maintenance staff, which includes janitors, gardeners and technicians are African-American and 45 percent are Hispanic. Whites were not underrepresented in any category except classified service maintenance staff.

While PCC makes efforts to bring more diversity into the classroom, students today do not see enough faculty of color in most disciplines. But whenever they do, it makes a big difference.

“If I can see you and you look like me in the field I want to go to, that would push me,” said Tyus Hafiz, who double majors in African-American studies and biological science. “If he made it, maybe I can. The struggles might not be the same but at least they’re similar. He still has some struggles and goes through hurdles. Then maybe the hurdles aren’t as high as I think they are.”

According to West, the numbers of black students are dropping and there is an institutional problem, a disconnect.

The question needs to be asked what the college can do to engage black students instead of looking at the students and saying, “what’s wrong with you?”

While West sees improvements on campus, he still holds judgments due to

choices made by the college.

“Budgets are moral documents, and we are making immoral decisions on black students,” West proclaimed.

While many colleges succeed in raising graduation rates among black students, The Education Trust points out a very important fact: even if a higher percentage of black students graduate or transfer, it does not automatically mean that the achievement gap has gotten any smaller. Sometimes it can even grow.

The report states that “many institutions celebrate improvements in student success. But overall gains often mask different outcomes for different groups of students. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than for black students.”

The improvement rate is often not fast enough to catch up to white peers and to close the gap.

“The institutions which are doing the best job are mandating faculty to participate in these engagements [to raise awareness] because it’s an institutional priority,” West said.

The Aspen Institute, which nominated PCC for the prestigious Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, points out that the college that are most successful in raising student success develop a culture among faculty in which instructors are committed to helping their students succeed.

“But shifting a culture and shifting an institution is like shifting the Titanic,” West said. “It’s gonna take time, it’s a big freakin’ boat. But I am cautiously optimistic that we are moving forward.

Cautiously optimistic.”

According to Lopez, there is a lack of empathy and understanding that black students feel in the classroom.

They fight the perceptions others have of them and put extreme psychological pressures on themselves. Often professors simply do not take the time to ask what might be going on in a student’s life that causes them to disengage or to find out why they are crying in the classroom because somebody got killed across the country.

“I put pressure on myself to not be the statistic,” Turrentine said. “I just don’t want to be looked at as dumb.

What we are doing is reversing this mindset, ‘He’s black, he’s coming in here, he’s dumb.’”

Deonta McCall, who sports corn-rows and is dressed in baggy jeans, sometimes does not receive the needed help.

McCall is an English major and dreams of becoming a writer for video games.

Newspaper clipping from the Pasadena Independant. Calif., published on Nov. 11, 1968.

He doesn’t talk much. It’s just not who he is. He avoids strong eye contact and usually only talks when spoken to directly. Often professors do not pay the same attention to him because he is quiet. Asking for help feels awkward to McCall.

“I usually just sit there with the problem and I don’t get anything done,” McCall says quietly.

According to Lopez, many black students will drop out of school because they find it easier to just leave and get a job without thinking of the long-term consequences.

“Sitting in a classroom and a teacher is ignoring you or a teacher thinks you don’t belong there and you don’t have anybody to connect with, that is not just stressful but discouraging,” Lopez said.

The counselors and coaches at Ujima try to capture students as early on as they can and help with resources and an open ear in an effort to help minimize some of the extra stress that comes with just being black.

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Lopez and Dr. West less we all sit around give credit to President a table and really start Rajen Vurdien for keeptalking about it. It ing his commitment to doesn’t matter if we have more inclusion in hurt each other’s feelthe hiring cycle and for ings. Let’s just try not taking on more black to be too political.” managers, staff and facShe is concerned ulty as in the previous that both students and Ujima students represent PCC at Pasadena’s annual Black History Month Parade. cycle when not a single faculty on campus are African-American was ly helped our college,” Olivo said.

“I’m scared of speaking their mind, as they hired. In addition, Vurdien assures that really proud of our campus members are afraid of retaliation.

Many genuinely the hiring committees receive cultural who have taken their time out of their want change, but wonder if it is worth diversity training. busy schedules to learn what more they speaking up for, because they often can’t However, West, Lopez and students can do.” see that change really happening in the agree that more needs to be done and One of the achievements Olivo is that there still is a disconnect between future. proud of is the planned change from PCC and its students. The college wins “I have to be able to speak loudly placing students into math and English awards for its transfer rates among miand have my voice be heard without nority students and for inspiring them to classes based on standardized test scores fear,” Kwidja said. to placing them instead based on mulmajor in sciences, yet a lot of students Everyone needs a safe space. A place tiple measures including the student’s on campus have a different perception where they feel they can say what is high school GPA. According to Olivo, that needs to be acknowledged. on their mind without being judged, a “I was surprised to hear about the As- students of color historically have not place where they don’t have to explain performed well in standardized tests, pen award and that PCC was recognized themselves. Therefore, programs like herself included, due to a Eurocentric for their support of minority students,” Ujima are so important to the college. focus and middle class prompts.

Kwidja said. “I thought ‘OK, if you think “Black students are still invisible on “In the past where people are hesiso. But I don’t see it.’” tant and they want to wait and check this campus,” Lopez said. “[Blackademia Olivo wants the college to move and Ujima] are the only two real robust forward so students can feel a difference more resources or data or research articles and then sometimes you get analyprograms that are on campus and the in the classrooms, in their counseling sis paralysis and you don’t move on and offices and at the front counters across campus is 90 something years old? We do something that could potentially help don’t even have a black student union campus. our students,” Olivo said. “I really like “I feel like we’re at the tipping anymore.” the sense of urgency that student equity point,” Olivo said, “and students are “For black students in particular it going to start to feel it and this won’t be has provided us.” is a constant battle to prove that you Olivo also places great importance on a place where they experience more mibelong, especially to themselves,” Lopez creating an intrinsic motivation to help croaggression or feeling like an ‘other.’” added. “Because very few things on students do better. She explained that Lopez is thankful for the college’s college campuses send the message to efforts to close the achievement gap and PCC has subscribed to a new framework black students that you belong here.” acknowledges that there are policies and at the college, which is “professional There is a reason why all the black commitment + institutional responsiprocedures that she is not familiar with students hang out together in the quad bility equals student success” instead that slow down the process, but she or the cafeteria, an occurrence many of the usual 20th century mindset that would like to see things move a little other students often ponder over. students have to conform to what the faster. educational institutions have to offer.

“It’s because they need a base,” Lo“I think that the politics are much An interesting project that Olivo plans pez explains. “They need that comfort, more robust than they were in times for 2017 is an online survey that will past,” Lopez said. “A lot of people talk that shared unspoken experience. There be distributed campus-wide that will let student success and they talk student is something about black students being people identify their implicit bias. The engagement but I see a lot more politics together where I don’t have to explain idea came after she was introduced to than I have before and I think that the to you what I’m going through. I don’t the book “Blindspot: Hidden Biases of student voice sometimes gets lost in have to explain to you how hard it is Good People” by psychologists Mahzarin those politics.” outside of the academics. You already Banaji and Anthony Greenwald.

While Olivo agrees, she also beunderstand that. I don’t have to prove While PCC has planned many efforts lieves things have moved forward fairly myself to you, because you already to improve the college experience for quickly in the time they deliberately know who I am. And you being here, is black students, often these changes organized their efforts. This has been encouragement and support for me that are not yet visible to the ones they are made possible since the state started to I belong here. We sit together because aimed at. provide all 113 California community we’re family. Because if I start to stum“I really feel what we are missing on colleges with student equity funds in the ble I know you help to catch me. If you this campus is raw talk,” Kwidja said.

2014-2015 academic year. start to stumble you know I got your “There are issues that really need to be “I think that intentional effort to close student achievement gaps has real- addressed and it won’t be addressed unback.”

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She.Codes Story by Alexis Downey

Sixteen-year-old Claire Saunders contacted a local college to sign up for the science fair which consisted of about 600 middle school to high school aged students. She’d been preparing for this day to come; her project was a representation of the factors that affect radioactive decay Caesium-137. She gracefully walked in, proud of her project, with confidence written all over her face. The fair was going smoothly and she heard that her project was one of the best but she remained humble. Even with a panel of three male judges before her, her excitement remained until the unexpected occured.

“We do not think a female at this age could complete this without cheating,” she was told.

Seven years later Saunders, now 23 years old, is in the process of receiving her Ph.D. in computational material physics at the California Institute of Technology.

Seven years later, sexism still persists in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, also known as STEM. In these fields it is not common to find women learning the love languages of coding as computer science majors like Kristiana Rendón, nor aerospace engineers, designing a 70-foot parachute for NASAs Mars rover “Curiosity” like Anita Sengupta.

Rendón, a 23-year-old Los Angeles native, is now attending PCC as the first step to getting her masters degree in computer science. During her time at PCC she has been an active president for SHE.CODES, a campus club created to empower and encourage young women to join the field of computer science as well as provide them with resources.

“In SHE.CODES at PCC there has been shockingly more men than women, I think it was 30 percent women and 70 percent men, I am not sure why the numbers are like that but that is what we are trying to increase,” Rendón said. “Challenge wise, I think it is just the stereotype that is held against women because it is male dominated, women think it is a male career.”

Sengupta, an aerospace engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is an advocate for empowering women to join the field of engineering.

“One of the reasons why I teach is to

Photo by Veronica Barriga

show that women can be leaders and experts in this field, even though 85 percent don’t look like me, they are there,” Sengupta stated. “Society presents the hard sciences, let’s say like physics and engineering, as a male dominated field. I think women just grow up thinking, ‘Well I’m not part of that,’ so I think it’s an almost subconscious choice that people never see someone like them in these fields, which is why I don’t think they even go into the college level to begin with.”

When Maria Klawe, the president of Harvey Mudd College, was asked in a PBS interview why more young men were moving into the direction of sciences and not young women, she stated, “Number one is they think it’s not interesting and they think they wouldn’t be good at it.

Also, they have this image of the people in those fields that they don’t think is attractive.”

Rendón reveals that she backed out of getting her bachelor in computer science.

“When I went to college I was afraid to take computer science because I heard it was too hard,” Rendón said. Now, she has overcome her fears and is in the process of getting her master’s degree in CS. “When you think about it, it has nothing to do with gender. You know anyone can do it as long as you learn, you understand, you put in the effort to keep going for-

PCC student Kristiana Rendón

ward … It feels kind of nice that I am in this field. I can show other women, like, ‘Hey you know I am able to do this, you know can do it to, come join me,’” Rendón stated.

Although, the growth of women in this field is very slowly increasing, Rendón still believes that more women will soon grasp on, hopefully soon at PCC’s campus because of her initiative in SHE.CODES. “Numbers of women are increasing, definitely under 50 percent but I wouldn’t say it is as low as 10 percent maybe around 20 percent ... The field is growing and is collecting interest in general, now people are seeing what the big tech companies are working on like Google, JPL, and NASA,” Rendón stated.

According to the statistics from the National Girls Collaborative Project, women make up half of the total U.S. college-educated workforce, but only 29 percent of the science and engineering workforce.

With the low amount of women in term of classes or even to be friends with, Sengupta has lacked the opportunity to have a mentor, which created the fire she holds to inspire women.

“You are part of a boys’ club, men will gravitate towards helping younger men, as opposed to helping younger women so I think that actually hurts you in your career if you don’t have a mentor,” she said.

“I finally did get a mentor about four years ago, I realized this is so nice, so helpful to my career I can bounce all of these ideas off, so I have been doing everything I can to mentor young women in my field basically at work and at school.”

Sengupta admitted that in the project she is currently managing, there are 27 employees total and she is the only woman. “It is kind of sad actually,” she said.

It’s important to recognizing that sexism persists and challenges will arise when being a woman in the STEM fields, however that is not meant to be a discouragement.

