Though black opera singer and Providence native Sissieretta Jones was the highest paid black performer of her time, she passed away in relative obscurity 85 years ago, leaving an unmarked grave. This weekend, bookstore Stages of Freedom will change that.

Through a series of seven free events — including a play, a tour and a concert that will culminate in the Saturday unveiling of her new headstone — Stages of Freedom will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Jones’ birth.

Jones was a pioneer as the first black woman to perform for four U.S. presidents and at Carnegie Hall. Despite her influential legacy, Jones receives little recognition today.

“(Jones) grew up on College Hill and retired to College Hill, and we really want to make her a household name in Providence,” said Ray Rickman, executive director of Stages of Freedom, a nonprofit on Westminster Street that sells books to finance swimming lessons for children of color and promotes black culture and history in the Providence community.

The three-day celebration kicked off on Thursday with an exhibit opening and one-woman play. Friday will bring a gallery tea and talk, reminiscent of the tea parties Jones would host for little girls at her house, as well as keynote addresses by Maureen Lee, a Jones biographer, and Gino Francesconi, director of the Archives and Rose Museum at Carnegie Hall. Finally, on Saturday morning, Stages of Freedom will host a walking tour, concert and ceremony for the headstone.

The event series — the largest ever hosted by Stages of Freedom — was funded with over $45,000 from an anonymous donor, several foundations and 135 GoFundMe donors who helped pay for the $8,000 headstone.

Rickman hopes the celebration will bring well-deserved recognition to a woman who influenced the world not only through her music, but also through her courageous civil rights activism during her career at the turn of the 20th century.

“Before her, if (an entertainer) performed for white people, it would be in a space where only white people could come,” Rickman explained. “She refused to perform if black people couldn’t come.”

Despite the challenges she experienced as a woman of color facing blatant racism, “she never let that stop her,” Lee said. “We can learn from her that if you have a passion and a desire that is so strong — with her it was her singing, she just had this amazing voice — you can overcome a lot of things if you keep pushing forward and trying to achieve what is most important to you.”

“Just because she has been forgotten doesn’t diminish the fact that she was an important figure,” Francesconi said.

Lee also noted that “it’s important to go back and look at the achievements of people in the past that have been overlooked and to recognize how they were pioneers and led the way for future vocalist singers and entertainers.”

Rickman is ready for that time of acknowledgement to be now. “She’s been in the grave 85 years without a gravestone,” he said. “We’re finally going to fix that on June 9.”

You may not have heard, but Rose Park is the new place to be. On June 9, a mural will be unveiled at Furst Construction which is a design construction company dedicated to cost efficiency and integrity. The mural itself represents a message “This is not for sale” according to the press release. This statement is a translation of the phrase to be posted next to the mural and represents the idea behind it. Rose Park is a community just as good as any other, and they won’t be changing any time soon. They are growing new leaves, not replacing trees with skyscrapers.

Instead of turning over a new leaf, Rose Park has embraced the existing leaves and the community they belong to. Ella Mendoza is just such a leaf and will serve as the face of the mural. Mendoza is a local artist and freelance writer. She is also an undocumented immigrant and an illegal illustrator according to her bio. Originally from Peru, she writes on behalf of queer and minority movements alike.

Columbian-American muralist from the Bay Area, Jessica Sabogal will be painting the mural. You might recognize the name as she was recently a keynote speaker at the U. While she was here, she participated in the “Feminists Unite! Building Community through Art & Activism” discussion. She is primarily a stencil spray paint artist and has worked on several mural projects including the “Women Are Perfect” and “We the People” campaigns.

The mural will be unveiled at Furst Construction on 708 West North Temple. There will be a public viewing June 9 from 2-4 p.m.  

This collection of seemingly separate entities will come together and create a piece of art to represent the community of Rose Park. Isn’t it time we stopped looking for a change and learned to embrace who we are? These artists are interested in doing just that, and so is Rose Park. This mural will set a standard for other mural initiatives taking place in Utah. We are strong, we are enough and we are not for sale.

m.slack@ustudentmedia.com 

@slack_madge

The post Art Embraces the Community of Rose Park appeared first on Daily Utah Chronicle.

Album Artwork Courtesy of G.O.O.D Music and Def Jam Records

2018 has been something for Kanye West so far. Once again in the heat of controversy for his support of President Donald Trump, he is also producing albums for Pusha T and Teyana Taylor, a collaborative album with Kid Cudi and a new solo album. This is the second part of new albums that involved West’s production, following Pusha T’s album “Daytona.” So how does this album fare?

