With more than 135 million viewers watching the Super Bowl Halftime Show LX, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, also known as Bad Bunny, became the most watched half time show in history. The use of symbolism weaved throughout his performance rebranded America in the light of what it should look like: a celebration of cultures. In his 14 minutes of screen time, Bad Bunny set in motion a sense of unity within our country and even Fayetteville. 

“His message inspired others by showcasing how powerful love and kindness is in times of oppression, hatred and violence,” University of Arkansas student Adahy Espinoza said. “It united people and gave a voice to those who are in fear.”

Freshman U of A student Olivia Savage agrees that his message of community being bigger than anything else was an important topic to represent with his time on the stage. 

“I think it really showed people that no matter where you’re from you are still part of a community and you still have people around you,” Savage said. “Community spans bigger than what you think and you can always find love and support no matter where you go.”

The overall message that love prevails was encouraging to see according to U of A student Tony Interiano.

“His message was extremely inspiring, especially to me and my community,” Interiano said. “It’s very difficult to not be blinded by hate with the things that are going on in the world.”

While currently living in a society where hatred seems normalized, Espinoza feels his message was a good reminder that community is not something you find, it’s something in your heart that you are born with.

 “It is no one’s place to take that [community] away from you,” Espinoza said. “Let alone hate you for it.”

Despite the controversy of Bad Bunny performing as the half time show entertainment, viewers thought he did a great job at sticking to his original style and not switching gears based on his environment. 

“I liked how he stuck to himself and stuck to his guns,” Savage said. “He didn’t crumple under the pressure of people to change his performance and change his roots and who he is as an artist.” 

Espinoza hadn’t followed up on social media about the discrimination Bad Bunny was receiving before his performance, but she knew he would not care and would stick to what he knows despite the hate. Interiano also mentioned that is not who he is. He doubts Bad Bunny cares about what everyone else is saying.

Even though his lyrics are in Spanish, his message still came across smoothly to the audience members unable to understand his lyrics. Through his use of choreography, inclusivity and even set design, Bad Bunny found a creative way to get his point across to everyone watching. Ending his show by naming off all the countries represented in the United States along with their flags was a piece that stuck out to sophomore U of A student Willow Broach. 

“I thought it was cool whenever he was calling out all the different countries,” Broach said. “We have a very large Hispanic community here, so I’m sure it was nice to see representation.”

After his performance, people used social media platforms to convene about all the parts people noticed and loved the most. According to Broach, she was inspired by the videos people posted of them screaming with pride when he called out their country’s name on television. 

Espinoza agrees that the show was great in this way and also loved how he imitated parts of everyday life to help bring attention to Hispanic culture.

“My favorite parts were the little discrete highlights of Hispanic culture that would pop through,” Espinoza said. “Like the little kid that was sleeping on the chair being a reference to something most Latino kids experienced growing up at family functions.”

Finishing his show with more than a dozen flags held high into the air, Bad Bunny presented a message that broadcasted across the stadium and onto live television stating, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” This moved both Savage and Interiano. 

“This showed people of a different race that they do belong in America, they are important here and they are a part of our culture and environment,” Savage said. “Even though you’re different, America really is about being different from everyone else, bringing it all together and meeting people in the middle.”

A message that seems simple yet is extraordinary to hear in a world where hatred is normalized and publicized, Bad Bunny’s message has inspired people who continue to advocate for a country united through cultures, languages, and people. 

“Love is the only thing that can beat hate,” Broach said. “America thrives on diversity.”

The post Bad Bunny Half Time Show Performance Evokes American Pride appeared first on Hill Magazine.

The 2026 Winter Olympics began Feb. 6 in Italy, spanning from Milan to Cortina. The mountains of the northern region of the country will be the backdrop for the biggest Olympic Games ever: the highest number of athletes, sports, events  and highest anticipated number of viewers and attendees than ever before. 

College students have a special perspective on the games, as many of the competitors on the American team are their age or younger. This year, there are 18 athletes on the team that are between the ages of 18 and 22, providing college students at the University of Arkansas an even bigger reason to cheer on Team USA.

Freshman student Autumn Boyd said the overwhelming feeling of American pride attracts her to the events every two years. Other than the Olympics, she says she only feels this surge of emotion when it is the Fourth of July. 

“I love the togetherness, the feeling like the country is united for something, because we’re so divided all the time,” she said.

Feeling pride in the United States is certainly easy when the medal count stays consistently on the rise throughout the course of the games. Snowboarding two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim is one of the returning athletes to look out for in the coming weeks. 

“The United States is always one of the best [teams] if not the best,” Boyd said. “It’s the same feeling I get when we’re in Bud Walton, and we just want to win.”

The power of competition on a global stage has the strength to unite entire nations, or at least ease their tensions. Amid heightened political tension under President Donald Trump’s administration enforcing immigrant detainment and control, now is as perfect of a time as ever to be on one team. 

Following the fatal shootings by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of an ICU nurse Alex Pretti, and mother Renee Good, both Minneapolis residents, anti-ICE protests have sprung up across the country. Just before the start of the Olympics, Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala was informed of ICE agents accompanying the US team overseas. According to CBS News, Sala said that the agents should not come to Italy, as they do not guarantee they’re aligned with Italy’s democratic security methods.

Needless to say, the elite status of the USA team to deliver success stories and bring home a plethora of medals provides the athletes a unique chance at social change. Olympic athletes have made numerous political statements in the past, especially through their victory celebrations. This year, athletes are taking a stand even before the games have started, speaking out at press conferences and on social media.

At a postgame interview, Minnesota Frost hockey player Kelly Panek, member of the 2026 Olympic team, commented on her view of the social power she wields as an athlete.

“I think people have been asking us what it’s like to represent our state and country. I think what I’m most proud to represent is the tens of thousands of people who show up on some of the coldest days of the year to stand and fight for what they believe in,” said Panek.

With ICE raids continuing in Minneapolis and beginning in other regions of the country, thousands more have started speaking out and protesting in their local communities.

