We Were Hyphy is a 2022 documentary about the Hyphy Movement in the Bay Area that was Screened in Chabot College’s  Event Center (700 bldg.) on Feb 2. The screening was presented by RISE, EOPS, and UMOJA. The event was hosted by E.O.P.S Counselor Charlie Moraliez. We Were Hyphy is directed by Laurence Madrigal, a Bay Area Native who spoke in a  zoom call meeting for the viewers before the viewing. The term hyphy is a slang that is used in The Bay Area which means hyperactive.

We Were Hyphy was the Official Selection of the San Francisco Black Film Festival, San Francisco Documentary Festival and Cinequest Film Festival of 2022. The film had interviews with great Bay Area producers and hip hop artists like G-Eazy, Mistah Fab, Keak Da Sneak, and more. 

The music documentary trails and examines the influence on the hyphy culture which involves; the dances, the music, the cars, the fashion, and the slangs that they use. The film takes the viewers on a special time when the Hyphy culture was big.

Host Charlie Moraliez talking to Director Laurence Madrigal before the viewing via zoom.

The Hyphy Movement started with rapper Mac Dre and Thizz nation in  1999. Mac Dre has hits like Thizzle Dance and Feeling Myself.  Dre was the influential figure that started the Hyphy Movement. He brought his own dance styles, bass line, fashion and his style of rhyming was different thus came the Hyphy Movement. Dre was murdered in 2004. Yet still the Hyphy Movement continues only making it bigger.

The height of the culture was in 2006 When Bay Area artists like E-40, Keak Da Sneak, and Too $hort  videos were played as the regular rotation on MTV and BET’S  106 & Park, a top 20 countdown of the latest and hottest R&B and Hip Hop Music. 

E40 Feat Keak Da Sneak Tell me when to go and Too Short’s Blow the Whistle is both produced by Atlanta, GA rapper and producer Lil Jon. 

“I grew up in Antioch, then went to SF State to study film making. It was intentionally going to be a short passion film project, but we got in contact with a lot more people to interview.” Says director Madrigal during his zoom meeting.

Madrigal grew up during the Hyphy Movement and fell in love with the music. The director went into making this documentary not knowing the full hyphy culture other than music but soon learned, “Making this film I learned beyond the music I learned what Turfin (hyphy dancing) and Ghost riding the whip (hyphy car culture) because I was never into it, but I learned more of it. It was like writing an amazing essay.” Says Madrigal.

“We choose this film to kick off Black History Month by sharing the influence that hip hop has, especially the sub-genre which captures the region. We want to show something that can uplift people and this film shows that.” Says Moraliez.

There were many people  who lived through the movement that came to the viewing, and watching the film was very nostalgic. “I’m from Oakland, CA and watching this brings back good memories. I remember that the word Hyphy first came out. It was Keak Da Sneak who said it first. I’m here to support the event and I’m excited that we showed it.” Says UMOJA counselor coordinator Tommy Reed.

Many  viewers who are not from Chabot came to show love for the movement. “What I love about this a lot of people don’t know what impact the movement had on the Bay Area. The movement is something I grew up on. It was important that they highlighted that.” Says Nate Nevado, founder of Rock the School Bell Hip Hop Conference, an academy located in San Bruno where they use Hip Hop as a platform to serve and educate youth in the community.

We were hyphy is not available on any streaming services. The film is Only on KQED or the PBS website https://www.pbs.org/video/we-were-hyphy-yp1fui/

Are you looking for fun? Excitement? And adventure for the family? For friends? For yourself? Or a place to hang out with your friends? There’s a new fun place at Southland Mall called Round 1. Round 1 located in the Southland Mall on the second floor above Dick’s Sporting Good on the north side of the mall. This Japan-based amusement chain offers karaoke, bowling, arcade games, and billiards. Round 1 opened July of this year and offers a variety of food and beverages, including alcohol. To play games at Round 1 players use cards instead of tokens.

