JANUARY 2024
DISCOVERED: DUSTIN MORROW by Darcy Williams
THE HERON’S FEATHER by Will Boechler
FIVE-STEP GUIDE TO WRITING ABOUT AFRICAN CHILDREN by Dr. Bright Alozie and Randall Yesmont
LEARNING FROM OCTAVIA BUTLER’S VISIONS OF OUR PRESENT by Hannah Althea WHAT WE’RE ENJOYING
EVENTS CALENDAR & EXTRAS
COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILL BOECHLER
CONTENTS
CHANGING THE NARRATIVE by Eva Sheehan
OF
12 16 18 ✴ 26 30 32 34
PORTLAN’S OWN BANDS WHO COVER THE CLASSICS by Becky Phillips
TABLE
6 10
PORTLAND STATE THROUGH TIME by J.M. Vincent
ARTS & CULTURE OPINION FEATURED EXTRAS
WHO WE ARE The Pacific Sentinel is a studentrun magazine that seeks to uplift the diverse cast of voices here at Portland State. We offer a space for writers and artists of all skill levels to hone their craft, gain professional experience, and express themselves. We are inspired by publications such as The New Yorker and The Atlantic. We advocate for the underrepresented and the marginalized. We are always looking for new students to join our contributor team as we can’t do it without your help. If you’re interested in working with us, visit our website at pacsentinel. com or contact our Executive Editor at editor@pacsentinel.com.
FEATURED THIS ISSUE hannah june althea is a first year
graduate student pursuing a degree in Urban and Regional Planning, with a focus on environment and design. She is inspired by natural history and contemporary ecological realities, and how our built and rural environments shape our lives. Lately when she’s not doing school or work, she loves eating pasta and hanging out with her fiancé and cat, or drawing.
will boechler is an author from
Fargo, North Dakota. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon, pursuing his MFA in Creative Writing and watching the rain fall by his window.
courtney jeffs is from Coos Bay
Oregon and moved to Portland to finish her bachelor’s degree in business advertising and marketing at Portland State University. She enjoys illustrating, story writing, and design.
yomari lobo is a creative originally
from Las Vegas, NV and now lives in Portland, OR studying book publishing at Portland State University. You can find her staring out her window waiting for the rain and inspiration to strike for her future best seller.
ann mcbride is from Eugene
Oregon and attends PSU as a graphic design major and psychology minor. She enjoys page layout, illustrating things, and playing bass.
becky phillips is originally from
Rochester, NY but has lived in Portland, OR for seven years. She studies nonfiction creative writing and is currently pursuing a career in music journalism.
laura renckens is a publishing
student and book designer compelled by work that connects art, ideas, and community. Hailing from the chilly lands of Minneapolis, Minnesota, she is a constant provider of midwestern energy and an avid road-tripper.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR eva sheehan grew up in Atlanta,
Georgia and moved to Portland to study book publishing. She loves poetry and exploring new coffee shops around the city.
j.m. vincent is a grad student studying climate dynamics at Portland State. When he’s not studying, he is writing and taking photographs for student media or taking a long walk and listening to a podcast.
darcy “dart” williams PSU class
of 2024. Writing about technology, policy, and the arts.
peyten woodruff grew up in
Meridian, Idaho. She is currently a freshman majoring in Graphic Design. When she is not drawing, she enjoys running for the PSU track/cross country team, reading and watching horror movies.
Dear Readers, Welcome to 2024! In honor of the Earth orbiting the sun once again, our theme for this month’s issue is time. Quite original, I know. However, time can mean many things. Time can change fashion, books, issues, and thoughts. Time can change an entire person. It can deepen their wrinkles and shrink them down closer to the earth. Change and growth are a product of time and it is something to be celebrated. In our Arts & Culture section, Hannah Althea discusses the prophetic sci-fi novel by Octavia Butler. From this novel, Althea deduces the inevitability of change and how systems of oppressive power will continue themselves throughout time if not systemically eradicated. We then have Darcy Williams write about her experience interviewing Portland State Film Professor Dustin Morrow. Within this interview, we can see how prior occupations can shape who we are and how we teach others. Will Boechler continues the world of film by reviewing the new Studio Ghibli film “The Boy and The Heron”. Boechler discusses how Hayao Miyazaki has changed and morphed his craft throughout time and this film is not quite like the others. Reeling back to our roots, J.M. Vincent displays Portland State University throughout time in pictures. The photos date as far back as the 1950s and each are little time capsules that showcase the school at the time. In our Opinions section, I illuminate the parent magazines that came before The Pacific Sentinel. Though these prior magazines don’t align with our current mission, I explain the importance of owning our past rather than burying it under the piles of issues in the Smith sub-basement. Becky Phillips travels decade by decade to list cover bands in Portland that time travel through the power of music.
executive editor eva sheehan | associate editor will boechler arts & culture editor yomari lobo | opinions editor rebecca phillips production editor courtney jeffs | MULTIMEDIA editor laura renckens
4 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
All of these articles discuss the effects of time in some way and how time can mean hope. As mentioned before, change is a result of time. Change can be benign, but with our help, it can be steered towards progress. We hope you enjoy this month’s issue. Happy New Year and the beginning of a new school term! As always, thank you for your support in our magazine. Best of luck, Eva Sheehan
Lastly, this month’s featured article is by Dr. Bright Alozie and Randall Yesmont, who are both part of the Black Studies Program here at Portland State. The authors created a satirical article that sheds light on how the narrative towards African children has been rooted in white saviorism and degradation.
JANUARY 2024 | 5
PORTLAND STATE
arts & culture
THROUGH
A Visual Reflection of the University Throughout Time BY J.M. VINCENT
When first asked about writing a piece for the Sentinel’s latest issue, themed Time, what came to mind were the photographs of Portland State–its buildings, culture, and students–from decades past. My idea was to select several old photographs from the archives and write about them, exploratory essay style. I was ambitious, yet only had a week before the deadline.In the midst of settling into a month-long stay abroad, I convinced myself that I could deliver something polished. To begin, I went through the folders at Portland State’s University Archives Digital Library, selecting several photographs and pondering how time and photography relate to each other. As a result of my research, the draft was a long-winded, rambling, and obnoxiously meta (probably terribly difficult to understand) monologue about, well, Time. Afterward, I took a break from that introductory piece to explore one photograph. Several hours later, I found myself lost, deep within a Wikipedia wormhole that had very little to do with anything. I put the project away. In the meantime, I was busy with family gatherings, et cetera. The deadline came and went. The executive editor followed up with a polite email, and I held my head between my knees. When I finally opened the project back up, it dawned on me that (and let me preface this by stating that the irony is not at all lost on me) I just didn’t have enough time. But not all was lost. It couldn’t be. The photographs were still there, waiting to be seen. The Sentinel was still going to print, and I still had (albeit very little) time. What follows is a series of photographs from the aforementioned archives, each with a brief description.
6 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
Serenity is the art students drawing in the park blocks on a warm day. Those days define, in stark contrast, the days we find ourselves in today, where mats of dark, relentless clouds turn gray everything with color around campus. The facing page fittingly quotes “Humanities bring the ideals of meaning and value into man’s everyday existence. Through forms of expression as art, music, literature, man himself creates and studies his world.”
