U.S. Privatized Banking System Needs a Public Option
Following the 2008 financial crisis, bank closures are leaving many people with impeded access to crucial financial services. The remaining bank branches disadvantage millions who cannot afford banking fees and many turn to vulturous lending companies for loans. Much of the infrastructure needed to fix…
An Artsy Post-UCSC Prospect
Critical thinking and flexibility are two important skills to have in the job market. These skills, ingrained into art majors throughout their course work at UC Santa Cruz, give a foundation for later in their careers. This time of year also brings job hunting for…
Kresge Pride Remembers Stonewall
A chorus of “transphobia has got to go” rose from a group of about 40 marchers as they began climbing up Merrill hill after a windy stop in Cowell. Organizers worked to make Pride more accessible this year, swapping out less accessible pickup trucks for…
Spain and Portugal’s Jewish and Arabic Baroque Music
Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic songs rang through the Music Center Recital hall during the Santa Cruz Baroque festival on April 29. Many of the pieces came from an 800-year period from the early eighth to the late fifteenth centuries of mixed Muslim and Christian rule…
Bayanihan Discusses Anti-Blackness
A play unfolds with the shocking death of a young college student, Ramona. The play’s subsequent trial frames a Pilipinx community’s struggle with internalized anti-blackness. After the trial, seven angry jurors discuss the fate of the accused, Ramona’s Black boyfriend Zach. This scene comes from…
Japanese Drum Beats, Music and Carnival Games
An audience sits transfixed as the powerful beats from Japanese taiko drums echo through the hall, strong enough for attendees to feel in their bodies as the seven drums were struck. Arranged on the tables audience members sit at are candles placed inside glass bowls,…
Historical Paintings and Modern Installations
At UC Santa Cruz, anyone who passes the Koi Pond will walk by the Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery, but the significance behind its namesake may be less apparent. Three exhibits, which opened on April 12, honor the common theme of recognizing influential locals who…
12th Annual Birth of Word Festival
The 12th annual Birth of Word festival brought together a collection of dancers, poets and performers who expressed the importance of self-care, treating others with love and using art as healing. Featured performer and professional poet Venus Jones stressed the important role art has in…
Finding Identity Through Comedic Relief
On Saturday evening, a crowd of about 200 students at Colleges Nine and Ten Multipurpose Room laughed along with Asian American comedians Irene Tu and headliner Joel Kim Booster as they joked about periods, dating and being poor. Booster performed material drawn partially from his…
Memories of Black Womanhood
Morgan Jerkins, feminist author, reflected on her experiences as a Black girl growing up with internal pressure to emulate white beauty standards. She described later finding herself torn between being annoyed at catcallers and desiring the male gaze. Her reflections on her life and the…