“I think [being an Olympic athlete] is a good opportunity for people to speak up for what they believe in, and to speak up for what they think is right and wrong. Especially with the situation [in the U.S.] today, there’s a lot of strong opinions going around- I think not speaking up says a lot about a person,” said freshman Engineering student Ruby Templeton. 

Seeing Olympic athletes, especially the young ones, model traits like courage and determination on a global platform where millions of people will watch them perform is inspiring to their peers, including some at the U of A. 

Boyd said that seeing 20-year old figure skater Alysa Liu return to figure skating, and now the 2026 Olympics after retiring at 16 is especially motivating and eye-opening to her; that so much can change in just four short years, and that one’s career is not always linear.

“The fact that someone our age would be able to do something for so long, feel burnt out, and come back to doing it…that’s inspiring to me,” she said. 

Students at the U of A and around the globe have access to new ways of spectating the events as well as looks inside footage of the Olympic Village via short-form content posted on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 

Another student, Danielle Hammig, said that athlete-influencers changed her perspective on the 2024 Paris Olympics, specifically USA women’s rugby player Ilona Maher and USA women’s tennis player Coco Gauff. Hammig said without Maher’s content, she would not have been aware that rugby was a sport in the Summer Olympics, meaning other women and girls worldwide were introduced to it as well. At the same Olympics, now 21-year-old Gauff posted content about her experience at the events, often following viral trends or making humorous videos.

“I feel like Coco Gauff is pretty well-versed in the Tik Tok and social media world, and she makes watching tennis a lot more interesting,” Hammig said. 

Most of all, athletes at the Olympics represent what it is like to be a contributor to a team, a united front of people from a vast variety of backgrounds and opinions, all with the same individual goals for themselves—something that viewers all over the world can absorb and incorporate into their own lives. 

“Sports are a really beautiful thing, because you can meet your best friends through things like your teams and your teammates. And I feel like it’s just really cool that [Olympic athletes] get to represent their sport, their thing that they love so much in honor of their country,” said Hammig. 

In such a time of political discourse and action toward nationwide social change, it can be difficult to remember what it feels like to be a proud American. This February, the athletes competing on the global stage to realize their dreams have a chance to remind fans back home what unity and compassion can feel like, and how powerful they can be.

The post More Than Medals: How Young Olympians Connect with College-Age Fans appeared first on Hill Magazine.

Students assembled outside their high schools holding handmade signs and chanting in unison protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Northwest Arkansas. The demonstration was organized by high school students and reflected growing fear among immigrant families in the Springdale community and a sense of urgency students said they could no longer ignore.

Though the protest was started by high schoolers, its message went beyond Springdale campuses, drawing attention from University of Arkansas students and members of the community who said immigration policies continue to shape their lives.

Springdale high school sophomore Daisy Martinez said she helped organize the protest to stand up for her family and others affected by immigration enforcement. Martinez, who is from Mexico, said ICE activity has caused significant emotional harm within the community.

“They’re separating our families,” Martinez said. “They don’t know what they’re doing to us mentally. They’re just hurting our families.”

Martinez said the goal of the protest was to challenge narratives that dehumanize immigrants and to remind lawmakers and adults that students are paying attention. She said that young people deserve to be taken seriously, regardless of age.

“Even though I’m young, I want to be taken serious,” Martinez said. “We’re all the same. We’re all human beings.”

Springdale High School senior Sophie McClelland, who was partially involved in the organization process of the protest, described the demonstration as a response to what she has as an increasingly concerning issue. She said immigration enforcement has become more evident  in her community, making it impossible for her to remain silent.

McClelland said her mother is a legal immigrant from Russia but many of her friends have undocumented parents. She said ICE activity has created a constant state of fear among students, especially those worried about their families being torn apart. 

“It just makes everybody scared,” McClelland said. “We’re all on edge.”

McClelland explained that immigration policies show up in her daily life through the experiences of her friends, some of whom live with anxiety that their parents could be detained or deported at any time. While McClelland said that while she cannot fully resonate to the fear, she still feels compelled to support those who live with it every day. 

McClelland acknowledged that students do not have the same power as adults but participation itself matters. She described attending the protests as the least she could do to demonstrate solidarity. 

“I can’t do as much as an adult might be able to,” she said, “but I’m going to do as much as I can.”

Other students framed the protests as part of a broader fight for civil rights. Har-Ber High School senior Adriana, who asked that only her first name be used, said she attended because she believes immigration enforcement represents a bigger injustice that affects not just immigrants, but everyone. 

“When the rights of Latinos are infringed upon, everybody’s rights are infringed upon,” Adriana said.

She described the protest as an effort to help not only immigrant communities but American rights more broadly. Adriana said she hopes the demonstration will draw attention from city and state leaders and lead to meaningful change.

“We want ICE immediately out,” she said. “We want ICE abolished.”

Adriana said she believes protests can lead to change, especially when media coverage brings student voices into the eye of the public. 

“You’re here, and that’s news,” she said. “News is what causes change.”

While the protests attendees were mostly high school students, UA freshman Betsy Lopez said the issue affects college students as well. Lopez, a marketing major, attended the protest in support of family members and friends who were too afraid to attend themselves.

Lopez is a Springdale High School alumni and she said returning felt meaningful both symbolically and personally. She said seeing younger students organize a protest over an issue that was important to them gave her hope. 

“I wanted to be there on behalf of friends and family that are scared to go and attend,” Lopez said. 

Lopez said immigration policies continue to affect her family directly. She said that a family member has already been deported and that nearly half of her family is undocumented.

“It does affect us,” Lopez said. “It just feels like there’s nothing we can really do.”

Lopez explained that ICE activity has changed how a lot of families navigate everyday life. She described relatives who are too scared to drive or even leave their homes, having to rely on others for transportation out of fear of being stopped or detained.

“I have a family member that’s scared to drive,” she said. “So we take turns taking her wherever she needs to be.”

