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(04/05/19 4:27pm)
Warning: this review contains spoilers.
If the 1920’s were the Golden Age of Hollywood, we are currently living through the Rusted Age of Hollywood. Unnecessary reboots, lazy rewrites of classics and painful to watch rehashings of the same old storylines has made going to the movies seemingly pointless over the past few years.
Following the “Pet Sematary” logic that “sometimes, dead is better,” sometimes, “no movie” is better than a reboot.
However, the 2019 update of Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” breaks the reboot curse. While it stayed true to the original film in many regards, there were a few major changes that worked to create a film far more haunting than the original.
Just like in the original, the beginning of the film sees Dr. Louis Creed moving his family: his wife, Rachel, 8-year old Ellie and their toddler son Gage, from Boston to a rural Maine town. Hoping to spend more time with his young family, Louis makes the shift from an ER doctor to working to a college clinic. Immediately after getting to their new home, Ellie discovers the Pet Sematary, which is hallowed ground for local children who lost their beloved pets. It is here that Ellie meets their neighbor, Jud Crandall, who befriends the young girl and her family.
John Lithgow is brilliant - as usual - as Jud. Moreso in this remake than the original, the relationship between Jud and Ellie seems much more like a grandfather-granddaughter relationship. Jud, as well as Louis, are open to discussing the realities of life and death with the young girl. Jud, a widower, briefly describes his late wife to Ellie, explaining that she died after an illness. Louis explains the cemetery behind their house and what death means one night before bed. Rachel, however, haunted by the memories of watching her older sister, Zelda, die when she was a child, refuses to discuss the topic with her children.
At this point in the film, audiences are given much more backstory into Rachel and Zelda’s relationship than they ever got in the 1989 film. While Zelda was sick with spinal meningitis, audiences learn that Rachel, who was terrified of her older sister due to her deformities, accidentally caused her death when she was left alone to care for Zelda.
When Jud and Louis find Ellie’s cat, Church, dead on the side of the road, Rachel makes Louis promise to tell Ellie that he simply ran away, thus avoiding a conversation about death. Jud, on the other hand, is torn. Does he tell Louis the dark secrets of the Pet Sematary and preserve Ellie’s innocence, or does he keep quiet and keep the family safe from the evils that haunt the ground?
Of course, Jud chooses the former, and the cat ultimately comes back, but he wasn’t the same. After Church attacks both children, Louis drives him to a wooded area and leaves him, and things momentarily go back to normal. That is, until the cat comes back during Ellie’s ninth birthday party.
It is at this point in the movie that the biggest difference between the original and the reboot comes into play. Seeing their beloved cat in the middle of the road, both Ellie and Gage run to greet him, at the same time a truck is speeding down the road, the driver distracted by a cell phone. Louis is able to grab his young son, but the truck derails and kills their young daughter. Distraught with grief, Rachel and Gage go to her parent’s house, while Louis digs up his daughter’s grave to bury her in the Pet Sematary.
This change, this decision to kill off the young girl as opposed to the toddler, changed the film from scary to deeply, deeply disturbing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XakmsXltPkA
In the 1989 film, Miko Hughes, who played Gage, was roughly 3-years-old. That being said, he was unable to deliver many lines. While the concept of a dead child coming back to life and attacking his family is always disturbing, having an older actor take on the role creates the possibility for it to be terrifying, as opposed to just creepy.
And Jete Laurence, the young actress who played Ellie, was absolutely phenomenal at being terrifying. From her glares to her deeply haunting monotone, Laurence transformed Ellie from a sweet, soft-spoken girl to a menacing shell of who she used to be.
What’s most striking about this reboot is that it is far more depressing than the original. Both films deal with the same, heavy theme; the death of a child, but the loss of innocence is portrayed far more in the reboot. It is no longer a toddler silently wielding a knife, it’s an adolescent girl taunting her victims--her family and her first best friend in a new town.
By the end of the film, which is also very different from the original movie, audiences can sympathize with Louis Creed. If you had the power to bring back your loved ones, even if it changed them drastically, would you? Or would you heed Jud’s advice; “sometimes, dead is better?”
While many reboots of classic films are a chore to get through, “Pet Sematary” is proof that there are some stories worth revisiting.
(03/01/19 5:45pm)
As the old Elvis Costello quip goes, “You have 20 years to write your first album and six months to write your second.” This rush to get new music out often results in a second album that lacks the depth and musicianship of the first.
While there was a five year gap between Hozier’s debut album and his sophomore album, “Wasteland, Baby!,” the latter showcases the 28-year-old’s ability to go back to his roots and try out new endeavors.
The highly-anticipated album opens strong with “Nina Cried Power,” a power ballad that incorporates a blend of gospel-esque background vocals and is heavy on the blues. The highlight of the track is Mavis Staples’ vocal solo near the end of the song. Staples’ powerhouse voice makes every song sound and feel like a church service, and “Nina Cried Power” is no exception. She gives the track an undeniable energy that is reflected throughout the album.
Unlike his first album, “Wasteland, Baby!” is mainly uptempo pop songs, most notably “Almost (Sweet Music)” and “To Noise Making (Sing).” Unlike much of modern pop, however, this album has a depth that is almost paradoxical. All at once, “Wasteland, Baby!” is a blend of melancholy and optimism. The lyrics are sexual without being sexist, and spiritual without being preachy.
While “Wasteland, Baby!” sees Hozier embracing more upbeat tempos, and themes, the track “As It Was” will remind listeners of his 2014 debut. With a slower pace and a string arrangement that blends in beautifully with the song, Hozier proves that he can change things up without completely abandoning his past work.
The highlights of this album are the tracks “Be” and “Dinner & Diatribes.” The former is similar to the 2014 hit “Take Me to Church” in the sense that it incorporates religious imagery to tell a story. With bluesy guitar backing up lyrics discussing love when there is nothing else left, along with thinly veiled political ideology, “Be” is a reminder of what pop music could be. It’s neither preachy nor shallow, and it showcases Hozier’s ability as a storyteller.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjJUh8z-QL8
“Dinners & Diatribes,” along with several other songs, was released before the album, giving listeners a taste of what was to come. The track has everything a song needs to be great: grit, sex and mystery, giving the album an intriguing edge. “Dinners & Diatribes” is another example of Hozier’s ability to tell a story, giving listeners just enough information to decide for themselves what the song means.
Through his 2014 debut and “Wasteland, Baby!,” it is clear that Hozier knows how to use the studio as an instrument. “Wasteland” is structured to tell a story through the order of the tracks. Starting with a sense of optimism with “Nina” and ending with a title track that compares falling in love to the end of the world, the album concludes with a crushing sense of nihilism. However, the musicianship on the album makes even the notion that nothing we do matters seem so damn beautiful.
While many musicians feel pressure to jump right into their second album, “Wasteland, Baby!” is proof that good music is the worth the wait.
Hozier will be performing in Indy on June 10 at Old National Center. For more information, visit https://hozier.com/gig/monday-june-10th-2019-old-national-centre-murat-theatre/.
(01/29/19 7:18pm)
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.”
These words, written by American poet Emily Lazarus and inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty, served as a backdrop for IUPUI’s Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony held on Jan. 28 in Hine Hall auditorium.
For keynote speaker and Holocaust survivor, Esther Davidson, these words serve as a reminder of what it means to be an American. As part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Davidson shares her family’s story of survival.
Davidson was born in Poland in 1941 to Jewish parents. Her mother, Chava, left Esther in the care of Reba, an elderly Christian to protect the young girl from being captured. Chava changed her name to Nellie in an attempt to sound less Jewish and passed as a Christian to evade the Nazis throughout the course of the war.
In Reba’s care, Davidson went to church every Sunday and wore a crucifix around her neck everyday, unaware of her biological family and identity. At the conclusion of the war, Davidson’s parents came back for her. With Davidson terrified of the two strangers, Reba eventually explained to Davidson that these strangers were her parents, that they loved her, and they wanted to take her home with them.
“This, to me, was just a continuation of life,” Davidson said of her reunion with her parents. “You just keep going. It had more of an impact on my parents, who couldn’t wait to get the cross of my neck. My mother took hers off and took mine off, and I do have a Star of David. I wear that almost always...for me it was just life as normal.”
After their reunion, Davidson and her parents lived in a Red Cross-run Displaced Persons camp in Germany. Davidson, who spoke Polish and Russian, learned Yiddish from her family and was slowly acclimated into their lifestyle.
In her description of the Displaced Persons camp, Davidson describes a tight-knit community that offered survivors a chance to heal and re-establish an identity they had been stripped of by the Nazis.
“There were lots of children in the camp. They set up schools and you had people to play with and you were being taught to read and write,” Davidson said. “There were other adults who could commiserate with one another. No one had more or less than anyone else.”
A memory that sticks out to Davidson was her first car ride--taken in a Jeep that a GI drove into the camp.
“Stupid stuff is what you remember,” Davidson said. “But that’s a child’s memory.”
But not all the memories are pleasant.
“I remember being hungry,” Davidson said. “I remember being bathed once a week, or maybe once every two weeks. Soap was a luxury,” Davidson explained. “I remember those things, but it didn’t change my life. It didn’t matter to me that I wasn’t being bathed, but it mattered to my mother.”
In the camp, Davidson’s family grew. Her mother gave birth to her brother, Oscar. Two years later, aunts and uncles on her father’s side offered to sponsor the family in Wisconsin where they lived. In the years following the war, immigration and asylum in the United States was difficult to obtain, due in part to fear and “America first” ideology.
Davidson remembers her journey to America as one of the most exciting days of her life. On the ship, she recalls eating her first ice cream cone--neopolitan--and her anticipation to reach America. Her mother was sea sick from the moment she saw the ship to the moment that she stepped off of it, but the idea of getting to America kept her going.