Round 1 has a mixture of arcade games with fresh and new games. Some of the games are from Japan, and so is a crane machine that features stuffed animals. “I love crane machines that have cute stuffed animals; my daughter loves them too. The Cranes, unfortunately, cost a lot,” said customer Elizabeth Vonne. “I came here for a friend to meet up. I like this place because of Dance Dance Revolution, and I would come back,” said customer David Lawrence.

This place has only eight lanes for bowling. There hasn’t been a bowling alley in Hayward since the closing of the Holiday Bowl in 2005. “I wish they had more lanes here. My family and I had to wait an hour just for a party to finish their game. This place is convenient to us before this I had to go to Castro Village Bowl, and I live in South Hayward. This place is fun for my kids,” said Hayward resident, Philippé Morris.

Round 1 features six different game cards. The regular game card has a $2 activation fee, which is only for the arcade games. The Club card has bonus credits when you buy $30 or more for the arcade credits. Club card also features $1 off bowling, karaoke, and billiards. The Kids club card is only for children under the age of 13. Kids club cards give them bonus credits. With the kid’s club card children get 10% off and play a free game with adults, yet kids must be in the company of an adult. After a certain number of visits you come, you’ll get a silver card for $1.25 off bowling, karaoke, and billiards. The gold card gives you $1.50 off bowling, billiards, and karaoke. Finally, the platinum card is $1.75 off bowling, billiards, and karaoke. The more you play, the higher the rank you get.

There are two deals to play arcade games. The first deal is you can play any game in the arcade if you put however many credits you want onto your card. The second deal is the unlimited time play deal. The unlimited time play is all the games you can play in an amount of time with the green swipe games. A regular game card for unlimited play lasts up to one hour — the club, kids club, silver, gold, and platinum card last 90 minutes. The unlimited time play games include racing games (Mario Kart DX, Batman, & Dead Heat). Unlimited play games also include pinball machines, shooting, air hockey, and more.

This Round 1 is the third location in the bay area. Before the opening of this location, there were only two (Concord’s Sunvalley Mall and Eastridge Shopping Center in San Jose). For some, this location makes it convenient instead of going to further areas. “I’m so happy this place opened up. My family always goes to the one in Concord, and I enjoyed it here. I’ve noticed this place is clean and the staff are nice. So glad this is close to my home,” said Oakland resident, Jatemme Parker.

Two years before the opening of Round 1 there was an arcade in southland. The arcade was located downstairs in the food court, next to the public safety office. The arcade has changed its name over twice doing its 34-year run. The first name was Namco Time Out, and the Second and last was Tilt. Tilt closed January 2017. Round 1 is the first arcade in southland since the closing of Tilt.

One customer of Round 1 thought their arcade games are too expensive, “It’s too expensive maybe because I played a lot of games like; Initial D, Gitadora, Dance, Dance Revolution, Dark Escape and the plushie machines which is like 15 credits. As far as bowling the prices are the same as Castro Valley bowl and the bowling alley in San Leandro. The food here is decent, but today the wait was too long,” said customer Nathaniel Delacroix.

There’s one setback this place has, and that’s accepting cards from other Round 1 locations. Due to their system changes the credits or ticket balances on your card, will not be accepted. Their game cards from other areas will not function with the game swiper. “I hated how I can’t use my card from Concord. It doesn’t work here. When I showed the employees at the counter my card from Concord, they waive the $2 fee for a new card,” said customer Sean Luong.

According to the Round 1 website, the company arose from Sugino Kosan, a company founded in 1980 in Japan by Masahiko Sugino that offered roller skating and arcade games. In 1993, the business changed to Round 1 Entertainment, which provides food, alcohol, karaoke, ping pong and more.

Did you know there are 121 species (Plants, Fruits, and Vegetables) growing on our campus? Chabot’s Knowledge Garden is growing plants, vegetables, and fruits from all over the world. The garden is financed by professors, the Student Senate, and other organizations. One of the primary groups caring for the garden are the students of SIC (Student Initiative Center). Fresh pantry is getting a permanent building on this campus.

The garden is tended to by clubs, classes, and community members. The garden is open to anyone who wants to be involved. However, once M & O (Maintenance and Operations) expands its yard, the garden is going to disappear from its current location behind the Softball field.

