Prism Issue 3

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EDITED BY Noah Bressner

editor@bupipedream.com

Kara J. Brown

prism@bupipedream.com

Shauna R. Bahssin

manager@bupipedream.com

INTERNS Tykeem Banini

tbanini1@binghamton.edu

PRISM

February 26, 2018

Welcome to PRISM Kara Jillian Brown

Daquan Taylor

dtaylor6@binghamton.edu

DESIGNED BY Cory Bremer

design@bupipedream.com

Atsuyo Shimizu ashimiz2@binghamton.edu

PHOTOS EDITED BY Kevin Paredes

photo@bupipedream.com

Happy Black History Month! Although black excellence should be celebrated every month, February is a special time to acknowledge the accomplishments of black people throughout history. This year, the Black Student Union (BSU) chose black artistry as their theme and we followed suit.

In this issue, we have an interview with Monet Schultz, the president of BSU. She provided an insightful look into her identity as a black Guyanese woman, her evolving relationship with BSU and what Black History Month and black artistry mean to her. We also have an article discussing the recent and long-overdue appreciation of black art.

Although we wanted to focus primarily on black culture, we also wanted to balance our content with articles more groups can relate to. We have articles on topics ranging from a “survival guide” for students of color to Instagram accounts to follow if you’re looking for a daily dose of representation and empowerment.

Lastly, we have our cover girl, Sophea Clarke. Clarke is an artist I met at the Sip ‘N’ Paint event hosted by BSU and the Gamma Sigma Zeta Fraternity, Inc. She paints beautiful, vibrant black women, and as a black woman myself, her work immediately struck a chord with me. Upon interviewing her, I became even more enamored. She speaks candidly about her journey as a light-skinned, mixed-race black woman and coming to terms with her racial identity. She is now a strong advocate for self-love — something we should all strive for.

Sam Puerto

dpuerto1@binghamton.edu

COPY EDITED BY Bridget McCusker copy@bupipedream.com Sarah Molano

smolano1@binghamton.edu

COORDINATED WITH Joshua Gonzalez

vpma@binghamtonsa.org

PRISM is published monthly during the fall and spring semesters, except during finals weeks and academic breaks.

The content of PRISM represents the opinions of its authors, and not necessarily the views of Pipe Dream.

Sam Puerto The Black Student Union (BSU) and Gamma Sigma Zeta Fraternity, Inc. hosted a Sip ‘N’ Paint on Feb. 3. This event was one of many BSU hosted to celebrate black artistry during Black History Month.

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Voices of Binghamton Somya Pandey Monet Schultz is a senior majoring in sociology and the president of the Black Student Union (BSU).

PRISM: How long have you been involved in BSU? What made you want to take on the leadership for BSU? Monet Schultz: I’ve been involved in BSU since my freshman year at Binghamton, I saw their table at the Binghamton Enrichment Program weekend. I then became an intern for them, then publications coordinator, then the vice president and, finally, now I am the president.

I wanted to be the president of BSU because I felt like I had a duty to do. I know a lot about the organization and I felt like I had a lot to offer the black community on campus. It is my senior year, and I felt like it was something I needed to do; if not me, then who else? It was that kind of thing. My entire existence revolves around blackness and black liberation.

P: What is black artistry and what does it mean to you?

MS: Black artistry is everything that is blackness to me. It isn’t just paintings, not just music. Black artistry is like the black girl that gets up and beats her face and goes through her 9 to 5. That is black artistry to me. It is also the guy that is sitting in his home, and creates his own home studio and he wants to be a rapper or a motivational speaker. Black artistry is not what is conventional to the status

quo, but is like everything that allows blackness to exist in a space that tries to stifle black creativity.

P: What was the experience like to come to the United States after living in Guyana? How has it affected you and influenced your thinking?

MS: I came here when I was 10 years old, and have been in the United States of America for 12 years now. I am very involved in Guayana still. Being Guyanese is very interesting to me because in Guyana there is no black and white binary. Instead, there is a black and Indian binary that exists there. So the antiblackness and white supremacy is a lot more covert there than it is in America.

When I came to America, I didn’t know I was black until I was told I was black. In Guyana, you’re just Guyanese — you’re black, but the implications are so different. Blackness in Guyana is now reaching a point where they are becoming aware that they are Afro-Guyanese, and people are standing firm in their identity. Here, I have a different perspective on immigration, and a different perspective on what it means to be black in totality, but also what it means to be West Indian and what it means to be perceived as African American or what it means to have that West Indian-African divide versus the AfricanAmerican divide. So it’s like a bridge that I am working on closing. I still have family members that don’t think they are black because they are Guyanese. They think that being black is synonymous with African American when in reality that’s not what it is.

P: What does Black History Month mean to you?

MS: Black History Month means

Somya Pandey Monet Schultz is a senior majoring in sociology and the president of the Black Student Union. something different every year. Every year I try to channel a different energy into Black History Month. I think, overall, Black History Month is just a symptom of black excellence. It’s the month that we get to celebrate ourselves. I think Black History Month sets the tone for celebrating yourself all year round until the next February comes around. February is what, 28 days? It doesn’t mean that much in the grand scheme of things.

You know how you have to start off a race strong, that’s what it is, you start off the year strong. You start off January preparing for Black History Month, that’s when you get to your peak and you excel. I used to run track, so I think about things in terms of races. So, you get to your peak

and excel, and then you don’t lose control for the rest of the year — celebrating yourself, celebrating your blackness and everything about blackness.

PRISM has edited this interview for length and clarity.

“Voices of Binghamton” is a column created to give voice to branches of the campus that may have previously gone unheard or underrepresented. It is a space that illuminates the stories of our current leaders and those who intend to be our future leaders. If you know anyone who should be featured in subsequent installments, please submit names to spandey2@binghamton.edu

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February 26, 2018

On the origins of rock ’n’ roll Who were the real pioneers?