“Coming to America was a blessing for them [her parents],” Davidson said. “But they were still afraid of uniforms. Of policeman. Of anyone in a uniform. And that lasted their entire lives.”
Being American, for Davidson, means freedom.
“I will say it all the days of my life: America is the best country on the planet. That doesn’t mean we’ve never made a mistake, it doesn’t mean that we will never make a mistake, and it doesn’t mean that we don’t have a lot to learn,” Davidson said. “But we have freedoms, we have abilities, we have choices that most people don’t understand having. They’ve never experienced it. We can elect our leader, or we can have our leader replaced by another leader. We have the freedom to choose our lives, what we want to do with our lives, how much education we’re going to give ourselves or our children. We are the best country, we are the most giving, loyal people on the planet. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot to learn.”
According to a study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, hate crimes in the country’s largest cities have consistently increased every year for the past four years, while the nation’s overall crime rate has been on a decline since the 1990’s. In the wake of the October massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and children being detained at the Southern border, it would be easy for one to assume that we’ve reached a point of no return.
But this is not the America Davidson knows, and the nation that she thinks we can be.
“Atrocities are occurring everywhere on the planet right now, including here in America,” Davidson said. “This idea of keeping people out and putting people in almost displaced persons camps, I guess, is an obscenity. This is not what America is about. ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses longing to be free,’ that is what America is about. And we cannot let fear and the fear being magnified by the news media and our politicians, to rule our lives and what we want to do.”
Although she admittedly hates public speaking, Davidson feels that she must share her story, because it is “essential that I speak to as many people as often as I can, because if we don’t study our history, we repeat our history.”
Unfortunately, Davidson finds that many have already forgotten a large part of our history.
“The Holocaust isn’t taught. It’s just recently that they’ve started doing this kind of thing [public speaking engagements]. But for years the Holocaust wasn’t taught,” Davidson said. “We were taught that slavery existed in the United States, and it’s a bad time for the United States history. But, we’re not ever going to have slavery again. We know that because we know that it existed and that it’s not good.
By recognizing the plight of refugees before, during and after World War II, IUPUI’s Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony hoped to share stories of the Holocaust that are still relevant today.
Dr. Jeremy Price, the faculty advisor for the IUPUI Jewish Student Association, explained that this event was co-sponsored by the Association, Exodus Refugee Immigration and the Immigrant Welcome Center.
“They do good work,” Price said, “and this is their area of expertise.”
Throughout the course of the hour-long event, Karen Dace, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion spoke on the campus’ dedication to inclusion, and a memorial candle lighting ceremony took place to honor the survivors, those who lost their lives, and the Allies. A traditional mourner’s prayer, called Kaddish Yatom, was also held to remember those who were lost.
For Davidson, events like this also create hope for the future. While the Federation hosts events for retiree groups and older adults, the bulk of their presentations are geared towards young adults in middle and high school.
“If you read the paper and listen to the news, the world is going to hell in a handbasket, the world hasn’t got a chance. The world is just terrible and awful and so on,” Davidson said. “And then you meet these kids and listen to them and answer their questions. The world isn’t going to hell in a handbasket,” Davidson says with a small smile. But we have to be on the watch. We can’t let people who would like to go to hell in a handbasket take us with them.”
(12/22/18 4:52pm)
Around the holidays, there are a lot of things up for debate. At what age do you tell kids the truth about Santa Claus?What’s the best way to discreetly throw away that fruitcake Aunt Helen brought to the party? How much wine is too much wine to drink in front of grandma?
But perhaps the most heated holiday debate centers around the 1988 Bruce Willis film “Die Hard.” According to a 2018 Morning Consult/Hollywood Reporter poll, 62 percent of Americans are firm believers that the film isn’t a Christmas movie, with 13 percent of those polled answering that they weren’t sure.
I’m here to advocate for the 25 percent of Americans who see the Christmas magic in the John McTiernan movie.
Welcome to the party, pal.
A broken family, a terrorist attack and a company holiday party are the unlikely — yet perfect — ingredients for a Christmas classic.
At the beginning of the film, audiences see New York police officer John McClane travel to California to see his estranged wife, Holly Gennero, at a Christmas Eve party in Nakatomi Plaza, where she is a successful executive.
Right off the bat, there’s evidence that this was clearly intended to be a Christmas movie. Without a Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza, McClane never would have been in the building when it was invaded by terrorists looking for money.
Every good Christmas story needs candidates for the naughty list, and Hans Gruber and his gang of German terrorists certainly qualify. After swarming the building armed with machine guns and explosives, Gruber murders Nakatomi executive Joseph Takagi after the latter doesn’t give up the codes to get into the vault. After being informed that Takagi would not be rejoining the Christmas festivities, the lobby full of terrified hostages were looking for a savior.
John McClane fit the bill.
After taking down his first terrorist by breaking his neck in a tumble down the stairs, McClane sends Gruber his unique version of a Christmas card by sending the dead terrorist down the elevator shaft clad in a Santa hat. The message? “Now I have a machine gun. Ho-Ho-Ho,” written on the man’s jumper. Talk about an ugly Christmas sweater.
After taking his victim’s gun and his walkie-talkie, McClane is able to contact a police dispatch to let them know some dangerous creatures were stirring in Nakatomi Plaza. While Sgt. Al Powell who was sent to investigate doesn’t initially find anything amiss, the corpse of a terrorist McClane flung on his car changes his mind.
With one officer on the ground on his side and local reporters using the event to drive up ratings, McClane continues to defy odds — Christmas miracle, perhaps? — to keep detonators out of the hands of the terrorists and to stay miraculously free- — for the most part- — of bullet holes, thanks to the Stormtrooper-esque bad aim from the terrorists.
Unfortunately for McClane, there is a Judas in Nakatomi Plaza. Ellis, whose main motivation is to get into Miss Gennero’s skirt suit, decides to take matters into his own hands and talk to the terrorists himself. McClane, whose identity had previously been unknown to Gruber, is revealed by Ellis during the exchange in an attempt to save himself. Between his selfishness, greed and a bad cocaine habit, Ellis himself is a pretty good candidate for the naughty list. Unfortunately for the young businessman, his last Christmas present wasn’t coal, but a bullet between the eyes, delivered by Gruber.
Thanks to Ellis’ contributions, however, as well as an ethically-bankrupt interview with McClane’s young daughter on the local news, Gruber discovered that “Miss Gennero” was actually Mrs. McClane. This leads to Miss Gennero being taken captive in a kidnapping attempt as the terrorists sought to escape from the roof of the building.
In the end, thanks to reality-defying action and a little Christmas magic, McClane saved his wife and saw Hans Gruber fall from the rafters of the building.
While there’s several fairly obvious Christmas references in the movie, such as Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” playing, Santa Claus and Christmas lights and talks of Christmas miracles, the argument for Die Hard being a Christmas classic may be more metaphorical than anything else.
John McClane didn’t have to risk his own life for anyone in Nakatomi Plaza. Sgt. Powell didn’t have to stand up for McClane, a stranger, when his superiors doubted him. In every respect, “Die Hard” is about fighting for your fellow man, friendship, and fighting back against the evils created by greed.
How could you ask for a better Christmas story?
So, this Christmas, probably after the kids have gone to bed, celebrate the real meaning of the season by watching what is clearly a holiday classic.
Yippe-ki-yay, motherf...well, you know the rest.
(11/09/18 6:44pm)
Losing sucks. It’s a universal truth. And if you’re like President Donald Trump, losing can send you spiraling into a state of panic and seemingly unhinged anger towards anyone and everyone. Unfortunately for Jim Acosta, CNN’s Chief White House correspondent, he was a target for Trump’s temper tantrum at the post-midterm press conference Wednesday afternoon.
After a tense exchange between the reporter and the president, Trump repeatedly told Acosta to sit down. While a White House intern attempted to take the microphone away from Acosta, the veteran reporter fielded a question about the Russia probe.
“Mr. President, are you worried about indictments coming down in this investigation?” Acosta asked.
Trump then lambasted Acosta with attacks on the quality of his work and the content of his character, telling the reporter, “CNN should be ashamed of itself having you work for them” and that he was a “rude and terrible person.” I’ll leave it to the reader to find the irony here.
After this exchange, Acosta reported later Wednesday night that his press credentials had been revoked.
Before going further, it’s important to note that revoking a reporter’s privilege is within Trump’s power. Considering Acosta’s rigorous questioning at press conferences and Trump’s disdain for accountability and telling the truth, it’s surprising to me that Acosta has only just now lost his credentials. Acosta has frequently been a thorn in the side of Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders and has gained notoriety for the backlash he has received from the White House for doing his job.
Later that night came another twist that no one saw coming. Acosta became the focus of a viral, doctored video that showed the exchange between him and the female intern that was attempting to grab the microphone from him.
In the actual exchange, Acosta moved his arm up to block the intern’s hand. However, the edited video, allegedly created by a worker at Infowars, slows down the movement of the intern and speeds up Acosta’s, making it appear that the reporter forcefully pushed her away, and edited out Acosta’s “excuse me, ma’am,” instead silencing the audio completely.
I have made the editorial decision to not include the video in this article, as it is fake. However, if you want to find it, just go to Press Secretary Sanders’ Twitter feed. On Wednesday night, Sanders shared the video to her 3.46 million followers on her official Press Secretary account, using it as a justification for revoking Acosta’s credentials:
“We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s [Acosta’s] hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video.”
It’s interesting that this administration will shout until they are blue in the face about the epidemic of “fake news,” unless of course the fake news works in their favor. Perhaps more interesting are the cries of “assault” from an administration whose leader proudly declared that he grabs women by their genitals without their consent.