Once the album begins, you’re already seeing an inner struggle. “I Thought About Killing You” features West contemplating premeditatedly killing one half of himself, the side inside of him that is full of self-hate because murdering is a form of caring for someone. If that someone he cares for is himself, what does he kill? The Kanye that is human? Or Kanye the artist? This is in a similar vein to the Jay-Z track “Kill Jay-Z.” This track has no problem showing the darkness that a person can have with mental issues. West makes it known by saying “The most beautiful thoughts are always beside the darkest.” He shows with no hesitation his thoughts of self-love, self-hate, suicide and addiction. And it’s just only the beginning.

“Yikes” takes a look at the drug addictions West faces. The drugs he intakes make him paranoid up to the point that it scares himself. He even feels that Prince and Michael Jackson were warning about the dangers as they have died from accidental drug overdoses. He feels that this addiction is the work of the Devil, testing if he will break. This leads to West believing that his bipolar disorder is a “superpower” of his before screaming at the end.

As you continue on with “Ye” you see topics such as infidelity and loyalty. “All Mine” focuses on the idea of infidelity. He brings up Kerry Washington and Stormy Daniels, both of whom had their own involvements of adultery. West feels that he could do the same thing but there’s a good chance you can get caught. Meanwhile, “Wouldn’t Leave” shows his love for his wife, Kim Kardashian, and how he never left him despite his antics. “No Mistakes” displays his struggles since his hospitalization in 2016.

The biggest comparisons you can make with “Ye” is Jay-Z’s “4:44.” Both albums take a look at the artists at this time in their life. Both are married to famous celebrities and have made mistakes in their lives that could have broken their marriages and now they’re reflecting on it anew with a new album. But what’s the difference? Jay is more level-headed and has an idea of what to do with his life. West’s album, on the other hand, is like immediate reflections on the train wreck with the feelings of uncertainty about the future looming over.

“Ye” makes you feel West’s paranoia and the power his bipolar disorder has over him. The production emphasizes that through the warped “I know” or the woman screaming on “I Thought About Killing You,” which gives the paranoia that you are now entering. But tracks like “Wouldn’t Leave” show the other side of Kanye that shows a ray of light. I’m also impressed by the singing on this track as it helps intensify the light.

Despite the length, “Ye” concisely brings a solid effort from West. The descriptions West brought into this album are very chilling. This shows the inside personality of West that some fans may find fascinating. However, those who are into the artist side of Kanye may bash this one. I find the human side to be more fascinating as we get to see West as this self-absorbing fool that is shown constantly to the public.

Track Picks: “I Thought About Killing You”, “Yikes”, “Wouldn’t Leave”, and “No Mistakes”

Label: G.O.O.D. Music

On Tuesday, June 12, University of Oregon students will rally outside a State Land Board meeting in Salem to protest the creation of the Pacific Connector pipeline, as well as the Jordan Cove Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) facility. Carpools leaving from the university the morning of the 12th are available to all students looking to participate. The rally and carpool are being organized by No LNG coalition members, in connection with Cascadia Wildlands and 350EUG, which is the Eugene chapter of a global organization dedicated to raising awareness about climate change.

The proposed 230-mile Pacific Connector pipeline would cross through four counties in total to reach Coos Bay, where the gas would then be exported overseas by the Jordan Cove LNG facility.

Since 1859, the State Land Board has consisted of the Governor, Secretary of State and State treasurer, with an aim to help manage state land in a way that will benefit Oregonians. The board was made with an emphasis on conservation and sound land management. According to the State Land Board website, the June 12 meeting will discuss a number of topics, including the State Land’s budget for the next three years.

According to Dylan Plummer, event coordinator for Climate Justice League and intern at Cascadia Wildlands, the proposed pipeline and export facility threatens Oregon wildlife.

“We strongly believe that this project is ecologically and socially reprehensible, as it would pose a threat to Oregon’s clean water and endangered species, including the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and a variety of different salmon species,” Plummer said.

In a town hall discussion in 2013, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden admitted he was unsure whether the project would have negative environmental impacts, but also said it could bring economic benefits to coastal cities in Oregon.

The project being discussed was first proposed in 2004 but has been denied twice by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for various reasons.