Wembo Tiapo Rock ‘n’ roll as we know it today is usually attributed to white artists and acts. With many big names like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Elvis Presley who made their careers through this style of music, it would be easy to believe that rock ‘n’ roll music is a genre by whites, for whites. The history of rock ‘n’ roll is deep, marred by a dishonest origin and is hardly told.

The term “rock ‘n’ roll” was coined in 1951 by a Cleveland radio DJ named Alan Freed. Freed worked for a major radio station during a time when large stations were known to only play music by white artists to cater to their white audience members.

He defied this industry standard and played R&B records — a style of music that was dominated by black artists — on his radio show. To avoid the stigma attached to R&B and to gain white acceptance of black artistry, he needed a new term to label the style of music he played.

Freed’s answer came from the 1951 single “Sixty Minute Man,” by all-black group Billy Ward and his Dominoes. The lyrics “I rock ‘em, roll ‘em all night long,” inspired the term “rock ‘n’ roll.”

Later that year, Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner released the song “Rocket 88.”

With its distorted electric guitar and heavy backbeat, “Rocket 88” is often cited as the first rock ‘n’ roll record, according to an article published on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s website.

However, the history of rock ‘n’ roll goes back even further.

The genre evolved from the African American musical styles of gospel, blues, jazz and R&B. These styles were derived

from the call-and-response vocal patterns of the early African slaves. Elements of rock ‘n’ roll can be found in nearly every jazz, blues and R&B song — even those dating back to the 1920s.

By the 1940s, R&B had established itself as a black genre, with artists like Fats Domino and Arthur Crudup leading the way. Soon after, record labels took notice of the “new” style of music and wanted to capitalize on it. But they did not want the authentic, original black artists; they wanted marketable artists, ones who could be televised and proudly promoted: white artists.

Sam Phillips, a record producer and the founder of Sun Records, was at the forefront of the race to find white artists who could sound like black artists. According to The New Yorker, there is a story — albeit a disputed one — about comments Phillips made about finding black-sounding white artists. He allegedly said: “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.” Regardless of whether he said those words verbatim or even said them at all, there is truth to the sentiment.

Immediately, popular white pop artists were urged by their record labels to do covers of new rock ‘n’ roll records, without permission from the original artists, according to documentary miniseries “The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” White artist Pat Boone did covers of songs like Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame,” and Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti.” Additionally, Bill Haley and the Saddlemen recorded a cover of Jackie Brenston’s “Rocket 88.” These covers all reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts, since rock ‘n’ roll was not a category at the time.

Then came along Elvis Presley, a young, talented musician, who became known as the supposed “king of rock ‘n’ roll.” Presley grew up in a poor neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee and intermixed with

the black population for most of his life.

He was heavily influenced by black culture and black music.

At the age of 18, he was signed to Phillips’ Sun Records after their first meeting in 1953. He had all the qualities that Phillips was looking for — as the Memphis PressScimitar put it, “He has a white voice [and] sings with a Negro rhythm.” The following year, he was covering R&B songs including “That’s All Right,” by Arthur Crudrup and “Hound Dog,” by Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton. According to The New Yorker, these covers sold more copies and charted higher than the original versions sung by black artists.

Quickly, white artists stealing black artists’ music became the norm, to the point

that the average white consumer believed that the covers they heard were the original sounds of rock ‘n’ roll. Many of the white artists never gave official recognition to the original performers, nor did they pay out royalties. It is true that most of these actions were spearheaded by the record labels, but most artists did not do anything to counter the practices.

Today, there is an appreciation for the talent and artistry of many black rock ’n’ roll pioneers like B.B. King, Chuck Berry and later greats, such as Jimi Hendrix and Prince. But the story of how rock ‘n’ roll got to where it is today is not always told.

Its shady history is deliberately hidden, and oftentimes, too much credit is attributed to the wrong artists.

Provided by AllMusic Released in 1951, “Rocket 88” is considered by some as one of the first rock ‘n’ roll songs ever created. The song’s performers, Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner, were both members of the group “Ike Turner and His Kings of Rhythm.”

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The Black History Month playlist “The Blacker The Berry” and “i” — Kendrick Lamar

Courtney Mitchell Black History Month is a time dedicated to highlighting the success and contributions of black people all over the globe. One way people can celebrate, is by listening to music by black artists.

Spanning a wide variety of genres and artists, music allows lyrics about black topics, such as racism or culture, to be fully realized. In honor of Black History Month, enjoy this playlist comprised of powerful songs that celebrate the black experience.

To listen along, follow PRISM on Spotify. To make it easier to find us, use your phone to scan the following code. Click the camera symbol in the top right corner of the Spotify search bar and scan.

Two of the standouts on Lamar’s critically acclaimed 2015 album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” these tracks purposely contradict each other as “i” celebrates one’s self and blackness, while “The Blacker The Berry” deals with racialized self-hatred. The contrasting ideals of these songs highlight double consciousness, a term coined by W.E.B. DuBois to explain the idea of being both black and American.

“Them Changes” — Thundercat Created by multi-instrumentalists Thundercat, Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington, this track follows a ’70s R&B mood reminiscent of the likes of The Isley Brothers — specifically, their song “Footsteps in the Dark,” which is sampled in the track.

“Don’t Touch My Hair” — Solange feat. Sampha Solange emerged as a star in 2016 with her album, “A Seat at the Table,” and this track can be seen as the heart of the project’s overall message. Here, Solange sings about her personal experience with hostility in white spaces, and even more straightforwardly, with the microaggression of having her hair touched.

This piece can be seen as a denial of this behavior and, more importantly, a strong assurance of personal identity.

“Everything Is Everything” — Ms. Lauryn Hill This 1998 song describes the injustices and misunderstood struggles that have followed inner-city black youth in the United States for years. On this track, Hill sings an R&B and gospel record with an accompanying appearance by a young John Legend on piano.