While I feel for Acosta, who now has an extra roadblock in doing his job, he is a small piece in a large, terrifying puzzle regarding how this administration treats reporters who dare question them.
What is most troubling about this incident is the confidence in which the White House shared this doctored video. In a world where we have immediate information at our fingertips, this administration had to have known that it would soon be uncovered that the video was doctored. And yet, they seem to know their base well enough to know that many of them wouldn’t care. Anything to justify the means, even if “anything” is lying.
Not only is this immoral, it is a direct threat to democracy.
Since the inauguration in 2016, the “1984” comparisons to the Trump administration have been beaten to death. But in the wake of this latest scandal, a particular quote from the Orwell novel comes to mind:
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
The White House knew the video Sanders shared would be outed as “fake.” They had to have. They also had to have known that truth-seekers would publish side-by-side comparisons, proving the video to be fake.
And they shared it anyway, and this is how it starts.
First it’s Acosta. Then it’s CNN. Then it’s someone else, then another network or publication. When the government decides who gets to report, the American people lose. When the government tells you to not believe what you are clearly seeing in front of you, the American people are left in the dark.
At the time of publishing, the White House Correspondents’ Association has publicly denounced President Trump’s actions against Acosta.
This isn’t a simple case of reporters being biased. Personally, I have agreed and disagreed with politicians on both sides of the aisle. When I felt an issue was important enough, I have publicly voiced disagreement with politicians on both sides.
This isn’t about politics. This is about democracy. At certain points in history, there were times when staying neutral meant siding with the oppressor. In these times, men and women used the rights that were granted to them as Americans shed light on what our leaders were doing.
Edward Murrow had McCarthy. Woodward and Bernstein had Nixon. Dan Rather had George W. Bush. Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras had Barack Obama.
And we have Donald Trump.
Just like any other administration, journalists have an obligation to stand up for the freedoms that make what we do possible. We have an obligation to tell truths that our leaders don’t want us to. We have an obligation to keep Americans informed and engaged with what is happening in our country.
With Jim Acosta being barred access from the White House, the Trump administration sharing propaganda, and as President Trump warns that he may not be the last reporter stripped of his clearance, journalists have an obligation to fight back against an administration that is dead-set on dismantling our democracy as we know it.
It’s not to preserve our image after being called “fake news” and the “enemy of the people.”
It’s to preserve America and our democracy.
In late October, Americans were bombarded with stories of government officials and public figures--all of whom were deemed to be "enemies of President Trump"--being targeted by a domestic terrorist aiming to send them pipe bombs in the mail. The targets included the Obama family, Bill and Hillary Clinton, actor Robert DeNiro and the New York headquarters of CNN.
After a mysterious package was delivered, the headquarters was immediately evacuated, and the reporters began doing their jobs from the street.
While thankfully none of the potential targets were harmed, this attack, allegedly carried out by Cesar Sayoc of Florida, it was a direct threat to our country and system of government. If any American feels that by speaking the truth, or even speaking their mind, that they are at risk of being killed, we do not have freedom of speech.
When reporters are silenced, the country is left in darkness. When the government gets to dictate what is truth and what is fiction, nothing can be proven or disproved. It is one thing for readers to decide whether or not they believe a source, but when the American government wages a war against the free press, they are waging a war against American democracy.
If we want to preserve this democracy of ours, we have to adamantly defend the rights promised to us in our Constitution.
If we allow freedom of the press to die, it’s just a matter of time before the rest of our rights follow.
(11/07/18 6:14am)
In this 2018 midterm, we saw Republicans maintain control of the Senate, while the Democratic Party gained control of the House of Representatives. With an increasingly diverse electorate, many candidates on the ballot this election reflected this diversity. With major upsets and victories from both sides, here’s a look at some of the historic victories from this election.
Jared Polis-D, Colorado
After defeating opponent Walker Stapleton, Jared Polis has become the first openly gay man to be elected governor in the United States. Polis has served in the state’s 9th Congressional district since 2009, and is one of seven openly gay members of Congress. The 43-year old is the leading sponsor of the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which was introduced to the Senate by former Sen. Al Franken. The act would prohibit discrimination in public secondary schools on the basis of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-D, New York
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become the youngest person ever elected to Congress after beating her opponent, Anthony Pappas for New York’s 14 Congressional district. The 29-year old made headlines earlier this year after aligning herself with the Democratic Socialist Party, following in the footsteps of Sen. Bernie Sanders. Cortez has been critical of the Israel Defense Force and has been an advocate for criminal justice reform and told CNN in June of this year that she would support the impeachment of President Donald Trump, making her a divisive figure in American politics.
Sharice Davids-D, Kansas
Tuesday night, Kansas made a historic decision by electing Sharice Davids to the House of Representatives, making her the first openly LGBT representative from Kansas, as well as one of two of the first Native American women to serve in Congress, alongside Deb Haaland of New Mexico, who was also elected Tuesday night. Davids is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and spent years working on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in North Dakota before entering politics in 2016. Davids defeated 15-year incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder by 54 percent of the vote.
Ilhan Omar-D, Minnesota and Rashid Tlaib-D, Michigan
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashid Tlaib of Michigan became the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress Tuesday night. In 2016, Omar became the first Somali-American lawmaker to be elected to a public office in the United States. Tlaib, a native of Detriot, became the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Michigan legislature in 2008. In 2018, both candidates ran on progressive platforms, including calls for universal healthcare and ending tax relief for corporations.
Massachusetts, "Question 3"
In Massachussetts, voters overwhelmingly voted "yes" on Question 3, upholding a 2016 state law that protects transgender citizens in public accommodations. The law that was passed in the wake of Virginia's "bathroom bill" protects the rights of transgender people to use restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities that match their gender identity, not the gender they were assigned at birth.
(11/07/18 5:14am)
As Senior Editor J.A. Bedell and I prepared to cover the Senate election Tuesday night, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew what the polls said. Being a realist, I expected the Republican party to maintain control of the Senate, and I was fairly confident the Democrats would take the House. As it turns out, the polls were correct.
And yet, all I was hearing from members of each party were predictions of huge waves of voters. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi went so far as to tell Stephen Colbert definitively, “We will win.” Surprisingly...or perhaps not so surprisingly, the establishment Democrats have learned nothing since 2016. Unlike this election season, the polls in 2016 had it completely wrong. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party took control of every branch of the federal government in one of the biggest upsets in modern American history. Not to dismiss the Russia debacle--which, if true, is nothing short of treason--but the Democrats lost because they ran an unpopular candidate.
Was she qualified? Hell yes, especially compared to her opponent. Was she good at motivating her base? No.
Trump was, and continues, to be very good at motivating his base.
In 2016, Clinton had the support of the voters who would have cast a blue ballot regardless of who was on the ticket. But she failed to stir up the enthusiasm that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders racked up during the primary campaign. While sexism was certainly a hurdle that she had to get over, Clinton was so confident in her victory that she ignored several key states on the campaign trail. Hillary Clinton was a good candidate, but she was a bad campaigner.
Despite the party leadership’s inability to learn from their mistakes and the grim Senate predictions, I had hope this midterm. As I watching the results roll in and reporting, I thought the Democrats might have a better chance at a Senate gain than previously thought.
I was watching as Beto O’Rourke put up one hell of a fight against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas. I followed the Georgia gubernatorial race, where Stacey Abrams battled to overcome racism and voter suppression, and the same with Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.
In the end--although Abrams is waiting to concede--all three candidates lost. And yet, I still have hope.
I’m angry that Abrams and Gillum had to put up with racist attacks and robocalls against them. But I’m proud that they persevered and continued to campaign and to fight back against hatred and ignorance. I’m hopeful because both candidates, specifically Abrams, was able to fire up her base.
And when it comes to firing up their base, Beto O’Rourke stood out--way out--from the crowd. The El Paso-native showed the country that a progressive Democrat could find success, even in Texas. O’Rourke brought in young and old voters alike, and even managed to bring lifelong Republican, evangelical voters to the Democratic Party. He did so not by divisive rhetoric or abandoning any of his ideals for the sake of votes, but by sharing hope.
It goes without saying that our country is divided right now. At times, especially during election season, it’s easy to feel that we will never again be united. But O’Rourke proves that idea wrong. Even in a conservative state like Texas, O’Rourke never waivered on issues such as immigration and race relations. He brought people to his side by arguing that if you’re pro-life and pro-family, separating families at the border should bother you. He made ideas that are often deemed “radical” seem reasonable. On a side note, that’s a lesson that Joe Donnelly could have benefitted from learning.
O’Rourke stood by his convictions and persevered in a far more competitive Senate race than anyone could have predicted. Ultimately, he lost. But he left us with hope. Hope that there can still be politicians that tout more than apocalyptic messages about what will happen if their opponent wins. Hope that there are still adults in American government. And for Democrats, there’s hope that the establishment is starting to listen to their base.
Whether you’re a Democrat that is outraged by the current administration, a Republican that fears gridlock with the newly Democratically-held House of Representatives or a third-party member who feels ignored, the gravitation towards candidates like Beto O’Rourke should give you hope. You might not agree with his politics. But he shows decency and maturity in the political arena, two traits that unfortunately make him stand out in today’s climate. If more candidates from both sides followed his lead, there’s no limit to the greatness that our country could achieve.
(10/29/18 12:30am)
While news publications strive to remain neutral, it is not uncommon for newspapers to officially endorse candidates. For example, the Houston Chronicle recently endorsed Beto O’Rourke of Texas after endorsing his Republican opponent for Senate Ted Cruz in 2016.