Fresh pantry is getting a permanent building on this campus. If there’s a building for it, the garden can supply fresh pantry year-round. Instructor Eric Heltzel says, “The pantry will also receive space for the fresh new college center, which will come in the next five to ten years whenever they build it.” 

For right now, the fresh pantry is in the process of finding a permanent space on campus. When the fruits and vegetables grow, students take it to SIC and then supply it to the fresh food pantry. “With the food we give to the fresh pantry, we give it to the students, and they often bring their family members,” says Heltzel. 

No profits are made in growing fruits and vegetables on campus. It’s about helping students and families address food insecurity. Before having a permanent building for the fresh pantry, it will be located in portables on campus behind the cafeteria. 

Instructor Sean McFarland stated, “FRESH is making a proposal to the Facilities committee to secure the use of the portable. The advantage is that students can get food every day… instead of waiting for the Pop-Up Pantries which only happen every month or so.”

If or whenever M & O expands its yard, the garden is going to disappear. (“when the garden disappears) we’re going to look (on-campus) where else we are going to have to put the garden,” says McFarland.

For five years, M & O has been kind enough to lend the students the land. “M & O been very supportive of us with the garden. They’ve been helping us tend to it, and we have a good relationship with them now,” says Heltzel.

Plans are unknown as to when M & O is going to expand their yard. SIC is still looking to move their garden.

“We’ve at least had 30 organizations that have given us materials… we’ve partnered with places like California Native Plant Society, Home Depot, some churches, and the city of Hayward. More recently, we got support from Chabot itself. We’ve had a lot of partnering opportunities on campus and off. Amy Mattern helped as well to support the garden, in addition to the Student Senate,” stated McFarland.

The Seeds from the garden are coming from Mexico, Brazil, Greece, Italy, and various places around the world. The contributions are coming from students and their families, some from other countries. The campus garden is growing anise sage from Brazil, Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem sage) from Italy, just to name a couple.

“We have students who have families who live in other countries. Their families help send the seeds here for us to grow in the garden,” says MacFarland. 

The garden is open for anybody who wants to be involved. The Knowledge Garden isn’t for SIC or any particular person but anybody, even for clubs, and classes on campus. 

“Teachers have gone out there to garden like biology, art, and much more. We have an outdoor schoolhouse. We would love for more people and classes to come out,” says McFarland. 

“I’ve seen welding, chemistry, and biology teachers working with the garden,” states Chabot student Jennifer Marenco.

For the last six months, over 300 students have been involved in the Chabot Knowledge Garden. The R.A.G.E (Revolutionaries Advocating Greener Ecosystems) is a club on campus that also tended to the garden on campus, as well as with the food pantry the college presents. 

The garden represents a unique place student, and teachers can interact with each other. The Knowledge Garden is a place where people can learn something they can care about. 

Student and member of SIC, Colleen McHugh says, “Students are interacting on campus in a meaningful way. This garden is something that they have in common, something we all love, like food. It gives them something to learn together. It’s amazing to see the community around the garden.” 

The Knowledge Garden started five years ago. Two students from the UMOJA Program came up with an idea for this campus to have their garden. In the beginning, M & O supported the idea. 

McFarland stated, “So the two students from the UMOJA program had the idea, they told, a teacher, Tom Dewitt. He said, ‘Go talk to the maintenance guys.’ And the people of M & O gave us the land they have supported us since the beginning.” 

Juan Carrasco, a student, and member of SIC took an interest in the garden five years ago when it was all dirt. Since then he’s seen a lot of improvements. “It [the garden] improved a lot. There’s a variety of things growing in the garden that came from different parts of the world. There’s a different type of tomatoes, cucumbers, and other things too.” Carrasco stated. He went on explaining why it’s called The Knowledge Garden. “While your mind is growing, things are growing all around you, which is why it’s called The Knowledge Garden,” Carrasco explained.

The Knowledge Garden could be the focal point of the campus — a place where people can come to express their diversity and culture. The people who helped make this garden happen took a lot of pride in the work they do. A garden can be an excellent mentor.