Although Lopez said she hopes protests like this can lead to change, she said she feels uncertain whether policymakers will respond. 

For U of A students, Lopez’s presence demonstrates how immigration policies does not stop affecting individuals after high school. Many college students continue to balance their academic lives while worrying for family members back home.

The Springdale protests reflect a new trend of youth-led activism in Northwest Arkansas, where students are using public demonstrations more and more to respond to policies affecting their communities. Participants said their goal was not to disturb, but to be visible to the community.

As chants echoed, students repeated messages they hoped would go far beyond Springdale. They want to be seen as human beings and they want their voices, regardless of their age, to matter.

The post ‘We Are Human Beings’: Springdale students lead ICE Protest, joined by UofA Supporters appeared first on Hill Magazine.

By Maeve Sterling

Fayetteville residents and visitors gathered at the Washington County Courthouse on Oct. 18 to participate in the nationwide “No Kings” protest, scheduled to run from noon to 2 p.m. through heavy rain and peak intersection traffic hours.

The event was organized by Zero Hour Arkansas, a local branch of the nonprofit organization of the same name that works toward a “livable planet for all” through climate and political activism. Zero Hour planned and promoted multiple events across Northwest Arkansas, including Bentonville, Little Rock and Rogers.

Local attendees arrived as early as 10 a.m., carrying handmade signs with slogans, political cartoons and caricatures in defense of First Amendment rights and in protest of President Donald Trump’s administration.

By noon, heavy rain poured down, but hundreds still lined the intersection of College Avenue and Center Street. Their voices rose above the rush of passing cars as protesters chanted, “Who’s got the power?” and “We’ve got the power.”

Dara Gaines attended the protest with the Democratic Party of Arkansas to encourage Arkansas citizens to register to vote.

“We’ve learned that people have a lot of frustration to get out right now,” Gaines said. “The way the system is set up, there’s only so much you can do without being in it.”

She said her purpose at the protest was to encourage people to turn their strong feelings into action. Gaines said the protest allows her organization to motivate people when they are experiencing strong emotions and to channel them in ways that create change.

Joe and Jody Rathe, registered Democrats and Fayetteville residents, said they attended the protest to express how they feel about what is happening in Washington and across the country. Although they both expressed a desire to see change in Arkansas, they said they felt grim about the state administration’s – specifically Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ – willingness to listen to citizens.

“Sarah’s not going to say anything,” Joe Rathe said, “Nobody’s going to say anything until you get in the streets.”

Even those with autoimmune diseases, like Corrinnia Briggs, chose to remain in the cold rain because the cause was important to them. Briggs said being at the protest showed her what it was like to be surrounded by like-minded people and that there is still a large group willing to face issues to make something positive happen.

“I’m loving seeing as many people got out in the rain as they did,” Briggs said. “I think it’s really encouraging.”

Briggs is heavily involved in politics and writes letters to local officials. She said she believes the biggest problem Arkansas faces is that no matter how much someone reaches out, it doesn’t feel like anything is being accomplished.She said she believes the response to protests throughout the state will go unnoticed by the governor or even result in something inane.

Throughout the day, cars passed by the protest honking in support, with some drivers holding up their own signs or giving a thumbs-up through their windows. Others shouted expletives and pro-MAGA remarks at the protesters.

However frustrated, protesters were overheard saying, “It’s their own counterprotest. It’s ridiculous, but we respect it.”

Throughout the weekend, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance poked fun at protesters by posting AI-generated memes on social media depicting Trump wearing a crown, while continuing to deny being called a king. Organizers estimated that 2,700 protests in cities and towns across all 50 states drew more than 7 million people in support of anti-authoritarian and anti-oligarchic causes.

Despite the heavy storm that picked up by 1 p.m., people of all ages, from young children to veterans in wheelchairs, stood proudly through the intensity of the afternoon. Some took shelter on the steps of the courthouse and a church next door, continuing to wave signs and participate in chants.

Becky Sayre, a longtime Democrat, protested with the same spirit she had when demonstrating against the Vietnam War. She said she strongly believes that we can’t let our country fall under fascist rule.

She said she was standing outside for younger people, like her grandchildren, who are depending on her to do what’s right. She said people’s security is at stake, with some being removed from their homes and the streets, as health care benefits become increasingly at risk.

“I have grandchildren and I’m standing for them,” Sayre said. “I want it to be a good world, a peaceful world.”

She said that although she protested against the Vietnam War, this is the first time she hasn’t felt safe in the country, even though she said it shouldn’t be that way.

Sayre explained that she doesn’t blame Trump entirely for the country’s issues. She believes that people are like a garden, meant to be made up of every color, able to work together and create a better country.

“Our leaders should not be dividing us, but bringing us together,” Sayre said.

The post Local residents rally at ‘No Kings’ protest to call for democracy and accountability appeared first on Hill Magazine.

By Emma Bracken

As the 2024 presidential election looms in the near future, college students are making their voices heard and passionately preparing to cast their vote in November. As the face of a new generation of scholars, historians, politicians and citizens, young adults are stepping into their crucial role in our democracy. According to Tuft University, students make up a large enough percentage of votes to largely shape the outcomes of elections. 

The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School released a poll that revealed over 50% of students intend to cast their vote this fall. However, student voters have not always had a great turnout, with numbers dipping particularly low during the 2022 election cycle. According to the University of Michigan, a survey of over 1,000 colleges and universities across the country showed about 30% of students voted. 

At the same time, this demographic is being educated and emboldened as they make their way into the world. University of Arkansas student Ashven Scott said he believes it is essential for this group to have a voice in the government that plans their future.

“Youth voters are incredibly historically underrepresented when it comes to the voting polls,” Scott said. “Conversely, this age group is the future of government and society. “The laws and regulations built by each election cycle’s participants dictate the lives of this age group for decades to come.”