The new school year has hardly begun. It’s early October, the 12th, and lectures are wrapping up on campus. Students are released and scurry through the park blocks to their prospective cars, buses, and rides home. Some students stay on campus. All the while, a severe windstorm is sweeping up the west coast. Students must be jarred by a sudden and heart wrenching pounding, swirling, and shaking. Once it is over, the campus is dark. Those left wander to the cafeteria, a natural gathering place. There, they’re offered free coffee and snacks while they ponder what could have just taken place. That isn’t revealed until the following morning. “Centuries-old trees, providing welcome greenery in the middle of metropolitan Portland were ripped apart in minutes by the unbelievable force of the hundred-mile-an-hour winds. Their tragic mutilation left bizarre forms and impassable obstructions in the previously sedate and orderly Park Blocks.” The scars live on for some time, even after students help city officials clean up the destruction. In the meantime, students continue to walk up and down the blocks, now a little less shaded, on their way to their lecture halls. (This photo came from the city of Portland archives).
It’s the late forties, and in an effort to provide higher education for WWII veterans returning home to Portland, the Vanport Extension Center is founded. A flood two years later wiped it out, along with Oregon’s second largest city at the time. Written in the yearbook was this: “May 30, 1948 was indeed a sad day. On that day occurred one of the worst disasters in the history of the Northwest, the Vanport flood, submerging our old ‘U by the Slough’ under fifteen feet of water. It looked like the end for the school that had just celebrated its second birthday.” But before that, several hundred college students gather at a muddy field to do something so vastly different than the activities of war from which many of them came – play.
JANUARY 2024 | 7
On the right, It’s the eighties now and the adorned outfits can hardly be distinguished from those of today (save, maybe, the shoulder pads). If it weren’t for several missing buildings from the background, it very well could have been shot recently. 200 Market, nicknamed Black Box, sits menacingly behind two students who I can only imagine are asked to pose and are discussing what to do. “That’ll do!” I imagine the photographer says.
As for the photo on the left, it’s Party in the Park, 1993, and bewildered, shy (or maybe not so shy) freshmen are waddling around the park blocks while groups and clubs make their case. One table is a magnet, that of the Popular Music Board. As they say, there’s one for everyone. It would have been difficult not to include this photo. Least of all because of the caption, reading “left to right: Kurt ‘Doctor’ Nelson, Brent ‘Bert’ Robinson, Steve ‘Spartacus’ Loaiza, Josh ‘Funch’ Orchard, Jon ‘Juan’ Beil.”
We’ve just sped through four decades, ones in which the Soviet Union rose and fell, 2.2 million men were drafted to aid in the Vietnam war efforts, civil rights leaders were assassinated, power changed hands, and economies collapsed. Amid those global woes, football games occurred, storms persisted, clubs recruited, and students kept showing up. Photography, and its place in time, exposes life’s paradoxes in that way, capturing these little lives hidden among this greater global one. I hope pondering these photographs has inspired you as it has me. If you’re interested in seeing more photographs, you can visit archives.pdx.edu.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PORTLAND STATE ARCHIVES
8 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
JANUARY 2024 | 9
PORTLAND’S own BANDS who
COVER the
CLASSICS Local Music Keeping it Classic BY BECKY PHILLIPS
opinion
Tragic Kingdom The hay-day for the woman-lead alternative rock band, No Doubt, was in the 90s with their hits “Just A Girl” and “Spiderwebs.” The tribute band, Tragic Kingdom, named after their debut album in 1995, emulates the same eccentric energy. The vocalist portrays No Doubt’s own Gwen Stefani almost perfectly with the same outfits, hair color, and vibrato voice. Their performance is surely set to make it feel like you are witnessing the true spirit of No Doubt.
Constant Debauchery This three piece throws out all of those catchy electronic hooks that Depeche Mode is so well known for. The band became popular in the 80s and has been riding out that New Wave sound ever since. Constant Debauchery makes it easy for Portlanders to enjoy the music of Depeche Mode locally.
Rose Parade Before Elliot Smith died in 2003, he belonged to Portland’s local music scene before his music career took off. Rose Parade is carrying on his spirit by performing his songs in more of a piano based jazz inspired fashion. What’s great about this particular cover band is that it is led by a female vocalist which creates an interesting take on the more melancholic music.
Wilclone Wilclone—What a great name for a Wilco cover band! They absolutely do sound like Wilco’s clone, playing a huge catalog almost perfectly. The original band, formed in the 90s, is categorized as a type of mid-tempo rock, but still gets you bobbing your head and dancing around. The Wilclone members all perform while smiling from ear to ear, most likely because of the crowd singing along with them.
Ok Not Ok As a die hard music fan of past decades, I love a good local band who can cover the old hits as if it were the real deal. As Portland is well known for keeping the past alive, what better city to house a collection of great cover bands who do just this. I’ve heard of a few of them through word of mouth, but I had to dig deeper and really find out what some of these bands are really up to, and whether or not they are worth the hype. I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. Here are just a few of the bands who are keeping the great classics alive here in Portland.
Radiohead was one of the most influential alternative rock bands of the 90s because of their well executed experimental qualities. Ok Not Ok shockingly executes those same elements of rock and subtle electronics that make the band so great. The vocalist even hits those notes that Radiohead’s Thom York perfects.
ILLUSTRATION BY PEYTEN WOODRUFF
10 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
JANUARY 2024 | 11
arts & culture
Dustin Morrow Discovered: A SERIES featuring PSU PROFESSORS who are also BOOK AUTHORS
of Cinematic Arts at the University of Iowa. He started his film career as an editor in Hollywood. He was asked to come to PSU when the film department was in its infancy and set up the production side of it. He said he missed the university community culture and yearned for the “compelling conversations [about movies]” that can happen more readily in the campus setting, because, “is so rewarding— to help people find their voice.” His core vision for teaching and filmmaking commands his cool writing style and his cadence of fervor.
Producing for TV and Emerging Media, is a textbook of nuevo essence that Morrow co-wrote with Catherine Kellison and Kacey Morrow. This tremendous collaboration infuses Morrow’s notion that film school is “where one can take creative risks and stretch themselves, see what they are capable of in a way that they would never be able to do if they went straight into the market.” According to Morrow, certain types of people do better in specific roles, particularly in producing. Morrow says, “people who have a sharp eye for detail, the extremely organized folks, are the type of people who tend to make really good producers. They anticipate problems before they arise. The producer is like the administrative architect of a film, creates the framework for people to do their work, makes the project, without them, creatives can get nowhere.”
Compelling conversations [about movies] is so rewarding- to help people find their voice.
BY DARCY WILLIAMS If you want to make a movie....where do you start? Maybe you know the answer. But, do you? What can be in a script? What can be produced? What is rotoscoping? I propose that you can only know if you yourself attempt the thing itself. Maybe PSU can help. But don’t take it from me... I had the privilege of interviewing PSU film professor Dustin Morrow and his most avid cohort, Kacey Morrow. If you enroll in the Portland State University Film Program, you will likely meet Dustin Morrow. Whether you were in the know, or not, Portland State has a powerful film department where those who are serious can enroll and commit to a rigorous degree packed with production answers and proper rhetoric from how to
12 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
shoot, how to animate, how to write, how to produce, how to act, how to analyze and discuss any film, and therefore, ultimately for any student to understand “where your art comes from”, as Morrow explains. PSU film department is not, “only theory,” but also practice and production. Morrow believes wholeheartedly that the “theoretical/analytical” element in one’s education is solidly necessary and must coexist with production. “We try to prepare our graduates as generalists. You can’t just have practice without knowing who Hitchcock is. Being a good filmmaker is about understanding how to tell stories and knowing where your art comes from. That kind of stuff you can’t pick up on any set, even a big one.” (PSU has many alum at Laika) Professor Morrow received his MFA from the Department
Alongside his commitment to teach, Morrow is always working on a creative project. “Either a multi-million dollar project, like writing a super hollywood thriller and at the same time, or, a passion project”, like a rotoscoping project with his sibling, the equally talented Kacey Morrow, (co-authored both of his books). Kacey, whom I also interviewed briefly, reflects, “my brother and I have collaborated in many different ways over the years - it goes all the way back to when we were kids making home movies, to helping each other on undergraduate and graduate film projects, to now contributing to books, feature films, and short films. It comes naturally to us to work together and we balance each other well in our skill sets.”
