HORSE
Volume 3 Issue 2 Volume 3 Issue 2
CONTENTS Color Me Criminal - 3
Wearing Your Religion - 12
An op-ed addressing how the media’s negative portrayal of black people infects the American mind.
Wilson female Muslim students reflect on what it’s like to wear the hijab.
A More Colorful Perspective - 4
Feminists-R-Us - 14
A glimpse at what Wilson is like from a nonwhite perspective.
Despite the long held stereotypes, the feminist movement is something we can all be a part of.
Raised on Racism - 7
My Story of Survival - 16
A look at the obvious racism in Disney movies that was overlooked during childhood.
Molencina Monnaie’s story of surviving the earthquake that struck Haiti.
The Pressure to be PC - 9
Adding a Little Spice to the Plain White Rice - 18
Things to keep in mind out of respect for our fellow students and community members.
The Seoul of South Korea - 11
Two Wilson students handmake a cultural meal as a way to learn about others and expand their palettes.
A review of The Coffee Prince, a melodrama about love, family, and confusion.
Brooklynn Loiselle Editor in Chief Senior
Kaya Noteboom Editor in Chief Junior
Keith Higbee Staff Advisor
Ian Morgan Copy Editor Senior
Cameron Brentlinger Photo Editor Junior
Brian Chatard Principal
According to Oregon law, student journalists are responsible for determining the content of this publication, except under limited circumstances. The subject matter, content and views of the news, features and opinion sections in this paper do not reflect the views of Portland Public Schools or Woodrow Wilson High School.
RACE AND CULTURE
-Letter from the EditorsThere are important issues in society that are often overlooked in schools in order to avoid offending students. As Wilson’s magazine, we believe it is important to voice the opinions and beliefs of students who are often misunderstood. Our intention is to open up the channels of conversation and bring awareness to the many identities within Wilson and its community. We are not claiming to know everything; we are merely acting as a singular and united voice of our student body. We encourage you to read on with an open mind and to view our community from a new perspective.
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Should Wilson Change Its Name? Recently, there have been discussions about whether or not Wilson High School should be renamed because of Woodrow Wilson’s racist views and actions. Woodrow Wilson supported Jim Crow laws and had sympathy for members of the Ku Klux Klan. He also removed many Black people from high-ranking government offices. Issues such as these have raised the question of whether or not we want to affiliate our sense of school pride with this man. Supporters of Wilson are quick to point out that Wilson also left a positive impact on the country. He instilled a spirit of reform in the Democratic party and assisted in the formation of the League of Nations, which later became United Nations after World War II. This leaves Wilson High School in a difficult position, wondering whether or not we should rename our school, and if so, after whom. We surveyed about 350 students on their opinions, and these are the results.
Question 1: Based on his racist viewpoints and actions, should the name of the school be completely changed? Question 2: Should we still be called Wilson, but name ourselves after a more inspiring Wilson? Question 3: Should we continue to be named after Woodrow Wilson but make educating Wilson students about Woodrow Wilson’s racist views and actions a priority? Question 4: Should we just forget about it and leave things as they are?
Freshmen
Sophomores
Juniors
Seniors
Y: 26 N: 74
Y: 32 N: 68
Y: 29 N: 71
Y: 11 N: 41
Y: 72 N: 28
Y: 54 N: 46
Y: 65 N: 35
Y: 29 N: 26
Y: 52 N: 48
Y: 49 N: 51
Y: 53 N: 48
Y: 16 N: 39
Y: 34 N: 66
Y: 31 N: 69
Y: 43 N: 57
Y: 30 N: 23
Survey conducted by: Izzie Fleishman 2
TROJAN HORSE
FEBRUARY 2016
Op-Ed
COLOR ME CRIMINAL Bias and double standards in the media go way back to a time before crime dominated the news. Mainstream media always has a group they victimize and one they criminalize. More often than not, the “criminals” are people of color, specifically Black people. These days, Black crimes are the ones exaggerated while White ones are downplayed. Now Black people are being painted by most news outlets as thugs and gangsters, fully deserving of whatever crimes they were victims of. And although it may not look serious, racial bias in the media is costing Black Americans many of their basic rights as humans, and in some cases, it’s even costing them their lives. As a young black person, it saddens me how most people have come to accept it as ordinary. The news has created and maintained this stigma that Black people are little more than violent thugs waiting to mug you. They can be good for sports and sometimes entertainment, but not much more. What do you think it feels like when I look at the news, and most of the people who are my skin tone are being incarcerated, or being shot for refusing to be incarcerated? What message do you think it sends to young Black kids when their classmates, people they grew up with, are blamed for being shot?They quickly learn that we better make it into the entertainment industry if we don’t want prison or early death as our future. White people, on the other hand, seem to have gotten a pass in the media. When James Holmes shot up a movie theater, killed 12 people, and injured 50 more, he was described as a ‘brilliant student’ who graduated with honors in neuroscience. The media attempted to paint him as a troubled lone wolf, so haunted by the monsters in his mind that he had to take it out on other people. Compare that to Trayvon Martin, a black teen, shot by an officer for walking down the street while speaking on the phone. The media didn’t even try to discover his positive attributes, instead they immediately began to dehumanize him. CNN painted an innocent kid who hadn’t taken any lives as a ‘troublemaker suspended for posses-
sion of drugs’. Images of him wearing hoodies and sticking up the middle finger flooded the news as they attempted to convince the public he deserved it. But these things don’t just happen on the street, they occur in places considered safe like the playground or community centers. In Cleveland,Ohio, 12 yearold Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a police officer outside of a rec center, because he was playing with a toy gun. The officers said his plastic pelletsposed a threat. They also cuffed his sister and threw her in the back of a police car when she tried to run to help her brother. Immediately after, an article on Cleveland.com outlined his parents’ crimes, as if attempting to downplay Rice’s killing by telling everyone that it was justified because his parents were bad people. In fact, the first sentence of the article was “ Tamir Rice’s father has a history of violence against women.” Not once did they mention the errors of the police officers who shot him. Instead they focused on painting a negative image of an innocent child. Both cases illustrate the direct threat that media poses to the Black community. Their generalizations about Black people have created stigmas in people’s hearts and minds that endanger Black people. The stereotypes they portray and focus on have devalued Black lives. White people have been misled to believe that the media is an unbiased source of information, but Black people and anyone who believes in the equality of races know better: if it’s one thing the media isn’t, it’s your friend.
