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The Collective Work of Chabot’s Black History Month

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While it’s the shortest month of the year, Chabot College and the Black Education Association (BEA) made sure to recognize Black History Month this year with a whole arrangement of events. The highlights included screenings of prominent Black movies like “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “Queen and Slim,” and “Black and Blue” to more significant events that honor African American students on campus like the Black Arts Festival and Black Scholars Family Night.

“Although it’s the shortest month in the year, it’s about recognizing black people’s struggles, accomplishments, how far we come, but also how much further we have to go.” said CIN student Salimah Shabazz, more commonly known as “Ms. Mack.” 

There was something for everybody to celebrate in Black History Month!

All of the events are under a series, Embracing Ujima: Collective Work & Responsibility for the African American Community. This February started with the event, Black History Month Kick-Off — Embracing Ujima. 

Ujima is one of seven principles in African heritage, with its meaning associated with collective work and responsibility. Keynote speaker Dr. Matais Pouncil kicked off the series on Feb. 6, and spoke about black history as well as what Ujima meant for him. 

Keynote speaker Dr. Pouncil, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at West Valley College, “is the first African American man to earn an Ed.D. from UC Irvine,” said the Coalition of Black Excellence. Pouncil conducts research on black culture, diaspora, and sociocultural and economic class.

The Feb. 11, keynote speaker Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud talked about what it means to be a student while Black, discussing the collective responsibility that comes with having an education. 

Stroud has been head of numerous college districts, with 35 years in education. Stroud also served as a presidential appointee on the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability of Young Americans for President Barack Obama, according to the Peralta Community College District, where she is currently the Chancellor.

Student organizations demonstrated the collective responsibility to support the community. Many students came to the events, especially the keynote, with prominent Black student organizations on campus coming to show strength in numbers. 

My Sister’s Keeper is an organization that empowers women on campus by developing leadership skills and self-love. Their members were particularly inspired by Dr. Stroud. 

“A lot of people in this room may not know her name or recognize her and the work that she’s done. But she’s done a lot, locally, and nationally,” said student Sara Costa, Secretary of My Sister’s Keeper. “It’s important to see a black woman having this much power while also being humble and willing to come and talk to us and share her experiences.”

G’Neva Winston, Community Engagement Officer of My Sister’s Keeper, agreed and brought up the famous Malcolm X quote, “the black woman is the most disrespected person in America.”

Winston also attended the Black Arts Festival on Feb. 19. Currently a film major, she was excited to see black filmmakers at the event. “I even took my mom to see it, and she was so supportive!” said Winston. Filmmaker Caleb Jaffe presented his short film, “It’s Not About Jimmy Keene,” in the Chabot planetarium. From Sundance, the film is about a police shooting of an unarmed black teen, which causes friction within a mixed-race Los Angeles family. 

Spoken word artists Tongo Eisen-Martin and Landon Smith began the event with performances along with an open mic and artist discussion.

For film screenings, Mack coordinated the screening for the documentary “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” and the discussion that followed. She suggested the movie be shown after she was introduced to the author in her “English 101: Evolution of a Black Writer” class. “Because of Toni Morrison, I’m taking a fiction class,” Mack said. “I want to be the next Octavia Butler, Audre Lorde, and many more.” Morrison was a novelist and writer who wrote the celebrated trilogy, “Beloved,” and was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993.

Brian Augsberger, a counselor at EOPS, took part in organizing some of the events, particularly the Black Scholars Family Night. “I’m encouraged by seeing the community of Chabot coming together to celebrate something important,” Augsberger said. “These events are not just for the Black community but the entire community.”

While Black History Month is over, Ms. Mack says, “every day is Black History Month.”

The Call of the Wild Review

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The Call of the Wild is like a trip to a zoo where the animals also view the animals from a safe distance.

The main character, the dog Buck, was animated with CGI. The CGI was one of the movie’s strengths, in particular the animal fur. Buck’s slightly cartoonish appearance makes a point that he acts differently, more human, than the other dogs.

However, for this reason, Buck is also the film’s weak point. He is introduced as a rich Californian’s pet dog, who is kidnapped and sold far north as a sled dog during the 1890s Klondike gold rush. Throughout the story, Buck is haunted by a giant wolf spirit, representing his return from pet to beast, the “call of the wild.”

