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PRISM
October 25, 2018
Welcome to PRISM EDITED BY Sarah Molano prism@bupipedream.com
Letter from the Editor SARAH MOLANO
ASSISTANT EDITOR Tykeem Banini tbanini1@binghamton.edu
DESIGNED BY Cory Bremer design@bupipedream.com
Tram Duong tduong1@binghamton.edu
DIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR Daquan Taylor dtaylor6@binghamton.edu
PHOTOS EDITED BY Joel Velasco jvelasc2@binghamton.edu
Romel Adams radams2@binghamton.edu
COPY EDITED BY Bridget McCusker manager@bupipedream.com
COORDINATED WITH Andy Jean-Baptiste vpma@binghamtonsa.org
COVER PHOTO BY ROMEL ADAMS
PRISM is published monthly during the fall and spring semesters, except during finals weeks and academic breaks. The content of PRISM represents the opinions of its authors, and not necessarily the views of Pipe Dream.
It’s true, folks — the cold weather is already upon us. Despite temperatures going down, PRISM is keeping the energy up with our October issue. There’s a lot going on in October, and I’m not talking about Halloween. It’s the time of year when we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, LGBTQ History Month in the United States, as well as Domestic Violence Awareness Month until Oct. 29. All of these noteworthy events are mentioned in this issue, and for good reason. We start the issue off light, though, with a piece on singer and songwriter Kali Uchis and the role she plays in representing and uplifting women of color. However, the broad scope of Uchis’ lyrics and mixing of genres makes her a relatable figure to all. October is also prime time for multicultural organizations to really get into the groove with events and fundraisers, and this issue highlights a couple of those groups. The Black Student Union (BSU) hit a big milestone with its 50th year on campus, and commemorated the achievement with its fashion show titled “Black Pearl: The Quest for Hidden Glory.” The BSU Fashion Show went back to the organization’s mission, emphasizing the importance of staying true to your roots, especially in regard to students of African descent. Held at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in Downtown Binghamton, the fashion show was bigger than ever, and I want to congratulate BSU on its spectacular success. Additionally, we preview the Juvenile Urban Multicultural Program’s (JUMP Nation) upcoming banquet, whose theme this year is “Miami Vice.” JUMP Banquet serves as a celebration of the organization’s success in mentoring at-risk youth and encouraging them to finish high school and pursue higher education. I greatly admire the work that JUMP Nation does in providing this vulnerable population with the tools they need to navigate life in this day and age. PRISM also features the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), which celebrated its 50th year on campus as well. EOP is an incredibly important resource in leveling the playing field, granting disadvantaged students access to higher education. Like JUMP Nation and BSU, EOP is an invaluable part of the Binghamton University campus. As the fall semester continues, I hope that PRISM provides comfort to people of color at BU. When the weather gets colder, it’s easy to start to feel isolated as we go out less and stay home more. It’s a crucial time to keep our bonds strong and hold each other close, and PRISM strives to be a part of that.
October 25, 2018
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Kali Uchis strives to empower Her latest album ‘Isolation‘ tackles heartbreak, inequality
LIV BAERGA Buying concert tickets months in advance can definitely kill anticipation, but all of the built-up excitement rushed back into me once the lights dropped and Kali Uchis’ shadow danced across the stage. Kali Uchis, real name KarlyMarina Loaiza, is a Colombian American singer and songwriter. I first heard her song “Loner” off of her EP “Por Vida,” released in 2015. I was immediately drawn to her soulful voice and relatable lyrics about being a recluse: “I’d rather be alone/ I don’t even want to know ya/ I don’t want to be known.” Uchis is known for her wide-ranging sound, drawing inspiration from contemporary pop, jazz and R&B, to name a few genres. Her debut album “Isolation” was released earlier this year and reflects her eclectic music taste, as well as her dedication to conceptualizing her projects. While the focus of the images behind “Por Vida” was dreamlike blonde and bubblegum pink pastels, Uchis continues a surreal streak with “Isolation,” but turns to a more mature, silky, seductive image. The difference between the two is like day versus night mode, while still all remaining 100 percent Uchis. Uchis’ lyrics cover a wide array of topics in “Isolation,” spanning from universally understood heartbreak to the more unique truth of growing up as a person of color and working hard to make ends meet. At the show, she spoke
