Last week marked the start of Women’s History Month and ever since then, my social media feeds have been littered with uplifting and celebratory hashtags like #WhenWomenWin, #WomenEmpowerment or #ThanksToHer.

While this is a phenomenal effort, I cannot help but feel like there are some big corporations or celebrities that are taking advantage of these hashtags to only promote the empowerment of white women, if any at all.

According to CNN (as of 2020), only 7.4% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies were women and the majority of those women are white. Although these companies have been making great strides towards upping these numbers over the past 20 years, it is simply not enough.

It is difficult to believe billion-dollar organizations that claim to be all for the empowerment of all women when they do not even have a single woman on their executive board, let alone as a CEO. It is time that big names put their money where their mouth is once and for all. As a Black woman, the idea of celebrating women’s history month is paradoxical. Before I am a woman, I am Black and Black women have notoriously been left out of the conversation in regards to female empowerment.

Growing up every history teacher I ever had would swear up and down that Susan B. Anthony was a champion for women’s rights and without her, I would not have the right to vote. Come to find out, Anthony was not the heroic saint she was made out to be.

Anthony’s suffrage movement was completely exclusionary of all women of color. She may have been the white woman’s hero, but she wasn’t mine.

It is a shame I had to learn about Black suffragists like Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell outside of school. Not once were these names uttered while covering the women’s suffrage movement.

Black women and other women of color have always had to forge their own path and diverge from the rest. The only feminist movements I saw growing up were by celebrities that did not look like me. Entertainers like Taylor Swift would claim to be all for female empowerment and sisterhood, but it didn’t take long to realize she was only advocating for white female empowerment.

The majority of feminist ideology that is presented to us through social media does not promote equality between all men and women. Black women are rarely seen being included in the conversation and when we are, we are usually a victim of tokenism and the only Black woman at the table.

While all women are affected by sexism in today’s society, it is imperative that we recognize the additional hardships women of color have to face as well.

More specifically, it is essential that all white women that claim to be feminist recognize the social and economic equity disparities between themselves and Black women. We must come together and rally for one another.

Although there has been an increase in celebrating the Black women making history, we should be celebrated even when we aren’t saving the world. For instance, the entire country now knows who Stacey Abrams is due to her efforts to make Georgia blue, but she was still an extremely noteworthy activist and politician before that. This Women’s History Month make sure that when you celebrate women, you are not just celebrating cis-white women. To leave other races and identities out of the observance would be unacceptable.

Like most kids, I imagined an artist’s life to involve late mornings full of coffee and poetry, and late evenings spent hammering away at a typewriter under the influence of incense or wine.

Now, as a 20-year-old beginning to explore the real writing world, I know that this image of the artist is a fantasy, and you probably do as well. In reality, becoming an artist can be scary, isolating and demoralizing.

But let’s not be too dramatic — it can also be freeing, rebellious and invigorating too. It is just that today’s world, especially when compared with the importance of plays in Ancient Greece or of entertainment in medieval French courts, does not prioritize art as much as it should.

It’s simply hard to make a living off of creativity. In the age of the product, where goods are more than ever before pigeonholed, mechanized and designed to be sellable, artists have also felt the pressure to make their art more commercial.

We have seen in recent years a striking rise in the number of online sales for independent artists. Global online art sales amounted to approximately 4.82 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, which is four percent higher than the previous year. 1.2 million artists hold a primary job in another cultural occupation, meaning that their art is not the main source of their income.

Most importantly, the median income for artists based on a study done by The Creative Independent was $20-30K per year compared with the average American median of $58K. Interestingly (but not surprisingly), male-identifying respondents had a higher median yearly income of $30-40K, while female-identifying and non-binary identifying respondents shared the median yearly income of $20-30K.

I would argue that artists are profoundly exploited. We have heard over and over the excuse that low wages are justifiable if passion for the art exists, but this is yet another tactic of exploitation by commercial systems that would rather keep money than pay artists liveable wages.

The commercial merit of a piece of art, whether it is a painting, a song, a story, a choreography or a design, is decided by gatekeepers at the top of the social pyramid.

We exist within a system of racial capitalism, where structural barriers limit the ability of some to pursue the freelance or self-employed lifestyle. The art world is definitely not an equal playing field and is mired in the racial and economic injustice we face in all other spheres as well.

Our lives have been totally commercialized and categorized, but our art does not have to be subjected to the same trends. There are drawbacks to making your art the primary source of your income in such a world. We risk selling out when our job is to please the consumer.

There is something to be said for holding down a job that has nothing to do with our art, and saving the creative juices for free — and literally unpaid — hours. I think this is an especially viable option for people who are not in top economic classes already — those who do not have a family inheritance to live off of and those who worry about each paycheck.

