Article: From Scalp to Toe: The International Beauty Show, NYC

From Scalp to Toe: The International Beauty Show, NYC
March 2016
written by: Damien Walker of the WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Internship at The Attic Youth Center

Professionals from all over the world gathered at the IBS Beauty Show in NYC to see the latest trends, products and tools in hair care, hairstyling, hair color, hair extensions, spa treatments, cosmetics, nail care and sunless tanning. The beauty show started on Sunday, March 6th and ended on Monday, March 8th. The show started promptly at 8:30AM and once that clock struck,  the Jacob Javits Center was already packed in the matter of seconds. The moment you walk through the doors you are dazzled by the new gadgets and products that were being showcased this year. Everyone had a chance to see live demonstrations of the newest hair curlers, nail polish, teeth whiteners, and even some makeup. IBS had famous hairstylists make special appearances to the show such as Kim Vo, Ted Gibson, Dwight Eubanks, and many more. While walking through the event you are able to purchase all new products at a show price that makes everything hectic; everyone loves a good sale! Ted Gibson released his new product line “Starring”, which will hit stores this spring. “Starring was created to star YOU. I wanted to create a line of styling products that would allow for anyone to be able to effectively and easily create whatever look they desire – to be able to feel confident enough to be the star of their own moment and life.” said Ted Gibson during a interview. Ted Gibson wasn’t the only person to drop a new product; a new trend was dropped by the IBS Beauty Show. “Thee Glitter Lips” are a company that took the event by storm with their inventive glitter lips. They created a paste that stays for 8-10 hours through everything such as eating, and drinking. Everyone wanted glitter lips to a point they sold out in the first four hours of the show. The IBS Beauty Show isn’t all just glitter and weave; there is something for every consumer. For example, there was a whole section dedicated to male grooming products such as shaving cream, and clipper heads. Additionally, there was another area dedicated to spa care where they offered free massages that are a must have for the season. With all these departments there is something for everyone to enjoy and it was never a dull moment!

For the ninety-nine years IBS has been in existence, each year it gets bigger and better for patrons and artists alike. The experience you get from attending the show is unreal and a blast of fun; I am so thankful I was given this opportunity to live it myself!

WATCH VIDEO BELOW!

Article: Youth Respond to Temple University Social Justice Panel!

Youth Respond to Temple University Social Justice Panel
February 2016
article written by: Adrianna Branin, Damien Walker, and Jack Kleiner of The K.N.D. Squad in the WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Internship at The Attic Youth Center

On Feb. 10 we were invited as press to attend The Social Justice Panel at Temple University. The Social Justice Panel was created by Nick Palazzalo and the POWER Internship. The panel consisted of TS Hawkins, Kashara White, Ociele Hawkins, Ismael Jimenez, and Dr. Anthony Monterio. The Social Justice Panel handled the social topics such as erasure of black people, standardized testing, and Black Lives Matter.

During this social justice panel, erasure was one of the larger topics discussed by the panel. The first question discussed the whitewashing of African American History, posing, “How do you resist whitewashing as a teacher?” Ismael Jimenez, an African American History teacher at the Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School, responded with several points about how we don’t learn about the five years between Martin Luther King, Jr's I Have a Dream speech and his assassination. Additionally, he states that we also seem to only learn about slavery being a long time ago, Martin Luther King, Obama, and racism being “over.” We believe that this was an incredibly important point to make because people, especially youth, are not being properly educated about how racism still exists as a system of oppression rather than individual prejudices, even after Martin Luther King, Jr’s I Have a Dream speech.

The Temple University Social Justice panel consisted heavily of the struggles which people of color face in modern society. TS Hawkins, an internationally known performance poet and author, spoke heavily on the intersectionality the concept of examining the interconnection in the oppression of groups of people rather than viewing them separately of being black and LGBTQ. Furthermore, she objected to the term “modern slavery” and how slavery is not “modernized” as it never left, explaining that the system just changed its appearance and language.