about her background and how watching her parents struggle to provide for themselves influenced her music. “I got inspired by the fact that the majority of us, all of us except for the 1 percent of us, have to constantly work just to barely be able to feed ourselves,” Uchis said, as an introduction to her song “Your Teeth in My Neck.” “Meanwhile, these people in mass corporations just kick up their feet while they collect off the labor. Seeing my parents and how much they didn’t get to really live their lives the way that I feel they deserved to live [them] inspired me to write this song.” The lyrics attest to the truth of the exploitation of workers for the increasing gain of the wealthy: “Rich man keeps getting richer, taking from the poor.” Uchis’ familiarity with this flawed system comes from not only witnessing her parents struggle, but also from experiencing her own difficulties to make it on her own. Uchis has been working since she was 14 years old and at 17, she was kicked out of her house by her father, who believed Uchis was disrespectful and needed to learn what it was like to be on her own. After that, Uchis lived in her car for some time and worked odd jobs while still attending school. The fact that she was able to forge such a successful path for herself indicates Uchis’ personal strength and perseverance. Some of Uchis’ songs cover this topic of endurance, and Uchis constantly sends encouraging and uplifting messages to her fans. Those who struggle to get out of bed and be productive can relate to “Gotta Get Up (Interlude).” Her song “After the Storm,” featuring rapper
INTERSCROPE/VIRGIN EMI Cover art for Kali Uchis’ album “Isolation.” Tyler, the Creator and musician Bootsy Collins, is an empowering anthem for those who need a reminder that you are in control of your own life and the bad times won’t last forever. Other messages in Uchis’ songs relate to heartbreak, something to which everyone can connect. “Feel Like a Fool” is about Uchis’ difficulty with letting someone go, despite the fact that he has been cheating on her: “It’s no fun to feel like a fool/ When you learn your baby don’t belong to you.” Songs like “Tyrant” and “Killer” delve more into toxic relationships, specifically emotional manipulation that is sometimes hard to recognize. The messages in Uchis’ songs prompt
fans to confront their pain and examine the truth behind the relationship. Uchis does the most for her supporters. There have been several times in which, on her Instagram, she has offered opportunities for fans to win tickets to sold out tour dates. In alignment with her giving spirit, over the summer, Uchis had her first experience running her own charity. She visited her hometown in Colombia to contribute groceries and supplies to families going through hardships involving disabilities, illness and dispossession after fleeing from guerrilla warfare. In some cases, Uchis even provided house modifications for the fami-
lies. At the end of the post she made regarding the charity, Uchis once again professed her gratitude for having the opportunity to help others through her success. Seeing Uchis live after being her fan for some time meant a lot to me. Her music and the messages she preaches within and outside of her songs have helped me through some dark moments. I’m sure even her newest fans greatly enjoyed the performance, Uchis having prepared more developed choreography for this tour. Uchis is an important figure many young people can look up to and admire, especially young women of color. I cannot wait to see what Uchis does next.
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October 25, 2018
PRISM
EOP pushes students to prosper Commemorating half a century of bridging the education gap
TYKEEM BANINI & DAQUAN TAYLOR This past October, Binghamton University’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) celebrated its 50th anniversary during the University’s Homecoming. Officially recognized by SUNY in 1968, EOP provides students from low-income backgrounds a chance to fulfill their academic potential through the use of resources. EOP’s pre-college transition program, academic counseling and tutoring, among other resources, have played a part in the success of many EOP students for 50 years. And with a retention rate of 98 percent, which is higher than the University’s, EOP students are taking advantage of the resources they are receiving from the program. Providing students with the resources they need to succeed has always been EOP’s way of doing things. An example is Vanessa Young, a senior academic counselor
for EOP. Young graduated from EOP when it was called the Transitional Year Program, and saw the program as many students do now — a way to attend college with financial and academic assistance. “Without EOP I would not have been able to attend college,” Young wrote in an email. “My family did not have the finances to pay for college … The support I received as a student at Binghamton was amazing! It was the EOP staff who made the difference for me. The counselors were role models and provided sound advisement. The tutoring I received was wonderful as well as the recognition for my academic achievement.” Young’s story is one that can be found among many EOP students over its 50 years, but even with some students sharing a similar background, there is no EOP student archetype. There are many distinct things that EOP students bring to BU’s campus. Karima Legette, interim director of EOP at BU, said that diversity is one of these aspects, along with providing another way of thinking. “They are asking questions that other people may just accept to be the truth and because of our expe-
PRINCE WIREKO EOP honors alumni and donors at its 2018 banquet.