These people are no lesser artists, and in fact I’d argue that the creative instinct is often purer when removed from the commercial world. We do not have to merge careers with art, but we can if this feels best for us. This issue of art within the constraints of a heavily capitalist society does not really have a solution.

If anything, it opens the door to those annoyingly unanswerable questions your humanities professor asks: what is true art? Does getting paid lessen the purity of the art? Should art be as funded as STEM fields?

We have seen technology blend with art in fascinating and awe-inspiring ways.

This merge is new and exciting, but I think we also have to look out for artists who don’t bring, say, robotics into their paintings, the way we support scientists who do not bring impressionism into their chemistry experiments.

I think the ultimate point is not to label, categorize or pigeonhole. We can be artists any way we want to be.

This is the ultimate rebellion against a “productivist” world in which artists struggle to coexist with capitalism.

In a record-setting weekend for Tech basketball, both the men’s and women’s teams strengthened their cases to be included in the NCAA tournaments.

With victories over Syracuse and Duke, the men extended their ACC winning streak to five games, a record under coach Josh Pastner. Meanwhile, the women held off the Pitt Panthers to ensure their best conference finish in school history.

Pastner’s squad entered the weekend knowing they had two great opportunities to bolster their resumé for the Big Dance with matchups against two marquee college basketball programs with legendary head coaches in down years. Saturday’s game against Syracuse started extremely well, as the Jackets went up 8-0 in the first minute, aided by a technical foul on Orange head coach Jim Boeheim.

Boeheim is legendary for his vaunted 2-3 zone defense which the Orange have played for his entire 45-year tenure.

However, the Jackets were able to break down this defense all day. Senior Moses Wright was a force inside in the first half with 12 points and nine rebounds, five of them coming on the offensive end.

However, Syracuse caught fire offensively over the final seven minutes of the half, going on a 23-5 run to take a 39-34 lead into halftime. The ‘Cuse were led by guard Alan Griffin, who scored 20 of his 26 points before the break.

However, the Jackets righted the ship in the second half, regaining the lead for good five minutes into the half.

Junior Michael Devoe scored 13 of his 18 points after the half, and senior Jordan Usher made several key plays on both ends, finishing with an excellent overall stat line: 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

The star of the day, however, was undoubtedly Wright, who finished with 31 points and 16 rebounds and helped the Jackets to a 54-24 advantage in points in the paint. This was the single biggest contributor to Tech’s 84-77 victory.

The Jackets then welcomed another basketball coaching legend to McCamish Pavilion on Tuesday night, as Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils looked to play spoiler on Senior Night. Before the game, the Institute paid tribute to four of their five starters this season: Wright, Usher, Jose Alvarado, and Bubba Parham.

All four have made a significant impact on the program’s success this year, especially Alvarado, who is a contender for ACC Player of the Year this season and leads the conference in free throw shooting.

Unfortunately, he was held scoreless in the first half against Duke, but a balanced effort by his teammates meant that the Jackets were only down three at the break after Wright hit a three at the buzzer. The second half was tightly contested, but the Jackets were able to open up an eight-point lead after Duke’s best player, Matthew Hurt, fouled out with six minutes remaining in the game. The Blue Devils then went on an 8-0 run to send the game to overtime knotted at 64.

Tech had seemingly put the game away when a Wright free throw made it 77-70 with 24 seconds left, but Duke did not go quietly, hitting two threes and getting an open look at a third that would have tied the game after Tech turned the ball over.

However, Devoe was able to ice the game with two free throws, and Tech escaped with a sloppily ended 81-77 victory. On the women’s side, coach Nell Fortner’s team closed out their regular season with a 65-60 victory over Pitt on Senior Day. Senior Kierra Fletcher scored 21 points in her final regular season game and reached the 1,000-career point plateau along the way.

Junior Lotta Maj-Lahtinen also had 22 points to lead the way for the Jackets. The Pitt game was the culmination of the most successful season in Tech women’s basketball history, as the team finished third in the ACC standings, their highest-ever ranking. The team’s 12 ACC victories are also tied for the most ever.

Several Jackets also picked up individual awards this week.

Lahtinen was named the Most Improved Player in the ACC after almost tripling her scoring average from last year to lead the team in points per game.

Tech’s other senior, Lorela Cubaj, received the ACC co-Defensive Player of the Year award after leading the league in rebounds and averaging a double-double with 11.7 points and 11.5 rebounds per game (one of only two players to accomplish this feat).

Finally, Fortner received the ACC Coach of the Year award for her accomplishments in only her second season at Tech.

Fortner has the team poised to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014.

This week, the Technique spoke to students taking lesser-known niche minors to learn what drew them in and what they plan on doing with their unique educations.

Yassin Watson, sixth-year BIOL and IE major, was one of the first students to minor in the relatively new Social Justice program and explained the platform it has given him as a socially conscious citizen.