A few days ago, I would have begrudgingly endorsed Joe Donnelly for Indiana Senate. I disagree with him on a myriad issues, most notably immigration and his spineless concession to President Donald Trump to help fund a wall at the America-Mexico border. However, as a middle class American, healthcare is a crucial voting issue for me. I believe that candidate Mike Braun would gut the healthcare that my family depends on. While issues such as immigration and reproductive freedom are important to me, the fear of losing my healthcare is enough to push those issues aside and cast my ballot for Donnelly.
And then the massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue occured.
On Oct. 27, a 46-year-old Pittsburgh native entered the house of worship armed with an AR-15 and three pistols. In the course of 10 minutes, he killed 11 people and injured six others in a horrific act of hate. Among the deceased were a husband and wife, two brothers and 97-year old Rose Mallinger.
Rose Mallinger and several other victims in this attack were old enough to remember the horrific acts of hatred perpetrated by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. And on Oct. 27, 2018, in a small, tight-knit American community, they were murdered in an act of reprehensible hatred which was enabled in part by divisive political rhetoric and America’s gun culture.
As horrific as mass shootings are, they too often get buried in the 24-hour news cycle. It seems that every week, the evils of gun violence plague a new city, new people, and leave pain long after the victims are buried.
I remember watching the news in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre. As a sophomore in high school, I watched interviews with mothers and fathers whose babies would never come home. Along with the rest of the world, I heard the stories of children not yet old enough to know the darkness the world holds. Those stories ended in a matter of minutes in the Connecticut school. I remember Pulse and Charleston, hate being a factor in both tragedies. I remember reading recounts from students in Parkland who watched their young classmates be gunned down in their high school.
And I certainly remember holding my breath during lockdowns at high school, praying for the best and preparing for the worst. The worst case scenario, as too many Americans were forced to face, is death. Never going home. Never seeing your family again. Never getting to say goodbye. The 11 victims in Pittsburgh, though unique in their personal stories, are all pieces of the large, troubling puzzle that is gun violence in America. Next month, there will likely be more victims. It may be another hate crime. It may be yet another seemingly random act of violence. The one thing we do know is that this epidemic of mass shootings is unique to America. These acts of terror have become so commonplace in American life that they are easily forgotten. We read a few articles, watch a half hour of the news and move on. We pray for the victims and then carry on with our day, comforted by the notion that “it will never happen here.”
Until it does.
Don’t get me wrong. If you’re 18 or older with no criminal record, you have a constitutional right to own a gun. I’m not in favor of taking that right away from anyone. But all Americans have the right to life. To be safe in their movie theaters, malls, concert venues, bars, schools and places of worship. And I’m in favor of preserving that right above all else. If that means putting laws in place that restricts certain types of guns from being sold or ending the gun-show loophole, so be it. The right to life is paramount.
And this belief makes it impossible for me to endorse Joe Donnelly for Indiana Senate.
As of February of this year, Donnelly has an A- rating from the National Rifle Association, based on his voting record. While the NRA has officially endorsed candidate Mike Braun in this election cycle, Donnelly is no stranger to taking money from the gun lobby in previous elections.
Most problematic is the bill that Donnelly co-sponsored in 2007 that aimed to lift the ban on semi-automatic weapons in Washington D.C., as well as to eliminate criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm.
If you’re looking for a candidate that will work to create and enforce gun control, you have no options in this Indiana senate race. Neither Donnelly nor Braun will work to the best of their abilities to ensure that Hoosiers are safe from gun violence.
I strive everyday to be an unbiased reporter. While I work to ensure my politics never make their way into my reporting, I am extremely politically active. From the age of 18, I have voted in every election for which I was eligible, and I have never been a straight-ticket voter. There were many things that I overlooked about Donnelly’s voting records in the hopes to preserve my healthcare. I overlooked his comments about “the wall,” his half-answers on his stance on reproductive rights and his views on military expansion.
I’m done overlooking.
In honor of the lives of Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Rose Malligan, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Joyce Feinberg, Richard Gottfried, Melvin Wax, Irving Younger and the more than 1.5 million Americans who have died as a result of gun violence in the past 50 years, I will not be supporting Joe Donnelly in the 2018 senate election.
I will still advocate for health care and everything else that I believe in. But I’m listening to my gut on this one. If you are overlooking many stances of a particular candidate for the one stance you agree with, perhaps it’s time you find a new candidate.
I cannot, in good conscience, vote for either Donnelly or Braun, and I cannot in good conscience, endorse either candidate for The Campus Citizen.
However, I encourage every reader to play an active part in your community, particularly by voting. This column is not intended to deter readers from practicing their civic duties. Find what you’re passionate about, advocate for it and vote for it.
Editor's Note: This story has been edited. At the time of original publications, it was reported that 97-year old Rose Mallinger was a Holocaust survivor. This has since been proven to be untrue.
(10/20/18 7:51pm)
On Oct. 2, 2017, the music world was shaken by the news that rock icon Tom Petty had passed away, just 18 days shy of his 67th birthday. As the tributes and testimonies to the late star began to pour in, there was no question that Petty’s life-and death-had a significant impact on music.
Petty’s sudden death did, however, raise some questions about the longevity of rock’n’roll. With the giants of the genre aging, how many more years of new music and live shows could rock fans expect? When musicians pass away, how can their music live on?
That’s where Southern Accents comes into play. The Nashville-based Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band, fronted by Ronnie Gregg, has been recreating the Heartbreaker experience onstage since 2016.
“When we formed this group, it was just out of pure love of his music, and friends who wanted to get together and jam,” Gregg said. “And we figured we’ll play a few shows around town, and that would be it.”
Around the time Southern Accents began frequently playing shows, Petty passed away. At the shows following Petty’s death, Gregg noticed a shift in audience interaction.
“We had done a few shows right before he passed, and they went well, and people embraced the band. But once he passed, there was a lot of tears, a lot of people coming up to me and telling me their Tom Petty stories,” Gregg said. “I’ve had grown men who look like bikers--someone you wouldn’t want to see in a dark alley,--coming up with tears in their eyes and telling me ‘thanks for the closure.’ That touches my heart. I don’t know what to say when people say that sort of stuff.
But I’m honored to spread the Petty Gospel.”
For Gregg, along with many other children of the 1970s and 1980s, MTV brought Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to their attention.
“I believe I got MTV for the first time in 1985 or 1986, and ‘Refugee’ was probably the first thing I saw and heard from him and was automatically blown away. At the time, the big thing was Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, so I was captivated by that kind of thing when I was younger.”
A decade later, Gregg saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live, setting in motion what would become a lifelong appreciation for Petty’s music.
“I saw Tom Petty in concert for the first time in 1994 for the ‘Wildflowers’ tour and totally became a huge, huge Tom Petty fan. I believe he did like four or five encores, totally sold out, loudest show I’ve ever heard,” Gregg said. “I was like ‘this dude really has it going on.’ I went back and bought all the early stuff and have been a die-hard fan ever since.”
While Southern Accents got started in 2016, forming the right tribute band took a few tries.
“I tried it a couple of times with some guys about 10 years ago, and it just didn’t work out for whatever reason,” Gregg said. Then I tried again with a couple other guys, once again, it didn’t work. And then a couple of years ago, out of the blue, a friend of mine hit me up and told me he was forming a Tom Petty tribute band. I went to check it out, and it wasn’t what I was thinking. I jammed for about an hour and came up with an excuse to leave,” Gregg said.
“After I left, the drummer of the group called and apologized and asked me to give it one more shot. I met the guitar player, Bob [Ocker], and within the first two minutes of hearing him play, I was texting my girlfriend saying ‘I’ve found the guy.’ And fortunately enough, he had already brought in a bass player that same day, and he’s still with the band.”
Ocker also brought Jace Aaron and keyboard player Jeff Hollandsworth to the band.
“Bob is a Nashville veteran and has all these musicians on standby, apparently,” Gregg said with a laugh. “Everyone he brings in seems to work well with the band. He kind of hand picked the right guys that he thought would fit, and he was right.”
Much like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Southern Accents has found great success in Indiana.
“Southern Accents loves Indiana,” Gregg said. “Everytime we come up there, everyone’s been really good to us. It’s probably become our number one state to play in.”
The tribute band has played in several cities around the state, including stops at Connor Prairie and an upcoming gig at The Vogue in December.
“For some reason, they really relate to Tom Petty [in Indiana.]. It’s the same with John Cougar, the American-roots rock thing runs deep there.”
And, of course, you can’t discuss Tom Petty and Indiana without mentioning “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.”
“It should be the Indiana state anthem,” Gregg said with a laugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowSGxim_O8
On Oct. 20 this year, to celebrate what would have been Petty’s 68th birthday, shows and parties are taking place across the nation, including in Petty’s hometown of Gainesville, FL.
These musical celebrations are a testament to the countless hit songs and albums that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released throughout their 40-year career. But as Southern Accents tours the nation, they make a point to include B-side songs as well as their big hits to the setlist.
“I like all of his stuff,” Gregg said. “There are so many songs--and music videos--that stand out. He had a real way of relating to every kind of person, whether you smoke pot or don’t smoke pot, whether you’ve been in love before or you haven’t. His quality of lyrics about life is more soulful that anyone else that I’ve heard.”
As Tom Petty fans continue to dig through the recently released box set, including several unreleased songs, that question of longevity lingers. When there are no more unreleased songs in the vault, when there ceases to be anything new from a man who served as a voice of his generation, will his work live on?
If Southern Accents has their way, there’s no question that audiences can continue to hear and appreciate all of the music that Petty created.
