February 7, 2020

The Oberlin Review February 7, 2020

Established 1874

Volume 148, Number 13

PSA: Voter Registration Deadline

In order to participate in Ohio’s March 17 presidential primary, you must be registered at your current street address on the official voter rolls by Feb. 18. Voters can check their current registration information at voteohio.gov. Voter registration and change-ofaddress forms can be found in the Mary Church Terrell Main Library and the Science Library. Questions? Visit oberlin.edu

The 2010s: Moments That Defined a Decade Ambar’s Appointment

Gibson’s Lawsuit

Following an extensive nationwide search, Carmen Twillie Ambar was introduced in May 2017 as the 15th president of Oberlin College and Conservatory. She is the institution’s first Black and second woman leader in its more than 180-year history.

Ambar was selected to replace outgoing President Marvin Krislov, now president of Pace University, at a particularly challenging moment in Oberlin’s institutional history. Faced with a growing structural budget deficit as soon as she stepped foot in Cox Administration Building, Ambar moved quickly to launch the Academic and Administrative Program Review, discussed in greater depth below.

From the time she arrived on campus, Ambar has displayed a commitment to engage with the Oberlin community. Her open office hours and meetings with student organizations in the basement of the presidential residence contrast with the Krislov presidency, the end of which was marked by a perceived lack of transparency.

In October 2018, Ambar was officially inaugurated as president during a weekend of celebratory events. Speakers included Sir David Adjaye and Johnnetta Cole, OC ’57. The weekend also featured the dedication of the Mary Church Terrell Main Library.

In November 2017, Gibson’s Bakery filed a lawsuit against the College and Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo, alleging libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The tension between the College and the bakery began in November 2016 when an altercation took place between three students and Allyn Gibson, the son of the bakery’s late owner, David Gibson, which prompted student protests.

The 2016 altercation occurred after Allyn Gibson accused a student of shoplifting and followed the student and two friends outside the store. Allyn Gibson said the three students attacked him; the students said the opposite. Police were contacted by an eyewitness who was concerned about the students’ safety. The officers arrested the three students.

The day after these arrests, students protested outside of Gibson’s Bakery and conducted a boycott of the business. The three students involved are Black, and Allyn Gibson is white; some students alleged that they had noticed a pattern of racial profiling connected to the store. The three students involved in the initial altercation took a plea deal in August of the next year. As part of this deal, they pleaded guilty to shoplifting and read statements recanting allegations of racism against Allyn Gibson and the bakery.

About a year later, the Gibsons sued the College. In June 2019, a Lorain County jury ruled in their favor, initially awarding $44.2 million in damages. The College and Raimondo maintained that they never made statements against the bakery and that colleges cannot legally be held liable for the independent actions of students. The case is currently being appealed.

Text by Nathan Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief Photo by Tonya Rosen-Jones

The AAPR

The Academic and Administrative Program Review, commissioned in 2018, was Oberlin’s first-ever institution-wide program review process. Over the course of a year, a 31-person Steering Committee composed of various institutional stakeholders conducted surveys, interviews, focus groups, and more to analyze nearly every aspect of Oberlin’s budget.

In February 2018, President Carmen Twillie Ambar presented on the financial uncertainty of the College. In her presentations, she disclosed that the institution’s structural budget deficit had reached $5 million the previous fall, and would continue to climb unless changes were made.

A year later, during the spring semester of 2019, the AAPR committee presented their final recommendations and published their findings in the official One Oberlin report, highlighting that Oberlin would face a budget deficit of $52 million by 2024 if no significant changes were made.

The committee structured its findings around three general categories: academic reorganization, curricular and co-curricular changes, and operational efficiency. Specific areas for reduction or growth were identified within those categories. Recommendations included reducing the enrollment of the Conservatory, introducing new integrative concentrations in Business and Public Health, and adjusting employee compensation.

Text by Katie Lucey, News Editor Photo by Meg Parker

Text by Anisa Curry Vietze, News Editor Photo by Bryan Rubin

Karega’s Dismissal In November 2016, the Board of Trustees voted to dismiss Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Joy Karega. In a Nov. 15, 2016 email announcement to the community, the board said Karega had failed “to meet the academic standards that Oberlin requires of its faculty and [failed] to demonstrate intellectual honesty.” Karega’s dismissal resulted from an extended review of posts Karega had made on her personal social media accounts that the board and others characterized as anti-Semitic.

Karega’s dismissal was upsetting to many community members. Some, including Karega herself, felt that she was unfairly targeted as the only tenure-track female Black professor in the Rhetoric and Composition program. Still, others felt that the board’s decision represented an important stand against anti-Semitism in higher education. The investigation into Karega’s conduct also ignited a national conversation about intellectual freedom in higher education.

In November 2018, Karega filed a lawsuit against the College claiming breach of contract and employment discrimination on the basis of race and gender. Karega initially sought nearly $1 million in damages. Earlier this week, Karega and the College reached a settlement of an undisclosed amount. While the legal process involving Karega has concluded, the questions raised by her dismissal and the circumstances around it continue to influence discourse at Oberlin and in the world of higher education.

Text by Nathan Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief

CONTENTS NEWS

OPINIONS

THIS WEEK

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

03 Concerns Over Low Participation in U.S. Census Loom Over Ohio’s Future

06 Simply Voting is No Longer Enough

08–09 Celebrating Black Films

10 Oberlin Students for Gender Inclusivity in Music Presents Phlox

16 Christian Fioretti: Men’s Basketball’s Selfless Leader

facebook.com/oberlinreview

12 Seyquan Mack and Gabriela Linares on Bomba and Plena

16 Ruminations on Kobe Bryant and What He Left Us

INSTAGRAM @ocreview

03 College Tackles Coronavirus Concerns

06 Iowa Caucuses Must End

The Oberlin Review | February 7, 2020

oberlinreview.org TWITTER @oberlinreview

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The 2010s: Moments That Defined a Decade First Lady’s Address

NEXUS Pipeline

Each spring, graduating seniors eagerly await to hear who will deliver the last lecture of their undergraduate careers. In April 2015, the Oberlin graduating class received a surprise announcement: First Lady Michelle Obama would give the Commencement address alongside Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund.

Obama came to speak at Oberlin after selecting the Ninde Scholars Program as the winner of her “Near-Peer Mentoring Challenge.” The challenge encouraged institutions of higher learning to connect local low-income and first-generation high school students with college students in order to bolster college preparation. The Ninde Scholars Program provides academic resources, including Oberlin College student tutors and college accessibility workshops, to talented and underrepresented Oberlin High School students who wish to go to college.

In her Commencement address, Obama praised the College’s legacy of activism and its status as the first college in the United States to grant admission to Black students and women, commenting that “Oberlin is likely the only college in America that I could have attended nearly two centuries ago.”

The First Lady encouraged the Class of 2015 to “run to, and not away from, the noise” and to “actively seek out the most contentious, polarized, gridlocked places you can find to create meaningful societal progress.” Her advice echoed the message that she and her husband emphasized throughout their time in the White House — to be unabashedly bold, kind, and brave.

The past decade saw a lengthy legal battle transpire between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the City of Oberlin regarding the construction and operation of the NEXUS pipeline, a 256-mile long natural gas pipeline that runs from Kensington, Ohio, to Canada. NEXUS construction was allowed in Oberlin through the use of eminent domain, which allows governments to convert private property into public property if it serves the greater good and grants “just compensation” to those affected. The pipeline’s construction concluded in July 2018.

In 2013, Oberlin residents voted for the Community Bill of Rights and Obligations. This ordinance affirms that the Oberlin community has a right to govern its relationship with the oil and gas industry and prohibits the construction of gas-delivery infrastructures within the City. The document was one of the primary arguments made against NEXUS. Oberlin City Council has opposed the pipeline since 2013 and turned down the settlement offered to them in early 2018 by Enbridge Inc. and DTE Energy — the two corporations involved in NEXUS construction. Then, in September 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals sided with a motion filed by the City and other plaintiffs, ordering that FERC issue a statement explaining its use of eminent domain. The City had argued that FERC could only authorize eminent domain to companies like Enbridge Inc. and DTE Energy for interstate projects — not international ones.

While the pipeline is currently active, the City of Oberlin continues to oppose its operation, as do many student activists.

Text by Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor Photo by Bryan Rubin

Text by Katie Lucey, News Editor Photo courtesy of the Office of Communications

Events of March 4, 2013

Facilities Changes

On March 4, 2013, Oberlin’s administration announced that it would cancel classes and hold a series of community events in response to a reported on-campus sighting of a person in Ku Klux Klan regalia. The alleged sighting had been preceded over the course of many weeks by a series of racist messages targeting Oberlin students.

“Canceling classes on March 4 was not solely a response to the reported sighting of a KKK member … but also about larger systemic issues that have been brewing on campus for far too long,” wrote the Review’s Editorial Board on Sept. 6, 2013 (“‘Hoax’ Declaration Mischaracterizes Bias Incidents, Stifles Productive Dialogue”). In some ways, the reported sighting served as a release for steadily increasing concern on campus, especially among students of color who had been targeted by the racist messages on campus and online.

The reported sighting on March 4 triggered widespread national media coverage of the events that had unfolded on campus. It also prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to open an investigation into a series of chauvinist events at the College.

It was ultimately determined that two students had been responsible for instigating the series of hateful messages, and the students were removed from campus.

For the remainder of the spring 2013 semester, groups of students worked with administrators on a series of proposals to address community concerns and promote campus safety, particularly in regard to incidents of bias or hate.

Despite the collaborative spirit that emerged that spring, some students felt that administrators had withheld important information from students prior to the alleged KKK sighting. They asked administrators to be more proactive with communicating to students about the potential for such incidents in the future.

The last decade has witnessed many new developments in Oberlin. From the Oberlin Inn’s renovation into the Hotel at Oberlin to the relocation of the Student Health Center to what was previously Dascomb Dining Hall, Oberlin’s landscape has changed considerably since 2010.

Over the last 10 years, Oberlin rebuilt Hall Annex completely with the addition of the brand-new, adaptable Irene and Alan Wurtzel Theater, more classrooms, rehearsal studios, and costume shops to the building. The College also renovated the Little Theater into what is now Kander Theater. Similarly, in 2016, the Conservatory opened the Birenbaum Innovation and Performance Space, located within the Hotel at Oberlin. And in 2010, Oberlin opened the Bertram and Judith Kohl Building for Jazz Studies, Composition, Musicology, and Music Theory. With regard to athletics, the College introduced the Knowlton Athletics Complex in 2014 and the Shanks Health and Wellness Center in 2018, which included renovations to the Robert K. Carr Pool.

Furthermore, over the years, the College’s Multicultural Resource Center expanded and moved to what was previously International House and, in 2018, the lobby of Wilder Hall underwent remodeling.

Text by Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

Text by Nathan Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief

The Oberlin r eview Feb. 7, 2020 Volume 148, Number 13 (ISSN 297–256) Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods. Advertising rates: $18 per column inch.

Second-class postage paid at Oberlin, Ohio. Entered as second-class matter at the Oberlin, Ohio post office April 2, 1911.

POSTMASTER SEND CHANGES TO: Wilder Box 90, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1081. Office of Publication: Burton Basement, Oberlin, Ohio 44074. Phone: (440) 775-8123

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Corrections:

Editors-in-Chief

Nathan Carpenter Katherine MacPhail Managing Editor Ananya Gupta News Editors Anisa Curry Vietze Katie Lucey Opinions Editor Jackie Brant This Week Editor Lily Jones Arts Editors Aly Fogel Jaimie Yue Sports Editor Khalid McCalla Cont. Sports Editors Jane Agler Zoë Martin del Campo Photo Editors Mallika Pandey Chris Schmucki Senior Staff Writers Ella Moxley Alica Koeninger

Layout Editors

Ads Manager Web Manager Production Manager Production Staff

Kushagra Kar Parker Shatkin Nico Vickers Jabree Hason Sheng Kao Devyn Malouf Drew Dansby Gigi Ewing Olive Hwang Kushagra Kar Arman Luczkow Allison Schmitt Alexa Stevens Nico Vickers

To submit a correction, email managingeditor@ oberlinreview.org.

Concerns Over Low Participation in U.S. Census Loom Over Ohio’s Future

Richard Romero, U.S. Census Bureau partnership specialist, discusses the importance of Census participation at the Oberlin Public Library last Monday.

Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Anisa Curry Vietze News Editor Nina Auslander-Padgham With the U.S. Census approaching this spring, local activists and government officials are working to ensure that all residents of Lorain County are counted.

The census is a once-a-decade process by which the federal government counts the population and gathers demographic data on all residents of the U.S. “We only have a shot every 10 years,” said County Commissioner Sharon Sweda, who is part of the Complete Count Committee for Lorain County, a group of nonprofit organizations, school districts, community leaders, hospitals, municipalities, and elected officials

who are committed to getting an accurate count in their area. “But [the census] will determine the congressional representation that we have, based upon our population, as well as billions in federal funding — how it’s going to be allocated over the entire next decade. We can’t get a doover. We have to do it right.”

To educate residents on the importance of the census, local activist group Lorain County Rising, the League of Women Voters, and other organizations brought Richard Romero, partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau, to the Oberlin Public Library last Monday. Romero used his talk as a platform to illustrate how many programs are funded as a result of census data.

“Let’s talk about the kids lunch [programs],” Romero said in his talk. “Let’s talk about the roads that we drive on.

Let’s talk about health care. ... By virtue of you not filling out your census, that then impacts your local community.”

Leading think tanks, such as the Brookings Institution, analyzed population data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found that Ohio could lose a congressional seat if 2020 census participation is poor.

Rhys Price Jones, the president of the League of Women Voters Oberlin Area, said the organization is committed to promoting a comprehensive count this census.

“We’re certainly not going to say that Ohio should have one more congressperson than they’re entitled to,” Price Jones said. “What we don’t want to happen is that — because of a failure to properly count the population — [we lose a seat]. That would be a tragedy. If through carelessness, oversight, prejudice, whatever reason — if an inaccurate count lets us down, that would be awful.”

While the goal of the census is to create an accurate and complete count of the entire population, some

College Tackles Coronavirus Concerns Carson Li As concern about a new coronavirus strain, 2019-nCoV, mounts globally, College administrators and other community members have adopted proactive communication and prevention strategies.

The Office of Communications has sent out four emails to students and faculty providing updates on the new coronavirus strain, 2019-nCoV, over the past few weeks. According to Interim Chief of Staff David Hertz, none of the communications have been compelled by institutional policy; rather, they came from a desire to keep the community informed.

“The point of providing the information is so that [people on campus] don’t invent scenarios and that we treat this situation with the gravity it deserves,” Hertz said, adding that he and other administrators have coordinated with Lorain County Public Health to craft communications. “It’s a serious situation. We don’t want to be dismissive, but we also don’t want to overdramatize.”

Despite the fact that there are zero confirmed cases in Ohio, and that the Center for Disease Control maintains the claim that the risk of contracting this coronavirus in the U.S. is low, Oberlin’s Chinese Student Association cancelled the annual Lunar New Year Banquet as a precaution. The Office of Communications plans to continue keeping students, faculty, and staff informed about the virus, while Student Health is boosting safety precautions on campus.

Students who traveled to China during Winter Term or winter break are carefully monitoring their health. Two students have contacted Student Health Services for evaluation, according to emails sent to all students; both were checked by medical professionals who decided their symptoms were not suggestive of coronavirus. Even so, officials decided it was best for one of the students to stay in isolated housing until Feb. 15, participating in their classes remotely and having meals delivered to their dorm room.

In comparison to past international viral outbreaks — such as swine flu or Zika virus — coronavirus might be particularly relevant to Oberlin’s population.

“I think the difference here is because Oberlin has such a significant community of people who were in China when this started, and that was the target zone [for quarantines],” said Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo. “It connects to campus in a much more direct way than some of these other issues have. ... It means that there has to be a much more elevated communication strategy and one that’s really tightly coordinated with public health authorities.”

Xiang Su, a Conservatory second-year from Wuhan, China, currently cannot return to Oberlin while her hometown is under quarantine. Su has received support from relevant College administrators throughout the quarantine.

On Jan. 22, the Chinese government cut off all transportation in and out of Wuhan to prevent the spread of the disease.

“People are full of contradictions,” Su wrote in a WeChat post that she shared with the Review and was originally written in Chinese on Jan. 23. “You miss home when you’re in school; you envy people in school when you’re trapped at home. … Being able to sit in the classroom listening to the professor now feels like such a joy.”

Director of the International Student Resource Center Josh Whitson also emailed all international students on Jan. 30 to address worries regarding the virus outbreak. In particular, the email discussed concerns over possible discrimination against international students from China.

“I also want to be very clear that bias or discrimination based on where you are from, where others assume you are from, or where you were over the past month is unacceptable,” Whitson wrote in the email. “If you feel you are being treated differently based on these characteristics, please contact me immediately so we can discuss how the college can best support you.”

For the latest novel coronavirus updates as they pertain to Oberlin, visit https://www. oberlin.edu/news/corona-virus-updates.

The Oberlin Review | February 7, 2020

demographics are less likely to fill out a census questionnaire than others.

“In regards to some people not trusting some of the government departments, and the whole thing about the language difficulty, and the whole fiasco in the past with questions about citizenship [even though that’s] no longer an issue,” Victor Leandre, director of El Centro Volunteer Intiative, said “That brought a lot of negativity towards the census.”

U.S. residents will get a census postcard in mid-March asking them to fill out their census online, on paper, or over the phone. After April 1, census workers will also begin visiting college campuses, senior centers, and other similarly structured high-density communities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Oberlin College students, as they reside most of the year in Ohio, would report themselves on the census as residents of Ohio.

From May to July, census workers will visit residences that haven’t responded to the 2020 census. In December of 2020, the Bureau will deliver their count to the president and Congress. By March 31, 2021, the Bureau will send redistricting counts to states, which use this information to redraw legislative districts.

“I hope that people will take it as seriously as they can,” said Lili Sandler, founder of Lorain County Rising.

“It’s essential on so many different levels. In some ways, I think it feels really like it’s from a bygone era. You know, the idea of somebody going door to door and quite literally counting every single person in America, it feels like, ‘Wow, do we still do that?’ And yes, we do. We really do.

And we really need to. It’s one of those things that, while it feels old-fashioned, it’s just as important now as it was in 1820.”

College Faculty Approves New Business Concentration Katie Lucey News Editor The College Faculty voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a new integrative concentration in Business. The concentration, first recommended in last spring’s One Oberlin report, a result of the yearlong Academic and Administrative Program Review, will enroll its first students during the Fall 2021 semester. It will join a new journalism concentration and several new artsfocused programs that will also be introduced in the fall.

The AAPR process identified demonstrated student interest in learning core business skills — such as finance and accounting — in an academic setting, while also gaining meaningful work experience that could better prepare students for a career post-graduation.

“I have seen more and more students [that] are becoming interested in business and entrepreneurship,” second-year Spencer Tu, who co-founded the Oberlin Entrepreneurship Club, wrote in an email to the Review. “I am very excited that the school is tailoring the curriculum to the wants of the students.”

The new concentration in Business will offer both curricular and cocurricular opportunities, such as internships, to satisfy the needs of current and prospective students.

“The Business integrative concentration requirements include an experiential component — for example, a high-quality internship,” Laura Baudot, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of English, wrote in an email to the Review. “Our alumni are already incredibly generous in helping students secure meaningful internships and employment. With the foundational skills the business [concentration] provides, students will be well-prepared to take advantage of internships and employment opportunities alumni provide.”

Baudot added that alumni are not the only group who have contributed to such experiences in the past.

“It will continue to engage alumni (and trustees and parents) as mentors across a variety of business-related programming,” Baudot wrote.

The concentration will require additional resources at a time when finances are tight across the institution.

“Resources for one additional faculty position to cover essential courses in business management and organizational theory and practice are necessary to complete the curriculum,” Baudot wrote.

According to the One Oberlin report, while a significant portion of the classes will be offered by the Economics department, other departments also offer courses that will count toward the concentration.

“It is important to note that other departments also offer practical courses in management or offer courses exploring the relationship between business and society,” the report said. “Their input would be critical to ensuring the concentration is appealing to students throughout the College and Conservatory.”

Faculty members hope that the new business concentration will provide meaningful academic experiences, while also helping both current and future students in their lives post-Oberlin.

“I think that the most significant benefits of the concentration would be to broaden the applicant pool and to facilitate students in making meaningful connections between the classes that they take and a career path after college,” Economics Department Chair and Professor Ron Cheung wrote in an email to the Review.

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First Cuban Ambassador to the U.S. in 50 Years Presents to Students Katherine MacPhail Editor-in-Chief Daniel Fleischer Cuba’s first ambassador to the United States since the two countries closed their embassies in 1961 addressed students Thursday in a talk entitled “The Future of U.S.-Cuban Government Relations.”

Ambassador José Ramón Cabañas visited Oberlin after traveling to Cleveland to meet with the LNE Group, a transatlantic advocacy firm.

Cabañas explained that his goal in talking to students is to inspire more interest in international relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

“Our only aim is that, when we finish this week, or next week, next month, you look for books, you look for more information about Cuba, and you simply try to understand the bilateral relationship from the United States from a historical perspective,” Cabañas said to students.

While the Obama administration re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba in 2015 for the first time since the early ’60s, the Trump administration has rolled back many of these Obama-era initiatives. In 2017, the administration rescinded the ability of Cuban immigrants to remain in the U.S. without a visa, and in the past two months, has canceled all commercial and charter flights except for those flying into the international airport in Havana.

At his State of the Union address this past Tuesday, President Trump criticized the Obama administration’s efforts to establish bilateral ties to Cuba after decades of Cold War hostility and promised to reverse those “failing policies.” Cabañas spoke about how the Cuban

people responded to that message.

“We broadcasted live the State of the Union speech in Cuba,” Cabañas said. “And I can tell you 11 million people in Cuba don’t understand — not the government, the people — how the current policy is portrayed to help the Cuban people. There is no way you can explain that.”

Associate Professor of Politics and Chair of Latin American Studies Kristina Mani, who was involved in bringing Cabañas to campus, explained how opportunities that were once available during the Obama administration have been rescinded.

“In terms of business connections and things like that, there are lots of limitations, and under the Trump administration, that’s been curtailed further,” Mani said.

The trade ban that has been in place since 1960 has defined U.S.-Cuban relations for decades.

“We as countries need to try something else. The embargo failed. The only path forward is through negotiation.” Cabañas said.

Despite these obstacles, the ambassador remains optimistic about the future of U.S.-Cuba relations.

In his public lecture, Cabañas said that the dominant American narrative for 60 years has been that presidential candidates need to take a hard stance on Cuba to win crucial votes in Florida, a state which has historically held significant antiCuban sentiment from Cuban Americans and Cuban exiles. However, in recent years, these attitudes have changed.

“I’m not saying here that [Cuban Americans] support the Cuban government. Some of them may not support certain Cuban policies,” Cabañas

said. “[But] by a large number, they support travel, they support communications, they support remittances, and they support those interests that many communities living abroad want with Florida.”

Cabañas’ visit to Oberlin is part of a larger effort by the International Studies Program to expose students to a broad range of international perspectives.

“The U.S. tends to be more and more an isolationist country that [has] reduced its attention to international affairs and people,” said Zeinab Abul-Magd, associate professor of History and chair of International Studies. “One of the duties that I take so seriously [in] my work in the international studies program is to open up opportunities of exposure for Oberlin students to know about international communities and also interact as much as possible with prominent scholars and prominent experts from other countries.”

Mani emphasized the need for young people to delve deeper into Cuba’s history and its relationship with the U.S. “I’m often surprised in teaching Oberlin students, who are really savvy in a lot of ways about other countries and they’ve traveled to many places, but Cuba kind of remains this black box for many students,” she said. “When we cover [Cuba] in my Latin American politics class, students are sometimes surprised, and they discover things that they really didn’t understand. I’ve heard a number of times, … ‘The deeper I go, the more complicated it is. And I have to kind of unthink some of the things I grew up with.’”

Second-Years Spread Their Wings at SOAR Retreat

College and double-degree second-years gathered for the second annual Sophomore Opportunities and Academic Resources retreat last weekend. The SOAR program aims to provide students with a space to think intentionally about their personal goals, professional aspirations, and academic pathways.

“As we did last year, we focused on academic and co-curricular planning,” Dana Hamdan, executive director of the Career Development Center and associate dean of students, wrote in an email to the Review. “But, we also talked about the power of storytelling, reflection, and personal narratives as tools for discovering and refining a purpose.”