“We are predisposed to believe that these fields aren’t for females, it is evident with the pronouns used… the system is failing, a lot, in terms of educating,” Saunders said. “Find a good mentor who can help motivate you through the difficult times. Don’t let anyone stop you from doing something you are passionate about.”

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A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME Story by John Orona “I don’t want to be stuck with loans the rest of my life,” Michael Tang, a business major at PCC, lamented.

He has been trying to convince his mother to buy a house to take advantage of lower prices since the great recession of 2008, but for all his parental persuasion efforts, Tang’s home-buying plans are far from assured.

Most millennials like Michael have come of age in an era defined by experiences of uncertainty and instability — 9/11, the great recession, global terrorism and mass surveillance. So when housing markets only offer more anxiety, millennials have gone with the flow, opting to roommate, live with family, or buy later in life and are less willing to tie themselves down to a 30year mortgage with student loans still possibly looming over head.

Millennials, the conglomerate generation of folks formerly known as Gen Y and people born before the year 2000, are changing the landscape of America by eschewing one of the fundamental pillars of the American Dream that has been mythologized by our nation for centuries — home ownership.

According to two research surveys

by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) and Capstrat, the stability and responsibility of homeownership is just not in the ethos of most millennials, who prioritize career, family, travel, and flexibility over nailing down stakes and planting roots. “[Owning a home] would be nice. It’s not a big deal,” Judy Jackson, a political science major, said. “Being secure is more important, being able to make my mortgage payments. It’s just not that important to me.”

Jackson, like many millennials, prefers the freedom associated with living mortgage-free and the ability to move

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anywhere and is willing to risk the misgivings of not having a permanent home that she owns. She is a part of a growing trend of young people who favor spending money and time on buying experiences rather than material possessions.

“Having your own property is a good investment,” business major Melissa Aguilar said. “But I’d just try to save my money. I’m not trying to settle honestly ‘til my 40s or 50s.”

“The best thing to do is to save up a lot of money and put as much down payment as possible to not have to pay as much interest,” Gio Camacho, an aspiring homeowner, said. “An apartment is just a waste of money because you’re never going to own it.”

- Gio Camacho

According to census data, while homeownership rates for people under 30 are at their lowest in decades, student loan debt has exploded from $350 billion to over $1.3 trillion between 2005 and 2015.

But the trends of declining home ownership aren’t just due to the free-spirited and anti-consumptionist sentiments of millennials. There is some serious self-questioning among this generation as to whether they will be able to afford a house should they choose to check out the market.

In 2013, 65 percent of 25 to 34 year olds received some kind of postsecondary education, and while this has led

to more millennials having a college degree than any other generation at their age, it means they are more worried about adding to their debt, with the growing student loan debt rate and homeownership rate declination for young Americans showing strong correlations.

Over 80 percent of college-educated millennials have at least one source of outstanding long-term debt and 31 percent of all millennials have more than one source of outstanding longterm debt, showing that even if they’re able to avoid student loans, some form of borrowing has become a normalized lifestyle.

“The best thing to do is to save up a lot of money and put as much down payment as possible to not have to pay as much interest,” Gio Camacho, an aspiring homeowner, said. “An apartment is just a waste of money because you’re never going to own it.”

Camacho, an accounting student, is also worried about his ability to afford a home but feels the benefits of homeownership outweigh the stresses and he thinks he will be able to navigate through the confusion of the industry.

The home-buying process can be confusing and difficult for someone of any age, but millennials in particular have inadequate financial literacy and more financial fragility, with over 30 percent overdrawing their checking account and 42 percent dipping into their savings, per PwC. Additionally, just half of millennials claim to even know their credit score, and only two percent have excellent ratings.

It makes sense, then, that some are intimidated or disillusioned with the whole process.

“They always try to convince you to refinance,” Camacho warned. “Some people have been paying for [their house] 30 years and they’re convinced

While it’s difficult to determine whether it is a cause or effect of the housing demand decline, it’s clear that today millennials are choosing to live and reside in much different lifestyles than previous generations. to refinance.”

Clearly, despite the apprehension, there still is a demand among some millennials for homes, and students like Camacho and Tang don’t see their generation’s penchant for mobility and the prospect homebuying as antithetical.

“I’d rather plant myself and then travel afterwards, like have something stable first,” Camacho explained.

But for others like them who are already looking for homes, the options just aren’t there.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, less than 20 percent of new construction in recent years has been for entry-level properties. Growing income inequality has also tailored the market to focusing on either affluent homes for opulent baby-boomers taking advantage of the burst housing bubble or dense urban housing where renting is the norm and listing prices remain high.

While it’s difficult to determine whether it is a cause or effect of the housing demand decline, it’s clear that

Keely Damara/Spotlight

today millennials are choosing to live and reside in much different lifestyles than previous generations.

Not only are adults living at home with their families longer since the recession, but surprisingly, even as the economy improves the share of millennials staying home continues to rise, reaching almost 32 percent in 2015.

Additionally, the share of 18 to 34-year-olds who are married with children has consistently fallen to a low of just 20 percent while the median marrying age for both genders has increased by six years since 1950 to 29 and 27 for men and women respectively, making the desire to move away from home less of a necessity.

The ubiquity of living under a parent’s roof has had consequences of its own — such as softening the stereotype of at-home living as a hallmark of underachieving youth and promoting stronger relationships between parents and children, according to the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers.

A less common but rapidly-growing solution has been finding a roommate, a route that eight percent of millennials in the LA area have taken, compared to nine percent nationally who live completely on their own.

And staying true to their sense of balance between sociability, independence and flexibility, some are even driving interest in a new kind of “co-living,” a hybrid model of hotel and dorm living for adults who want a room of their own but don’t mind sharing communal spaces if other social amenities like yoga classes, gyms, and game rooms are provided.

Whether this trend will abate as the economy continues to improve causing a new housing boom, or whether new would-be homebuyers continue to create new models in modern living, it’s already apparent millennials are setting themselves apart from their forerunners as a generation that will value their ideals over convention and be willing to break the status quo to realize them.

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9

Legalized Slavery in the First World Story by Amber Lipsey Photos by Michael Watkins “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

My older brother Robert Lipsey was released from federal prison on May 25, 2011 after serving almost four years. The day he was released, he walked out of prison in Miami, Florida with nothing but two white t-shirts, one pair of jeans, a pair of white flip flops and a $5 gift card to Subway. He was housed in a trailer infested with cockroaches that the state of Florida temporarily paid for. He had two months to get on his feet before he would be homeless.

Released with 10 years parole, his requirements were random drug tests, holding down a job, staying out of trouble and the inability to leave the state of Florida until his parole was up. Our family being based in Ohio made it incredibly difficult for us to help him or for him to be near us for support. His living conditions were so poor that he was unable to keep any food in his trailer because it would immediately be swarmed with roaches.

This, and similar conditions upon release, are what cause such a high rate of recidivism amongst people who have served time. The U.S. locks people behind bars for a set length of time, then releases them back into society with no resources so that their only option for survival is to return to the life of crime that got them locked up to begin with. This is why the prison system in the U.S. is a revolving door, and this is absolutely intentional. Oscar nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay released her documentary “13th” on Netflix on October 7, 2016. The film opens with the voice of President Obama stating, “So let’s look at the statistics. The United States is home to five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Think about that.”

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DuVernay’s film addresses the fact that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was used as a legal loophole to continue the institution of slavery, which led to mass incarceration.

The film illustrates how after slavery ended, it destroyed the southern economy by releasing into free society all of the people who were an integral part of production, which were slaves.

Due to this, the 13th amendment was used to lock black people up en masse for minor offenses such as loitering or vagrancy; They were then used as labor to rebuild the southern economy.

This form of legalized slave labor continues today in our prisons. My brother Robert was assigned to janitorial duties during his prison stint in which he earned $18 a month working five days a week, eight hours a day. That’s a 40-hour work week, meaning he was earning 11 cents an hour.

In the U.S., we refer to that as sweatshop labor and heavily condemn these actions when referring to the marginalized people overseas who make our iPhones and designer bags for these wages. Somehow we have no qualms doing this to our own citizens because our society tells us that they’re criminals and therefore they deserve to be subjected to exploitation.

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The Moynihan Report, written by the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was a paper about the plight of black families during the Civil Rights Movement called, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.”

In it he wrote, “That the Negro American has survived at all is extraordinary—a lesser people might simply have died out, as indeed others have … But it may not be supposed that the Negro American community has not paid a fearful price for the incredible mistreatment to which it has been subjected over the past three centuries.”

Moynihan wrote this report to persuade the government that more than civil rights legislation was needed to achieve racial equality and called for government intervention to improve the plight of black families. It was soundly rejected.

Instead the black community fell victim to redlining, gentrification, housing discrimination and negative racialized stereotypes used to justify our incarceration.

Van Jones commented in DuVernay’s documentary about the connection between The Voting Rights Act and the current effect that mass incarceration has on black people’s right to vote.

“They called the end of slavery jubi-

lee, we thought we were done then, but then we had 100 years of Jim Crow, terror and lynching. Dr. King and these guys come on the scene Ella Joe Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer come on the scene, we get the bills passed to vote and then they break out the handcuffs; Label you felon you can’t vote or get a job,” Jones said.

In an article for Vocativ, writer James King stated that currently there are 2.2 million African-Americans who are unable to vote due to their felony convictions. That’s equal to 1 in 13 people and dependent on state laws, some will never have their voting rights restored.

“The laws dictating when a convicted felon can apply to have their voting rights re-established vary from state to state. Only two states, Maine and Vermont, have no restrictions on when a convicted felon can have their voting rights restored—convicts in those states can vote while in prison,” King wrote.

King explained that some states prohibit only felons in prison from voting, while other states include those in prison as well as those who are on parole or probation. Twelve states, primarily in the south, won’t even restore a felon’s voting rights after he or she has completed their sentence and is no longer held in the criminal justice system. In

other words, they’ve settled up on their debt to society but they still can’t vote.”

The reason these laws are still on the books today and being enforced is due to the successful way in which law enforcement was able to use the media to attach the label of criminality to black communities. The same tactics that were used during Jim Crow are being used today to further this myth.

In April 1962, after a friend of Malcolm X was killed by white police officers, he delivered a speech to a church in Los Angeles about the connection with law enforcement, the press and public opinion.

“The controlled press, the white press, inflames the white public against Negroes. The police are able to use it to paint the Negro community as a criminal element. The police are able to use the press to make the white public think that 90 percent or 99 percent of the negroes in the community are criminals.

And once the white public is convinced that most of the Negro community is a criminal element, then this automatically paves the way for the police to move into the negro community, exercising Gestapo tactics, stopping any black man on the sidewalk.

Whether he is guilty or whether he is

innocent, whether he is well dressed or whether he is poorly dressed, whether he is Christian or whether he is Muslim, as long as he is black and a member of the Negro community. The white public thinks that the white policeman is justified in going in there and trampling on that man’s civil rights and that man’s human rights.

Once the police have convinced the white public that the so-called Negro community is a criminal element, they can go in and question, brutalize, murder unarmed innocent Negroes and the public is gullible enough to back them up.

This makes the Negro community and neighborhood a police state.”

PCC student Brandon Lester of the Ujima club has his own familial experiences with mass incarceration and gangs.

“My father is a Capital Crip and my uncle was a Blood and to this day my father cannot let that aspect of his life go,” Lester said. “My dad had a single mother who was controlling with the hierarchy of power in the home and “cripping” was his way of establishing control outside in his own world. His mother was his mother, but cripping was his father.”

Lester’s father spent time behind bars due to his gang affiliations, and Lester believes that the connection with

his father’s record and simply being a black man in America puts a target on his back. Lester fears that one day the system will find a way to put him behind bars as well.