The post UO students will protest a natural gas pipeline at a meeting in Salem on June 12, Governor to attend appeared first on Emerald Media.

Hosted by UCLA-based event-planning organization House of Balloons, the Westwoodstock music festival took place Saturday on Broxton Avenue. Before the event, the three student founders, John Colarusso, Tim Connors and Jonathan Liu, shared their inspiration and motivation to launch the event. Having received considerable popularity from the first Westwoodstock last year, they upgraded the event’s scale and quality, taking new steps to provide the audience with an exceptional music experience.

With her left leg stretched behind her body, Darrielle McQueen repeatedly tapped her baby blue cleat against the ground before taking off down the lane.

Yes, ‘Roseanne’ deserved to be canceled. No, this is not a double standard.

Getty Images/Courtesy

Last week, the ABC revival of “Roseanne” was canceled just three months after its initial premiere. The network’s abrupt turnaround (the show had already started preproduction for its second season) sparked dozens of articles, tweets and Facebook posts both for and against the cancellation.

Many had decried the decision to put the show back on air. While the cancellation came less than 24 hours after a racist Twitter rant from the show’s star, Roseanne Barr, this is not the first time Barr has vocalized her controversial, hateful viewpoints. Among myriad questionable decisions made by Barr, the actress was also a vocal supporter of Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Barr’s character in the “Roseanne” revival, therefore, inherited the political sympathies of the actress portraying her.

In its original run, “Roseanne” was heralded for its portrayal of blue-collar, white America — and the original run of the show secured its place in the hearts of its viewers because of the sincerity of this depiction. The revival was supposed to return in order to once again voice this unseen demographic. The show’s failure came in not realizing that this part of the country is no longer unheard.

The poor white working class is a demographic that has only gained attention since 2016. These communities in Middle America have long served as part of political strategies. The emphasis on the importance of these states’ electoral votes, coupled with the results of the last presidential election, has only further prodded strategists to continue pandering to this demographic.

The New York Times and the Washington Post ran remarkably similar articles on Nov. 9, 2016 — respectively titled “Why Trump Won: Working-Class Whites” and “How Trump won: The revenge of working-class whites.”

Much of the talk around the election seemed to argue that the reason Trump was elected was because poor white individuals felt unseen and threatened. And while there were many reasons Trump was elected, the fervor of these working-class white voters helped. It is a fervor that was, and continues to be, carefully cultivated. In short, this tactic of pitting working-class white people against working-class minorities is not new. It is a tried, true and frighteningly effective feat of fearmongering.

It seemed that the new season of “Roseanne” was a poster child for this cognitive dissonance. Trump was a champion of the white working class — despite inheriting much of his wealth and being part of elite New York society. The show claimed to stand as an objective critique of both the far left and the far right. Yet by having episodes like that in which Roseanne was convinced that her Muslim neighbors were building a bomb, which aired as the star herself was tweeting outlandish conspiracy theories, the show did not achieve this objectivity.

Unsurprisingly, the cancellation of “Roseanne” instigated claims that free speech was being censored by the network and “liberal agendas.” As expected, Trump tweeted about it — noting that Bob Iger, CEO of ABC’s parent company Disney, called Valerie Jarrett to apologize on behalf of the network. Trump’s ire was over the fact that he did not receive a similar apology for the “HORRIBLE statements made and said about (him) on ABC.”

Reactions to the show once more highlight the glaring double standard employed by the far right when it comes to free speech. Ire over Barr’s “oppression” did not extend to equal outrage over ABC’s refusal to air a “Black-ish” episode about kneeling during the national anthem. Similarly, Trump called for the cancellation of Samantha Bee’s show after Bee used a gender-based, offensive term to describe Ivanka Trump.

Importantly, Bee used her privilege as a white woman to call out another white woman, Ivanka Trump. Meanwhile, Barr used her fame, platform and privilege to lob racist insults at Jarrett. These actions are not equivalent.

“Roseanne” was not the only show depicting working-class America; it was just one of the few shows that had yet to grasp the fact that what it means to depict working-class America has changed. Netflix’s “One Day at a Time” and NBC’s “Superstore” show working-class families and individuals while also critiquing systemic racism, homophobia and the stigma around mental illness, maintaining humor all the while.

