Imagine that you are growing up in extreme poverty. You have nothing to eat, drink and you have nowhere to live. Your mother and brother have fallen ill and there is no one to turn to because you have no money to spend on medicines or doctors visits. All of a sudden a beam of hope emerges; one of your friends finds a newspaper ad which promises a new life and great job in the United States and before you know it you find yourself meeting your new boss. He seems like a great man: strong, wealthy, clean cut and he showers you with presents—something you have never had before. He buys you the best clothes, he tells you how pretty you are and he promises you a great life in the United States. With your dying mother and...

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As I emerge from the belly of downtown Chicago onto a massive flyover going south, I am confronted by a monopoly board of a city—Obama’s city. All the pieces are there, but one thing is very odd. The towering skyscrapers are not twinkling in the evening hue, rather they are forebodingly dark. I ask my friends from the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign (CAEC) about this eccentricity, and in a collective groan, I am informed that what I am looking at is the once upon a time nest for public housing in Chicago. Reduced to a pile of rubble due to reoccurring spending slashes by the Housing and Urban Development Authority, a sea of high rise luxury homes have been erected on its grave. This scene is reflective of a bigger, national program implemented by the Obama Administration, manifest in several avatars including PETRA, RHRA, Transforming Rental...

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Everyone has something to say about Jeremy Lin. Trending on Twitter, sweeping through social media sites, headlining jokes on late night television, stands the 6 foot 3 inch, 23-year-old New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin. As one of the few Asian Americans in the NBA coupled with impressive performances on the court, including leading a 38-point win over the Los Angeles Lakers, he has captured global attention and stars as the main character of the media’s new production, Linsanity. With the right combination of talent, hard work, and luck, Jeremy Lin represents the good old feel-good American Dream success story. Largely ignored in the media hype surrounding this Harvard graduate are the roots of Asian- American discrimination and racism that helped create the conditions of inequality that contributed to Lin’s meteoric ascension. In Jamilah King’s article, she sheds light on the history behind the longstanding culture of...

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February 27, 2012 was a tragic and chilling day in the city of Chardon, Ohio, just two hours north of Columbus, where a shooting rampage at their local high school injured two and killed three, leaving the city awestruck. Although the alleged gunman, seventeen-year-old TJ Lane, claims to have chose his victims at random, one common thread between the majority of school shootings is bullying. More often than not, the gunman is persistently bullied by other classmates, leaving him or her with twisted feelings of helplessness, resentment, and anger. Many students across the country are confronted with the issue of bullying daily, with 282,000 students reportedly attacked in high schools throughout the nation each month and 56% of all students having witnessed bullying on their respective campuses. From physical bullying, to verbal bullying (77%), to cyber bullying (80%), bullying is beginning to take more forms than in...

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Although race has been a largely hushed topic within the classroom, should teachers be allowed to bring the topic to kids’ attentions? With contemporary events such as the killing of Trayvon Martin and ongoing issues such as the mass incarceration of black males and immigration policies based on racial profiling, beginning the discussions of race is at an early age seems absolutely essential. But how should these discussions be facilitated, and by whom? These questions are especially daunting, given that many college students and adults do not fully grasp the complexity and importance of these issues. Often, it seems that the first conversations with family members about race go something like this, “Now Timmy, what have I told you about playing with those black kids next door. You know they aren’t like us.” or “Susie, you are going to get...

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I’ve thought about Nicki Minaj more in the last four days than I’ve thought about any celebrity since my youthful (and misguided) obsession with Kurt Cobain. My opinion of her has fluctuated at least as many times in as many days and I can finally say—I’m sold. There have been some interesting dialogues about Nicki in the media lately for her performances at the Superbowl and the Grammys, as well as word of a new album dropping in April. Many of the defenses for Nicki have praised her ability to speak to LBGTQ urban youth and give them someone to embrace. Well, I can’t speak to Nicki Minaj’s relevance to gay non-white urban youth, but I can comment on her contribution to the feminist discourse. While Nicki’s alter-egos and vocal stylings are being championed as ground-breaking, I think the larger point is...

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