“Everything that happens with an African-American generates dollars, whether we’re in jail or on TV. Everything a Negro does in the country generates a dollar in a Caucasian man’s pockets,” Lester said. “The jail system is a huge dollar sign in a white man’s pockets, so no matter how high up I am in this world they can always pull a trigger and kill me or always find a way to put me in jail.”

Mass incarceration was not only used as a loophole to continue to keep black people as slaves, but to continue to keep them in permanent second class status for as long as possible.

Today, my brother Robert has lost his right to vote permanently, and has five more years where he is slave to the state of Florida, unable to go home to Ohio and be with his family.

While he is lucky enough to have a job, his prospects for advancement are slim and make it nearly impossible to save money, procure a loan or buy a home even though he has paid his debt to society.

PCC Professor Jamelle Harrell-Sims

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witnessed the effects of incarceration special education.” ca – and their associates have funneled firsthand as well as the process of the more than $10 million to candidates Harrell-Sims explained that these chilschool-to-prison pipeline during her since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 dren who go into special education are time as a former law enforcement offimillion on lobbying efforts, meanwhile, not there for an inability to learn, but cer. these private companies have seen their rather for their behavior in class that is “I got a very rude awakening when I revenue and market share soar,” The deemed unacceptable. School districts was a school resource officer because Post reported. and society are not taking note of the I got to see how the prison industriWhile Marco Rubio was leading the fact that many children may be sharing al complex works at the elementary Florida House of Representatives, GEO a two-bedroom apartment with eight level when they put parole officers and people, sleeping on a mat on the floor or was awarded a state government consheriff’s deputies in the schools suptract for a $110 million dollar prison are going hungry. Instead, the system is posedly to help keep the school safe,” right after he hired an economic consulusing a formula for third grade children Harrell-Sims said. “But they didn’t care tant who had been a trustee for a GEO in poverty to decide how to implement about the kids and if there was an arrest the school-to-prison pipeline. real estate trust. Rubio has received that could be made, they’d do it.” nearly $40,000 in campaign dona“Every county has a Strategic Gang Harrell-Sims was so well loved by tions from GEO, which makes him the Plan (SGP) that talks about preventhe kids she looked after in juvenile senate’s top career recipient of contribution, intervention and suppression. The hall that they called her “Big Mama.” tions from GEO. strategic gang plan for the county I saw When she was on shift, she never had Caleb Devine, another Ujima student was for third grade, so by third grade any trouble out of the kids because they at PCC, is afraid of simply walking down they know by behavior for a formula knew and respected her. They believed the street. “It’s to the point where if I’m they use, how many prisons to build,” that she cared for them and was there to she said. turning a corner and I see the police help them, as opI always gotta posed to seeing them turn my music “Prison is a punishment it’s not rehabilitation. Ju- down, drive under as simply criminals. venile justice is supposed to be rehabilitation but “Being in the pressure, targets juvenile halls and on our backs from it’s now become more lucrative to lock up juveseeing how these kids niles rather than adults because they keep coming past shootings and kept coming back it trickles down back.”

-Jamelle Harrells-Sims and seeing the lack to others. But if of resources was sad they’re black and because parents who getting shot, then “They don’t want to rehabilitate, they need help with their kids will not get it it might happen to me,” Devine said. want to shove medication down their until their kids are already in the sys“They’re finding out that police are throat which causes you to react a certem. There’s so much money being put making comments about Blacks and tain way because the prison industrial into programs once they belong to the Hispanics and it makes you trip out and complex is a money-making machine. state but not enough money being used think ‘are we really being targeted on to keep them from getting to the state in Corrections Corporation of Ameripurpose?’” ca (CCA) and GEO Group are money the first place,” Harrell-Sims said.

The 13th Amendment led to the act machines and if they’re not filling the She described a formula that is used of redlining, gentrification, housing and prisons then the people involved in to essentially predict how many prisons employment discrimination as well as this moneymaking scheme don’t make would need to be built. There are level many other systemic inequalities that money.” one criminals who are first-time offendkeep Black people under the thumb of The GEO Group is a Florida-based ers and level two for repeat offenders. white supremacy. Today, black people for-profit company specializing in corOnce you get to levels three and four, still fight against negative stereotypes rections, detention and mental health those are the murderers, rapists and of the lazy, uneducated welfare queens treatment. It has prison facilities in the people serving life sentences. This who want the rest of the nation to pay U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia and formula is predicated on children in the their way.

South Africa. Their facilities include third grade.

This stereotype has been intentionally “Children of color are incredibly smart maximum, medium and minimum perpetuated for over 100 years to justify security prisons, immigration detention and brilliant until they get to third our murders and imprisonment. For centers, minimum security detention grade and then something happens ... example, in 1921 in Tulsa Oklahoma, centers and mental health and residenresearch has shown that by the third there was an area known as Black Wall tial treatment facilities. grade these children who are bright, Street or “The Birthplace of Black CapiIn 2015, The Washington Post reportthey get the light snuffed out of them,” talism.” Black Wall Street was one of the ed that the GEO Group and CCA were Harrell-Sims said. most prosperous black communities in the two biggest prison lobbying groups “Teachers don’t care, teacher expecthe U.S. with stores, a hospital and the in the U.S. with Florida Senator Marco tations are low, then when the child is first black-owned banks. The community Rubio named as one of their staunchest bright and can excel above everyone spanned 36 city blocks. advocates. else that child is a problem. If the child Dr. Gregory Brown of the Black Holo“The two largest for-profit prison questions the ideology being shoved caust Society wrote, “‘Black Wall Street,’ companies in the United States – GEO down their throat, that child is a probthe name fittingly given to one of the lem. Then that’s when they go into and Corrections Corporation of Amerimost affluent all-Black communities in

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America, was bombed from the air and burned to the ground by mobs of envious whites. In a period spanning fewer than 12 hours, a once thriving Black business district in northern Tulsa lay smoldering--a model community destroyed, and a major African-American economic movement resoundingly defused,” Brown wrote.

The night’s carnage left 3,000 African Americans dead, and over 600 successful businesses lost. Among these were 21 churches, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores and two movie theaters, plus a hospital, a bank, a post office, libraries, schools, law offices, a half dozen private airplanes and even a bus system. “As could have been expected the impetus behind it all was the infamous Ku Klux Klan, working in consort with ranking city officials, and many other sympathizers,” Brown said.

Even today, violence against the Black community continues especially after any real or perceived successes due to the fact that we continue to excel despite persistent negative stereotypes. One need only look to the reactions of white supremacists and undercover racists after the election of President Barack Obama as an example.

While the 13th Amendment was used as a loophole to keep blacks in slavery, there was a massive effort by whites in America to stop black communities from prospering by making excuses to destroy black communities, lynch black people and continue the spread of negative stereotypes, rather than offering true rehabilitation of those who commit crime.

Harrell-Sims noted that in the California deserts there is a federal penitentiary, two privately-owned level-one facilities, a county jail and a juvenile hall facility. That’s five facilities that housed young black and brown people.

“When you have a situation like that, what happens is you create a culture that says we don’t wanna spend the money to rehabilitate. Prison is a punishment it’s not rehabilitation. Juvenile justice is supposed to be rehabilitation but it’s now become

more lucrative to lock up juveniles rather than adults because they keep coming back,” she said.

The Washington Post also reported that GEO Group and CCA now rake in a combined $3.3 billion in annual revenue and the private federal prison population more than doubled between 2000 and 2010. Private companies house nearly half of the nation’s immigrant detainees, compared to about 25 percent a decade ago. In total, there are now 130 private prisons in the country with about 157,000 beds.

Devine believes there is a solution to rectify this oppression, but it will not be easy.

“Until we get more of our people into the justice system it will always be the same or until, let’s be clear, the white man changes his mindset and view of us, then it’s gonna be the same and it’s not gonna change,” he said. “I feel torn down because the laws they put in place before all of us were born still limits us from moving forward and is placed against us.”

The 13th Amendment is not only a tool to justify imprisonment of blacks and people of color, but it has become a modern day tool to continue to line the pockets of the wealthiest and whitest in America. During slavery, we were treated as chattel, as work mules, and today this continues behind bars, working to line the pockets of the corrupt system of white supremacy while they profit off of our slave labor.

There have been innumerable suggestions for how to reform the system, but reform is not possible. This system was created to defend and protect white supremacy and to ensure that whiteness remained in power at any cost. When you have a system created under these circumstances, it cannot be fixed or reformed, but must be destroyed completely, and rebuilt by those the system has maginalized. The only reasonable solution is revolution, and real revolution should and will occur, as Malcolm X said, “by any means necessary.”

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Photo by Katja Liebing/Spotlight An estimated 8,000 protesters march through downtown LA on the weekend after the presential election to show their dissapproval of Donald Trump as their new president. Protests took place in most major cities around the country.

UPROARIN

Photo by Veronica Barriga/Spotlight Protesters hold up their fists as a large crowd marches by.

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Photo by Eric Haynes/Spotlight Protesters march through LA’s 3rd Street tunnel on their way to the Los Angeles Federal Building.

LA

Photo by Michael Watkins/Spotlight Anti-Trump protester outside LA City Hall on election night on Nov. 9, 2016.

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WASTE CULTU Slave Labor Fashions

Story by Esmeralda Quiroz

Photos by William Nestlehutt and Erick Lemus

Bodies upon bodies were pulled out from a single collapsed building. Family members wailed their loved one’s names as they held pictures of them. This graphic, heart-wrenching scene was shown in the documentary film, “The True Cost.”

“There is always a cost,” said PCC fashion student Diane Pasion, “but I would prefer that cost be less harm to the environment [and its people].”

Fashion. It’s everywhere and in everything.Unavoidable.

China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, and many more countries are all locations of mass fashion manufacturers. All of these locations are places where suffering, unequal rights, unfair wages, haunting work conditions and hours torment the workers.

According to an article by the Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights, factory workers are provided a monthly pay of only $10 —our typical minimum wage per hour. Imagine having to work exhausting hours for so little pay in buildings with little to no air ventilation, poor physical structural support, and chemicals all around.

This is what workers have to go through to provide the rest of the world its “Fast Fashion,” a now customary way of producing our clothing in a much faster and cheaper way. “I love high-fashion,” said Pasion, “but it’s too expensive.”

PCC fashion instructor Lorilyn Bleckmann believes high fashion is better, both to look at and for our planet. “From an aesthetic point of view, I definitely prefer high fashion and beyond that, the ethical considerations of both these marketplaces in fashion would have me supporting high fashion as well.”

In fact, it only cost $0.60 to $1.00 to make a typical H&M or Forever 21 garment, while it’s purchased for $20 to $100, at times even more, again shown in the film the True Cost.

“This bothers me because no human should be treated that way. They should all have equal rights,” said former PCC Fashion student Diana Ardelean, who is now a head seamstress and in house designer for La Soie Bridal.

The fashion industry is a huge business, roughly producing revenue of about $1.2 trillion globally with the U.S. averaging more than $250 billion alone, according to Fashion United.

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“They should be making at least minimum wage, because it’s a basic human right. No one should work fifty plus hours a week for little to no pay. It’s a no-brainer,” said Bleckmann.

PCC fashion student Astghik “Star” Aghamyan expressed sadness knowing that these factory workers have to go and work through such horrible conditions. “To know that some of the women can rarely even see their children is heartbreaking,” she said.

In 2013, a Dhaka, Bangladesh factory collapsed, killing more than 1,000 people. The Rana Plaza factory building contained 3,639 factory workers. Eighty percent of those workers were between the ages of 18 and 20. Thousands of those workers took a stand to not enter the eight story building, containing lots of dangerous cracks on the walls, and horrible ventilation.

