LH Feature Magazine

2109 FEATURES 2.19.21

Iowa City High School - The Little Hawk - www.thelittlehawk.com

HUMANIZE MY HOODIE: BEYOND THE BRAND PAGE 18

THE ETHICS OF YOUR INDIE MUSIC STREAMING PAGE 20

dear readers, Is love in the air? Maybe. Is Covid in the air? Definitely! So wear a mask or two :) We hope that you had a lovely Valentine’s Day even if you were far away from your loved ones eating those gross candy hearts alone. We loved being able to run the annual LH Cutest Couples Contest and seeing all your submissions. Sadly, there were less journalism themed Valentines hanging from the bulletin boards in 2109 this year, but we still managed to get the issue done. We’ve changed the page ladder around about 300 times in the past two weeks and eventually pulled it together.

In this issue we recognize Black History Month with a feature called Humanize My Hoodie: Beyond the Brand. We also have an in-depth story on the ethics of the music streaming industry and one about GenZ’s relationship with social media and internet spaces. We wrote about the new NESTT program and you can access their resources by emailing nestt@iowacityschools.org or visiting room 3110.

If you want to know if you are the main character or not, you can take the quiz on the back of the mag! We hope you enjoy this issue!

Sending lots of love, Aala Basheir&Jesse Hausknecht-Brown

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Food Feature: Cast Iron Skillet

Fashion Feature: Blank

Teachers Give Love Advice

12 14 16 Mental Health: NESTT

GenZ, Media, & the Pandemic

Black History Month: Poetry

18 20 24 Beyond the Brand

Ethics of Music Streaming

Main Character Quiz

CONTENTS

04 06 10

The Beginner’s Cast-Iron Cooking The versatile, inexpensive, and greener way to create classic dishes

By Haileigh Steffen

C

ast-iron has been an essential aspect of cooking for centuries, even in the modern era. These nearly-indestructible pans are beloved by amateurs and chefs alike for their versatility and durability. Recently, the pan has garnered attention as the greener option for energy-intensive cooking due to its naturally non-stick qualities, incredible heat-retention, and long-lasting use. Despite cast-iron’s worthy features, the heavy-duty pan requires a bit of extra care and attention. Here’s a beginner’s guide to understanding cast-iron cooking plus some simple recipes to get you started, all of which are customizable.

Seasoning your pan Seasoning is a crucial part of preventing rust, maintaining your cast-iron skillet’s health, and infusing your dishes with extra depth of flavoring. If seasoning with a dirty pan, gently clean pan while still hot using warm water (no soap). For hard bits of cleaning, use salt and oil, then scrub. Dry pan and put back on heat. Coat with a thin layer of oil (one teaspoon) after the skillet is completely dry. Every time the pan is used, a new layer of fat will be added to its seasoning. If the pan is looking dull or flat, re-seasoning using the method from above.

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cornmeal biscuits 1 cup all-purpose flour ¾ cup cornmeal 1 tablespoon sugar 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt ¼ teaspoon pepper ½ cup butter, chilled ¾ buttermilk Optional: Additional toppings.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.

Using your hands, work butter into flour until pieces are pea-sized. Add buttermilk and mix until just blended.

Drop dough by heaping ¼-cupfuls into a cast-iron skillet, spacing about one inch apart. Bake, rotating skillet once, until biscuits are puffed, golden brown, and cooked through. About 12–15 minutes.

Tip: Top with your favorite sauces and produce. Can be served sweet or savory.

Classic pizza 12 ounces pizza dough 3 tablespoons olive oil ⅓ cup pizza sauce or marinara ¾ cups mozzarella Optional: Additional toppings.

Preheat to oven to 475 degrees. Drizzle and coat room temperature dough with 1 tbsp. oil. Stretch dough out to a 10” round. Set aside and cover with plastic wrap if preparing additional toppings. Lay dough inside cast-iron pan. Season with a dash of salt, spread marinara over dough, top with mozzarella, and add any other toppings. Drizzle with another 2 tbsp. oil.

Set over medium-low and cook until crust is golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake pizza on top rack until crust is golden brown around the edges and cheese is browned in spots and bubbling all over, 10–14 minutes. Cool pizza and enjoy.

Savory tip: If choosing marinara, reduce sauce to a thick paste before use.

dutch baby ⅓ cup flour ½ cup milk 3 eggs 4 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon sugar Optional: syrup, preserves, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon Optional: Additional toppings.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine eggs, flour, milk, sugar, and nutmeg in a bowl and blevnd until smooth.

Place butter in cast-iron skillet 10-inch skillet. When butter has melted, add the batter to the pan. Return pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Pancake should be puffed and golden. Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake five minutes longer. Cut into wedges and enjoy.

Tip: Top with syrup, preserves, confectioners’ sugar, or cinnamon sugar. Can be served sweet or savory.