“We’re blessed to do what we do,” Gregg said. “We’re just blessed to travel around and keep spreading the Petty Word and the wonderful music. We feel that we’re a part of keeping his music alive.”
(09/14/18 4:02pm)
Big changes are in store for the School of Engineering and Technology thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation. In an effort to increase collaboration and “STEM identity,” the school partnered with the University of Memphis and the University of Colorado at Denver to write a proposal to the NSF for the Urban S-STEM Collaboratory. The proposal was accepted, and the IUPUI school will receive roughly $1.7 million over a 5-year period.
Dean David Russomanno anticipates the project will have a direct impact on the lives of students in regards to scholarship opportunities, recruitment and retainment.
According to statistics outlined in the initial proposal, the IUPUI school currently has a one-year retention rate of 65 percent for direct-admit students, whereas students who are admitted through University College has a first-year retention rate of 46 percent. While these numbers increase from year to year, Russomanno sees this grant as an opportunity to improve retention and graduation rates.
IUPUI will have 50 students split between two cohorts, similar to a learning community. To be admitted to one of the cohorts, a student must first show financial need.
“You have to be eligible for federal financial aid in some form. They have to have an ‘unmet need’,” Russomanno explained. “After that, it’s some of the typical criteria. If it’s an incoming freshman, their high school GPA and SAT scores would be a factor.” The school plans on collaborating with local high school counselors to reach potential applicants.
The school is also striving for a diverse applicant pool.
“Engineering has suffered from underrepresentation in regards to women and other underrepresented groups, such as African-Americans, Native American and Latino students,” Russomanno said. “We want to be sure that we’re making an extra effort to ensure that we have applications from underrepresented groups. All applicants are eligible, but the key for us is ensuring that there is an applicant pool that reflects diversity.”
According to Russomanno’s estimates, 15 percent of the students in the IUPUI School of Engineering and Technology belong to racial and ethnic minority groups. While the University of Memphis and the University of Colorado at Denver report their numbers at 36 percent and 23 percent respectively, the IUPUI school is not far off from the national average. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only around 22 percent of professional engineers belong to these underrepresented groups. However, Russomanno sees the diversity as the key to American success.
“We’re hoping to see a diverse cohort, because the challenge we have in engineering and other areas is building the diverse workforce that our nation absolutely must have to remain to have it’s competitive edge,” Russomanno said. “If we look throughout the world, there’s a lot of competition, so we want to continue to see the U.S. be a leader in innovation, and that requires diversity in the workforce.”
Once the cohorts are formed, the school plans to employ current students to lead recitations to help other students.
“We’re teaming with the mathematics department, because mathematics, calculus, for example, is a barrier for a lot of students when it comes to retention. We’ll have other undergraduates who recently completed a course and did well, and we’re going to employ them as team leaders for recitation sessions for working with their peers,” Russomanno said. “You don’t have the intimidation of the graduate student or professor coming in and working on issues outside of class that maybe a student is struggling with. We’re hoping for a lessening of a barrier with students working with other students, and building that support structure.
Pursuing an engineering degree can be lonely at times – it’s hard, it’s demanding – especially for those who didn’t build a strong STEM identity may feel that they don’t belong, when the reality is, many students are experiencing the same thing,” Russomanno continued. “With that network and that support system, you’re more likely to stick with it and ultimately succeed. And we need more students pursuing fields like engineering.”
And that’s where networking comes into play.
“At the kick-off this summer, we’ll have a Summer Bootcamp to start to try build our community among our STEM scholars. One feature of the grant is trying to enhance STEM identity among the scholarship recipients, and that will start at the boot camp. One of the features that we’re using is some very innovative software called CourseNetworking--which is a company that was started by a faculty member from our school [Dr. Ali Jafari], and we have the cyberlab here at IUPUI, and they’ll be collaborating with us.”
CourseNetworking, as Russomanno explained, is similar to Facebook but with a focus on academia. Students at IUPUI will be able to use the program in order to build their community in Indianapolis, as well as connect with students in Memphis and Denver, and around the world. Russomanno hopes that the implementation of this program will lead to internships and job placement after graduation.
Before this partnership between the three urban universities began, the IUPUI school already had several relationships with local companies, including Eli Lilly Co. and Crane, that have led to student success.
“Indianapolis is a great city to support STEM in general,” Russomanno said. “We have numerous productive partnerships with industry and government, and that is a defining feature of this STEM collaboratory, all three universities are trying to strengthen their relationships with industry to further support the project.”
Russomanno hopes that those students participating in the project will be able to find work opportunities wherever they happen to look.
“A defining feature of our school and IUPUI in many ways is that we really think of Indiana first in terms of economic development and contributing to the workforce,” Russomanno said. “But nevertheless, we want opportunities for our students all over the country and all over the world. We have many students who work abroad. So, bringing opportunities for students to go elsewhere is something we don’t want to shy away from.”
“We want our students have maximized their opportunities in life. But it is a point of pride that many of our students elect to stay in Indiana,” Russomanno said.
Of the available funds, $1 million is exclusively set aside for scholarships throughout the five-year period.
The program officially kicks off next month.
(09/07/18 3:58pm)
Now that we’re all (hopefully) used to our schedules, gone into debt buying textbooks and have sufficiently boozed, we can officially say that the semester is in full swing. That being said, welcome back, Jags!
I’m excited to begin my senior year as Editor-in-Chief of The Campus Citizen. The editorial staff, with help from our faculty adviser Mark Haab, have made many changes to the website and our general direction for our publication. This is our first full year on WordPress, and the opportunities that the platform provides will allow for more multimedia works, and we are excited to branch out with new advertisers from campus and around the city. Casey Kenworthy, our Managing Editor, is gearing up for events and programs hosted by The Campus Citizen, including workshops and coffee hours.
A main goal for this semester is to develop better relationships with student groups around campus. For this to be achieved, it will need to be a group effort from us here at The Campus Citizen and student leaders around campus. If you are part of a student group hosting an event or just have news to share, send us a tip at thecampuscitizen@gmail.com. We hope to create a monthly calendar of events happening around campus, and we would love to include yours!
In an effort to build a better relationship with administration, faculty and staff, we are introducing this semester the opportunity for guest columns. Any administrator, professor or university employee with a story to share should reach out the above email for more details. By doing so, we hope to become a voice for the entire campus community.
In the campus section this year, readers can expect extensive coverage of the 10th annual Regatta, features on notable faculty, students and campus guests. We will closely follow the Graduate and Professional Student Government and the Undergraduate Student Government, thanks to the hard work and diligence of Senior Editor J. A. Bedell.
In our sports section, editor Ryan Gregory will lead his team in covering IUPUI sports, including women’s soccer and swimming, as well as giving writers exclusive access to professional teams around the city.
In culture, editor - and local musician - Lynzi Stringer and her team will diligently cover artists and musicians who come to campus, events around the city, such as Indy Jazz Fest, concerts at the Hi-Fi and all of the other events that make Indianapolis such a great place to go to school.
This year, we are planning to expand our Multimedia Section significantly. David Rowan, our Multimedia Director, is looking for videographers, photographers and those interested in podcasts to join his section. There are many opportunities in the multimedia section to record and discuss hot topics around IUPUI.
When I joined The Campus Citizen in the Fall of 2015, it was a small group of dedicated student reporters who built the publication from the ground up. David Schroeder and Benjamin Cooley, our first Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor, respectively, worked to create a student publication to be a voice for IUPUI students, independent from any powers that be that may try and control said voice. Since they graduated, as well as Campus Citizen legends Keegan Rammel, Elizabeth Cotter, Rob Hunt and Leighann Strollo, the remaining staff has worked to maintain the hard work that they put into our publication so that future Jaguars can have a strong, independent student media.
This semester, I was overwhelmed at the amount of people who walked through our doors for our first meeting (and returned for the second!). As I wrap up my time here at The Campus Citizen--where I’ve met my second family and where I started my journey as a reporter--I could not be more thankful that I will leave behind a staff of enthusiastic young reporters eager to share the stories from around IUPUI.
It can’t be ignored that none of this would be possible without the support from the Department of Journalism and Public Relations. Throughout the years, they have helped send us to conferences that make us better reporters, help us find scholarships, and after we had trouble finding a meeting space after the departmental move to Cavanaugh Hall, they found us spaces to meet and publish. Above all else, support from Jonas Bjork, Emily Turnier, Chris Lamb and Malcolm Moran has made it possible for us to continue doing what we love.
This year, I look forward to sharing with you the stories that shape our campus and our community. Not every story will be happy- events such as the tragic death of a sophomore student last year and crimes on campus are unfortunate stories that have to be told. But, overall, I hope that the stories-your stories-that we share here at The Campus Citizen will help you make the most of your college experience.
Here’s to a great semester!
Breanna Cooper
Editor-in-Chief
(05/11/18 8:30pm)
As students fill in at Lucas Oil Stadium on May 12, the soon-to-be graduates will have the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments and reflect on the most recent chapter of their lives. While their long nights in University Library, parties and stressing about final exams may be behind them, the IUPUI class of 2018 may be wondering what is in store for them.
Hoping to provide some answers to that question is A’Lelia Bundles, the 2018 Commencement speaker. The 65-year old author, historian and journalist plans on discussing lifelong education and other issues close to her heart.
“Making a commencement speech is one of the hardest things you could possibly do,” Bundles said with a laugh. “Most people don’t remember their commencement speaker, so you want to say at least one or two things that they will remember, and give some little piece of advice or inspiration.”
For Bundles, inspiring and empowering others is in her genes. As the great-great granddaughter of Madam CJ Walker-an entrepreneur, philanthropist and the first female self-made millionaire- Bundles understands the important role of philanthropy, education and leadership in our community and society as a whole.
