movies already

19 February 2021 Best Netflix Shows in February 2021

Season 2 of “Tiffany Hadish Presents: The Ready” was released in Feb. 2021.

Courtesy Decider

Sofia Jenkins Red & Black Staff

Netflix in Feb. 2021 has brought aboard some worth-watching new shows and movies already. At the top of this list is the second season of Tiffany Hadish’s comedy series called “Tiffany Hadish Presents: The Ready.” The premise of the show is that Hadish is inviting comedians to the show that have not broken A-list stardom yet. They are all up-and-coming comedians who Hadish gives a chance to show their talent on her stage. In season one, all of the comedians she brought on the show were women. In her fight to bring more chances and opportunities to women in the comedian arena.

In the second season, Hadish is features all Black comedians for the same reason she had all female comedians in the first season. In the show, each of the comedians gives their backstory and performs a set on Hadish’s stage. Since the second season was filmed during the pandemic, a lot of the comedians’ sets are centered around that.

In this season, some of the featured guests are Godfrey and Dean Edwards, who Hadish begins the first episode speaking about and showing their sets. There are seven episodes in this season with each running for around twenty minutes.

Not only has this show entered the Netflix arena in Feb. 2021, but so have a few other television shows and movies. These include; “Love Daily,” which is a television show that follows 12 different teen love stories; “Zac and Mia,” which is another television show which shows the lives and interactions of two cancer patients living in the same hospital; and “Invisible City,” which is a Netflix Original television show that is centered around a detective trying to solve a murder but is then drawn into an invisible world on the break of battle.

After taking many movies and shows off Netflix at the end of 2020, Netflix has been working hard to add in new movies and shows to make up for it. Who knows what Netflix will have in store for the rest of Feb.!

Diversity

The Cruel History of Medical Experiments

Akansha Das Red & Black Staff

In her victory speech on Nov. 7, Vice-President elect Kamala Harris remarked that often the most overlooked women in women’s fight for equality and part of the “backbone of our democracy” are Black women. Sadly, this theme is not isolated to politics nor this time period. The wariness of the Black population regarding the COVID-19 vaccination is wholly understandable given the deep history of medical racism from the nonconsensual use of specimens in Henrietta Lacks’ case to the mass injections and refusal to treat syphilis among Black patients in the Tuskegee experiments. Yet the history of experimentation on Black people goes much further than that.

The atrocious gynecological experimentation that occurred on Black women are the roots of false stereotypes and perceptions about Black women - including the “strong Black woman” stereotype and belief that Black women have thicker skin and fewer nerve endings. Because of this, it’s now more important than ever to examine this aspect of Black history in order to understand how this history affects medicine today and develop solutions equally as systemic as the problem.

In her book “Medical Bondage,” Dr. Deidre Cooper Owens outlines a “medical superbody” myth that emerged as she analyzed published studies in medical journals of the slave era and other historical accounts. Black women were experimented on by physicians like Dr. John Marion Sims to not only advance the field of gynecology but their own careers and reputation as well. (Owens notes that the number of studies that were published after medical experimentation on Black women began skyrocketed and the vesicovaginal fistulae procedure and Sims protractor are both attributed to Sims).

As physicians began performing dangerous and painful surgeries on Black women, they became familiar with the inner and outer anatomy of a woman’s body - recognizing that Black women and White women were entirely anatomically the same - after all, they hoped to apply the methods and procedures that they used on Black women to advance care for White women they treated in practice. And yet to justify reasons why Black women could “tolerate” the procedures they performed on them without pain medication, they made myths about “the nerve endings of Black women being stronger” and their “skin being thicker” making them more likely to withstand pain. Enslaved women were not just experimented on nonconsensually and without pain medication. They were also used as surgical assistants to help with the very same procedures that they themselves were recovering from. Dr. Jones highlights three women - Anarcha, Besty and Lucy - the known “mothers of gynecology” - who were just as instrumental as Sims in progressing the field of women’s health and gynecology and developing methods and surgical techniques still in use today.