February 14 Fashion By Sophia Wagner and Aala Basheir

From colored hair to makeup to corsettes -- City high upperclassmen are embracing the Valentines day holiday.

LEFT: Nathalie Nunez ‘22 wearing a layed peice. Nunez recently recolored her hair to a vibrent pink. PHOTO COURTESY OF NATALIE NUNEZ

“Before quarintine even started I would already do most of my shopping online, there are more options. [But] I absolutely love thrifting. You have to have paitence but if you go into it with an open mind its amazing.”

Nathalie Nunez city high JUNIIOR 2 The Little Hawk - FEATURES

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BELOW: Greta Lowry ‘21 dressed in a sage green peice with accessories suh as silver jewlery and a chain. PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN ALLEN

ABOVE: Jacy Pugh ‘21 poses in all pink with a vibrant makeup look. PHOTO COURTESY OF JACY PUGH

BELOW: Ian Allen ‘21 poses in a layered outfit centered around a bright red corsette stament peice. PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN ALLEN

ABOVE: Nunez wearing an alternate outfit styled around her red denimn. PHOTO COURTESY OF NATHALIE NUNEZ

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BELOW: Alonrdra Escorcia ‘22 wearing ripped jeans and a baby pink sweater matching her mask. PHOTO COURTESY OF ALONDRA ESCORCIA

ABOVE: Dayzy Pearl ‘21 poses in a floral satin peice, layered over a deep purple satin dress. PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN ALLEN

TEACHERS GIVE LOVE ADVICE “So you like raisins. How would “Do the self care so you feel about a date?” you can come out STAACK of quarantine dating ready.”

“I need to go off on a tangent, I’ve reached my limit, and I’ve derived that I need to integrate you into my life.”

BASILE

MILLER

Scan this QR code to see the whole video!

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“My most special high “You shouldn’t be locking school relationship was lips during covid.”

DICKSON with my magic cards.”

SCHUMANN

“I never broke up with “If they don’t read books, anybody. They all broke up with me.” get them out of here.”

JOHANNESEN

HIGHTSHOE

“After a certain point you have to break up with them on purpose.”

HIGHTSHOE

LH CUTEST COUPLES CONTEST

WINNERS:

Rachel Marsh & Aaron Rutherford

Navigating E motions & S tress Through Training

City High’s new NESTT program provides students mental health support: students can talk to professionals virtually on a secure platform or visit room 3110 in the school building

By Jesse Hausknecht-Brown and Aala Basheir

W

ith a pandemic, political turmoil, and a different way of going to school, the topic of mental health has been more relevant than ever in the high school community. From increased surveys about the quality of life to programs designed to keep students and workers engaged -- leaders across the board are stepping up to prioritize the physical and mental health of their disciples. “[With everything going on] there have been a lot of challenges. I am a very extroverted person,” Tatum Frazier 22’ emphasized. “But with the extra time I had, I chose to work on something that would help me.”

While isolation, job loss,

and burnout rates among essential workers are increasing.

According to a household pulse survey created to track the ways COVID-19 has impacted American lives, the United States Census Bureau found that more than one in three adults have reported feeling anxiety or a depressive episode during the pandemic.

Many report that they have increased stress and worry about the pandemic.

“The district provides employees access to mental health resources/therapy. At City High, Amy Kahle and myself have offered times for staff to get together to talk and connect with one another and to support each other through this year,” Mary Peterson, a guidance counselor at City High, explained.

Due to a new policy implemented by the state legislature,

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the Iowa City Community School District has offered students the option of working onsite 100% of the time or entering the online school. While this allows for a more consistent schedule, social distancing will require more effort because of the increased number of students.

“I think school contributes a lot to mental health both in good and bad ways. For some kids, it helps them leave their houses, which isn’t always safe. It can also be harmful because a lot of times kids feel misunderstood or overwhelmed,” Amira LaVelle ‘22, who plans to transition to a homeschool method, said.

According to non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation, while increased stress and worrying can be directly linked to the pandemic, the broader issue is the barrier in accessing mental

health aid in the community. In the past City High has offered multiple resources available to students within the building such as Student Family Advocates (SFA) and counselors. “[SFAs and Counselors] can meet with students and help them navigate their mental health and also provide outside resources to families if they are interested,” Peterson said. “We also have a partnership with Four Oaks to have a therapist at City High to meet with students.

There is a trimester class that is offered to students called DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) where they are taught specific techniques throughout the trimester on healthy coping skills to manage stress and regulating emotions.”

In addition to these preexisting services, City High staff members Doug Lestina, Amy Kahle, Thos Trefz, and Mary Peterson proposed a grant to implement a mental health room in the building. With help from the administration and the ICCSD Foundation, they created 2.19.21

NESTT: Navigating Emotions and Stress Through Training to promote student mental health.