“Q.U.E.E.N.” — Janelle Monaé feat. Erykah Badu This track’s title stands for “Queer community. Untouchables.

Emigrants. Excommunicated. Negroid.” It follows Monaé and Badu as they perceive themselves as powerful women who are oppressed. The lyrics follow a unique pattern, with each line showing the women expressing their views on sexuality, religion and race.

Check out the full playlist on Spotify.

Kendrick Lamar — “The Blacker The Berry” Solange — “Don’t Touch My Hair” Marvin Gaye — “What’s Going On” Moses Sumney — “Plastic” Ms. Lauryn Hill — “Everything Is Everything” Booker T. Jones feat. Yim Yames — “Progress” India.Arie — “Video” Janelle Monáe feat. Erykah Badu — “Q.U.E.E.N.” Thundercat— “Them Changes” Stevie Wonder — “Living For The City” Lenny Kravitz — “Looking Back on Love” Patti LaBelle — “Lady Marmalade” Nas — “I Can” M.I.A. — “Finally” Childish Gambino — “Terrified”

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February 26, 2018

Exploring colorism among Latinos Acknowledging a lack of intersectionality in the community

Sarah Molano I love my Hispanic and Latino brothers and sisters, but there’s something we need to confront within our communities: antiblackness. According to a Pew Research poll, 24 percent of U.S. Hispanics identify as Afro-Latino.

I’d venture to guess that the number of Afro-Latinos in the country is actually higher, but so many Hispanic people try to distance themselves from their African ancestry and thus refuse to selfidentify as Afro-Latino.

This issue has hit the headlines recently thanks to Amara La Negra, a self-identified Afro-Latina who appears on “Love & Hip Hop: Miami.” The singer’s popularity has risen in part because of controversy surrounding her identity. Apparently, some people didn’t know Afro-Latinos exist. La Negra has spent her time in the limelight educating others on her identity, as well as discussing the issue of colorism.

Afro-Latinos are people whose ancestry originated from both Latin America and Africa. Take La Negra as an example: She is an Afro-Latina of Dominican descent, so she is both black and Dominican. In an interview with Allure, La Negra said: “I always knew from a very early age that my skin color was different from the rest of the people I worked with and that it came

with a responsibility, racism, being looked down upon,” she said.

“Anytime there are cops, I go into a total panic because even though I’m Afro-Latina, we feel the same fears as the African American community. Until you talk to us, you don’t know that we’re Latino.

We’re seen as black and we have the same fears.”

La Negra continually notes that due to her dark skin, she’s had a harder time making it as a successful Latina artist. In an interview with NPR’s “Latino USA,” she pointed out that the most successful Latinas today — Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Salma Hayek — are all light-skinned.

That brings up colorism, which is discrimination based on skin color. This doesn’t just include racism between groups; it includes discrimination within races and ethnicities. It’s no secret that through Eurocentric beauty standards, lighter skin has been culturally instilled as the preferred skin tone. This happens within both the black and Hispanic communities, but I want to highlight it within the Hispanic community because it’s the one I’m a part of.

Anti-black Latinos have not been shy to criticize and even ridicule La Negra. Her afro became a topic of conversation when, on an episode of “Love & Hip Hop: Miami,” light-skinned Latino producer Young Hollywood implied she should tone down her blackness if she wants to make it big. She was also mocked on the Dominican variety show “Aquí Se Habla Español,” on which former beauty queen Geisha Montes de Oca parodied the singer while

Provided by Billboard Amara La Negra, star of “Love & Hip Hop: Miami,” spearheaded a mainstream conversation on the issue of colorism within the Latino community. wearing blackface makeup.

Anti-blackness within our community isn’t just on TV, though. I couldn’t tell you how many Dominican friends I’ve had who are clearly dark-skinned, but refuse to acknowledge their African roots. Latinos outside of the United States are also guilty of this. A study published in a 2002 issue of Social Cognition compared American Hispanic and Chilean attitudes toward lightskinned versus dark-skinned Hispanic people. Unsurprisingly, the study found that both groups had a strong preference for the lightskinned subgroup. Even the darkskinned subgroup had a preference for the light-skinned one in both American Hispanics and

Chileans, “suggesting that the desirability of light skin apparently supersedes national boundaries.”

Light-skinned Latinos like myself need to acknowledge that even though we face racism, we have a level of privilege that our dark-skinned counterparts lack.

Though we are still a minority, we have greater representation in mainstream pop culture than dark-skinned Latinos.

We, as a community, need to start having the conversation about colorism and antiblackness within our circles. We need to better educate each other about Afro-Latino identity and how Afro-Latinos are just as great a part of our community as anyone else. All of our countries have

ugly histories of colonization and slave trading. Latinos are a lot more connected to Africans than many may know and we need to stop denying the African ancestry that many Latinos have.

The Latino community should be welcoming La Negra and all Afro-Latinos with open arms.

More than that, we should be elevating their voices, which have been ignored for so long. I have no doubt that La Negra is serving as a role model to young Afro-Latinos everywhere who haven’t had someone who looks and sounds like them on TV. She shouldn’t be their only role model, though; we must strive to keep our Afro-Latino brothers and sisters included, valued and uplifted.

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February 26, 2018

Help Pipe Dream track hate crimes ProPublica’s project aims to build national database

Provided by ProPublica

Staff Reports In the past few years, Binghamton University has experienced a good deal of race-related issues. In 2017, reported instances included racist drawings appearing in multiple residence halls and a city resident shouting racial slurs at BU’s X-Fact’r Step Team.

Across the country, the data kept on hate crime and bias incidents is woefully inadequate. There isn’t a single reliable national database on hate crimes and bias incidents.