By Ihsaan Mohamed 3
A COLORFUL PERSPECTIVE
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hen white people think of racism in the U.S, they don’t dwell on it too much. They like to think that stereotypes and discrimination are a thing of the past, when people didn’t know any better. However, a lot has been happening these days. Donald Trump claimed “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best... They’re sending people that have lots of problems... They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Donald Trump targeting Muslims said, “We have a problem in this country… It’s called Muslims. ” Since when is it ever a problem to practice the religion of your choice in the United States? Didn’t we have a constitution to protect us from this type of discrimination? I’m sure you have all heard about Sandra Bland, a 28 year old who got pulled over by a white male cop for not having her turn signal on. A video went viral online of her arrest and how it occurred. He told her to get out of the car when she refused to put out her cigarette. He then opened the door and threatened to yank her out. She told him not to touch her because she was not under arrest, and when she did that he grew angry, took out his taser and told her “I will light you up!” Three days after her arrest she ended up dead in her jail cell. At the University of Oklahoma they have a chant that consists of racial slurs and lynching references. 88 democrats voted it’s okay for racial discrimination to be made while car buying. Events like these make us question whether racism has truly been eradicated here in the United States, or even in our small community? Could things we grow up saying and thinking on an everyday basis hurt the people around us without knowing? Is it possible our colored peers no longer feel welcome? It is important to go deeper into everything going on today to find out how our community feels. Our colored peers have the unprejudiced right to tell us the stories of their experiences and exposure to racism and microaggressions here in our Wilson environment. How they feel in a time when society wants to belittle what they have gone through is important. Wilson is above all a great school, we are privileged to have all that we do, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have problems that we need to fix as we strive to create a better environment for everyone here. Because we are a com-
munity, when others feel unwelcome, we should work on helping them feel comfortable. The goal is to create an environment where it is okay to respectfully speak your mind. It’s no secret that students of color are a minority here at Wilson. Out of the 1336 kids, they only rack up to 342, making them just a quarter of the population. Some of them are already used to going to school in a majority white population, but most aren’t used to microaggressions or sometimes even blatant racism. Microaggressions, as defined by Columbia University psychologist Derald Wing Sue are “everyday insults, indignities and demeaning messages sent to people of color by well-intentioned white people who are unaware of the hidden messages being sent to them.” The difference between microaggressions and racism is fairly simple: racism is often executed on purpose, while microaggressions are mostly done with unknown bias. But perhaps, microaggressions are even worse than blatant racism. They creep up everywhere in the school, unknowingly, and have a powerfully negative impact. Everything, from the school’s name to the way certain groups of kids try to imitate non-white races in a comedic way are clear examples of microaggressions. “I just found out that Woodrow Wilson [the school’s namesake] was a staunch member of the Ku Klux Klan, and that makes me feel unwelcome, like I shouldn’t be here,” sophomore Maleek Elmi, said. When other students of color expressed similar views, they were quickly shut down by other white people with remarks like “Who cares. That was so long ago,” or “ Stop being so dramatic,” which are often what colored people are told when they express discomfort over the celebration of racist individuals. Despite incidents like these, students of color are optimistic that one day such things will come to an end. Most colored students at Wilson still like this school. ”The good thing is there’s a lot of different races and cultures at Wilson. Even though sometimes we are a little overwhelmed by white people, we’re doing okay,” Elmi said. Many of the other students shared the same views. To them it was nice to know that they were not the only ones, but they still feel a difference between themselves and their white peers. For students like India Jones,a biracial sophomore, Wilson has been a positive environment.
