NWSA fights censorship

er important terms and concepts from the course, such as structural racism, Black Lives Matter, and Black queer studies”.

Fourth-year human development major Melina Osmundson, said that the “woke” label is a positive one because it entails anyone, regardless of background or education level, to accurately inform themselves about important subjects. However, she also says that the label “woke” is a main reason for why mostly right-wing legislatures will attempt to censor these subjects.

“Regardless, these are subjects that should be taught in all schools’ ‘, said Osmundson, explaining the importance of being informed in order to bring about positive changes to society.

Whitehead states that College Board’s attempts at appeasement to the organized effort to scratch out key ideas and concepts from African American studies and public institutions, is making history and scholarship subject to the preferences and “anti-woke” sentiments. Instead of going along with these restrictions, the College Board should lead by example and oppose these restrictions and anti-equity censorship, as well as restoring the state of AP African American studies to as was originally envisioned by reinstating the key concepts and terms that have been removed from these courses.

Lena McQuade, says that censoring African-American histories, and other histories that analyze relationships of race and power, are detrimental to everyone regardless of racial background.

“Everyone is enriched when we learn the full complexities of history,” said McQuade. “These complexities include the ways power has been abused to racially dehumanize people and the ways people, especially African Americans, have always fought back and invested in their own humanity and freedom.” In response to this censorship, the NWSA went public with an open letter to fight “anti-woke” censorship on March 1, the first day of Women’s history month. The open letter is accessible through a bit.ly link at the bottom of their newsletter, as well as providing a QR code to access five other open letters to sign. In addition to signing and starting petitions, contacting government officials that have any say regarding power and censorship is also a viable option. McQuade also said students can take WGS and Ethnic Studies courses to be better prepared and educated in the fight against censorship.

In regards to the term “woke”, McQuade said it is simply a recent term often used by people being more aware of injustice and a desire to change the conditions around us for the better.“Developing critical thinking and working to address some of the most complex issues facing our society such as the persistence of racism, sexism, homophobia,” said McQuade. “This is the kind of knowledge and action that can liberate all of us.”

Sonoma County mourns violent death at high school

continued from pg. 1 and the police are still hoping to retrieve it. Police Chief Cregan, described it as “a folding knife with a black handle and an approximately 4-5-inch blade”.

According to another 16-year-old student present at the press conference, whose name is also confidential due to age, previous problems were present between the students but nothing has been done by the school. This senior expressed her frustration and blamed the school for the incident. “It’s their job to keep us safe,” said the student.

A week prior, this same student brought a weapon to school according to a parent, Maria Cervantes. She adds that the same 15-year-old freshman also slashed Pienta’s tires last week.

The school district did not make or return any attempt to get comments.

Parents point out the fact that the police had been removed from campus in the summer of 2020 after the killing of George Floyd. Yet, according to Santa Rosa police Sgt. Christopher Mahurin, they had received “97 calls for response from the school in the past 12 months. There were 945 calls for police response for all Santa Rosa schools in 2022,” he said.

Safety concerns have arisen among parents as other schools might face violent interaction in the future.

That same day, minutes before the fatal stabbing, police were called for another incident at a different Santa Rosa high school, Maria Carrillo. A student was reported to the authorities for bringing a gun to school.

According to Santa Rosa police “After briefly speaking with the student, the student ran from the building and tried to avoid the officers.” During this time, the student tried to get rid of the gun and did not have it with him when he got arrested. However, the weapon was located the next day close to where the student was caught.

Police wrote “This handgun was similar to what MCHS students reported may have been on campus. The 16-year-old student was later booked into the Sonoma County Juvenile Justice Center for possessing a firearm on campus and obstructing/delaying a police officer.” This student also got in trouble prior to that day as he was arrested for on-campus incidents earlier that week.

A week prior to that incident, first responders were called to Maria Carrillo High School after a fire broke out on the rear of the art building that was potentially set by another student who later got arrested for “suspicion of arson”.

Santa Rosa high school students arranged a walkout on Montecito Boulevard as a sign of protest Friday afternoon to express their concern about safety. There are possible plans for more walkouts throughout the week.

The Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools, Amie Carter, issued the following statement: “We will be engaging in dialogue with Santa Rosa City Schools, law enforcement, and our other school districts to ensure we are doing everything we can to improve student safety.”