The working class is not going unrepresented. Rather, there is a failure to recognize that the working class encompasses many identities and experiences — white and nonwhite alike. Art that understands this should be encouraged. Art that doesn’t should adapt or face the consequences.

Contact Danielle Hilborn at dhilborn@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

The Senate passed two bills, one that seeks to prompt UH to update its drug and alcohol policy and another that looks to have more options for halal and kosher diets. | Cristobella Durrette/The Cougar

The Student Government Association Senate passed a bill Wednesday night that ceases reference for prosecution of students for possessing illegal drugs and alcohol on campus.

The bill shows SGA’s support of updating the University’s Drug and Alcohol Prevention policy, but is still in need of administrative approval from the University.

The current policy, according to the bill, doesn’t differentiate between use and distribution of drugs and alcohol on campus. The bill sets to update the policy’s language, including the removal of the threat of outside legal punishment.

SGA President Cameron Barrett said that while current Dean of Students William Munson has been lenient disciplining students for violating this policy, future deans may not be as lax.

“We can’t count on him being here forever,” Barrett said. “It’s important to note that the point of policy is to make sure the outcome is not dependent on who’s in charge.”

The University will still be able to discipline students for drug and alcohol infractions, if administration were to approve the bill’s changes

The policy in place states that overdose from cannabis is possible and “may result in fatigue, paranoia, and possible psychosis.” The DEA has stated that no overdose from cannabis has ever been recorded. The updated version of the policy passed by the Senate removes the clause that says that an overdose from cannabis use can happen.

The Senate also passed the Food Inclusion Act, which signals SGA’s support for including more kosher and halal dining options on campus.

Presently, only Tandoori Nite and Moody Dining Hall offer halal food options, according to the bill. The bill calls for all buildings with two or more dining locations to offer halal and kosher food options.

Auxiliary services would be required to justify why halal and kosher options were not available at a certain location.

The bill hopes to ensure dining locations keep an updated menu specifying which menu items are halal, kosher, vegan, vegetarian and/or gluten-free.

Barrett said SGA is currently talking to University administration about approving and implementing the newly passed bills.

The Senate also discussed the Inappropriate Consensual Relationship Act, which seeks to prevent relationships that could cause exploitation or favoritism, such as between a professor and a student or a boss and an employee.

“We want to keep that positive, inclusive educational environment,” SGA Chief of Staff Allison Lawrence said. “Keeping it safe and preventing those types of relationships is key to that.”

The bill was not voted on at this meeting

news@thedailycougar.com

—
“SGA shows support for updating UH drug policy” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

Football is considered the game of inches, but Oregon long jumper Damarcus Simpson might argue that should change.

In the long jump, one centimeter over the board and the jump doesn’t count. Too much space behind means distance is taken away from a jump. It was one or the other for Simpson, and it eliminated the favorite from competing in the final.

His first jump was over the board. His second jump was maybe less than an inch over, but it doesn’t matter. He needed to get one on the board for a chance to reach the final.

In his third jump, he got a mark, but he launched from way behind the board. He wasn’t trying to be conservative, but he knew he just needed one mark to give him a chance.

“We wanted to go for it,” Simpson said. “We wanted to go for it and my mind just shut it down that last three steps. In the back of my mind, I guess it was just, ‘Slow it down, get a jump in,’ and I was just too far behind.”

His jump of 27 feet, 7.5 inches was three-quarters of an inch short of qualifying for the final flight. He was the favorite in the event. His personal best jump is a foot shy of the winner’s mark of 27, 5.5. Maybe his poor performance was because of the pressure, or maybe it was the opposite.

“I had a very calm demeanor this whole entire day,” Simpson said. “That’s new territory for me. Everyone was looking for me to win, and I’ve never had that feeling before, and I guess I got too complacent, let it get away from me.”

Overall, three Oregon men qualified for Friday’s finals. Sam Prakel and Mick Stanovsek qualified in the 1,500 meters, and sprinter Cravon Gillespie qualified in the 100 meters. However, some Ducks’ seasons ended on Wednesday. Braxton Canady missed the final in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.78 seconds, placing 12th. Orwin Emilien failed to qualify in the 400-meters, running a 46.36 and finishing 19th. And the Oregon 4×400-meter relay finished 21st with a time of three minutes, 8.15 seconds.

The day began with the 1,500 meters for the Oregon men.