In addition to break-out sessions, participants of the retreat gathered together to hear Chair of the Board of Trustees Chris Canavan’s presentation on business.

Following a unanimous decision by the College Faculty Council on Wednesday, business will become the newest concentration available to students.

“I tried to make the case for learning how business works,” Canavan wrote in

an email to the Review. “Anyone interested in working in the private sector should understand how it works. But so should the person who wants to work alongside the private sector and, indeed, those who want to work against private interests.”

This year’s SOAR program boosted attendance by 70 students as compared to last year and offered more variety in academic major clusters to better accommodate student interest and foster community.

“SOAR transformed my Environmental Studies major into a community,” College second-year Havi Carrillo-Klein, who attended the retreat, wrote in a message to the Review. “I walked into classes this semester knowing lots of people in my ENVS classes, which is one of the benefits of cohort-based learning here at Oberlin.”

Ohio Legislative Update Ohio House Reimagines School Voucher Program The Ohio State House of Representatives voted 88–7 to amend Senate Bill 89 on Wednesday.

The Educational Choice Scholarship Program — which provided school vouchers based on state report cards — will be renamed the Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship program. The new program provides school vouchers solely based on family income.

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Trump Acquitted Last Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Votes largely fell along party lines, including those of Ohio Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who voted to acquit and convict the president, respectively.

Text by Katie Lucey, News Editor Photo by Dale Preston

Ohio Law Increased Naloxone Sales, Study Finds University of Cincinnati researchers published a study finding that a 2015 Ohio state law increasing access to naloxone increased the rate at which the drug is dispensed by 2,328 percent.

The law allows pharmacists to dispense the drug without requiring a prescription from a doctor. Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, can be used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.

OPINIONS February 7, 2020

Established 1874

lEttEr tO thE EdItOrS

One Oberlin Fails to Address Race, Diversity Issues

Beyond the hype and anti-union fist-banging of the Academic and Administrative Program Review and One Oberlin report was a distressing silence around diversity. Do a word search of “diversity” in the glitzy 42-page One Oberlin final report.

It appears three times. The administration has made admirable progress on diversifying its senior staff. However, where is a comparable commitment to diversifying the tenure-line faculty at Oberlin? Faculty diversity efforts seem to have languished, and tenure-line faculty of color appear to be fleeing the College. There are still large departments and offices in the College and Conservatory that are virtually all white, yet racial diversity barely merits a mention in One Oberlin. As anti-union efforts continue at Oberlin — targeting, it should be mentioned, one of the most racially diverse employee groups on campus — will One Oberlin continue to be silent on race?

– Pablo Mitchell Professor of History and Comparative American Studies

Oberlin Sould Consider Social Entrepreneurship Program Do you want to find a way to reduce college debt, effectively sort recyclables, or support teens recovering from addiction?

Help international students compete at U.S. colleges, support English-as-a-second -language-learners become fluent, build community for neurodivergent individuals, grow local environmental engagement among high school students, or build advocacy to radically change economic inequality? These are only a handful of the goals that inspire the entrepreneurial ventures students and alumni developed this Winter Term in the LaunchU Bootcamp and Pitch Competition.

See a pattern? These Oberlin entrepre-

neurs are tackling big social and community problems. Per the program’s motto, they are actively working to “change the world.”

Their business models all offer innovative solutions to address stubborn problems and apply business concepts to sustainable, scalable activation plans.

Entrepreneurship comprises the skills to develop an innovative solution to a problem and the knowledge and mind-set to activate that solution for positive impact.

Entrepreneurial ventures can be for-profit, nonprofit, a social venture, or a hybrid of these. Entrepreneurship encompasses both new ventures and the instigation and implementation of innovation within an existing organization. In entrepreneurial education, there is no expectation that an entrepreneurial initiative will actually be launched, but rather, by exercising the innovation-activation skill-set students become increasingly confident in their ability to explore solutions to world problems and to map out the steps for positive action.

Oberlin’s entrepreneurial students are entering the innovation economy. Along with skills in writing, communication, collaboration, creative and critical thinking, those with the skills to innovate and activate for impact — no matter what their field — will be more valuable and better able to navigate positions of leadership.

Entrepreneurship education is not new to higher education, but it is relatively new to the elite liberal arts college ecosystem.

For Oberlin and many of its century-plusyear-old peer schools, entrepreneurship is not even a decade old, and is often positioned as an extracurricular activity rather than a fundamental skill. This is because the perception of entrepreneurship is strictly about starting a business and this aspect of entrepreneurship can be an anathema for leadership inside traditional liberal arts colleges. And many liberal arts students erroneously think entrepreneurship is about developing a business making billions of dollars at the expense of the greater good. Yes, some ventures can be greedy, destructive enterprises, but Oberlin entrepreneurs are demonstrating how ventures can truly deliver for the greater good.

Last summer, several Oberlin alumni made donations to have me visit our peer schools to see how our entrepreneurship programs compared. I visited members of the Sweet Sixteen and Ohio 5 colleges that had the most robust entrepreneurship programs.

See Letters, page 7

SUBMISSIONS POLICY

The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and op-ed submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at opinions@oberlinreview.org or Wilder Box 90 for inclusion in that week’s issue. Letters may not exceed 600 words and op-eds may not exceed 800 words, except with consent of the Editorial Board. All submissions must include contact information, with full names and any relevant titles, for all signers. All writers must individually confirm authorship on electronic submissions. The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity, length, grammar, accuracy, strength of argument and in consultation with Review style. Editors will work with contributors to edit pieces and will clear major edits with the authors prior to publication. Editors will contact authors of letters to the editors in the event of edits for anything other than style and grammar. Headlines are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. Opinions expressed in editorials, letters, op-eds, columns, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review. The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages. The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to a contributor.

The Oberlin Review | February 7, 2020

Volume 149, Number 13

EdItOrIal BOard EdItOrS-IN-ChIEf

Nathan Carpenter

Katherine MacPhail

MaNagINg EdItOr Ananya Gupta

OPINIONS EdItOr Jackie Brant

In Democratic Primary, Progressive Vision Provides Strongest Path With the explosively disastrous advent of the Iowa caucuses, the Democratic presidential primary season is officially in full swing. Still, the field has yet to narrow in any meaningful way, and Democratic voters still have plenty of White House hopefuls to throw their support behind — 11, to be exact.

Within that broad field, two primary camps of candidates have emerged — a progressive wing, creating something of a challenge to the status quo within the Democratic Party, and the moderate core. Notable progressives are Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; closer to the middle are former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and others.

Now that the results from Iowa are more or less finalized following a deeply troubling debacle that delayed any results from being released for more than a day, it seems that the caucuses resulted in a relative dead heat between Sanders and Buttigieg. While pundits will undoubtedly talk themselves in circles about the implications that Iowa will have for the rest of the primary process, one truth is important to home in on: Democratic voters are still relatively split on the question of whether a moderate or a progressive view of the future will be more effective.

In late January, the The New York Times’ Editorial Board released its traditional candidate endorsement after spending more than 12 hours interviewing all of the candidates. However, this year, the board broke tradition and endorsed not one Democratic candidate, but two. They made arguments for both Elizabeth Warren as the best progressive candidate and Amy Klombuchar as the best moderate candidate. They chose to endorse two candidates because of the radically different stances between the progressive and moderate Democratic camps.

The Times claims to have endorsed these two candidates in order to guide both progressive and moderate Democratic voters in the upcoming election.

They argued that both the progressive and moderate Democratic models deserve consideration in 2020, and believe that Warren and Klobuchar represent the best of the models, respectively.

However, the most important decision Democratic voters need to make is not about which specific moderate or progressive candidate to support; rather, the bigger question voters are faced with is whether to support a progressive agenda or a moderate one. The Times rightfully makes the argument that Democratic voters “must decide which of their two models would be most compelling for the American people and best suited for repairing the Republic.” Their dualendorsement provides absolutely no guidance in how voters should make that choice — a disappointing choice for the nation’s paper of record, which enjoys expansive direct access to all candidates, to make.

The Review’s endorsement will take the stance that The New York Times did not; we will endorse a progressive route forward for the Democratic Party — and for the country as a whole.

Admittedly, the Editorial Board is not unified behind a particular progressive candidate — namely, Sanders or Warren. However, we are unified in our belief that, in order to beat Donald Trump and chart an equitable path forward, the future of the Democratic Party can and should be progressive, and there is more than one candidate who fits the bill.

While Sanders and Warren have very similar stances on most relevant issues, they have a couple of key ideological differences that result in some differing policies. Most notably, Sanders and Warren disagree on the pace of implementation of progressive policy points and whether or not a truly progressive agenda can work within the constraints of capitalism. These overarching differences inevitably lead Warren and Sanders to differ in some areas, including taxation rates, free college, and approaches to foreign policy and trade deals.

Despite these differences, both Warren and Sanders show fierce and genuine commitment to progressive policies. Unlike The New York Times, we won’t tell you who to vote for based on your particular leanings. Instead, in an effort to weigh in on the dilemma between a progressive and moderate route, we endorse the progressive vision — we believe the progressive path is the one that promises the best future for Americans, and it’s the one we encourage all readers to take, regardless of whether that leads you to throw your support behind Sanders or Warren.

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Opinions Editor — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

5

Opi n ions

Simply Voting Is No Iowa Caucuses Must End Longer Enough Ilana Foggle Contributing Writer

People lining up to vote.

Leo Hochberg Columnist Today, citizens and residents of the U.S. are more angry, emotional, and divided than we’ve ever been — and, doubtless, there’s plenty to be angry about. Children remain separated from their parents and locked away in prison camps on the southern border; successive conservative administrations have all but annihilated the pro-poor welfare policies of the mid-20th century; and now, the president has been acquitted by spineless politicians who seek to avoid accountability for aiding and abetting high crimes and misdemeanors. The racist and colonialist foundations of the U.S., which have driven this country in a conservative arc for centuries, have now given rise to an administration so thoroughly invested in maintaining the privilege of the white and rich that its actions threaten to tear down what democratic institutions the U.S. still maintains.

Meanwhile, we are only one country among many that are resisting a rise in nativism and xenophobia, both within society and among governing elites.

In India, for example, after six years of extremist pro-Hindu policies, the introduction of an immigration bill which favors non-Muslim immigrants sparked widespread protests throughout the country, which have since morphed into a broader condemnation of Narendra Modi’s Islamophobic leadership. In Chile, a small hike in the subway fare in Santiago prompted a full-scale civil uprising against the country’s devastating and persistent wealth inequality.

However, the U.S. stands out among these countries, simply put, because in the face of similar problems of wealth inequality, corruption, political mismanagement, racist and classist elites, and the weakening of democratic institutions, few Americans are out in the streets protesting. The U.S. has yet to see a widespread, broad, and unified social uprising against the political and economic powers that be, as there have been in Hong Kong and Lebanon. While many have argued that the U.S. is desperately due for a revolution, few seem willing to attempt one, nor is there consensus on what system would replace the one which we currently have.

Others have argued that progressive, anti-establishment candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are the revolution. While they often employ revolutionary rhetoric — Sanders in particular — neither of them represents a civilian-led, foundational movement outside of the American electoral system. And even if either were to be elected — as they hopefully will be — this would not guarantee an

6

Photo courtesy of The Nation.

end to the long-term bastions of conservative political power in the U.S. legislature and judiciary, nor would it prevent right-wing elites from retaking political power in subsequent elections.

So what’s the difference in the U.S.?

Why do we consistently see organized grassroots, outside-of-the-system, and anti-racist political movements, such as Black Lives Matter, fail to gain widespread public support? Why have the ongoing atrocities of the Trump administration, rarely seen among even the most conservative American political administrations, failed to catalyze an inthe-streets revolution in the U.S.?

The answer is simple. America is a deeply electoral country. We are so wedded to the concept of electoral democracy that we would rather advocate for candidates than specific political goals. Revolution is unlikely so long as there exists the possibility of electing new leadership in just a few years or, in this case, a few short months. The massive quantity of political influence and wealth in this country that could go toward the implementation of specific policies instead goes toward specific candidates, many of whom ultimately compromise on key progressive promises in order to overcome political deadlock. Meanwhile, the grievances of America’s poor continue to go unaddressed as political campaigns focus more on their own electability than the daily problems of their constituents.

