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...
Intersecting Mediums of Justice
Some quotes have been translated from Spanish. Screen prints, photographs and zines represent more than an outlet for artistic expression. Regardless of the medium, “Emerging Visions: Creative Practice at the Nexus of Freedom and Justice” uses art to make a statement that goes against the...
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,...
Annual Drum Feast Celebrates Indigenous Cultures
The smell of copal, a sacred incense used in rituals, celebrations and offerings, filled the air as the Fresno American Indian Veterans Association Color Guard blessed the land where the annual Sophía García-Robles Memorial Drum Feast is held. The annual event occurred at the Family...
Empowering the Next Generation for Higher Education
Story by Daniela Gonzalez and Hannah Ross Kimberly Balmorez, now in her fourth year, knew she wanted to attend UC Santa Cruz when she visited campus in 2014 for Student-Initiated Outreach (SIO) weekend. “It was the first time I was surrounded by a large amount...
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...
Royalty Has Arrived… in Drag
*Drag names used for anonymity. In her stilettos and a form-fitting black dress with leopard print, professional drag queen Kylie Minono opened the 23rd annual Drag Ball with a performance of Alicia Keys’ “Girl On Fire.” Minono, who emceed last year’s Drag Ball, used comedy...
Emotional Experiences of Black Men
Through community engagement and an emphasis on vulnerability, The Confess Project, an agency focused on education and awareness of mental health, and its CEO Lorenzo Lewis promote the importance of an unspoken taboo in communities of color — mental health. Lewis worked as a behavioral...
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...
UCSC Musicians Influenced by Today’s Socio-Political Tensions
As the auditorium hall rumbled from a wall of static noise, international news broadcasts roared from the venue’s speakers, and auto-tuned Malaysian news recording entered to simmer down the arrangement. Guitarist and UC Santa Cruz alumnus James Moore and violinist Andie Springer then accompanied the...