“Growing up as a native Atlantan, I have always been very passionate about social activism due to the strong historical role of our city in the American Civil Rights Movement and its since-continued capacity as a hub of advancing social change,” Watson said. “Taking these classes over the years has exposed me to endless opportunities to civically engage with my local community and beyond.”

Watson also emphasized his gratitude for the break the diverse course load within his minor has given him from the STEM-focused culture at Tech.

“I believe that Georgia Tech’s Social Justice minor program is a unique experience to explore long-studied but oft-overlooked phenomena of societal disparities across many aspects of human identity, such as gender, race, age, ability, etc., particularly as they are shaped by and coincide with the advancement of technology.”

Watson also spoke about the unique classes the Social Justice minor offers, particularly praising the History of the Civil Rights Movement class, Gender Studies Through Women in Speculative Fiction and African American Literature Through Contemporary Black Authors.

“The last course I took was Gender and Technology, where we discussed how the histories of different nations have resulted in the gender gaps that we see today in workforce distribution, educational opportunities and overall social dynamics,” Watson said. “I was pleasantly surprised to learn that computer science is a woman-dominated industry in Malaysia and was grateful to have the opportunity to conduct my semester-long research thesis on ‘The Queer Politics of Veganism.’”

Through his pursuit of the overlap of social justice and science, Watson plans to champion and uplift underrepresented populations in whatever career he follows.

Another niche minor offered at Tech for students to further their education the Institute is Law, Science & Technology.

Peyton O’Malley, third-year BSBA-Finance student, spoke to us about the legal awareness she has been able to incorporate into daily life as a result of her minor.

“I am extremely interested in understanding how the law affects me as an individual, the industry I am about to enter and my communities,” O’Malley said. “Specifically, I have enjoyed learning about intellectual property, contract law, internet law and cybersecurity law.”

Law, Science & Technology uses real-world sources, often from Atlanta, to teach their students.

O’Malley appreciates the pre-law advising available to her as well as the combination of professors, speakers and attorneys from Atlanta who interact with her.

Currently, O’Malley is taking Information Security Policies (CS 4725/6725), where she is learning strategies to make cyberspace more secure in an age of high risk.

She is also taking PUBP 4650, Internet Law, where she is given an overview of the impact the internet has had on the U.S. legal system and the accommodations it makes to meet current societal and political desires.

When asked what she plans to do with her minor in the future, O’Malley said that she hopes to be better informed about the rights of her community, as well as the legal aspects of business and the politics of law.

Somewhat on the other side of the spectrum is the Sports, Society and Technology.

Stephen Nash, a third-year IAML major and soccer coach, is currently taking this minor to combine both his academic and extracurricular interests.

“I think the most unique thing about our minor is the quality of our faculty,” Nash said.

“I’ve had professors who have written bestselling books about sport history and I’ve even had one who helped coach the Canadian women’s national basketball team.”

Nash’s favorite course so far is the History of Sports class, which is teaching him the impact of societal leanings on the sporting landscape that exists today.

“I’m hoping to use my increased knowledge of changes in the sporting landscape to better perform as a soccer coach today and hopefully to move toward sports business later in life with an eye toward improving access for underrepresented groups, and especially women, in sports,” Nash said.

All of these minors reflect the interdisciplinary possibilities the Institute offers.

Friday marked the 347th day since Tech had taken the field at Russ Chandler Stadium to play a baseball game. Given all that transpired in those 347 days, the wait might have seemed a lifetime to many fans. Shortly after 2 p.m. on that same Friday however, the count reset to zero as Tech’s fielders took their positions and junior left-hander Brant Hurter threw out the first pitch of the 2021 campaign.

The Jackets faced the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in their opening series and came away with two wins and a loss. The series gave fans their first chance to experience the new renovations to the ballpark — now dubbed Mac Nease Ballpark at Russ Chandler Stadium — and to get a sense of what Tech’s team will look like in this 2021 season

The aforementioned Hurter started on the mound for the Jackets on Friday. Hurter, who missed the end of the 2019 season and all of the shortened 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, enters the season as one of the Jackets’ top 2021 draft prospects. While Hurter will undoubtedly face some difficulties returning to competitive pitching after recovering from surgery, he is set to be the anchor of Tech’s weekend rotation.

Hurter put together a solid performance on the way to Tech’s first win of the season, surrendering one earned run on four hits and exiting the game in the fifth inning. While the results were good, Hurter did work his way into and out of trouble several times during his outing, limiting his efficiency. Junior RHP Hugh Chapman and sophomore RHP Luke Bartnicki added clean one-inning outings out of the bullpen, and sophomore RHP Chance Huff, who is a transfer from Vanderbilt, made a solid but brief appearance in relief.

Freshman RHP Jackson Finley had the roughest day on the mound. Finley closed out the fifth inning for Hurter and pitched a clean sixth before finding himself in trouble in the top of the seventh. The reliever pitched his way into a jam that saddled him with 5 runs, 4 earned, of the Colonels’ 6 total.

