2022 Fall Los Angeles Collegian Issue 4

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Collegian DON’T “SKIP” DRONES, PAGE 5

CAMPUS SHOWS PRIDE, PAGE 5

Attendees Watch ‘Mankiller’

LOS ANGELES

SAGINAW CHIPPEWA MEMBER DAWN JACKSON PRESENTED HER FEATURE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE LIFE OF CHIEF WILMA MANKILLER OF THE CHEROKEE NATION BY LUVLEIGHAN CLARK Cinema Professor Dylan Shields moderated a documentary about Chief Wilma Mankiller on Native American Day which accord on Oct. 10, 2022. LACC student Lozano ‘Sal’ Yazhi opened the event with three Navajo ceremonial drum songs. Documentary Filmmaker Dawn Jackson’s 74-minute feature “Mankiller” followed. Chief Mankiller was born on the Cherokee reservation with no modern-day amenities such as indoor bathrooms or running water. In the documentary she said they never knew how poor they were because the Whites were just as bad off. She finally understood that they were poor when the United States government forced her family and many Native people off the reservations and into the inner cities. Chief Mankiller’s family ended up in one of the worst government housing projects in San Francisco. The neighborhood where they lived taught her to survive the harsh reality of life. It was never on Chief Mankiller’s mind to be an activist much less a politician. The long past traditions of Cherokee women with the final say of how the tribe did things ended with the migration of Europeans to the Americas, according to the documentary. On Nov. 20, 1969, California Native Americans (once referred to as American Indians) occupied Alcatraz Island reclaiming it as their property. This would be the start of Chief Mankillers journey as the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation in modern day. It was a long tiring road, as many Cherokees and other Natives had adapted to the “White Man’s” idea that a female belonged in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant. The documentary shares an interview where Chief Mankiller said she faced more sexism than she did racial discrimination. “It’s like [Jackson was] shining such a bright light on [Mankiller] and it just opened my eyes to something just completely brand new,” LACC film student Marvin Todd said. Jackson honored Chief Mankiller by showcasing the fight for her people in the documentary. It was that fight that led to several terms as Cherokee Tribes Chief, a position equal to the United States President.

The Student Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929

Free Food Returns to Campus THE POP-UP FOOD PANTRY IS BACK JUST IN TIME FOR MIDTERMS.

PHOTO BY EDWARD LOCKE

LACC President Mary Gallagher

LACC President Set to Retire AFTER FIVE YEARS OF SERVING AS PRESIDENT, MARY GALLAGHER IS SET TO RETIRE AT THE END OF NEXT JUNE. BY TUPAC ZAPATA

Students eagerly await their turn to pick up free food from the pop-up pantry that occurred on Oct. 24, 2022.

BY RACHEL RODRIGUEZ Food will be distributed to students every Monday at LACC, thanks to the Food for Thought Pop-up Food Pantry. Gas and food prices soar higher than ever and bring added anxiety to an already stressful academic schedule. According to LACCD survey data, approximately 20% of LACC students are homeless and nearly 65% of LACC students are not able to reliably eat nutritious meals.

The Food for Thought program’s goal of reducing food insecurity as a barrier to student success is supported by the early data, which also suggests that students who use the program’s services are more successful. “After the first year of implementation, we have confirmed what we intuitively knew,” said Mary Gallagher, LACC president in a statement. “By feeding our students, we are helping them achieve academic success.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF LACC FOUNDATION

The pop-up food pantry resumed on Oct. 24, 2022 outside the LACC Student Union Building. The City Cares Network and Food for Thought program collaborated to bring back the program which had disappeared because of the COVID-19 pandemic. LACCD Board President Andra Hoffman supports LACC and the Foundation for its outstanding dedication and work efforts. “I am very grateful that Los Angeles City College and the Foundation are collaborating with other

INDEX 2-3

Arts & Entertainment

4

Features

5

News

6

Resources

7

Sports

8

organizations to help meet their students’ food needs so they can achieve their higher education goals,” Hoffman said in a statement. A student ID and a reusable food bag are all that’s required to shop for free food. Items at the pantry include dry food, beverages, snacks, fresh fruit, veggies and more. The Pop-up Food Pantry will be located outside the Student Union Building every Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. until Dec. 12, 2022.

Fallout After Racial Slurs at City Hall Continues THREE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WERE BUSTED WHILE DOING BUSINESS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AFTER A LEAKED CONVERSATION.

SEE “NATIVE” PAGE 6

Opinion & Editorial

Wednesday, November 2, 2022 Volume 189 Number 4

BY JUAN MENDOZA “Fuera! Fuera! Resign! Leave,” shouted angry protesters who disrupted the ongoing City Council meeting on Oct. 11, after listening to an audiotape first published by the Los Angeles Times.

City Councilmembers Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo experienced moments of embarrassment at the council meeting. Nury Martinez who was the first Latina City Council president submitted a request for leave of absence an hour before the meeting and was not present at the time. There was chaos and rebellion inside the chamber. Protesters were angry and disappointed. “It’s the most outrageous and disgusting remarks done by the most

SEE “FALLOUT” PAGE 7

Mary Gallagher received the call, she was offered the position of college President on the eve of her 60th birthday. On Jan. 2, 2018, she began serving as LACC’s interim president before she took over as president in June of 2018. Gallagher refers to her time as president of LACC as “the best job she has ever had.” Retirement will allow Gallagher to spend more time with her loved ones and to face upcoming challenges. Four decades of work would make anyone want slow down, and that is precisely what Gallagher is ready to do. The 64-year-old is ready to start a new chapter in her life, a chapter in which her passport will fill up with visa stamps from all over the world. In a heartfelt letter announcing her retirement, she opened up about some of the curveballs that life has thrown at her, especially the last couple of years. Serving as LACC president during a pandemic has not been an easy task for Gallagher, as the campus shut down for most of 2020, leaving students with the only alternative of online classes. Then in 2021, the pandemic struck too close when her husband contracted a near fatal case of COVID that left long haul effects. In the letter, Dr. Gallagher shared that her 91-year-old mother has fallen three times in three months. For the last 10 years, her older sister has suffered from Alzheimers and lost her cognitive ability, but she is always happy when she sees Gallagher. “Family is very important to me and I think my management team will attest to that,” Gallagher said in a Zoom Town Hall meeting. “These circumstances contributed to my decision to retire at this time as well.” For over 40 years, Gallagher’s vacations did not last over a week, which may seem as too little time for relaxation to some folks, but for her it was all that she needed to SEE “LACC PRESIDENT”


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