“We’re a central place for students to come for any mental health needs and support,” Katie Vodraska, a social work master’s student at St. Ambrose, who works in the NESTT center, said. “It could be social-emotional support or if they need to work on coping skills, if they’re having a bad day, if they’re in crisis, stuff like that, our role is to help them and support them.”

The NESTT room, room 3110, is a space for students to go to get mental health help from trained professionals, whether that be immediate help or as a resource in finding adequate long term assistance.

“It’s really rooted in research based on trauma-sensitive schools and trauma-sensitive spaces so meeting kids where they’re at and helping them,” Vodraska said. “Our goal is to help them build skills here, whether it’s a lot of anxiety about being in class or doing class online or having a family emergency at home or needing to work through different thoughts that impact how they navigate school and class so that they can be in class as much as possible.”

The counselors and SFAs have been working to write grants and get the NESTT center up and running for about a year. The room officially opened on January 8, 2021.

“The NESTT is being used as a drop-in place for students to go when they need to,” Peterson said. There is always an adult in the room to help support students and there are a variety of activities students can do to help

reduce [the] stress they are experiencing. We have kinetic sand, apps on iPads, coloring pages, talking with an adult, and fidgets to name a few.”

NESTT is also aiming to help teachers and staff in the building. Staff are able to reach out to schedule appointments as well.

“Staff are also able to come to the NESTT if they want to.

The NESTT held a 30-day mental health challenge for the staff last month. It included a list of prompts for staff to use to encourage self-care. A student 30day mental health challenge is taking place this month,” Peterson said.

To accommodate both online and on-site students, in addition to the room, there is a NESTT Instagram account and website that includes a virtual calming room. Students can also schedule an appointment to meet with a professional via Zoom.

“If a student is having an asynchronous or they’re all online, they can still chat with Katie or me virtually,” Krystyna Kaminski, another social work master’s student at the NESTT center, said. “We use a telehealth site called doxie.me. It’s a secure site that’s very easy to access [and] much more user friendly compared to Zoom. If they wanted to meet with us virtually, they would just send us an email to set up an appointment.”

Kaminski explained that both she and Vodraska are trauma-informed and ready to help students who may have experienced any sort of childhood trauma.

Those who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), are impacted by those experiences for the rest of their

lives and can make schoolwork or going to class difficult.

“When you’re under 18 and you experience something traumatic, that changes your brain chemistry and impacts you physically and mentally,” Kaminski said.“I feel like ACEs, that’s a central piece of it when it comes to working with students.

Other physical signs of anxiety or trauma are insomnia, nightmares, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, racing heartbeat, fatigue, and being startled easily.

“We know that for students coming into this space, being trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive really means looking at what’s happened to a student or anyone we’re interfacing with and not seeing them as what’s wrong with them,” Vodraska said.

According to the book Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services, trauma-informed care involves a “broad understanding of traumatic stress reactions and common responses to trauma.” Trauma can affect one’s social life, engagement in work or school, and shows up in physical forms as well.

“When you’ve experienced a trauma or you’re having thoughts about something that’s happened, our body’s always giving us a message,” Vodraska said.

“We might notice headaches or stomach aches or sweaty palms and things like that and our body telling us we need to take a breath and reconnect to ourselves so that we can be present in the moment. That’s a lot of being trauma-informed.”

The NESTT room at City High is the first space of its kind

in the state of Iowa and it’s important to Vodraska and Kaminski that students know that they view this as a positive space. “[The NESTT room] is extremely beneficial to students. I know people who have utilized the space and I hope it becomes more well known — especially this year.” Frazier said.

Vodraska stresses the point that it’s important to support each other because it’s impossible to know what is going on in someone else’s life.

“We’re all human, we’re all going through things, and we don’t know everybody’s story,” Vodraska said. “We all need connection and support and not seeing someone as something bad or wrong, but we’re here to wrap each other in care and support and relationships.”

One problem in the building that led to NESTT being created was that there wasn’t a designated place for students to go if they were having a bad mental health day. Students would get sent to multiple different places that weren’t properly equipped to handle their specific needs.

“Students were being sent to counseling or being sent to the nurse’s office and sent to all these different places to get support,” Vodraska said. “The team found that it would be great to have a central place for students to go if they’re having some mental health challenges.”

The NESTT email address is NESTT@iowacityschools.org and the Instagram handle is @ nesttcityhigh.

“Our goal is ultimately to get them back to class and engage in school in a way that feels safe and comfortable,” Vodraska said.