That’s why Pipe Dream is partnering with ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit organization dedicated to investigative reporting, to document hate crimes and other bias incidents that occur on BU’s campus and in the surrounding communities.

ProPublica’s project, Documenting Hate, is collecting reports to create a national database of hate crimes and bias incidents that will be used to inform broader reporting of the issue for news organizations around the country.

The FBI defines hate crimes as “criminal offenses motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” But even its database of such incidents is flawed, untimely and incomplete.

A bias incident is an offense motivated in whole or in part by the offender’s animosity toward the victim’s race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or other protected status. It may not be considered a crime under the law. This could include incidents involving harassment or intimidation.

Whether you are a victim or a witness, or you hear about a hate crime or bias incident secondhand, we need your help to track down these untold stories. Neither ProPublica nor Pipe Dream will share your name or contact information with any outside organization, including the University.

If you’ve experienced or witnessed an incident of hate or bias, please share your story with us below. A Pipe Dream or PRISM reporter may follow up with you for more details to the extent you are comfortable sharing them.

The Southern Poverty Law Center recommends that you also report any hate crimes or bias incidents to the police or other relevant authorities. Binghamton’s New York State University Police can be reached at (607) 777-2393. BU’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion can be reached at (607) 777-4775, and its incident form can be found here (https://www.binghamton.edu/multicultural-resource-center/programs/ report-incident.html). Find the form at bupipedream. com/documentinghate.

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February 26, 2018

SHADES is here to stay A follow-up to Pipe Dream’s portrayal of SHADES

Kalissa Sawyer On Jan. 24, Pipe Dream printed an issue with the headline, “SHADES struggles with membership decline.” Chartered in 2011, SHADES is the only LGBTQIAP+ organization on campus that caters specifically to people of color. At first, I was excited to see the predominantly white staff of Pipe Dream push the conversation of an issue involving

the multicultural community to the front page of their print issue.

However, my enthusiasm quickly waned when I realized the poor coverage of the SHADES town hall and how important facts and discourse were left out.

This article only reaffirmed my awareness of the ways in which white-dominated spaces have the propensity to silence people of color and to disentangle themselves from revealing the injustice of white institutions, like Binghamton University.

The multicultural community on campus is a minority community. Our community has always struggled to gain prominence and

recognition within an institution that likes to celebrate “diversity” while doing virtually nothing to address the problems students of color face.

With that said, the number of students who identify along the LGBTQIAP+ spectrum and are of color is an even smaller minority. I bring all of this up to counter this statement made in the article: “Despite the meeting’s specific focus on SHADES’ status, many attendees noted that the club’s current situation reflects a larger problem faced by many multicultural and LGBTQ clubs, including declining membership and greater competition among

Kevin Paredes SHADES fundraising chair Abigail Walters, a sophomore majoring in psychology, and SHADES secretary Shabie Achil, a freshman majoring in business administration, fundraise in the Tillman Lobby.

themselves. SHADES’ current situation can be partially attributed to its competition for membership with other organizations like the Rainbow Pride Union (RPU) and the Q Center.”

This was taken out of context.

We never spoke about SHADES competing for membership with any of the aforementioned organizations at the town hall. Rather, we emphasized the importance of SHADES as it exists as a subgroup of all the multicultural organizations and RPU. We serve a very specific population — students of color who identify as LGBTQIAP+ or are in questioning. This is because gender and sexuality conflate with race in a unique way that exacerbates experiences of marginalization and stigma.

Therefore, there is no need to compete. What we addressed in this town hall meeting was the critical status of SHADES, because there was both low membership and a lack of coordination between SHADES and the various multicultural organizations. We didn’t, as this article would imply, point fingers at any particular student-run organization or the greater culture of the multicultural community. However, there is a need for greater support within our community, which I am happy to say occurred within the weeks following this town hall.

The lack of membership or involvement doesn’t mean there is a lack of need. What I found to be the most demoralizing aspect of this article was the omission of critical discussion regarding the ways the BU administration and the Student Association histori-

cally and currently have disenfranchised the multicultural and LGBTQIAP+ communities. This disenfranchisement is inextricably related to the issues that have played out with both SHADES and the multicultural community as a whole.

For instance, the Multicultural Resource Center has been allocating less funding, especially within the most recent years since its original founding in 2002. In addition, the Q Center also faces threats to its existence by way of budget cuts, even though it was established in 2017. To see how much the University prioritizes the on-campus presence of these centers, all you have to do is see their locations in the basement of Glenn G. Bartle Library. It’s also important to note that both of these resource centers were birthed out of student activism and demand.

To be honest, the execution of the article in Pipe Dream did not surprise me. In retrospect, the writer who wrote the article probably didn’t take any of what I have previously mentioned into account. However, that’s not an excuse for the staff to have been so negligent. That is why publications like PRISM are so important, so that the narrative of the multicultural community is controlled by the multicultural community. In regard to SHADES, we aren’t going anywhere.

Kalissa Sawyer is the vice president of SHADES, the president of the Latin American Student Union and a senior majoring in human development.

Sam Puerto Photos from the Multicultural Resource Center’s Lunar New Year event.

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February 26, 2018

Supporting black artistry Are we entering a Renaissance?

Malachi Mitchell Black people have been dominating in everything from movies to music to fine arts. In the past couple of years, there’s been a rise not only in awareness, but also in praise for black art — and it’s about time.

The biggest and most recent example of this awareness has been the hype surrounding Marvel Studios’ newest feature film, “Black Panther.” There’s a huge wave of excitement over the film, which has an almost exclusively black cast and crew. This isn’t the first time we’re seeing people of color star in superhero films; “Blade” and “Spawn” did it first.

That there are people of color behind the camera and that the Marvel Studios brand is being attached to it makes this film even more special.