JANUARY 2024 | 13
I will be keenly watching both of their websites (links at article conclusion) for the reveal of this latest project. Kacey defined their rotoscoping project as, “a short film adaptation of a chapter from the book, Airportness: The Nature of Flight, by Christopher Schaberg’’ and they both described it as having a concept of “’waiting” – “collectively being caught in the in-between – a moment of pause in our daily lives, highlighting both the mundanity and the beauty of air travel”, Kacey said. Their great working relationship will no doubt transfuse its master into this upcoming release, again. Dustin’s role is editor, narrator, and text adaptation. Kacey’s role is primarily the rotoscoper artist, “ every frame of the roughly 5 minute video coming in at around 3,600 individual frames at 12 fps.”
Summarizing highlights of [Turner’s] long list of other debuts includes the voice as Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Tantamount to all of this creativity, but predating it, another book collaboration was published. Professor Morrow spent a couple of years interviewing the actress Kathleen Turner, whom he got a chance to meet and pitch her on a book idea. You don’t remember her? Turner was nominated for 36 awards, and cut her debut teeth on Body Heat. Summarizing highlights of her long list of other debuts includes the voice as Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, V.I. Warshawski, (my new fav), Crimes of Passion, the voice of Constance Nebbercracker in Monster House, Serial Mom, Nurse 3-D, and many more (look her up!)
Anytime is time for a Turner renaissance, like how a vintage femme fatale aire never really gets exhausting. Kathleen Turner on Acting is a powerful book. Turner is a sage of originality. Morrow’s bold project with this epic chic he defines delightfully. “There wasn’t really anything [out there in the book world] from one of the biggest actors in the world,—forget about Stanislavsky and Stella Adler and all the different theories of acting—, here’s how to make it your own thing—take all those and process them and create your own way of doing it—that’s what I found really interesting about her approach...” Anytime is time for a Turner renaissance, like how a vintage femme fatale aire never really gets exhausting. As Morrow puts it, she is one of the last great old-fashioned movie stars, “like Barbara Stanwick, Cary Grant, & Jack Nicolson (who she co-stars with in”Prizzi’s Honor”). Do not run away from this book if you are not studying acting. In Morrow’s opinion, “it’s really a book about creativity and how to collaborate with people. Not just about how to make choices [as an actor], but even for interested film goers, it helps them understand a “peek behind the curtain”, then, for directors, he said it is essential reading about “process and the kinds of challenges that actors face in what they do.” Morrow shared how his interviews with Turner and writing the book directly changed his own directing style. Kacey Morrow provided the illustrations.
It was an honor and so much fun to discover and interview The Morrows. Professor Dustin Morrow’s influences start at: Krzysztof Kieślowski, John Cassavetes, Jim Jarmusch, Steven Soderbergh, Kelly Reichardt, Hitchcock (Eg. North by Northwest ) ... Kacey Morrow, Chair of the Design dept at WWU’s influences start at: Richard Linklater (Eg: ongoing 20 year adaptation of Merrily We Roll Along), Nolan’s nonlinear approach (Eg: Memento) as well as Michel Gondry, David Fincher, PT Anderson... This is the first interview for the DISCOVERED series. Feel free to nominate any professor who has published a great book for an interview with the Sentinel: widl@pdx.edu.
LAYOUT DESIGNED BY ANN MCBRIDE
14 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR
JANUARY 2024 | 15
“Mahito, your presence is requested…” The strange, inhuman speech from a grey heron on the afternoon air. Mahito, a 12 year old boy, clenches his handmade bow close to his chest and furrows his brow. Something is not right here. But it doesn’t matter. He has to find his mother. Hayao Miyazaki’s newest film, The Boy And The Heron, is a unique entry into the Studio Ghibli roster of films, not only because of its darker tone compared to the studio’s brighter, more joyful films like Ponyo or Howl’s Moving Castle, but because of its semi-autobiographical nature. The film draws powerful parallels to Miyazaki’s life story, taking aspects of his early childhood and bringing them to the screen in a fantastical epic style.
Truth, Life, & Grief in The Boy And The Heron BY WILL BOECHLER
Although Mahito knows the heron can’t be trusted, he has to “see” for himself. The Boy And The Heron (originally titled How Do You Live? in Japanese) follows Mahito Maki, a young boy living during the Pacific War in 1943 and his adventure in a fantastical realm of the living and the dead with a talking grey heron. After his mother perishes in a hospital fire, Mahito moves to the countryside to get away from the city with his father Shoichi, who works manufacturing plane parts for use during the war (a parallel to Miyazaki’s father, who worked doing the same thing). Although Mahito’s mother is dead, his father has gotten recently engaged to a woman, Natsuko, who looks exactly like his mother. Mahito’s relationship with his step-mother is polite but stiff, and he struggles with adjusting to the new living space and community, often on the outside of situations and dealing with much of his internal struggles by himself. But when Natsuko disappears and Mahito learns of a mysterious tower near his home that’s rumored to be a gateway into another world, the grey heron reveals itself, promising that he can help Mahito bring back his mother. And although Mahito knows the heron can’t be trusted, he has to “see” for himself. One of the aspects about The Boy And The Heron that I enjoyed was the realistic and mature handling of topics normally too adult for Ghibli movies. Mahito deals with self hatred, loathing, mistrust, and loneliness, tormented by memories of his mother burning in the hospital fire that took her life and the powerlessness he felt in his ability to save her. The movie also has a fair amount of blood. Mahito is one of the more complex and darker male protagonists Miyazaki has explored in his filmography, a tone not seen since Princess Mononoke.
A key scene early on in the film that brings this tonal darkness to the forefront and perhaps enlightens us about the film’s influences from Miyazaki’s childhood is the scene when Mahito discovers his mother’s hospital on fire. He throws on his clothes after he’s awoken from sleep by his father and pushes through crowds of people in Tokyo as he gets closer and closer to the hospital. As he does, the crowd begins to warp and contort and the dialogue distorts, mirroring Mahito’s mounting anxiety about his mother. As Mahito’s desperation grows, the scene’s colors grow more vivid and intense, first deeper browns and then bright, burning reds and oranges, until we’re met with an image that’s tinged with horror; a massive burning hospital taking up nearly the entire screen. In only around two minutes, the scene sets the tone that the film will deal with more than just a charming children’s adventure. Takeshi Honda, the film’s character designer and animation director, said that, “Miyazaki wanted to make a picture that was more serious and sombre” and this scene alone prepares us to expect something different from the acclaimed director. Born in 1941, Miyazaki wrote “my first memories are of bombedout cities” in his memoir Starting Point.