BELOW: During their open house, the staff in the NESTT room showed a variety of available activities for students. PHOTO COURTESY OF KRYSTYNA KAMINSKI

genz, social media, internet spaces, and the pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have turned to social media and internet spaces for social connection and entertainment in a time of isolation

By Jesse Hausknecht-Brown

A

very Provorse ‘24 feels like it is easy to get sucked into her phone for hours on end. She ends up procrastinating school work, having trouble paying attention in class, and getting tasks done. This has all worsened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Personally I think that I’m extroverted,” Provorse said. “So I definitely try to talk to people as much as I can and I think [social media] is a nice way to reach out to people.”

Teenagers have been flocking towards social media platforms during the pandemic as a way to find a social connection that they are missing out on due to isolation during the pandemic.

Going to school online or only being in-person for a few days a week can leave students feeling socially lost.

“The key thing that is absolutely true is that social media exists because people are searching for connections,” Kembrew McLeod, a professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa, said. “And searching for escape in the form of making them laugh or smile or be surprised at something crazy.”

Provorse explained that at the beginning of 2020, before the pandemic hit, she would go on her phone and use social media a lot, but wasn’t too worried about it. Then her phone broke and she had to go without it.

“I went without my phone for a long time, actually, before we got a new one, and when I did I decided to download three social media platforms, which are Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok,” Provorse said.

She described how she enjoyed having Snapchat to talk to her friends and originally was talking to lots of people via Snapchat. Then, after she had gone without her phone, she only stayed to touch with a few friends on the app which helped her reduce her dependence on her phone.

“I think that decreased the amount of social media I was on because I was always replying to people and now it’s a little less pressure,” Provorse said.

Maria Henderson ‘25, an eighth-grader at South East Junior High, has also turned toward social media more since the pandemic started. She has been doing online learning all year and has found that it’s harder to communicate with others when

14 The Little Hawk - FEATURES

she’s not physically in school. lived in before.”

“I’ve been using social meTikTok has about 100 million dia more than I had before the monthly U.S. users, which is up pandemic started because I get 800% from July 2018. There was bored a lot easier [and] because a 27% increase in the number of I couldn’t go out and see friends, downloads in the first 23 days of I’d just be like, ‘Oh, I’ll go on In- March, when the pandemic was stagram,’” Henderson said. first starting.

In November, after realizing “TikTok has become very that she had been spending a lot popular in the post-pandemic of time on her phone, Provorse stage. But it had already been decided to delete all of her social gaining momentum quite a bit media apps. over the previous year,” McLeod “I deleted all social media said. “TikTok lucked out bebecause I wanted to see how it cause its platform was perfectly would feel and it actually was tailored for the kinds of experiamazing, I think I’ll do it again ences that a lot of people were at some point,” Provorse said. “I looking for when they’re isolated got it back to talk to everyone at home or in their rooms.” again, especially now with online In January 2018, the app had schooling. For me, it’s hard with- 54,793,729 global users and as out the social connection.” of July 2020, that number grew Provorse enjoys using Insta- to 689,174,209 global users. gram to talk to people that she TikTok has benefited greatly doesn’t know super well. She from the pandemic because it’s thinks that the platform is good platform allows users to share for reaching out and getting to short videos easily. know other people in the com“[TikTok] has benefited the munity. most out of all social media “That’s good for me, especial- companies because its platform ly as a freshman, I want to get makes it easy to share videos that to know the upperclassmen and are funny and would connect that’s the way to do it, for sure,” people to other people,” McLeod Provorse said. “But it’s weird said. with online schooling because Provorse and Henderson deI don’t have the same interac- scribed how they want to make tions as I would with in-person connections with other people, [schooling].” and McLeod pointed out that McLeod points out that all of TikTok allows users to make the most popular social media connections with lots of differplatforms, such as Instagram, ent people, which is one of the Twitter, TikTok, and Snapchat, things that has led to its success were already during the a part of pandemic.

“The key thing that is many, if not “One of most, teenag- absolutely true is that social the most ers’ daily rou- media exists because people popular kinds tines. of videos on “ T h e are searching for connections the platform world that funny and searching for escape.” are we’re living videos and I in now where think people KEMBREW MCLEOD PROFESSOR OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES we’re relying are searchmore on soing for ways cial media to interact, it’s still the to make them smile and make world that we lived in just a year connections with other people,” ago, before everything changed,” McLeod said.

McLeod said. “Because back Other social media platforms then, people were using social have started to adapt their inmedia extensively. So I think, terfaces in response to TikTok’s rather than it being a complete success. For example, Instagram abrupt break or a complete new introduced its new “Reels” featheme, I think it’s more of an ture, a part of the app that allows addition from the world that we users to swipe through short vid

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eos, on August 5, 2020.

“Instagram and other social media platforms and basically copying [the] features that made TikTok so popular,” McLeod said.

Additionally, TikTok allows for a certain interconnectedness that other social media platforms don’t necessarily offer.