“I want to talk about Madam Walker and what she meant to the community and who she was a person hoping that the story of her life, challenges and triumphs, will inspire people,” Bundles said. “Lifelong learning was very important to her, and I know that the last thing people are thinking about when they’re graduating is reading another textbook-but I hope that after they’ve had a break-they will take the opportunity to remain informed citizens, because we really need an informed citizenry.”
While working on her speech, Bundles recognized the need to address civic and community engagement, while keeping a message of unification in our often divided country.
“We need to vote, so I want to talk about civic engagement, and the responsibility that we all have to give back to our communities and to help each other. That’s something that was very much a part of who Madam Walker was, so we need to not go off into our own corners. It is a very interesting time, obviously there’s a lot of polarization. So when you’re doing a speech like this, you don’t know who’s in the audience. You want to find something that’s unified, but not letting anyone off of the hook about what it means to be a good citizen.”
The speaking engagement was set up after several IUPUI faculty members visited Bundles’ home in Washington D.C., although the history of IUPUI and the Madame Walker Theater-as well as the historic Indiana Ave.-have intertwined for decades.
IUPUI and Indiana Ave.
Indiana Ave. was once a thriving hub of African-American culture in Indianapolis, with the Madame Walker Theater a central focus. While the theater itself brought in acts such as BB King and Smokey Robinson, the businesses that lined Indiana Ave. ranged from record stores, restaurants to beauty shops.
Today, the Madame Walker Theater is the only remaining trace of what Indiana Ave. used to be, and what it meant for the Indianapolis African-American community.
Built in 1927 as the original headquarters and manufacturing plant of Madam CJ Walker Hair Care and Beauty Products, the building that now houses the Madame Walker Theater was saved from demolition by a group of citizens in the 1970s.
“To be able to have the Walker Building and then that block south of the building on Indiana Ave. gives a reminder of the rich African-American community that existed here for so many years,” Bundles said. “I’m very grateful that there is so much respect for maintaining that building and what it means historically to the African-American community. If you don’t have a building like that, there’s no evidence that African-Americans thrived on Indiana Ave.”
The creation and expansion of IUPUI-in many regards- led to the destruction of the historic neighborhood.
“The downtown area has only a few things that really speak to the history of the city. When IUPUI was created, a lot of the old neighborhood was destroyed,” Bundles explained.
However, a January announcement that Indiana University is forming a partnership with the Madame Walker Theater to help fund renovation projects for the theater may alter the role the university plays in the community.
“There’s always been a relationship. What this does is strengthen the relationship between what’s now going to be called the Madam Walker Legacy Center and IUPUI,” Bundles said. “Operating a historic building is very expensive and takes a skill set of preservation and maintenance that is a different set of skills as operating a cultural arts center. So, going forward the beauty of the new relationship is that Indiana University is going to concern itself with the building maintenance the upkeep. And that frees the board of the Legacy Center and the staff to focus on community and programming and the arts. So we get the best of all worlds.”
Bundles hopes that the renovations, which align with the 150th anniversary of the birth of Madam Walker, will be an opportunity to share Walker’s story-and the stories from the Indianapolis African-American community-with the greater community. “African-American history is American history,” Bundles said. “I would like everyone to embrace it, because it is a history that we share.”
With this collaboration-supported by Lilly Endowment Inc.-the Madame Walker Theater will be able to focus more on the community engagement activities that meant so much to Madam Walker. Workshops focused on the promotion of the arts as well as cultural understanding are among the focuses of the center.
“I think that the tenants in the building will be important in curating events and deciding what the programming will be,” Bundles said. “IUPUI has a number of professors who are very conscious, and their research is rooted in the community. The goal is to include IUPUI in our conversations about community programs-both the community that’s no longer there, and examining who we are as a community now.”
Chancellor’s Medallion
As well as giving the commencement speech, Bundles will also be accepting the Chancellor’s Medallion on behalf of Madam Walker. This award is given every year to an individual who embodies “vision, character, high achievement and distinguished service.”
“I hope the recognition of what Madam Walker did, the importance of Madam Walker to the Indianapolis community, I hope it’s something that will inspire this years graduates to recognize the importance of education, leadership and entrepreneurship and the importance of giving back. It means a lot that the community is embracing her.”
While Indianapolis and the rest of the world has changed significantly since Madam Walker made her mark in history, Bundles recognizes the importance of philanthropy and education-two important aspects of Walker’s life-in our modern world.
“This lesson of giving back is really important to me,” Bundles said. “She [Walker] was so poor, she had nothing. She was almost homeless at times, and the women at her church-St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis- began to give her a vision of herself as something other than an uneducated woman. They told her that she needed to educate her child and get her some education of her own, and she could change her life.
That transformative message is something that I think is still important. Once she realized that people had helped her, she wanted to help others.”
This idea of giving back to the community led Walker to fund scholarships for education, creating Christmas care packages for families in need, and support the arts. Walker used her influence to support the NAACP’s anti-lynching movement, which Bundles described as “Black Lives Matter 1.0.” Despite being labeled as the world’s “first female self-made millionaire,” Bundles views the people and the community that stood behind Walker as a large part of her ancestor’s successes.
“I think that sometimes we see what we call a ‘self-made person’ who thinks they did it all on their own and that people don’t need a helping hand,” Bundles said. “But if people are being honest, almost everyone who is successful had somebody who helped them. When I think about Madam Walker and the people who helped her, and the idea that we as a society want to be punitive when people need help, makes me crazy and breaks my heart.
She became successful because, yes she had personal drive and perseverance, but part of her becoming successful was that other people reached out and saw her potential and were able to encourage her. Yes, she became a millionaire but she used that money and that influence to help others. She saw the need to use her money and influence to support the arts, made sure that she was giving back to the community. The philanthropy is so important as a part of her legacy.”
There may be a deeper significance to IUPUI’s recognition of Madam Walker’s life and accomplishments. Over the past two years, we have seen worldwide Women’s Marches, and the #MeToo movement has called out longstanding abuse of women in our society. While many things have changed in the wake of the #MeToo era, female empowerment and leadership are certainly not a new phenomenon.
For Walker, starting her business 112 years ago was a matter of survival. Despite hardships, Walker used her charisma to encourage other women to make their own money and the educate their children, so that they didn’t have to be maids or sharecroppers. Walker embodied the idea that women were more than capable of being leaders, and perhaps was well ahead of her time.
“I graduated from college in 1974 when the doors were just starting to open for women,” Bundles said. “I’m a part of that first generation of women who had opportunities in corporate America. We have women CEOs and judges, so you can see that once the doors were open for us, we took advantage and made a lot of changes in the workplace. At the same time, my generation includes women who are speaking out with the #MeToo movement. A lot of things changed for us, but there were a lot of things that we just sort of dealt with.”
In the age of social media, Bundles sees more opportunities for women to share their stories and embrace their roles as leaders.
“Women have always been outspoken, but there’s so many more ways to communicate now,” Bundles said. “Whether it’s on Twitter or writing a blog, there’s so many more ways for women to say their piece. There are so many more doors open for women, and yet many people are still struggling, and we’re at a point now where your generation is not taking it anymore, and that’s the message I want to send at commencement:
Each generation has an opportunity to make a difference.”
(04/20/18 2:33am)
For IU sophomore Devon Fisher, Record Store Day is a chance to appreciate the local arts scene and expand his already impressive record collection. As of today, Fisher has around 700 albums, including a few limited pressings, thanks to Record Store Day.
Among the many albums that fill his crates, Fisher proudly spins a limited three-LP set of Give Up by The Postal Service, which included Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie fame. A 2-LP set of Grateful Dead rarities-one of 6,700 pressing-is one of the highlights of his collection.
"I bought my first record in early 2012, but I didn’t start avidly collecting until Record Store Day 2013,” Fisher said. “I really liked the idea of having exclusive vinyl from some of my favorite artists. It sort of makes you appreciate the artist more. I’ve always loved collecting things, so the idea of having something that is really rare is exciting.”
The fanbase that comes with record collecting was another factor for Fisher.
“It’s a great way to get to know the people around you, and the community based around the record store is definitely something that wouldn’t exist if these stores simply sold CDs. It’s cool to gawk at an expensive piece of wax with someone equally as enthralled as you. That simply can’t happy with digital media,” Fisher explains.
As of right now, Fisher’s favorite album in his collection is a limited pressing of “Flower Boy” by Tyler, The Creator. On this Record Store Day, Fisher is hoping to grab a release of “Endless” or “Blonde” by Frank Ocean.
(04/20/18 2:10am)
I started participating in Record Store Day my senior year of high school. Since then, it’s a day that I look forward to all year. While the album releases are exciting (especially the David Bowie picture discs that have been coming out the past several years), what keeps me going to Luna Music at 7:00 a.m. is the community aspect. Hearing people in line excitedly talk about the releases being put out by their favorite bands, seeing local groups play their hearts out on the makeshift stage behind the shop, and getting my fill of local food makes me leave Luna feeling more connected with my community.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a pretty proud Hoosier. I don’t agree with state politics, and I’m really sick of this damn weather, but I love the people and the culture we have here in Indianapolis. In high school-like many of my peers-I hated living in Indiana. I didn’t think there was anything to do in the city, and I couldn’t pinpoint any specific culture that Indianapolis could claim as its own. Turns out, I wasn’t looking hard enough, or looking at all for that matter.
After experiencing my first Record Store Day in Broad Ripple, I started venturing out to places like Fountain Square. Every First Friday, watching sets at Joyful Noise, I was blown away by the talent and the passion that was harbored in my own backyard. Seeing people my age, who balanced school and work with making albums and visual art was not only inspiring, but it made me fall in love with our city.