It’s an extremely human coming of age film filled with vulnerable truths... Another key detail in the film that helps us in understanding Miyazaki’s message is the book that appears, “How Do You Live?” written by Genzaburo Yoshino. Written in 1937, this book was written as a way to teach teenage boys in Japan proper ethics and how to navigate complicated issues that boys in Japan might have such as poverty, spiritual growth and coming of age, and the human experience. This book serves as a major driving point for Mahito’s character growth throughout the film, as it forces him to confront his selfishness and personal issues and ultimately helps him on his journey. It is also one of Miyazaki’s favorite childhood books, which aligns with its inclusion in a film largely based on his early years. The Boy And The Heron is much more than a Ghibli movie that simply showcases a darker tone and more violence. It’s an extremely human coming of age film filled with vulnerable truths about Miyazaki’s upbringing, characters that engage with the timelessness of the human experience, and perhaps, it can help us embrace the honesty and humanity that comes with existing in this world, and not fear the weight of living that may come with it.
ILLUSTRATION BY COURTNEY JEFFS
16 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
JANUARY 2024 | 17
✴ featured
FIVE-STEP GUIDE TO
BY DR. BRIGHT ALOZIE & RANDALL YESMONT
WRITING ABOUT AFRICAN A Satirical Homage to Decolonizing Our Minds and Challenging Stereotypes
This essay is a work of satire, in the style of the late Binyavanga Wainaina’s “How to Write About Africa” and Bright Alozie’s “How to Write About Nigeria” and “How to Write About African Women.” In this satirical homage, we explore the pesky stereotypes that that often accompany Western perceptions and writings about African children. We hope that stereotypes satirically highlighted in this piece shed light on the dangers of a single story while advocating for the recognition of the humanity, agency, voices, and dignity of African children.
CHILDREN PHOTO COURTESY OF SAFARI CONSOLER
18 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
JANUARY 2024 | 19
Step 2: The Photo-Op, Poverty Porn, and White Saviorism
PHOTO COURTESY OF NANDHU KUMAR
Step 1: The Stereotypical ‘Exotic’ Setting First create an exotic setting showcasing an African child, be it a remote village covered in dust and poverty, a vibrant and untamed jungle, or desolate and barren lands devoid of life. Incorporate phrases such as ‘starving African children,’ ‘no peace and joy this Christmas in West Africa,’ ‘desperate and abandoned,’ ‘uneducated and hopeless,’ ‘widespread suffering and malnourishment,’ and ‘depressing,’ in the title of your work. Include words in your subtitle that highlight the challenges and hardships faced by African children, without acknowledging their strengths, voices, and achievements. On the book cover, feature an image depicting African children who are starving, naked, plagued by flies, and living in clay huts. Alternatively,
20 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
showcase a malnourished child with a beggarly appearance, eating from an old plastic container or their bare hands. The most impactful photos of African children should capture them standing in line, eagerly awaiting food from a White voluntourist. Reinforce the notion of African children as victims and state in your preface that your story serves as a guidebook for rescuing them. Remember, narratives that portray African children as suffering from hunger, malnutrition, illness, and violence attract significant attention, compassion, assistance, and increased involvement from visitors from wealthier Western nations. Avoid using positive language to describe African children, as it may lead your Western audience to believe their work is complete. Keep in mind that your mission is to present Africa and African children as desperately reliant on Western support. To achieve this, your story should have a classic “us” (Westerners) vs. “them” (African children) feel to it.
Start your narrative by informing your audience that with just €5, they can provide winter clothing for two destitute African children. No story about African children is complete without a healthy dose of the dangerous poverty porn littered with degrading imagery of African children. This type of portrayal only perpetuates the white savior complex which you must elevate. Every African child narrative requires a Western white savior who travels to impoverished African nations to help, without fully understanding the historical context and causes of poverty. The white savior aims to bring enlightenment, happiness, and salvation to African children, often as a volunteer, journalist, doctor, or tourist. The white savior’s journey must include a photo op. They diligently document their mission, snapping pictures of the wideeyed, destitute African children who, by some miracle, have never seen a camera before. Each photo, usually in black and white, tells a story—and by a story, we mean a carefully crafted image that makes the savior appear even more saintly. The African child either stares blankly into the camera waiting for a viewer to help or looks up gratefully with smiles at receiving help. Whatever the case, the world should witness a moment of pure, unadulterated heroism displayed by the white savior. Use pictures of African children with distended bellies as a mere prop for charitable purposes. Do not seek their consent because they love being taken advantage of. Your portrayal of African children’s living conditions should be completely detached from reality. It is only through the mercy of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) that the African child can be saved. Highlight the bazillion advertisements from various charities depicting starving African children, along with issues of Ebola, HIV/AIDS, wars, and extreme brutality, which have rendered all African children destitute and in desperate need of assistance. Commend the actions of Stacey Dooley, a prominent British media personality, for sharing a photograph of herself holding a young Ugandan boy named Mwesigwa Waiswa while filming for Comic Relief in 2019. That is classic poverty porn. However, refrain from mentioning the controversial story of Renée Bach, an American evangelical Christian without medical training, who faced accusations of practicing medicine on children at a Ugandan center where at least one hundred children lost their lives. Acknowledge the efforts of Christian missions aimed at saving African children for the sake of Christ and the Western world, but avoid discussing the case of Bernhard ‘Bery’ Glaser, a German individual accused of causing harm and sexually abusing underage Ugandan girls who were under his care.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BINTI MALU
Highlight the poverty in Africa, even though poverty, famine, child hunger, and food insecurity are global issues affecting all nations, including affluent ones. Remember to portray the entire continent as impoverished, with no Africans living modestly or in affluence. Emphasize the hunger and severe malnutrition experienced by African children, and how they go to bed hungry. Avoid mentioning that one in five American children also face daily hunger, or that a significant percentage of households in the U.S. experience food insecurity. Focus solely on African children being affected by poverty, without mentioning that “24.2% of children . . . in the EU [are] at risk of poverty or social exclusion” or that “19.6 million children in the EU live in poverty, and over two million of them live in Germany.” Always highlight water poverty in Africa and showcase images of African children consuming contaminated water. For $100 only, your esteemed readers can give a village in Africa clean water, but their donations are not needed in Jackson, Mississippi or Flint, Michigan where thousands of American children are also in dire need of clean and safe drinking water. Emphasize that African children are one drought or disease away from mass deaths but refrain from discussing the devastating consequences of America’s escalating water crisis and deteriorating drinking water infrastructure on children or the estimated 2.2 million Americans who live in homes without running water or basic plumbing.