I’ll say this clearly: I do plan to vote in the 2020 election. I also plan to vote in my state and local elections. Voting is doubtlessly a useful, easy, and inexpensive way to support positive change and reduce the overall damage suffered by the poor and vulnerable, but it does not substitute for a foundational transition of power away from the wealthy political elite. The Trump administration has demonstrated clearly that the U.S. is long overdue for an overhaul of the system. And furthermore, if Trump wins the presidency again and secures another four years of power, Americans must abandon their willingness to simply wait until the next opportunity to vote him out. For all we know, by the time that opportunity arrives, electoral institutions in the U.S. may be so thoroughly degraded that even the possibility of winning that election will cease to exist.

The U.S. is coming to a reckoning with its racist and classist history, but one thing is clear: Voting is no longer enough. The time has come for a grassroots revolution guided by our most vulnerable and supported by those with the necessary resources and privilege.

America had better get on this train now; otherwise, we might lose the opportunity altogether.

As I am writing this, nearly 72 hours after the Iowa caucuses took place, roughly 97 percent of the caucus results have been released. Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg are neckand-neck, with Senator Sanders receiving 26.1 percent of the vote and Mayor Buttigieg receiving 26.2 percent of the vote.

When I originally decided to write about the Iowa caucuses, I thought I would be breaking down the results and predicting what they indicate about who will become the future Democratic nominee for president. Obviously, that will not be happening after the chaos that ensued in Iowa on Monday night. Perhaps I could write about Pete Buttigieg’s unexpected surge in Iowa or Bernie Sanders’ consistent base of supporters in multiple early voting states. But I am not going to write about either of those things.

This election cycle, I have seen enough think pieces about the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. I have seen enough analysis about how a mayor from the tiny city of South Bend, IN, could go from a nobody to a frontrunner in the race to be president, despite minimal support from Black voters. I have seen enough predictions about who will end up being the Democratic Party’s nominee. And frankly, I am exhausted.

As a voter, I am tired of seeing article after article analyzing campaign strategies and exacerbating candidate infighting when it is so clear that the system itself is very broken. I do not need the definitive results. I am not going to write about a single candidate. I am going to write about why the 2020 Iowa caucuses must be the last Iowa caucuses.

This past summer, I had the honor and privilege of being one of 11 students chosen to be a 2019 Cole Scholar as a part of the Oberlin Initiative in Electoral Politics. As a Cole Scholar, I spent my summer working and conducting field research in Des Moines, Iowa, for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign as her Iowa Communications Fellow — and I absolutely loved every moment of it. The political climate in Iowa is unlike anything that I have ever experienced.

You could be at a bar in downtown Des Moines and witness Kirsten Gillibrand ordering a whiskey or at a restaurant in Waterloo and casually run into Elizabeth Warren and her husband having dinner — which I did. Many Iowans meet most, if not all, of the candidates before caucus night. Iowans take the caucuses very seriously and pride themselves on holding the first primary election in the country.

Even so, the Iowa caucus process is highly inaccessible, undemocratic, and unrepresentative of the country.

There is somewhat of an unspoken rule for campaign staffers in Iowa: Do not criticize the Iowa caucus process.

But here’s the thing: We must be critical of any system that stifles democracy, and as demonstrated Monday night, the Iowa caucus does exactly that. Let’s start with the ways in which the Iowa caucuses are highly inaccessible.

First, the Iowa caucuses occur on a weekday night and can last multiple hours, the doors closing at 7 p.m. What if you have work? What if you are unable to afford childcare for the evening? The Iowa Democratic Party foresaw this issue and proposed a “virtual caucus” by phone to increase accessibility for those who would be unable to attend the in-person precinct locations. This proposal was shot down by the Democratic National

Committee. Instead, for the first time in Iowa caucus history, the Iowa Democratic Party approved satellite caucuses in group homes, community centers, factories, and more to increase accessibility for Iowans across the state. Did this change really make the Iowa caucuses more accessible? Maybe. Did they increase voter turnout? Absolutely not. In fact, the Iowa caucuses have historically low voter turnout. The Iowa Democratic Party stated that turnout on Monday was on par with its turnout in 2016: roughly 170,000 caucus-goers. This is approximately 70,000 fewer caucus-goers than in 2008 and only a fraction of the 3.2 million people who live in Iowa.

Second, pundits, campaigns, voters, and pollsters put a lot of weight on the Iowa caucuses in terms of their importance in determining the eventual Democratic nominee. Since the Iowa caucuses began in 1972, every Democratic president has won the Iowa caucuses — except for President Bill Clinton, who lost to a native Iowan. In 2008, President Barack Obama surprised the nation when he won the Iowa caucuses and increased voter turnout immensely with his novel mobilization tactics. For a long time, winning the Iowa caucuses was paramount to earning the nomination.

But is it truly democratic that 170,000 Iowans choose the entire country’s Democratic nominee for President?

Iowa is 90 percent white. While there are large minority populations in areas like Perry, Storm Lake, Marshalltown, and Waterloo, many campaigns are focused on appealing to the white Iowans who make up the majority of caucus-goers. Iowa’s status as the first caucus state enables candidates to focus their message solely on one demographic: white middle America. This is wrong. This is not how Democrats should be electing our nominee. The Iowa caucuses do not embody the values that the Democratic Party stands for: inclusivity, accessibility, and democracy. I have the utmost respect for Iowans, but they shouldn’t be the first voters to impact the future of our country.

Instead, we need to completely revolutionize the way in which we elect the Democratic nominee for President. We need ranked choice voting, in which voters select multiple candidates in order of preference, so that the candidate with the greatest amount of widespread support becomes the nominee. We need all primaries to be held on the same day across the country, so that no state is more important than the next. We need paper ballots to ensure the integrity of our election system. But these changes won’t just happen overnight. In order to make these massive, necessary changes, we need to organize and rally behind a candidate who champions voting rights.

There are multiple candidates who have reiterated the importance of voting rights this election cycle, like Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar, to name a few. The catastrophe that unraveled Monday night provides an opportunity for a candidate to step up and pave the way for a future in which every state in the country has an equal say in electing our presidential nominee.

No matter who declares victory when 100 percent of Iowa’s precincts are reported, I know one thing: Democrats lost Monday night. And we will keep losing until we change how we elect our nominee. It is time we end the chapter of the Iowa caucuses and begin a new one, where every vote from every state matters just as much.

It’s Time for Amy Klobuchar to Drop Out David Mathisson Columnist Amy Klobuchar just finished fifth in the Iowa caucuses with 12.3 percent of the vote. A near nonfactor in the presidential race until December, Klobuchar could certainly spin such a performance as a victory. But a more apt term for her performance would be pre-defeat. She’s spent more time in Iowa — her downstairs neighbor — than in every other state combined. That’s left little time for campaigning anywhere else. The next primaries will take place in the notably more progressive New Hampshire and Nevada, then South Carolina, where Joe Biden’s dominance over the moderate lane will likely block her. After that comes the 46 states where only Michael Bloomberg — another moderate in the race — has advertised. Things are only going downhill for Klobuchar.

She should take her exit now — before she embarrasses herself.

Klobuchar might have exceeded expectations, but there’s just not enough space in the moderate lane for her. With Bloomberg to the right, Biden and Tom Steyer to the very near left, and Pete Buttigieg in the progressive-moderate lane, Klobuchar has been unable to diversify herself. Her positions are almost exactly the same as Biden’s, but she’s far less electable. She’s a Midwesterner, like Buttigieg, but she’s far less exciting.

It’s easy to see this lack of excitement translated into numbers. Without signature proposals or a plan to address the crises in Washington, Klobuchar has been unable to inspire donations that make her competitive. She could have looked to fellow moderate John Hickenlooper, who dropped out when he ran out of campaign money. Instead, Klobuchar took hundreds of thousands of dol-

lars from wealthy corporations like Morgan Stanley and Delta Airlines.

Furthermore, the top four candidates have all raised more money than Klobuchar by at least 200 percent.

But Klobuchar’s money shortage is a symptom of her problems, not the cause. The four candidates ahead of her in fundraising all have inspiring policy plans and impressive resumes. Those resumes are free of major scandals — well, except for Elizabeth Warren’s. Klobuchar’s record, by contrast, lacks public salience, and, as she’s making the case that she should be President, is weaker than it’s ever been. This term, she has missed nearly 40 percent of all the Senate votes, making her the fifth most absent member of the Senate. Klobuchar’s inability to juggle responsibilities of governance raises concerns about her performance — and her viability as a candidate.

These concerns are enhanced by Klobuchar’s poor record. Her bestknown achievement, though many at Oberlin might appreciate it, is an aggressive questioning of Brett Kavanaugh. A far-left candidate like Warren could get away with this record of poor performance since Warren isn’t trying to reach out to swing voters. It’s a liability for a candidate trying to reach across the aisle as a moderate. Meanwhile, her support for additional border wall funding, which she has not often discussed, is a deal-breaker for progressives.

So, what does Klobuchar have going for her? She built her campaign on an ethos of being, as she’s said, “midwestern nice.” Yet, soon after she announced her campaign, the news broke that Klobuchar had been abusing her staff. As a report by the Intelligencer states, “Klobuchar consistently rebuked her staff in all caps, often over minor mistakes and at odd hours, frequently sending messages

between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. The Senator would reportedly become angry if a staffer did not charge her iPad or if they used staples instead of paper clips.”

A Senate staffer recounted the following interaction with one of Klobuchar’s poor employees: “I’m supposed to tell you,” she said, with a look of terror on her face, “Senator Klobuchar is late today because I am bad at my job.”

In addition to Klobuchar’s unhinged late-night emails and verbal abuse that “regularly left employees in tears,” Klobuchar has thrown various office supplies at her own staff in anger. Depending on the account, she’s thrown telephones, notebooks, binders, and possibly even staplers.

Not exactly “midwestern nice.”

Klobuchar remains unrepentant about her abuse, relentlessly focusing on the presidency, where she would inevitably traumatize many more employees. No abuser deserves that power.

Beyond ripping off her facade of kindness, the alleged abuse raises serious concerns about her temperament. If Amy Klobuchar flies off the handle for minor errors and throws staplers at her own staff, can she really make the case that we should trust her with nuclear weapons?

Amy Klobuchar is unengaging, uninspiring, uncharismatic, unelectable, and unfit for office. Earlier in this primary, she asked an audience to cheer for her. So, please clap, everyone. Give the Senator from Minnesota a standing ovation at her concession speech. And when you’re done clapping for Klobuchar, go find a candidate with the temperament and integrity to lead our country. Go find a candidate who understands respect, dignity, and what time to go to bed. Go find a candidate who can beat Donald Trump instead of being too much like him.

Letters to the editors (cont.)

Continued from page 5

There is good news and not-so-good news. First, Oberlin’s LaunchU Bootcamp and Pitch Competition is far more extensive and inclusive than any comparable programs I found among our peers. We are the only competition that is open to the entire Oberlin community — students, alumni, faculty, parents and staff. Our competition is open to any form of enterprise, including for-profit, nonprofit, and social enterprise.

The prize amount and ongoing mentor support is equal to or surpasses the best of our peers.

Where we are behind — in some circumstances by over a decade — is in the development of a formal social entrepreneurship program. This seems ludicrous since Oberlin is known for being academically strong in social justice and environmental stewardship. What we lack is a focused, formalized program aligned with curriculum and the College’s brand that instructs students in ways to innovate solutions to social problems and trains them in the activation skills that can provide real impact.

What could a social entrepreneurship program look like at Oberlin? Well, I think Oberlin has the opportunity to design a program that is purely Oberlin and possibly a model for others. At its core, it should help our students learn to innovate solutions to the problems they see in the world. It should educate them in activation skills — which help students understand why they need knowledge of key business disciplines. With the launch of the integrative Business concentration, this is a perfect time to explore how social entrepreneurship might be integrated into our students’ college experience.

I am inviting anyone — faculty, students, and staff — interested in joining a discussion group to explore how social entrepreneurship might be developed at Oberlin. If you are interested please contact me at bara. watts@oberlin.edu.

– Bara Watts Director of Entrepreneurship

Innovation, Inspiration Nestled in Rajasthani Village Kushagra Kar Production Editor Imagine living in a village in the Amazon, three days by canoe from the closest city. Imagine a group of people, foreign in looks, speech, clothes, and ideas, turning up on your shores and asking you to travel with them.