On the offensive side, the Jackets started out slowly, scoring single runs in the third and fifth innings, before exploding for six runs in the sixth inning and adding four for insurance in the eighth, bringing the final score to 12-8. Freshman OF Stephen Reid led the way for Tech, going two for five with a single, a home run and four RBIs, while 1B Drew Compton and C Jake Holland — both freshmen — each added a home run of their own. Junior SS Luke Waddell had a nice performance from the leadoff spot, going two for four with a walk.

Saturday’s game saw Tech pitchers struggle to throw strikes and contain the Colonels’ offense. The pitching staff issued a combined 11 walks to go with Eastern Kentucky’s 11 hits in a 9-6 losing effort. Redshirt junior RHP Andy Archer got the start for the Jackets and limited the Colonels to two runs, one earned, on two hits and three walks over three innings. It was Archer’s first career start, though he has been a reliable bullpen arm for the Jackets in past seasons — a role which he might return to as sophomore RHP Cort Roedig, who was a weekend starter last season, returns from injury.

The wheels came off for the Jackets in the fifth inning, as freshman RHP Dalton Smith got into a jam that eventually saddled him with three earned runs. The Colonels continued to score after that, tacking on two more in the sixth and one more in the seventh as Tech’s bullpen struggled with their control.

The Jackets’ bats were again quiet early, scoring just one run until the fifth inning, by which time the Colonels had taken a comfortable 6-1 lead. Tech chipped away in the final innings, but could not overcome the deficit as Eastern Kentucky continued to add runs, eventually winning 9-6.

It was a sloppy day all around for the Jackets, as the offense left 12 on base and Waddell, one of the Jackets’ most experienced fielders, committed two uncharacteristic errors.

Sophomore LHP Sam Crawford got the start for the Sunday rubber match and put together an excellent outing – a relief for Tech fans feeling queasy after Saturday’s game. Crawford set the tone for the pitching staff, working cleanly and efficiently as he went six innings and surrendered just one run (unearned, thanks to his own throwing error). Huch Chapman made his second relief appearance of the weekend and worked a hitless inning, while freshman RHP Zach Maxwell added his own clean frame and Luke Bartnicki closed things out in scoreless fashion for the second time in the series.

Luke Waddell set the tone for the offense in his opening at-bat from the leadoff spot, blasting a line drive over the fence in right field for the only home run of the day. Tech tacked on two more in each of the fifth, seventh and eighth frames, powering through to a solid 7-1 victory. Sophomore Justyn-Henry Malloy — another Vanderbilt transfer — and true freshman Jake Deleo each turned in two hit performances.

Overall, the weekend displayed the range of what Tech’s team is capable of in this unusual 2021 season. Loaded with as much talent as it has had in years, the Jackets have the potential to make it all the way to Omaha this season. Still, the lion’s share of that talent is concentrated in the first and second-year freshman classes – on Sunday, Tech fielded 10 players (of a total 15) who had never donned a Tech uniform prior to the 2020 season – and with such limited experience the team may struggle at times to put it all together. Still, the weekend left little doubt that the Jackets will be an exciting team to watch this season, whether for the right reasons or the wrong ones.

The Jackets face the Mercer Bears at home on Wednesday (2/24) before travelling to Raleigh on Friday to kick off conference play against North Carolina State.

Our Take: 4 Stars

On Feb. 5, the world became obsessed with Britney Spears again thanks to the release of the New York Times produced documentary, “Framing Britney Spears.” The documentary sets out to investigate the crumbling conservatorship her father, Jamie Spears, has over her and her almost 59 million dollar estate and the #FreeBritney movement that has spread throughout fans of the star over social media.

The documentary begins with Britney’s roots in Kentwood, Louisiana where she was plucked into stardom at a young age. From the jump, the film highlights the intense scrutiny and misogyny Britney faced from the age of 10.

Clips of a baby faced Britney singing a soulful rendition of The Judds’ “Love Can Build a Bridge” flash across the screen, followed by the host of the program asking her if she has a boyfriend.

This awkward interview moment serves as the beginning of over two decades worth of an intense and inappropriate focus on Britney’s body.

Hailing from the Bible Belt, the film shows how quickly Britney took on an innocent “girl next door” imagery at the beginning of her career. Her Louisiana accent peaked through during sit down interviews and backstage footage and reminded the audience that while she later became one of the most famous pop stars of all time, Britney started off as your traditional all-American girl.

Britney’s image was quickly manipulated by the tabloid press as she got older and became more comfortable with her sexuality. The documentary makes an interesting case in the fact that it claims that the Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton scandal bled over into Britney’s career. The peak of Spears’ career occurred at a time in which the American people were finding out the minute details of the sexcapades of the President of the United States. Late night talk show hosts and conservative mothers alike started branding Monica Lewinsky and Britney Spears as sexual deviants akin to the school sluts and started blaming Britney for spreading sexual messages through her skin tight outfits and saucy dance routines.