JANUARY 2024 | 21
Exaggerate the living conditions of African children to tug at the heartstrings of your readers. Focus solely on Africa’s poverty without acknowledging the role of the West or the devastating effects of colonialism and neocolonialism, which continue to hinder Africa’s progress. It is crucial to depict African children in extremely dire circumstances, dressed in tattered rags and surviving on meager portions of unappetizing gruel. To captivate your Western audience, go even further and portray them eating only insects or tadpoles. Describe their mothers as naked and flat-breasted, unable to provide proper nutrition for their children Even though forty-one percent of Africans live in urban areas and African cuisine is usually fresh, nutritious, flavorful, and diverse, make it seem impossible for an African child to experience city life, eat healthful and enough food, or live in decent housing. Your book can also serve as a parenting guide, teaching picky eaters a lesson about wasting food. Take inspiration from Kinderen voor Kinderen (‘Children for Children’), the Dutch children’s choir, which aimed to help African children by singing that “a child below the equator will likely grow up as a beggar.” Highlight to privileged white children who refuse to eat steamed broccoli how fortunate they are, as “all African children would undoubtedly kill for that plate of broccoli” they are rejecting. Always portray African children as victims of poor health conditions, never as contributors to health solutions. Avoid mentioning their engagement in community health education and their role in spreading knowledge about hygiene, nutrition, and disease prevention. Instead, focus on their dependence on Western medical aid and expertise. Even though all countries face problems related to their health and care workforce, only emphasize Africa’s inadequacy. Be sure to mention that every child in Africa suffers from all kinds of debilitating diseases because African children are never healthy. However, do not mention the ongoing health disparities and challenges faced by Western countries, nor the prevalence of chronic childhood obesity in America. Similarly, disregard threats to healthcare in Europe and the poor health outcomes in the U.S., including low life expectancy and high suicide rates. Instead, focus on the opportunity for your Western audience to make a difference by contributing a mere €10, which can help vaccinate sixty children in Africa. Avoid discussing the historical exploitation of African and indigenous bodies by the West for medical purposes or the misuse of colonized bodies to establish white dominance in medicine. Drawing inspiration from Band Aid 30’s Ebolathemed lyrics, mention that there is “no peace and joy this Christmas in West Africa” and that African children do not know it’s Christmas because pandemics have wiped out their whole continent. However, do not mention that the Ebola crisis was limited to three African countries, nor the
22 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
successful management of the crisis by African doctors and scientists. Talk about the impact of Covid-19 on African children, without acknowledging that Africa had comparatively lower mortality rates than other continents. Of course, Africa’s various successes in the field of public health, political stability, and economic growth are inconsequential in your story. The narrative should always be that without Western intervention, African children are doomed to suffer from a myriad of health issues.
Step 3: The Noble Savage and Voiceless African Child Condemn African children to a perpetual cycle of cynical ideas and standards as they deserve no voice, agency, or dignity in your narrative. African children, like all Africans, are naturally noble savages whose lives should be devoid of happiness and complex emotions. Highlight their uncanny ability to communicate with animals, climb trees from infancy, and inability to think for themselves. Portray them as perpetually innocent and when speaking about them, never mention their parents or families. Instead, refer to them as AIDS orphans forced to live with surviving relatives or on the streets. Ignore the fact that African children have voices, and their history is filled with instances of activism. Ignore the historic 1976 Soweto Uprising that involved thousands of children, young Senegalese children advocating for good governance, and several teenage environmental and climate change activists. In your ideal Western paternalistic narrative, you are taking up the White Man’s Burden of leading noble savages and their children to civilization and light. If you should speak about child rights in Africa, always portray African children as passive recipients of Western advocacy efforts. Ignore their active role in advocating for their own rights and the impactful work they are doing to change policies and perspectives. Do not note their participation in international fora or their contributions to discussions on children’s rights. Instead, focus on how they are waiting to be saved by INGOs and activists. This will ensure the narrative remains that African children are without agency or voice in matters affecting their lives. Refrain from depicting and writing about joyful, healthy, educated, and/or well-traveled African children. Instead, focus solely on their homelessness, disregarding the fact that children in your own country also suffer from the same problem. Avoid discussing the complex cultural rites of adulthood in many African communities that guide African children into adulthood, including societal rules, moral teachings, social responsibilities, and finding their life’s purpose. Disregard African children’s respect for family and cultural values. While African children may exhibit the spirit of ‘ubuntu’, by supporting each other and
their communities, it is not necessary to mention this as it does not align with Western individualism and capitalism. Instead, highlight their questionable upbringing and laziness, in contrast to the ‘hardworking’ trust fund children of the West. Emphasize the importance of teaching them Western ways to make them responsible global citizens. When discussing peacebuilding in Africa, depict African children as perpetual victims of conflict, never as agents of change. Ignore initiatives like the Rwanda Peace Education Programme, where children are actively involved in promoting social cohesion and peace, and the valuable contributions these children make to healing and reconciliation in their communities after conflicts. Instead, focus on their supposed need for Western intervention in peacebuilding. The narrative should always be that without Western guidance, African children are incapable of overcoming their violent histories. In your efforts to depict African children only as child soldiers in
Africa, teenage wives, or scammers, do not acknowledge the atrocious child rape and sexual abuses by French soldiers and peacekeepers in the Central African Republic or the gross failure of the United Nations to bring the perpetrators to book. Disregard the youngest casualties of Belgium’s cruelest colonial regime in the Congo, where several of them endured brutality, mutilation, and abduction from their mothers, being branded as “children of shame.” Take good care to mention the manual labor that African children partake in but erase the histories of how Western governments and multinationals constantly plunder Africa’s resources to support their consumerism lifestyles and fund their governments and development schemes. Mention how American and European kids are more technologically advanced than their African counterparts and not how mica mined day and night by kids in Madagascar are used in various products consumed by millions of Americans including electronics, appliances, even trains and airplanes. Although smartphones, computers, and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, do not mention that their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers, including at least 25,000 children, laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Avoid discussing the potential involvement of multinational chocolate and cocoa industries in exploiting children in Ghana or Côte d’Ivoire, or the complicity of Western companies like Cadbury, Nestlé USA and Cargill in child slavery and forced labor on West African farms where cocoa beans are harvested. Similarly, do not mention multinational tech firms like Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Google, and Tesla being implicated in cases involving child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Instead, place the blame solely on Africans and their children. Do not draw attention to the contrast between glamorous technology displays and the harsh reality faced by African children working in dangerous conditions in the mining industry. Erase the fact that these children risk permanent lung damage and death while working in narrow tunnels. Focus on the satisfaction of owning the latest gadget and technology without considering the well-being of African children. To appease readers, mention that these children are often paid less than $1 per day, as this demonstrates your concern for their income and welfare. Avoid mentioning that due to the unresolved legacies of colonialism, racial discrimination, racial stereotypes, systemic racial discrimination and xenophobia, children of African descent are not even considered as children at all. Above all, completely disregard the inconvenient truth in Nick Dearden’s statement that “Africa is not poor, we [the West] are stealing its wealth.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR
JANUARY 2024 | 23