As each trial passes, Buck undergoes no change but is rewarded as if he had. He shows mercy in a fight to the death yet the loser accepts self-exile. Buck chases rabbits as he did in California, but lets it go free when he finally catches one. He pounces onto a human target in three different scenes, but never bites them.

The plot took a few unexpected turns, but between the twists it was easy to see ahead. A canoe rows down the river, of course it goes over a waterfall. Buck wants John Thornton (Harrison Ford) to quit drinking, so of course John finds one last bottle and gives it up willingly.

John was the only human character to be fully developed, because most others did not appear long enough in the story to do so. Perhaps this was done to let the audience understand how Buck feels every time he leaves someone behind.

The best human character in the film was the unnamed man in the red sweater, whose job is to beat new dogs into obedience. This man’s wide eyes, deliberate speech pattern, and fighting stance uniquely indicated he was not talking to a human.

The filmmakers took advantage of four government subsidies to shoot on location in California and the Yukon. The camerawork shows plenty of the landscape, but the music brings to mind beauty and wonder, rather than forbidding and overwhelming.

Harrison Ford narrates in character throughout the film, which forces a human’s perspective on what should be a dog’s story. Nothing was gained from the narration that was not covered a second time in dialogue.

This is a movie you could watch with your kids, but probably not a movie your kids will show their kids one day. The Call of the Wild was released in theaters February 21, 2020.

Dia de Los Muertos

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Chabot College began celebrating Dia de los Muertos on Wednesday, October 17 at noon by placing altars around campus which were available for students to view until Thursday, November 1 at 6 in the afternoon.

These altars were placed in the building 700 lobby, El Centro, building 100 first floor, the library, and the building 400 lobby.

Each of the altars featured different things. The altar in the 400 building lobby was dedicated to Mexican singer Selena Quintanilla. Known by many as simply Selena, she was admired by many people, her music was mostly “cumbias” which is dance music in Spanish, but she also sang some love songs in English. She passed away on March 31, 1995, when she was just 23 years old.

The altar in the 700 building was a traditional Dia de los Muertos altar, with several pictures of different people that have passed away with an image of the Virgin Mary behind them as a traditional altar.

Finally, the altar found in the library was an altar based on the history of Dia de los Muertos.

Officially Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on October 31 and ends on November 2. It’s a day where people honor their loved ones who have passed away. Chabot ended the Dia de los Muertos festivities with a celebration they hold every year on Thursday, November 1, 2018, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Event Center.

During this celebration, students had the opportunity to learn the history of Dia de los Muertos as usual. Students also got a chance to participate in a variety of activities like Loteria which is basically like Mexican bingo, face painting, candle making, flower making, and much more. Students were also able to learn about the resources provided at El Centro and on campus.

The organization responsible for the altars and the celebration was the Hispanic-Serving Institution.

Earth Week

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Earth Day is a global holiday that many take pride in celebrating each year.

With the holiday being right around the corner there are several things we should do to get prepared for it.

Sidnea Nguyen, a current Chabot student, said, “Earth day is the one day out of the year where everyone should make sure plastic and paper are being put in the right place. Littering is never ok, but at least for the sake of pollution we should all come together and make this day mean something”.

Earth day is important because just picking something up or recycling something can go a long way.

Sara Trevor, stated, “ The work we do on Earth day is cool, but that should be work we do every day. I know not everyone will agree, but I feel like we could all do our parts and try a little better to stop pollution”.

Besides throwing away trash and helping to pick up litter, there are several other things you can do to prepare or participate in Earth day.

One way to save plastic would be using a refillable water bottle on a daily basis so that water bottles aren’t wasted.

An effective way to stop pollution would be carpooling to work instead of driving by yourself. Not only does it save you gas but it could help save the world as well. Switching up your lifestyle or just tweaking the things you already do can create a safer and greener earth for everyone to live in.

Starting on Monday, April 16th, Chabot will be providing activities and information all week long to get as many people aware of how they can save the earth as possible.