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”I feel like my friends are accepting,” she said, “and I definitely feel free to speak my mind.” Her opinion however, was a minority among the interviewed students. On the other side of the spectrum are students involved in the Wilson community who have had many negative racial experiences at school. Kendall Berry and Brianna Keller-Robbins started Wilson’s first Black Student Union. It was made to create a safe space for people of color to gather. “A lot of kids would just throw the N word around, like it’s a ball, they would just throw it back and forth and it bothered me,” Keller-Robbins said. Keller-Robbins is biracial and she’s often struggled to accept herself. But the casual use of the N word wasn’t the only reason they decided to start the Union. Last spring, Keller-Robbins was called a gorilla by a fellow student. At first she ignored it, thinking it would pass. It didn’t. Berry defended her and helped Keller-Robbins to channel courage to stand up for herself. Her bravery unknowingly started a war. Berry started receiving anonymous death threats. It was a disaster. Berry and Keller-Robbins group of friends split over those who stood by them, and those who scoffed at their ‘sensitivity’.“Even some of our friends thought we were overreacting. It was horrible,” Keller-Robbins said. “I didn’t go to school one day [after the incident,] and Ms. Freeman[the vice principal]called my mom and was like, ‘Why aren’t you at school’ and I told her ‘I don’t want to go to school. I don’t feel safe I’m terrified.’” Although the kid left them alone after a while, to this day Keller-Robins and Berry describe it as the scariest time of their lives. In the middle are students whose negative experiences didn’t reach such a level of seriousness, but have been hurt nonetheless. Anna Kien, a member of leadership, has managed to maintain positivity through all of the snarky comments thrown her way about her Asian heritage. She described a scene last year when a couple of boys were watching YouTube videos in class. One of the videos had Chinese people speaking heavily accented English, and one of the boys turned and said “Hey Anna, look they’re speaking your language.” Kien said, “I brushed it off like it was a joke and laughed with them,[but]it really hurt.” Unfortunately, the stories told weren’t limited to fellow students. It is so important for a teacher to not put their students down and make them feel singled out for the color of their skin, race, religion, sexuality, etc. They are here
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to spread knowledge and encourage growth in every one of their students, no matter their differences. But teachers are humans, and just like the students here, there are times when they make mistakes. There were several stories shared of teachers showing biased behavior toward their white students while treating their colored students with more of an “attitude.” Here at Wilson, two stories were brought to light about teachers who make disregardful comments about the race/ethnicity of students and refuse to apologize. We are all human. We all mess up. It’s part of the process. But if you don’t work on your mistakes you will never grow. Teachers, you are not only a human, but an educator, an elder, a leader. So before the chicken comes the egg; before the student comes the teacher. It is important that you set the example, for our students to follow. Thankfully there are teachers and administrators here making a positive change in our Wilson community slowly but thoroughly. One such person is Ms. Freeman who holds focus groups to help the voices of minority groups within the Wilson community feel heard and grow stronger. She helped organize the MLK assembly in January. Currently she is working on a possible future elective where native Spanish speakers can speak Spanish fluently and explore their culture freely as it cannot always be done in a normal Spanish class filled with non-native speakers. One thing that unites all the students of color here at Wilson is their hope for the future. All of them, no matter how bad or good their experience has been, wish to see Wilson grow more diverse and culturally aware. “When I first came here[as a freshman] this senior and I were the only black kids,” Berry said. “And now there’s so many of us, I’m happy.” The students want to move past all the negativity and build a more welcome place for future kids of color. They want those kids not to be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.
By Ihsaan Mohamed &
Ariel Garcia-Arrelo
Photos by Cameron Brentlinger Pictured: Kendall Berry, Zainab Hashim, Maleek Elmi, Athra Alhayyak, Sam Silva, and Rand Ibraheem
E
RAISED ON RACISM
ven as young adults, we tend to look back on our favorite movies as a kid with fondness. You likely remember the first time you watched Peter Pan, Dumbo, or Aladdin. We feel happy when we remember the monkeys in The Jungle Book or how Pocahontas fought for peace and love. We like to think that we aren’t racist, but it’s a lot more complicated when we look back on those movies and see what we didn’t as a child. With the subtle (sometimes blatant) racism in those old films, it was natural for our young minds to pick up on those beliefs and latch onto them. At a young age we’re taught to stereotype people based on their race. Think back on Peter Pan (1953). Remember those funny red-skinned people and the song “What Made the Red Man Red?” While the song sounds goofy when you’re a kid, the lyrics themselves hold a darker meaning: “Hana Mana Ganda, we translate for you. Hana means what Mana means and Ganda means that too.” Disney is saying
that these people - Injuns, as they call them - are unintelligent and their language makes no sense. “What makes the red man red? Let’s go back a million years to the very first Injun prince. He kissed a maid and started to blush, and we’ve all been blushing since.” This implies that Native Americans are just flawed white people, who evolved into an unnatural color. “You’ve got it from the headman, the real true story of the red man. No matter what’s been written or said, now you know why the red man’s red!” There they are, telling the kids their tale is true and anything you hear otherwise is false. The producers let the kids go on thinking that Native Americans are just white people who can’t stop blushing. Thanks to Peter Pan and countless Old Western movies, we’ve grow up seeing Native Americans as silly, dancing, lesser beings. The Native Americans aren’t the only ones we’ve been raised to think of as inferior. Surely The Jungle Book (1967) isn’t that bad? It is. Like Peter Pan, we can find a lot of racism in the movie,
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especially a certain song. Unlike Peter Pan, it isn’t offensive to Native Americans, but Black people. The Disney movie The Jungle Book is about a little boy being raised in a jungle by the animals within. The apes the boy meets in the jungles want to be humans, illustrated in the song “I Wan’na Be Like You”. The song, sung by the leader of the apes, King Louie, states that “I wanna be a man, mancub and stroll right into town, and be just like the other men. I’m tired of monkeyin’ around! Oh, oobee doo, I wanna be like you. I wanna walk like you. Talk like you, too. You’ll see it’s true, an ape like me can learn to be human too.” A common inflammatory term that is used to refer to Black people: monkey, or ape. King Louie sings and speaks in a African American jive style, and Louis Armstrong, a Black man, was the one they originally planned on singing the song. Disney deemed a Black man singing this song as too racist, and Louis Prima, a white man, was deemed more suitable. With jazzy music associated with Black culture, the whole thing seems to be a metaphor on Black people wanting to be like white people. They want to fit in modern society, but, as the song suggests, they aren’t sophisticated enough to do so. Many people find this movie offensive, and Disney has scheduled a non-racist remake for this year, in which wolves replace the apes. Dumbo (1941) doesn’t seem like a movie that would be advertising white supremacy, as it’s a movie about a tiny elephant with big ears. Sadly, the portrayal of Black people is negative in Dumbo as well. First, there are the crows, who speak in an African-American jive style. The leader of the crows, ‘Jim Crow’, is named after the American segregation laws that stood strong until 1965. Then there was the “Song of the Roustabouts”, sung by a group of faceless Black men working outside in the middle of a thunderstorm. They state that they “work all day, work all night. We never learned to read or write,” and that “we slave until we’re almost dead, we’re happy-hearted roustabouts.” They claim to be happy slaves, unworried about their lack of education and horrible work conditions. Still not convinced? Consider the final lines, sung by an unseen manager, with a distinctly different voice than the singers: “Keep on working! Stop that shirking! Grab that rope, you hairy ape!” Aladdin (1992) is a bit subtler than the other titles in its racism. The movie portrays the Middle East as a place
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“where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home” as sung in the original version of “Arabian Nights.” This line was replaced by “where it’s flat and immense and the heat is intense” shortly after being released in the theater. The original lines relate to the scene where a merchant attempts to cut off Princess Jasmine’s hand after stealing an apple for a starving child. Aladdin promotes xenophobia. As a kid I thought that the Middle East was a horrid, brutal place that I’d never want to visit because of this movie. It urges you to be afraid of other beliefs, places, and people. Finally there’s Pocahontas (1995), the movie that romanticizes the brutal massacre and oppression of the Native Americans by European settlers. The Native American’s portrayal makes them seem fantastical. Grandmother Willow, the talking tree of the movie, is a magical creature. There are many other magical attributes in the movie; when put alongside an actual culture, it makes Native American beliefs seem unreal. Then there is the ending, where everything seems great and happy, and no one is dead. There is no mention of the diseases, rape, brutality, and slavery that the Native Americans had to endure. This movie gives history no justice. Our parents didn’t intend for us to be indoctrinated in racism, but it was still there when we were young and impressionable. We were - unintentionally - brainwashed. Though we consciously abhor racism, it’s buried deep in our subconscious through no fault of our own. We all want to end racism. The first step is to be aware of its often subtle presence in our daily lives. Be aware of slams against Black people and the stereotyping of Native Americans. Be aware of Middle Eastern culture and its portrayal in the US. We can’t change the fact that we grew up with these movies, but we can acknowledge the impact they’ve had on us and start working toward undoing the damage they’ve done.
