1 What's the deal with Boropalooza? (For Edinboro students)

OK, I get it if you don't like the name "Boropalooza", that's perfectly fine.

It's one thing to criticize the name "Boropalooza"... But  what's unfair is that hardly anybody is talking about all of the other new things that EUP is doing to make this years homecoming better.

  

It seems everyone is focused on the name and not actually what's behind it.

Immediately after the Bigger, Better, Boro I saw Facebook posts saying "They're getting rid of Homecoming?!" or "Boropalooza? What is this, the circus?"

Yet, ironically, many of the people who I saw criticizing the changes weren't even there to hear about them themselves.

They just lost their minds when they heard "Boropalooza".

This didn't happen, but you get the point.

Yet, no one's talking about the actual changes that are happening with homecoming, which I find to be beneficial. 

Prime example: The changes in the homecoming candidacy requirements.

It was announced that Edinboro Students who aren't in trouble judicially and have at least 24 credits could run for homecoming.

Do you know how many people have wanted to run for homecoming over the years but couldn't because they weren't part of an organization?

I find something like this to be great because it is more inclusive of the Edinboro University community as a whole and not just focused on organizations.

Also, another new thing that they're introducing is a bonfire for students during homecoming weekend.

Who in the hell doesn't like a bonfire?

No one's cancelling the game or the parade, no one's changing our tartan colors to polka dots, and no one's changing our alma mater to "The Wobble" (even if they did, I probably wouldn't mind).

Hell, people weren't even this passionate and vocal when Corbett cut our budget. Remember that, guys?

But, I digress. 

I honestly think some people constructively criticize but others just want to be negative toward anything that differs from what they're used to. 

And quite frankly, there are some people who just have personal issues towards particular people who were involved with introduction the new initiatives and use that as a passive-aggressive way to criticize them.

But they were gonna be mad either way.

We might not all agree on the name, but hopefully there one thing that we can all agree on, our love for Edinboro University. 

I can't wait to come back for Homecoming/Boropalooza this Fall as an alum and enjoy all of the great festivities that the Boro has to offer.

So let's just try to go into this with an open mind have some fun that weekend... Who cares what it's called?

0 Kobe Bryant: A lesson in resilience

Resilience (Merriam Webster's Dictionary)

1. The capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress

2. The ability to recover from or adust easily from misfortune or change.


"I made a move that I made 100 times and it just popped" , said a solemn Kobe Bryant, fighting to hold back tears during a press conference last Friday. 

That was the emotional description of the devastating injury that he suffered last week in a game against the Golden State Warriors.

Kobe ruptured his Achilles tendon in that game and had to undergo surgery. Doctors say his recovery time will be between six to nine months. Sports analysts say that after an injury like this, with him being 34 years old, his career may never be the same.

Yet today, it is likely that Kobe sits back with a smile on his face.

All the doubts which people have of him and all of the pain that he feels,  are simply gasoline to his fire.

The fire which burns inside Kobe Bryant is his drive to be the best. It's what separates him from other NBA stars and many other athletes in general. It's the reason why people talk about him in the same sentence of the likes of a Michael Jordan.

It is the reason why he can score 81 points in a game... and possibly do it again.

Kobe knew early in his career that he had to prove himself. When he went to the NBA fresh out of high school in 1996, some people questioned his ability to perform on the same level as athletes who played in college and honed their skills over time.

Many saw him as a boy trying to play in a man's league. However, he proved them wrong and surpassed many people's expectations, winning five NBA championships, being a two-time NBA finals MVP, and ranking 4th on the list of most points scored in an NBA career.

Kobe lives and breathes basketball, he's a student of the game. I remember watching Spike Lee's 2009 documentary, Kobe Doin' Work, in which Kobe narrates footage of himself and the Lakers playing against the NY Knicks. By just listening to him talk about the game of basketball, you can see why he's been so successful.

He thinks with focus and clarity, he plays with the precision of a chess player and leads on the court with the strategic eye of an army general.

Now I'm not the biggest fan of Kobe Bryant, but I respect his ambition and drive, and I know that when you doubt him, you'd better be ready to see him do something spectacular. 

Make no mistake about it, the Mamba will strike again.

But at the end of the day, there's a bigger picture to all of this. We could all learn something from Kobe. What Kobe shows us is that not only are drive and focus important, but he also shows us that we are far greater than our challenges.