The heat started slow with the leader at 50 seconds through the first 300 meters, but it sped up for the final 800 meters. Prakel stayed steady at the front, following whoever jumped out to take the lead. With 600 meters to go, Prakel started a kick to take the lead and held it to the finish line for a time of 3:49.33.

A slow heat in championship qualifiers is not surprising, it’s all about creating the right game plan.

“It’s what we expected,” Prakel said. “It was pretty slow the first [800 meters], just take control of the race and run a hard last 600 [meters] cause we have a lot of strength to get a lot of guys over that long move.”

Stanovsek qualified with a different style. He was in the back of the pack through the first two laps, but he wiggled his way to the outside, kicking into the lead and entering the final 200 meters in the top three. He finished there, placing third with a time of 3:49.83.

Stanovsek, a redshirt sophomore, successfully navigated pack running, something he’s not quite used to.

“Yeah, that’s somewhere where I don’t find myself too often,” he said. “I’m a runner who likes to stay excited throughout the whole race. That’s that 800 [meter] mentality. So being back there made me a bit nervous, but I stayed cool, calm, collected. Just tried to take myself out of the race and look at it from a birds-eye view and see how I could get out.”

Junior sprinter Cravon Gillespie competed in the 100 and 200 meters on Wednesday. Gillespie ran the second-fastest time of the day in the 100 meters. His time of 10.02 is a personal best, setting it in a fast third heat.

“I knew each heat was going to be fast, knowing I got a guy who has ran 9.90 [seconds] before,” he said. “I knew I was going to have to get out and just compete the while.”

Gillespie didn’t qualify for the 200-meter final, running a time of 20.71. So, now it’ll be all eyes on the 100 for his final race of the season.

“Just knowing it’s two more days until next season, the end of my junior year, just finish strong,” he said.

Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917

The post Damarcus Simpson falls short in long jump, Sam Prakel and Mick Stanovsek run into 1,500 finals appeared first on Emerald Media.

In March, Linda Brown, the center of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, died at age 76. After Brown was denied access to a whites-only school in Topeka, Kansas, her father sued the school district along with 12 other plaintiffs. In a hugely influential decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional. The decision, which declared that separate was inherently unequal, was one of the most important steps of progress made in the Civil Rights Movement.

In the wake of Brown’s death, it seems appropriate to consider how segregation has — or has not — changed in the 64 years since the Court’s decision. Unfortunately, segregation still persists in public schools at an alarming rate. After Brown v. Board, legal segregation was eradicated, and many districts, especially in the South, were forced by the federal government to integrate. However, in the past two decades, many schools have been released from desegregation orders. Furthermore, many districts were never truly integrated. Since most school districts are based on geographic boundaries, districts tend to reflect the demographics of decades of discriminatory housing policy, which often categorized neighborhoods based on race. When this legacy combines with government inaction and families resistant to the often-difficult task of building equity, public education in the United States remains alarmingly separate and unequal. Journalist Emmeline Zhao said, “80 percent of Latino students and 74 percent of black students are in schools where the majority of students are not white.”

This trend is troubling for a number of reasons. First, integration has been shown to improve educational outcomes. Robert Johnson at the University of California, Berkeley, found that students at integrated schools are more likely to graduate and earn higher wages. His study is one of many that links integration with notable improvements in education and quality of life. Because blacks still lag behind their white counterparts in college graduation rates, wage earnings and employment, a truly integrated educational system could go a long way to address this country’s legacy of racism and inequality.

The benefits of true integration go beyond test scores and economic calculations. This issue is one of justice — and the current system of segregation is one of the seemingly endless reminders that this country fails to value black and brown lives. One of the key arguments in Brown concerned the psychological impacts of segregation: when black students were isolated, demonized and devalued, they naturally internalized the message that they were inferior. Fighting the legacy of segregation would be a meaningful step toward rebuking that message — and a more diverse public system would lead to a more tolerant and understanding society.

For many (mostly white, mostly upper class) families, the status quo is beneficial, and striving for lasting integration may involve sacrificing some privilege. It may require policies that are inconvenient, like bussing programs. And, if recent examples are any indication, it may dredge up racial attitudes we would like to believe were left behind in the 1960s. But, meaningful desegregation is more than just a good policy idea — it is a moral imperative for all Americans.

j.petersen@dailyutahchronicle.com

@TheChrony

The post Petersen: School Segregation Is Not a Problem of the Past appeared first on Daily Utah Chronicle.