One of the most shocking parts of “Framing Britney” is the film’s concentration on her relationship with Justin Timberlake, and its effects on her image. The film essentially equates their relationship to one of a royal couple, and explains how the media’s fascination with every detail of their personal lives started the initial downfall of Britney’s good girl image.

Timberlake, who walked away from the relationship with his image still intact, weaponized the tabloid press against Britney Spears and made her out to be the bad guy, claiming that she cheated on him during the course of their relationship. The documentary then edits in clips from interviews Timberlake did where he bragged about having sex with Spears while the heavily misogynistic media at the time served as his hype man at the expense of Britney’s mental health. The film then touches on Britney’s marriage and subsequent divorce from Kevin Federline and her peculiar relationship with Sam Lufti, who the film regarded as “the architect of her downfall.”

“Framing Britney” sets out to answer the questions surrounding Britney’s conservatorship situation, but the film ends up focusing more on the events and effects of the frenzy media that got her there. The documentary sheds the most light on the ways in which the tabloid media, at the height of their paparazzi power in the early to mid 2000s, tore Britney and her career to shreds.

While the heavy misogynistic tones that surrounded her career from the minute it began were skimmed over while they were happening, looking back at the situation with the cultural context of the #MeToo movement is startling and prompts viewers to wonder why the media was allowed to run rampant with their fascination over the young pop star’s body and personal life.

The most important takeaway from the documentary is the way entertainment media has shifted over time and how the rise of social media has given celebrities the power to control their own public image. By providing a platform for celebrities to be themselves, toxic paparazzi have mostly been put out of work because we no longer need them to capture those personal moments that remind us that celebrities are regular people too. Instead, Britney and other stars like her are able to share those mundane moments directly with us and have more control over how they frame themselves in the public eye.

Off-campus housing is a popular option for students who want some freedom away from the Tech campus, or perhaps just a laundry machine that actually works. Atlanta has a lot to offer. The areas surrounding the Institute are wide-ranging in their personalities, price ranges and distance from campus.

To the north of campus lies Home Park, a neighborhood built in 1901 for steel mill workers and saturated with century-old homes, each one unique and (likely) slightly run down.

Directly west of campus in the Howell Mill/Marietta Street area are a smattering of newly-built apartments for students who want close proximity to campus but distance from Midtown.

M Street Apartments, 935M and Westmar Student Lofts have all become popular choices in recent years.

Further to the east is University House (UHouse), an apartment building nestled in the heart of Midtown and overlooking the highway. Catty corner to UHouse is The Mark, a building with similar aesthetics but a shorter walk to the nearby liquor store.

Here we provide you with student opinions on three off-campus locations: Home Park, UHouse and The Mark.

The Technique sat down with Emily Buchanan, third-year CE major and Home Park resident; Madi Nichols, second-year ChBE and Home Park resident; Jasmine Ramirez, second-year ChemE and The Mark resident; Brendan Wilson, third-year BA and UHouse resident; Adam Pendry, third-year CS and UHouse resident; and Zach Connor, second-year AE and UHouse resident.

What is the best thing about your housing situation?

Buchanan: I have a pet cat and a chill landlord I never see. You can get away with anything.

Wilson: Distance to Tech Square and East Campus

Pendry: Living with my own big bed and own bathroom.

Connor: The location is by far the biggest perk of living in UHouse. Your apartment overlooks the city, you’re across the street from Publix, and Midtown is a very small walk away. I also love my roommates, but this isn’t necessarily a UHouse exclusive bonus. I can only compare UHouse to on-campus apartments, but comparatively, the rooms are much nicer, the new rates are significantly cheaper than on-campus housing, and maintenance requests get filled at a much faster rate.

What is the worst thing about your housing situation?

Buchanan: Ants. Ants all over the kitchen. And super old super gross kitchen appliances.

Nichols: The house is pretty old, so it looks a little dingy in some places.

Connor: UHouse has a lot of bugs and roaches. The kitchen doesn’t have very much prep room. The common space is fairly small.

Ramirez: It’s very far and I feel like I’m always wasting energy.

What advice would you give to students looking for off-campus housing?

Buchanan: Start looking early and get a group together the same size as the house. Landlords are more likely to sign you to the lease if you fill the house, because they really just want your cash.

Wilson: Look early in the academic year, as most options are limited by the time spring rolls around.

Pendry: Take your time (even if there are deals) and listen to other students’ experiences.

Ramirez: Make sure you have your priorities because no one place will have it all. If you want closer [to campus] it’ll be more expensive, if it’s really cheap it’ll be kind of old and run down but still pretty nice compared to campus.