Too often, we let our setbacks put us into a slump. We temporarily forget about our dreams, our ambitions and our goals and slow our progress. Yet, setbacks are merely setups for comebacks. We have to learn how to view our challenges as exactly what they are: challenges.

Facing a challenge doesn't mean it's time to throw in the towel, that means that its time to come back even stronger.

If you need an example of this, just watch what Kobe does next season.

I'm not saying whether or not he'll be MVP next year or that the Lakers will win the championship. Only time will tell what he's going to do.

But one thing that he won't be doing anytime soon is quitting.

0 Is Journalism Dying?

Published in The Edinboro Spectator: April 4th 2013

About a month ago I joined a group on the professional networking website Linkedin called "Linkedin for Journalists".

The group consists of hundreds of journalism professionals and job seekers looking to connect with people within the field. Me, being a young journalist approaching graduation, joined this group as soon as I read about it.

Seeking advice on breaking into the field of journalism, I asked a question within the group's discussion page.

"I'm a grad student approaching graduation and trying to get my foot in the door as a journalist. Do you have any advice as it pertains to the job search?", I asked. 

To my surprise, over 30 people commented with advice and tips for me. Yet, not all of the responses were positive. While I was reading the comments I noticed a few group members had responded in quite a negative tone.

One poster responded, "Yeah, I'd suggest going back to school and getting a law degree."
Another one commented, "Journalism is a dead-end business... students are making a mistake in pursuing what is laughably called a career as a reporter."

Now, I've heard this sentiment many times before.

In fact, as an undergraduate student at Edinboro University, pursuing my degree in print journalism. I even had a guest speaker in one of my reporting classes call journalism "a dying field".

The economy isn't what it used to be, newspapers companies are shutting down, and technology is changing the face of both print and broadcasting journalism as we know them. 

Yet, journalism is not dying, it is only evolving.

Yeah, it may be much harder to break into the business these days, but we can't afford to lose hope. A huge problem is that many people already have. 

Some are too afraid of change and are so stuck in the way that things USED to be that they cannot adapt to the way that things actually are.

All fields evolve in some way, look at medicine, law, business and entertainment.
What makes people think that journalism is going to be exempt from change?
Maybe we're not living in the same as the era of journalism that our grandparents experienced.

Yet, journalism still matters.

I believe that when a journalist is truly passionate enough about their craft, they don't wait for someone else to validate their skills. They don't wait for some "job" to make them feel like a journalist.

True journalists aren't made by their major or career, they're made by whats in their heart.

True journalists are inquisitive, curious and fearless. Therefore, they FIND and/or CREATE a way to be successful and prosperous at what they do.

So, whether one is a writer for the New York Times, is an anchor on CNN, or simply a blogger, we should take pride in what we do, because our work is monumental.

Journalists are supposed to be society's messengers, the writers of history, the  the voices of the voiceless, those who make sense of seemingly senseless times.

They help us to understand this ever-changing world in which we live. They analyze and examine our lives, and as Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

People have sacrificed their lives for the sake of journalism

Therefore, to neglect journalism is to neglect a huge part of our lives.

Being a journalist is a heck of a responsibility, yet it is an honor as well. That is something that we all need to remember. 

As long as passionate journalists live, journalism will never die.

0 From Malcolm Little to Lil' Wayne

Note: This editorial was originally sent to the hip-hop website "AllHipHop.com" following the backlash of an editorial by social commentator and author, Dr. Boyce Watkins which was published on their site. In the editorial, Watkins examines the parallels of the lives of a young Malcolm X and Lil' Wayne, from a sociological perspective, discussing how they were both products of a similar social structure (Click here to read Dr. Watkins' editorial)

Yet, Watkins editorial was met with an overwhelmingly negative response from readers who found the thought of even comparing Lil' Wayne's life to Malcolm X's to be an insult.

Me, feeling as if most readers completely missed Watkins point, decided to write a response editorial to AllHipHop.com.

Yet, the editors of AllHipHop.com never published the editorial nor did they respond to my email.

Here's what I had to say:

Apparently a lot of AllHipHop.com readers were up in arms after reading Dr. Boyce Watkins’ editorial “What Lil Wayne has in common with Malcolm X”. Many people responded with a sentiment of outrage, saying things like, “How dare he compare Lil Wayne to Malcolm X!” or “This article is a disgrace!” 

