This post has been edited for clarity. D: How long have you been doing music? Do you remember when you wrote your first song? J: It’s been a long time. I grew up singing in the church. I picked up piano, then guitar. I started writing around 12 years old. D: Who’d you grow up listening to? J: Erykah Badu, …
Raps Dora Milaje: How Black Women are Running the Rap Game
BY OMAR ABDULKARIM This past Friday, Megan Thee Stallion, aka the H-Town Hottie, aka Tina Snow, aka Hot Girl Meg blessed us with her album Fever. While the album is a rallying call for us Hotties to act up this summer, it also serves as the perfect reminder of the fact that women are running rap. Yes, RUN rap. And …
Who Do I Vote For? The USAC Candidate Guide We All Needed
Written by Mia Glionna With the USAC election around the corner, it is important for us all to be educated on who we are voting for. USAC is more than student government—it is a collective of students dedicated to representing the needs and interests of the student body as a whole. Making an educated vote in this election is a …
Nipsey Hussle: The People’s Champ
Rapper, activist, father, husband, and more, Nipsey Hussle, was a pivotal Black man in not only the Los Angeles community, but all over the world. He taught through his music and overall character about health, ownership, and education in the Black community. On March 31, 2019, he was shot six times in front of his Los Angeles Marathon store. Prayers …
Poster Wars: The Women’s March & Performative Nature of White Feminism
By Cierra Black and Omar Abdulkarim In honor of Womxn’s Month and the budding discussion of social activism in today’s generation, we thought it appropriate to examine the National Womxn’s March that was formed under 45’s presidency. As many of us are familiar with, the annual Women’s March which took place earlier this year on January 19, is a …
The UCLA vs USC Black Out
Interview by Mahala Herron and Cierra Black & transcription by Omar Abdulkarim. On Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, the last day of Black history month, Black students rallied at the USC vs UCLA game to protest the lack of student resources for Black students on campus. With hopes that campus administrators meet their demands, there was a press conference held in …
45 vs the 14th Amendment
According to an Axios HBO video interview published this morning, 45 claims that he can end birthright citizenship by way of an executive order. 45, child of a foreign-born women and father of children born to foreign-born mothers, expressed his concerns about the right to citizenship enshrined in the Constitution. “We’re the only country in the world, where a person comes in, has a baby, and …
AAE Hosts Black Horror Art Show
The Afrikan Arts Ensemble at UCLA (AAE) coordinated a Black Horror Art Show this past Thursday. The event featured various art forms including photography, drawings, and live performances to name a few. I was able to sit down with members of AAE’s staff on Saturday to discuss their choice to have a horror exhibit, why they joined AAE, and the …