PRINCE WIREKO Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) alumni celebrate the 50th anniversary of the program with a banquet in the Mandela Room. riences being raised differently, we just have a different mindset, so we’re going to ask different questions,” Legette said. “And I think the University as a whole needs to welcome that intellectual curiosity. There are different ways to understand the knowledge base that exists, and I think our students are the ones that ask questions on that knowledge base.” EOP students work just as hard as general admission students and provide a new way of thinking for the University. They do not just fill a quota, but add new perspectives on the educational system they are a part of, as well as the world at large. This progressive way of thinking is embodied within the program. On campus, EOP can be seen as an innovator with the EOP Campos Robeson Tutorial Center, which is a center for students to come together and engage academically and socially. “In addition, we have added to the innovation of the campus as we have historically served as a model for numerous initiatives and other programs that came to life at Bing-
hamton,” Josue Quinones, ‘12, a graduate of EOP at BU and a current EOP academic counselor, wrote in an email. “We also have student groups with their roots starting in EOP, which demonstrates the fostered leadership and advocacy for social justice.” Many multicultural groups such as the Latin American Student Union and the Black Student Union have roots within the EOP program. Both were started by EOP students and continue to be led by EOP students. EOP fosters leadership within its students, which is demonstrated by Aminata Jaiteh, the president of BU’s NAACP chapter and a senior majoring in sociology. Jaiteh attended the Binghamton Enrichment Program (BEP) the summer before she embarked on her journey at BU, where she received a sample of what life would be like as a student here. And by taking classes, she also had a chance to interact with leaders on campus and understand what leadership means to her. “We had peer counselors assigned to us from day one that are there to answer any questions we
have,” Jaiteh said. “They have also been immersed in the Binghamton community and are already in organizations, so you’re directed to where you might feel most comfortable in the beginning … Because of EOP, I was introduced to a lot of different organizations, and I don’t think I would have found those organizations as easily if I wasn’t an EOP student because I have regular admission students who weren’t even aware that those organizations exist.” EOP has helped Jaiteh, as well as many other students, find their place on the BU campus. Being a part of EOP allows students to gain the resources they didn’t have before while attending high school. As education inequality continues to be an issue, opportunity programs like EOP are a necessity to help level the playing field and bridge the gap. For 50 years now, and 50 years later, EOP will be here to help each and every student reach their full potential during and after college. As EOP academic counselor Akeem Samuels would say: “Once EOP, always EOP.”
October 25, 2018
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BSU honors African roots Celebrating 50 years with fashion
MALACHI MITCHELL “Fifty years of unity” was the tagline on the top of the flyers for the Black Student Union’s (BSU) 50th Anniversary Fashion Show. The idea of unity through heritage is one that BSU is very dedicated to, so it would make sense that it played a role in the theming of its celebration of such an important milestone. Founded in 1968, BSU was created to unify and teach students of African descent about their heritage. It serves as a community for black people on a predominately white campus to be with others who can relate to their struggles. The show was titled “Black Pearl: The Quest for Hidden Glory.” It followed a story of a boy who, before leaving Africa, is given a pearl and is told to not forget his roots. He loses it, though, leading the boy to be taken back in time to when his ancestors were being shipped off as slaves. The story was shown in segments and in between those segments, the models and performers took to the stage. The costumes and stage were beautiful, with a vibrant display of colors. Models of all different sizes walked the stage, which helped to show unity as well. A highlight of the show was toward the end when, after the boy is taken back in time, the models come on stage with their wrists being bonded. Then each model comes center stage and
breaks the bond around their wrist. It is a beautiful moment that tied perfectly into the show’s theme and into what BSU aims to do. You can interpret this moment as a reclaiming of power. BSU described the show as a “celebration of our culture and heritage” and “the reclamation of the voyage on the Middle Passage.” Obviously, this is referring to the slave ships that brought Africans to this country. This event was always remembered as a low point. The slave ships were a living hell for the Africans on board: there was no bathroom, they weren’t really feed well or at all. We know that some even jumped ship to end the suffering. Despite that, BSU chose
to focus on the strength that our ancestors had through those times. It chose to focus on their endurance, their ability to overcome even in the face of the highest adversity. That moment when the models broke the bondage, it was more than just a fashion show, it was a statement. “No longer will this journey be called the Middle Passage, it shall be called The Golden Ship to show homage to the start of our journey.” They’re taking back what belongs to them. This all ties back to the black pearl given to the boy. The black pearl represents our roots, our heritage, the start of our journey. By going back in time to the ship, our protagonist is learning about his roots.