“We’re all stuck in our rooms or living rooms or bedrooms and people are sharing videos and well, their lives. And what I think is interesting is that people’s lives are very similar. People’s rooms look similar, yes, they might have different posters hanging up but when you see a TikTok video, you’re often seeing a reflection of yourself,” McLeod said. “I think that’s probably maybe another reason that’s driving its popularity.”

Provorse engages with social media both for the social aspect and the entertainment.

“TikTok is a very big part of my day.

When I get bored that’s what I do – scroll through [TikTok] and procrastinate homework,” Provorse said. “Especially with the fact that I don’t have a lot of people to walk around and talk to all the time. So it’s kind of cool to see what other people are up to in the world.”

Henderson struggled with adjusting to online classes at the beginning of the year but has been able to adapt and doesn’t have too much trouble paying attention.

“I’m fully online and at the beginning, there was some struggle. But then after a couple of weeks, I started to get the hang of it,” Henderson said. “I do pay attention in classes and the fact that they have half days for online is really helpful because I wouldn’t be able to stand sitting in front of a computer for eight hours.”

Henderson thinks that her generation’s reliance on social media will affect them in the future in negative and positive ways.

“There’s probably going to be some cons but also some pros, like with anything,” Henderson said. “[We might be] able to be more technology smart, but communication-wise, we might have a weak spot.”

Provorse has thought a lot about how technology is going to affect the future but is unsure exactly how it will happen.

“I personally have younger siblings and they are on screens quite a bit, not so much social media, but YouTube and playing video games. I remember being that age and not having all that and not being on screens so much, I had a DS and that was about the best I got,” Provorse said. “I think it’s weird. I think it’s gonna change a lot within the next few years.”

ART BY ALISON KENASTON

Konfession

By Simone Garza

I have a konfession I am inevitable I have fought battles That the world does not know And what my peers can’t see My purpose on earth is clear I am here to love I am here to live I am here to love And I am here to live I am not destined by my mistakes But rather more my physical reaction Of the faults created by distractions Generational curses are shrinking My third eye vibrates like an earthquake My emotions overflow like the waves of an tsunami From sunrise to sunset, all living things have another chance another opportunity a new page to write To the novel that anticipates a happy ending 16 The Little Hawk - FEATURES

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Garza grew up in Burlington, Iowa. Currently a Senior at the University of Iowa, Garza is majoring in mass communication and journalism, with a minor in philosophy, Garza enjoys social activism, poetry and dance.

I am inevitable This is my konfession To the fighters You will overcome this war And once you’ve won And once you’ve won And once you’ve won Because you will overcome The crazy shit you believed Would remain permanently broken Embrace the obstacles That were dull and gray Continue to paint that pretty picture Look in the mirror You are so beautiful Time flies by 11:11 make a wish Wish upon the full moon and stars For a life that’s full of bliss

HUMANIZE MY HOODIE BEYOND THE BRAND

I

By Aala Basheir and Rebecca Micheali

n the peak of summer 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests were in full swing, many brands began taking an oath to do their part in protecting Black Indiginous people of color.

One organization in particular, native to Iowa City, has been committed to challenging racial stereotypes while supporting the Black community since they first opened their store.

Humanize My Hoodie is not only a brand, but is also a movement. Humanize My Hoodie’s mission is to disprove the stereotype of Black criminality. The movement works to design campaigns that fight for racial equality, and humanize Black and Indiginous people of color. The movement also offers ‘Homework Hotline,’ an online tutoring service available to K-12 students.

“It’s so important for us to have this conversation. ‘Hey this guy is aspiring to be a doctor, he’s aspiring to be an astronaut, he’s aspiring to be an architect, etc.’ The clothes that we wear do not define who we are,” Andre Wright, fashion activist said.

Wright has been interested in fashion for most of his life, and although he never studied fashion in school, he became a selftaught fashion designer. Wright designed a number of collections and became a trailblazer in the fashion industry for creating something that had never been done before.

“Being in the fashion indus-

A look into a local buisness that has dedicated their brand to advocating for racial equallity

try, I felt it was important for for Black and Indigenous people me to talk about fashion in a of color. So, when a white person way that no one ever had. Now wears [the hoodie], they need to we’re not just talking about the be able to have that conversahoodie, we’re talking about what tion about what it means when it means to be a human, what it a Black person wears one. When means to be Black,” Wright said. a white person wears [a hoodie], Joining forces with his child- they don’t get that differential hood friend, Jason Sole, Wright treatment or harm, people don’t worked to build the Human- frown upon them, they don’t lose ize My Hoodie brand. Sole is a a life, or get stereotyped about criminal justice educator, key- stealing,” Wright explained. note speaker, and trainer, and In addition to ally hoodies he currently works as an adjunct that read ‘Ally of the Humanprofessor at Hamline University. ize My Hoodie Movement,’ the Wright and Sole worked togeth- brand offers cultural competency er to educate on and further the training, allowing white individmovement on both a classroom uals to go through workshops and a and furworld- “ t h e r w i d e educate level, themusing selves on fashion racial into do so. justice.