Some even went as far as to diss Dr. Watkins personally, one reader called him “a f*cking idiot”.

These comments revealed to me a big problem of today which is the fact that in the era of internet journalism, many people don’t a) actually READ ARTICLES FULLY, nor do they b) think critically and analyze what they read.

Of course Lil' Wayne is no Malcolm X, that’s obvious. Malcolm X was one of the biggest champions for African American people as well as one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, hands down. But that wasn’t the point that Dr. Watkins was trying to make.

Dr. Watkins wasn’t saying that we should look up to Lil' Wayne as we do Malcolm X.

He wasn’t saying that their messages are similar.

He wasn’t saying that their early lives are completely similar.

If people actually took the time to read and understand what Dr. Watkins was saying they’d realize he was making an even deeper point. Importantly, he was stating that Lil Wayne is a product of the same system that developed a young Malcolm X.

Some might say, “How in the world is Wayne a victim of the system? He’s rich.”

Well, contrary to common belief, being rich is not the same thing as being free. As Chris Rock once said “Rich is some sh*t you can lose with a crazy summer and a drug habit.”

Lil' Wayne is a victim of the mentality which living in the poor conditions of America’s inner city creates within many Black men. He grew in one of the most impoverished areas of New Orleans, embraced gang culture, had few positive male role models as a young man and he’s become a victim of America’s drug addiction culture.

So, it shouldn’t be any surprise that a lot of his music reflects negative images, this is what he knows and was raised on.

Dr. Watkins’ point is not to say that we should feel sorry for Wayne and not hold him accountable for his message. He’s saying that there is potential to push Wayne in a positive direction. 

But of course, naysayers will say “it’s not possible” or say “he’s a lost cause”, yet ironically, at one time people probably said the same thing about another young man.

This young man, like Wayne, lost his father at a young age, abused drugs, embraced the lifestyle of the streets and even did prison time. 

However, while he was in prison, this young man had people who saw his potential and stepped in to help him change for the better.

This young man would go on to become the man we know as Malcolm X.

Malcolm Little, circa 1944

Wayne is not a Malcolm X or a Martin Luther King, but he does have the potential to be a man who has a positive effect on the world. As Dr. Watkins stated “Malcolm X is what the caterpillar becomes when he’s grown into a butterfly.”

As corny as it might sound, what WE have to be is the cocoon that helps not only Wayne, but other young men and women transition from that “Caterpillar stage”.

Our young brothers and sisters have potential to be so much more and have a positive effect on the world if only they are educated and guided in the right direction.

Too often, we become so caught up in casting judgment on people we fail to recognize our own room for growth and the fact that their struggle are largely relating to our own.

We’ll think of a million reasons to say why someone is “hopeless” or a “lost cause”, but won’t provide one method of helping people.

Yet as Benjamin Franklin once said, “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do.”

Therefore, our job is to not only improve upon ourselves but to put effort into loving our misguided brothers and trying to help them… by any means necessary.

0 I AM Philadelphia's Youth: Why the inner-city youth's problems are the city's problems

Note:

In January of 2012, I was at home in Philadelphia for winter break. As refreshing as it was to be around family and friends, I also had my memory refreshed as to the harsh realities of the city. By this time, I had already spent nearly five years in the quiet college town of Edinboro, PA, and I almost forgot about the deep rooted social ills which existed in "The City of Brotherly Love". 

Violent crime, unemployment and inadequate education were still major problems within the city. I thought to myself, "There are major institutional and structural problems with the city of Philadelphia." Yet, to my surprise, a great deal of the outrage and discontent of many Philadelphians was directed toward the youth of Philadelphia's inner city... or what rapper Tupac Shakur referred to as the "outer city" because of belief that inner city youth are being "left out" of the progression of American society as a whole.

I thought, how can we hate the ones who are merely the product of the life we gave them?  

This editorial which I sent to the Philadelphia Daily News, was my reaction to this atmosphere of disdain that I saw toward the youth of Philadelphia.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Published in The Philadelphia Daily News

January 11, 2012

Every day I hear more and more talk about the problems of Philadelphia's inner-city youth, from the summer's violent, rowdy "flash mobs" to more serious crimes. It seems as if, increasingly, the most common focus of negative media coverage and criticism when it comes to Philly's problems is our youth. Let it be known, I use the word "youth" loosely as a term to encompass anyone under the age of 30 who hasn't necessarily reached full maturity.