“It’s a tragedy and apparently it was not known that the building was not in good shape, it’s horrible,” said Bleckmann Factory owner Sohel Rana was said to have paid his gang members to force all factory workers into the building to commence their 13 to 14-hour shift. Sabir Mustafa and Shyadul Islam, writers for BCC News, gave insight into this and other horrid acts in their feature profile on Rana, in early May of 2013.

“Terrible, and I don’t have many words for it. As a human being you feel compassion for them, so why wouldn’t the owner feel any?” said Ardelean.

The result of Sohel’s brutality and ignorance is an eight story factory collapsing just 45 minutes after forcing his workers back into the building. More than 1,100 workers died and over 200 have still not been found a year after the collapse.

“It angers me to know that these factory owners are so greedy for more, that they don’t even think twice about their workers,” said PCC fashion student Jen Peterson.

“I have also made a conscious decision to consider when, where, and how I spend my money, so that I am not contributing to a business model that I don’t believe in,” said Bleckmann.

People immediately assume fashion is so disposable when it is in fact not disposable to the factory workers, the planet, and those who know what the true cost of it is.

RE COUTURE at Hollywood Prices

“That’s what they see in fast fashion, lots of my students say, According to both Chad Heeter’s documentary and the ‘I had no idea’ after seeing the ‘True Cost’. Most people see Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights, these toxins are something they like and assume they just have to have it,” said being spread to the people genetically through water systems, Bleckmann products, and in the air causing mutations and an epidemic of Apparel is so cheap nowadays in companies and stores such farmer suicides. BCC writer P. Sainath Mumbai explains how as H&M, Forever 21 and Zara, for example, that people view almost 14,000 farmers committed suicide in 2012 alone in his the garments as disposable and cheap. Why? Well, the “natuarticle about Indian farmer deaths. ral” fibers aren’t at all that natural.

“Its an awful feeling knowing that “I have also made a conscious Most clothing is either made of natuyou’re part of the problem when it ral fibers like cotton or synthetic fibers down to all this, so we must all decision to consider when, where, comes such as polyester, the most commonly try to consume less, spread the news to used. However, they may have more in and how I spend my money, so that others, and recycle our clothing,” said common than one would think.

I am not contributing to a business Ardelean The word “organic” has been on In light of such horrible acts of the people’s minds for a long time now, but model that I don’t believe in.” fashion industry, companies such as some might not know that organic clothH&M, Zara and Forever 21 — which ing is available to purchase. are the most harmful, according to an -Lorilyn Bleckmann article on EcoWatch— Levi’s and more Usually cotton is grown using genetically modified organisms (GMOs), an are now switching to only producing organism whose genome has been altered by the techniques of clothes made of 100 percent organic cotton with no added genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes chemicals. They’re also recycling clothing. If consumers bring not normally found. Ten percent of the cotton used in fabrics in clothes that are no longer needed or wanted, they can recontain agricultural chemicals such as insecticides, rodenticeive 15 to 20 percent off on their purchase and help save the cides or herbicides. In most cases, the use of these harmful planet. chemicals result in farmer suicides, according to Chad Heeter “Real change is possible if people make a commitment to in his PBS documentary “Seeds of Suicide” on farmer suicides. that cause. This is where we need to go, the concept of cloth“The example of the woman (shown in ‘The True Cost’) with ing loop, where there is no waste,” said Bleckmann. all the acres of cotton, she is a great example. I believe she said “After studying fashion for the past three years, one apprecigoing organic was no longer a choice, it was imperative. Such ates the time and effort it takes just to make one garment. The a disregard for natural resources and humans that work for value doesn’t matter, just as long as the garment itself is good,” them doesn’t said Pasion. make sense, Calvin Klein, in because one partnership with thing feeds Eco Age, a high-end another,” said brand, chose to debut Bleckmann a couture dress made Such up almost entirely of chemicals can recycled products in cause diseases this year’s Met Gala. which harm The gown is a threelots of famipiece ensemble, and lies tied to the it’s all reusable. mass man“Awareness is the ufacturing first step to creating farms. Those change; There is hope who work in for the art and the cotton farms business of fashion are exposed to to be viewed in a a wide range more wholeheartedly of dangerous positive way in the respiratory future.” Bleckmann toxins. said.

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Tackling Football s Unknown Enemy Story by Katja Liebing “Set,” the quarterback shouts and the linemen drop into their stances. “Green 80, Green 80, Hut-Hut.” The center snaps the ball. He catches it and drops a few steps back. His eyes lock onto the wide receiver. He rears back to pass when suddenly everything goes black.

“The guy had about a 20-yard sprint and hit him right in the small of his back.

Thought it killed him,” head football coach Thomas Maher said. “I cellphoned his dad from out in the middle of the field and said, ‘He is alive.’”

Luckily quarterback Jesse Hanckle’s hit during the last football game of the season at Pasadena City College did not result in a concussion or any major injury. However, the known number of football players suffering from long-term effects of concussions, even resulting in death, has grown steadily. As many as 40 percent of retired NFL players show signs of traumatic brain injury according to a study by the American Academy of Neurology. And it all starts with a single concussion.

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury usually caused by a blow to the head, but also a violent shake can have the same effect. The brain rocks back and forth and repeatedly hits the skull. This becomes increasingly more dangerous in

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older players as the space between the brain and the skull grows and gives the brain more room to move. It causes the brain to spin and swirl back and forth and its nerve fibers to stretch. Fibers, blood vessels and nerves are in danger of being severely injured. If blood vessels break, blood can leak into brain fluid and result in brain cells being killed.

While concussions can cause unconsciousness, they mostly don’t, which is one of the reasons they are often left undiagnosed. Every concussion injures the brain and needs time to heal. Usually they are only temporary when given enough recovery time. The real danger of concussions lies in consecutive traumas.

Experts believe that repeated head trauma can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative disease of the brain, which can only be diagnosed post mortem, as reported by CNN. A research by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University concluded that 96 percent of all examined deceased NFL players indeed suffered from CTE. For a long time the NFL refused to acknowledge that a high percentage of its players had brain damage as a result of playing football. In court documents filed in 2014, the NFL finally admitted that

almost a third of all retired NFL players will suffer from long-term cognitive issues as reported by the Washington Post.

Most of the changes the league has made so far are on the field in an effort to reduce impacts and possible head injuries. The NFL has for example made intentional head-to-head contact and the striking of a defenseless player illegal.

Additionally, doctors are keeping a close eye on the players through binoculars and have the power to stop a game at any given moment if they feel a player should be evaluated for concussion symptoms.

Unfortunately players like Dave Duerson, a star defensive back for the Chicago Bears, will not benefit from the changes.

He suffered from brain trauma symptoms like memory loss and abusive behavior towards his family he could no longer deal with. He took a gun and shot himself. Instead of a bullet to the head, he aimed at his chest so that his brain could be used for CTE research as he requested in his suicide note. His brain had indeed developed CTE, according to CNN. CTE was also identified in former college player Owen Thomas, who hanged himself when he was just 21. Suicidal impulses are one of the many symptoms of the disease.

CTE was first discovered by Nigerian-born neuropathologist Bennet Omalu. He first diagnosed the degenerative brain disease post-mortem in former NFL player Mike Webster. According to Time magazine, Omalu believes that 90 percent of players in the NFL will suffer from brain disease. His findings sparked fierce discussions and brought the dangers of brain trauma caused by playing the nation’s favorite sport to the forefront of many players and parents minds. It led to a Hollywood movie with Will Smith playing Omalu, but also a billion-dollar settlement in a gigantic lawsuit between the NFL and over 5,000 football players who demanded compensation for injuries suffered while playing.

The football team at Pasadena City College has not been free of concussions either. Ben Kaiser played both as a defensive and offensive lineman for two seasons at PCC. In the fall of 2016 he transferred with a scholarship to North Carolina State, where he now plays as offensive lineman for the Wolfpack.

Kaiser has had two concussions in his career so far. One of them was the result of a collision and the other resulted from different impacts. However, there was no distinctive moment where Kaiser knew he had a concussion and he only realized he did due to symptoms he experienced.

“What I remember is that after getting my concussion I was very sluggish and felt like I was in a fog. The next day is usually the worst. I had headaches that would not go away, was very sensitive to any bright lights or loud noises, and had trouble concentrating. Basically you can’t do anything except sleep because any type of sensory [input] will hurt your head. Every day after the concussion, the symptoms get better and better until they are eventually completely gone.”

Concussions are diagnosed because of observed signs, but mainly due to players reporting symptoms. These include headaches, nausea, dizziness, foggy vision, appearing dazed, changes in mood and behavior and not being able to recall events prior or after being hit.

Kaiser’s mother Dr. Petra Lott, a neurolinguist, said she does not think about longterm damages for now, especially since she sees her son’s concussions as minor

Photo by Erick Lemus/Spotlight PCC’s defensive line face off against Allan Hancock Bulldogs’ offensive line. due to him not losing consciousness. The trainers and coaches also provide her with a sense of reassurance.

“It gives me peace of mind to know that team managers take concussions of all degrees of severity very seriously,” Lott said. “Ben, for example, was not allowed to be physically active, go to class, or be in a loud environment until he had passed all of his concussion tests.

These were administered on a daily basis. Once he did pass, he could go back to an active life.”

While Kaiser has suffered from concussions in the past, he is not concerned about long term injuries. Instead he keeps a positive outlook and focuses on his performance. He is also confident in the industry’s efforts to prevent and minimize injuries.

“The best thing one can do is inform themselves on the matter and try to prevent concussions from occurring by using proper technique and being smart on the field,” Kaiser said. “You can’t play football being scared that you are going to get hurt. It’s a part of the game and everyone who plays pretty much accepts that there is a risk associated with this game.”

After growing up in Switzerland for the first seven years of his life, he moved with his parents to the United States. He started playing football in high school and never looked back. No potential risk will change that.

“Football means everything to me.

Football has opened so many doors for me,” he said. “But that’s not why I do it. I love football because I have a deep passion for the game and I don’t think anything could take that passion away from me. I understand that not everybody feels that way but that’s ok. There are many other competitive outlets that people can participate in other than football. I’ve never considered not playing football but I know my parents were very worried when I first started playing. I think they have seen that it is not as dangerous as it is hyped up to be.”

Lott has indeed stopped worrying about her son’s potential injuries a long time ago. She came to the conclusion that worrying would not help her or her son as it would not prevent injuries, but would instead just weigh on their minds.

“It’s almost like being a passenger in a car. Your worries about the driver’s driving skills won’t affect the outcome of your trip or won’t prevent an accident.

It is not in my power to influence Ben’s health or his career path in any way. I leave everything to him. What I can do, however, is be positive and supportive of anything he wants to accomplish. I stopped worrying instead I believe in him and in his abilities to prevent further injuries.”

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Helmet evolution

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Maher, whose son played football for PCC in the past, has never received complaints or calls from worried parents in his time at PCC. “Parents want their kids to play hard,” Maher said. “‘You’ll be fine.’ My son broke his leg twice. He has a metal plate in his hand with eight screws in it for life because he shattered all the bones in his hand. I’m like, ‘Should have moved your hand.’ But it’s a different time now. If you had concussion symptoms in the old days you just didn’t do anything about it.”

One reason CTE can develop is that players hide their symptoms and don’t confide in coaches and trainers out of fear they would be taken off the field.

A study by Harvard and Boston University shows that only 1 in 27 head injuries actually gets reported. Offensive linemen, who are subjected to the most frequent low-magnitude impacts since they are colliding with defenders on every play, are more likely not to report a suspected concussion.

PCC’s defensive coordinator Fred Fimbres said that the coaches rely on players to report their symptoms. They try to educate them about the dangers of consecutive concussions at the start of every season. However, often players are not concerned enough about what can happen when they get hit hard.

They just assume things hurt when you run into each other.

“Our role above all else is to protect the health and well-being of the student,” Fimbres said. “Second, protect the institution from any liability. Winning football games is down the road a little bit. But different people make those determinations on how important those things are.”