Travel – which for you would likely be the first time you’ve seen your capital city, been in a car, heard this alien language of English – to a completely different country to be trained in solar engineering. Stepping out of your door would require some serious courage.

At the same time, the people asking you to do this would have to be either really brave or just naively optimistic. They would need to have real guts to ask you to take that risk, and be so certain of their ability to deliver that they would travel all that way to find you.

Barefoot College are those people.

The people at Barefoot College is a non-governmental organization that was founded in 1972 by Sanjiv ‘Bunker’ Roy in the village of Tiloniya, Rajasthan. In its early years, the college’s mission was small: to bring the knowledge of urban India to people living in rural contexts. Instead of trying to develop areas into large urban The Oberlin Review | February 7, 2020

sprawls rife with unemployment and homelessness, its vision was to sustain traditional values in rural India while improving quality of life. This meant increasing the number of educational opportunities, developing clean energy alternatives, and establishing economic avenues for local businesses and handicrafts. More than 40 years later, Barefoot is still going strong and can confidently call itself a world leader in non-governmental efforts in rural areas.

When Meagan Fallone joined the team as Chief Executive Officer 10 years ago, she expanded the horizons of the organization to work with women living in parts of third world countries that everyone else had forgotten about. Together, Roy and Fallone have taken Barefoot to heights neither could have imagined when it started out as a small organization all those years ago. The idea was bold, and through persistence and time has become a reality. Yet ideas are merely the beginning, and more importantly, commonplace. The success of an idea boils down to its organization and execution, and the success of an organization is built on its core values.

Roy started Barefoot with two simple conditions for himself and any who wished to work with him: o the best you can, and strive to be proud

of what you accomplish. These aren’t just Roy’s words; they are the words of the countless people who have worked with him for over four decades, watching Barefoot grow in strength.

With this emphasis on each individual pushing themselves to do the best they can for their communities, Barefoot quickly created a culture of accountability, and continues to cultivate ideals of excellence, risk-taking and constant personal growth.

The goal of this non-governmental organization has never been to simply fix a list of problems in an area. Instead, Roy prioritizes cultural change to motivate people to find solutions for themselves. About 10 years ago, he asked each member of the Barefoot staff to resign their posts so that they could run for local positions in the government, and anyone unable to secure a seat was welcomed back with open arms. The five people that did get elected into local office carried with pride a Barefoot brand of excellence. Over the course of their respective tenures, each of these people made enduring, tangible changes to their communities, as evidenced by the fact that this story was narrated to me by a total stranger over a cup of tea nearly a decade later.

As college students, or simply as people who benefit from being ex-

posed to a pantheon of perspectives, the cliched reality of our aspirations is to make a difference in this world.

Finding purpose, doing good, or just doing something we’re proud of is important. I spent Winter Term volunteering with Barefoot because I thought I would gain some degree of personal satisfaction by engaging in community service. I have never been so wrong. The experience was immensely satisfying, but not just because of the work itself. Every day was an opportunity to learn, experience new things, see new perspectives, and listen to exciting stories. Within three weeks of living, eating, and working in this sandy Rajasthani village, I was entranced by the efficiency, dedication, and bravery of the place.

Oberlin thrives on the idea that one person can change the world. Barefoot is a testament to the fact that that one person already is. Roy has been making a difference for over four decades now. But change doesn’t come from excuses — whether they be a lack of time, money, or contacts. It is possible to overcome these hurdles and make a difference if we commit to the same standards to which Barefoot holds itself: Do the best you can with what you have, but only say you’re done when you’re truly satisfied with what you’ve reached.

7

Celebrating

Text by Brian Smith || Layout b

The Oscars, one of the most prestigious award ceremon this batch of nominees lacks diversity. The Academy of cars, has been criticized this year for failing to nominat Greta Gerwig, whose film Little Women is nominated people of color. Especially noteworthy is the fact that o four major acting categories. All other acting nominee tured reviews by College fourth-year Brian Smith of sev Photo Courtesy of sbs.com.au

Tsotsi (2005) In this beautiful coming-of-age story, directed by Gavin Hood and produced in South Africa, we follow the life of David, nicknamed Tsosti (Presley Chweneyagae). Growing up, Tsotsi’s mother suffers from a terminal illness, and his father is abusive. He runs away from home and finds community with other homeless children. One evening, Tsotsi and his friends attempt to mug a man, and the interaction quickly escalates when Tsotsi’s friend Butcher (Zenzo Ngqobe) kills the man. Fleeing from the crime, Tsotsi steals a car from a woman but does not realize that the woman’s baby is in the backseat! Tsotsi’s hardened demeanor begins to soften as he cares for the child while also contending with the moral implications of having abducted a baby.

Photo Courtesy of imdb.com

Set It Off (1996) Photo Courtesy of wikiwand.com

The Color Purple (1985) The Color Purple is a film adaptation of Alice Walker’s powerful 1982 novel of the same name. The novel received the National Book Award for Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983. Both the novel and film depict the plights of Black women enduring abuse and oppression from white people, Black men, and sometimes other Black women.

Walker’s novel exercised no restraint, as it is a fierce telling of how Black women — especially those who are poor, dark-skinned, or in other ways deemed by society undesirable and unworthy of love and kindness — survive the most tumultuous of environments, whether in the world or within their own homes. Steven Spielberg directed the film’s remarkable cast, which included Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Danny Glover as Albert, Oprah Winfrey as Sofia, Margaret Avery as Shug Avery and more. (Fun Fact: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Margaret Avery have all visited Oberlin in the past three years).

The Wiz (1978) This classic was released during the Blaxploitation era of filmmaking. Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz reenvisions Victor Flemings’s 1939 classical era film, The Wizard of Oz. The film cast some of the biggest stars of the late ’70s, including Richard Pryor in the titular role, Michael Jackson as Scarecrow, Ted Ross as Lion, Lena Horne as Glinda the Good, Mabel King as Evilene, and superstar Diana Ross in the role of Dorothy. The Wiz not only featured an all-Black cast, but also included disco, soul, and R&B tunes that are sure to get you singing and dancing as this star-studded cast eases on down the yellow brick road.

F. Gary Gray’s film Set It Off is simply a must-see! Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Kimberly Elise, and Vivica A. Fox are a collective force in this action-packed drama about four women who go on a string of bank robberies to end their financial hardships. This film is as much about the friendship between four Black women bound together by their struggles as it is about the guns, money, and adrenaline-inducing robbery scenes and police chases.

Photo Courtesy of genius.com

Black Films

by Lily Jones, This Week Editor

nies in film, are this Sunday, Feb. 9. As in previous years, f Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Oste any female directors for awards — notably snubbing for Best Picture — and for overlooking many talented only one Black actor, Cynthia Erivo, is nominated in the es are white. With that in mind, this week we have feaven films that highlight Black talent and culture.

Photo Courtesy of justwatch.com

Barbershop (2002) This comedy, directed by Tim Story, is a personal favorite of mine. The movie stars Black stars such as Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Michael Ealy, Cedric the Entertainer, Eve, and DeRay Davis, among others. It is the first film in a hilarious trilogy that continuously adds more stars.

I really enjoy films that depict Black folks just existing in Black spaces.

Through this film, we see that a barbershop becomes a place of friendship, family, love, political debate — and so much drama.

Photo Courtesy of vanityfair.com

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015) Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely love Nina Simone, the legendary singer whose iconic voice has been sampled in countless songs and added to an abundance of film soundtracks. No matter who you are, where you are from, or what generation you are a part of, you have encountered Nina Simone’s name, face, or voice at some point in your life. You know her voice, but you may not know the life she lived as a mother, lover, and political activist. This documentary, directed by Liz Garbus, delves into the life and legacy of the highly celebrated singer. Deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement, Nina Simone was a powerful woman who never wavered in her beliefs or held her tongue — in life or in music — for anybody.

Photo Courtesy of marieclaire.com

Waiting to Exhale (1995) This drama, directed by Forest Whitaker, stars Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon. Like many of us, these four women bond over how trash men are. Each woman navigates complex romantic relationships — and situationships. Through the ups and downs, twists and turns, they ultimately find solace in their friendship.

This film will definitely take you through an emotional rollercoaster.

It’s most memorable moment is undoubtedly when Bernadine (Bassett) fills her adulterous husband’s car with his clothes, douses everything in gasoline, then flicks her cigarette into the material pyre to burn his possessions. Truly iconic!

Saturday, Feb. 8

Tuesday, Feb. 11

Wednesday, Feb. 12

Bomba and Plena

KAINA

Celebrating Black Resilience Panel and Workshop

Aromantic/Asexual Club Interest Meeting

A performance by the AfroPuerto Rican dance group Instituto Folclórico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda Atiles, celebrating the percussion-driven Puerto Rican music traditions of Bomba and Plena. Organized by the Latinx Music Union, Oberlin College Black Musicians Guild, and the Oberlin Jazz Society.

A performance by KAINA, a Chicago-born Latina singer-songwriter known for her striking, intimate lyrics.

Learn from panelists’ experiences and discuss techniques for staying resilient through difficult situations.

8–9 p.m. // The Cat in the Cream

12–1 p.m. // Wilder 112

Open to all asexual- and aromantic-identifying Oberlin students, this meeting seeks to foster community and support the needs of asexual and aromantic students on campus.

7:30–9:30 p.m. // Finney Chapel

6:30–8 p.m. // Multicultural Resource Center

A r t s & C u lt u r e

ARTS & CULTURE February 7, 2020

Established 1874

Volume 148, Number 13

Oberlin Students for Gender Inclusivity in Music Presents Phlox

Students in the Phlox Ensembles sit with their instruments before their concert.

Jaimie Yue Arts & Culture Editor Nina Liloia Can you think of a famous female, transgender, or nonbinary classical music composer? The average person would likely know the name Beethoven or Bach, but might struggle to recall a composer who’s not a cisgender man.

The Phlox Ensembles, an intensive two-week Winter Term orchestra and choir, aim to combat this lack of gender inclusivity by performing works by composers that are not cisgender men. Organized

by Oberlin Students for Gender Inclusivity in Music, the ensembles are a space to promote and celebrate composers and performers of underrepresented gender identities.

“Hearing a piece performed allows a composer to edit and improve it,” said Lucca Abele, College second-year and Phlox

Courtesy of Students for Gender Inclusivity in Music

musician. “Female composers don’t have that opportunity as often, and so they don’t have as much of a chance to tweak things and change the dynamics of their piece.”

Abele and College fourth-year Grace Blinkoff were some of the only non-Conservatory students to participate in the Phlox orchestra. Nan Washburn, who has completed over 20 seasons as music director of the Michigan Philharmonic and has won numerous awards for her orchestral conducting and performance, conducted the orchestra alongside the student conductor, double-degree fifth-year Sophia Bass.

However, Washburn’s road to success has not been without obstacles. When asked if she had been treated differently or less seriously than her male counterparts in composition and performance, Washburn replied, “Absolutely.”

“I have had many years of disappointments, especially in auditioning for con-

ducting positions,” Washburn continued.

“I was told I was the winning candidate at the audition for an associate conductor position, only then to be told that the ‘maestro’ music director had decided to hold another round of auditions at a later time.

I did know that when I met with the ‘maestro’ during the audition, he was clearly uncomfortable with me being in the finals.”

Amidst institutional prejudice in the field, Washburn notes how Phlox provides a unique platform for underrepresented composers who deserve to be heard.

“A concert featuring music by women, trans, and nonbinary individuals reminds us all just how often great and musically-significant compositions are not performed simply because the composer happens to have a female first name or otherwise does not fit the traditional, white male composer model,” Washburn said.

“Musicians and audiences lose out when we deny part of our musical history and

[the] opportunity to hear all this beautiful music.”

The ensembles perform both modern and historical compositions by women, trans, and nonbinary composers, including some pieces composed by Oberlin students. In addition to attending rehearsals, ensemble performers were encouraged to participate in activities such as listening parties for other music by composers of underrepresented gender identities and public talks relating to gender in music.

Blinkoff noted that, despite being a musician since childhood, Phlox was the first time she had been significantly exposed to non-male composers. The pervasiveness of white male composers in academic study is evident, including at the Oberlin Conservatory.

Above all, non-male composers and composers of color have always existed and will continue to produce great work.

Phlox is just the beginning for programs that could promote gender inclusivity both within and outside the ensembles.

“I think if we start bringing in more of the names of non-male composers to music education and playing their pieces and talking about them, there will be more recognition of how talented they are,” Blinkoff said.