In this sense, the fashion show was the perfect way to celebrate BSU’s 50th year by demonstrating, on stage, the very thing it has always set out to do: to unify and teach students of African descent about their heritage. This is why it should be a celebration that they’ve reached this milestone. We grow up knowing so little about our history. America is an extremely divided nation, and black people are divided among themselves. If we learn about our roots, about where we all started, we could all come together and help each other. We can go further than we already are. In order to go further, though, we need to look back at our roots, our black pearls, hidden glory, indeed.
ROMEL ADAMS The Black Student Union celebrates its 50th year at BU with its annual Fashion Show at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in Downtown Binghamton.
BSU FASHION SHOW MEN
The Line Up WOMEN Photos by ROMEL ADAMS
JUMP Nation inspires at-risk youth Participants mentor middle and high school students
SARAH MOLANO Since 1991, the Juvenile Urban Multicultural Program (JUMP Nation) has dedicated its time and energy to one goal: helping at-risk middle and high school students overcome obstacles to continue their education. On Friday, Oct. 26, the organization will celebrate another year of striving toward that goal at its 27th annual JUMP Banquet. In order to aid at-risk youth, JUMP Nation gives students from the New York City and Binghamton areas a variety of academic and personal resources, helping them graduate high school and encouraging them to pursue higher education. Its largest event of the year, JUMP Weekend, brings
eighth-grade students to Binghamton University for an all-expenses-paid four-day weekend, in which they are paired with BU students — a host and a mentor — and attend workshops and forums that provide skills, both academic and social, that will help them succeed. Savannah Markel, co-public relations chair for JUMP Nation and a junior majoring in human development, highlighted the importance of giving young students access to a program like JUMP Nation. “I became a part of this organization because I truly believe that mentorship is crucial to a young student’s success,” Markel wrote in an email. “The bonds I’ve made in JUMP will last me forever and they’ve showed me the significance of a support system, one that I (along with many of my peers) lacked when I was in middle school and definitely could’ve benefited from.” The next JUMP Weekend does not
occur until April 2019, but all proceeds the organization makes throughout the year go toward funding the weekend, including proceeds from the banquet. This year’s JUMP Banquet is “Miami Vice”-themed, complete with neon colors and palm trees that are reminiscent of ‘80s Miami nightlife. The banquet consists of music, performances, a skit, dancing, awards and a home-cooked meal, courtesy of JUMP Nation’s Executive Board. “The purpose of our banquet is to celebrate another year of believing in our youth and decreasing high school dropout rates,” Markel wrote. JUMP Nation also holds a smaller version of JUMP Weekend, its Leadership Conference, in the fall. The free one-day event, which will be on Saturday, Nov. 17 this year, brings at-risk high school students to campus, encouraging them to finish high school and showing them their post-graduation options.
For Markel, JUMP is so valuable because of the bonds its members make, not only with each other, but also with the young students — the proteges, as JUMP refers to them — whom they mentor. She said she hopes that more BU students get involved in the organization to give their proteges positive role models who are dedicated to their success. Mentorship makes all the difference. “Every time the proteges leave, I cry, just because the positive change in our proteges becomes so visible, and it happens in only four days,” Markel wrote. “Being able to physically see the demeanor of a young student flourish positively is so beautiful.” JUMP Banquet will take place on Friday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Mandela Room in the University Union. Individual tickets can be purchased in advance for $15 or at the door for $20. Groups can also purchase tickets for a table of ten for $130.
JERRY TOUSSAINT JUMP Banquet 2017, held in Appalachian Collegiate Center.