What is your favorite spot near your current home?

Wilson: Whole Foods, Tech Square, Peachtree Street.

Pendry: Publix 10000%

What are some traditions and quirks exclusive to your neighborhood?

Nichols: I don’t know about traditions but the houses in general are pretty quirky and eclectic.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life hosted a talk with author Lawrence Ross to discuss the experiences of Black students on college campuses and how racism remains rampant across the country — both in the Greek life system and outside of it.

Ross attended both University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he graduated with a BA in history and MFA in screenwriting. Ross is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.

He has written several books, including his latest, which was the focus of the talk, “Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America’s Campuses.”

The talk covered many topics, including detailing racism on college campuses across the country, both recent and from the past.

This includes racist parties and songs, blackface, assault of Black students and the usage of racial slurs.

“The problem is that oftentimes, when we have this look of college campuses, whether that’s Georgia Tech or anywhere else as being utopias, what we don’t do is give a real realization that these spaces are just like the rest of America,” Ross said.

Ross explained how institutions and colleges often handle racism and how this ends up shifting the focus of the conversation away from the target of the incident and to the person who was being racist.

“The very first thing the institution or the organization would do, would individualize it,” Ross said. “‘These are just two people at one chapter. Don’t look any further, two people at one chapter.’ The next thing they would actually do is they would minimize its impact. ‘This does not reflect the values of the fraternity or reflect the values of the organization or the institution,’ and then the last thing they would do is they would trivialize it.”

These actions end up dismissing the impact of racism on students of color.

Part of the talk included a short quiz.

It asked attendees if they would be able to identify both their race and others’ races.

“If you can recognize yourself and you can recognize other people and their race and ethnicity, then you’re not colorblind, and in fact, we don’t want you to be colorblind,” Ross said.

Ross continued by explaining the danger in refusing to acknowledge race.

“Usually when people are talking about they’re colorblind, what they’re really trying to say is that ‘I recognize there are racist stereotypes associated with your race, and I don’t want to fall into those, so I’m going to erase you,’” Ross said.

He also explained how diminishing the importance of race as a sociological concept is a form of erasure as well.

“A lot of times people will say, ‘Well, race is a social construct,’ as though to say that it’s not that important, right?” Ross said.

“… Money is a social construct. How many of y’all are willing to give me all the non-important social construct money that’s in your bank account? Seriously, because one could be a biological nothing but also a sociological everything in this country.”

Ross continued by discussing the difference between race averse and race aware students.

“A lot of times what will happen is that you will see an overestimation of the race in terms of the projection, whether or not it’s on your IFC [Interfraternity Council] or Panhellenic or on your college homepage,”
Ross said.

Ross also discussed how relying on common historical narratives, such as that the integration of universities meant the end of racism, as extremely harmful for Black people who still face educational disparities and racism on college campuses.

“Jim Crow segregation was something that was constructed intentionally from the federal level, local level, the state level and culturally, to be able to create access for whiteness, lack of access for those who were not white,” Ross said.

Affirmative action was a policy that began during the 1960s to intentionally provide Black Americans and groups who have faced discrimination for their gender, race, sexuality, religion or nationality the opportunity to gain access to spaces they had been forcefully kept out of for centuries.

“It basically says, ‘We understand that society is intentionally inequitable,’” Ross said. “‘Intentionally, it’s not just simply because people make choices, it’s intentionally inequitable because we did all of these things.’”

Affirmative action has become such a contentious policy that in 1996, California Proposition 209 was passed, banning affirmative action for any of the state’s governmental institutions. Studies have found that since 1996, Black, Latinx and Native American students’ enrollment rates in California state institutions have dropped.

College campuses themselves also create spaces that still give a platform racist and reprehensible people from history by naming buildings after them or honoring them with statues.

“Oftentimes, the campus environment itself can be insulting to people of color,” Ross said. “Remember, most of our campuses have been around for over 100 years, you know maybe 200 and something and sometimes 300 years.”

Examples of this include Russell Hall at the University of Georgia, which is named after Richard Russell, a U.S. Senator for Georgia who was a staunch segregationist, and the Silent Sam statue at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, a Confederate monument that was toppled in 2018.

“It’s important to understand that symbols matter and buildings matter,” Ross said. “They’re not just people being hypersensitive.”

Specifically within the IFC and National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), historical and current racism must be addressed with complete honesty.

“If you’re going to deal with a topic like race and racism, you have to be honest with yourself and you have to be honest with yourself in understanding that when we talk about race and racism within IFC and Panhellenic, it sure as hell wasn’t inadvertent.” Ross said.

“It was purposeful and intentional and continues on to this day.”

Ross emphasized the inherent responsibility that each person has.

“You have to be anti-racist to the point that what you’re talking about is that you believe in an American society where everyone should be able to take part as first class citizens,” Ross said. “That means you have to be anti-racist, anti-misogynist, anti-homophobic, anti-ableist.