Interesting to note, the ensembles are named after the phlox flower, while the word “phlox” is derived from the Greek word meaning “flame.”

Blinkoff noted that the name certainly rings true with how the ensemble has empowered its members.

“Flowers can be pretty, but they can also have a ‘fire’ to them, and I think that translates to how a lot of non-male musicians especially have a burning desire to have their voices heard,” Blinkoff said.

Though this is just the beginning, the Phlox concert last weekend marked a tremendous step forward for celebrating a diverse array of talented composers “Seeing everyone in the orchestra so happy that this had finally happened — to be in an orchestra with all people who had felt underrepresented and were so excited to be a part of this — made me feel very grateful,” Blinkoff said.

Neo-Futurist Member Teaches Obies Non-Illusory Performance Jaimie Yue Arts & Culture Editor A scathing monologue about the zodiac signs. A somber mathematical proof about the square root of two and the mysteries of human behavior. A carefree dance to “Shark Smile” by Big Thief. An unabashed cover of “Somebody to Love” by Queen, but performed in a pitch-black room.

All these and more were the 38 short performances in Staging the Real, an on-campus Winter Term project and that went up for one night only on Jan. 31.

Staging the Real incorporated the principles of neo-futurism and non-illusory performance. Both styles embrace the limitations of theater, and do not attempt to project the illusion of a character or setting.

Joey Rizzolo, OC ’97, was the project facilitator leading the 16 student participants. While at Oberlin, he was a Theater major and did performance art. His work at Oberlin led him to teach theater and work with the New York Neo-Futurists, a performance group specializing in the performance aesthetic that was pioneered by Greg Allen, OC ’84.

“The performers aren’t pretending anything,” Rizzolo said about non-illusory performance. “They

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don’t pretend to be people that they’re not. They don’t pretend to be in a space that they’re not. They don’t pretend that they’re doing anything they’re not actually doing; all of their actions are real, executable, failable tasks. And they acknowledge the reality of the circumstances all the time, which includes the audience and sometimes involves the audience.”

Rizzolo was first introduced to the Neo-Futurists through its sister company, the Chicago Neo-Futurists, shortly after his time at Oberlin.

“It’s also exciting when you see somebody create something that’s never been seen before. And that’s what’s alluring to me about performance art: Because it’s not attached to any one medium, everything is on that palette. It’s kind of like the Wild West of art, all the time.”

Since moving from New York City to Oberlin in July of last year, Rizzolo now serves as the associate artistic director of the Oberlin Summer Theater Festival and an adjunct professor for the Theater department. When Staging the Real’s faculty advisor, Paul Moser, approached him about leading a project, Rizzolo decided to introduce current Obies to performance art.

Although the 16 students were a mix of composers, performers, writers, and choreographers, they were united by their desire to engage in other disciplines as

artists during their Winter Term collaboration.

The four-week-long project involved students writing and performing original performances, with a heavy emphasis on group work, constructive criticism, and continual revision.

“I thought this Winter Term would help me get out of a creative rut I’ve been in, while also inspiring me to do work outside of my main artistic disciplines,” said Michelle Tyson, a second-year College student and Musical Studies major. “It was nice to have a strict, structured program to do art within.”

The non-illusory nature of the performance meant that a majority of the pieces were personal narratives.

One autobiographical piece was “Stage Fright” by College first-year So Asiddao, who used the act as a personal outlet for their performance anxiety. In “Stage Fright,” Asiddao sings and dances to “Somebody to Love” by Queen — but only after instructing the audience to close their eyes and telling Rizzolo to turn off the lights.

“I was dancing and doing my hair, basically trying to tempt the audience to open their eyes, but they weren’t allowed to.” Asiddao said. “It was about me singing, but it was also about a social experiment: Will they open their eyes, will they not open their eyes?”

See Staging, page 13

The Wild Beast of the Bungalow Premiered at Warner Hall

College fourth-year Steven Mentzer’s artwork for The Wild Beast of the Bungalow features the main character, Girl, amongst a pink barbershop quartet.

Alice Koeninger Senior Staff Writer The Winter Term Opera The Wild Beast of the Bungalow premiered this past weekend in a whirl of pink décor, human-sized prairie dogs, and singing chickenpox. Composer Rachel J. Peters describes her work as both “opera that sounds like musical theater” and “musical

theater that sounds like opera.” For example, The Wild Beast features traditional opera with sparse orchestration, but also a libretto by Royce Vavrek sung in a barbershop quartet and sixties girl-group style. The opera was born when Vavrek solicited Peters’ distinct compositional style to accompany a libretto he wrote inspired by Sheila Heti’s short story, “Mermaid in a Jar.”

The unconventional work takes place primarily in the mind of an 11-year-old girl learning what it means to be an adult in what Peters calls the “post-empathy era.” The main character, Girl, sung by Conservatory third-year Caroline Wolfe, performs violent antics with her stuffed animals that reflect the shouting matches outside her bedroom door between her drunk and unfaithful parents (sung

by Conservatory third-year Erica Thelen and fourth-year Colin Anderson). She rages against her mermaid in a jar and terrorizes a family of prairie dogs after they adopt her as one of their own. After her mother kicks her father out of the house, Girl develops chickenpox resembling her mother’s shingles.

Director Christopher Mirto described that he wanted the audience to be shocked by this gloomy fantasy land.

“I wanted the set design to kind of punch the audience in the face with its brightness and quirkiness, and then out of all the pink the rest of the show emerges,” said Mirto.

Mirto also described his delight at seeing the choices that the student actors made in only a month of rehearsal.

While this short period may be the perfect amount of time for other Winter Term projects, it’s barely enough time to put on an opera. The cast spent one week learning their music and another week rehearsing. The third week was tech week, and the fourth was the week of performances that started on Wednesday, Jan. 29 and lasted until Sunday, Feb. 2.

This short time frame made the production all the more impressive. The musicians, conducted by Joseph Hodge, executed difficult rhythms and oscillating meter changes. Remarkably, opening night was the first time the production was performed with more than a piano

accompaniment and with the parents’ frame narrative, which is a story within a story. The effect was a sequence of bizarre, dark fantasies framed in bright pink and pop culture references to a barbershop quartet, both of which were Mirto’s ideas.

Vavrek’s libretto skillfully toed the line between comedy and tragedy. During the talkback after the Saturday performance, he said that his “black comedy” is meant to get the audience to wonder what it means to be an adult and who the real adults in the story are. Peters said that she feels that the world has finally “caught up” to this piece, citing its relevance in a pop culture that promotes indifference toward others.

“It’s the moral of the opera if there is one,” said Peters. “I thought specifically of the repeated line, ‘I didn’t ask to have to care for something,’ from ‘Mermaid in a Jar.’ The girl is imitating her mother, who said the same thing about her.”

The first part of the opera borrows much of its libretto from “Mermaid in a Jar,” as well as its title. The second part, “Prairie Dogs,” followed years later. The third part, “Fine and Dandy,” wasn’t written until last fall, when the first cast recording was made.

The comedic elements of the opera, though dark, added some much-needed relief to the reality of Girl’s life and the depths of her loneliness. When the cast came onstage at the end of the talkback, Anderson shared his insight into “Prairie Dogs,” the longest section of the opera, in which Girl asks a family of prairie dogs to adopt her. The prairie dogs do adopt her, but she ends up threatening them while wearing a predatory hawk costume.

“The girl knows what she wants,” Anderson said, “but it still ends badly because she can’t imagine anything else.”

Feve Co-Owners Open New Restaurant, ThiNi Thai Jaimie Yue Arts & Culture Editor Rachel Fang

Oberlin’s new restaurant ThiNi Thai grabs the attention of passersby with its bright lights and painted mural. Above the front door, there is a large, arrow-shaped sign that reads, “ThiNi,” a Thai phrase that translates to “is here,” according to co-owner Matt Adelman.

Brothers Matt and Jason Adelman, owners of the Feve, opened the restaurant at the beginning of January. They were inspired by a trip they took to Chiang Mai, a city in the mountainous northern region of Thailand, where they met their tour guide and friend Aon Krittathiranon. After noticing the brothers’ interest in food, Krittathiranon invited them to his house to show them how he cooked Thai dishes.

The Adelmans later found out that Krittathiranon owned a top-rated culinary school in Thailand.

After coming back to the United States, they contacted Krittathiranon about opening a restaurant in Oberlin. Krittathiranon was so excited by the idea that he ended up moving to Oberlin to join the project as the restaurant’s chef.

ThiNi Thai brands itself as being completely authentic. According to Krittathiranon and Matt, they import 90 percent of their ingredients from Thailand, as well as the restaurant’s plates, spoons, cups, and charcoal for grilling.

“Everything, every element of your experience, we want to be like it is when we are with Aon in Chiang Mai,” Matt said.

Krittathiranon is also dedicated to only serving authentic Thai food, with nothing that is “Americanized.”

“My dream and my passion [is] to share the Thai food and show my food to the world,” Krittathiranon said.

The restaurant also provides a unique atmosphere for dining. Colorful lanterns hang from the ceiling and the walls are painted red and blue. The Adelman brothers even built their own stools and tables to imitate the style of Thai restaurants.

While the brothers hope to open ThiNi Thai for lunch and take-out in the future, they are currently focused on making customers’ in-house dinner experience memorable.

“We want to take care of our customers the best we can, all of them, and eventually we’ll be able to take care of our customers who want to have carry-out,” Matt said. “But, for right now, the most important thing is Aon’s vision, and that is to be able to experience a Thai experience.”

Colorful lanterns and string lights adorn the dining area at ThiNi Thai.

Students at the bar of Oberlin’s new Thai restaurant.

Photo by Chris Schmucki, Photo Editor Photo by Chris Schmucki, Photo Editor The Oberlin Review | February 7, 2020

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A r t s & C u lt u r e ON THE RECORD

Seyquan Mack and Gabriela Linares on Bomba and Plena tories. Even Western music takes Latinx beats and things, and it’s still not talked about even though that was taken from our culture. So we’re just trying to make people aware of these things.

Can you talk a little bit about the performer you’re bringing to campus this weekend, Instituto Folclórico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda Atiles?

GL: So Rafael Cepeda is basically the father of this genre of Bomba and Plena — for our generation at least. The genre was dormant for a long time, and not a lot of people were dancing these dances.

And then the Cepeda family came in and was responsible for bringing this art back to the people.

His son [set out] to make a school and start teaching people. So they got trained as teachers, and his son actually got a Ph.D. and started just teaching for free all over. He wanted people to know what their roots are. And it got so big and people were so invested in it that they started the school in his father’s house.

Gabriela Linares and Seyquan Mack.

Double-degree fourth-year Seyquan Mack is the Chair of the Oberlin College Black Musicians Guild, and Conservatory fourth-year Gabriela Linares is the founder and president of the Oberlin College Latinx Music Union. In honor of Black History Month the Latinx Music Union, the Black Musicians Guild, and the Oberlin Jazz Society are bringing the world-renowned Afro-Puerto Rican dance group Instituto Folclórico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda Atiles to Oberlin for a performance in Bomba and Plena tomorrow and a workshop on Sunday. Instituto Folclórico Puertorriqueño Rafael Cepeda Atiles will be performing on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Finney Chapel, followed by a limited-space workshop on Sunday, Feb. 9 from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Both events are free for all to attend.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Lyala Khan Can you tell me a little about yourself and about the group you’re representing here?

Sequan Mack: I’m Seyquan, I use he/him pronouns, and I’m a fourth-year Vocal Performance major with a double-degree in Politics. I’m the Chairman of Oberlin College Black Musicians Guild. My duty, and more generally, my organization’s duty, is to create awareness about African-American musicians that are out there in the world and succeeding in their fields. It doesn’t have to be a classical voice or classical instruments — we’re just trying [to pay attention] to African Americans doing music and trying to better the world by creating more awareness around our [art and music].

Photo Courtesy of Seyquan Mack

What’s been the most memorable performance thus far?

SM: I think the Callie Day performance that we did. That was last spring, also during Black History Month. Callie Day had gone viral singing this one really spiritual piece, and a lot of people knew her from that. So she came here, and she gave a recital where she performed some of her own songs as well as some spiritual pieces from before her time.

That was really lovely.

Gaby, can you tell me a little about yourself and the group you represent?