Now, don't get me wrong - some of this criticism is well-deserved because, quite frankly, many our youth exhibit horrendous behavior.

Yet, what baffles me is how people talk about the youth as if they were savages, as if their problems are not rooted in our own. What many people fail to understand are the many societal factors that play a major role in Philly's inner-city youth problems.

Many of these troubled youths come from dysfunctional homes, where there is minimal parental guidance in their households. This lack of family role models plays a tremendous part in a young person's development.

Then, in their communities there isn't exactly an abundance of role models, either, and many of the people who become role models are often products of these broken homes as well.

On top of that, one of the main problems in Philadelphia that affect the youth is that there is a lack of community. Many people don't have enough of a bond with the people who live in their neighborhoods, nor do they care to help these people; consequently, the youth suffers.

Too often people go on and on about how we need stricter laws and more police presence to "help" the youth.
 However, what they really need are people who care enough to understand them.

Too often, people will put so much energy into criticizing and looking down on the youth but put no energy into making steps to actually help them up.

But, as Philadelphia's own Benjamin Franklin once said, "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do."

We don't need any more people sitting around talking about how "crazy" or how much of a "disgrace" the youth are - that's unproductive. What Philadelphia needs are people who care and are willing to put time and effort into helping our communities.

This means that we need our parents, our coaches, our teachers, our clergy, our college students to step up and help our communities. We have more power than we think, and together we could change this city for the better.

Most importantly, our youth need love. As the esteemed scholar Dr. Cornel West once stated, "You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people."

Our inner-city youth are talented and full of promise. The only problem is that many of them have yet to realize that. They just need people to help them to cultivate their potential and discover the greatness in themselves.

How do I know this?

Well, I am Philadelphia's youth.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia and I was a product of both the public- and parochial-school systems.

Today, I'm a 21-year-old graduate student at Edinboro University, in Pennsylvania, and my successes are largely due not only to the guidance of my parents, but the countless people in my community who helped to push me in the right direction.

I love Philadelphia and I love the people who live here, and I want to make this city better because it is inevitably a part of me. I hope that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I mean, since we are the "City of Brotherly Love," let's try living up to the name.

---

0 Is The History Channel making us stupid?

I used to give the History Channel the benefit of the doubt. Nowadays, I just doubt its benefit.

As a teen, my began to become increasingly interested in history. I loved to watch documentaries on various historical events and time periods on The History Channel. I was even willing to overlook some of The History Channel's faults because of my love of history.

Its Eurocentric bias in the interpretation of history?  I was able to look past that.

It's extensive, almost obsessive focus on WWII and the rise of Hitler? I could deal with that.

Its tendency to show historical events from a romanticized, myopic, "America's always the hero" point of view? I kind of expected it.

But lately The History Channel seems to be just getting more and more ridiculous with its programming, almost to the point of insulting to the intelligence of its viewers.

I have numerous problems with the History Channel, the first one being that there are far too many reality shows. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy some of their reality shows. In fact, I was a big fan of the first few seasons of The History Channel's show Pawn Stars. 

Yet, when reality shows which have very little to do with history, such as Ice Road Truckers, dominate the channel that is supposed to teach people about History we have a problem.

Slowly but surely, it seems as if The History Channel is selling out for the sake of entertainment rather than education. This seemingly proved true in one of their more recent "historical" series called The Bible.

First off, the whole idea of having a predominately European cast for a 21st century TV series about biblical history is ridiculous in of itself. Now I already know what my "colorblind" readers are thinking: Who cares what ethnicity the actors are, does it really matter? Well, from a historical accuracy standpoint, it does.

Would it matter if someone made a movie with a Chinese actor playing George Washington? Would it matter if Steven Spielberg made a movie about Napoleon Bonaparte starring Jamie Foxx? Would it matter if someone cast Chris Rock as Christopher Columbus? Of course it would, mainly because it would look silly and historically inaccurate.

Another interesting aspect of this show is that Satan (who apparently just pops up and makes appearances every once in a while) is played by a Moroccan actor, who many believe to resemble President Obama. Yet, the History Channel wrote this off as simply being an unfortunate coincidence.