With yard signs, posters and billboards popping up across Northwest Arkansas, the urgency of this year’s election is inescapable. Though political tension has hurt voter turnout in the past, this year seems to be brimming with passion and excitement, especially from the younger generation. 

On campus, students are finding ways to prepare and get educated, whether that is coming together to watch and discuss the debates or setting up tables with voting and registration resources. Both the student body and the larger community are gearing up to make sure the county’s future is one they are proud of. 

For U of A student Meghan Lucas, voting is not just a privilege but a duty. 

“It is critical to vote in every election,” Lucas said. “Being a part of a democracy demands that you have a right to give an input; those small inputs make an impact.”

Lucas described her understanding that, as a woman, voting has not always been accessible to all American citizens. Especially for those who have just been granted access to the polls in the last century or so, it is imperative that those groups are well-represented and loudly heard.

“I think voting is important for students and for younger generations because all of our laws and political systems are being run by and created by the older generations,” Lucas said. “There is no one in our political systems representing or relating to us.”

Voting is not just a right but, for many, an exciting opportunity. Especially within the population of students, many are voting in their very first presidential election. For years, this generation has had to sit back and watch the country’s fate be dictated by parents and even grandparents. Now, however, is the chance to let the world know the younger generation is here and ready to take charge of their own future. 

“Younger voices bring diverse and fresh perspectives that are necessary in shaping our nation’s future,” student Ella House said. “By voting, we ensure our voices are heard, help protect democracy and influence decisions that shape our future.”

At a university as large and diverse as the University of Arkansas, many students must figure out ways to vote in their home state while studying here in Arkansas. It is imperative for students to understand their options and not be intimidated by out-of-state voting. 

Lucas, an out-of-state student, is setting plans to vote early in-person during fall break. Early voting times vary from state to state, so another option would be to vote by absentee ballot. Students can download their home state’s absentee ballot online or even find one on campus as border state ballots are often available for students to grab in dorm buildings or at pop-up events.

For Lucas, exercising her right to vote is bigger than just checking a box. “It doesn’t sit right with me to let elections go by without me having my input,” she said. “Especially when I know the outcome impacts my rights and human rights.”

House, who changed her residency after moving from St. Louis to Fayetteville, is eager to vote in person on Election Day. With help from professors and campus organizations, she has found preparing for and understanding voting easy. With this support and accessibility, students are able to make sure their vote is cast toward the future they want to build.

“[Information from professors] has been extremely helpful to me and my classmates,” House said. “Voting is important to me because I firmly believe that you have to vote for the change you want and believe in.”

For some, voting can be intimidating and people are not sure if their one vote matters in the larger scheme of things. Especially for college students, who are notoriously busy and fighting off a slew of other stressors in their lives, it can be easy for them to shrug politics off and push it to the side. However, it is important for students to understand their importance and agency that is gifted to them through the process of democracy and feel empowered to take charge within it.

“Peers have told me that they feel like their vote doesn’t matter,” Scott said. “One individual vote is unlikely to change much, but people need to remember that millions of votes are just millions of individual votes.”

In person voting will take place on November 5 across the country. Go to Vote.org to find your polling place and more information about early and absentee voting in your home state. 

The post The Face of a New Generation: How Student Voters are Taking Charge of the Political Narrative appeared first on Hill Magazine.

By Alyssa Crutcher

In the many colors an artist holds on their palette to be brushed across the canvas, there is one color that always seems to stand out: pink. With so many different shades to choose from, pink has made its statement throughout hundreds of years from ancient artwork and fashion to modern decor and politics. Although the color itself is simple, the history and power it holds today is complex and rich.

Over the years, the color pink has evolved from just a pretty color in the late 17th century to a political statement in the modern day. When the color first became popular, it was worn by both men and women — traditionally viewed as masculine — boys and girls, and painted on the walls of several houses and other buildings. For children, the color pink was associated with boys while blue was associated with girls.

As society advanced, though, so did the color pink. In the 18th and 19th centuries, pink started to symbolize romanticism and was often seen worn by only women in clothing and accessories. When we reached the 20th century, pink became a cultural phenomenon.

The emergence of consumer culture and mass production during the early 20th century led to the widespread use of pink in a variety of consumer products, especially toys and baby items. Pink became closely associated with purity and youth, further solidified by marketing strategies that emphasized pink as a color for girls. Because of this, many girls, such as Janine Parry, a University of Arkansas political science professor, grew up rejecting the color pink, believing that liking the color meant they were weak and girly. It was interpreted as a negative thing.

“I would say that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found strength in numbers with the generations of women around me,” Parry said. “I love watching it being reclaimed as a source of strength, not a sign of weakness. Because when you accept it as a sign of weakness, you’re using masculinity and traditional versions of masculinity as the standard, and that’s not healthy for anyone. I mean, ask Ken (character from “Barbie” (2024)). It wasn’t serving him well — his little experiment.”

Sohana Nasrin, a professor at the University of Tampa, said she hated the color pink when she was young. She experienced a lot of pressure from her family to wear pink clothing and up until her adulthood, always avoided wearing it. But now, she has learned to see pink with new eyes.

“I realized that it’s stupid,” Nasrin said. “My worth as a woman should not have anything to do with any color that I choose to wear. So I’ve gotten over that. I have embraced pink.”

In the latter half of the 20th century, there was a wide array of interpretations of the color pink in popular culture. From the famous Barbie doll, who always wore her iconic pink outfit, to the punk movement’s rebellious adoption of neon pink as a symbol of defiance, this color acquired various connotations and symbolisms.

Now, in the 21st century, the color is continuing to evolve, covering a wide variety of meanings and holding an array of symbolism. With what some may call a fifth wave of feminism, gender norms are being challenged now more than ever, and pink is at the forefront of the movement, encompassing self-expression and empowerment for all genders.

With 2024 being an election year, women’s issues are at the top of the ballot. Although red and blue generally encompass political viewpoints, pink seems to be showing its true colors in this year’s political landscape, leaving a lasting impression in the political sphere like never seen before. It is moving beyond its usual connection with femininity and becoming a part of political discussions, from campaign rallies to social media campaigns.