Gabriela Linares: My name is Gabriella Linares. I am the president of The Latinx Music Union. We’ve only been active for two semesters, and our goal is to promote Latinx culture and art on campus. We started off as just a little band, and then we started making [noches de azucar, “nights of sugar”]. This name comes from Celia Cruz. She’s one very strong female musician and an important figure for Latinx identifying people, in the States and just all around the Caribbean, Central America, everywhere. So we took this name Azucar from her because that was just a word she used all the time and at concerts. After that, we started having monthly jam sessions where people who are interested in Latinx music would come and talk about different pieces they would want to perform just to expand the repertoire performed in the Conservatory.

Do you think the Conservatory provides the space for this?

GL: The Conservatory is very Western-focused.

But there’s so many Latinx people in the United States, and it’s not talked about at all in conserva-

How were you introduced to them?

GL: I actually studied with Cepeda’s grandson in Puerto Rico, and it reminded me of how important the family is and everybody knows them, so I [brought] the whole organization there and everyone was so impacted. People were crying [because of ] the power and beauty of this art. So we were like, “We have to do something, we have to bring more artists like this to campus because it’s important for people to connect and to see the diaspora.”

And Puerto Rico is such a small island, but it’s part of the United States, and people don’t know much about it. And it’s sad because sometimes we just disappear from the atmosphere. I just wish there were more awareness.

What do you think is particularly special about this show for Oberlin students?

SM: I think that this is going to be something like nothing else. I don’t think in Oberlin’s history, especially with student organizations, that we’ve ever brought a group from an island during Black History Month. And especially not with so many people being brought in. I think this is going to be an opportunity for people to see authenticity at its finest. I feel like at Oberlin, a lot of us know what authenticity is, and we know what raw talent is and what that looks like, but I feel like a lot of us don’t experience it because of this society and because of the environment that we’re put in. So I think this will be great for that.

GL: What’s remarkable is that the Latinx community and the African American community on campus don’t collaborate much. The diaspora is so big, and it’s a narrative that is not talked about a lot. And it’s important to see how the culture is so rich and how it has traveled everywhere. We have things in common, and we can build a stronger community in Oberlin by collaborating, but I’ve never seen organizations collaborate like this. So I think it’s something very special to bring those communities together.

COMIC Clair Wang, Staff Cartoonist

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Staging The Real Shares Honest Performances

COMIC Athina Apazidis,

Staff Cartoonist

Continued from page 10

While the final product of Staging the Real was the 38-act performance, the real focus of the project was the creative process.

According to Asiddao, each student wrote roughly 30 pieces, but only one to three per individual made it into the final show.

Similarly, Rizzolo’s favorite day was when he split everyone into two teams of choreographers and composers, prompting them to either choreograph or compose a 60-second piece, before randomly pairing different pieces with each other. The resulting performances were surprising: despite the unconventional creative process, everything came together beautifully.

“Every single one of those pairings worked out extremely well,” Rizzolo said. “In fact, we used most of them in the final performance. They just fell into place.”

These spontaneous compositions appeared in the final show as “Thursday Afternoon,” “Untitled #12 (The Fan Piece),” and “Dressing Room.”

Above all, engaging in Staging the Real — learning to write and perform, accepting the reality of the stage, and performing either their own or their castmates’ biographies — brought everyone closer in the way only theater could.

“It was just a lot of really great collaboration. Everyone was super nice,” Asiddao said. “I became super close with people — people I think I’m going to be friends with forever.”

Godot Cancellation Inspires Provocative Queer Play

College second-year Diwe Augustin-Glave; College third-years Sofie Rejto, Lauren Elwood; Anna Aubry, and College fourthyear Clarissa Heart begin Collective Rage with larger-than-life gestures.

Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Aly Fogel Arts & Culture Editor It seems appropriate that Oberlin’s production of the queer feminist play-within-a-play Collective Rage was born of unfortunate patriarchal circumstance. About three months ago, guest director Tlaloc Rivas cast five female students in Waiting for Godot, subverting expectations for the all-male play. However, the Oberlin Theater department changed plays for the Winter Term show after receiving a letter from playwright Samuel Beckett’s estate stating that they did not authorize Oberlin’s all-female cast (“All-Female Waiting for Godot Cancellation Sparks Collective Rage,” Nov. 15, 2019).

When Godot was canceled, Rivas worked along with the scenic designer, costume designer, and managing director to find a new show. The play had to fit the original actors in Godot, and it also needed simple set and costumes, because the design team only had two months to prepare everything. The team settled on Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage, a play about five queer characters who are all named Betty. The show opened last night in the Irene and Alan Wurtzel Theater. “[Collective Rage] speaks to, I think, what many underrepresented communities, particularly women, feel at this point in time in our social and political sphere,” Rivas said.

Third-year Theater major and cast member Anna Aubry said she was disappointed about the Godot cancellation, but she is excited about the female representation in Collective Rage.

“Unless a classical work is reimagined to bring something new to the social spectrum that we’re on now, I’m The Oberlin Review | February 7, 2020

uninterested in the ways that a lot of classical works are very non-inclusive,” said Aubry. “The women in this play are loud and assertive and know what they want and go after it.”

Specifically, Aubry mentioned that, during her time here, she has only been able to audition for one mainstage production written by a woman, a surprising fact at an institution as liberal as Oberlin.

Collective Rage is an appropriately cutting-edge play for our uber-liberal school. Each character in the play represents a specific brand of queerness or lesbianism.

Power-suit-wearing Betty 1 (College third-year Sofie Rejto) describes herself using a phrase like, “very rich, very vegetarian, very gluten-free, very alcoholic, and very rich.”

An anxious and subordinate housewife Betty 2 (College third-year Lauren Elwood) can’t stop looking at her vulva in a hand mirror. Betty 3 (College second-year Diwe Augustin-Glave), is a femme lesbian who quits her Sephora job and attempts to become the voice of a generation.

And dressed in jean chains, flannels and tank tops, Betty 4 (Aubry) is hopelessly in love with her friend and working on her truck alongside Betty 5 (College fourth-year Clarissa Heart), a genderqueer boxer with an undercut.

The rage these women feel — from their matches in the boxing rings, to their frustrated descriptions of their “beige” and “indigestive” husbands, to the way that they grapple with their sexual orientation alone with only a sock puppet to talk to — all comes from a mixture of sexism and homophobia.

These queer feminist themes may seem like difficult topics for a male director to address. However, Rivas has worked to acknowledge his positionality in the rehearsal room.

“I knew that after choosing the show that my prime directive would be to empower the cast to take ownership of the play and to create space for them,” Rivas said.

“I always come from a place of intersectionality and making sure that I know that I’m not the expert in the room.”

Aubry said that Rivas made the rehearsal experience a comfortable environment, despite their original concerns about a man directing this queer feminist show.

“I trust Tlaloc as a director, but I definitely was skeptical of [him] putting on a play about five queer women [as a] male director,” Aubry said. “I think in this case, I felt comfortable with him as a director because I knew that it was going to be … an incredibly collaborative environment in terms of the five of us women really being able to chime up and say [when] something felt like that doesn’t feel realistic to me that doesn’t feel right to me and … him really listening to our feedback as women in this production.”

Aubry also pointed out that Rivas gave the actors notecards at the beginning of the rehearsal process. He told them that, if there was anything uncomfortable that they didn’t want to bring up with him, they could write it on the notecard and give it to the female stage manager or dramaturg, who would bring up concerns with Rivas anonymously.

College fourth-year Carrie Babigian, who was the assistant director, explained that Rivas also created a safe space by teaching the students about fight choreography and intimacy coordination. Rivas choreographed the stage kiss to make sure all of the actors were comfortable with it. He taught Babigian to do intimacy and fight calls so that she could do so every night without him in the room.

“For the intimacy call, you do a check-in, just like, ‘How is everyone feeling?’” said Babigian. “‘How are you feeling about kissing each other? Do you want to do [the kiss] or do you want to just do a stand-in?’ And then they check in about ‘no-fly zones,’ which is just where you don’t want to be touched.”

Rivas hopes that the cast can use these intimacy choreography skills in other productions. Ultimately, his goal as a director is to leave the cast with skills to uplift other marginalized voices in Oberlin theater.

“I will never experience what it’s like to be a woman,” Rivas said. “But I can be an ally, and I can be a champion for [women] in the best way that I can and empower others in the room and … go forth from this experience and … and be advocates for that kind of work to continue here.”

As for the future of Oberlin theater, Aubry believes Collective Rage is a step in the right direction.

“I’m really excited for what this play means for the department and a shift in whose voices are being celebrated and who is able to be seen and heard on stage,” Aubry said.

Collective Rage runs from Thursday, February 6 to Sunday, February 9 in the Irene and Alan Wurtzel Theater.

Tickets are $8 for students, staff, and seniors, and $10 for the general public.

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Sp ort s IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Grace Hayes, Second-Year Dual-Athlete

College second-year Grace Hayes is a member of not one, but two varsity sports teams. Hayes has competed with the soccer team for the past two years. After seeing a significant increase in playing time on the soccer field in her second year, Hayes recently decided to join track. Despite having only been on the track team for a few months, she has found early success, and has already run the fourth fastest 60-meter time in the North Coast Athletic Conference and been named the NCAC Women’s Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Week. In her free time, Hayes enjoys painting and attending on-campus performances.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Lauren Fitts How is track different from soccer?

In soccer, you’re constantly relying on 10 other people to carry their weight.

And with track, it’s like a different type of carrying their weight. It’s more about supporting each other through cheering and working hard at practice so that we score well as a team, but it’s not like every single action they do affects my performance; in soccer, it does.

What are similarities you see between the soccer team and the track team?

Definitely support. When people say it is a family, it really is. I’ve been with [the soccer team] for two years and have only been with track for a couple months, but there are people I can rely on constantly, share textbooks with, go to with any problems. The track athletes have welcomed me so much. I feel that way with soccer, too. There is such a strong connection with everyone. It’s the same across the board — both sports are so good with being supportive of each other.

Did you run track in high school?

I only did up until my sophomore year, and then I quit because I was very overwhelmed and busy. I did not run at Oberlin last year, and then they convinced me.

What made you decide to join the track team?

The coaches are extremely persuasive.

They’re very good at their jobs — at recruiting. Last year, soccer really helped with getting me acclimated to the campus. This year, I felt less stressed and more used to the workflow here.

I was able to actually picture myself doing more. I had a conversation with

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the coaches, and they were just really positive. I went out, met a lot of the teammates, and just took it really slow, and it seemed like a really good fit.

How does it feel to have this early success in track?

It feels good, obviously. I didn’t expect that because I hadn’t run in about four years. This comes back to them being such good teammates. At first, I was actually a little nervous. I didn’t want to come on and take anyone’s spot away from them, but everyone was just really proud of the success and saw it as just helping the team. It felt really good that I could actually contribute such a large amount of points to the team. And it feels good to be good.

Do you consider yourself to be more of a soccer player or more of a runner?

I would say running is a part of my life in a different way than soccer because you don’t really have to think about it as much. Any time I’m stressed out, I can just go for a run. But when it comes down to sports, I consider myself a soccer player. I wouldn’t really tell people, “Oh yeah, I’m a track runner.”

I’d say, “I’m a soccer player, but I run track and enjoy it.”

How do you think athletics has impacted your time so far at Oberlin?

Both soccer and track are such big communites. I talk to so many athletes, go to so many games. It’s just its own little community that is always extremely supportive of each other and fun to be around. It’s helped my academics a lot because it got me organized. There’s constantly people to ask for help, people who have taken classes that you are going to be in.

People are willing to tutor. There are so many connections within teams that you can always find someone to help you. That really helped me through my first semester with things like figuring out how to register for classes and where buildings are. For little things like that, athletes are always the first ones I turn to for help.

Do you find it difficult to balance academics and athletics being a dual-sport athlete?

Well, it’s new now, but I originally thought it was going to be extremely hard. That’s why I didn’t want to do track at all. But after soccer season this year, I found it harder to balance my time without soccer. It’s such a nice structure to my life that, without soccer, it felt weird. I didn’t know

College second-year Grace Hayes.

what to do. Being a dual-sport athlete is actually extremely helpful in my schedule, and it makes things easier to balance because I only have a certain amount of time to get things done. It makes me more organized and better at planning ahead.

Besides sports, what are some things you like to do?

I’m a big reader, and I really like art and painting. I live with a non-athlete, and she and I have gone to different shows on campus like slam poetry and dance performances. Honestly, I like to try to support anything that the Conservatory puts on and any art on campus.

