Opinion & Editorial

EditoriaL

PHoto by louIs WHItE

Griffith Observatory’s front lawn turns white on Nov. 18 to remember all those lost due to the pandemic. The COVID-19 Strength+Love memorial consists of 26,661 flags, each representing one person who died in L.A. County from the beginning of the pandemic until Nov. 2, 2021.

City Grieves with 26,661 White Flags

by sorIna szakaCs

There’s always something striking about memorials. The atmosphere is loaded with contrasts: serenity and grief, peace and the noise of questions that go through someone’s mind, while on sacred ground.

The COVID-19 memorial at Griffith Observatory does the same. Walking the pathways between thousands of white flags makes you think about all the people who are no longer here, all the families who lost someone.

There is a silence broken only by a slight flicker of the little flags in the breeze. It’s easy to wonder, by any chance, each of those souls came back to wave the flags themselves just to signal that they see the tribute paid by a city in mourning.

I lost my father to COVID-19 last year, on Nov. 24. He is not one of the white flags at Griffith Park, but for me, the three-day memorial is personal. There are thousands of families in L.A. County alone, who share the same story; who also lost someone dear to the virus. I am not alone… and that matters.

As of Nov. 2, there were 26,661 lives lost in Los Angeles County. This morning, Nov. 22, as I write these words, the number is up to 27,010. By the time of the print edition, the city will have more angels…

Jan. 25, 2020 is considered Day One of the pandemic. That day, health officials confirmed the first COVID-19 case in Orange County. California registered its first coronavirus-related death 11 days later.

Dec. 1 is Day 676 of the pandemic. The county lost more than 27,000 people. They all left this world too early.

Almost 700 days later, Europe is the pandemic’s epicenter once more. Austria is the first country to impose lockdown for all unvaccinated adults and mandate vaccine for anyone 12 and older, but the end of the tunnel is not visible yet. The end of the pandemic is nowhere close, and the death toll will get higher with every day.

Next year, we’ll have more flags and more buildings lit in blue as the night falls. We’ll maybe have more vaccinated people, but will we learn anything from all the suffering?

The mayor’s memorial of “Strength + Love” follows three steps: honor, remember, mobilize. How many of us will follow those steps? How many of us will honor and remember that numbers and flags are more than numbers and flags? They are people who lived in the same buildings, on the same streets and neighborhoods, in the same city and county. This is a fight in an invisible war. More than 27,000 souls lost the fight. The last step on the mayor’s memorial is “mobilize.” How many more will die, before all of us who are still walking this earth truly mobilize and fight back?

Collegian

Los Angeles City College Visual & Media Arts Department 855 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90029 323.953.4000 ext. 2832 losangeles.collegian@gmail.com

Editor-in-Chief Sorina SzakacS

Graphics Layout Editor BEaTricE aLcaLa

Copy Editors angELa JohnSon DaniEL MarLoS John JohnS

Opinions & Editorial Editor John JohnS

Arts & Entertainment Editor rachEL roDrigUEz

Photo Editor LoUiS WhiTE

Photographers chriSTian chaVEz LoUiS WhiTE

Illustrators caSSanDra MUnoz MichaEL SiTar

Reporters MaTThEW roDrigUEz, JUan MEnDoza, John JohnS, Sorina SzakacS, PoUPY gaELLE ngUESToP, MarVin anDraDE, DaniEL MarLoS, ThanDi chiMUrEnga, carLoS PErEz

Faculty Adviser rhonDa gUESS

We Knew it, But We’re Tired

by tHandIsIzWE CHIMurEnga

“I’m having grilled snapper for dinner.” That was my caption when I forwarded a news post on social media that Kyle Rittenhouse had been acquitted on Nov. 19. It’s one of the ways my friends and I sometimes show our indifference. When some major breaking news occurs that we don’t care about, we’ll post the news item and caption it with something mundane like what we’re having for dinner. Or, that the car keys we had been looking high and low for were actually in our coat pocket.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. It’s not that my friends and I don’t care about the Rittenhouse verdict. It’s more that we’re tired.

We knew, even though we weren’t sequestered with the jury in Wisconsin. We knew it before the gun charge against him had been dismissed. We knew it before we heard about Judge Bruce Schroeder’s other courtroom shenanigans.

We knew that Rittenhouse was going to be acquitted of the charges of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree attempted intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, the men he shot with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

We knew it before the gun charge against him had been dismissed. We knew it before we heard about Judge Bruce Schroeder’s other courtroom shenanigans.

We knew it.