We saw this last year with the surprise box office hit, and highest-grossing debut for a writer-director based on an original screenplay, “Get Out.” The director, Jordan Peele of the show “Key & Peele,” became the first African American writer-director to earn over $100 million in their first film. The film is also up for best picture at this year’s Academy Awards, an award that went to “Moonlight,” another movie starring and created by people of color, last year.

In the last couple of years,

we’ve seen shows like Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” and Issa Rae’s “Insecure” become critical and commercial successes. The former of the two earned Glover an Emmy and Golden Globe, while the latter launched Rae into stardom. Shows like “Black-ish,” and its spinoff, “Grown-ish,” both star and were made by people of color and have seen success. These shows are real and relatable to black people because they’re made by people who fully understand what it’s like to be black in the United States.

These shows don’t put us into the stereotypical roles we’re used to seeing, like the drug dealer or gang member. Additionally, these shows are still able to reach and mean something to people who aren’t black because they have characters that are real and com-

plex, and writing that’s fresh and thought-provoking, that makes us want to come back the next week for more.

Black musical artists have been dominating popular culture for a while now, but it became official last year. According to Billboard, R&B and hip-hop music were the most-consumed musical genres in 2017. Artists like Drake, The Weeknd and Beyoncé have been doing numbers like their pop contemporaries for a while, but 2017 saw a lot of rappers reaching new heights. Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed album “DAMN.” was the second highest-selling album of 2017.

The album also won the Compton rapper five Grammys. Additionally, “Bad and Boujee” by Migos and Lil Uzi Vert peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 records

list.

In the world of fine arts, painters like Kerry James Marshall have taken over. His paintings show what it’s like to be black in the United States. In an October article in The New York Times, he is lauded as becoming one of the great history painters of our time. Additionally, black artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald were chosen to paint the official portraits of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. The paintings shunned the typically stuffy air of presidential portraits and displayed a refreshing exuberance that shook the core of American ideals.

Black art is the new mainstream. We were always ready, but now, the rest of the United States is catching up.

Provided by New York Amsterdam News Marvel’s “Black Panther” premiered on Feb. 16. In the four days following the movie’s release, it grossed $427 million worldwide.

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February 26, 2018

Supporting black businesses We only thrive with the help of each other

Tykeem Banini One common self-critique among black people is that we don’t support each other enough, but part of the reason is a lack of knowledge. Here are five blackowned businesses you can support so you can no longer use that excuse.

as 10.Deep and Stussy. Each new collection of Sample Industries has a different theme. Most releases are used to honor the location of the sneaker conventions the founding duo attends, but there have been releases with different concepts. This month, Sample Industries released a Black History Month collection.

This collection was on the smaller side, featuring only a hoodie and a T-shirt. The hoodie is currently sold out, but you can still buy the T-shirt for $38. The hefty price tag is because of the French terry fabric and the embroidered designs on the front and back of the shirt.

moisture. Founded by Pamela J. Booker, Koils By Nature’s products are primarily vegan, containing no animal or animal-derived ingredients, and cruelty-free, meaning none of the products were tested on animals. The products are also sulfate-free, paraben-free and silicone-free.

Additionally, Koils By Nature also sells products that promote beard growth, like leave-in conditioner, beard combs and drying towels.

The brand is primarily sold online, however, it is also available at certain Target locations. It is not sold at the Target in Vestal, New York.

Sample Industries Sample Industries is an urban streetwear brand owned Flat Out

by YouTubers BULL1TRC and Koils By Nature If you’re known to walk around ToNYD2WiLD. Founded in March Koils By Nature is a brand of barefoot with sore feet after wear2015, this brand is comparable natural hair-care products that ing heels for too long, you might to more well-known brands such promotes both hair growth and want to check out this brand. De-

signed to be comfortable, portable and stylish, Flat Out is a brand of ballet flat-style shoes that have been created to help people who wear heels for extended periods of time. Founded by Dawn Dickinson, the company sells these flats at prices between $30 and $40.

The shoes are machine-washable and customers can opt to customize their Flat Outs.

Radical Dreams Pins are one accessory that seems to never go out of style.

Radical Dreams sells pins that represent black culture, including ones that depict pivotal historical figures such as Malcolm X and Ida B. Wells. Radical Dreams also carries pins of pop-culture figures like Marvel’s Black Panther and football player Colin Kaepernick. The brand was devel-

oped by Shannon Pringle, a student at Meharry Medical College in Tennessee. All proceeds from the sales go to charitable organizations geared toward supporting the black community, like Black Girls Code, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Houston Coalition for the Homeless.

On Second Thought Everyone sends texts they didn’t mean to, so why not have the ultimate protection against that? Co-founded by Maci Peterson, a former student at Spelman College, On Second Thought gives users more control over conversations. Unlike other texting apps, On Second Thought users are able to set a time frame in which they can change the content of their text. The app is free in the Google Play Store.

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PRISM

February 26, 2018

Representation on social media Using the positive powers of platforms like Instagram

Dina Rabie The influence of social media is huge, and it can be hard to navigate conflicting feelings about your racial or cultural identity when the people in media look nothing like you. Underrepresented people can feel empowered when they see large accounts validating their experiences. Additionally, individuals can use social media to educate themselves about other cultures and their struggles, and learn how to become effective allies. PRISM has compiled a list of activist Instagram accounts that will bless your timeline every day. @Arab_America According to its Instagram bio, the goal of this account is to bridge “together the diverse Arab communities of America.” It does this by sharing the feats, fashions, foods and experiences of Arab Americans. It also discusses political, social and economic factors that affect the Arab community. Recently, the page featured a series called “15 Arab-Americans Who Stole the Spotlight in 2017” that included doctors, bloggers, supermodels (did you know Gigi and Bella Hadid are Palestinian?), makeup gurus, philanthropists, lawmakers and more.

Kevin Paredes The Instagram account @Arab_America features the diverse Arab community by presenting photos and information on pop culture, politics and beauty.