Nasrin said she thinks the revival of the color pink in protests is largely due to former president Donald Trump’s various misogynist remarks and accusations of sexual violence against women. She also thinks the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 lit a fire beneath feminists all over the United States. 

“It does not matter what political aisle you belong to,” Nasrin said. “I think it’s fundamentally a woman’s issue, and many women are actually even thinking of changing the party lines just so they can make sure that they have abortion-related care.”

Pink’s political symbolism is exemplified by its use by different candidates and parties to convey inclusivity and progressiveness. In a time when social justice issues are at the forefront, the color pink has emerged as a powerful symbol of support for marginalized communities, such as women, LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color.

“In the contemporary era, pink has come to mean female — not just feminine,” Parry said. “And that’s a really important signal for politicians to read correctly. Because since the 1980s, women have been more likely to vote than men have been. So this is obviously a demographic group to which they want to be appealing.”

At the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C., hundreds of thousands of women gathered wearing a common clothing item: pink pussyhats. Made with pink yarn and featuring elements that resembled cat ears, the hats served as a symbol of solidarity among protestors. Lately, topics such as reproductive rights, healthcare accessibility and gender pay equality have taken center stage in political discussions, with pink being utilized as a symbol of solidarity for these movements. 

Parry said the Women’s March was the first time she had seen the color pink reappropriated to mean strong and feminist. From the ‘60s to the ‘90s, women tended to stay away from anything particularly feminine to not stand out as much due to their sex or gender, she said. 

“I think it speaks to the strength of the feminist movement and of women as a voting block,” Parry said, “that they feel their leaders feel confident and comfortable enough to mobilize in such an overtly gendered way.”

Nasrin said the march was a pivotal moment for pink to become an important color in political protests. It became a symbol of love and care, and with the influence of many political women such as Hillary Clinton wearing pink pant suits and celebrities such as Amy Schumer and Kerry Washington following suite, the color took on a new role as not just feminine, but as an allusion to strength and loud voices from people who have spent so long being silenced.

“It’s a color of love, but with an attitude,” Nasrin said.

As the 2024 election season progresses, the future trajectory of pink as a political symbol remains uncertain. Its role as a representation of progressivism may persist, or it could be overshadowed by emerging symbols and narratives. Nevertheless, it is evident that the color pink has firmly solidified its position as a formidable presence in the dynamic realm of politics.

The post Painting patriarchy pink: A color of love with an attitude appeared first on Hill Magazine.

By Alyssa Riley

How it Began

Human beings ran West for their lives through an empty field as terrorists horrifically closed in on three out of four sides, weapons drawn. Some hid under bushes, crammed between too many trembling bodies in airstrike shelters, or tried driving away, but many – too many – lost their lives. Innocent people, while spending a normal day in their homes or strolling the streets, had their lives taken from them viciously. Then, later across the border, concrete buildings and homes turned to rubble, thousands of bodies lost from their loved ones as revenge played out. In a matter of days, complete hell has broken out on the other side of the Atlantic, and many Americans feel helpless, watching the loss of mostly innocent lives rage on and as over 200 hostages remain in captivity. 

On the morning of Oct. 7, worldwide news broke that Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel and, later, made their way into the country by land, sea and air with trucks, tanks and paragliders. 

Rockets from Hamas were not unusual in Israel, so many weren’t worried; none the wiser of the horrors soon to take place. 

With a highly sophisticated Iron Dome missile defense system, Israel experienced few direct hits. However, with suspected years’ worth of planning and training, officials were gravely taken by surprise as Hamas infiltrated 22 towns, and brutally attacked citizens roaming the streets and enjoying the outdoor Supernova music festival; at least 1,400 Israelis were killed, as well as visiting foreigners from around the world. 

“I think an attack on any oppressed people is an attack on everyone, right?” said a protester, who wishes to remain anonymous, at the Fayetteville Palestine Peace Protest Oct. 22. “One person’s struggle connects to struggles that we’ve seen throughout history. To show that solidarity shows that if it happens to us, if it happens to anyone, no one would stand for it, right? No one supports that.”

Arkansas is standing in solidarity with another event, Free Palestine Ceasefire Now. Taking place in Fayetteville Oct. 18, attendees came together for poster making and poetry screening, as well as educational and direct action resources provided by the Jewish Voices for Peace and the Palestinian Feminist Collective. 

Hamas, a Sunni Islamist political and military organization, governs the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory, just next door to Israel. To many, however, Hamas is known as a terrorist group. 

Leader Muhammad Deif said, breaking his seven-year silence, the “operation” was launched so that “the enemy will understand that the time of their rampaging without accountability has ended.” The most-wanted man in Israel, with a birth name of Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Mastri, was given the nickname Deif, “the guest,” as he never spends two nights in the same place. 

Although the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians dates back decades, it ramped up in 1967 when Israel took occupation of the West Bank during the Arab-Israeli war. Since then, strife has raged on with competing claims to the Holy Land and disputes over borders, Jerusalem, security and Palestinian refugees. 

However, the most time-relevant issue is the Israel- and Egypt-issued blockade that has lasted 16 years, restricting the import of goods, specifically electronic and computer equipment used to make weapons. Additionally, it keeps many Palestinians from leaving the territory. 

“There are two million in (the) Gaza strip and they are being forced to leave their homes, they are being bombarded, and we ask to stop this genocide; we are here to be a part of them,” the protester said. “As Americans, we love liberty, we love peace, we love harmony. We love freedom for other people too, as we love our own freedom. So that’s why we are here, to be a part of them. To show our respect for them, so they can feel that we are with them.”

In retaliation, Israel wasted no time sending airstrikes into the Gaza Strip, destroying homes, hospitals, schools, churches – anything they could hit. Since the first strike, over 6,500 Palestinians have been killed and 17,400 injured, according to the Washington Post.