But one of the silliest shows on History is Ancient Aliens. The show uses the idea of ancient human-extraterrestrial contact to explain archaeological and historical "mysteries."

For example, the show claims that the Pyramids of Giza and other historic structures were created by aliens to be a  "world grid" of electromagnetic energy. First off, if people believe in stuff like this, they might as well believe in the tooth fairy, the boogeyman and the Easter bunny.

Not only is the whole premise of the show "Ancient Aliens" ridiculous, its offensive to the legacy of the work of indigenous cultures all over the world. It indirectly assumes that indigenous people of Asia, Africa, the Americas were weren't sophisticated or intelligent enough to create structures and artifacts which we, the all-knowing western world, can't fully understand.

Therefore the most intelligent theory that the folks at The History Channel come up with is:

Here's my theory: Maybe people were just intelligent enough to build structures that stood the test of time, maybe those indigenous people weren't as primitive and uncivilized as we'd like to think. Maybe people revolutionized science and architecture before America did. (Try Googling: History of science and technology in Africa).

Or maybe we just aren't able to understand EVERYTHING.

But what I do understand is why people are largely misinformed about the world and about each other. We've been taught wrong; from the myopic, whitewashed history textbooks of America's schools, to the ridiculous "historical" programming in the media.

But, in the timeless words of the rapper Nas, “It’s all poison.”

The solution all of this is to learn history independently, we have to pick up the books, do the research and find good historical documentaries on our own.

We must remember, history is a subject which we shouldn't take lightly. After all, a society without true knowledge of the past can never fully understand the present nor prepare for the future.

3 Do we really value our education?

Published in The Edinboro Spectator: March 7, 2013

Dedicated to memory of LaQula Walker (1989-2013)

A few days ago I was on Facebook when I saw a status post from an old friend that caught my eye. This friend was a former Edinboro University student who came here around the same time that I did, lived in my residence hall, except he didn’t graduate. He spent most of his time here partying, hanging out and doing other “extracurricular activities.” He was intelligent but he wasn’t focused.

On his Facebook status, he spoke about how much he should have valued his time here in Edinboro instead of a viewing it as a place for partying and leisure. He explained how he’s now at a smaller university where the atmosphere is much different than that of Edinboro. His current school, he claims, is a “degree factory” where many of the classes are boring and don’t really engage students.

This thoughtful, reflective post made me think about some student here at Edinboro today. I thought to myself, “Do people really value their opportunities here?”

Sometimes, I even have to ask that question about myself.

Often, people view college as a vacation. They see it as free time to have fun and “live it up”.

Yet, in this quest for fun, excitement, a new “high” and attention, people forget the real purpose of college, which is to get an education.

Make no mistake about it, there is nothing wrong with having a little fun every now and then, yet we have to have balance and remember what our priorities are.

I’ve had my years where I partied more than I more than I studied, but then I grew up.

These days it is hard for me to live that lifestyle, mainly because I know that my college education is bigger than me. I’m not doing this just for myself.

I do it for my ancestors who would have died (literally) for some of the educational opportunities that I’ve been blessed to have.

I do it for my family members who grew up in the Jim Crow South and had to walk miles to go to school.

I do it for my great grandparents who grew up in the Great Depression and never got the opportunity to go to college.

Ultimately, I do it for the future, for my younger brother and sister, for the kids in the inner city, the suburbs and in the country, who want to be better than the world tells them that they are.

By me not honoring my opportunity to learn, I dishonor the dreams of all of these people.

Last year, I met a remarkable young woman who opened my eyes to the importance of making the most out of our opportunities.

She was a graduate student here at Edinboro University who was ambitious, driven, and had wisdom beyond her years; this young woman’s name was LaQula Walker.

She valued her education and knew that she had an opportunity to become something much greater. She would tell me about her dreams of attending law school and changing the world.

Sadly, a week ago, LaQula passed away at the young age of 23, just a few months shy of graduation, as she was close to reaching the prime of her life. Yet, as sad her passing was, it opened my eyes and caused me to ask a profound question.

I asked myself, “If we’re still here, and we’re blessed with the gift of life and have a chance to learn and to make something of ourselves, what is our excuse to take that for granted?”

Maybe that’s a question which we all need to ask.