Discussing the state of LGBTQ rights Political changes in the US affect the community
SHAKEB ZIA October is LGBTQ History Month in the United States. To celebrate, let’s look at history being made in the fight for LGBTQ equality. Currently, 27 states do not explicitly have legislation that prohibits public accommodations discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Following the ruling of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which ruled in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, a baker who cited his religious beliefs in denying a wedding cake to a gay couple, many conservative Americans have taken this ruling as a green light, allowing public accommodation to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. Additionally, with the recent confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States, the chance of the Supreme Court expanding LGBTQ rights, and civil rights more broadly, are grim. Without the more moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy sitting on the bench, anti-LGBTQ conservative groups may be emboldened to bring more legal challenges to the court regarding LGBTQ civil rights issues, preventing expansion of LGBTQ rights and restricting current rights of LGBTQ Americans. According to the LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal, currently one in 10 of Circuit Court of Appeals justices are Trump appointees, allowing conservative judges all over the country to undermine the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling and significantly altering people’s civil rights from a wide range of issues including LGBTQ discrimination, abortion access and racially discriminatory voting policies. Two major concerns for LGBTQ Americans include anti-discrimination legislation and hate crime legislation. Currently, 16 states have religious ex-
KOJO SENOO Paradegoers celebrate at the 2017 Pride Parade in New York City. emption laws that allow state-licensed child welfare agencies, medical professionals or private businesses to refuse services to LGBTQ Americans. Another legal fight for LGBTQ Americans is the passage of hate crime laws. Currently, 20 states do not have hate crime legislation that requires state prosecutors to investigate and prosecute crimes with bias against a victim’s sexual orientation. Another 33 states do not require prosecutors to investigate and prosecute crimes with bias against a victim’s sexual orientation. This is particularly worrisome for transgender Americans. In the year 2017, there were 29 documented murders of transgender women and men. Transgender women of color have been disproportionately affected by these hate-motivated murders and other motivated crimes. Given the current state of the
courts as shaped by Trump and the Republican-held Senate, it is unlikely that progress in civil rights will occur in the courts. In a more optimistic light, there has been a record number of candidates of LGBTQ Americans running for political office across the country. With more than 200 LGBTQ candidates, they may be central to flipping Congress and state governments in favor of Democrats. Notably, Christine Hallquist, the Democratic candidate for Vermont’s governorship, has made history as the first transgender major party nominee for governor in the United States. Another notable LGBTQ candidate is Sharice Davids, running on the ballot as the Democratic candidate for Kansas’s 3rd congressional district. The race is tight between Davids and the incumbent Kevin Yoder, who
has a zero LGBTQ rights voting record rating according to the Human Rights Campaign and has publicly opposed same-sex marriage equality. If elected, Davids would be the first lesbian Native American woman elected to the House of Representatives, and the first lesbian congresswoman from Kansas. Progress for LGBTQ civil rights is more likely to occur in legislators. This trend of more LGBTQ candidates running for office has been following a larger pattern in the Democratic party for the 2018 midterm election, in which more minorities and progressive candidates have decided to run for office in response to the 2016 election of Trump. Despite the unpropitious look at the courts, the rise of LGBTQ candidates running for office will play a pivotal role in the fight for LGBTQ civil rights in the era of Trump.