As an extremely impoverished city with over 500,000 citizens, the majority of the deaths were children, as most citizens had no warning of the impending chaos and nowhere to run, their vulnerability increasing with every passing second.

A War on Religion or Colonialism?

For 75 years, the Israeli occupation has been destroying the lives of Palestinians, Andrea Tennison said at the protest. “They are living in an open-air prison, there’s checkpoints everywhere, they can’t get out. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) dropped paper flyers telling the Palestinians to go north to avoid the bombings, and they bombed that route.”

As this devastating series of events continues to play out and headline every news organization in the country and around the world, everyone has their own opinion on what led to this tragedy and what actions to take moving forward. 

“I think that it’s important to center the experiences of those most marginalized, and today it’s Palestinians and those facing Islamophobia,” said Serena Caffrey, another protester. “That’s not to diminish or negate the horrors of genocide across history. It’s not against people of the Jewish faith.” 

“It’s recognizing the violence of Zionism as a settler colonial state that’s actively using this conflict as retribution to take more land from the Palestinian people. And the U.S. government and our tax dollars are supporting this violence.”

Zionism, a movement dating back to 1897, was originally for re-establishing and, now, developing and protecting the Israel-Jewish nation. Many are coining the Israel-Gaza conflict a “war on religion.” However, others disagree, especially Marissa Spear, a historian and writer, who says it is rooted in Zionism and anti-colonialism. 

Having done substantial research on Palestinians, anti-Zionism and settler colonialism, Spear greatly advocates for this ideology. “The Palestinian struggle is often one that encompasses a lot of issues,” she said. “It’s the indigenous rights issue. It’s a disability justice issue. People are dying in hospitals, a genocide is happening, and the people who are the most disenfranchised are always going to be disproportionately affected.” 

It is, simply put, an occupier versus occupied power struggle that we’re seeing, said the anonymous protester. 

Controversy of U.S. Involvement 

For decades now, the United States has sought a solution for the two states. However, since the recent conflict began, the Biden administration has focused on promoting Israeli-Arab normalization while aiding Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with $100 million in humanitarian assistance. These funds will help support over a million displaced and harmed citizens with clean water, food, hygiene and medical care and other essential needs, according to The White House press release. 

“Civilians are not to be blamed and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism,” it states. “Civilian lives must be protected and assistance must urgently reach those in need. We will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of upholding the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or provide assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care, and shelter.”

Some believe that the U.S. military’s hand in the strikes against the Gaza Strip goes deeper than portrayed. Spear said the U.S. military and police often exchange military and repressive tactics with Israeli police and the IDF. 

Steven Pomerantz, the architect of the U.S.-Israel Police Exchange with JINSA, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, says differently. 

“The UC Campaign for Palestinian Rights, for instance, lately declared that the ‘Israeli military trains U.S. police in racist and repressive policing tactics, which systematically targets Black and Brown bodies,’” Pomerantz said. “…These accusations are false and, at best, expose a deep misunderstanding of the nature and objectives of police exchanges.” 

JINSA’s Homeland Security Program launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center to prevent future terrorism and address the well-recognized counterterrorism needs of U.S. law enforcement. 

Yet, disagreement will most likely never cease as regular Americans – those not involved in national government and military operations – may never know the true objectives that U.S. and Israeli police share.

Is the Media Helping?

While terror rages on in the Middle East for hundreds of thousands of civilians, American media organizations are constantly covering the events while sharing their “sides.” 

Looking at coverage of what is occurring between Israel and the Gaza Strip, “it feels like we’re catapulting ourselves toward this abyss of sheer and utter inhumane madness,” Arwa Damon, a two-decade-long CNN correspondent veteran, said on the Atlantic Council Organization website.

Breaking news coverage is often twisted in a certain light to push a media organization’s agenda, as is most news. With a deep and dark history, the Israel-Gaza conflict brings a highly emotional factor that influences coverage and interpretation.

As the nation is divided in terms of who is right and wrong, to blame and innocent or deserves America’s help, the significant loss of civilian life is accepted, swept under the rug. 

“As the media, we cannot let ourselves be a pawn in a dehumanization campaign,” Damon said. “As the media, we need to dive into the emotional aspect of all of this as part of the coverage… The polarization that I see is frightening, whether it’s antisemitism on the rise or growing Islamophobia.”

The framing of the news is not lost on some Americans, however. Every news story that is covered has an individual agenda, Tennison said. And the only way to uncover the truth is through first-hand accounts and looking at the minority, as well as those who are not politically supported or motivated.

What matters most, subjectively, in this time of uncertainty, fear and devastating loss is understanding what has occurred and standing in solidarity not with one person over the other but with those who are at the knife’s edge of terrorism, Semitism and anti-Palestinian racism. 

“I think the biggest misconception about this issue is that it’s a complex issue when really, it’s very human and it should tap into your very basic humanity if you give yourself the time to educate yourself on the topic,” Amanda, a protester who wishes to keep their last name anonymous, said. “Because it’s not complex. It’s the most human topic and the (simplest) topic I can think of in which the question is just do people deserve their basic sovereignty and right to self-determination? And that’s a very simple answer, which is yes.”

The post A Look at the Israel-Gaza Conflict appeared first on Hill Magazine.

Photos by Alexander King

In 1973, the historical Roe v. Wade case ensured that all American women had legal and safe access to abortion in the United States. With many bills banning abortion being passed by individual states, this constitutional right may be on its way to becoming a thing of the past.  

In 2021, eight states enacted bills that will restrict abortions – Arkansas being one of them. However, most are ineffective due to them being challenged in court.

The Arkansas Unborn Child Protection Act, Senate Bill 6, was signed and passed March 9, 2021, by Gov. Asa Hutchinson after being filed nearly four months prior in November 2020. 

In the scenario that Roe v. Wade is overturned, this near-total ban – and others like it – will prohibit abortions in the state of Arkansas six weeks after conception to protect unborn children and all human life. The only exception to this ban is if the mother’s life is in danger due to the pregnancy.  