Maher said things were different when he played football in his youth and that they just didn’t know about the potential severity of concussions or didn’t even know what they were. In his days players simply “got their bell rung” or got a “ding.”

While both Maher and Fimbres put a player’s health above else, there is a sense of longing for past times, where it was expected to play hard. Toughness is indeed a dominating feature of the game and it would most likely lose its appeal if player contact would be kept to a minimum. Having a deep passion for football and all its aspects, but also a liability to protect players and institutions can result in complex feelings.

“I would never tell a trainer I was

hurt,” Maher said. “I am always astonished when the kids go to the trainers and they tap their helmet. It can be the most exciting moment of the game and a kid will catch a pass and roll around the ground and tap their helmet. He just made an unbelievable play. Sixty-thousand people are going nuts and he wants to get off the field. We didn’t want to get off the field. We wanted to play football. You never told anybody you were hurt. In the old days you just snapped off ammonia capsules and snorted them.

Your head would explode and you run back out there.”

Maher explains that coaches at PCC are more educated today and that it is a big part of their curriculum to educate themselves and to watch for the signs of concussions.

“Now it’s cover your butt. Do the right thing. If we see the kids are hurt we take their helmet and take them to

“In the old days you just snapped off ammonia capsules and snorted them. Your head would explode and you run back out there.”

- Thomas Maher the trainer. No coaches are trying to hurt the kids.”

Maher believes that most concussions occur because players are neglecting to strengthen their necks and because players today are much bigger, stronger and faster. They are taught to be more explosive. Physics come into play and hits today have more impact. A defensive back’s mass and speed can produce an impact of 1,600 pounds of tackling force, according to physics professor Timothy Gay from the University of Nebraska.

Fimbres explained that the opportunities for concussions were much more frequent during practice than the actual games until programs limited the instances where players are going at full speed and full contact to minimize injuries. At PCC full speed drills are kept at a minimum and very short, but the game also suffers under it.

“There are some things that you just cannot simulate as well as you can just do when you do it full speed,” Fimbres said. “That is what the head coach has to determine. When is it appropriate to

go full speed and when isn’t it. And if there are some areas of the performance that will suffer, is he OK with that or is there another way to train to do the same thing without running two able-bodied, eager and proud young guys into one another and often times leading with their head.”

Maher recently attended a presentation by assistant head coach of the Seattle Seahawks Rocky Seto about new ways to tackle to take the head out of the play and lower the risk of injuries.

He proposed that teams start tackling on the thigh with the shoulder. It would increase safety, but still keep the game just as physical. While Maher agrees that the job can get done almost as effectively in many cases, he also points out that there are situations where “I still got to bust into your body with my forehead and that’s never gonna change.”

Maher could recall two concussions this season, but PCC’s athletic trainer Rudy Aguilar said they treated five or six players, which is average for fall season. Once a player is suspected of a concussion or any other injury, coaches hand him over to Aguilar and his team.

The player undergoes a concussion protocol including a variety of physical and cognitive tests. If a concussion is diagnosed, the player is taken out and ordered to rest for a minimum of seven days depending on the symptoms.

“I’m 5 years ahead of what everybody is doing,” Aguilar said. “All the protocols that are in place now and everybody is doing, I’ve been doing that for the past 5 years.”

Before the season starts players undergo a baseline concussion test. If a concussion is suspected, they are put through a battery of fitness tests and they are also given a questionnaire with signs and symptoms. All results are then evaluated to determine if a concussion is present or not.

Aguilar and the coaches all agree that the awareness of the potential long-term injuries resulting from concussions is a lot higher than a few decades ago when hardly anyone knew what a concussion was. The gained knowledge forces teams and players to take more precautions and adjust how the game is being played and to take players out when needed.

Teams change the ways they tackle and helmets are now highly-engineered to reduce the force of impact, giving it a similar effect to an airbag. The league has put out three Head Health Challeng-

es so far with the goal to fund projects developing head injury-preventing technologies. Amongst others, the NFL has funded research into new helmet technologies and materials that can be laid out under the turf to absorb some of the impact when a player hits the ground.

Maher describes the helmet from his playing days as a piece of canvas strapped around his head, sewn onto a leather strap and bolted to a plastic shell.

“It wobbled on your head and when you hit someone your helmet slid and shattered your nose and you bled like a stuck pig,” Maher said. “And every high school student when they took their senior portrait had to have their nose airbrushed cause you had a scab the size of a penny on your nose.”

High school football players are almost twice as likely to suffer from concussions as college players, PBS reports in its in-depth Frontline documentary “Football High.” While the latter suffer more concussions during games, high

schoolers had a higher rate during practice. Contrary to popular belief, concussions occur more often during practice sessions due to the fact that more players are for longer durations on the field and in situations where they can get injured.

While awareness for the dangers of football has risen, the culture surrounding it has not changed much. Fans still flood the stadiums, parents still cheer on their kids when they run into each other and players often place more importance on the team’s success than their own health.

Maher loves the game. He breathes football. But being a dad himself, he thinks that kids should not play tackle football until the 7th grade.

“I don’t know if they need to put on a uniform and get yelled at when they’re 7 years old,” Maher said. “Just hug ‘em up and tell them they are wonderful.”

Photo by Katja Liebing/Spotlight Fullerton College’s Jordan Hoy gets tackled by Orange Coast College’s defense.

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Boys

The Cult

Don’t

of Violent

Cry

Story by Amber Lipsey 23

Masculinity

Photos by Michael Watkins

On October 1, 2014 in Jamaica “Intimate terrorism, in that sense, men I believe it’s about privilege and Queens, a man approached a 26-year always being in a privileged position rests on a broader spectrum of violence old woman in the lobby of her apartso it almost creates a sense of entitlemeant to preserve the traditional domiment building. After complimenting her ment. They believe they’re entitled to be nance of heterosexual men, and coerce appearance, he asked her out on a date, entertained and validated by women,” those who are perceived as threatenand she refused. It was then that the Lawrence said. ing that order. That spectrum, at the man grabbed her from behind, slashed “With black men, I believe it has to extreme end, includes mass shootings,” her throat and took off running. do with the effects of white supremacy The Times reported.

In San Antonio the next year, a 29and Willie Lynch Syndrome in the way The shooting at Pulse was seen as a year old man named Christopher Taber that they’ve internalized self hatred, and way for Mateen to reassert control over Depolo walked up to a woman and put his masculinity by targeting the commu- they’re trying to deal with that through his hand around her waist at a bar and women’s bodies. So, I think that when a nity to which he deemed a threat. began grinding on her. The woman told woman rejects them, that validates their While the Pulse shooting was just one him he was acting inappropriately and self hatred and internal rejection.” way in which asked him to stop.

Willie Lynch syndrome refers to the According to Raw Story, “Depolo ongoing polarizing sociological is“Recently, there’s responded to her protesting by dissues within the African-American been a lot of discussion about paraging her in a mocking voice community that causes a divide and blocking a doorway so she and is responsible for black-onsexual assault, harassment, and couldn’t get away. Depolo called black violence. Willie Lynch intimate partner violence in the media. her ugly and said she was the Syndrome can be demonDespite the leaps made in the past decade “dumbest bitch [he] had ever strated in prejudice based met.” skin tone or the coarseregarding our understanding of this violence, on When the woman tried to ness of one’s hair. move away from him, Depolo particularly against women, people still hold Entitlement seems to be smashed her martini glass in onto some of the most asinine, archaic, violent a key theme in this discusher face, slicing her face and sion. In an article for The causing her to suffer a broken ideas about how victims are responsible for Guardian, Cord Jefferson nose and eye trauma. reflected on his past behavwhat they These are simply two examples iors of entitlement towards his in a growing epidemic of genex-girlfriend and gave a warnendure.” der-based violence against women ing to women on the red flags to in the U.S. perpetuated by a dangerous watch for. phenomenon called toxic masculinity.

“Beware bros trying to inform you The Odyssey defines toxic masculinity what they ‘deserve’ because a hurt toxic masculinity as “The socially-constructed attitudes, man can be a handful – but a hurt man asserted itself, street harassment is anmindsets and (yes) boundaries that tell inspired by the conviction that he’s other form in which it materializes. men that there is only one possible way owed something can be dangerous. For PCC student Jacinta Lawrence, a to embody their (also socially-constructproof of this, look no further than Elliot ed) gender, and women that they should current psychology major, has had many Rodger, [the Isla Vista mass shooter who unwelcome and degrading experiences be looking for (and submissive to) a vicalled his violence a “day of retribution” with street harassment. olent, sex-obsessed, controlling, unfeelfor the women who had rejected him] “One time I was walking in Harlem ing, all-around-unresponsive person.” who will forever serve as a reminder and there was a man who stopped me This epidemic has manifested itself as that the phrase ‘Hell hath no fury like and told me he wanted to eat my pussy. domestic violence, intimate partner via woman scorned’ is wildly inaccurate I told him that that was extremely inapolence (IPV) and even incidents of mass in one quite obvious way,” Jefferson propriate and I did not appreciate him violence on a large scale. wrote. saying that to me,” she said.

The New York Times published an Jefferson continued to explain that “Recently, when I was in Compton article on the connection between the gendered entitlement of criminals this man tried to talk to me asking for domestic violence and mass killings this such as rapists and domestic abusers is my number. I told him I was unavailable almost always universally condemned as past June, which references the Orlando and he responded angrily saying, ‘That’s unacceptable throughout polite sociNightclub shooter Omar Mateen. why I don’t like you light skinned bitchThe Times article addressed the need ety. However those men whose actions es,’ and I told him that I’m a sister first of a domestic abuser to impose traexhibit in softer ways, their belief that and he should be ashamed of himself.” ditional gender roles by use of force, women should pay them deference or Lawrence is currently studying to go which can include sexuality because tolerate their hostility and violence, face into marriage and family counseling many see homosexuality as a threat to much less abuse and criticism. with an emphasis in the trauma of Afrimasculinity.

After the twitter hashtag can-American families. She has her own In Mateen’s case, his ex-wife and #YesAllWomen was created where opinion on what makes men behave this women detailed their experiences father both told the press that he had a way towards women who reject them. history of using homophobic remarks with street harassment, another one, “I think it depends on what race of and had visited Pulse nightclub before #NotAllMen popped up with men interthe massacre and used a gay dating app. man you’re dealing with. For white jecting, “Hey, Not all of us,” essentially

-Feminista Jones

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delegitimizing women’s experiences. to win, the need for emotional control, In an article for Slate, writer Phil Plait risk-taking, violence, dominance, sexual addressed the defensiveness of “not all promiscuity, self-reliance, power over men” and how unhelpful and deflective women, and disdain for homosexuality. it was to the discussion around violence “While overall, conforming to masagainst women. culine norms “Why is it not was associated “We have to acknowledge how helpful to say, with negative ‘not all men are the infrastructure of our society mental health like that’? For outcomes in influences how we communicate lots of reasons. the with each other and how we allow subjects, For one, womresearchers en know this. men to inflict violence on women found the asThey already sociation to be and their vagina.” know not every most consisman is a rapist, -Jacinta Lawrence tent for these or a murderthree norms — er, or violent. self-reliance, They don’t need you to tell them,” Plait pursuit of playboy behavior and power wrote. over women,” the APA said.

“Second, it’s defensive. When people “The masculine norms of playboy and are defensive, they aren’t listening to power over women are the norms most the other person; they’re busy thinking closely associated with sexist attitudes, of ways to defend themselves.” while the robust association between Plait continued to explain that the conformity to these two norms and people saying “not all men” aren’t negative mental health-related outcomes furthering the conversation, they’re sideunderscores the idea that sexism is not tracking it. Women aren’t referring to merely a social injustice, but may also the men who aren’t a problem, but rathhave a detrimental effect on the mener the ones who are. Instead of being tal health of those who embrace such defensive and distracting from the topic attitudes.” at hand, Plait suggests staying quiet and listening to what the thousands upon thousands of women discussing this are saying.