“JaHumanANDRE WHITE son and ize My FASHION ACTIVIST I are Hoodie just faU n i cilitators of something that we versity is a virtual, educational created for young people to re- resource that has trained over ally have a voice. At the end of 1,000 people so far. the day, the people who we need “Allyship is not just a word, to be humanizing are the young it’s a verb. I feel like allies need people — especially the young to stand front line, and they need Black man,” Wright said. “Imag- to have the conversation about ine what he faces every single racism and what it means to be day when he walks out his front racist, and how to be an anti-racsteps.” ist.” Wright said. “Racism has Wright emphasized the im- been overly exposed for many portance of opening a line of years, but now it’s super transcommunication, which isn’t al- parent and very apparent in our ways easy to do. By wearing an society.” article of clothing that challenges Wright explains how white stereotypes, it is a form of open- allies should use their racial priving the conversation. ilege to fight for justice, and sup“We created this movement port the culture and movement

“We’re not just talking about the hoodie, we’re talking about what it means to be a human, what it means to be black.”

in every way they can.

“We feel [allies] need to be listeners, and understand Black-led movements. They can’t just speak about having Black friends, but how are you supporting the culture — when we’re getting the most harm, and we’re getting the worst treatment,” Wright challenged allies of the movement.

“How do you minimize some of that? How do you take some of that load off the Black people, and you use your privilege to help us?”

As an ally, there is a distinction between amplifying BIPOC and speaking over them.

“Being an ally is not putting yourself in [people of color’s] place, because you can never understand what we feel. It’s understanding that we are not different in a bad way, but we have to go through different hardships than you do,” Sophia Lusala ‘22 said.

“Being an ally is not supporting when you want to support, it’s always supporting, no matter what.”

Lusala has an interest in art and activism and finds it important to merge the two topics. She began working on projects with Wright over the summer, and was then offered a year-round internship at Humanize My Hoodie.

“I organize [photo]shoots, find models, open the space for everyone, and make sure everyone’s comfortable. I work with the youth over the summer, we have a youth space, and I find people to come work with us,” Lusala explained. “I started a committee and found a bunch of

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artists in Iowa City, to work with Andre. I connect [Andre] with the youth in a way.”

Lusala has been heavily involved with the Iowa Freedom Riders, a racial justice activist group, and frequently attended Black Lives Matter protests in Iowa City throughout the summer.

“I’ve learned that yelling in people’s faces, and going out into the streets, and doing what they don’t want us to do, is not the only way to get things across.

We can do it through things like art, and writing, things that people love. It’s crazy how you can shape the way people’s minds think through art and activism,” Lusala said.

While Lusala has experienced

racism in her own life, she continues to learn and expand her knowledge — listening to others as they share their stories.

“Growing up Mixed in a predominantly white town, I know Black struggle, but I don’t know it to an extent. Andre has traveled so much, knows all these people, and I’ve talked to these people, heard their life stories, and learned that everybody in a different place has their own struggles that they go through,” Lusala said. “I love meeting new people and learning about their experiences. It’s really great, and it kind of opens me up.”

According to Wright, Black designers make up only 3% of the graphic design industry. Humanize My Hoodie has taken

ABOVE: Andre Wright poses in full length hoodie, while Sole sports the t-shirt hoodie. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANDREW WRIGHT

a pledge with their partners to raise that percentage by at least 2% over the next three years.

They are also in the process of implementing a program to help BIPOC students get into the graphic design industry.

“There are so many brands out there. Over the summer people started selling Black Lives Matter shirts, but if it’s coming from a white man selling them, then that money is going to go back into the white man’s system. We need to be putting money into the Black [economy],” Lusala said.

Although Iowa City is considered progressive by some, the community is looking towards the school district and City Council for guidance in terms of

equity and inclusion.

“We’re going to talk about what it means to be Black in the schools, how things need to change from the whitewashed curriculum, to the microaggressions and macroaggressions, and the school to prison pipeline.

COVID-19 has opened our eyes to a whole other platform to be able to use digitally,” Wright said.

Although the in-person store experienced a closure in height of the COVID-19 pandemic, clothing and other items are available for purchase on the Humanize My Hoodie website.

Resources in education on racial and equity injustices can also be found on the website.

the ethics of your indie music streaming Self-producing music has been easier than ever, but the pay is lacking

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2.19.21

Tucked between thick forests of sugar maple trees is the undisturbed town of Ballston Spa. Just twenty-five miles from Albany, the town is surprisingly famous for its size, drawing attention to its historic roots in colonial America. Of Ballston’s 5,300 residents, one young man has turned his coveted rural New York haven into his songwriting studio and home.