In the 2300s building at Chabot College, couches that were previously placed there for students have been removed by Arnold Paguio director of Student Life, because of complaints about the rude behavior of students and neglect of courtesy. The lobby has been replaced with hard plastic boxes to sit on, small tables and this has left students disappointed and filled with questions. The couches were part of a furniture upgrade sometime between 2012-2014.

Although many students may think that their behavior wasn’t the issue when using the couches, there has been an improvement in behavior from students since the couches were replaced by the boxes. Paguio stated, “Couches were removed due to complaints about the behavior of students in the lobby. Complaints had been coming into my office for over a year and to the point where people did not feel comfortable sitting in the lobby, walking through the lobby, using the tabling area, entering the building.”

When asked about what specific behavior was causing the couches to be removed Paguio responded, “With the number of complaints we received, to point out specific behaviors from complaints would probably just oversimplify the issues.”

With the couches removed, many feel as if their privileges are also being taken away. When speaking to Chabot student Christian Soriano, he said, “We pay to take classes here at Chabot College and for our student life director to take the couches away without us knowing is like a stab in the back.”

Chabot College student Mick Sanders is one of the students that missed the couch in the 2300 lobby stated, “I like hanging on the couches in case I need to do some homework or just a chilling spot when I’m tired from practice. I wish someone could bring them back.”

Concerned student David Faria stated, “I’d like to point out the couches were by the cafeteria. I realize it’s loud but that was supposed to be our space too. We pay a fair amount for intuition just to be here that’s not fair to me or the students here at Chabot.”

When asked about whether the couches would ever be placed back in the 2300 lobby Paguio stated, “We are always open to feedback, but so far the switch in furniture appears to be an improvement so we are not inclined to make another change.”

Besides the couches in the 2300 lobby, there are a few other resting stops on Chabot campus for students to enjoy their free time (The Balcony above the cafeteria, and the Library). Even though there may be other places where students can spend their time, it doesn’t beat a place as comfortable as a couch. The couches served as a place where students can sit or lay down calm and relaxed before they were stressed out from grades, midterms, homework, finals and even life generally.

This is the first time ever in all the years since the opening of the Theater department at Chabot College there’ll be no main stage play because of budget cuts.

The college is working to reduce the deficit. According to Dean of Arts, Media and Communication, Deonne Kunkel “I’m working with Vice President of Business Services, Ron Gerhard, also Vice President, Stacy Thompson. The program reviews were just completed. All the different areas put in their request and we are now in the process of compiling all them. We hope that the request for the main stage support will be prioritized high enough.”

Theater Arts Instructor Dov Hassan explained that the main reason we will go without any main stage plays this semester boils down to a lack of funds for technical staff. Technical staff are all those who work behind the scenes. The people who make the costumes and stage sets, who do the lighting, run the box office, publicity, marketing, and who handle and produce the shows.

“There is so much work to be done that we can’t just do this with students alone. We have a class for technical theater, but it’s so intense to build a set for a show that that’s about all they can get done. It’s such a mad dash to get it all done in time, that there’s not much time left for really teaching the subject matter in depth. And there needs to be staff support to direct things. Theater offers all kind of training for other jobs. It helps students learn to work on complicated tasks.” said Theater Arts instructor Dov Hassan

Instructor Hassan explained that a lot of people get the Performing Arts Center (PAC) staff confused with the theater arts program. According to him, the PAC staff is solely dedicated to running the theater for rental use. “They have staff, but we get zero support from them. We are not related to them. It’s a totally separate program.”

The funding has been decreasing slowly and steadily. The theater never had to rely on outside funding like grants. The funding has always been inside the college district budget. The theater program sells a lot of tickets for their shows.

“If we don’t get a certain amount of funding from the district, in addition to not putting on a main stage play we will no longer be able to attend The American College Theater Festival, that we have attended every year. nonetheless, theater arts continues to thrive with tremendous student energy and commitment to new original plays. We need to hire professional people for the whole year, and we don’t have the money for that” says professor Rachel Lepell.