“Fourth—and this is important, so listen carefully—when a woman is walking down the street, or on a blind date, or, yes, in an elevator alone, she doesn’t know which group you’re in. You might be the potential best guy ever in the history of history, but there’s no way for her to know that,” Plait said.

Toxic masculinity is not only harmful and dangerous for women, but it also has negative effects on men. According to the American Psychological Association (APA) a new analysis confirms that aspects of toxic masculinity are damaging to men’s mental health.

Researchers concluded that those who conformed closely to traditional notions of masculinity were more likely to have poor mental health outcomes and were less likely to seek help.

The study conducted a meta-analysis of 78 research samples involving 19,453 participants that focused on the relationship between mental health and conformity to certain norms generally considered by experts to reflect society’s expectations of traditional masculinity.

Analysis included ideas such as desire

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PCC student and Feminist Club member Dylan Sharkey believes that this behavior by men has to do with seeing women as a prize to be won, through socialization and gender norms.

“It’s based off of fairytales and the hero’s journey. We’ve been raised on Disney fairytales and the male heroes get the girl by going through trials and tribulations and we internalize that shit, everyone does. Women think they’re a princess and guys think they’re a hero.

Guys see themselves as that hero and the internal monologue says you need to get the girl now, where’s your prize?”

Sharkey said.

“Not just that we’ve been raised as the idea of ‘we are the heroes of our own story’ but there are certain tropes we have to meet and one of them is being awarded a female,” he added.

The CDC released a report in July 2016 citing reasons such as strict belief in gender roles and the desire for power as reasons for the rise in IPV. Feminist writer and author Feminista Jones compiled a list on her website of endless stories of women who were victims of domestic violence and murder by their significant others for reasons like breaking up with a partner, becom-

ing more independent, getting a higher paying job than their male counterparts, leaving for college or simply for becoming pregnant.

“Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about sexual assault, harassment, and intimate partner violence in the media. Despite the leaps we’ve made in the past decade regarding our understanding of this violence, particularly against women, people still hold onto some of the most asinine, archaic, violent ideas about how victims are responsible for what they endure,” Jones wrote on her blog.

Jones started a hashtag on Twitter called #YouOKSis to address the many instances of violence against women, specifically Black Women, that she said tends to go unreported by mainstream media. Her work in bringing focus to violence against women has resulted in rape and death threats.

“I had brothers wishing death and rape on me, threatening to slice my throat for raising money to combat sexual and domestic violence, a lot of black women have endured tremendous abuse just by even tweeting the hashtag,” Jones wrote.

The uprising of misogynist groups online evidences feminism being blamed for toxic masculinity. Many men online have started the “Men’s Rights Movement” claiming that male privilege doesn’t exist and asserting that we live

can’t discuss this thing that has been incepted into your head that you have to be awarded this hero journey bullshit and you can’t even bring that up. You just have to be angsty about it and it destroys you and everyone around you,” Sharkey said.

“I haven’t quite figured that one out myself. It seems like you get three or more guys in a room and you can’t talk about it anymore. One-on-one is fine, but three people? You ignore the fucking 600 pound gorilla in the room.”

In an article on Salon called “Toxic Masculinity is Killing Men,” the author Kali Holloway opined that parents who tell their male children to “be a man,” are harming them irreparably. “The emotionally damaging “masculinization” of boys starts even before boyhood, in infancy. Psychologist Terry Real highlights numerous studies which find that parents often unconsciously begin projecting a kind of innate “manliness”— and thus, a diminished need for comfort, protection and affection—onto baby boys as young as newborns.” in a female-dominated world in which Whatever the solution to this growing men are subject to widespread disadvanand deadly problem, one thing Lawtage and discrimination on the basis of rence believes is that this behavior is their gender. not only selfish, but also dehumanizing Men’s Rights Activists (MRA’s) spread to women and girls. If anything is to the ideology that if feminists want change, men must stop viewing women equality, men’s voices should be just as relevant to gender discussions. The issue as objects at their disposal, and as actual human bewith this perspective is that “You can’t talk to other guys about this, ings with agency. in order for that’s taboo right? You can’t discuss this “It’s purely that to work, thing that has been incepted into your a selfish act men and womto go after en must be on head. You just have to be angsty about it a woman equal footing and it destroys you and everyone around because it into begin with, you ... it seems like you get three or more volves some which is not guys in a room and you can’t talk about form of pleathe case. sure of self, it anymore. One-on-one is fine, but three There are an endless people? You ignore the fucking 600 pound not necessarily ‘I want to plethora of gorilla in the room.” share love or ideas on how -Dylan Sharkey caring with to end this this person,’ dangerous and but to be on violent behavthe street harassing women, that is an ior, but many of them revolve around act of dehumanizing her personality and the idea of simply having the conversabody from the jump,” Lawrence said. tion, which Sharkey admits, is already a “There are various reasons why men problem. do what they do, but most of the time “I’ve brought this up with male it’s selfishness. When a woman says no friends before and they were visibly and they continue then it becomes an uncomfortable, crossing their arms and act of violence. We have to acknowledge stuff, didn’t want to have the conversahow the infrastructure of society inflution. And why though? Like our feelences how we communicate with each ings don’t exist? You can’t talk to other other and how we allow men to inflict guys about this, that’s taboo right? You violence on women and their vagina.”

26

When Online Matches Spark

Story by Emily Harper Photo by Irma Carrillo

Julie Matheney asked if I wanted to hear about the guy who stalked her down to Costa Rica.

They met online. Four weeks into the relationship she told him about a trip she was taking to visit friends. He asked to join. She agreed.

“As soon as he bought his ticket he became very possessive and wanted to make the relationship really serious … talking wedding and marriage—mind you this is four weeks in. I asked him to slow down, but he was going full speed ahead,” 31-year-old Matheny said. “He started talking engagement and when I told him I wasn’t there at all, he started telling me I was just scared of my true feelings.”

She eventually broke up with him, and offered to pay the cancellation fees for his flight, but he refused.

“He was convinced if he went I would take him back,” she said.

This, however, was not a rom-com match made in Hollywood.

“But he still ended up on the plane with me … most awkward eight hours of my life. To this day I have no idea where he stayed or what he did while he was there,” she said.

Although online dating isn’t a new concept, it certainly introduces a different version of normal into the lives of those who try it. When people meet in traditional ways they already have things in common: mutual friends, a shared inter-

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est that brought them to the same place at the same time, or at the very least, they live in the same city. Online dating, however, shakes hands with tradition and walks the other way.

Of the Americans who have tried online dating, 80 percent agree that it’s a good way to meet people. According to Pew Research Center surveys completed in the last year, one in ten Americans have now tried dating sites or apps.

Not all the people I spoke with met perfect matches right away. Many were propositioned by dates looking for one thing. Sarah Dunsworth, 26, tried the site Plenty of Fish and started talking to a guy who claimed to be 21. He later informed her that he had been a little generous with his age.

“He must have been really hoping for a Netflix and Chill situation, because he leaned in and kissed me. We kissed for a couple minutes, but it didn’t do anything for me,” Dunsworth said. “He was good looking ... for a 19 year old, but I felt like I was kissing a kid.”

He suggested sex. She declined the offer, and later ended the evening saying she was tired.

“I waited 15 minutes, until I was sure he was gone, and then I went and got Taco Bell and stayed up late into the night watching episodes of New Girl,” Dunsworth said.

Even the experts are still working out the kinks in the online system, but issues with meeting new people aren’t exclusive to millennials.

“Dating became part of our language

Archive photo courtesy of Library of Congress

in the 1910s … (It was) a commercial sort of thing to boost the attendance for new kinds of entertainment like amusement parks, ice cream parlors, and dance halls,” explained Michelle Ireland-Galman, a sociology professor at PCC. Meeting people online is easier than finding someone in 1910, but the profiles are built from a few carefully selected selfies and a short bio of random facts rather than mutual friends and a shared interest in activities. The chats that start out well online aren’t guaranteed to go as smoothly in the real world. Most people won’t end up spending loads of time with someone who doesn’t share similar interests, even if they initially find them attractive.

“Good looks and sex doesn’t pay the rent,” Ireland-Galman said. She recommended looking for a partner with the same core values. Although she believes that meeting someone at school, work or while volunteering is still the ideal way to find someone who shares a similar world view, many people have had success on the internet.

“We’re more likely to fall in love with someone near us,” Ireland-Galman said.

She mentioned recent studies on proximity and dating in college dorms. They found that students were more likely to date someone from their own building than travel to another dorm, even if it was nearby.

“Online dating tries to use all the research,” she added. It takes the last hundred years of information and attempts to match people based on the things they’ve found to increase compatibility.

Dating, however, is still bizarre no matter how it’s sliced. Almost two years ago, at 22, I tried my luck at the online game as a way to switch-up my routine. I didn’t expect much, just a couple stories to laugh about with friends.

A friend recommended Coffee Meets Bagel, a very simple free app that only sends you one potential match per day.

It was perfect because I wasn’t looking to spend loads of money or time scrolling through pages of potential dates and reading extensive profiles.

One day a guy popped up on my screen. His profile wasn’t extraordinary, but his occupation stuck out to me. Forensic scientist. I thought, “I love CSI, so I just want to talk to this guy, who cares if it’s anything else.” My life of being a ballroom dance instructor and part-time nanny wasn’t exactly full of crimes and

risk.

We started out with nothing in common, but happened to enjoy spending time together.

Mario was super slick with his idea for breaking the touch barrier on the first date. He told me about his work with DNA and fingerprints, and asked if I wanted to know what kind of fingerprints I had.

Hesitantly, I offered my hand. I became so caught up in the story that I let him hold my hand for a while before I realized what he had done. It’s been a year and a half of dating him, and I’m still constantly surprised at his ability to think outside the box.

However, not all my previous dates went so smoothly. There was the guy who took me to a kids’ movie, farted and laughed too loud the entire time, then said “bye” after the end credits. I, thankfully, never heard from him again.

We had gone on a successful first date and had been texting for a week or two prior to this disastrous second date. I had built up in my mind this perception of him as his profile had suggested: a fun loving, world traveling, established engineer who enjoyed dancing. I thought this second date would progress as our texting had, that he would be witty and charming, and that even though I hadn’t been exceptionally attracted to him on our first date, something magical might transpire.

It was a comical wake-up call about the danger of building an imaginary world with someone via text.

Karen Silva, a PCC student who tried online dating for the first time at 24, mentioned something similar when asked about her ideal timeline before meeting for dates.

“I say talk as little as possible,” she said. “I think that when you talk a lot online first you can build up this fantasy… and when you meet them in person it can cause you to be even more disillusioned than you already are.”

Some first encounters were less magical and more disturbing than others.

Silva shared a horror story her now boyfriend encountered. He had agreed to meet up at a bar with a girl he matched on Tinder. When he saw her, he walked by twice to be sure he had seen things clearly. Unfortunately, his first observation was correct.

“She had made a cake for him, with his face on it, from one of his profile pictures on his Tinder account,” she said. Cake baker girl later asked if he

wanted to go home with her to meet her cat. He declined.

Of her own experiences, Silva commented that one day while lounging on her bed with her puppy she sent a Tinder match a picture and received one in return. She sent a picture of only her cute chihuahua. He immediately replied with a dick pic.

“I didn’t ask for that, I didn’t want it, that escalated way too quickly,” Silva responded.

The Do’s & Don’ts of Online Dating: Do’s • •

Meet in a well-lit public place Let people know where you’ll be

•

Think outside the box, you don’t have to meet for coffee or drinks

• •

Try something new: go to an arcade, try paddle boarding, museums, etc.