By Xana Clendenim Photo by Kaya Noteboom
Op-Ed
PRESSURE TO BE P.C. Warm air washed over our faces as the seal collapsed between the frigid air outside and the diner behind the swinging door. We sat at a booth where conversation brewed. The booth was safe and the diner was welcoming. Some short time passed, the conversation petered off, our plates were empty. Childish grins were on our faces as we approached the door once again. My hands grasped the handle of the door and a few harmless words uttered by our waitress followed us on the way out. “Have a nice day ladies!” Though her words were cheery and riddled with good intent, my friend was not a lady. Expecting the world to change based on your personal convictions is naive. Along with that, terms are always evolving. Even when you are aware, mistakes happen because slip ups are inevitable. But out of respect for humanity’s differences, it’s still important to try. Right? Being more mindful of the words we use towards each other isn’t a bad thing. Discriminated groups of people are asking that their rights are respected as well as their cultures and identities. Out of respect for our fellow humans, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Dutch or German. Black people are just as American as anyone else, so why use a term that implies that they aren’t? But, if someone from Africa came to live in the United States, they would be African American. Hispanic, Latina/Latino and Mexican are all different: Referring to someone as Hispanic implies that they have Spanish heritage. If someone is Latina/Latino, they have heritage in Central America. Also, not all Central American countries speak Spanish. If someone is Mexican, they have heritage from Mexico. Not all Spanish speaking countries are the same, so it’s best to be as specific as possible.
“Even when you are aware, mistakes happen because slip ups are inevitable.”
“Black” instead of “African American” Most Black people in America have ancestry in the United States dating back generations. “African American” implies that Black people are, to some degree, foreign. White people who have lineage in Europe don’t refer to themselves as “European Americans.” Their roots in American culture and history are so deep that linking their identity to Europe seems unnecessary. The same goes for most Black people. At this point, most Black people are about as African as most white people are Irish,
They/Them is a legitimate pronoun: Gender is not one or the other; it’s a spectrum. Our language only has two pronouns; he and she. These pronouns correspond with the male and female sexes. But people who don’t identify with either male or female need to use pronouns too. Non-binary genders are still a new concept to many, so there hasn’t been a high demand for another pronoun until recently. Those who are sticklers about grammar know that they/them is plural. However, until there is another pronoun, non-binary people shouldn’t have to use pronouns they are uncomfortable using. If you are unsure of someone’s pronouns, just ask! It feels awkward but you are saving yourself and others from more awkward situations further down the road. Some words we should just never use: “Fag” and “retard” are the first to come to mind. These words are not taboo for their literal meaning. They are seldom spoken because of the pain they are historically linked to, yet the casual use of these words projects de-
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cades of hate and discrimination. However, not everyone uses these words in direct discrimination towards neurodiverse and gay people. The argument that protects the usage of these words is that they are typically used light heartedly without ill intent. But this is not an excuse to perpetuate or erase the painful past. Reclaimed terms: People that have been systematically oppressed or discriminated against can take words that were once used as slurs and use them colloquially. These words are reclaimed. Within a group of people, these reclaimed terms embody camaraderie and the long standing history of their hardships. It’s OK for people belonging to these groups to use them, but
themselves when using an offensive word, but that’s a discussion for another day. Political correctness faces resistance. The argument I’ve heard the most is that people don’t want to be told what to say and what not to. Some think that their rights to free speech are being infringed upon. Others think that being politically correct breeds a new generation of self righteous softies who don’t know how to take a hit. Being politically correct isn’t a law. It’s common courtesy. This generation isn’t soft, I think it is quite the opposite. They have collectively decided to address the social injustices that plague our society. They have collectively decided that self love comes first. They work tirelessly unlearning the harmful logic they’ve been taught that self love comes last.
