The Daily Collegian Open forum analyzes identity By Christine O'Brien COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Members of the Black Caucus hosted an open forum Wednesday night in the HUB- Robeson Center to analyze African American identity. More than 40 students attended the round table discussion entitled "Am I Black?" The discussion leaders asked attendees what each considered his or her cultural background to be. While attendees embraced their black heritage, some found it difficult to place themselves under just one cultural history. "I'm thoroughly happy with the event turnout." Ryan Brown, co chair for the Black Caucus Black History Week committee, said. "The whole premise of the event was to determine how people classify themselves and why they Greek group holds discussion on homophobia in community By Anita Modi COIIEGI.AN S-'At-F WR.TEK Ten students sat in groups of two or three some whispering quietly, some completely silent all waiting for the start of a pro gram intended to encourage open discussion about an uncom fortable subject. "Homophobia in the Black Community." an event hosted by the Gamma Nu chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Inc., was held Wednesday night in the Willard Building as a part of its annual Ebony and Ivory pro gram. The event opened up with an activity that asked the partici pants for words that they associ ated with the lesbian, gay. bisexu al and transgender iLGBT> com munity. culminating with the idea that most connotations are nega tive and derogatory. Participants addressed homo phobia specifically in minority communities by responding to video clips and quotes with their own personal experiences, opin ions and questions. The discussion was facilitated by Mark Gardner, advisor of the Undertones at Penn State, who introduced the event as a forum THE DAILY COLLEGIAN REACHES THE STUDENT MARKET BETTER THAN ANY OTHER MEDIUM. classify themselves in that way." Brown said that the black com munity shouldn't classify them selves as only one type of her itage. and should embrace a mul tiracial background. "Yes. 1 am black, but I'm so much more than that - black is a generalization. " Brown (fresh man-architecture) said. "I'm not just of one culture. Classifying yourself as one erases all others there's no need for that." Brown said the Black Caucus serves the Penn State communi ty by incorporating minority groups into the larger majority. "There's no order when it comes to African versus American. I belong to both com munities. I accept my African heritage, but I grew up in New Jersey." Ugochuknu Onyianta (senior-sports journalism) said. "I don't see anything wrong with for open and honest communica tion among its participants. "We re not living to preach," Gardner (graduate-college stu dent affairs i said. "We want this to be a sell-reflective exercise. We want people to stop and think. How might I have silenced a friend with something I said or did'? How might I have hurt someone based on what I per ceived about them'?'" Participants related homopho bia to oppression, talking about how discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was equiva lent to discrimination on the basis of race, class or gender. One student said homophobia is amplified in minority commu nities because of their strong value for masculinity and the per ception of homosexuals as threats. Minorities who have been oppressed by the majority population in turn oppress peo ple w ithin their own communities that don't fit in. perpetuating a vicious cycle of hurt, the student said. Yet. homophobia is not addressed as often as racism or sexism in today's world, said Mannie Moses (sophomore hotel. restaurant and institution management i. f >( 'll The Daily Collegian 123 S. BurrowesSt. • (814)865-2531 embracing two communities." Individual opinions ranged from an emphasis on history and cultural background, while oth ers placed more importance on the future of the movement. "Anytime you can get people in a room to discuss their opinion, especially on a topic that every one doesn't necessarily agree with, but they come to hear what other people say it's a good program," Greta Poku (senior crime, law and justice) said. Onyianta, a member of Penn State's Black Caucus, urged uni fication of black organizations, saving that the Black Caucus works closely with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People but can be more open to the greek commu nity and minority organizations. To e-mail reporter: mcoso46@psu.edu "Everyone knows it exists, but no one wants to talk about it." Moses said. Gardner said student hesitan cy toward discussion about LGBT issues prevents the acceptance of students of differ ent sexual orientations on cam pus. Homophobia is just one of the social barriers that the Ebony and Ivory program hopes to highlight this year. Other dis cussion-based events scheduled throughout the semester relate to domestic violence and rape, classism and perceptions of minority groups on campus, said Avery Kellam. president of the Gamma Nu chapter. Kellam (senior-telecommuni cations) said the Ebony and Ivory program used to involve a week of events held every’ April to raise awareness about race relations and societal differences. This year however, the program will last the entire semester and offer opportunities to promote under standing and acceptance of dif ferences through social justice. "We don't just want to talk about race relations anymore." he said. "Social justice is about fixing them." To e-mail reporter: arms373@psu.edu Sreph Witt Collegian Mark Rose, formerly of Spitalfield, plays the guitar and sings during his acoustic set at SOZO, 256 E. College Ave.. on Wednesday night. Local, national acts rock SOZO With songs ranging from mournful memories of friends passed away to quirky 7 ballads about JT Woodruff 's cat, the audi ence at SOZO heard it all. Five acts played to a small crowd of students Wednesday night at SOZO, 256 E. College Ave. Woodruff, of Hawthorne Heights, was one of the major attractions along with Mark Rose, formerly of Spitalfield. and The Story Changes. Local acts British Phil and On the Run opened the show. Woodruff played several origi nal songs, along with the only cover song Hawthorne Heights was ever able to agree upon, he said. He also took advantage of the small crowd to talk about his back ground. "I'm a pioneer of the guitar." he said. "Nobody in my whole town played the guitar." He also provided background for some of his songs. One. he said, was a memorial to several close friends w-ho had passed away, including Hawthorne Heights's former guitar player Casey Calvert and Avenged Sevenfold's drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, among others. The dark mood of this memori am was offset by a song Woodruff says many of his fans have described as "romantic" only it's about his hairless cat. Jason Novak, of Emporium, Pa. leorn well + live well lionscrossing.com By Chris Zook COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER nittanycrossingpa.com collegeparkpa.com Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 I drove several hours to see Woodruff and Rose perform. After his band played a past show with Spitalfield. he said, he wanted to see Rose perform again. Looking at the audience of about 20 people. Novak said he expected the show to be "pretty intimate" between the musicians and the crowd. Tim Musser (jun ior-marketing) also came to see Rose. Though he enjoyed Rose in his earlier projects. Musser said he enjoys Rose's solo efforts, too. "I've been into his stuff since he was in Spitalfield." Musser said. "He's been going in a different direction since Spitalfield." As for Woodruff. Musser said he thought Woodruff would be more laid back than when he plays with Hawthorne Heights. "You expect him to be a lot more mellow." Musser said. John Green, who plays with On the Run. enjoyed opening up for the touring bands, he said. But. then again he added, he enjoys performing anyway. "We'll do just about anything." Green said. "It s about messing up without people noticing." And though the majority of the bands that played Wednesday night were acoustic acts, that did n't keep The Story Changes from playing something harder. "This isn't a coffeehouse." singer Mark MeMillon said. "It's a rock 'n' roll show." To e-mail reporter: cdzsooB@psu.edu
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