Step 4: The Uneducated and Passive African Child Create an alternate reality the ignorance and illiteracy of African children prevail even though many African families are obsessed with education. Depict scenes of children laboriously trying to learn under trees, but never show them thriving in the well-equipped and accessible classrooms. Acknowledge that Westerners have taken on the burden of bringing Western education to Africa—after all, it is the ultimate measure of success and progress— but ignore precolonial and contemporary indigenous education and community-based knowledge systems in Africa which encompassed various aspects of physical, cultural, spiritual, religious, vocational, and intellectual development for African children. Never mind that some of the oldest schools in the world were established in Africa. Ensure that any mention of their traditional learning methods is framed as outdated and inadequate, underscoring the need for Western educational systems. You may mention Bridge International Academies to demonstrate that educated Westerners are trying to help African children, but it would be incredibly taboo to mention the sexual violence perpetrated by some of its teachers against numerous African students or that the World Bank helped cover these sex abuses. Indeed, it would be equally taboo to mention the Day of the African Child on June 16, which commemorates the activism of African children in defending their rights and serves as a reminder to reflect on and address the challenges that African children face daily. Above all, omit any reference to Tanzania’s successful abolition of primary school fees in 2015, as this might suggest self-sufficiency and progress without Western intervention. Disregard the incredible achievements of many welleducated African children who excel[ed] in their schools and colleges at home and in diaspora. Do not mention that Nigerians, for instance, are the most highly educated immigrant population in the U.S. Also disregard the numerous African children who are fluent in indigenous, Western, and Asiatic languages, and have earned multiple certificates and degrees, breaking records along the way. Ignore several child prodigies, young climate change activists, teen literary stars, and genius kids from Africa. Ignore the vibrant child author scene in South Africa, where young writers are creating stories rich in their cultural heritage. Make sure to omit any reference to their creative expressions and the ways they are reshaping African narratives on their own terms. Avoid mentioning young activists like Uganda’s Leah Namugerwa, who are leading tree planting campaigns and making significant environmental impacts. Instead, depict them as helpless
24 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
and waiting for Western environmentalists to rescue them. Never acknowledge their knowledge of local ecosystems or their innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The narrative should always emphasize their dependency on Western technology and aid to combat climate issues. Even though African children from different parts of the continent have etched their names into the annals of inventors and innovations, do not say their names. Always paint a picture of African children as mere consumers of Western technology, rather than as creators and innovators in their own right. This will ensure the narrative remains that Africa is always a step behind in technological advancements. Even though the internet, social media, technology, and mobile devices intertwine with the lives of African children, avoid mentioning the young tech geniuses across Africa who are developing local solutions to global problems. Instead, emphasize their lack of innovation and picture the African kid marveling at even the slightest showing of modern technology, like a phone or camera. Their reactions should be akin to watching magic for the first time. This is Africa—nothing less would not do justice to the stereotype. Disregard the achievements of Promise Nnalue, Jessica Osita, Nwabuaku Ossai, Adaeze Onuigbo, and Vivian Okoye, a group of five girls aged between 13 and 15 from Regina Pacis Secondary School Onitsha, Anambra state, Nigeria. These girls represented Nigeria and Africa at the 2018 World
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR
Technovation Challenge in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, U.S. They emerged victorious by defeating teams from one hundred and fifteen countries in the qualifiers and twelve teams from around the world in the finals. Do not mention William Kamkwamba who at the age of 14 built a wind turbine to generate electricity for his family home in Wimbe, Malawi. Similarly, the names of DuroAina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, Faleke Oluwatoyin, and Bello Eniola, four teenage female inventors from Nigeria, who developed a urine-powered generator capable of providing six hours of uninterrupted electricity, can be omitted. Forget Kelvin Doe (AKA “DJ Focus”), a Sierra Leonean self-taught engineer who built his own generator and radio transmitter at the age of 13. Do not mention that in 2012, Kevin became the youngest person in history to participate in the Visiting Practitioner’s Program at MIT, nor his global recognition for his visionary ideas. Furthermore, the accomplishments of David Gathu and Moses Kinyua, two young engineers who invented the world’s first bio-robotic arm controlled by brain signals, should not be acknowledged for their engineering brilliance. The fact that Betelhem Dessie, an Ethiopian web and mobile technologies developer, founder, and CEO of iCog—Anyone Can Code (ACC), already holds four individual patented projects and three collaborative ones, and began her tech career at the age of 9, should not be mentioned. It is also unnecessary to mention that CNN recognized her as “the youngest pioneer in Ethiopia’s fast emerging tech scene.” Disregard the international achievements of young African athletes in competitions like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Do not mention the records set by athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, or Nigeria. Instead, focus on how they need Western coaching and sports infrastructure to truly succeed. The narrative should always be that their talent is raw and unrefined, requiring Western refinement to reach its full potential. In discussions about culture and art, always depict African children as devoid of any real cultural depth or artistic talent. Avoid acknowledging their contributions to preserving and promoting their rich cultural heritage through music, dance, and art. Instead, focus on how they need Western artistic influences to truly develop their talents. Do not mention the young artists in Mali, Ethiopia, and Egypt who are proudly showcasing their cultural identities. This narrative will reinforce the idea that African culture is primitive and in need of Western enhancement. If you wish to identify exceptional individuals, focus solely on the intelligent African children who hold citizenship in European and North American countries. For instance, consider Esther Okade, a Nigerian British math prodigy who began her math degree at a British university in 2015 at the age of 10. Another example is Zuriel Elise Oduwole, a Nigerian American education advocate and filmmaker renowned for her efforts in promoting girls’ education in
Africa. However, when discussing their accomplishments and talents, attribute them to their American or British backgrounds, disregarding their African heritage. It is important to limit your praise and recognition, avoiding any mention of Esther’s outstanding performance as a top freshman in her college class or her authorship of math workbooks for children titled “Yummy Yummy Algebra.” Similarly, ignore the fact that Zuriel’s advocacy led her to being the youngest person ever profiled in Forbes Magazine in 2013, and being recognized in 2014 as the most powerful 11-year-old in the world by Business Insider. Disregard the fact that, at the age of 12, she became the world’s youngest filmmaker to produce and edit her own work, which was showcased in multiple movie chains and screened in various countries. Let the sad pages of history guide you. Look to the experience of Thomas Fuller, a real-life “human calculator” and African child prodigy, who was stolen from Africa and enslaved in America. Before arriving on American soil, young Thomas, at the tender age of 14, had already mastered complex mathematical operations through rigorous training. Astonishingly, he effortlessly solved intricate math puzzles with his sharp intellect alone, without the aid of any mathematical tools. Despite his extraordinary mathematical abilities, the predominantly White-owned American press deliberately chose to overlook his accomplishments, instead focusing on his inability to read or write. Lastly, as much as possible, emphasize the difficulty in pronouncing indigenous African names. It is essential to choose names that sound unpronounceable to the Western tongue, such as Ọbianujuakụ, Echezonachukwu, Ọmọ́táyọ̀, N’gumbele, Kwakuwambe, or Akhuxolo to evoke a sense of being on an African safari.
Step 5: Dedication Finally, dedicate your book to African children who are all suffering from starvation and facing death unless the kind West intervenes. Praise the white savior again for crassly barging in with generous offers of help when African people are entirely capable, and willing, to help themselves. Remember, white saviorism is the latest wave of [neo]colonialism but do not mention it. Instead, demonstrate your empathy by including a toll-free number (-800) that can be dialed to donate to a starving child in Africa today because your $1 donation can save the life of that kid. It is only through your €50 that forty children in Africa can have education and for just $2 a day, you can liberate many starving and illiterate African children. These final actions are crucial because you have nothing to gain—you only truly wish to Save the Children.
JANUARY 2024 | 25
The Pacific Sentinel has had a rather complicated past that has been shrouded from the public under piles of magazines. Most of our readers know us as a magazine that emphasizes the importance of uplifting marginalized and discriminated communities and taking the dialogue further with reported stories and reviews. However, that was not always the case. Before our magazine was The Pacific Sentinel, we were The Portland Spectator which was a predominantly conservative magazine. The earliest magazine we can find in Portland State’s archives dates back to February, 2003 which was titled “Why Greed is Good”. Their mission statement reads as followed:
“Our aim is to show that a conservative philosophy is the proper way to approach issues of common concern.”
