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SROs or Our Youth: The (ongoing) Struggle to Eradicate Police Presence in PVUSD Schools

7/20/2020

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By Rosa Noriega-Rocha and Christopher Soriano
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Photo by Brea Soul c/o nappy.co
Amid the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black individuals, there emerged a cry for justice demanding local and state governments to defund the police. The world watched as the United States grappled with its identity as a police state under the hands of white supremacy. It didn’t take long for the cry to reach the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) located in Watsonville, CA. 

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Be Human

3/18/2020

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By _shauneez_
watermelaninmag.com

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I’m sure many of us are trying to suppress our panic but let’s face it; there is an odd stench of apocalyptic reckoning in the air right about now. A virus is sweeping the globe, wars, destruction and many other biblical prophecies of the looming “end times” are being fulfilled. Maybe I’m the only one, but I feel myself being forced into this perpetual state of reflection, loneliness and longing to reinforce all my deep connections with the people I care about. The truth is, as humans, we’ve been getting ahead of ourselves, and we’ve been poking and prodding and exploring and experimenting which somehow caused us to forget everything that made us human. When did we forget that we are governed by emotions and that we need each other, when did we forget that our lives are so delicate that we can watch as populations of human beings get wiped out in hours. What gave us the idea that we will never face any consequences?

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Remembering the Prophet's Words this Black History Month

2/24/2020

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by Ujala Yousaf ​
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Recently during a high school research project, I stumbled upon a piece of artwork called No Racism, a surrealist oil painting by Italian painter Stefano Ilad. The first thing that I noticed were the various colors. The lizard green, chocolate brown, licorice black, and cookie peach all captivated my eyes. Additionally, I noticed that the painter painted a man with a Hitler mustache. I was surprised to see that the painter put something associated with Hitler; but then I thought about the message or idea that was being conveyed. I listed many ideas in my head and thought that it was about racial ideology because of the mustache. However, there is a deeper message to this painting. 

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Can Women Share Femininity?

11/26/2019

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By Shauneez Rigney
@_shauneez_
watermelaninmag.com

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​In October of this year Always Ultra, the feminine hygiene brand, made the decision to remove the Venus symbol from their FEMALE products in an attempt to be more inclusive because, well, not only females menstruate now but so do some transgender men. Full disclosure, this article does not aim to be homophobic or transphobic, but it does attempt to dissect and navigate the dark hole that is the reinvention of gender constructs that we have seemed to invent out of thin air. In the midst of all these new gender concepts it always seems like femininity is put under the microscope and forced to be reinvented and more inclusive because, everyone wants to be a woman, and everyone seems to know how to be a woman better than women themselves. So, can women share femininity or perhaps masculinity that needs to be reinvented?


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One for The Ouens: A Coloured Narrative

7/22/2019

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By Shauneez Rigney
watermelaninmag.com

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Image by Carolina Marinati c/o nappy.co
Due to recent events it seemed fitting that my next article be one that accounts for the narrative of the coloured discourse and culture. We’re reaching a time where coloured people are becoming exasperated from being “fence sitters” and living in a society that never has a place for us. We’ll make that place for ourselves now, by disrupting everyone’s perspectives of coloured people, the way we are represented in the media, underrepresented in politics, disregarded and underestimated in society. The cape flats, a place where gang violence thrives and regal drug lords build their empires. Domestic violence and all types of criminal activities are loose on the streets like a dark omen creeping around corners, robbing families of a safe place to live. On the 18th of July 2019 the residence of the cape flats felt hope restored to their futures as they watched the SANDF march eminently through the streets. The legitimacy of deploying an army to manage criminal activity, as opposed to war, brought up some conflicting opinions. Considering the crime rate of the country, the drastic way seems like the only way for change to come about. The trouble comes when we think the problem will be solved that easily when the root causes are overlooked and avoided.
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The Third Culture in Religion

6/10/2019

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By Shauneez Rigney
watermelaninmag.com
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Image by Pascal c/o nappy.co
​Third culture is defined as the cultural common ground one forms for themselves when they have a bicultural upbringing, in other words, being raised by parents who are from two different cultures or countries and therefore forming your own culture as a result of being able to relate, or not, to both cultures. That’s the third culture, geographically, but what about religiously? Our beliefs form part of our identity whether you believe in a God or not, practice any sort of religion or not. I’m raised in a family where two religions are practiced, Islam and Christianity, and I’ve found myself forming my own third culture between both religions which impact my beliefs of society, myself, life, feminism and even relationships and who I feel I connect with more. Forming a third culture within religion may be complete blasphemy to some because religion is seen as something that is either or, no in between, but it’s the most crucial place for a third culture to exist, it is the most important place to allow for adaptability and relativity, your culture and your traditions are a part of home to take with you wherever you go in life. Expecting people to confine themselves to one way of life, one belief system and one set of traditions is asking too much. Human beings are not one dimensional so why should our beliefs be.

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Millennials: A Contradictory Generation

5/1/2019

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by Shauneez Rigney
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Image by Snappy
The whole world, has their reservations about Millennial's. Maybe it’s our unique work ethic, our inclination to solve everything digitally, the pressing urge to document every aspect of our lives, or the vast lengths we’ll go to get that perfect Instagram post. Those are just characteristics that are perceived unconventional by previous generations who have not accepted or adapted to the new world and fail to understand that although it seems like we do not have a struggle, we are constantly fighting inner turmoil’s of social anxiety and grappling with the idea of gender and sexuality and the stereotypes that come with it. Our abstract issues are disregarded but, these struggles of ours just form the natural order of societal issues, past generations fought the tangible and now, the next step is the emotional social issues that have always loomed above us and matter just as much. 

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A Hijab In The Classroom Won’t Change You

1/3/2019

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by Sahrish Hadia
www.watermelaninmag.com
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Image by DGT Portraits c/o Pexels
​It has been a poorly-kept secret that in the last few years, tensions in Britain have been high. Brexit may have been our ‘official’ indicator – but to those who did not ‘fit the mold’, we noticed the tears in the fabric of our society long ago. As a country, we have been fraying for some time. Changing immigration laws, vitriolic attacks on innocent pedestrians, the rise of far-right groups; Britain is becoming increasingly less ‘united’ as the years progress.
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Conversely, it seems that as the world is getting bigger, our minds are becoming smaller.

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The Invisibility and Hyper-Visibility of Muslim Girls in Education

12/9/2018

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by Atter Kalsi
www.watermelaninmag.com
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Photo by rawpixel c/o Unsplash
"Why does the visible matter so much in this world? Why does everything seem to come down to what we see, to what is skin-deep, to what is on the surface? No matter what anti-racist science says, and it currently says we are all the same, from the same common ancestor ‘out of Africa’, young black people in Britain, those marked by physical, phenotypical, external, visible difference- those with dark skin, curly hair, almond eyes, full lips, proud noses- do not enjoy the same opportunities as young white people" (Mirza, 2009, p.44).

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It Happens Here

11/13/2018

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by Christopher Soriano
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www.watermelanin.com
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Photo by Devin Avery c/o unsplash
Santa Cruz is also one of the most expensive cities in the country. The city has been experiencing an influx of techies from Silicon Valley. It’s caused the housing prices to go up at a staggering rate, becoming twice as that of Watsonville. It’s pushed plenty of people out as employees from Silicon Valley start taking over, willing to commute through highway 17 just to enjoy their new conquered homes with the nice weather and the beach right next door. 
Gentrification is not exclusive to Santa Cruz county. The effects are more evident in cities like San Francisco where businesses are propping up like rabbits, driving the smaller POC-owned businesses out of business. They are always the first to go.

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