“You have to look at everything and constantly say to yourself, how can you make this world better.”

He continued that white students should never expect it is the job of minority students to educate them and that it is their responsibility to learn how to support communities of color.

“White students need to go out there and demonstrate that when they actually put out a statement, that it is not just performative, it actually has some teeth to it,” Ross said. “White students should not rely upon minority students to be their racial whisperers.”

To close the talk, Ross left attendees with a message that using your voice is one of the most powerful ways to make change.

That change could be in IFC, NPC or in spaces outside of Greek life and college campuses.

“Are you going to be the part of the people who are just the non-racist ‘I don’t want to talk about race. I’m racing averse,’” Ross said.

“Are you gonna be anti-racist? Are you going to make up an excuse about why you can’t speak up, or are you going to be in spaces where you may be the only person to actually have a voice?”

Ross has also written “The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities,” which, in addition to his most recent work, provide a closer look at the intersection of Greek life and race on colleges campuses.

Ever since I can remember Black History Month has been about commemorating the lives of Black activists, scholars and everything in between.

Whether or not it was portrayed that way in grade school is a different story.

It seems like just yesterday that my predominantly white elementary school was attempting to teach us about all the great Black figures in history.

Unfortunately, we would learn names and faces but would never dive deep into their stories.

The photos and displays would stay up the whole month, but we would only ever spend the first day of the month discussing it.

Instead of a celebration of Blackness, I always felt the month was only meant to memorialize or lament those that had died for a bigger cause.

Which it is, but why can’t it be both? I believe this all boiled down to the “white guilt” my teachers brought into the classroom with them.

They equated Black History Month to being a somber remembrance and nothing more.

Some said the word “Black” like it was obscene while others didn’t say it at all.

We’d gloss over the evil done by white people, but highlight the deaths of Black people they killed.

Not only should we be celebrating the work and achievements of Black pioneers like Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglass and many others, we should also be lifting up the Black innovators of today.

As a kid, I had to go home to learn about all the current ground breaking work being done in science, math and the arts by Black people.

After the tumultuous events of this past summer, it seems as though various forms of media are taking this year’s Black history month as more than a marketing ploy.

Recently, big names like Netflix and Hulu have put in place collections of films and television shows that exemplify Black representation (and I don’t mean movies like “The Help”).

By having a vast array of different media to choose from Black and non-Black youth now have the opportunity to view various Black experiences.

The reason this is so significant is that these forms of media have the capability to mold the minds of younger people.

Something as simple as seeing Black actors cast as the protagonist and not as the comic relief or token of diversity, is phenomenal.

Being able to experience Black culture and immerse yourself in it across time and across genres creates a more empathetic world.

There is no longer an excuse for cultural ignorance or claiming that the Black experience is monolithic.

All the cultural knowledge an individual wants is at their fingertips.

I challenge you to watch a film about Black love, Black joy or Black achievement.

Although we do need to be cognizant of Black suffering throughout history, we should not be spoken about only when we are killed or being brutalized.

Cheer us on for the accomplishments big and small.

This month Tech has done a phenomenal job at procuring Black scholars and activist to be featured on our social media and as guest speakers.

It is truly once in a lifetime to be able to attend a lecture by Angela Davis, and a virtual one at that.

Likewise, by sharing the stories of Black creatives and pupils, it creates a platform for Blackness to be celebrated on a large scale.

Black History Month should be a time of both remembering those that came before us, but also a time to look ahead at how much we have achieved.

On Thursday, Feb. 4, a panel of Tech professors discussed the critically-acclaimed documentary “76 Days,” a film about the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, with its lead director, Wu Hao.

The event was the first in the ongoing annual Global Media Festival, the theme of which this year is sustainable cities and communities.

The documentary opens on a note of heartbreak. A nurse in Wuhan is held back by her colleagues as her father takes his last breaths.

At the beginning, the film conveys the utter confusion that defined the beginning of the pandemic for medical staff worldwide.

Angry patients clamber to enter the hospital, while exhausted doctors struggle to hold them back. By the end, many patients are happily recovered, but an overwhelming number have died. The sound of sirens in Wuhan to mark the city’s mourning of the dead is the chilling end to the movie.

Hao explained the initial inspiration for the film.

“I usually don’t cover topics already covered widely by the media, but COVID was personal,” Hao said.

Hao flew home to spend Chinese New Year of 2020 with his family in Shanghai.

“There was only a rumor of a few odd pneumonia cases coming out of Wuhan. Shanghai is China’s largest city, so there are usually people on the streets celebrating, but last year no one was out,” Hao said. “This left a lasting impression on me. It felt like a sci-fi movie.”

A U.S. network approached Hao about making a movie about the outbreak.