Hutchinson, in a statement following the passing of the bill, said, “I would have preferred the legislation to include the exceptions for rape and incest, which has been my consistent view, and such exceptions would increase the chances for a review by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

On March 7, 2021, two days before Hutchinson’s signing of the bill, Arkansas pro-choice movement groups rallied outside of the State Capitol; the protestors spoke out against the bill and talked about the dangers it would present to many women.

In addition to illegalizing nearly all abortions, SB6 will allow the private right of action for any person to sue another who aids a woman gaining access to abortion. This includes providers, funds, family members and friends.  

Junior Journalism student at the University of Arkansas, Madi Wright, said, “I believe that the new abortion law essentially takes away what is inherently a choice meant only for women, and for what they alone believe to be the best course of action for themselves.”

Other states that have passed a near-total ban on abortions include Louisiana, Oklahoma and Utah.  

Ali Taylor, co-founder and president of Arkansas Abortion Support Network, has been running marathons since March 3, 2021, to fund women in need of abortion services. The Arkansas Abortion Support Network website advertises Taylor’s mission. New Page — Arkansas Abortion Support Network

The website said Arkansas is already one of the most abortion-hostile states in the country. “We need your help to continue supporting people in need of abortion services. Please donate if you can. Please share, share, share!” said Ali. 

Subdivision 1a of the act says, “It is time for the United States Supreme Court to redress and correct the grave injustice and the crime against humanity which is being perpetuated by its decisions in Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.”  

According to the state of Arkansas, the three abortion cases were eligible for an overturn by the United States Supreme Court because of five changes in law and fact: they have not been accepted by scholars and the like, new scientific studies show life begins at conception, abortions inflict serious harm on women, Safe Haven laws eliminate all burden of a child and the growing culture and want for adoption in the states.  

After the passing of SB6 in March, it has been met with challenges and pushbacks, including a blockage by U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in July 2021, granting a preliminary injunction to prevent passing and implementation. However, as of right now, the right to abortion in Arkansas remains effective.  

Baker cited Roe v. Wade, “This right is grounded in the right to privacy rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty, which was found to be ‘broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” 

The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will be decided in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case following the passing of the Mississippi Gestational Age Act in 2018, illegalizing nearly all abortions 15 weeks after conception. 

According to NPR’s, ‘Americans are divided on abortion. The Supreme Court may not wait for minds to change,’ justices will decide in the following months whether bans on abortion before fetal viability can be constitutionally legal. 

However, while many states are banning abortions after detection of a heartbeat – anywhere from 5 to 6 weeks after conception – a fetus is only considered viable after 24 to 28 weeks, said Gutt Macher Institute. 

If a majority of the Supreme Court justices answer yes to passing Mississippi’s Act, prohibiting abortions after 15 weeks, Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion will be undone and new laws like Arkansas’ Unborn Child Protection Act will go into effect. 

The 44th Annual March for Life anti-abortion rally was held on Jan. 16, 2022, in front of the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkanasas, according to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 

At the rally, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said, “Arkansas has stood proudly with my friend, Lynn Fitch, the attorney general of the great state of Mississippi, and she took up the Dobbs case to the United States Supreme Court. And do you know why? Because Arkansas is God’s country, and in God’s country, we defend life.” 

While many protesters are in favor of Thomas E. Dobbs in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Pew Research released May 6, 2021, ‘About six-in-ten Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.’ 

“In the latest survey, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are 45 percentage points more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases (80% vs. 35%),” Hannah Hartig for Pew Research Center wrote. “This gap is little changed over the last few years, but the current divide is wider than it was in the past.” About six-in-ten Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

While the nation – and the states within – are at odds when it comes to the constitutionality of abortions, no one is quite sure what the results will be of the Mississippi case. However, even abortion-rights supporters have an inkling that Roe v. Wade will be overturned in the foreseeable future.  

KHN’s Julie Rovner in, ‘Conservative Justices Seem Poised to Overturn Roe’s Abortion Rights,’ said, “…Judging from the questions asked by justices, it appeared possible – even likely – that a majority of them could vote to turn the thorny question of whether to allow abortion and under what circumstances back to individual states.” 

By the end of 2022, Arkansans and Americans alike will know for sure whether abortions remain a constitutional right or ridden of – except in the cases of mother-endangerment – altogether.  

The post From Roe v. Wade to Unborn Child Protection Act; Arkansas Sets Boundaries on Abortion appeared first on Hill Magazine.

by Abbi Ross

Tyrah Jackson stands on the steps of Gearhart Hall, wearing a microphone like a Britney Spears-era pop star while she calls out instructions to over 100 people, almost all of which are dressed in black and hanging on to her every word. 

Jackson and the crowd have just made their way across a rain-soaked University of Arkansas campus, from the Fulbright Dining Hall past the now infamous J. William Fulbright statue and finally to Gearhart. The early morning rally on March 13, 2021, is a call to action on the removal of racist figures like Fulbright and Gov. Charles Brough from campus. And for Jackson, it hits a little closer to home than others. 

While much of the discussion on campus about these figures centers on the legacy of Fulbright, it is the repercussions of Brough’s actions that have recently become a driving force in Jackson’s life. 

Over a hundred years before in Elaine, Arkansas, the deadliest racial confrontation in the state took place. Members of Jackson’s family lived in the city at the time and survived the confrontation. 

It was a result of growing tension and fear over labor unions, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Jackson’s family members were a part of over 100 Black Arkansans, mostly sharecroppers, who met at a local church for a Progressive Farmers and Household Union meeting to talk about securing better payments for their cotton crops from white plantation owners on Sept. 30, 1919. It is unclear who fired first, but gunfire between the Black guards outside the church and three people in a vehicle parked in front of it resulted in the death of a white security officer and the wounding of the Phillips County deputy sheriff, Charles Pratt. 

It marked the start of one of the bloodiest racial confrontations in United States history. 

