MISSION SAN JOSE HIGH SCHOOL
VOL. 51, NO. 4
41717 PALM AVENUE, FREMONT, CA 94539
December 18, 2015
American studies professor speaks to MSJ students about race relations By Anu Asokan & Michelle Dalarossa Staff Writers Guest Speaker UC Berkeley Professor Justin Gomer discussed race and racial representation in American films with MSJ students on December 8. Students from multiple classes, including English, Ethnic Studies, and Art attended the presentation. Gomer, a UC Berkeley alumnus, earned his Ph.D. in African-American studies from the university in 2014 and began teaching at UC Berkeley in 2011. He has taught courses in the American Studies, African-American Studies, and Ethnic Studies departments. Gomer began his lecture by defining a few common terms like race and culture, explaining how race and its definition have evolved throughout history and how race is not a biological trait, but rather a product of social conflicts and interests. One focus of the presentation was “colorblindness,” a term that emphasizes the idea that one should view people as simply humans and not as members of a specific race. The concept was originally advocated by African-American leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. to advance the rights of people of color, but later used by opponents of the Civil Rights Movement to “take away the gains of Civil Rights,” said Gomer. He gave two main examples, school integration and affirmative action, that were gains of the Civil Rights Era, but later opposed using rhetoric promoting colorblindness. After providing students with this background information, Gomer moved on to the main topic of the presentation: how
MSJ students give back Student organizations hold canned food drives By Lucille Njoo & Cindy Yuan Staff Writers L2 organized a school-wide food drive in which all MSJ clubs and numerous classrooms donated cans, while Interact, Key Club, and Leo Club held a joint InterKeyLeo canned food drive, asking for donations of canned foods around the MSJ community. L2’s annual canned food drive began on November 5 and lasted until November 20. MSJ students brought cans of food to their third period classrooms in a school-wide contest for the most cans donated by a class. In addition, each of MSJ’s 88 clubs contributed
American movies represent African-Americans and their culture and why these representations matter. Using both recent films like Selma and 12 Years a Slave and older films like Mississippi Burning and The Long Walk Home, Gomer emphasized the power of films that do not merely retell a story or “transport meaning,” but create a new narrative that gives meaning to the characters and events it portrays. To demonstrate the relevance and importance of films, he explained that movies and pop culture in general influence the public’s conscious and subconscious thoughts and discourse, holding the power to perpetuate false narratives and stereotypes. Gomer continued that mainstream Hollywood often cast white leads in movies depicting black freedom struggles, whereas independent African-American directors featured AfricanAmerican leads in movies depicting the same struggle. Gomer concluded his hour-long presentation by correlating race to other topics like gender, poverty, and gentrification and answering questions from audience members regarding Ethnic Studies and social issues. Junior Anita Carraher, who attended the presentation with her English class, said, “He [Gomer] was able to to explain stuff clearly and give relatable anecdotes. I think the most interesting point brought up was that these movies…were still evidence of the culture that they were produced in, in how they retold their stories. I thought the presentation was well done!” ▪
staff writer michelle dalarossa
UC Berkeley Professor Justin Gomer discusses racial representation in Hollywood with MSJ students.
a mandatory donation of at least 30 cans. History Teacher Risha Krishna’s third period class won the contest for the most cans donated, at 364 cans. They were followed by Chemistry Teacher Ling-Ru Katy Kuei’s third period, at 196 cans, and Health Teacher Cate Ruebling’s third period, at 143 cans. In total, MSJ students donated 5,725 cans, amounting to $6000. The cans were donated through Abode Services to Sunrise Village Emergency Shelter, a local homeless shelter that will use the food to serve people in need in our own community, on November 20 and will be used to feed its residents during the holiday season and part of 2016. “We just wanted to help provide food to the less fortunate this holiday season, and what better way than to get donations from students?” said L2 Senior Spencer Chau. L2 has been holding its food drive for over ten years. Each year, they have collected about 5,000-6,000 cans. “I think it’s a good tradition that lets us give back to the commu-
CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN
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Junior Anthea Xiao placed first in the middle to high school division at the 42nd Annual Japanese Speech Contest, among other accomplishments.
nity,” said L2 Senior Anastasia Ecin. In addition to L2’s canned food drive, MSJ’s three largest service clubs, Interact, Key Club, and Leo Club, banded together for
“We just wanted to help provide food to the less fortunate this holiday season, and what better way than to get donations from students?”
- L2 Senior Spencer Chau
their annual InterKeyLeo canned food drive, their largest fundraiser of the year. In this event, members of all three clubs joined together to ask MSJ’s neighboring communities for canned and nonperishable food donations. The event was held over two separate days; on November 14 to hand out flyers, and on November 21 to collect door-to-door donations. This year, the InterKeyLeo drive donated 1,306 cans, far surpassing last year’s number
of barely 1,000 cans. “The reason that I think it’s one of the most important . . . events is the fact that . . . members from all three service clubs get to know and work with each other towards the same goal. That way we’re able to have a bigger impact because we cover the most area,” said Interact Co-President Senior Urmi Mustafi. The cans from the InterKeyLeo canned food drive were donated to Abode Services. True to the giving spirit of the holidays, MSJ students banded together to contribute to charities, donating a grand total of 7,031 cans and leaving a notable impact on the community. ▪
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