By Haileigh Steffen and Araminta Siegling

S

inger-songwriter Will Seifert releases music under the name “Sun is Poison.”

Soon after his first releases, Seifert decided to seek out other ways to gain an audience than relying on the traditional means for his two self-produced albums and three solo projects, opting to do what many artists starting do: self-produce.

“Indie” or Independent music, is music produced without a commercial record label.

The term can be traced back to the 1920s, describing independently produced cinema, films that are made without the money or support of major production studios. Since then, the term started to label musicians who self-produced their work or who secure independent record labels.

Many artists start with independent or smaller labels, with many making the switch to a major commercial label after gaining traction in the industry. The advantage being that major commercial labels have the financial backing to promote artist’s work. However, staying with an independent label or self-producing work usually ensures the artist a greater level of freedom with their music.

“I think it depends on how much of their identity is owed to their freedom, but a lot of

the time they lose their personal identity and have to stick with the sound that made them popular,” student and alternative music fan Nicholas Thedens ‘22 said. “Record labels have, in some artist contracts, that the album must be commercially satisfactory and be approved, meaning musicians can be trapped to make something boring and derivative.”

However, in more recent years, the term “indie” has been used more loosely to describe a certain sound of music. Ruby Miller ‘22 described indie music as “more of an instrumental and modern pop, but not as fastpaced,” adding that she thought the question was difficult to answer due to the scale of the indie genre.

“To me personally, I think indie today is more an evolution of alternative rock from the past, which did have a tendency to be independent groups, and is more building and the sound and styles those bands had, while not maintaining that anti-corporate culture as much,” Thedens said.

Thedens believes that independent music has become “less to do with how connected the musician is to the music industry and more about its connection to the mainstream sound we hear,” further affirming that the term “indie” means different things to different people interested in music.

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rodeo abandoned by god - sun is poison, 2020 Beheading Party - sun is poison, 2020 Endless, Seamless - Will Seifert, 2018 The Graduate: Outtakes, Unreleased, and WhatnotWill Seifert, 2018

few platforms,” Seifert said. “When I started wanting to put stuff on Spotify, this was maybe in like 2018, I think the last Will Seifert album, I think was the first thing I’ve put on Spotify.”

To release music onto platforms such as Spotify, Seifert started with a service called RouteNote, which is completely free and a good place to start according to him. One disadvantage of the service is that it can take relatively long for your music to be put onto streaming services. In some cases, up to a month.

“It’s a really good place to start, they do take like a chip, out of your earnings I think is maybe like 10%. But that didn’t bother me too much,” Seifert said on RouteNote.

Later, Seifert moved on to a new service called DistroKid to release his music to streaming services. He used this service when releasing his first album under the name Sun is Poison, titled Beheading Party. The service takes $20 a year from the artist.

“I eventually switched over to DistroKid which is what most people use, that’s what I use now. mostly because it’s very quick,” Seifert said. “The first album that I used distro kid with was Beheading Party and I was used to it taking a few weeks but it was up, maybe a day or two after I submitted it. So that was cool.”

Seifert said that getting music onto streaming platforms is surprisingly easy, but an area that can cause issues is copyright when sampling other media.

“On one of my older projects I know, there was one EP that I wanted to release at the end of one of the songs. It was just an instrumental over an interview with Daniel Johnston, and RouteNote did not like that at all,” Seifert said. “So they’re very picky about sampling, that was like several-month processes of me kind of trying to talk to them until I just ended up using some random different service. I think that was TuneCore, which was free at first but they charge like $50 a year.”

For musicians that are just getting started, a $50 charge could keep them from releasing their music. With the way streaming services

A Firefly Waltzed on My Shoulder (and Other Casio Songs of Hurt, Eternity, and Customer Service)- Will Seifert, 2018

Both Johnson and Miller have long been interested in and inspired by, the music of the past and present. Collectively, the two enjoy listening to artists such as David Bowie, Nirvana, Sleater-Kinney, The Smiths, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Regrettes, Surf Curse, and more generally, alternative rock/pop and 70s or 80s classic rock. The two cite their parents as the primary source that inspired their current taste in music.

“I think my interest in music started with my parents, specifically my dad who has a large vinyl collection,” Johnson said. “Then as I got older and got a phone with streaming services, my taste started to branch off and I started to feel very connected to music.”

Due to both his music’s sound and production, Seifert’s music falls safely into the “indie” genre. Seifert explains that the sound of his music has been heavily influenced by other independent artists like singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, known throughout the lo-fi and outsider music scenes, and the rock band Guided by Voices, making their debut 1983.