The Deficit is not only affecting the Theater Arts but the whole campus. It’s affecting the theater, music, science, digital media, math, and English department. Every department doesn’t have as much funding for supplies as they did before. The new plan under our new Vice President of Business Services, Ron Gerhard is that the Theater Arts has to rent out Chabot College facilities. Renting out the Facilities also means that the Television station Mass Communications class might have to pay for each student to use Chabot College facilities. When asked about the Theater arts and MCOM classes renting out the facilities Dr. Stacy Thompson was uncertain about it.

The instructors who direct the main stage plays are Joel Mullennix, Margo Hall, and Dov Hassan. Every semester they rotate who’s directing the class and the play. Next semester there’s going to be the main stage play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare and Professor Mullennix is going to direct it.

Since there’s not going to be a main stage play this semester, emerging works is going to be more ambitious. With six plays, there’s going to be more students in the class that are going to be performing. Emerging works are student’s plays that ran earlier in December.

Vice President of Academic Services Dr. Stacy Thompson added “We had a deficit we’re trying to work out so now the hope is we will be able to fund the performances, and the supplies you need for performances. A proposal was submitted through the program review process we’re hopeful that we are going to have a main stage play next year, and by the end of this fiscal year things would’ve settled down and be put into place. The program will survive, and it will flourish.”

For the past ten years Chabot College Nurse Practitioner Tricia Gonsman MSN, FNP has hosted “Trash the Ash.” This event brings awareness to students here on Chabot campus about the effects that tobacco products can have on someone’s body, like cancer. Yes, Tobacco is addictive, but she helps and encourages students to stop using Tobacco.

“What we are trying to get across is that we know that it’s difficult for people to quit, but the goal is we want to be there to support people and our students, yet, try to encourage them to quit smoking and stop using tobacco products. The hazardous effect of smoking is heart repertory C.O.P.D., and breathing problems. They can cause cancers (Lungs, kidney oral and bladder). The fact that it’s expensive and it smells, your fingers can turn yellow also.” Says Nurse Tricia Gonsman.

At the “Trash the Ash” event there were two students from Foothill College on a repository program volunteering. The repository program is an organization which raises awareness for lung disease. Their names are Eliza Tram and Pree Thirao.

“Smoking is a big issue. With the money you’re using on tobacco, you can use it on a vacation or something. With everything going on with the natural disasters and air quality, it isn’t good. Think about all the newborn and children breathing in all that smoke in the air” says Eliza Tram.

With states like, California, Arizona, Colorado, New York and another 25 states that have a statewide smoking ban, there are states that don’t. In states like Texas and Wyoming, there are no statewide smoking and no indoor smoking bans.

According to an article in the CBS NEWS called “Smoking Bans Spreading Butts Some States Still Love Smokers” it had stated that “Some other states have less restrictive laws, like requiring smoking areas with separate ventilation. Only seven states have no indoor smoking restrictions, although some of their cities do: Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.”

Student Ta’mari Vandross says, “I don’t smoke. I don’t like the smell of it. I do think it’s good that you can’t smoke on campus because smoking affects people’s health and that’s not good for us, not only us but our environment.”

Another student Sallison McCullough added. “I’m a Mother, and I don’t smoke. The smell is nasty, and the stuff that they put into the cigarettes isn’t meant for humans at all. It’s very disgusting. I know someone who smokes, and it’s very addictive.”

The things that are put into cigarettes are harmful and nasty. Formaldehyde (a chemical that is used to preserve the dead), Vinyl Chloride (used to make plastics), Arsenic (used for rat poison), Cadmium (used in batteries), Hydrogen Cyanide (was used to kill people in the gas chamber during World War II in Nazi Germany. There are other harmful products in cigarettes.

For those who smoke know that it’s addictive and it’s very hard to quit. The California Smokers’ Helpline is a program that can help smokers quit. They were founded in 1992. The number is 1-800-NO-BUTTS.

For the past five years, librarian and Chabot Instructor Kim Morrison has taught a course about the late, famous rapper and actor Tupac Amaru Shakur. This themed course on Tupac is intended to build student’s research skills. The course isn’t about just listening to Tupac’s music, watching his movies, documentaries and learning his life it’s more than that. It’s about students choosing a topic that he raps about or is associated with him.