Examining the individual stories of these Black women and the complexities they experience shed light on the true strength and pain among these women. From the woman who left a trail of blood while trying to scale a fence to escape after just having a surgery to the women trying to raise a family with the men they loved when not burdened by slave duties and sexual abuse from their masters, their stories are wrought with trauma and pain. Yet they are also filled with daily attempts to struggle and survive and withstand the injustices they face.

Truly understanding the complexities of their lives and not singularly viewing these women from the lens of a victim but also the survivors and advancers of gynecology that they were helps us recognize that while many of our institutions were founded on slavery and the backs of enslaved women - it cannot continue this way.

Courtesy Horror Fuels

Ending the Era of Derogatory Mascots

Moll Kilbourne Red & Black Staff

Within the discourse of derogatory mascots, treatment of Native Americans must be considered with particular regard to their country’s history—both in past treatments and current.

Often the first retort from white people or non-Native folks when approached with banning their depictions for sports teams, brands etc., is the mascot of Notre Dame University. While this is an example of cultural characterization being used as a mascot, regarding the past treatment of Irish people with the current treatment of Irish people reveals a stark difference from those treatments of Native peoples.

The United States of America was founded on the land and through the blood of Native Americans. Every inch of “our” soil is theirs. The terrorism expelled onto Native Americans is not limited to the past either. Conditions on reservations remain harrowing. Inaccessibility to food, unclean water and overall lack of basic human resources is evident across their tribes and communities. When we regard both the past and present, it should frame our perception of mascots that appropriate Native Americans. Like many minority groups that undergo insertion to the white-supremacist gaze, Native folks experienced rampant racism still palpable in our modern society. Prime examples of this? Native American “mascots.” Take, first, the Washington “Redskins”— this team has arguably been viewed with the most scrutiny. It is understandable considering the overtly racist name. The term “redskin” was developed into a slur as white colonists worked to erase the Native populations in the United States. Its use is a disgusting level of othering meant to remove humanity.

A second mascot to be viewed is “Chief Wahoo” of the Cleveland “Indians.” Ohio chose a doublewhammy of racism with the name of the team and the name of the mascot. Colonist-in-chief Christopher Columbus incorrectly deemed Native Americans as Indians because he believed he had discovered the country of India rather than the United States.

Characteristic of much of American history is this level of ignorance that becomes willful as true history is distorted to fit the white-supremacist gaze. Not only is the name derogatory, but the image that had been used until very recently of “Chief Wahoo” was horrifyingly racist. His skin was as red as red could be, with a large nose and a feathered headband. This image shows different aspects of racism that are still being consumed and internalized in our society. Rhetoric and visual aids are the devil’s pair of whitesupremacy in working to ingrain us with stereotypes.

It is an added level of disturbance that a group of people that has been entirely consumed by the non-Native civilization of the United States must also be subjected to exploitation and commodification. If it takes laws that ban any human depiction to be used as mascots to prevent either of these atrocities to be applied to Native Americans, then that will be that. But it is a disservice to the Native community to not understand their desire to not be depicted in racist, exploitative ways that separates other human depictions in mascots.

Courtesy Seattle Times

Diversity 11 Myanmar Coup Ousted Aung San Suu Kyi

Dylan Bertovich Red & Black Staff

Born in 1945, Aung San Suu Kyi seemed to be destined to change the fate of Myanmar.

She is the daughter of Aung San, who led Burma to freedom at the end of the Second World War. After the death of Aung San, Suu Kyi’s mother Khin Kyi accepted an ambassadorship to India and Nepal. Eventually Suu Kyi studied at Oxford and lived and worked in the U.K. and New York City. This is when Suu Kyi married scholar Michael Aris, later having two children.

Then, in 1988, her life changed forever when she returned home to Burma to care for her ailing mother. It was this year that Burma was gripped with a change in the military junta and mass democracy protests. Suu Kyi formed the National League for Democracy (NLD) party and began to push for democracy. This led to her imprisonment in 1989.