Domestic violence is a societal issue We need to protect those who are most vulnerable
KOJO SENOO With October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, there’s a good chance you’ve witnessed a few discussions regarding how our culture handles domestic violence. Personally, I’ve found many of these open conversations in the general dialogue to be nice, though lacking a few of the crucial elements of what makes domestic violence such a widespread and devastating aspect of our society. It can be enticing — especially to the media that often sensationalizes interpersonal violence to a disgusting amount — to look at the various forms of interpersonal violence as individual anecdotes. This is misleading, a mirage presenting domestic violence as something that is awful, but takes place in a vacuum. Domestic violence is a societal problem, and as such, it is an issue to be handled at a societal level. This is not something that can be resolved through charity, or simply by good will and a vague sense of “awareness.” It is also not something that the victims of domestic violence should bear the burden of solving. To sufficiently tackle the issue of domestic violence, communities as a whole need to have an understanding of power and how to impede the enablement of its abuse. Never. Never should the onus or responsibility of preventing violence — domestic, sexual or otherwise — be on the victims of said violence. The concept of victim-blaming and its residual harm is one that, thankfully, has been centered in the progressive public discourse regarding instances of abuse and assault for the past few years. However, we must explicate even further. Victim-blaming is not merely the biases and failings of an individual who partakes in it, but rather a cultural concern in how we are all raised and socialized to disparage those who are most vulnerable, to denigrate those who lack access to power in the systemic
meaning of the term. Blame should only ever be placed on those who are the perpetrators of harm and the abusers of power. This is without question. With that said, we cannot adequately address the causes of such abuses without acknowledging the communal responsibility we have to each other in setting an expectation for the society we live in — the expectation that those who harm others will be held accountable. Statistically, we all know at least one person who is an abuser. We all know someone who has assaulted someone, harmed someone, abused someone. In having the discussion on preventing interpersonal violence, we are not simply talking about the perpetrator and the victim; we are also talking about the role we play in each person’s life. It has been so difficult to witness in our current climate, where movements such as #MeToo have become topics of mainstream discourse, that even during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, many narratives will opt to focus on the “adversity” of the perpetrator, and what their crimes mean for them. As easy as it is for the media to excuse offenders such as Louis C.K. and Roman Polanski, it can be even easier for students such as ourselves to excuse our friends. “They’re just not that kind of person.” “They honestly had good intentions, they just messed up this once.” These excuses help no one — not the people who carry out harm, and especially not the people who are harmed. Preventing such harm from happening starts with holding the people closest to you in check for whatever predatory or abusive tendencies they may have. This means taking your friends aside when they’re clearly making someone uncomfortable, not being afraid to stand up for someone else when the people you’re closest to do them wrong. Taking people to task for telling
rape jokes isn’t simply just because it’s impolite or offensive; comfort in the indulgence of rape culture is a manifestation of power from those who celebrate predacious behaviors over those who are especially vulnerable to it. These imbalances are central to how abusers are enabled by the people and society around them to continue to harm others. While there is a general understanding of how physical coercion is used to manipulate victims, most mainstream discourse ignores the coercion implicit in many of the unbalanced relationships in our day-to-day lives. Boss and worker. Professor and student. Guard and prisoner. These are all examples of asymmetrical relationships of power. These come to be through an inequality of status, privilege and access in a given context. It is relationships such as these where power imbalances can frequently result in an abuse of power. From a worker enduring harassment for fear of losing their job, a professor manipulatively advancing a student in return for personal favors, a guard beating a prisoner for not strictly obeying their command — these are all forms of violence enabled by the differential of power between people. While there is the appearance of choice — that the victim can just walk away and escape whatever abuse they’re experiencing — this is often just an illusion of choice that does not reflect the material realities that would put someone in such a susceptible position to begin with. In the context of domestic violence, these material conditions are often the factors of why it is so hard to escape an abusive relationship. The examples above are all forms of violence that manifest even in less formal relationships, between any kind of person to one another based on the various factors of how we can be marginalized by the systems of oppression we all operate un-
Preventing such harm from happening starts with holding the people closest to you in check for whatever predatory or abusive tendencies they may have.
der. It is why the victims of interpersonal violence are often people who find themselves vulnerable in our society: women, undocumented workers, poor people, transgender/nonbinary folks, people with disabilities, people of color — the risk is only raised with each intersection of such identities. Statistically, we also all know someone who is a survivor. As we all have a role in preventing interpersonal violence within our communities, we have a role in supporting the survivors of it as well. Just as the systems of capitalism, patriarchy, ableism, white supremacy, heteronormativity, imperialism — so on and so forth — have manipulated the disparities that lead to many abusers being enabled to harm, they also lead to survivors of abuse being unable to receive justice for the anguish they’ve endured. It is hard enough for many survivors to contact the authorities when they’ve been assaulted with the way the legal process interrogates and retraumatizes victims — how safe would a battered person feel calling the police when almost half of families with a police officer experience domestic violence? What’s more, what about a black or brown person whose community constantly gets terrorized by their local police department? To adequately provide support for survivors of domestic violence, it’s important to know what you can do yourself, but even more so what a community can do collectively to care for its own. If there are no institutions, resources or pillars of support that are left for us, we must build our own. If there is no power that can be taken, we must make power on our own. There is so much strength that is required to continue to move in an oppressive world as a survivor that when we’re able to work together collectively, there is no greater power. This means creating spaces for survivors to be able to share and heal, methods to encourage checking in on one another and the trust to build a society that supports and relies on each other. Above all, this means promoting values of care — cultures of love — where those who are most vulnerable do not get left behind.