Kim Morrison says “Students in this course will choose a topic that relates to Tupac or around him. This semester someone is doing their research on his mother (Afeni Shakur) in prison and how she defends herself. Someone is doing a research project on homelessness. Someone is doing one on Ida B. Wells and how she brought attention to the black men that were being lynched in the south. She was a reporter, and the student is writing about how she brought attention to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, then comparing it” to what Ida B. Wells reported on”

In his songs Tupac covers all kinds of subjects, like teen pregnancy in “Brenda Got a Baby”, social justice and police brutality issues in “Trapped”, being raised and loved by a single mother “Dear Mama”, a person being judged by their race in “Only God Can Judge Me”, a young man joining a gang and peer pressure in “Shorty Wanna Be a Thug” and more topics.

Sean Kain, a Chabot College student, says “It’s good that Chabot has this class on and about Pac because he is one of my favorite artists. I was only two-year-old when he was killed, but I was raised on his music, and it had such an impact on my life. His music was about being black and having black pride, not only black pride but pride in ourselves and in every culture.”

Chabot student Damon Laresca added “I’ve never taken the class, but I’m interested in learning about him and what made him as famous as he was before he died. I like his songs it’s like he can do one song about going to the club partying and having fun like “California Love” Then he can also have songs that make you think like “So Many Tears,” and besides Kendrick Lamar we don’t have that type of artist no more for this generation and I think that’s sad.”

Salimah “Mrs. Makaveli” Shabazz says, “It’s awesome taking the Tupac class. I almost know everything there is to know about Pac already, but my career goal is to teach a class like Ms. Kim. I want to bring awareness to social justice issues through Tupac’s music and videos. Tupac had a tremendous impact on me. Everyone calls me Mrs. Makaveli. I have a Tupac tattoo and a 21-year-old son name Shakur. How much more aspiring can he be to me to name my son after him? If you haven’t seen a movie with Tupac in it, I would suggest “Poetic Justice” because that’s one of the most positive black movies that he was in.”

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). For ten years at Chabot College Nurse Practitioner Tricia Gonsman MSN, FNP. Has hosted the National Breast Cancer Awareness event. The event covers the topic of breast cancer. She educates students about breast cancer, chemotherapy, mammograms, and more.

Nurse Gonsman also works at the Student Health Center located in Building 2300. Nurse Gonsman stated, “I’ve been doing this for ten years. I want to educate people about breast cancer and how very serious it is. I do it to bring awareness, not everybody knows about the symptoms and signs of breast cancer. Both men and women get breast cancer.”

NBCAM was founded in 1985 in October as a partnership between the American Cancer Society and AstraZeneca (the producer of several drugs used for breast cancer treatment). In 1993 Evelyn Lauder founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and began using the pink ribbon as their symbol. In 1991 the Susan G Komen Foundation handed out the pink ribbons to the participants in the New York City race for Breast Cancer Survivors.

Rose-Marie Henderson a family member of mine and a breast cancer survivor described what it was like having breast cancer three times. She stated, “In 2006 I had a lump in my left Breast, and it was getting very painful. I went to get a mammogram then my doctor informed me that I had breast cancer. I had a biopsy and took chemotherapy. Because of the chemotherapy, I was sick, weak, and lost my hair. Then in 2013 it came back. The doctor told me my cancer had spread to my sternum bone (Breastbone). I took a chemotherapy capsule that cost over $10,000 for 21 tablets. I’ve been taking it for two years now, my cancer came back and spread to my thighs. It didn’t spread anymore, and now it’s stable.”

According to the Susan G Komen website “Women in the U.S. have a 12 percent lifetime risk of getting breast cancer. This means that for every 8 women in the U.S. 1 will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.”

Breast cancer is always caused by damage to a cell’s DNA. The risk factors are drinking alcohol, and having a family history of breast cancer.

The symptoms of breast cancer for women is a change in how the breast and or nipples feel. There are many breast cancer symptoms that go unnoticed. It is important to get a monthly breast exam, from your physician.