The Pacific Sentinel’s History BY EVA SHEEHAN
“The purpose of the Portland Spectator is to provide the students, faculty, and staff with the alternative viewpoint to the left-wing mentality forced upon all at Portland State University. The Portland Spectator is concerned with the defense and advancement of the ideals under which our great Republic was founded. Our viewpoint originates from the following principles: Individual Liberty Limited Government Free Market Economy and Free Trade The Rule of Law The Portland Spectator is published by the Portland State University Publication Board; and is staffed solely by volunteer editors and writers. The Portland Spectator is funded through incidental student fees, advertisement revenue, and private donations. Our aim is to show that a conservative philosophy is the proper way to approach issues of common concern. In general the staff of the Portland Spectator share beliefs in the following: -We believe that the academic environment should become again an open forum, where there is a chance for rational and prudent arguments to be heard. The current environment of political correctness, political fundamentalism and mob mentality stifle genuine political debate. -We support high academic standards. -We believe that each student should be judged solely on his/her merits. -We oppose the special or preferential treatment of any one person or group. -We believe in an open, fair and small student government. -We believe that equal treatment yields inequality inherent in our human nature. -We oppose unequal treatment in order to yield equality, for this violates any principle of justice
that can maintain a free and civilized society. -We oppose the welfare state that either benefits individuals, groups or corporations. The welfare state in the long run creates more poverty, dependency, social and economic decline. -We believe in Capitalism, and that the sole role of government in economic matters is to provide the institutional arrangements that allow capitalism to flourish. -We do not hate the rich; we do not idolize the poor. -We believe in an activist U.S. foreign policy that seeks to promote and establish freedom, political and economic, all around the world. -We believe, most importantly, in the necessity of patriotic duty consistent with the preservation and advancement of our Republic.”. The Spectator published controversial articles titled, “Science Depends on Incorrect Theories”, “House servants in Lebanon: Women in Lebanon have the opportunity to make a living as house servants, but some view this as a form of slavery”, “The political problem of Islam” , “Why this war is necessary: a last chance to stop Saddam Hussein”, and many more. As we can see, the topics discussed in this early edition veer far from the Sentinel’s current journalistic goals and morals. We can also see that many of these subject lines would be topical and controversial if read by today’s readers.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE PORTLAND SPECTATOR
JANUARY 2024 | 27
Portland State University’s student body used to comprise veterans from World War II due to the creation of the G.I. Bill which helped US Veterans get their school, housing, or training covered by the US government. Even so, Portland has been a predominantly liberal city and Portland State today, is 66% “liberal” or “very liberal” and only 4% “conservative” according to a recent poll. These observations and data conflict with the creation of a conservative focused magazine in the heart of downtown’s university. However, looking through Portland State’s history, Portland State University’s student body used to comprise veterans from World War II due to the creation of the G.I. Bill which helped US Veterans get their school, housing, or training covered by the US government.
However, I bring this first version of our magazine to light and advocate for its existence not because I believe it was a great magazine, but because it is part of our history and represents growth and a change of narrative. Looking at the social and political climate of the world today, it is imperative more than ever to be reminded of the past in order for a lack of repetition. It is interesting to see the many forms our magazine has taken throughout the years at Portland State and see the drastic switch from a nationalist centered magazine to a magazine that celebrates diversity and marginalized voices. It is hopeful to see that the media has the ability to change its narrative to become more inclusive. Moving forward, our magazine doesn’t want to shove our past issues under the rug. We wear our past on our sleeve as a reminder that the media is ever evolving and has the capability to change its narrative. All past issues from The Portland Spectator, The Portland Spectrum, The RearGuard, and The Pacific Sentinel can be found on PDX Scholar.
What we can deduce from this knowledge is that post-war America surged with nationalism and economic growth. Another important facet is that veterans are more “likely to be Republican than are those of comparable ages who are not veterans”. This isn’t to say that all veterans vote conservative, but looking at prior statistics in America, a high percentage of veterans hold conservative and nationalist ideals. Knowing that perhaps Portland State’s student body was more conservative leaning in the past, it makes more sense that The Pacific Sentinel ’s parent was catered to conservative ideals. The Pacific Sentinel ’s debut issue was in January 2016. I decided to take a look at the first ever “letter from the editor” by Alex Skousen. Looking at this letter from the editor, we can see that The Rearguard and The Portland Spectrum (which were magazines between Spectator and Sentinel) are mentioned as successors to The Pacific Sentinel , but they left out The Portland Spectator. Granted, I don’t blame the prior editors to cease The Portland Spectator from existence since it did not align with the rest of the magazine’s goals and morals.
28 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
Published in January 2016, the Pacific Sentinel was created; thus, establishing a source for diversity, unity, and creation.
JANUARY 2024 | 29
Visions of Our Present Making sense of our world from the perspective of Octavia Butler, Afrofuturist sci-fi novelist BY HANNAH ALTHEA It’s no secret that one of the addictive qualities of books is the way they linger with you after they’re finished. Some narratives spend a few days rolling around in your brain, some take permanent residence in your nervous system, and others become the filmy layer of plasma in your blood nourished with each breath. Sometimes I leave feeling anew, like I had undergone a tilling of last season’s soil, a watering of the last planted seeds, a fertile new place for my values, beliefs, lexicon, and my wild imagination to rest. It had been some months since I was grabbed in that way, drawn into a new world I didn’t want to set down or even leave after finishing the final page until I forayed into the worlds spun by Octavia Butler. Octavia Butler was a literary trailblazer for Black writers and particularly Black female writers in the science fiction genre, in an era where such authorship was rare for her era - from the 1970s until her death at 58 in 2006. I first picked up her book Parable of the Sower at Powell’s in 2019 after it was recommended by a dear friend. Written nearly thirty years earlier, the back cover explainer read: “When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds”. Written in 1993, it was nearly prophetic. I thumbed my way through the first few pages. Visions of my California hometown gobbled in a haze of ashen orange skies and wildfire just two years prior still haunted me. It was too soon. Back on the shelf it went for the time being. A few short years later, something internal urged me to try again, this time in the form of its brilliant graphic novel adaptation by Damian Duffy, and I fell into an immediate kind of love, it hooked me. I read all 284 pages in just one morning, and needed more, so I followed that with her much earlier and similarly famous novel, Kindred (1979), before starting the next in succession of the unfinished Parable series. In Parable of the Sower, written in 1993, Butler’s protagonist writes to us from a not too-distant future: July 21st, 2024 in a chaotic L.A., California. The main character, Olamina, is just trying to survive harsh realities whilst questioning her Baptist upbringing amongst a
30 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ESTATE OF OCTAVIA BUTLER
backdrop of poverty and a country in climate and socioeconomic collapse. In Olamina’s world, government intervention is scarce and only successful in fueling present inequities and violence, while local police are unhelpful and corrupt. Basic resources are hard to come by and violence born from the destabilization that lies beyond the walls of her small walled-off-for-safety community. Olamina is also ailed with an empathic delusion that makes her experience any pain she witnesses - to the point of debilitation. This ailment shapes her decisions as she navigates this difficult world. These events, referred to in the subsequent books as “The Pox” or “Apocalypse”, felt like an alternate possibility in our world. It prompts the reader with stark curiosity: if a few levers of fate were pulled a little differently during the triplet crises of pandemic, climate change, and recession, would this world of Olamina’s be a not too distant future of our own? Such violent hellish landscape might be fodder for the typical philosopher’s question of our human capacity for inherent good or wickedness in the presence of destabilization, but Butler makes no such assertions.
Parable of the Sower is clear-viewed in braiding parallel breakdowns of miseducation, uneven distribution or misuse of power, and misogyny and racism as the twin pillars of upholding that power.