@BrownIssues This organization strives to encourage brown leaders to #RiseUpAsOne and take a stand for social justice. Its stated mission is to “cultivate the next generation of brown leaders through civic engagement, social-emotional health support and narrative change.”

It raises awareness about immigrant rights, celebrates diversity on college campuses and works to integrate brown folks into the mainstream narrative. BrownIssues describes immigrants as butterflies, stating, “[they] migrate for survival and, in doing so, pollinate @AsianGirlsUnited the lands, making flowers and food grow.

“Exhausted not exotic,” reads the Asian- Similarly, immigrants that have come here to GirlsUnited bio. Many posts reinforce that the United States have brought rich cultural there are many more Asian countries outside traditions and love.” of China, Japan and Korea. The page asserts that all Asian cultures, features and experienc@RespectMyHair es are valid, unique and beautiful. A main comAs one of its recent posts states, “black hair ponent of the page is to emphasize that there isn’t political, but society makes it political.” is no such thing as being “not Asian enough,” This page is dedicated to showcasing diversity and to break down harmful constructs like col- in hair and promotes cultural pride by highorism. And, by the way, #PraisinTheAsian self- lighting the beauty of both men and women of ies are the best selfies. color. It works to normalize different types of

hair and culture by featuring photos of people of color in the workforce, being activists, community organizers, parents and students, all while rocking their natural, curly, kinky hair.

There are also hilarious, relatable memes that will definitely have you laughing out loud. @TheCurryMovement Sporting the tagline “Keep calm and curry on,” this Australia-based page works to break down stereotypes about Southeast Asian cultures, and highlights a range of underrepresented features within those communities.

The page administrators spread beauty appreciation and educate their followers about diverse cultures, fashions, lifestyles and complexions. @BlackGirlInOm Following the declaration in their bio, BlackGirlInOm creates “space for women of color to breathe easy.” This organization celebrates the various beautiful shades of women of color while promoting self-care through a series of portraits and empowering poems.

Curls on canvas Sophea Clarke, a sophomore majoring in biology, uses art as a way to embrace her culture, exercise her creativity and express her emotions.

By Kara Jillian Brown Photos by Kevin Paredes

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S

ophea Clarke can go months without painting.

When she does sit down to create, it’s only after she’s struck with inspiration. Most recently, an Instagram ad for a moon-shaped lamp sparked her creativity. She rarely forces herself to come up with an idea, because she said she likes her work better when the idea comes naturally.

The lack of adequate lighting in her College-in-the-Woods dorm coupled with the soft glow of string lights creates what she describes as a soothing atmosphere.

Recently, she’s been vibing to alterative R&B music like FKJ and Noname. She doesn’t have an easel, so she often sits on her bed to paint. Sometimes she paints alone, but other times her roommate joins her.

Sophea Clarke’s work focuses on imagery influenced by her identity as a black woman. Clarke, a sophomore majoring in biology, works mainly in acrylics, but she also uses water colors and colored pencils.

Overwhelmingly feminine in nature, her “magical realism” work contains images of flowers, butterflies and women like herself — black, with curly hair. “[Curly hair] looks so beautiful when you paint it in pictures,” she said. “It started off with the curly hair and then I just kept it going. I never make a painting of someone with straight hair.”

The Bronx-based beauty grew up surrounded by the arts. She’s always been a singer, thanks to her father, Philemon, who comes from a big family of singers. Her mother, Marisol, also sings but only in her native tongue of Spanish.

Clarke has early memories of her mother drawing portraits on the white paper table covers at restaurants and the two often made trips to Broadway plays and museums. Despite this influence, Clarke didn’t take up painting until she was in

high school.

“I saw something on Instagram, you know those Instagram artists and stuff, and they have really nice art,” she said.

“I was just like, ‘I feel like I want to paint something, I just want to learn how to do that.’ And then I just did.”

During her junior year of high school, she bought her first set of paints — acrylic, the medium she typically paints in — and a pad of paper. Painted on a ripped piece of paper, her first work shows a girl with flowers tucked into a short afro, with vines around her throat. She said her paintings are influenced by her love for her own curls, a love that, at the time, she had only recently developed.

“I remember the first day [of freshman year] I came with my hair straightened and then, I don’t remember why, but then I washed it,” she said. “I was tired

of it. So from then on I just stopped straightening my hair.”

Clarke got her hair straightened for the first time when she was in kindergarten because she wanted to look more like her mom, who is a is a fair-skinned Puerto Rican woman with straight hair and front bangs. Clarke’s thick curls come mainly from her dad’s side; he is a black man from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. “[In middle school,] if people were like, ‘Oh, what are you?’ I’d be like ‘I’m Puerto Rican,’” she said. “I wouldn’t say the Vincentian part because I guess there was some sort of, like, deep fear of identifying as black.

“There were those boys, like middle school boys who would be like, ‘Oh, I don’t want no black girl ’cause she’s like this and that,’ and just saying so much

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disrespectful stuff. So I guess I internalized that.”

A fair complexion gives Clarke the privilege of being able to pass, a privilege that she said, in hindsight, she wishes she didn’t take advantage of.

“Now I’m just so proud of blackness and it shows in my art and it shows just in everyday life, and I was just much more unhappy before accepting this part of me,” she said. “Trying to reject a part of yourself is never a good thing. You’re just not gonna be as happy as you could be. So now I just feel like it’s been a weight off.”

She said lessons from her father helped her come into her skin. He taught her about her culture and topics like systemic racism.

“When you really think about it, slavery wasn’t that long ago. So when

you see certain areas in the city where my father works, like, inner-city areas, he would tell me how slavery actually created the social structure of these areas,” she said. “They don’t talk about that in school.”

Her father, who is a math teacher, also influenced her career plans. Clarke is a biology major and she wants to become a pediatrician.