Saying goodbye to Columbus Day Making the case for Indigenous Peoples Day
CHRISTIAN CUATLATL This past Oct. 8, the city of Binghamton celebrated its annual Columbus Day Parade. This event was filled with varieties of food and included a marching band. Some are appalled by the way we still celebrate Columbus Day, while others do not see genocide when they are celebrating an annual city tradition. Before Columbus set sail in 1492 to what would later be considered the “new land,” there existed hundreds of native tribes and empires all throughout the Western Hemisphere. As children, we grew up with the holiday of Columbus Day and didn’t question it much. A day off of school for the cel-
ebration of the person teachers made us believe was an international hero seemed like a great excuse to miss class. Although we learned that native tribes occupied the lands, textbooks and our past curricula praise Columbus due to his “heroic” actions. I personally was taught in elementary school to look at Columbus as a figure in history who benefited mankind. He was, in fact, beneficial, but only if one is looking at history through the eyes of a European. Today, we are finally moving away from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day and some are still trying to get used to this switch. So what is Indigenous Peoples Day? Indigenous Peoples Day recognizes the culture and influence that Native Americans, who were the first to inhabit this continent, have had on the Americas. This holiday originated in the early 1990s, and Mayor Loni Hancock of Berkeley, California,
aimed to make Berkeley the first city to formally recognize the culture of Native Americans on a day that has been centralized on European colonial accolades. Soon after, other cities and states followed, with Santa Cruz adopting this holiday in 1994 and Seattle in 2014. During recent years, the number of states and cities that have been celebrating this holiday and the achievement of Native Americans has risen dramatically. Will Columbus continue to be idolized? Many cities and towns throughout the Americas have erected statues recognizing Columbus and other European explorers who arrived to a land only to pillage the soil and its peoples. Columbus is most often placed as a statue or monument because many believed he was the first to discover the Americas. As a matter of fact, Leif Erikson, who was a Norse explorer, along with the Vikings actually landed
BOB JOSEPH / WNBF NEWS Poster in protest of Columbus Day in Downtown Binghamton
in the “New World” centuries before Columbus. Regardless, famous monuments such as Columbus Circle have been attracting a lot of controversy in the past decade. Many believe his “idol” image should be destroyed, while others want to keep this part of history in place. Although it is a controversial topic, there are arguments supporting both sides. Native American heroes, which include but are not limited to Chief Pontiac, Geronimo and Chief Victorio, are historical figures that should receive more recognition. Society today should put an emphasis on these names along with other accomplished Native Americans in order to showcase and shine a light on a rich and hidden culture. Latin American countries that also have a rich Native American history are also beginning to recognize the importance tribes and empires have had on the land in today’s society. So why celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day? Columbus is most notably recognized for discovering the Americas, which is false. We are also taught that he established a friendly relationship with the natives of the area. Now, it is clear that Columbus colonized an area with native inhabitants and stripped them of their culture, resources and land throughout the centuries. In addition, this holiday perpetuates the idea that Native Americans existed centuries ago and do not exist today. Although they are a minority in this country today, Native Americans still continue to celebrate their culture and make up a vital part of American history and our society today. Even though many cities have established this holiday, that does not mean that they abolished Columbus Day. Recognizing this holiday brings attention to the genocide of one of the original inhabitants of this continent. This not only helps us understand and connect with the dark side of American history, but understanding our past allows us to learn for the future.
OMAR A MAFLAHI Quimbamba Latin Dance Team was the winner of the African Student Organization’s event, Culture Shock.
AMY SHEINBAUM Pretty Girls Sweat leads a Zumba session at the 9th annual Breast Cancer Awareness Festival, hosted by Powerful United Ladies Striving to Elevate (PULSE) and Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated.
JOEL VELASCO Contestants of the Vietnamese Student Association’s Miss Asia: Crazy Miss Asians, which will be held on Oct. 26.