You said you paint — do you have a specialty?

I like acrylic paint. In high school, I took AP Art and was planning to be an Art major at Oberlin. Then I had a change of heart. So now I just do it for stress relief and fun, but yeah, I just like painting.

Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

Do you dabble in any of the other arts?

No, I’m not skilled in that way at all.

I’m not musically inclined. I can’t sing, but I love seeing everyone else do it. I think that the arts provide a good mix between athletes and non-athletes. A lot of people on track perform with the AndWhat!? dance team, and some people are in plays. I think that’s another way to get involved. All of my teammates do these things, and I get to go support them in non-athletic ways.

Do you have any goals for the rest of the track season or next year with soccer?

In track, I want to place at the conference championship. Honestly, I want to be in the top five. Then, for soccer, I just really want to get to the NCAC tournament. My freshman year, we were so close, and then this year was a rebuilding season; I think we’re in a really good place to be able to do that next year.

Engaging with Kobe Bryant’s Complex Legacy

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Kobe Bryant

Continued from page 16

complicated legacy Bryant left behind.

While many people who were positively impacted by his career may want to remember him as perfect, this view isn’t universal. For survivors of sexual assault, and for those who sympathize with their struggles, the Bryants’ death, and the outpouring of admiration for Kobe, could be viewed as another example of overwhelming support for a man who assaulted a woman, without receiving meaningful repercussions, from a society that already turns a blind eye to such violence. It is important to acknowledge that this is an emotional time for all parties.

Kobe Bryant’s death was felt on such a seismic level because of his involvement, either through his words or his actions, in several modern issues, like sexual assault. However, Bryant was also a Black man and his success was, and most likely will continue to be, an example for many Black men to aspire to be in their own lives.

The issue of race in relation to the conversation surrounding Bryant’s legacy is complicated. One popular opinion is that bringing up the accusation was a way to not only attack Bryant, but also to devalue the feelings and emotions of those mourning him, which was understood primarily to be Black men. As a result, comments about Bryant’s accusation in the direct aftermath of his death played into a dangerous cultural habit of silencing the emotions and voices of Black men when they are dealing with negative thoughts and feelings. I’m sure some people, consciously or unconsciously, had these intentions, and they were wrong for that, but I’m also sure many did not share this malicious approach.

Again, however, it has to be understood that our suffering as Black men isn’t an excuse to turn our backs on the emotions or experiences of survivors, who are also suffering. I recognize balancing the varied opinions of Bryant’s legacy and the equally varied reactions to his death is a fine line to walk, but it is one The Oberlin Review | February 7, 2020

that will forever exist when analyzing Bryant’s legacy.

In 2004, Bryant released a public statement in response to the accusations against him. While the language is fairly standard, one section stood out to me as commonplace now, yet somewhat radical for 2004.

“Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did,” Bryant wrote, in the statement.

“After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”

This section of the statement is crucial, not just for Bryant on a personal level, but for society as a whole to understand. It’s not for you to decide whether you harmed somebody — It is up to them. People are entitled to feel however they want, whether you agree or not.

Clearly, this applies to cases of sexual assault and sexual misconduct, but it also applies to cases of grief.

Emotions stemming from both of these experiences were felt by millions upon news of Bryant’s death. While it is natural to want to defend your position, that can be done without ignoring or devaluing someone else’s. Yes, you are allowed to mourn the news of Bryant’s death despite his accusation. You’re also allowed to not be overcome with sadness for a man who you view as problematic. Both are acceptable.

Even in moments of despair, there is still room for compassion. And even in moments of tension, there is still room for growth.

There is not now, nor will there ever be, one correct way to interact with Kobe Bryant’s legacy. It would be foolish to assume that any argument is going to completely win over everyone.

Despite my idolization of Kobe, despite my desire to be able to commit to something the way he committed to basketball and to his daughters, part of

me will always wonder if my idolization is misplaced.

I’m not settled on a side. I don’t know how we should look at him. I don’t know what kind of tributes are fitting. I know he meant a lot to me and millions of people like me, and I know that counts for something. I know that he caused harm to someone that may never go away, and that counts for something too. In times like this, it is

common to want the world to be simple, for there to be a right and a wrong —but that’s not the way the world works. It’s complicated, it’s intricate, it’s messy, and so is the legacy of Kobe Bryant. He was a great basketball player, and he was accused of sexual assault. Nothing we say or do now will change the past.

All we can do now is learn from both his successes and his failures and grow together, not apart.

First-Year Chilly Wallace Enters Record Books — Again

After setting the school record in her first ever collegiate meet with a time of 9.5960 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, College first-year Chilly Wallace is at it again. At the Dr. William Taraschke Team Challenge at Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday, Wallace broke yet another school record when she ran a time of 8.92 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles. “After breaking two school records, I’m happy to know that this is only the beginning, and I’ll only continue to get better,” said Wallace. Students can see the team in action at Oberlin today at 5 p.m. at the Heisman Club Field House, or on April 4.

Text by Khalid McCalla, Sports Editor Photo courtesy of Chilly Wallace

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SPORTS February 7, 2020

Established 1874

Volume 148, Number 13

Ruminations on Kobe Bryant and What He Left Us Khalid McCalla Sports Editor

College fourth-year Christian Foretti.

Photos courtesy of OC Athletics

Christian Fioretti: Men’s Basketball’s Selfless Leader Khalid McCalla Sports Editor As a first-year, Christian Fioretti, now a fourth-year guard on the men’s basketball team, started in only three of 25 games. That modest start to his college career has led him to become an incredible team leader, and — in his final season — Fioretti has started in 72 straight games for the Yeomen.

“When [Christian] got to Oberlin, I think he felt a lack of security with what his role was and would ultimately become,” said Head Men’s Basketball Coach Isaiah Cavaco. “Having played small roles early in his career to where he is now gives him the ability to connect with all the players on different levels.”

Helping his teammates thrive has been one of Fioretti’s many strengths in a career full of highlights. On Jan. 22, in a game against the Allegheny College Gators, his selflessness took center stage as he became the school’s all-time leader in career assists, with 362. For his teammate, College fourth-year Charlie Tiedemann, this accomplishment wasn’t a surprise.

“I’d say 60–70 percent of all my points in my career have been assisted by Christian,” said Tiedemann. “He is always looking for the best shot available on the court at all times. His vision is really good.”

While his record is an impressive accomplishment, for Fioretti, it was all just part of his responsibilities as a member of the team.

“My job on the team is to be a creator,” said Fioretti.

“I take a lot of pride in my playmaking ability and making my teammates better, so it was really exciting for me to get into the record books. I’ve been a point guard my whole basketball career and have put a ton of hard work into it all the way along.”

His hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Both coaches and teammates alike see the work Fioretti puts into his game day after day.

“Christian leads by example,” said Tiedemann. “He works his butt off and never asks anything of anyone that he wouldn’t be willing to do himself.”

Cavaco agrees and sees Fioretti’s work ethic as directly responsible for his growth as a player.

“Christian is extremely competitive, so when he views himself as being something less than great in an area of his game, he works tirelessly to improve it,” said Cavaco.

“As a younger player, that drive to improve sometimes overshadowed all the positives he already had. Now, he’s gotten himself to the point where he’s good at lots of things, so he channels that competitive streak to making the right plays on the court.”

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Other than “prolific,” “overshadowed” might be the best word to describe Fioretti’s career. For all four years, he has shared the court with teammates and fellow College fourth-years Dre Campbell and Josh Friedkin, who both became members of the exclusive 1,000-point club earlier this season. Despite this, Fioretti has nothing but praise for his teammates.

“I’m always happy to see my teammates succeed,” said Fioretti. “We’ve been the core of the team for a few years now, so I hope we can finish off our senior season strong. They both have scored [over] 1,000 points in their careers, which is a great accomplishment, and hopefully I can join them in that category by the end of the year.”

With his career total currently sitting at 907, this is a goal that is well within his reach.

With Campbell and Friedkin’s legendary scoring careers taking center stage, it can be easy to relegate Fioretti to the role of facilitator. However, Cavaco wants to make it clear that he is much more than just a passer.

“Christian is one of the best rebounding guards I’ve ever seen,” said Cavaco. “He takes on some of the biggest defensive challenges on a regular basis and he demands excellence from himself and his teammates. He’s the ultimate utility guy for a basketball team.”

As his senior season winds down, many want to see Fioretti’s career end with something that has evaded him to this point: recognition. Despite his accomplished career, Fioretti hasn’t won any major awards outside of an All-NCAC honorable mention last year.

“Christian has definitely been underrated,” said Tiedemann. “He does all of the little things that don’t show up on a stat sheet.”

Fioretti would love to receive some accolades by the end of the season, but he remains focused on his primary goal.

“I feel that I have been overlooked at some points throughout my career, but it hasn’t bothered me too much,” said Fioretti. “It’s what fuels and motivates me.

I was All-NCAC honorable mention last year, so I hope that I can be on the first or second team this season. I’m the leading scorer on the team so far this year, as well as the top assist guy in the conference. So we will see. All of that stuff is cool, but at the end of the day winning is what matters.”

Regardless of whether he receives any accolades, Fioretti is going out with a bang. As of printing, he is on pace for career bests in points, steals, blocks, free throw percentage, minutes played, and, of course, assists.

“I think my legacy will be that I will do anything to win, whether it’s to score, assist, rebound or defend,” said Fioretti. “I’m a team player, and I’m really excited to see what we can accomplish the rest of the season.”

Every now and then, an event occurs that makes the world stand still. These “where were you when” moments can define a year, a decade, and, at times, a generation. The death of basketball player Kobe Bryant, who passed away with eight others, including his daughter Gianna, in a tragic helicopter accident on Jan. 26, 2020, was one of these moments.

For millions across the planet, Kobe was their first exposure to greatness. He was untouchable on the court and, as a result of his immense talent, charming personality, and fiery competitiveness, he became a role model for many. He still has a fanbase that will argue that he could do no wrong and he was above us all, but we know this wasn’t true. He was human, just like all of us — and he had his flaws, just like all of us.

In 2003, Kobe Bryant was accused of sexual assault, forcing many to decide what this meant for them and their idolization of Bryant. In the wake of his death, many are grappling with the question all over again.

I want to take a moment to say something that I think needs to be said.

In most discussions, particularly those surrounding complicated and difficult topics, it is important to recognize and acknowledge your own positionality. My position, as it relates to understanding Kobe Bryant’s legacy, is this: I am a Black man who, until recently, was a college athlete. I spent countless nights as a kid shooting a basketball at my hoop at home, pretending, dreaming, that I could one day be like Kobe Bryant.

And, for the past year at Oberlin, I have educated my peers about sexual harm prevention as a Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct workshop leader.

I don’t say all of this to present myself as an authority on the conversation surrounding Bryant’s complicated legacy. I’m just as conflicted as anyone else. I merely want to establish my position.

When news of Bryant’s death broke, people immediately rushed to pay their respects. Mourners flocked to the crash site in Calabasas, CA or to Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, PA — where Bryant starred in the early to mid ’90s — to honor their fallen hero. Some revisited their favorite moments from Bryant’s career. Others, like LeBron James, whose media-fueled rivalry with Bryant eventually blossomed into a full-blown friendship, stayed silent for a few days, processing the news out of the public eye. All of these responses to what was, and will always be, a tragic, earth-shattering event were acceptable. People should be allowed to grieve in whatever way they see fit.

Still, as the day passed and details about the crash were released, the public narrative shifted. While many were still paying tribute to Bryant and the others lost in the accident, others started to rehash the 2003 accusation and what it means for his legacy. These people were met with expressions of overwhelming hatred from mourners, who argued for the space to grieve. Others reminded the world that the charges against Bryant were dropped. Some reignited the old argument that the woman who accused Bryant had made the whole thing up. Others argued that several comments about Bryant’s accusation were influenced by racial bias, claiming that they did nothing but hurt those who were mourning. With a large number of Black men suffering as a result of the news, it was considered problematic because the treatment of Bryant and those paying their respects to him would not be the same for people of other races or genders.

People are entitled to the belief that revisiting the allegations against Bryant so soon after his death was in poor taste. It’s a belief that I, personally, agree with.

However, that belief does not excuse dismissing a survivor’s voice. It doesn’t justify wishing harm on those who want to have a critical conversation about the See Engaging, page 15