Be yourself

• • • • •

Give out your home address Give too much personal info Get drunk on a first date Get into a car with a stranger Ignore red flags

Don’ts

He told her that she should be grateful that he’s comfortable with his body to share that piece of intimacy with her.

She responded that she wasn’t grateful because she hadn’t asked for that, and tried to explain her perspective. He became verbally abusive, and she had to block him.

Julie Elbogen, who first started online dating in 2011 at the age of 21, has seen some things too.

“I probably have repressed many of the incidents,” Elbogen said. “Mainly for sanity reasons. There was the one guy from a free site who just randomly messaged me, ‘I don’t think you’re my type but I can’t stop masturbating to your photos.’ Needless to say I did not respond to him.”

She’s met a bunch of crazies over the years while using Plenty of Fish, OK Cupid, Tinder, Match.com, and more.

“But then I finally met my happily ever after. Travis and I met on the free site Coffee Meets Bagel and hit it off from the start. He’s the man that showed me that when a relationship is right that it’s just easy.” They got married January 1st of this year.

My computer and phone recorder are filled with stories that didn’t make the cut, for this article, not because they aren’t hilarious and memorable, but because it would take more space than I’m allowed. Most of the people from the stories here are either in a committed relationship or married to someone they met online. For the ones still looking, Anabel Hermosillo,18, and one of the first PCC students I spoke to, told the truth about online dating.

“There were a lot more weird people than I thought there were going to be.”

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Story Photo

by by

Peter Erick

Chao Lemus

wo decades ago, voices messages were left at home also set reminders. and the internet was surfed on desktops. Two deGoogle has an array of apps that can help increase produccades later, messages, phone calls, and the internet tivity including fitness tracker, GPS navigation, and their own can be accessed through devices that are kept in Word processing and Powerpoint presentation applications our pockets. that can all be accessed through someone’s smartphone.

Mobile phone technologies have evolved so rapidly that it The amount of apps someone can download onto their has completely transformed our lives and how we receive and smartphone are limitless. send information. Over the years, mobile phones fast forwardCanvas, a “learning management system”, that PCC has ed us to the digital age, and the relationship with our pocket incorporated into their school, also has an app where students computers has become more or less complicated not only for can get notifications about grades and get access to the files students but for educators as well. from professors who upload them through the Canvas system.

Mobile phones being increasingly available and priced “Yeah I think it is very beneficial, even in class whenever cheaper, smartphones have transitioned from a luxury product the professor goes too fast on the slides, I could pull them up to an everyday necessity in America. on Canvas and finish my notes until Many mobile phone brands such as Motoro- According to Cisco’s he goes on to the next topic,” said la are pricing their flagship phone at under PCC chemical engineering student Global Mobile Data Traffic $400, and those are not the only companies Anna Hempowicz.

Forecast Update of 2015, making budget smartphones.

Many professors at PCC have noaverage smartphone Apple, the notable giant of the smartphone ticed how students interact with their usage went up 43 percent industry, introduced the iPhone SE earlier in phones over the years. Students now March starting also at $400 in order to target in 2015. In 2015 individual take photos of lecture notes instead consumers who wanted the iPhone operating of actually writing them down or smartphone data usage system without paying the premium prices for increased to 929 MB per typing them on a computer. Some the mainline iPhone models. students may go as far as Snapchatmonth from 648 MB in According to an article in Digital Trends, ting interesting lectures to their 2014.

47 percent of American households only use friends and family. cell phones and about 41 percent have both “When I say something about landline and mobile phones. phone usage [in the beginning of class], sometimes I see that Having a “smart” phone in our pocket proves that we are there is always a student on their phone and thinks that I in the future. It is essentially having a computer connected to don’t see them,” said Sociology Professor Jose Lopez. the high speed internet in someone’s pocket at all times, and Lopez explained that having the Internet is a somewhat because of that, students of this generation have a very partic- recent phenomenon, because before the age of the Internet, if ular relationship with their phones. people needed to find information about a certain subject they Students found themselves using their phones excessively would use the encyclopedia. outside of school, and many of them find themselves being on Lopez has personal experience with having to switch to a the internet when the time should be spent on schoolwork. newer model phone because his older model could not keep “Sometimes when I’m doing homework at home or studyup with the technology the service provider was providing at ing, I would tell myself, ‘I’m only going to take a 10 minute that time. break,’ but then I would end up watching videos on YouTube With technology always moving forward, in the near future for like an hour,” sociology student Aaron Yu said.

Lopez would love to integrate smartphones so that students Many can relate to Yu as many students across the PCC would be able to participate in class and be more involved, campus spend their spare time between classes on their using their phone as a learning device instead of a distraction phones. in class.

Though it could be distracting, students also find that hav“I think as teachers we need to try and find a way to probing their phone around at all times is very convenient. Being ably incorporate that more, because I think there would be able to access grades online, set reminders for tests and asmore student interest,” said Lopez. signment due dates or just being able to find information right Both students and teachers can agree that having the conaway has always been the advantage of having a smartphone venience of a smartphone may not be a negative thing as long around. as it is not used in excess. Many professors like Lopez want to There are many other productivity applications a student embrace the technology and would like to use it as a catalyst can download such as Any.do, a to-do list application that can to improve the learning experience in their classroom.

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Story by Bryan Owens Photo by Cristian Cotaya

Julia Russo, PCC’s outgoing Associated Students President, patted visiting costumed kindergartners on the head as she laughed and led me into the innermost sanctum of the CC building. Here, from an immersive, windowless bunker befitting a Bond villain, the AS Executive Board wields power.

Not an unchecked power, but often an unknown one. In April, a general election will be held to seat 12 students on PCC’s Associated Students Executive Board. PCC’s AS President, 10 Vice Presidents and a Student Trustee are elected via electronic ballot, sent by email, to all of PCC’s 27,000 students. Last year, 463, just under two percent, of students voted. These favored positions were filled by fewer people than your mom may have friended on Facebook.

This level of under-involvement merits consideration. Why do PCC students seldomly vote or seek office? Sitting on the board is not without its advantages. These 12 elected students enjoy the perks commensurate with someone who represents the population of a small city. Students on PCC’s high command receive a stipend, on-campus office, and control thousands in discretionary funds earmarked for PCC clubs, programs and events.

Years past have seen vice presidents run unopposed. PCC students presently enrolled in at least nine units, with 12 completed, are eligible for office.

Election packets are available in the Office of Student Affairs. Three candidate forums are hosted by the school in Galloway Plaza before April’s election. If not running for office, simply voting via email for your student body will boost your bona fides.

As we stood outside the student store, first-year student Xiomy Gonzalez noticed, “Most students rush by with their heads down, I doubt many know there is a student election anyway.” Amongst those who do know, night class student Robert Hollar said “I don’t vote because it doesn’t matter.” A sentiment reflected nationally.

PCC’s low voter turnout mirrors the country at large. In 2016’s presidential election, younger Americans voted in sharply lower rates than their elder counterparts.

Civic apathy isn’t unique to PCC. According to the L.A Times, in the last L.A Community College District elec-

tion, 4,143 total ballots were cast out of nearly 100,000 students, roughly 4 percent. “We are a commuter campus,” said PCC’s Student Advisor Carrie Afuso.

“A lot of our students are here for night classes. They come and go, never seeing the advertisements for our AS Board.

Also, young people often feel strongly about certain issues, but since those issues don’t touch them directly, they don’t vote.”

Knowing who votes and why is key to diagnosing the problem of youth voting.

AS President Julia Russo However, measuring the youth vote poses unique problems. There is not a single clearly correct turnout figure for the youth vote in any given year. However, the electoral participation of Americans under the age of 25 has steadily declined since 1972, when 18-21 year-olds were first permitted to vote, according to the Pew Research Center.

Gallup polling estimates that the decline in presidential election years has been between 13 and 15 percent (depending on the method of calculation) from one four year cycle to the next.

This participation drop is far greater than a corresponding decline amongst older Americans. The conventionally held political belief is that Democratic candidates are hurt most by a depressed youth turnout. Despite their unreliability, mobilizing the youth vote is often a fundamental element of national and local campaigns.

The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning (CIRCLE) outlines some of the difficulties in measuring youth voting. “The Federal Election Commission (FEC), which keeps official statistics on the number of ballots cast, does not have any way of knowing voters’ ages. When Americans vote, we do not disclose how old we are. Therefore, polls or surveys are our only means of calculating turnout for any age group.”

Public surveys of voting behavior consistently produce inflated turnout estimates, since some people mistakenly, or falsely, report that they voted. Thus it is never possible to say with certainty how many people between the ages of 18 and 24 voted in any given year.

Additionally, public policy studies repeatedly find that a person’s propensity to vote has a direct connection to their economic power. The turnout of low-income youth is most affected by economic barriers. For instance, the Stanford Social Review found that photo ID requirements reduce turnout for non-college youth. Youth on a college track, such as those taking AP courses or attending school in more affluent districts, are more likely to be exposed to high-quality civic education practices, thus making them more likely to vote.

Economic disparity impacts turnout of the 18-24 age group more than any other part of the electorate.

“Encouraging students to engage and contribute their skills can help improve communities, but major institutions— educational, governmental, political, and civic—must actually want that to happen,” states The Stanford Social Review. Economically speaking, youth personally gain the least from government spending. They are being indebted by the deficit spending and cost overruns of entitlement programs like Social Security. Young working adults have zero expectation of collecting the SSI they pay into. Present government spending is being incurred at the expense of America’s youth, who will be left to pay the bills. This knowledge, coupled with little faith that “the system” hears, or cares, about what they say (i.e. the 2016 popular vote), may explain their disdain with voting overall. But, often the issues most near to us, relate to local and student elections. When it comes to PCC’s shared governance, a student’s voice truly does matter.

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Story by Remington Annetta

S

tage footage of black people screaming, jumping, headbanging to Tamar Kali’s song “Boot” plays on the screen. “Her hair is short, her legs are brown, her lips are full, her head hangs down,” Kali howls with as much enthusiasm for rock as Joan Jett and the same smooth and soulful style as Beyoncé. People are dancing and playing guitar as if the color of their skin didn’t matter.

The movement known as Afropunk began with a film by James Spooner who created the documentary film which explored the African American experience in the punk scene.

The intro to the movie begins with Ralph Darden of the bands Franklin and Jai Alai Savant explaining how he used to want to be white.

“I was convinced white people were cool, I wish I was white,” he pouted, remembering his adolescent wish.

Many of the younger people interviewed stated that they were the only black kid in their classes, schools, or even the only black kid “for miles.” Despite coming from wealthy, middle, and lower class cities, all of those who were interviewed stated how they felt like outsiders among both white and black.

Fast forward 13 years later and the term Afropunk has evolved into much more than a documentary. Beginning on the East Coast, the Afropunk festival has become a Mecca for African-Americans with alternative interests featuring art, fashion, food, and it’s most well-known attraction: music. After years of being an underground festival, Afropunk has begun to branch out with festivals in Atlanta, Brooklyn, and recently London and Paris. The movement has made its way into California and into the lives of PCC students.

For us on the West Coast the movement is still underground but there are more aspects of the

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movement and more Afropunk bands on campus than we know.

Marie Valdez is a PCC student who has spent years listening to punk musicians of color and experiencing the scene.

“Growing up in Los Angeles, I was a Latina in the punk scene.

When I went to shows I felt I could associate with musicians of color, because like me, we were minorities in a white dominated scene,” Valdez recalled.

Like Valdez, many others benefit from the community that is built through music despite not being African-American. The Afropunk site breaks down the meaning, stating that “Afro: [is] born of African spirit and heritage

Fishbone’s 2011 EP Crazy Glue or “black (not always).”

The scene provides a place for anyone who may not fit the conventional type of alternative music fan. As expressed on their “No Hate” t-shirt and posters by stages at festivals, no sexism, racism, ableism, ageism, homophobia, fatphobia, transphobia, and hatefulness is tolerated.