“The STEM part isn’t really a part of my personality, per se — it’s just

my goal,” she said. “[Art] is more of an expressive part that kind of is who I am, whereas STEM is like what I want to do.”

In addition to painting, Clarke also expresses herself through poetry. When she was younger, her mom used to read her poems like Langston Hughes’ “Montage of A Dream Deferred.” Her favorite is “One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII” by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

“I usually write poems when I’m kind of in a bad place,” she said. “My poems

Untitled by Sophea Clarke I write these words In an attempt To take ugly things, And make them into something beautiful.

The kind of beauty that tugs on an aching heart.

The kind of beauty that could have only been born in a painful place.

And when a person reads my words, And is overtaken by a quiet wave of understanding, And can feel the heaviness of the pained beauty on their mind and heart as they read, Then I am no longer alone.

are kind of, not usually sad, but more a little on the side. I feel like my [paintings are] definitely more joyful, and then the poems [are] more emotional.”

Clarke sees art as an extension of herself.

“You’ve created something and it’s yours,” she said. “That’s why it’s so hard for me if people ask to buy an original painting that I have. It’s so hard to part ways with it.”

Although Clarke enjoys creating, she doesn’t see herself ever pursuing a fulltime career in the arts. She’s afraid that if it’s her job, it’ll take the joy out of it.

For now, Clarke is focused on creating work that she’s proud of and makes her happy. Work that depicts the beautiful features of blackness — curly hair, wide noses and big lips — that she’s grown to love.

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PRISM

February 26, 2018

Boy band champions inclusivity Brockhampton is in the middle of their tour, ‘Love Your Parents’

Steven Gonzalez After traveling for four hours and waiting two hours outside Irving Plaza in the cold, I finally got to see Brockhampton play live.

Brockhampton (stylized as BROCKHAMPTON) is a hip-hop group and a selfproclaimed boy band formed in San Marco, Texas in 2015. I got hooked as soon as I heard “GOLD” off of their debut album, “SATURATION,” which dropped in June 2017. It’s so catchy and well-produced that I was surprised it came from an indie group and not a record label. Each member brought something different to the table, which kept the album fresh. It was an impressive debut and their ambition for the year made me certain they had untapped potential.

Brockhampton has always had an inclusive message. Founding member Kevin Abstract is gay and consistently raps about how these topics are shunned by the rap community.

“I told my mom I was gay, why the fuck she ain’t listen?,” Abstract rapped on “JUNKY.” “Why you always rap about bein’ gay?/ Cause not enough n***** rap and be gay.”

Many of the other members have verses that speak on depression, socio-economic issues, racism and police brutality. They also have lighter songs, but it’s important that they highlight these issues because their platform grows bigger every day.

Their label as a boy band stresses how the term can be genre-bent. At the end of the day, they are undermining the music industry and providing a unique message, while proving they are more than just a band.

The roots for Brockhampton were planted in 2010 when Abstract posted in

Provided by SD Hip-hop group Brockhampton during a show at The Observatory North Park in San Diego. This was the last show of their first tour, Jennifer’s Tour. the KanyeLive forum (now known as Kanye To The) looking for people who wanted to be in a band. After multiple responses, Abstract formed AliveSinceForever with Ameer Vann, Dom McLennon and MiC Kurb. They released an EP, but eventually broke up and rebranded as Brockhampton with all but Kurb remaining.

The group quickly bolstered its roster to include 14 members, but not all of them perform. Their duties range from musical roles like performing and producing to visual roles like graphic design, photography and creative direction. Taking inspiration from Odd Future, the group handles every aspect of their music and their image.

In 2016 they released their first mixtape, “All-American Trash.” This was soon followed by the Viceland series “American Boyband,” which highlighted the do-it-yourself nature behind their production. In addition to “Saturation,” the group released “Saturation II” and “Saturation III” in 2017.

Seemingly overnight, the group grew in popularity and each album garnered more critical acclaim than its predecessor. On Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart, “Saturation II” peaked at No. 57 and “Saturation III” climbed to No. 15. They plan to release their fourth album, “Team Effort,” later this year.

Their current nationwide tour, the Love Your Parents Tour, began on Jan. 17 and will end on March 7. I saw them on Feb. 9 and the show was splendid.

They knew how to keep the energy going and play the crowd, a quality I feel is underrated in live shows. This included talking to the crowd, demanding mosh pits as the beat drops and hanging off the balcony. They also shouted out Anthony Fantano, a popular music blogger who attended the show — and whom I, of course, snuck a picture with — and is mentioned in “ZIPPER.” They performed hits from the entire trilogy but stressed songs off of their latest album like “BLEACH.” This song in particu-

lar is slower than the rest of the album, and speaks on the issues that affect the anxiety and mental health of the group members.

The chorus begins: “Who got the feeling?/ Tell me why I cry when I feel it/ Tell me why.”

Hearing the crowd sing these emotions and watching the band encourage them gave the venue a general sense of togetherness. It’s comforting to see feelings you have reflected by a band, but even more uplifting when it’s a crowd of people.

All in all, it was fun to hear those songs live because I believe it’s important that they exist. I’m bisexual and I’ve had mental health issues, and even if it’s somewhat of a cliche to say, “I love them because they’re like me, I’m not alone,” that’s how I feel, and I think that connection is necessary. There aren’t many bands that touch on these marginalized issues and to watch Brockhampton grow to include a more mainstream audience gives me hope for all of those confused souls.

Sam Puerto Powerful United Ladies Striving to Elevate (PULSE) hosted its sixth annual banquet on Saturday, Feb. 17. The banquet featured different performances and honored on-campus organizations for the impact they make on the BU community.