“Although they pulled out later, I continued,” Hao said. “The first footage I got expressed the rawness and the nakedness of the hospital so well.”

Dr. Jin Liu, professor in the School of Modern Languages, asked about the ethics of shooting disease and death.

Hao explained that typically, he would do research and plan the documentary, but that in this case, his co-directors started shooting before he even approached them.

“Sometimes they’d follow a character and then this character would deteriorate or die — like a warzone. I told them just to capture everything, to treat it like a war. I like that [my co-directors] show empathy,” Hao said.

By April, when Hao began editing the film, he had seen some footage of hospitals in New York and Italy, but didn’t feel that enough raw realism had been shown.

“I wanted to document for history the true horrors of this pandemic. We had a lot of podcasts out with people telling us how horrible the disease was, but no visual evidence,” Hao said. “I feel like the camera should not look away when tragedy happens. We tried to maintain the balance between respect and realness.”

Dr. Amanda Weiss of Modern Languages pointed out the natural, realistic cinematography and the interpersonal moments of hope that filmmakers were able to capture. When Weiss asked how Hao found these moments to highlight during editing, he answered that he sensed his collaborators were very sensitive to emotions and details.

“In the beginning it’s about chaos, fear, the unknown and gradually you see things start to get under control,” Hao said. “As soon as this happens, life comes back. As we see the city recover, we see humor return. We see the people become more hopeful.”

Hao pointed out the differences between this film about such a rapidly changing pandemic and other previous films.

“I’ve never had the most emotional point of the film happen at the beginning — usually you wait for the climax — but this is the way life works. But there’s not really a happy ending — the people come together to grieve,” Hao said.

Dr. Michael Elliott of the Schools of City and Regional Planning and Public Policy noted the historic role of cities in pandemics as gateways to infectious disease.

Elliott mentioned the dual nature of cities as places with the best healthcare but also the highest risk for spread. He asked about how Hao decided to present Wuhan.

“For a lot of us, our instinct was to document the city lockdown,” Hao said. “My team filmed more than what we show in the current film. There was no public transportation during the lockdown, so a lot of people relied on volunteer drivers.”

Hao’s team also filmed some scenes inside of homes, but ended up giving up on that idea.

“We didn’t have a permit to show places outside the hospital,” Hao said. “People would stop us from filming the city. Secondly, to make an emotionally resonating film, we wanted to focus on the raw humanity inside the hospital.”

Hao explained the censorship his team has faced since releasing the movie.

“Since March, China’s government has officially tried to control any narrative about the pandemic,” Hao said. “The censors would not approve the release of this film in China. I didn’t want to deal with the censors. My co-director remains anonymous because he exists in the system. Anyone now in China is very careful about saying anything.”

Technique asked whether Hao approached the film from a political perspective given the United States’ racist attitude toward the virus.

“When you edit, you don’t rationalize too much,” Hao said. “You follow your emotional instinct. Looking back, though, a lot was impacting me. When I was editing, the American response was completely losing control. There was a lot of anti-Asian sentiment. All of this was definitely subconsciously influencing me. Working on this film saved me a little, I think. It showed me a glimmer of hope.”

Hao emphasized the stark contrast between the horror and kindness of humanity that has emerged during the pandemic thus far.

“Pandemics always bring out the worst in human beings. We always find scapegoats. I want to show people that COVID is real… Let’s not just focus on the numbers, or the politics, but the humans, the individual stories that can easily get lost,” Hao said.

“My team filmed more than what we show in the current film. There was no public transportation during the lockdown, so a lot of people relied on volunteer drivers.”

Hao’s team also filmed some scenes inside of homes, but ended up giving up on that idea.

“We didn’t have a permit to show places outside the hospital,” Hao said. “People would stop us from filming the city. Secondly, to make an emotionally resonating film, we wanted to focus on the raw humanity inside the hospital.”

Hao explained the censorship his team has faced since releasing the movie.

“Since March, China’s government has officially tried to control any narrative about the pandemic,” Hao said. “The censors would not approve the release of this film in China. I didn’t want to deal with the censors. My co-director remains anonymous because he exists in the system. Anyone now in China is very careful about saying anything.”

Technique asked whether Hao approached the film from a political perspective given the United States’ racist attitude toward the virus.

“When you edit, you don’t rationalize too much,” Hao said. “You follow your emotional instinct. Looking back, though, a lot was impacting me. When I was editing, the American response was completely losing control. There was a lot of anti-Asian sentiment. All of this was definitely subconsciously influencing me. Working on this film saved me a little, I think. It showed me a glimmer of hope.”

Hao emphasized the stark contrast between the horror and kindness of humanity that has emerged during the pandemic thus far.

“Pandemics always bring out the worst in human beings. We always find scapegoats. I want to show people that COVID is real… Let’s not just focus on the numbers, or the politics, but the humans, the individual stories that can easily get lost,” Hao said.