And, even though the writer, Toni Morrison, tells us that we should be surprised and shocked every time something like this happens, just so that we don’t become comfortable with it, we just don’t have the energy.

Because we knew it.

We knew it when we saw the video from that night of protests in Kenosha over the shooting of Jacob Blake in the back by law enforcement. The footage showed Rittenhouse walking towards police with his hands raised, surrendering as he had just shot two people, and the police passed him by like he was in their way.

We knew it.

We knew it because we know the history of this country: white men with guns are sacred and not to be touched.

We knew it because more than 70 million people in the United States voted for Donald Trump in 2020. 70 million.

We knew it because the police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times faced no consequences for his actions, and neither have the vast majority of police officers who have shot unarmed black men, women and children in this country.

We knew it. We weren’t surprised. A few of us weren’t shocked and a few more of us weren’t even angry.

Because we’re tired.

Trying to achieve social justice is a tedious undertaking. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s easy to get burned out and demoralized. It’s easy to question the purpose and just say to hell with it all. Very easy. Many are called, but only a few stay the course.

Those of us who do stay the course understand that the pursuit of justice is a long term undertaking. It’s a process, not an event. And so we pace ourselves. We’re going to get tired, but we’re not going to give up. The stakes are too high. If teenagers with semi-automatic rifles can occupy the same space as protestors fighting injustice, and can shoot and kill those protestors and get acquitted in courts of law; that now means the right to assemble and protest belongs only to an acceptable few, instead of to every one of us.

We can’t allow that to happen on our watch. It is our duty to fight for justice and equity. We have to get back out there.

And we will. Just as soon as we find these car keys and finish eating dinner.

For all submissions including letters to the editor and publicity releases, send materials to Collegian offices located in Chemistry Building, Room 207, or email: losangeles.collegian@gmail.com.

To advertise in the Collegian, direct all insertion orders and questions to: pr.collegian@gmail.com.

Issues of our award-winning newspaper and magazine are instantly available to our readers on issuu.com/ collegianwired.

We’re Number One

by JoHn JoHns

America is the most violent society ever created. Bar none, we’re number one, numero uno, the top dog!

Genghis Khan, Queen Victoria, Napoleon— powder puffs. Stalin, Hitler, Mao? They killed lots and lots of innocent people over a decade or two, but nothing like us, for so long. No one, with maybe the exception of the Roman Empire, has ever sustained blood letting as long has the good ole Red, White and Blue. Shoot, we’ve been killing non-stop since 1776. Just ask the Natives about the “City on the Hill.”

As empires go, Rome lasted a lot longer than we have. But, what’s crucifying a few thousand devout Christians and some rebellious Spartans compared to having 15,000 nukes ready to strike? That is a nice tidy arsenal that just happens to be enough to destroy the world six billion souls over.

Our success is due to being democratic. The right to hunt humans is enshrined in our Bill of Rights. And, boy are we ready to go a hunting, owning more guns than the rest of the world, with 400 million guns in a population of 325 million. Number two? That garden spot of the Arabian Peninsula—Yemen.

So this brings us to the Rittenhouse verdict. The jury did right. Kyle Rittenhouse is an all American boy, who was brought up right and proper by his ever-loving pistol-packing mama. Her maternal instincts were instilled in sonny by demonstrating how you should love your rod a whole lot more than humanity. Her role model was Ma Barker.

The Rittenhouses are the perfect embodiment of Republican, which is to say American family values, and includes the good housekeeping seal of approval awarded by the NRA every year.

To be fair and to her credit, Mrs. Rittenhouse with her love of guns has achieved equality with men, traditional men from out of the past— real red-blooded men. No wimpy, limp-wristed liberal, white wine swilling, quiche eating Scarsdale Galahad’s, not these guys.

Ok, so maybe at heart, they’re a bunch of troglodytes, always leaving the little woman back in the cave to dust and mop or vacuum and scrub. All the while, going out with their buddies hunting for a Woolly Mammoth or two. Of course, they’re gonna come home late reeking of booze after stopping off to ogle a cute barmaid at the local road cave.

Nonetheless, Mrs. Rittenhouse scores a double, as she’s also the perfect embodiment of a feminist seeking equality with men. What better way to join the feminist sisterhood in the Democratic Party, than through gun ownership?

So forward to the present, and dear Kyle was doing what any red-blooded American boy should do; even if he can’t vote, join the Marines or sign a contract. Leave it to Mom to get you the deadliest weapon on the market, although you can barely lift it. Then drive across the state line in her car and in order to start hunting your fellow humans cuz they don’t deserve to live and you’re scared of them anyway.