It’s safe to assume that if someone Some people take makes a mistake, it’s because they the political correctEven when people do ness thing and run with didn’t know. If you clench your fists know these things, slip it. They take it to the ups are bound to happen. and tough through it, they will have extreme. What good does And they do, and they it do to fight ignorance learned something new and probare almost always awkwith hostility? Jumping ably won’t do it again. If you saw on any slightly insenward. In those situations, you don’t want to be the sitive remark is just as someone with spinach in their teeth, person who bites somemalicious as the person one’s head off for making don’t you think they would want you who defends the use of a simple error. There’s triggering and bigoted to say something about it? a distinction between words. There are exNOT for others.
educating and being malicious in the name of political correctness. But you don’t want to sit idly in silence either. So how exactly does someone go about educating without it being uncomfortable? The short answer is, you don’t. It will always be uncomfortable to some degree. But you should do it because no matter how awkward it is, it benefits everyone. It’s safe to assume that if someone makes a mistake, it’s because they didn’t know. If you clench your fists and tough through it, they will have learned something new and probably won’t do it again. If you saw someone with spinach in their teeth, don’t you think they would want you to say something about it? It would be awkward for a second, but at least they would know and have the opportunity to fix it. Yes, there will always be a few who defend
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tremes to both sides, and neither create peace or understanding of any kind. Being politically correct isn’t about tip-toeing around touchy subjects or riding high horses. It’s about having lively conversations with one another. It’s about having respect for the diversity that makes humans so great and creating appreciation for those differences. We are all human, we are all different. Let’s try to respect that.
By Kaya Noteboom
THE SEOUL OF SOUTH KOREA
Let’s face it, we all love binge-watching shows. Whether it’s an action-adventure like “The Walking Dead,” or a comedy like “Family Guy,” or any other genre, binge-watching is a universal pastime, and people are constantly looking for a new show to watch. If you, like me, are in search of new shows to watch, then look no further: “The Coffee Prince” is a fantastic show, a romance comedy set in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. If you’re a fan of bizarre plot twists, intriguing characters, and something new with every episode, then “The Coffee Prince” is the show for you. “The Coffee Prince” is a Korean drama and a comedy that is, on the whole, quite entertaining, but it takes a lot of perseverance to put up with the 50 minute episodes, the convoluted and confusing plot, and of course, the subtitles. However, it is fun to watch, both because of the drama and humor, and it’s honest, genuine depiction of South Korean culture. The show stars Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun-hye as Choi Han-Kyul and Go Eun-chan, two lovers thrown together with somewhat bizarre circumstances. Han-Kyul is the heir to a rich food company who is tired of his grandmother’s blind dates, and Eun-chan is a tomboy who provides for her family after her father’s death. They meet when Eun-chan delivers food to Han-Kyul’s penthouse, and Han-Kyul comes up with an ingenious plan: he pretends that Eun-chan is his gay lover. This successfully deceives his grandmother; however, things get far more complicated when the two develop feelings for each other, and Han-Kyul still thinks Eun-chan is a boy. “The Coffee Prince” isn’t like many American comedies. Rather than portraying a single family, and entertaining the audience with its failure to live a normal life, “The Coffee Prince” instead shows a wide variety of characters, arguing, teasing, and laughing, and above all, acting like real people. “The Coffee Prince” feels so much more realistic than most comedies produced and aired in the US, and this makes it fun and easy to watch. Many comedies throw their characters into a bizarre
scenario and rely on this for most of their humor. On the other hand, “The Coffee Prince” portrays an accurate slice of life in Seoul, showing a city that is incessantly busy, with an upper, lower and middle class similar to American cities. People who have visited Seoul compare it to New York City. Seoul is a really beautiful city, and “The Coffee Prince” artfully captures the beauty. Over the course of the first season, viewers are shown the rich, middle class, and poor slums of the city. “The Coffee Prince” shows the upper-middle class music district, full of production studios and opera houses, as well as the residential, and the lower-middle class neighborhood, with all its cafés and small businesses. “The Coffee Prince” shows a completely honest depiction of South Korean culture, and it taught me that the people of Seoul are extremely diverse, but share a common goal: happiness, for themselves and those around them. This show, while focusing on the main characters, shows many other things about South Korean culture. For one, family is the most valued part of Korean life. In general, family welfare is valued over individual welfare. Another thing I learned from watching this show is just how diverse the cuisine is in Seoul. In the first episode, there is an eating contest. Food is ordered from a takeout restaurant, except it’s a little different than a takeout restaurant in the US: the food is delivered by scooter from the restaurant to the customer. The restaurant only serves food this way; there are no tables or chairs. During the eating contest, a huge amount of food is ordered and eaten, and it shows the scope of Korean cuisine. “The Coffee Prince” is a show with a great setting, and fast-paced and interesting plot. Ultimately though, this show is about the people’s personalities, not their slot in a stereotypical society, and this makes it extremely fun to watch. However, the plot can be confusing at times and because of this, I rate the first season of 17 episodes 8.3 out of 10. In my opinion, it is definitely worth watching.