An extremely memorable discussion in the panel was Dr. Anthony Monterio’s answer to the question “Why are people of color born suspects?” He explained that the behavior and notions toward brown bodies stems from what blackness symbolizes in society and how the one drop rule, the idea that if

you had an African American family memeber up to four generations back, you were considered black, has allowed certain privileges and separation for the white population. He concluded with the factors of how we’ve come to identify individuals as white, giving people this identity because of the belief that “I’m white because I’m not black.” To clarify, many people may identify as white because they were never involved with the oppression and image of blackness, “that whiteness only exists because the government needed to separate those that would’ve been called slaves from those that would’ve been slave masters.”

In all, the panel was extremely educational and informative, giving the attendants and listeners knowledge that is not often learned in a traditional classroom or by authority figures. Moreover, it included the struggles and documentation from our ancestors and our own experiences today. Marginalization, or social exclusion, was a heavy topic thrust upon the entire panel. What it means to be generalized and silenced as people of color. We, as The K.N.D. Squad, feel as though the Social Justice Panel at Temple University informed us, as well as other people, and youth in the room that topics such as these should be taught on a daily basis, and these topics should be discussed even outside of the traditional classroom and in society in general. Thank you Nick Palazzalo and the POWER Internship for having us as do press coverage at this wonderful event.

Article: POWER in Our Society!

POWER in Our Society

February 2016

article written by: Angelica Owens, Jabrea Reid, and Lucas Borschell of The Gender Benders Squad in the WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Internship at The Attic Youth Center

On February 10th, 2016, we (the Attic Youth Center WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media interns) attended a Social Justice panel at Temple University. It was hosted by the POWER Internship. The panelists included TS Hawkins, Ociele Hawkins, Ismael Jimenez, Kahsara White, and Dr. Anthony Monteiro. It was moderated by Celine Martin and Rolando Barbon. The program, POWER, is a young people's project that does videos about social issues. The subjects that were discussed include race, gender, etc. The panelists were discussing the issue of race in America and how it affects the things that we need to survive as people.

Celine Martin started addressing the problem by posing the question, “why is power important”? When it comes to the concept of power, we immediately think of social issues, such as the unfair advantage white people hold in America and the rates at which school funding is being cut. The concept of “modern slavery” is also a very interesting one. TS Hawkins stated that “slavery was never gone, so it can’t be considered “modern”. Whether people know it or not, slavery is still happening. This generation is just beginning to tackle the bull head on. White people are unaware of the ongoing struggles of people of color because the system is built to cater to people who are melanin deficient. They can be so blind that they don’t even see how slavery is still happening around us. Ismael Jimenez said “In some ways, society has always enslaved and will continue to do so. Whether it be socially or economically or other.” This strikes a strong ember about the social conditions today, which must be brought to light. When people bring these problems to the light they so desperately needed, there is also the problem of finding ways to express the concern without being overpowering.

JK Rowling once said, “understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery”. This is extremely reminiscent of the opening poem at the Social Justice Panel, “They’ll Neglect to Tell You”. The poem which was written by TS Hawkins, talks of all the things society will not tell you, and that it can be hard to get to the truth. The truth of the situation is the ongoing challenges that face our (black and brown) youth today as TS stated. A black LGBT student misses school once or twice a week because of fear of discrimination. They were taught to exist, but not to accept because of erasure; erasure being the tendency for groups to ignore the existence of minority. This dehumanizing act has profound effects on people who are the minority racially. We lack acceptance in the world, which is part of the reason why LGBT youth are four times more likely to commit suicide, according to the Trevor Project.

