Día de los Muertos: From Childhood to College
Lighting candles is a tradition that radiates on Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Flames illuminate the path for spirits of the deceased to find their way to visit living loved ones. Día de los Muertos twists the darkness typically associated with...
Words of Empowerment
Rapper and activist Mona Haydar’s politically charged “Hijabi” music video screened on stage at the HOPE International Music Festival. Meanwhile, about 100 UC Santa Cruz students awaited performances exploring the origin of hip-hop and the double standards female artists face. The Oct. 6 festival, located...
The Start of the Queer Legacy in Hip-Hop
Trigger warning: This article makes references to violence against the LGBTQIA+ community and contains sexually explicit language. For a music genre most commonly regarded as the least LGBTQIA+ friendly, mainstream and underground hip-hop is making a progressive shift in its subculture by accepting the LGBTQIA+...
What Does it Take to be on Haluan?
Dancers mirrored one another’s fluid torso twists or moved with eyes closed and headphones on, whipping out sharp movements at the Haluan Hip-Hop Dance Troupe auditions. When hip-hop music began blasting, students organized themselves into formations for the moment they had been practicing for. The...
Interaction Instead of Transaction
Mayor Cynthia Chase called for President Trump’s impeachment in front of a crowd of over 100 at Santa Cruz Indivisible’s (SCI) first ResistFest. Santa Cruz was the 11th city in the nation to submit an impeachment resolution, written by SCI and passed unanimously by city...
Visibility for Student Artists
Unlike students in other majors, who are writing final papers or studying for exams, art students at UC Santa Cruz are binding photo books and installing paintings for a department-wide gallery known as Open Studios. The Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center will be transformed into...
The Future of Art on Display
Art student Camille Mariet, like many art students, felt disconnected from her work in her fourth year of college. She felt like she wasn’t moving forward and didn’t feel like her work was validating — but one professor saw otherwise. Mariet was nominated to apply...
Challenging Machismo
Forty years ago, Luis Valdez created “Zoot Suit” to draw attention to Chicano culture in mainstream media. Now, Luis Valdez’s son, director Kinan Valdez, has revitalized the play to address the current political climate and themes of racism and sexism still significant today. “Zoot Suit”...
Self-Care Before Finals
The bass thumps as trap music blares from the speaker. Students laugh through their poses as instructor TrapYogaBae tells them to shake their heads, stretch their necks and say “no to fuckboys” as they move into downward-facing dog. The 11th annual Birth of Word Festival...
Embracing a World of Culture
Thirty-seven years ago, a small group of students gathered at the Quarry Amphitheater for the first Multicultural Festival. Throughout the years, the event has grown to include more cultures and local artists. Now, UC Santa Cruz students are preparing to share their culture through food...