As for his releasing his music, Seifert started with SoundCloud. Soundcloud is popular among artists who are just stepping foot into the music industry, with notable musicians such as Post Malone and Doja Cat finding their footing in the industry through the online distribution site. However, Seifert has since moved away from SoundCloud, opting for the Internet music company Bandcamp instead. Bandcamp, an indie-friendly platform, allows musicians to sell their music and merchandise, usually with a set price, or you are given the ability to name a price.

“I think it’s nice for artists to communicate with each other [on SoundCloud],” Seifert said. “on Bandcamp you can’t like tracks and comment or follow or stuff like that. It’s less social, but I don’t mind the lack of sociality with it. I still have all my stuff on Soundcloud but I haven’t checked it in several months” Putting your music onto more wellknown services can be difficult. Usually, artists must pay for an extra service to do so.

“In distribution, I’ve gone through a

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Source: Soundcharts.com

are set up, it is unlikely that artists will easily be able to make that money back.

“I think there is some issue with the ethical side as artists are paid less than half a cent per stream. Some artists, like Bob Dylan, have just sold their entire catalog as they see it as a more profitable venture,” Thedens said.

“I don’t think music streaming services can support most of those purely independent artists, and don’t work as a form of income, and up being a way for artists to advertise themselves to hopefully get more people to go to their concerts, as that’s now the major source of income for artists nowadays, which due to COVID-19, has slowed to a halt and has left more musicians struggling. The best way fans can support artists right now is to

buy albums, as you can’t go to concerts.”

Thedens believes that due to the changes in business models, smaller artists have trouble staying afloat from the profit they make from their music. As he explains it, “with records, there was less upfront investment and you could see people buying records from varying ranges of popularity, meaning you see relatively obscure groups still capable of supporting themselves on solely their music. With concerts, someone isn’t as willing a higher price on the same amount of bands, so they’re only going to see their favorite bands.” Thedens adds that although the music industry has maintained similar revenues during these changes, the distribution of to smaller artists is less than they were histor-

23 The Little Hawk - FEATURES

ically.

Although making money through streaming is difficult, that is not why Seifert does it. Seifert believes that making money off of streaming is “kind of a pipe dream for the most part.”

“I’m not trying to do music as a job. For someone who is trying to do that, I think it’s really hard now, maybe even more so than it used to be. Physical music doesn’t really sell anymore except for vinyl,” Seifert said.

Johnson and Thedens both agree with Seifert, citing that the changing music industry has contributed to greater distribution, but less profit from music.

“In my opinion streaming services have both negatively and positively impacted artists,” Johnson said. “Negatively because they make much less money from streaming than they would if people bought as [much] vinyl and CDs as they used to. They’re positively impacted because it’s much easier to find artists now, I find a lot of artists (especially newer ones) through the Spotify discover weekly playlist. Another advantage is that streaming doesn’t cost anything while records and CDs do.”

Seifert is not on a label but has worked with Autumn Sounds for all of his physical releases, like cassettes that were sold over Bandcamp. Shipping can be very expensive, so he has ended up spending more on the cassettes than he is making. Seifert states that he does not mind though.

Despite the cost Seifert has experienced, experts assert that buying physical copies of music, such as records or CDs, or buying a digital album for full price, is the more ethical way to support an artist, sentiments that both Johnson and Miller share. However, that’s from a purely economic lens and ignores the environmental cost of producing physical copies of music.

“I’d say most artists were best supported during the 80s because the music was so popular then and people could go out and buy records or CDs instead of finding them online for free, the artist also could interact more with fans and could perform in huge crowds,” Johnson said.

Nowadays, buying a physical copy of a music artist’s work is typically reserved for collectors or devoted fans. While it is true that vinyl has had a comeback, the vast majority of average music listeners opt for the major streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora due to its ease and cost. Regardless, Seifert has found a home in the industry, garnering a small following of fans keen on having a physical copy of his music.

“I think that it’s very cool and it means a lot to me personally that someone would want a physical copy of something I have made,” Seifert said.

2.19.21

LH QUIZ:

ARE YOU THE MAIN CHARACTER? Quiz by Rochelle Longstreet ART BY JESSE HAUSKNECHT-BROWN

What is your favorite show on Netflix?

What do you do in your free time?

A. On My Block B. The Crown C. Tiger King D. All American

A. Retail therapy B. People watch C. Read D. Hang out with my besties

Would you rather...

A. Eat scorpions B. Bite a live snake C. Root for the sports team you hate D. Consume pound of escargo

RESULTS: What city would you most like to live in?

A. Chicago B. New York C. Los Angeles D. Houston

If you got mostly As: You are What is your favorite the villain!

If you got mostly Bs: You are subject in school? the author!

A. P.E. If you got mostly Cs: You are B. English a side character!

C. Math If you got mostly Ds: You are D. Science the main characer!

24 - LH FEATURE MAGAZINE - Iowa City High School - thelittlehawk.com

FEATURES 2.19.21