With the passing of the 23rd anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots on April 29, it is important to recall that these protests are not isolated instances, but rather examples of how race relations, socioeconomic conditions, and systematic oppression intersect in a way that allows urban communities to become the breeding ground for repeated protests against police brutality since the 1960s.
Rihanna has recently released a new music video to her new single, “American Oxygen.” She sings about the American dream and how through hard work one could achieve success and become prosperous. Through her song she even relates her own career experiences, singing, “Young girl hustlin’ on the other side of the ocean. You can be anything at all in America, America.”
On April 9, the 7th annual Southeast Asian Admit Weekend (SAW) began. Each year UCLA Community Programs Office’s retention projects such as Southeast Asian Campus Learning And Retention (SEACLEAR) and MEChA Calmecac invite admitted students from all over the world to come to UCLA for the weekend and learn about UCLA and their identity.
By the morning of April 25, all the pieces of the show were seemingly in place, but fate determined that an unexpected disaster would land in the midst of final rehearsals.
As a high school senior, I rolled my eyes when I first heard “Ching Chong Ling Long Ting Tong.” At the time, I did not fully realize the implications for the precedent set by Alexandra Wallace.