By William Sweek 11
WEARING YOUR RELIGION
By Brooklynn Loiselle Photo by Cameron Brentlinger
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“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” At Wilson, one will never find a class reciting this pledge before the start of school. To prevent acknowledging “God” and to avoid offending students who choose not to believe, public schools removed religion. For most Wilson students, this is not a problem, because religion, if practiced, is a weekend activity. Students are not expected to acknowledge or defend their beliefs in school. A student could choose to not associate with their religion and comfortably live a double-life between school and church. However, for the female, Muslim community at Wilson who have elected to wear the hijab, this is not an option. The hijab, also referred to as a scarf, is a traditional dressing for Muslim women and serves as a symbol of one’s modesty and devotion to God. The hair is a symbol of beauty reserved for the husband, and by covering their hair, women are worshipping God by displaying their purity. The hijab is not worn until a girl hits puberty, because this is when modesty becomes necessary. Uneducated outsiders tend to believe the hijab is an order, but this is not always the case. Often, Muslim parents give their daughters the choice of whether or not to wear the hijab. “It definitely bugs me when people think covering your hair is something oppressive,” senior Atiya Rauf said. “My parents gave me a choice, whatever I am comfortable with. They know I do not wear it constantly, but I still want to respect my religion and respect God.” In Rauf ’s case, she has chosen not to wear her hijab on special occasions such as prom and her senior photoshoot. However, on an ordinary day, the hijab serves as an open display of one’s religion in an environment that otherwise ignores religion. Wearing the hijab has come with an added sense of responsibility ever since 9/11, because the event unfairly tied the Muslim religion to terrorist attacks. This added instant scrutiny to those women who chose to visibly express their beliefs. With recent events such as the Paris attacks, this scrutiny and judgment has returned. It has forced Muslims to act thoughtfully because their behavior no longer reflects an individual but a whole religion. “I think that when I wear the scarf, it comes with a huge responsibility that I probably don’t really want, especially as a 15 year old,” sophomore Ihsaan Mohamed said. “In my [home] country, or any other Muslim country, you’re not really portraying an entire religion, but here you are. So there’s this whole other responsibility of you have to be really good, and you have to try your best and not act like other teenag-
ers and be mature, because if you do anything wrong, it’s a reflection on your religion.” Fortunately, this added responsibility can also be a source of pride. “It’s a big part of my life and who I am,” sophomore Sadia Zaim said. “As you get older, you begin to realize why you’re wearing [the hijab]. When I got close to it, I understood it more, and I loved the idea of it.” Although students at Wilson tend to be accepting of the hijab, there is a lack of education around the topic. This leaves many young Muslim women to educate their peers on their scarves and their meaning. “If [peers] are actually uneducated and asking a legitimate question, then I’ll tell [them] and go out of my way to educate them about it,” junior Sucdi Ahmed said. Zaim and Ahmed do not believe students are wrong for having preconceived notions about their religion. However, they believe students should form their own beliefs instead of allowing media to. “If I wasn’t Muslim, and I didn’t wear this scarf, and I went to this school where it’s mostly whites, and then you see this one person wearing the scarf, to be honest, I do think I would think of them differently at first,” Zaim said. “But maybe [I’d] get to know them, and then my idea of them would change.” Zaim understands how students form misguided opinions of the Muslim religion, but it does not excuse ignorance and does not mean these opinions are correct. Although the hijab can be an affiliation with one’s culture, the majority who wear it do so for its religious symbolism. Religion is often mistaken as culture, because it labels and unifies a group of people; however, culture and religion are not one in the same. “There is definitely a difference between religion and culture,” Ahmed said. “There are people who say Muslim [women] can’t drive cars, and I’m like, ‘That’s Saudi Arabia.’ ” In Saudi Arabia, it is not the Muslim religion preventing women from driving cars but rather the national protocol. Regardless of religious affiliations, women cannot drive. For Wilson’s female Muslim community, the hijab is both a form of religious practice and of self-expression, a right gifted to all in America. To not grant them this respect would be un-American. Regardless of personal beliefs, it is important to recognize and educate oneself on the beliefs and preferences of others before allowing preconceived ideas to influence how one is treated. “I can’t see myself as someone other than me,” Rauf said. “I definitely think this is my identity. The hijab became a part of me.”
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Helen Fick poses with two potential feminists, Cooper Poole and Jack Kelley
FEMINISTS-R-US
I
first scoffed at Disney’s Brave. At the young age of 11, I thought that since Merida didn’t end up with a boy, the creators were man haters. Feminists, I thought, they are ruining princess movies! Little did I know I was going to become part of the Wilson High School Feminist Union and embrace the word with open arms. Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to
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men, yet this definition is often misinterpreted as hating men. Let’s make something clear right now: feminists don’t hate men, feminists seek gender equality. Not by putting the dominant people down, but by lifting the oppressed people up. If someone hates men they aren’t a feminist. Gender equality has no room for hatred. Bell Hooks, a social activist author, once said, “Feminism is for everybody.” She could not have been more right. One of the common misconceptions about femi-
nism is that it’s just for white women. In reality, it’s for all women, LQBTAQ+ people, POC, and even white men. Feminism accepts everyone. I admit that the movement isn’t all about cis (you identify as the gender you were born with) straight men, but that doesn’t mean we don’t accept you into the club. The question is, are you a feminist? Well, do you believe in gender equality among the sexes? If you do, congratulations, you are a feminist in the most simple of terms. That’s all you have to do. Welcome to the club. Just know that within this club there are different types of feminists and they fight for specific things. I’m a big believer in women’s equality in education and the economy, so that’s what I talk a lot about. Other people fight against police brutality and the racism that still exists against women of color in America today, which is another form of feminism. Some people don’t specialize in anything at all and that’s okay too. They are still a feminists. Despite their focus on bringing about positive change in the world, to this day people still seem to think that being a feminist is a bad thing. It isn’t. Trust me. You’ve probably heard stereotypes about feminists, and like all stereotypes they are wildly inaccurate. Boys can be feminists and we welcome you with smiles just like everybody else. Not many feminists burn bras; it’s bad for the environment. We don’t hate men, in fact there are many feminists in relationships with men. Feminism is not a hate group, it’s an equality group. So where did this misconception come from? It all started with the Suffrage movement, when people saw suffragists as a threat to the status quo. Why? We couldn’t have a woman vote could we? If a woman could vote, what’s next? Women doctors? Women lawyers? Women mothers? It disrupted the established norm and the (rich and powerful) white men couldn’t have that. From the get go people viewed feminism as a movement that hated men because it challenged their way of thinking. Early femi-
nism wanted the ability to vote. But what have feminists done to change things? Don’t they just sit around all day complaining? Actually they don’t. Feminists have done plenty of good things. One of the first great things they accomplished was earning women the right to vote. Yes, it was white women only, but it was a start. Who started the fight for gender equality? Feminists. Title IX, which helped women find places in higher education, was helped to pass by us. Feminism has done plenty of amazing things to improve the quality of life for everyone. With all these advances, many people wonder, do we still need feminism? My reply is always yes. Why? Each year there are 65 million girls worldwide who aren’t in school. 85% of them will never get an education. In comparison, 84% of boys who aren’t in school now will eventually get a standard education. Thirty three percent of the girls in the developing world are marrying before 18. 1 in 9 girls in third world countries marry before they are 15. These numbers scare me and are part of the reason I continue to argue for the importance of feminism. Which leaves me with one important question: Are you a feminist? If so, we are so happy to have you. If not, that’s okay too; just know we are going to move on without you.
Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men, yet this definition is often misinterpreted as hating men.
By Helen Fick Photo by Cameron Brentlinger 15
Guest Contributor
MY STORY OF SURVIVAL
the most. The rocks and blocks fell down on my head. I lost my vision. My mom was trying to pull me out of the rock and blocks, and she was screaming, “Woy, woy, woy.” A neighbor heard her, and he went to help her. He told her to take the rocks and blocks off me, and he helped her. She took me and held me and held me out in her arms, and she walked along the road to find my dad, because my dad wasn’t at home. He was on his way back from work. When she saw my dad, my dad took off his shirt right away to dry my head because it was all covered with blood. They went to the hospital with me, and there were a lot of injured people all in the hospitals they went to with me. All of the doctors told my parents that they couldn’t do anything for me, because I was very injured. Finally, on January 23, 2010, there were organizations coming to get us injured people to fly to the U.S.A. I flew to the U.S.A. with my dad. Everyone who saw me was crying. I am really thankful for them because they helped my parents to pray to God for me. I went to a hospital in Miami, Florida. I was in a coma for two
Molencina graduates from kindergarten in Haiti.
Haiti was a very nice place to live. It had many beautiful trees, delicious foods, and beautiful places. For me, everything was nice and fun. I liked the beautiful music and dances. Every morning at six am, roosters would sing, and everyone who heard it would wake up from bed. The flowers smelled good, and every season the leaves on the trees would change color. When I was in Haiti, I was young and started school at the age of three. I went to kindergarten to learn to have good speech and to learn how to read and write. On January 12, 2010, there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. It was huge. It happened while I was inside my house doing my school work. It was 4:30 p.m. When I felt the earth was shaking and moving, I ran outside to my mom. When I got outside, I fell down on the ground and a house fell on me. I hurt my head 16 TROJAN HORSE
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Molencina in the hospital after the earthquake.
months. The doctors worried I wouldn’t wake up, and they talked about putting me in a nursing home. No one thought that I was going to stay alive. All I was doing was breathing. I couldn’t talk. They used to put a tube down my throat to give me food to eat and tubes in my nose to keep me breathing. One day, a doctor or nurse was in my room, and I suddenly woke up and said, “Manmi” [Creole for Mommy]. They were surprised and happy, because now they could give me head surgery and try to make me better.
Molencina in Miami, Florida after leaving the hospital.
When I woke up from the surgery, it felt like it had just been a day. I didn’t see the rest of my family. I saw just my dad and I asked for the rest, and the doctors told me that I wasn’t in Haiti and that I was in the U.S.A. They let me talk to my mom on phone, and she was really happy. As days passed by, I got better. I talked, and I was able to eat in my mouth not with a tube anymore. It was very hard for me to remember things like when people talked to me it was hard for me to remember who I talked with and what they told me. The doctors told my dad that it would take a long time before I get back to normal. It was really cool and fun waking up in a new country with different people and hearing a new language. Everyone was really nice to me, and the doctors took really good care of me in the hospital. I am really thankful to them and for all God has done for me in my life especially during that time. Even though I sometimes feel sad when I remember my family, I am really happy about where I am. Molencina Monnaie is 16 years old and a junior at Wilson High School. This is a part of a longer story that she is currently writing about her life growing up in Haiti and America. By Molencina Monnaie Photos contributed by Molencina Monnaie and Cameron Brentlinger 17
ADDING A LITTLE SPICE TO THE PLAIN WHITE RICE
Aidan Ormond, Aidan Grimshaw, Paul Parodi, Umberto Remelli
MOLE & TOSTADAS
I flicked about 8 hot peppers in the blender with some chicken broth and turned it on high. So far the mole was coming along well, but the pepper fumes were toasting my eyes worse than a Mexican desert. Mole is a delicious Latin American topping, with 3 different types of hot peppers mixed and blended into a sauce. “Modern mole is a mixture of ingredients from North America, Europe and Africa. It is the first international dish created in the Americas.” The origin of Mole is unusual, yet pleasing, much like the sauce itself. Legend says that upon hearing that the
archbishop was going to visit, a group of poor nuns went into a panic. They didn’t know what to make with what little they had. The nuns put peppers, raisins, chocolate, some spices, stale bread and nuts in a big pot and set it to stew. They served it to the Archbishop when he arrived and he fell in love with it. Thus began the glory of Mole. Many families have their own varieties of mole passed down for generations. It’s preparation is reserved for special events and is a dish integrated into Mexican society and culture. Our culinary guide Paul Parodi said, “[Mole] reminds me of my heritage and brings back memories of visiting Mexico, with the smell of gasoline and old cigarettes.”
“The beauty about the tostada tortilla is that you can put anything you want on it. It is a blank slate for your palate, ready to receive flavorful toppings and condiments.” 18 TROJAN HORSE
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Paul Parodi preparing tostadas. He has been eating mole and tostadas since a young age, when his aunt first made them for him.“I didn’t like it much, but it grew on me,” Parodi said. After his initial reaction, his mom added sugar until it was palatable. When Parodi makes mole, it makes him feel closer to home. Seeing as mole is not a meal in itself, we had to prepare something that we could put the mole on. Parodi decided to make some tostadas and other toppings alongside the mole. The tostada tortilla comes from the region, Mesoamerica, a region made up of Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, and Costa Rica. Tostada tortillas come from three different dried coloured corn: red, yellow, and purple. The Mesoamericans prefer the tostada over the original tortilla, as it has a much longer shelf life. The beauty about the tostada tortilla is that you can put anything you want on it. It is a blank slate for your palate, ready to receive flavorful toppings and condiments. A common topping that can be found on the tostada is guacamole. Guacamole was first made by the Aztecs. The main ingredient used in guacamole is the avocado, used by the Aztecs for its nutritious fats and proteins. Because of the Aztec’s low-fat diet, the avocado was an especially important food source. Other toppings for a tostada are mole, assorted grilled meats, refried beans, and vegetables.