Earth Week 2018

Los Angeles Times Boycotts Disney

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On November 3 Disney decided to stop conducting business with the Los Angeles Times for their “unfair business” reviews in the city of Anaheim, banning the publication from private screenings for the movie Thor Ragnarok.

According to the article published by the Los Angeles Times in September, Disney has not been paying their fair share to the city of Anaheim for Disneyland Park. The city of Anaheim has granted various bonds, rebates and tax shield to the park for years.

Disney supports and funds various aspects of Anaheim, including funding for the local police department. Even so, employees of the Disneyland Resort and the residents of Anaheim share the same concerns that Disney isn’t doing enough for the city.

After the article had been published, Disney stopped contacting the Los Angeles Times and banning them from private screenings of Disney’s recent box office hit, Thor Ragnarok. Despite this, the review was published on time.

Shortly after, many critics came out in support of the Los Angeles Times, including the LA Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics and Ava DuVernay, who directed A Wrinkle in Time for Disney earlier this year. They all declined private screenings by Disney unless the ban was lifted and removed any Disney films from any of their year-end awards.

On November 7, Disney lifted the ban due to pressure from critics. The Los Angeles Times released a statement in the aftermath of the ban being lifted. “A powerful company punishing a news organization for a story they do not like is meant to have a chilling effect. This is a dangerous precedent and not at all in the public interest.

Chabot Gladiators reaches 1,000 Degrees

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Chabot primarily serves innovative residents of Alameda County in the East Bay Area. Including the district communities of Castro Valley, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and Union City. Making it one of the leading diverse and cultivating institutions in the Bay Area.

Among the students that attend, nearly 1,000 degrees were awarded in the graduation year of 2016-2017. Exactly 998 degrees were awarded. Go Gladiators!

Dedicated to the Mission Statement as cited, “Chabot College is a public comprehensive community college that prepares students to succeed in their education, progress in the workplace, and engage in the civic and cultural life and the community.” And in the progression have shown the leading role in the local community college education.

Chabot College is known for being an institution for the commuting and busy student. Making it a well-appreciated school with thriving enrollment.

The last time this level of success was achieved was in the class year of 1993-1994. Where 1,000 degrees were earned.

As mentioned by Carolyn L. Arnold, Coordinator of Institutional Research, “transfer degrees (AA-T or AS-T) accounted for 45% of the increase, while a resurgence of AA and AS degrees contributed the rest. Either way, more and more students are earning degrees at Chabot.” AA-T being an Associates in Arts for Transfer and AS-T an Associates in Science for Transfer. As well as for AA and AS students who meet the general, major and unit requirements toward their field.

Graduates of the performing year, such as Florito Maniego believe that “a lot more students are more motivated to get better careers or further their education. A lot of students also attend Chabot to transfer, and they increase their chances of admission if they pursue a degree.”

Chabot College is classified as Degree-granting, associate’s and certificates school by Carnegie Classification.

Disabled Students Resource Center

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Chabot College is full of diverse students. Each has their own personality, their own mind and their own ways of studying and learning. People use their notepads, maybe physically writing things down helps them remember the information. Unfortunately, there are also others who have trouble learning, some who don’t learn the same way. It takes the extra effort to learn the same material, but there is one place on campus that can help with that.

The Disabled Students Resource Center can help these students through what could have been a difficult semester by offering the services they need to aid them throughout the semester and beyond. At the DSRC, tutors are also available to help students understand the material, as well as a “High-tech center,” adaptive technologies for students with disabilities. The services include text to braille converters, computers for students with low vision and scanners.

The DSRC also hosts events to raise awareness around disabilities and the struggle of daily life. The Able-Disabled Club exists to aid students by planning social gatherings, as well as providing campus awareness for students with disabilities. Every year they host a Disability Awareness Day during the spring season to help all kinds of students understand and cope with disabilities, as well as provide food and host sports events.

The Disabled Students Resource Center is committed to providing all the help a student needs to get through their semester. If you would like to help these students, you can sign up as a tutor at the DSRC in Building 2400. If you would like more information about the DSRC, you can pick up a copy of the DSRC Disabled Students Resource Center Magazine at Building 2400, or you can find it online on the Chabot College website. You can also see one of the many counselors at the DSRC is you have any more questions.