Though the book is not spiritual in name, it stretched the imagination of my own spiritual entanglement as it relates to understanding love, politics, truth, and empathy. Butler and her protagonist were both raised Baptist, thus using her character’s interpretation of this apocalyptic world as an exercise in her own spiritual imagination. Though the book is not spiritual in name, it stretched the imagination of my own spiritual entanglement as it relates to understanding love, politics, truth, and empathy. There is no singular event that results in the unraveling of society to the degree of violence and fear as in Parable of the Sower. Consider just a handful of events in our own very recent history - disintegrating trust in government and democracy, increase in White supremacist political action on the public stage, the compounding public health crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, the overturn of Roe v. Wade, vaccine misinformation, and increased poverty. Public school boards function as arenas for conservative agendas, resulting in censorship of racially themed books, meaningful sex education, and gender identity. All of this is increasingly illuminated by the ways we are made even more vulnerable by climate change. Octavia Butler tapped into a collective grief we know all too well. While the reader is not offered a blueprint towards a better world, it instead offers a path, through the written verses of Olamina: “All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change.
God is Change.” Olamina’s philosophy - named “Earthseed” - supposes an almost Taoist orientation towards collective action and personal responsibility - that change is inevitable, and we can only dare to participate in it. Despite holy articulations, belief in God is not imperative. God functions as any system of power that holds us captive. Through the lens of Parable of the Sower, Butler offers that individuals are capable of acting as a leading beacon for any kind of change-shaping, but the collective capacity is where true realities are crafted. What we shape in partnership with one another is where once-myopic cultural landscapes can be radically transformed into wildly different futures. Written decades ago from our present, illuminates how individuals are stewards to collective action, particularly in myopic and harmful distributions of oppression and power. Through science fiction, Octavia Butler authored a series of openings: of other worlds, of a new world of authorship in science fiction, and portals of new possibilities within ourselves. I’ll leave you with parting words written by Octavia Butler herself:
“Tell stories Filled with Facts Make People Touch and Taste and KNOW. Make People FEEL!
FEEL!
FEEL!”
Octavia, we are so lucky you did.
JANUARY 2024 | 31
WHAT WE’RE ENJOYING WHAT WE’RE ENJOYING WHAT WE’RE ENJOYING WHAT WE’R Creeptime The Podcast
In The Kitchen Yomari’s Score:
Reneé Rapp (2023)
*****
Rapp’s lyrics are a treasure trove, sparking the imagination with vivid imagery and emotionally charged storytelling that any writer can listen to and create their own love, or heartbreak, story. Each line is a brushstroke, painting a canvas of a heartbreaking story that captivates both writers and music enthusiasts. The song’s lyrical finesse creates lines one can truly admire, making it a compelling experience for those who appreciate the artistry of language and the magic of music.
Suntub Album Will’s Score:
Eva’s Score:
*****
Illustration by Ann McBride
Becky’s Score:
Spiderman: Across The Spiderverse
ML Buch (2023)
Courtney’s Score:
Sony Animation (2023)
*****
As the sequel film to “Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse” which already went above and beyond through new animation techniques, there was a lot expected of this film. To no surprise, the film did not disappoint. Through the usage of new art styles, compelling story writing, and developed character arcs, the film set box-office records and is expected to go even further for the highly anticipated final film of the franchise. Album Cover courtesy of ML Buch
Illustration by Courtney Jeffs
Connie The Crow
Netflix (2023)
*****
Courtney’s Score:
When a friend suggested “Leave The World Behind” to me, I had no idea what I was getting into as I decided to jump right in without even watching the trailer. With a subtle tip of the hat to any Jordan Peele film, there were eerie vibes that gave away its “end of the world” theme. With Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, and Kevin Bacon starring, this is a must watch Netflix movie.
The Pacific Sentinel’s New Macot?
*****
When you think of the Pacific Sentinel, what do you imagine? Could it be a bird or perhaps even a crow? If you answered yes, we have some good news! Connie, the Pacific Sentinel’s new mascot, is your new best friend for all of the news and happenings going on at the Pacific Sentinel. Follow our Instagram and stay tuned to see more of Connie! Illustration by Peyten Woodruff
32 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
*****
I’ve been recently enjoying the “Creeptime The Podcast” hosted by Sylas Dean and Stew! I know it’s past the spooky season, but my craving for the spook never stops lol. I first came across Sylas on TikTok and found his dedication to the research and his passion for true crime so enticing to watch. If you love true crime, paranormal stories, or just stories that set chills down your spine, this podcast is a 5/5! Warning: don’t be dumb like me and listen to this podcast on your way home from work when it’s dark. I catch myself looking over my shoulder almost every five minutes… Photo courtesy of Creeptime Podcast on Spotify
Danish artist ML (Marie Louise) Buch’s new album “Suntub” is a warm, inviting, drift into memory. Some songs are instrumental, like “Clearing” that starts slow then picks up, inspiring the listener with upbeat gleam and a sonic tinge of dad rock, and “Somewhere” that invites the listener to fall into a liminal soundscape with acoustic guitars backed by synths and heavenly choirs. But on other songs, like “Solid” and “Flames shards goo” Buch’s breathy, reverb heavy vocals dance between the melodies like silk.
Leave The World Behind
Sylas Dean and Stew (2023)
Illustration by Courtney Jeffs
JANUARY 2024 | 33
Oregon Symphony
$56+
The Lion King $129+
@ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
@ Keller Auditorium SUN. 1/7 - SUN. 1/28 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM
SUN. 1/14 and SUN. 1/28 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM In a program celebrating the legacy of great pianist-composers, Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony unfurls a tapestry of heartfelt melodies and lush romanticism that will make spirits soar.
PSU Farmer’s Market
FREE
@ Portland State University
EVERY SAT. 8:30AM - 2:00PM
The Lion King premiered on Broadway in 1997 and has since become the thirdlongest-running musical on Broadway. Experience the magic, now in Portland.
Super Diamond
$28+
Dressa
Comedy Night
Grab a friend and 2 different colored things to write with.
2
First player leaves an “x” or an “o” in any space they desire.
3
Second player does the same but with the opposing shape. The person who gets three in a row is the winner.
$10+
@ Polaris Hall
@ McMenamins Al’s Den
SAT. 1/13 DOORS OPEN @ 7:00 PM
SAT. 1/27 @ 10:00PM
McMenamins Presents: Comedy Night at Al’s Den hosted by Brandon Lyons Get your laugh on Friday and Saturday nights as comedy returns to Al’s Den. 21+ event.
events calendar 34 | THE PACIFIC SENTINEL
1
SAT. 1/27 DOORS OPEN @ 7:30PM
Super Diamond will be featured at McMenamins Crystal Ballroom for one night only in tribute to Neil Diamond. 21+ event.
Dessa is a singer, rapper, and writer who has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations. Her albums include rap bangers, a cappella arrangements, and big, catchy pop hooks. 21+ event.
Tic-Tac-Toe
@ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
Every Saturday, vendors set up shop at the PSU Park Blocks to sell their crafts. Grab locally grown produce and hand-baked goods at this wildly popular Portland Farmer’s Market.
$23
extras!
COMIC BY PEYTEN WOODRUFF
JANUARY 2024 | 35
WANNA EARN WHILE YOU LEARN?
JOIN THE
PACIFIC SENTINEL! CURRENTLY SEEKING: PHOTOGRAPHERS WRITERS & GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
LEARN MORE AT PHOTO BY WILL BOECHLER
PACSENTINEL.COM/JOBS