Power is important because it is the thing that turns racial prejudice into benign racism, the privilege which can be used to discriminate and cause the societal problems. Societal problems that are not new, but have always existed against these groups of people, as stated in the discussion about “modern slavery”. This is an extremely important subject to discuss, which is apparent in the panelists. Dr. Anthony Monteiro told us about the wide spread of the issue by informing us about the “One Drop Rule”. The One Drop Rule is, if going back four generations, there was someone who was a slave, you were Black. Anybody who was a slave was supposed to be a slave because they’re African and “must serve” other races. The emphasis put on the subject with this is staggering. Though, the panelists did explain how we can fight these societal problems. “You don’t have to go to college to fight” says Isamel Jimenez. He continued, "in fact, you can start right now, as youth!" A positive message is all that is needed to empower youth and allow them to start the fight, that hopefully with time will allow us to solve the problems plaguing this society.

Article: POWER Panel Awakens Youth!

POWER Panel Awaken Youth!
February 2016
article written by: Lanier Bradshaw, Skylar James, and Christian Williams of The FAQ Squad in the WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Internship at The Attic Youth Center

On February 10, 2016, we at the Rainbow Experience were invited to a social justice

panel at Temple University Ritter Hall in the Walk Auditorium.The panelist included TS Hawkins

renowned international author, Ociele Hawkins a loveable youth organizer involved with the

Philadelphia student union, Kashara White, a revolutionary black writer, Ismael Jimenez a

educator in the Philadelphia community for the past 10 years and Anthony Monterio who taught

African American studies at Temple University for 10 years as well. The panels topics included

the Black Lives Matter movement, identity erasure, the educational system, and a prevention of an 800 million dollar prison. The main message being, "why is power important"? This simple question exposed how the system is against minorities with topics like the school to prison pipeline, which Ociele touches on a lot with his continuous mention of his prevention of an 800 million prison.This panel in our opinion was assembled to awaken ignorant young minds to the ongoing social issues. Several hot topics were introduced as questions were asked by the moderators. The question that stood out the most to us was “how’s our condition as Black and Latino people today modern day slavery? Why are minorities born suspects?” To this TS Hawkins was quoted saying “For me it’s no such thing as modern day slavery; slavery never left”, which we thought was such a powerful and truthful statement.

Others on the panel gave some serious insight on the ongoing struggles of the black community and all its factors within a white supremacist society. Kashara is a panelist we would like to focus upon, as she adds on to the concept of modern slavery with “to be involved in the situation but be excluded and victim to that situation, yes we’re still in slavery”. She also talked of how our oppressors are no more intelligent, creative, or capable than we are in fact we are the only tools we need for our liberation; her vision and spunk inspired us to make a difference and change the social stigmas of the Black community set by white oppressors. It is evident that a lot of Latino and Black youth are blind to the systematic racism and modern slavery, to which the panelist were asked at what point did they become “awake”? Kashara giving a small story in response to how she wasn’t political growing up, was middle class and not conscious of Black issues. We believe this is typical and usually expected. Kashara continues to say that she’s very goal oriented and mainly focuses on solutions than just letting the issue be existent. She's quoted saying “injustice radicalized me” she continues “we’re insane to think the same system that oppresses us, will help us” ,“A lot of people think radical they have ideas and theories but don’t do anything.” She isn’t called revolutionary for no reason and in our opinion she’s completely right. Modern day segregation with African Americans is prevalent; we do it to ourselves with #teamdarkskin and #teamlightskin just how it was 400 years ago we’re

segregating ourselves. If we’re all one community then why separate ourselves by the tone of brown we are?" This ties into a question that was offered up to the panelist "how do we rebel against the oppression? Which they collectively answered with “bring the black community together, all aspects of it” and “be aware of black people with white supremacist agendas”. A follow up question posed by youth audience member Damien Walker was “how do I bring people together that simply don’t want to listen” which the panel answered with “there’s a step by step process to which the ignorant want you to go through to avoid resistance; push on regardless”. Ultimately we loved this performance of “radicalness” and it feels great to see a display of awaken,committed , and proud black people speaking up against their oppressors.