Then, when you score a hit, whine self-defense and say you are enrolling in nursing school. Thanks, Mom!

So America, let’s give thanks to the Founding Fathers for giving us the sacred right to hunt humans ad nauseam. And, let’s stay number one!

Officials Must Charge Company for Huntington Oil Spill

by Carlos PErEz

The Huntington Beach area oil spill is seriously affecting birds and marine life. As state officials now have an idea of how the spill occurred, the culprit would appear to be an irresponsible oil company-Amplify Energy. Marine animals, such as fish, crabs, seals, and dolphins were the first to be harmed. Several weeks on, there is no doubt that sharks and other sea creatures are still being affected by this horrible accident. Scientists say the damage from the spill can last for years.

After local officials questioned the cause of the spill, the California Justice Department began an investigation. As many Californians are asking authorities if they knew of the potential for the spill, I believe that the oil company that owned the carrier where the spill occurred should be held responsible for the damage. It does not matter if the company is a corporation, the corporate veil should be pierced, and individuals should be held criminally responsible for this negligent action.

Moreover, because of this oil spill, soon it will not only affect marine life, the pollution will also affect humans—and what we eat. The fish in the area will not be safe to eat because of the dangerous proximity to the oil. Eventually, after the spill reaches other beaches and coasts in Southern California and beyond, more marine life will be affected, and additional beaches may be closed.

Gov. Newsom’s quick action in asking the federal government to declare a national emergency in the area was timely and will allow the state to obtain federal aid.

“With the frequency of oil spills and lack of corporate accountability for them, I fear that the young people in my life will only know the ocean by observing it on the other side of thick glass in a zoo or aquarium, rather than in the natural habitat I’ve known and loved my entire life,” said Alex Lohman, an attorney for Children’s Law Center of California in an editorial for CalMatters News.

However, nothing will reverse the damage to the wildlife—the migratory birds that are covered in oil and therefore cannot fly South.

Since we know who is responsible, the California Justice Department should turn up the heat on Amplify Energy. This oil spill is a crisis and needs to be repaired before the situation gets worst.

city viEws

How do you feel as we move into our second school year of COVID-19 regarding online vs. in-person learning?

CoMPIlEd by analuIsa alvarEz

JOSEFA LUIS Major: CNA Program

I like both because I have time to [come] to campus to share with others and learn a little bit more, and I like online because I’m taking an ESL English [class] at night and prefer to stay at home because it gets cold at night.

But it is better to have in-person [learning] because I think I learn more. It’s hard [online],

I know it’s hard to study [at home] because sometimes I can’t understand [. . .] there’s a lot of people speaking on the microphone. I don’t focus because it’s boring, I can’t hear. But yeah, I think it’s better to come to campus for learning. GELIA GUMEROVA Major: Nursing

I feel like online learning due to COVID is more convenient for students and their safety. Online learning vs. in-person, I don’t see the difference if you can do it online, like, you should be more motivated and self-educate also.

You can text or email your professor if you have a question. Usually, professors answer you very quickly, [well] some of them and it’s very convenient for me. OMAR HERNANDEZ Major: Music

I will say that something that [has] been demonstrated already by COVID-19 is that online classes, they really work. They can work in many different situations, like, when I say situation I mean careers.

But specifically in music, the career that I am taking is very difficult [online] because you need to see your professor all the time, and get everything from them. Even the way they use their fingers on their instruments. It’s useful in some ways, but not 100 percent, not in the full context. But it’s useful. ANJELICA ROSE Major: Classical and Jazz Bassist

I feel like time is nonexistent for me now, and I actually really like online learning even though it’s hard to grasp the materials sometimes.

I could do my laundry and be in math class. I could be cooking breakfast and be in my harmony class but now, I have to be here for everything, and I can’t multitask [. . .] Online has it’s pros, in-person has it’s pros too because you pay more attention, and you have less distractions.

But I think hybrid is the best way to go because it gives people a chance to be in their element while still learning, and also the other option is being in the school zone element. HYERI YUNG (HAILEE) Major: Natural Science

I still prefer online learning. It’s really hard wearing the mask during class, wearing the mask is really annoying.

It’s hard to communicate as an international student, and wearing the mask only makes it harder to communicate. So, I don’t think I have to be exposed (for in-person learning), even though I’m already fully vaccinated, but I don’t know.

I still prefer online [learning]. For us international students, [professors] they have, especially Zoom hold meeting[s], so if we miss something we can go back and check it again, and it’s so helpful. Especially for me, if it’s really hard to follow some concept, and if I miss it because a professor explains it so fast, you know, I could go back and watch the videos again.

ink styLE