Of course, I’ll be in Broad Ripple early Saturday morning. I’ll be in line waiting for the Led Zeppelin release--not that Jimmy Page needs any more of my money--and the Phantom Thread score. But what I’ll really be looking forward to is hearing live music, and now that I’m 21, supporting our local breweries.
As far as records go, I’m not a collector in the true definition of the word. I don’t hunt for original pressings, nor do I have the bank account to support a habit that extreme. What I do appreciate, however, are the stories that records tell. Shopping at second-hand stores and finding “The Beatles” album, (“The White Album”) with ink sketches drawn on by previous owners or folk albums that relay stories of the times in which they were written give me a greater appreciation for the music I listen to. Out of the records in my collection, the ones in heaviest rotation are Little Steven's"Voice of America,” George Harrison’s “Brainwashed” and a Hank Williams compilation albums that I found in San Francisco. All of these albums, at least for me, share stories and ideas that-even if I don’t relate to-give me a greater understanding of the world and people around me.
With Record Store Day 2018 just hours away, I hope that you enjoy the best holiday of the year as much as I do.
(03/30/18 5:09pm)
It feels like it’s been a month since I wrote my last blog. I decided to utilise Spring Break for some time off and to take a break from doing homework and writing and basically anything studious. While most people would have taken advantage of the week off of college to travel around America, I did not. After some plans falling through, my friends, Pim, Nova, Abigail and I all decided to go to Turkey Run for two days. For those of you who don’t know what Turkey Run is, it is an Indiana state park located in Parke County, in the west-central part of the state. It has stunning hiking trails in which you literally walk through the rocks and it is genuinely one of the nicest and most relaxing places I have ever been. As you can see in some of the photos we took the opportunity to capture many memories, something I feel like I haven’t done enough of because I’m very camera shy...
We stayed at Pim’s house and her grandparents, who live just across the road from the house, gave us a whole tray of brownies, a huge cheesecake and a large tub of cookies; a typical grandparent thing to do when you visit, they try to fatten you up. It was great to just unwind and have not only a break from college but also from the busy city which for me is too loud sometimes.
Between this blog and the last, I have continued to just try and experience as many things as possible before I go home; I want to go home exhausted and say that America drained me for all I was worth. I went to another Pacers game, where they beat the LA Clippers. I was lucky enough to go with my boyfriend… yes boyfriend, who I have actually been seeing for a few weeks but kind of kept it on the down-low. He has definitely made my trip so far even more than I could have imagined. While I know this sounds like a cliché American boy meets English girl kind of love story, neither of us were looking for a relationship; but I guess things happen when you least expect them. If you have watched Good Will Hunting I guess you could say we are kind of like Will and Skylar… fingers crossed he will move across the world for me…
I am pretty sure I mentioned in a previous blog that I had applied for an internship with Indiana’s soccer team Indy Eleven, if I didn’t, well now you know. However, in all honesty, they ghosted me. Now you may be thinking why are you choosing to write about this, but to me it is the crux of the journalism world. It is a very competitive industry. They didn’t respond to me for three weeks, in which I sent around five emails and 3 messages on Twitter: still no response. Then, earlier this week I FINALLY got a reply informing me that I didn’t get it. While it was very frustrating, I am hoping that I will be able to gain some experience through covering Indy Eleven’s home games for the Indy Star instead. Let’s hope they don’t turn me down too...
(01/28/18 9:59pm)
Since the election of President Donald J. Trump, the possibility of impeachment has been a center of national discussion. Whether or not allegations of collusion of Russia or a taped confession of sexual assaults are grounds for impeachment is up for debate, but one thing is clear: the topic of impeachment is one that is not going away any time soon.
Throughout the country, impeachment marches are taking place, including an event in downtown Indianapolis. Calling for Congress to take a stand on what some perceive to be a corrupt administration, participants in the march are arguing for Congress and the presidential cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.
So, what does the 25th Amendment actually do?
The Amendment was introduced after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. It provides guidelines for replacing a president or vice president in the event of death, resignation, or incapacitation.
Section Four of the Amendment allows for the sitting vice president and a majority of Congress to temporarily remove the president from his or her post if they are deemed unfit to serve:
“Whenever the vice president and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the vice president shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”
From there, a congressional vote must take place to determine whether or not the president is fit to serve. If Congress votes to remove the president from his elected office, the vice president would continue to serve as acting president.
The first and last time the 25th Amendment was invoked was the transition of power between President Richard Nixon and his Vice President Gerald Ford. While the Watergate scandal is what eventually brought Nixon down, fears among his cabinet members that Nixon’s paranoia and alcohol abuse could result in the 37th president ordering a nuclear strike called Nixon’s capacity to lead into question.
Proving the sitting president of the United States is mentally unfit to serve the office is a difficult process. Although it has rarely occurred in our history, those arguing that President Donald J. Trump ought to be removed from office are not the first group of voters calling for a sitting president to be removed.
There are a lot of questions to be asked regarding the 25th Amendment and how it relates to the Trump administration. How does one prove that he is mentally unfit? How long would the legal proceedings take? And, on the off chance the 25th Amendment is actually invoked, what would a Mike Pence presidency entail?
(01/26/18 4:26pm)
On Jan. 25, high school journalism teachers and some of Indiana’s youngest reporters rallied in the State House in support of House Bill 1016. The bill, which aims to stop the censorship of student publications by school administrations, was introduced last year by Sen. Clare and co-sponsored by Sen. Delaney. The bipartisan effort passed in the House in 2017 by a 9-2 vote before it was shot down in the Senate.Plainfield High School is just one of the Indiana schools to feel the effects of censorship from an administrative level. Since publishing a controversial issue focusing on teen dating, Anu Nattam, a co-editor for The Shakedown, claims that Plainfield High School has censored their magazine on numerous occasions. The school went so far as making the staff change the name of their publication for fear that The Shakedown could have mafia connotations. If passed, House Bill 1016 would prohibit schools from censoring students’ First Amendment right to free speech and press unless the content was libelous, slanderous or violates federal law or creates a clear and present danger to students. In effect, passing House Bill 1016 would repeal Hazelwood in the state of Indiana. Hazelwood, a 1988 Supreme Court decision, ruled that schools have the right to censor student publications. Several statewide organizations, such as the Indiana Association of School Principals and the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, are opposed to the bill, arguing that a free student press could turn into a “public relations nightmare.” The bottom line: the suppression of the freedom of the press, at any level, is a clear violation of a student’s First Amendment right. Now more than ever, we ought to be encouraging young journalists to seek the truth and report on it, no matter who it might make uncomfortable. We cannot instill in blooming reporters the ethics and obligations of journalism if editorial control is given to school administration. When something goes wrong, it is the job of the administrator to mediate, to make it appear that nothing is wrong for the sake of public relations. Of course, students know better, and it is the job of reporters to bring those issues to light in order to work towards a resolution. During my time at The Campus Citizen at IUPUI, I have seen first hand the power that student journalism can have. Dedicated reporters here have uncovered corruption in our Student Government, covered the controversial appearance of the Westboro Baptist “Church” and discussed flaws in our parking system. As an independent media source, our reporters and editorial staff not only had the courage to report on these issues, they also had the support of a dedicated group of faculty and staff in the Department of Journalism and Public Relations. The support we receive from department is preparing all of us for a future in journalism. It’s not always easy, you’ll likely make more friends than enemies, but nevertheless, journalism is important. For it to matter, however, it can never be censored, regardless of the age of the reporter. In his book “What Unites Us,” veteran reporter Dan Rather recalls “muckrakers of the progressive era,” such as Ida Tarbell, who uncovered the Standard Oil monopoly under Rockefeller; the New York Time’s publishing of the Pentagon Papers, and the Boston Globe’s reporting on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Rather relates these reporters to the Founding Fathers, saying, “Our Founding Fathers understood that long-term accountability is more important that short-term stability...Because of the press, powerful institutions were held accountable for their actions, and we became a stronger nation.”While it may be unlikely that a high school paper prints investigative journalism that shakes a whole community, every Woodward and Bernstein of the world has to start somewhere. All of the reporters that have broke stories that have changed how we look at the world had two things in common: they had the freedom to report, and they had an editor who believed in them. It’s time that Indiana junior high and high schools start believing in the power that young journalists have when they use their voice. They may report on issues that make people uncomfortable, and they may not always paint the school in a great light. However, nothing was ever changed through silence. To make progress in the world around us, it takes journalists having the courage and the freedom to report on issues that matter to their communities. It’s time we give Indiana student journalists that freedom.
(01/19/18 7:08pm)
Kimberly Williams | January 19 2018
Mac n’ cheese lovers, rejoice! Soon, you will be able to sample unlimited quantities of ooey, gooey, cheesy goodness right here in the Circle City.
For the second year in a row, Chef’s Night Off and MOKB Presents are bringing the popular Mac and Cheese Fest back to Indy on Sunday, Feb. 4th, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Circle City Complex.
Last year the Mac and Cheese Fest the event sold out in Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Noblesville.
ClusterTruck, Punchbowl Social, and Claddagh Irish Pub are just some of the 30 different restaurants and chefs participating in the festival, according to the Return of the Mac’s website.They will compete for votes from official judges for the grand prize from Central Restaurant Product, including a one night stay at Story Inn, and the “Golden Noodle” award.
At the end of the night attendees can vote for Yelp! Crowd Favorite through the Yelp! App.
The winning chef will receive an automatic bid to represent Indianapolis at the World Food Championships in Orange Beach, Ala. in November. According to the Return of the Mac’s website, 2017 Noblesville Mac Fest winner Craig Baker took home the grand prize in the “Best Chef” category.