These explicit morals are what make the movement so inclusive to all fans. By endorsing artists such as local pioneers Fishbone, Big Freeda, MEM NAHADR, Death, Underground Logic, Letlive, and Unlocking the Truth, Afropunk displays how they’re an open community to all listeners.

“In my generation, musicians of color were breaking down barriers in genres where they were dom-

inated by the white race,” said Valdez. “For me it was great to see musicians of color performing at shows. Being a Latina in the punk culture I could relate to them in a way white people couldn’t.

They were not white, and I wasn’t either.”

The movement has given many artists a platform to promote their art in their newsletter that features poetry, photo series, op-eds, illustrations, music, and news of upcoming art. There are also features that promote body positivity such as the #BlackGirlMagic hashtag that is inclusive to all black women.

The movement has also used its popularity to boost awareness about politics and protests. These features shed light on issues and interests that are usually hidden or ignored in the African-American community or by society as a whole.

Through multiple blogs and online forums, all these aspects of the community are brought to members attention and open to discussion. The “Safety Pins” blog posted on the Afropunk site features editorials, hair tips, and new clothing lines while the “Carded” blog features teen issues including suicide, parental gripes, outreach, teenage employment info, and youth rights.

Other blogs tackle subjects that aren’t widely talked about in the African-American community such as black homophobia, news on queer and trans interview collections, stigmas around mental health and suicide, and veganism.

In the Afropunk community these subjects are no longer restricted to any race.

PCC student Anjhelique Gallon has attended the Vans Warped Tour multiple times to view metal bands. Gallon wasn’t very familiar with the movement until recently.

“It’s [the movement] breaking stereotypes surrounding people of color,” Gallon stated.

Jeremiah Wagner is another student who wasn’t familiar with the movement until it was brought up by a friend.

However, Wagner is very familiar with the metal scene from his experience being in four bands: Kanserus Stait, Dead Myth, Toxoplazmosis, and his newest band Exile in Pasadena.

Wagner stated that he felt like an outsider, I did grow up with this music since I was 4.” He later began to connect with the lyrics.

“For me, I don’t like religion too much,” he said. “I grew up in a Christian household but I wasn’t proud of how they forced kids into religion.”

Some may not understand what it’s like to go against religion or any belief that is close to a person’s culture, but Afropunk connects music and culture without usual stigmas and allows listeners to enjoy the culture without feeling that they have to be anything but themselves.

“Not all of us listen to rap and hiphop music or ‘non-white’ music. Everyone has different tastes in music, it’s wonderful that people can finally see that,” Gallon said. “It’s [Afropunk] bringing a lot of people together and I think that’s awesome, knowing that people of color are able to be in an environment where they are comfortable expressing themselves with people who have the same interests.”

The style of the scene is a huge aspect that heavily contributes to every movement. It defines fans and sets them apart from the mainstream. The “anti-culture” of being black with bright hair, piercings, tattoos tastefully obscene and explicit band shirts were alien in the black community and grounds for apologies from parents, resentment towards kids, and even being kicked out of the house.

“When I grew out my hair long as

a 14 year old I had hair to my ass,” “As a heavily tattooed woman, Wagner recalled. “I dyed it, not all of it these stereotypes and accusations not but parts of it. I wore a lot of studs and only exploit women, but sets back the leather and a lot of satanic band shirts.

African-American community and the I was kicked out of school because they rich culture of tattoos since the times of thought I was satanic. In order for me to scarification,” Johnson said. get back into school, I had to take out The appropriation of your own herimy hair dye and stop wearing what I tage is never as explicit until you walk wore.” down the street in a Bad Brains t-shirt The aesthetic of punk is hugely inover dark skin and a blonde glares at fluenced by cultures of color. Mohawks you as if you have no right to wear from Native Americans, vibrant face your culture. The Afropunk movement paint, facial piercings, scarification, links past African culture to the present dreads, and even bantu knots or “twistthrough acknowledgement of the roots ed space buns” are from African tribes.

“Till this day I’m still told I shouldn’t of punk style. As shocking as it may wear what I wear and I shouldn’t cut seem, nothing from body modifications my hair,” Wagner said. “No metalhead to hair dye is new for Black and African or punks should listen to non-metal or culture; people just wear more Napalm punk people that tell you, ‘Oh you look Death shirts. tacky on how you dress.”

“Afropunk is more of a statement,” Valdez also identifies with being Wagner said. judged on her clothing choices.

The website states that the meaning “At school teachers would ask me if is “to [define] culture by the collective my mother knew I would go out of the creative actions of the individual and house dressed like that.” she says, “Fishthe group.

It is a safe place, a blank nets and twenty hole docs were frowned space to freak out in, to construct a new upon. Also having fire engine red hair, reality, to live your life as you see fit, black nails, red lipstick with black lip liner were always a topic and of course, while making sense of the world around a lot of staring.” you.”

“When hip-hop was born, look at Whichever definition participants them [hip-hop artists]. What’s the differ- decide to use to describe it, there’s a ence between them and all these punk whole new community for everyone at rock kids? They were wearing all spikes Afropunk. and chains, it was all punk to me,” Darden said.

Grant Greys, another film interviewee, agreed that “being black and being punk rocker are pretty similar.”

The fine line between ghetto and punk D.I.Y. style is becoming a huge topic as different black punks creep into the mainstream. Shaunese Johnson is an Afropunk contributor who recently spoke on black women with tattoos and how they’re perceived as “trashy” and “ghetto” while those with lighter skin tones Photo by Irma Carrillo/Spotlight are praised for being Sy Rosell and Jeremiah Wagner of the band Exile. “edgy.”

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ts: en ud n St FirTakinstg theGeroad less traveled Story and photo by Will Mauriz

The Karim house is rich with the smell of foreign spices lingering in all the hallways. Dinner was ready and filled the table like Christmas tree ornaments with vibrant colors. A Turkish soap opera plays in the background dubbed over in the language of Dari. At the table Sunya Karim, a sophomore at PCC sits eating with her parents.

Her parents are Afghan refugees whose generation fled from war. Searching for a secure home and opportunities to work, they settled in Southern California, which they are happy to call their home. Sunya’s father Obelluluh Karim and mother Zakiah Karim smile every time they talk about their daughter and mention they are proud of their son Ali Karim, who is in the Air Force.

“My family is my blood, I bleed for them. They are extensions of me and I would do anything for them,” said Obelluluh.

Sunya recalled she did not expect much when she told her parents that she was going to college. Her parents had a hard time with the English language and relied on Sunya to communicate in school. There were many times Sunya had to speak for her with her teachers about her progress and deal with adjusting to American culture.

“I was not comfortable with Sunya going to after school programs or attending school dances. I am proud that she

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always would listen to me,” said Zakiah.

Sunya recalled she wanted to attend college because it was what everyone else was doing after they graduated high school.

“I could not ask my parents about college in the same way I would about almost everything in my life. My parents weren’t able to pay for my schooling, I had to figure my own way and felt lost,” said Sunya.

First generation students are the first in their immediate family to attend college. Many such students have to deal with deficits in financial resources, family support, critical college skills and academic preparation.

“Forty-three percent of our students are the first in their family to go to college,” said Dr. Cynthia Olivo, Vice President of Student Services at Pasadena City College.

Sunya is one of these students and they share common challenges.

“From my own personal experience it was hard to find information I can trust. From studying literature, best practices, and research as an academic professional it came down to students need someone to turn to for help,” said Dr. Olivo.

Challenges come in all forms for students.

Mark Bentley is the first student in his family to attend college in the United States while at the same time, he suffered

a pulmonary embolism, which is a potentially fatal condition.“I had an illness that debilitated me at one point. It was challenging to not drop out of school and to still attend class,” said Bentley.

Bentley’s recovery from his embolism was a slow one. He could barely speak a complete sentence without gasping for air. After his embolism, he said he had to take it slow, from four classes to one class.

Bentley is the son of immigrants and his plight in education is shared by one in five students who are the first to attend a two or four-year institution.

Nearly 20 percent of 7.3 million fulltime undergraduates attending four-year public and private institutions are classified as being first-generation students, according to the New York Times.

Only 27 percent of first generation college students actually graduate from college, according to a 2015 UCLA report.

“I think I was the first college student because I accepted the challenge.

It was a very difficult endeavor. I was twenty-five when I went back, I had bills, I had professional jobs, I had even started my own successful business,” Bentley said.

“I wanted more, but education was something that needed to be planned because my parents did not make enough to help me with college,” he added. “But they made enough to disqualify me from financial aid, so I waited until I could pay it on my own.”

Bentley has a very close family unit who always shares responsibilities, especially financially. He was never expected to get good grades and attend college, but instead to make money to pay the bills. He was asked to help make house payments and be a fiscally responsible adult.

Bentley transferred on a full scholarship from PCC to the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated in June 2016 at the top of his class. He was driven by the recognition that he had an opportunity to go to college and succeed.

“My objective was to get the highest GPA I could. I don’t think I am the ideal student and was never a straight “A” student, never in high school. Now, I had to be because I wanted to go to a top tier school. That was the challenge to become something that I wasn’t and I didn’t have a mentor,” said Bentley.

“When I got to UC Berkeley I always

scored in the top 10 percent of my class.”

Eriverto Vargas was the first in his family to attend college. He is one of three kids and the first to get his degree.

He attended Chaffey Community College and then later the University of North Dakota. Vargas is from a large family of musicians and loud mariachi music would fill the air of his house growing up. His mother passed away when he was 8 years old and he had to grow up fast with his brother and sister at the care of his traveling musician father.

“I didn’t directly go to school after high school, I just started working. I didn’t know what it meant to go to college,” said Vargas.

Vargas did not want to go into the family business. He decided to join the Army at 18, where he went on to deployment in Iraq, Afghanistan, and

South Korea. Transitioning to civilian life was a challenge and being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder posed its own challenges.

“The GI bill was my incentive to attend college,” said Vargas.

Giving school a chance and then meeting a fellow veteran and professor on campus set in motion a series of events to shape his future academic career.

He developed an interest in political science and a passion for everything in the political realm. He used school to become an outspoken student and voice to the veteran population on campus.

“My first taste of student government was as a student volunteer where I progressed from there to my position as a

student senator, and eventually did the student vice president position. I was wanting more,” Vargas said.

“I started interning for a local California State Assembly Woman Norma Torres and I was involved in many committees on campus. Many opportunities were already there, but I had to put myself in a position to find them.”

Through his active participation in student organizations on campus, Vargas discovered scholarship opportunities and chose the University of North Dakota, a military friendly school where he got a full scholarship.

Dannia Roman is a first generation student, an Air Force veteran and married mother of three. She attended and graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a degree in business administration.

“I enlisted in the military because I didn’t want to go to college in the first place. However, after I finished my term I felt I was more mature and ready to go. I didn’t want to do the job that I had in the military and felt I did not have any skills for the workforce,” said Roman.

Roman had traveled the world with her military family and wanted a practical life for them. She was third generation whose parents wanted what she had already accomplished with getting a job and having kids and did not push an educational agenda.

“I had children while attending college. I had my second child in my first semester at UNLV and I had my third child two months before I graduated with my bachelor’s degree. My children were my motivation for going to college.

I did not want to hustle and bustle to support my kids,” said Roman.

“I had to research everything. I am a strong believer you need to look for opportunities. I did not want to work as hard as my parents did in the same capacity.”

She grew up in a household that saw education as a priority as well as supporting yourself through blue collar work. Roman decided she wanted to build her skill set through college to attain a different career status and make a more comfortable life for her family.

She set the example for her younger brother who later enrolled at PCC. “No matter where you are in life anything is possible. Talent in college is developed because the student worked hard. Anyone aspiring to reach the highest level has to make sacrifices.”

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