Making all the condiments for the tostada was surprisingly easy. The toppings that we made were mole, grilled chicken, guacamole, cheese, and diced tomatoes. While preparing the toppings, Parodi blasted Latin American music. The music, coupled with Parodi’s barking orders made for a rather chaotic experience. The kitchen was bustling with life and everybody had their own job to complete. We mashed avocados for the guacamole, cut vegetables, and blended ingredients for the mole. It was a step outside of the familiar. Normally, cooking a meal takes me a couple of minutes and doesn’t require too many resources to prepare. Although making tostadas was a frantic experience, we were further out of our element making mole. The preparation needed my full attention and we used an assortment of ingredients, ranging from chocolate to guajillo chiles. We took ingredients that I am familiar with, like peanuts and raisins and morphed them into something much different, and quite tasty at that. The mole tasted slightly sweet, slightly bitter, and slightly savory. The chiles served to add in a little kick of spice at the end. The taste was pretty good to me and it added a nice contrast to the salty tostadas. To Parodi, however, it meant more than just a nice tasting condiment. It meant home.
“[Mole] reminds me of my heritage and brings back memories of visiting Mexico, with the smell of gasoline and old cigarettes.”
Spicy peppers for the tostadas.
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BILO BILO
Bilo Bilo, also known as ginataang bilo bilo, is a coconut based soup, not meant for a meal but more as a dessert dish usually eaten at parties. Served in a big punch bowl, people just go up and grab a cup of bilo bilo. Isaak Simpson has been connected to his roots through this dish for quite some time. “It was very cultural,” he said. “We would always visit my grandparents’ house in Gresham and eat it.” His grandparents moved to the United States when his mom was about 8 and they would always make it for the kids because it was special to have their oldest daughter and her children over. “If there’s a family get together the only food we have is Filipino food: a lot of rice, a lot of coconut, some basic soups, and a lot of egg rolls,” Simpson said. “Making this food gets me high... it makes me feel like I’ve made my grandparents proud, even though I can’t speak Tagalog. [Bilo-bilo] is probably my favorite dish.” Bilo-bilo is widely loved by people all around the world, and is actually a form of Ginataan. Ginataan, in the Philippines, is just anything that is cooked in coconut milk. There are two types of coconut milk that you can use to make bilo-bilo. The first is called first-pressed milk which is obtained by pressing the coconut flesh and taking the milk that comes out. The second type of coconut milk is the thin coconut milk, which is made by boiling the already pressed flesh and then pressing after that. The firstpressed coconut is thicker and heavier than the thinner, lighter, thin coconut milk. The name bilo-bilo originates from the sound that they make as they are boiled. The word bilo is said twice in the name as a means of bringing more prosperity to whomever eats the bilo-bilo. The notion that bilo-bilo could bring success to the eater comes from the Chinese. The Chinese thought that round, starchy desserts would bring prosperity to the consumer and that doubling the syllables of a name would give it more prominence. Bilo Bilo has a surprisingly quick preparation time. We started with pouring the coconut milk into a pot and began to boil it. Then we put some water and rice flour into a bowl. After mixing the water and flour for a while, we continued to shape them into balls with our supple fingers. Once we had sculpted the rice flour spheres, we put them into the boiling coconut milk, along with a
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halo-halo mix composed of red beans, coconut jellies, and jackfruit. I had tasted tapioca before and liked it. I expected a similar taste from the Bilo-Bilo. What I got was instead was something resembling tapioca, but in many ways different. Bilo Bilo incorporates some of the elements of tapioca, like the jelly balls and the sweet coconut taste. However, it also had several new and delicious additions. There were the rice ball dumplings, which added a nice texture to the meal, and the sweet red beans and jackfruit, which added to the variety to the dish. These changes made for a delicious and fun to make dessert.
By Aidan Grimshaw
& Aidan Ormond
Photos by Aidan Grimshaw
Do you like to write? Want to publish stories of your own and be a part of a small community at Wilson? Forecast for the Trojan Horse Magazine next school year to join our family of writers and make your voice heard.
FEATURED ARTIST
“Portraits” by Zwartjes “I think that people are born with something that you’re good at, and for some people it’s performing. It is just whatever you stick with when you’re a kid when you’re experimenting with all of these different forms of self-expression, and you find one that clicks with you. Then, you continue to develop that talent for the rest of your life. Drawing just happened to be mine. I’m not really sure how I would be able to deal with a lot of things in my life if I was not able to express it through art or just kind of relax through art. It would definitely be very difficult not to have that kind of outlet.”
Photos by Cameron Brentlinger 21
LEGAL LOCAL CIVIL RIGHTS INQUIRIES
Cover Photo, Back Cover Photo, and Title Page Photos taken by Cameron Brentlinger Pictured on Cover: Carter Van Vleet, Zainab Hashim, Athra Alhayyak, Owen Burcham, Kendall Berry, and Emma Fale-Olsen
Brian Chatard, Title VI, IX Coordinator (503) 916-5280 Maude Lamont, 504 Coordinator (503) 916-5280 DISTRICT TITLE VI & IX INQUIRIES Greg Wolleck HS Regional Administrator (503) 916-3963
DISTRICT 504 INQUIRIES Tammy Jackson, Director, Student Services (503) 916-5460 AMERICAN DISABILITIES ACT CONTACT Maureen Sloan, HR Legal Counsel Human Resources - BESC (503) 916-3025