During this imprisonment she used nonviolent and traditional Buddhist protests to fight for change. This fight led to her winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 and Suu Kyi set up a health and education fund with the prize money. From this period until 2010, Suu Kyi would spend most of her time under house arrest. There were some major events during this time including a 1996 attack on her convoy in which the government paid the equivalent of $0.50 for 200 men to attack her group. In 2010, Suu Kyi was released; this was the culmination of years of pressure from the west. In 2012, Suu Kyi ran for election and gained a seat in the Myanmar house and in 2015 she ran again, becoming the leader of the country.

She had to become the State Counsellor because the constitution bars her from the presidency as she is the mother and widow of a foreigner. This seemed like the end of controversy for the now senior Suu Kyi; however, things under military rule are not always as they seem.

Since 2012, there has been great violence in Myanmar based on the Muslim and Buddhist areas of the country. This violence has led to the refugees, known as the Rohingya, having to flee Myanmar to guarantee safety. Suu Kyi, while setting up commissions, has done almost nothing to stop the violence. It may be too late now, as Suu Kyi has again been imprisoned by junta. They accused her of fraud and stealing an election - possibly thanks to our own issues. One may hope that the Biden-Harris administration keeps the pressure on Myanmar to bring democracy back to the world.

Courtesy Oslo News

Sex Education Needs Diversity

Courtesy Yale School of Medicine

Akansha Das Red & Black Staff

We’ve all heard the jokes about the ways high school and middle school does very little to prepare us for the real world.

Yet, arguably, giving youth information about sex that critically shapes their attitudes about their own sexuality and sexual practices throughout life is one of the most important aspects of school. The lack of emphasis on pleasure, sex-positivity and rape and sexual assault in school sex ed has been increasingly highlighted in recent years and such negative messaging around sex ed can impact attitudes about one’s own sexuality later in life. Yet sex education’s correlation to diversity, or lack thereof, is not talked about to the same degree. It’s time we reassess the ways our sex education programs are hindering goals of equity and inclusion of all in society.

Sex education has long been disturbingly heteronormative, and this is clearly failing America’s LGBTQ+ youth. The GLSEN 2013 National School Climate Survey reported that only five percent of students have received positive representation of LGBTQ+ related topics.

The Human Rights Campaign reports that LGBTQ+ youth are two to three times more likely to report having gotten someone pregnant and are more likely to report contracting HIV than their heterosexual counterparts. Additionally, LQBTQ+ individuals report being more likely to be sexually assaulted, experience dating violence, have sex while under the influence of drugs and alcohol and are less likely to report using condoms.

Every LGBTQ+ individual has their own timeline and journey to coming out and providing medically accurate information, acknowledging multiple gender identities and sexualities in positive lights, and using gender-neutral terms such as “partner” and “they/ them” benefits all students.

Additionally, the sex education boys receive is vastly different from what girls receive. According to educator and author Rosalind Wiseman, 46 percent of sexually active boys did not receive formal instruction about contraception in comparison to 33 percent of sexually active girls.

With the U.S. having the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the Western world (according to the CDC), this gender disparity in sex ed is highly troubling. Beyond snippets of “no means no,” boys are not taught to get consent to the degree that is justly necessary. Sexual encounters that fall in the “gray-zone of consent” in which the one person felt the encounter was consensual and the other felt uncomfortable are all too common and reducing this requires more comprehensive education about what consent truly looks like.

Due to its taboo history and the inherent discomfort of the subject matter, sex ed can lend itself to biases and the teacher’s own opinions when being taught. Yet, it’s important that school districts not only implement comprehensive and unbiased sex ed but do implement LGBTQ+-inclusive sex ed that educates all genders equally.

Arming students with information about STI protection, contraception and pleasure does not increase the likelihood that teens will start engaging in sex earlier, but rather ensures that when they inevitably do start having sex, they will be safe and at reduced risk for pregnancies, STIs, and abuse. It’s time we take steps to ensure ALL individuals are included in that reality.

Originally published in The Women’s+ Health Collective Blog (a comprehensive gynecological and sexual medicine clinic in West Michigan).

Courtesy Akansha Das

Diversity 13 The LGBTQ+ Movement Under Pres. Biden

Molly Kilbourne Red & Black Staff

It is a common misconception for us to view representation as progress. While I celebrate the leaders who have succeeded in their work to attain their leadership roles, it does not end the work that still needs to be done. Those who exist as minorities in our society must always be active in spaces where political decisions are being made. Their absence has allowed for centuries of injustice to be carried out.