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PRISM

February 26, 2018

Racism against Asian Americans The race experiences subtle forms of discrimination Stella Huang On April 9, 2017, David Dao was violently dragged off a United Airlines flight after refusing to comply with a voluntary order to give up his seat for airline employees on standby. Dao was one of four passengers selected for “voluntary removal,” and of the four passengers selected, two were Asian American. And yet, according to The New York Times, Dao’s lawyer said what happened to him wasn’t an issue of racial discrimination.

This denial of race as a factor left me with a lot of unanswered questions: Why were half of the passengers who were selected for removal (Dr. Dao and his wife) Asian American? Why, when Dao exercised his right to refuse the order, was he violently smashed into the armrest of his own seat before being dragged, unconscious and bleeding, off of the plane? Why was he treated with such little dignity? The answers to all these questions are based on Dao’s race.

This story is a familiar one because I, like many other Asian Americans, have been in situations in which we’ve had to suffer injustices influenced by stereotypes of Asian Americans as weak and submissive. As an Asian American, I often had to choose between standing up for myself and my principles and subjecting myself to more abuse as a result, or shutting up and chalking it up to yet another person’s “innocent” ignorance. According to an article by Matthew Salesses published in “The Good Men Proj-

ect,” Asian Americans experience subtle racism that often goes unnoticed and unchecked.

“The truth is, racism toward Asians is treated differently in America than racism toward other ethnic groups,” Salesses wrote. “This is a truth all Asian Americans know. While the same racist may hold back terms he sees as off-limits toward other minorities, he will often not hesitate to call an Asian person a c***k, as Jeremy Lin was referred to, or talk about that Asian person as if he must know karate, or call him Bruce Lee, or consider him weak or effeminate, or so on.”

Asian Americans are constantly disrespected in mainstream media. For example, while Chris Rock was hosting the 2017 Academy Awards, he made three Asian kids the butt of a racist joke, implying that they tabulated the scores to determine the winners.

He also said: “If anybody’s upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone that was also made by these kids.” Ironically, this happened in the midst of the #OscarsSoWhite movement, one aimed toward fighting for diversity and equality in Hollywood.

Hollywood also practices whitewashing practices that exemplify how little value the industry places on Asian American representation. Emma Stone played an Asian American woman in the 2015 film “Aloha” and in 2016, Tilda Swinton played the role of a Tibetan monk in the film “Doctor Strange.” In response to cries of outrage, Scott Derrickson, the director of “Doc-

Illustration by Annabeth Sloan tor Strange,” responded that the casting of Swinton, a middleaged white woman, was what he saw as a diverse choice. In this case, feminism was deemed more important than Asian American representation.

Asian Americans are seen as the “safe race,” the race people can sacrifice when they see fit, without having to worry about consequences. Why? Because usually there aren’t any.

Dao was chosen because he was Asian and his race was perceived to be an automatic indication of weakness. A computer did not choose these people; the people who chose Dao were looking for targets and they saw him as weak, submissive and an easy, safe bet.

Society stereotypes Asian Americans as submissive, quiet and weak but also punishes them for speaking up for themselves. A

society that considers an act of self-defense to be an act of defiance is a society that will never allow justice or equality for Asian Americans. One way we can remedy this is by raising awareness about different types of racism and oppression. There isn’t just one form of racism. We need to start raising awareness for those who are invisible and giving them a platform for their voices to be heard.

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PRISM

February 26, 2018

The Binghamton POC survival guide How to navigate through a predominantly white institution

Aimee Montanez When prospective Binghamton University students open their Pantone 342 acceptance letters and read the word “Congratulations,” the familiar color may fill them with joy. But for students of color, enrolling in a predominantly white university comes along with everyday struggles they may not have initially considered. While diversity is growing on campus, there are still daily problems, such as a lack of representation and discrimination. If you find yourself

battling those struggles, here’s a Union, Powerful United Ladies guide on how to confront them. Striving to Elevate (PULSE) and the Black Student Union. A full Get involved list can be found on the MulticulFirst and foremost, get in- tural Resource Center’s (MRC) volved. Although we are way page under the Cultural and past the days of general interest LBGT+ Student Groups tab. meetings, it’s never too late to go to the programs and events that Find good eats are hosted by different cultural One way that people of color student groups throughout the are underrepresented on camsemester. From art shows and pus is in the food options. Fordance shows to banquets and tunately, there are some Asian fashion shows, there is a wide and Indian options located on variety of events that promote campus, but that doesn’t cover and showcase different cultural the majority of different cultural groups on campus. Not only are groups on campus. A good alterthey fun to attend, but they’re native is the food series “Culture also a way to respectfully enjoy at Chenango,” run by the MRC. and get immersed in different Once a month, the MRC showcultures. Take the extra step cases food from different culand join those student groups tures. Located in the Chenango like the Latin American Student Room, the event has brought

food from around the world.

They have served Caribbean and Latin American food in the past.

This month, they held a Black History Month edition, providing traditional food from the cultures of Africa and the African diaspora.

Don’t be passive A particular problem that a lot of students of color face on campus is discrimination from other students and sometimes faculty. Everyday, comments such as “You’re pretty for a black girl” or “You speak good English” are said. These are called microaggressions. They usually stem from ignorance, and the only way to avoid these types of comments is to confront them head-on. Microaggressions are usually based on stereotypes and prejudices that need to be questioned directly. When people realize that what they have said stems from a foolish preconception of a race, they may become more aware of what they say and how that can affect the people around them.

Be respectful Lastly, the best way to get around this campus is by respecting everyone around you. We all come from different backgrounds and the last thing we should do is discriminate against each other.

There needs to be acceptance in this community — acceptance of race, sexual orientation or anything that differentiates us from one another. With respect, a community can be built that Provided by Binghamton University hopefully won’t need a survival Opening the Binghamton University acceptance letter: the first task for a new Bearcat. guide in the future.

Kevin Paredes Binghamton Bhangra hosted its annual event, Bhangra Fever, on Saturday, Feb. 10. The event showcases and celebrates the Punjabi dance style.