Tickets for the festival are on sale now for two sessions: 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. General admission tickets cost $25, and $40 for VIP early entry, which gets you into the festival an hour earlier than general admission. Admission for children six and younger is free with the purchase of an adult ticket.
According to Return of the Mac’s website, VIP early entry tickets for the first session have sold out.
Each ticket includes unlimited sampling, access to beverages (with a full bar available for those 21 and older), and participation in the Yelp! Crowd vote.
Do317 is hosting the official after party for the Mac and Cheese Fest at HI-FI in Fountain Square, free with RSVP. You can find more information about the after party at Do317.com.
Whether you eat mac and cheese with a spoon or a fork, The Return of the Mac Fest will have something for everyone to enjoy.
(10/03/17 2:14pm)
For four decades, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers toured the world, sold more than 33 million albums in the United States alone and recently wrapped up their 40th Anniversary tour.
After fronting one of the most recognizable American bands in modern history, Tom Petty died at the age of 66 after going into full cardiac arrest in his Malibu home on Monday, October 2nd.
During my first attempt at writing this piece, I was aiming for a hard news story. What I found, however, is that I may have well just copied and pasted every tribute and memorial piece written for Petty in the hours since his death was announced.
What I have found in my brief period as a culture reporter is that there are some stories, some people, that have touched your life in a way that makes you incapable of objectivity. I could write about how long Damn the Torpedos spent on the charts, or how Petty was inspired to pick up a guitar thanks to his first glimpse of Elvis, or when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But anyone with access to a search engine could tell you that. For this tribute to one of America’s most legendary talents, I’d much rather talk about the power of his work from the perspective of a music lover, not a music reporter.
After David Bowie died, I came across a tweet that read “We don’t mourn artists because we knew them, we mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.” As it did with the death of The Thin White Duke, which I’m still trying to completely get over, that tweet perfectly sums up feelings towards the loss of Tom Petty.
Like many young Hoosiers, I first heard of Tom Petty because of the track “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.” As a kid, was it the lyrical depth of the song that got me hooked to it? Was it the rhythm guitar and impressively played harmonica? No. It was the mere mention of Indiana. That was pretty much all it took to make the song, which is a well written tune, a staple of every Indiana bonfire and corn hole tournament since it’s release.
Beyond that, I knew the tracks that are played often on the radio, and that about summed up my knowledge of Tom Petty until I was around 14.
It wasn’t until early high school, when I, as an avid George Harrison fan, found The Traveling Wilburys that something about Petty clicked with me. I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. His offbeat humor in their music videos, his peculiar yet somehow captivating voice, and his guitar playing were all intriguing. It wasn’t until I dug deeper into his solo work and The Heartbreakers discography that I finally figured out what it was:
His lyrics.
There are few artists that come to mind that are able to tell stories quite like Tom Petty. In my book, he is among the ranks of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Even stories that I was unable to relate to, I was able to empathize with, thanks to Petty’s knack for lyricism.
It seems that for every situation in life: new love, love lost, aging, coming to terms with mortality, and so on, there is a Tom Petty song that describes it in perfect detail. While sometimes simple, his lyrics convey a deep wisdom about the human condition, good or bad.
For me-and based on the social media tributes I’ve seen, many others- Petty’s most powerful song was “Learning to Fly,” off of the 1991 album Into the Great Wide Open. Personally, as adolescence turned into adulthood, the track served as a reminder that life is a balance between good and bad. “What goes up/must come down.” The song got me through anxiety about high school graduation, difficult decisions that went into deciding on a college and an extreme brush with depression.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5BJXwNeKsQ
Musicians, with their craft, often play a large role in helping people through difficult times. In some situations, this can lead to musicians feeling less like strangers singing to us from a stage, and more like friends sharing parts of your life, the good times and the rough times. Tom Petty is no exception.
Take the crowd at (what was then called) Klipsch Music Center in May of this year, for example. Petty and The Heartbreakers played a sold out crowd, and as lighters and cellphones filled the sky during renditions of “Free Falling,” “Wildflowers,” and of course, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” emotions from people all around me were palpable. These songs meant something, probably something different, to every person. The woman next to me cried during “You Don’t Know How it Feels,” I cried during “Learning to Fly.” We didn’t ask each other about it, we just understood and respected that it meant something to each of us. That’s the power of music.
It’s difficult to write this tribute so soon after seeing Petty perform on stage. With the exception of Springsteen, I have never been to a show that was that high energy, or one where I knew every song in a two hour set. (That speaks more to Petty’s talents as a songwriter than anything else.) Seemingly after every song, Petty thanked the crowd for being there, and the crowd thanked him in return for sharing what he loved.
For 40 years, Tom Petty shared his talents with music lovers, creating the soundtrack for key moments in people’s lives. It is difficult to imagine the American music landscape had Petty not been a part of it.
I’ve found that the best way to say “thank you” to a musician who has had such a profound effect on your life is to never stop listening to their work. Your own personal meaning for a song may change over time, and, if you’re anything like me, your favorite album will change from week to week. The thing about death is, it happens to everyone eventually, even if you’re a rock’n’roll legend. Fortunately, music lives on.
That’s power.
So, thank you, Tom Petty, for a lifetime of music for every occasion, and for some of the greatest lessons that I’ve learned through the years. Godspeed, my friend.
(09/24/17 8:04pm)
With a comedy career that spans nearly three decades, Lewis Black is bringing his unique brand of comedy to the Old National Center on April 29.
By Breanna Cooper
With partisan politics, fake news, and the rise of President Donald Trump, there’s plenty of potential material for comedians and entertainers.
On his current “Rant, White & Blue” tour, comedian Lewis Black, in typical fashion, isn’t holding back. The 68-year old comedian takes the stage to discuss issues ranging from social issues to mental health. Using humor and satire, Black both entertains and informs his audiences on the absurdities of the world.
Throughout his nearly three decade career, many of these absurdities haven’t significantly changed.
“It’s appalling. It’s really kind of sad,” Black said. “You’re always going to have people who can’t let go of the past. You just have to figure out what to take with you and then move on. It’s like being a nomad. You gather a few things in your sack and you move on.”
After his Indianapolis set at The Old National Center on April 29, Black will attend an after party hosted by The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library.
Julia Whitehead, founder and CEO of the KVML is excited about the collaboration with Black, who is an honorary board member.
“We’re very excited that he values the work we do, he has become a friend and someone I personally value and hold in high regards,” Whitehead said. “He cared very much about Vonnegut and his work, and it’s nice to have someone out in the world that can share the good news about our organization.”
“I have a big interest in that library because he had a huge effect on the way I see the world,” Black added. “All of a sudden, I went ‘Oh, I’m not crazy.’”
Like Vonnegut, Black uses humor and satire to make sense of the changing world.
With Trump in the Oval Office, there’s an influx of new material every day.
“He’s writing it,” Black said. “I don’t know how you’re supposed to satirize what’s already satirical. Or as my opening act so wonderfully says, ‘It’s like Vonnegut is writing the play at this point.’”
“There’s such an insanity in the whole thing,” Black continued. “And, he just makes shit up. There doesn’t seem to be any real adults around to say you have to stop this.”
Despite his angry persona, Black’s more recent sets are toned down, while still tapping into what makes him tick.
“I’m funny when I’m angry, that’s the deal. And they’ve certainly done nothing to make me less angry,” Black said.
“I think I’m growing as a comic. I’m starting to modulate more where the anger is coming from, and it changes on any given night. I find other ways to express anger that I think actually show more anger than when I’m just being big and blustering. What I get is the blowback from some of the audiences like ‘Oh, he got tired.’ Fuck you. I don’t think you really heard what I was saying. It’s just as angry, I’m just not yelling.”
That being said, the new administration is adding fuel to the fire.
“What Trump brought back was, for me, it was like ‘Okay, you want to see that?’ Well, you picked the guy to send me off the cliff, that’s for sure.”
With fake news on the rise, Black finds hope in the front pages of The Washington Post, millennials, and the future of technology.
“The main source of facts is usually the editorial pages of The Washington Post and New York Times, and there are really good conservative writers on both,” Black explained. “And I find most of my facts, because they do the actual research.”
As for technology, Black sees the current generation as a source of hope for the future.
“We’re being governed by a group of primates that have no idea how technology works. I’m certainly out of the loop. I use Twitter when I think of something funny, which is about once every three weeks. We’re literally between an industrial age and a technological age. And the people who are leading are from the industrial age. I think things will improve, if not from the millennial generation, from the one after, when technology will be integrated in society. The thing they did was they dropped the computer into the whole scheme of things. I’m sure it is the greatest invention on Earth. It’s also like a drug, you fucking morons. It’s the younger generations that are learning to function with the drug.”
In his upcoming Indianapolis show, and all of his shows for that matter, Black will incorporate rants from audience members that submitted their own issues and concerns online on his website.
“There was one written by a guy about how he realized that now that Trump was in office, he was going to die with the things being passed, and he was willing to accept that because he didn’t want to live in this world,” Black explained. “And that was startling. And then there was a woman who wrote a rant about pickles that was brilliant. I’m good at ranting, send me your rants. I don’t work in an office, I’m not in the Army, I’m not driving to work. I don’t know any of this stuff anymore. I live in a bubble. On a certain level, people need a voice. This is the way I can serve this, and it’s fun.”
Despite the anger and the tension Black brings to his comedy set, he looks to bring people together through his jokes. No matter how divided the nation becomes he sees comedy as way to bring people together.
“I don’t know what it is,” Black said, “but the unifying thing is that there is something comforting in shared laughter.”
Lewis Black will be performing at the Old National Center April 29 at 8:00 p.m.
https://youtu.be/Q3WzCEl2OeU