For this reason, I also celebrate the new LGBTQ+ leaders in Biden’s administration. However, it must be noted that while these are powerful positions, our governmental structure still affords the most power to President Biden and so they are not guaranteed decision-making status. We should all internalize this so that we can check Biden when he inevitably fails. He should not be cast as some hero of civil rights when his history as a politician is rampant with racism: when discussing mandated school integration, Biden stated it was, “the most racist concept you can come up with.”

In reference to Barack Obama, Biden described him as, “the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean.” While this article questions the LGBTQ+ movement and how our country could be a global leader on this front, I criticize Biden because he is our commander-in-chief which marks the highest seat of power of the United States. We cannot be a global leader on any civil rights front, especially not the LGBTQ+ movement, with a corrupt president. The Black community has always been at the forefront of civil rights’ movements— race and LGBTQ+ alike, so Biden’s racism prevents any progress on either. Citizens have always carried the burden of progression. Those without power must fight for it, another aspect of governmental corruption. If we existed in a true democracy, privileges and rights would not be intangible entities—these are not things to be taken away or given. They are essential. To ensure that oppressed groups maintain power and autonomy, our entire country must be dismantled and reconstructed. In the short term, we must check Biden. We must speak out when he does not act in our favor. We must speak out when he does not act in others’ favor.

Above all, he must be held accountable for actions that infringe on our existence. Then, and only then, can we begin to push the LGBTQ+ movement, and all other civil rights’ movements, forward.

Courtesy Education News

opinions

Trump Admits His Guilt In Avoiding Trial

Moll Kilbourne Red & Black Staff

It becomes almost hilarious that we have allowed Trump to disenfranchise democracy for his presidency and still afford him more after he has been elected out of office. What does it say about our democratic system that a man on trial for inciting violence on a national level can decide not to participate in the trial and then be acquitted?

If democracy can be decided without direct interaction with an individual, is it not entirely devoid of substance? Trump has proven over again that he will never do anything that he does not want to do. Electing not to participate in his impeachment trial is a slap in the face to the entire country.

Most importantly, it reveals how corrupt he remains at his very core. We are responsible for electing a man into office with no political experience, after public displays of racism, after copious amounts of lies that rival Pandora’s Box, after colluding with foreign governments, and after slandering other political officials.

Under his command, hundreds of thousands of human beings died during a grossly mismanaged pandemic and violence was incited on the front steps of our supposed democratic nation. And now with this refusal, he has sealed himself as the antithesis of the very country he was elected to lead.

Choosing to abstain from his impeachment trial should be considered an immediate admission of guilt. It is a federal crime to fail to show at one’s trial, so on that basis, Trump should be charged with yet another federal offense.

But it is painfully obvious that he is outside the bounds of democracy. In true fascist stature, Trump will retain his social power among his followers and his political power as a dictator of individual desire. His presidency, his existence, should indicate to us all the flaws in our government. It is truly unbelievable the extent to which Trump has remained outside all checks and balances designed for his exact position.

Democrats argue for Trump’s impeachment.

Courtesy NBC News

Editorial PoliCy

The Red & Black is the official, registered student-produced newspaper of Washington & Jefferson College. It is published Fridays with the exception of exams and break periods.

Editorials are based upon the opinion of the respective writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper, the College or its students, faculty, or administration.

The Red & Black welcomes all reader contributions, but reserves the right to reject letters of pure promotional nature, as well as letters which do not meet its standard of integrity, accuracy and decency. The Red & Black also reserves the right to edit submissions.

Letters are due on the Monday before publication and may not exceed 600 words. All letters must include the author’s name, campus box and telephone number. Names may be withheld upon request under certain conditions on rare occasions. All letters may be submitted to redandblackstaff@jay. washjeff.edu. ContaCt

Telephone: FAX: E-mail:

Mailing Address:

(724) 223-6049 (724) 503-1049 redandblackstaff@jay. washjeff.edu

Red & Black 60 S. Lincoln St. Washington, PA 15301