The sheriff sent out a posse to find those involved, and although they were met with little resistance, the group of 500-1,000 white people were determined to put down the “insurrection” going down in Elaine. On Oct. 1, 1919 a telegram was sent to Gov. Charles Brough requesting the presence of U.S. troops in the city. Brough responded with 500 “battle-tested” troops from Camp Pike, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 

The troops were “under order to shoot to kill any negro who refused to surrender immediately,” the Arkansas Democrat reported on Oct. 2. Exact numbers are not known, but hundreds of Black men, women and children were killed. 

After visiting Elaine to get “correct information” concerning the “insurrection”, he returned to Little Rock and said in a press conference, “The situation at Elaine has been well handled and is absolutely under control. There is no danger of any lynching…. The white citizens of the county deserve unstinting praise for their actions in preventing mob violence,” according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 

In a matter of days, Gov. Brough had secured his legacy as a man with the death of hundreds of innocent Black Arkansans on his hands. And it is one that Arkansans are still feeling the ramifications of today. 

It was in front of Gearhart Hall that Jackson revealed her grandfather and great aunt survived the Elaine Massacre. Jackson, alongside other campus leaders, shared their experiences and thoughts about racism on campus. 

Just over 100 years ago, members of Jackson’s family survived a heinous hate crime. Now Jackson stands in front of hundreds while she and so many others fight for their rights and the removal of presences on campus that never should have been in the first place. 

“I believe the way to [be anti-racist] is to rid the university of its racist effigies, but also of its structural discrepancies that continuously promote institutional racism,” Jackson said. 

Jackson is now a spokesperson for the UARK Black Student Caucus, a group that came together over the summer in response to racism on campus and organized the march. The Caucus is a response to the trauma that was brought forth over the summer when Black students and community members shared their experiences on campus with #BlackatUARK.  

The #BlackatUARK tag exploded on Twitter in June as people shared their experiences being Black on campus and in the community. 

“Being #BlackatUark is having PIKE throw a fried chicken, watermelon, and 40 oz themed party to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day.” 

“Being #BlackatUark is having my mom scared for my safety because my name is on a letter addressing the racist actions of UARK students and demanding change on my campus. It hurts telling my mom that I’m okay at a school that I honestly don’t even feel safe at anymore” 

“#BlackatUark is creating a hashtag because the administration refuses to listen to the demands of black students”  

The posts shed a bright light on a side of the University of Arkansas that many did not want to see. The awakening of Black voices on campus converged as the UARK Black Student Caucus, a nascent student group that issued 15 demands for creating a more inclusive and respectful campus, including the removal of the Fulbright statue and renaming the Brough dining hall — the statue of a staunch segregationist and a cafeteria named for a man who aided the bloodiest race massacre in Arkansas. 

Months after the group’s creation, the Black Student Caucus announced the protest on March 13, the one that Jackson is helping lead like a conductor. 

“For too long we’ve been given half hearted affirmations, Performative initiatives, and mission statements…On Saturday March 13 at 9:30 am we use our voices for those that have been silenced. We need solidarity in this time and we hope you can join us. Where there are people, there is power   #blackatuark” 

— 

Jackson doesn’t fancy herself a leader. Nevertheless at six feet tall, with piercing dark eyes and a presence that can fill a room, she is the type of woman whom people listen to. 

That force is an amalgamation of growing up Black in the Arkansas Delta and then moving to Little Rock as a child, where she attended predominantly white schools.  

Jackson spent her early childhood in what the people who lived there called the projects, and what the government called “section-8 apartments.” It was there that Jackson found her own little piece of heaven. 

“When I was a child everyone knew each other and everyone looked out for each other,” Jackson said. “I never experienced danger and I never felt like I was in a dangerous situation. I always tell folks — I used to write poems back in the day — that I felt like I was in heaven, I was in paradise.”  

It was a chance for Jackson and her family, blood and not, to be “carefree Black kids in every sense of the word,” she said. 

There was no trauma looming over them. No need to be more than simply who they were. Jackson and her brother got to be kids. They got the chance to play outside, see friends and help around the house with nothing else hanging over their heads. If someone needed something, they knew they were going to get it one way or another.  

That paradise came from a community that helped shape Jackson into who she is. Her grandmother used to say, “I choose to live here, I don’t have to live here.” That mentality came from a place where people came first. 

Jackson’s family moved from Pine Bluff to Little Rock when she was five years old. The move was the start of an internal and external battle with the complexities of racism that Jackson didn’t fully realize until she was older. 

She attended a variety of schools growing up, some in the wealthiest parts of Little Rock where she flourished, others where the discrimination against her was enough to make her move schools. She attended schools like Mount St. Mary’s Academy, where she was one of three Black students in her year and stood out because she was from public school and a tall, Black woman with a knack for basketball. She also attended the famous Little Rock Central High School, the school she originally avoided because she did not think she would survive it. 

“I [went] through so many epiphanies during those years of kind of having this internal hate for my race, trying to be white…trying to move my race away,” Jackson said. 

When Jackson made her way to the UofA in 2018 she had gotten over it — people staring, asking questions. She knew what she was walking into when she made it to campus, which is made up of only 5.3% of Black students. 

“Through all that, I kind of learned how to survive and thrive in those predominantly white situations,” Jackson said. “ [I learned] how to be true to myself and my race.” 

By the time Jackson found out about her family’s surviving the Elaine Massacre, she was already well aware of the realities Black people still face in Arkansas and across the U.S.  

Those realities are something that many on the UA campus are still realizing and confronting. While Jackson had accepted them and learned to fight back, many still haven’t, which is what pushed her to get involved.  

While Jackson has not faced some of those issues on campus, she understands the emotional toll of it all. Many of those students at the UofA were also from the Delta region of Arkansas Jackson grew up. 

“The underlying segregation that happens in the Delta, even today, no one talks about it because it’s not a state-sanctioned segregation, but it is segregation,” Jackson said. “They got on to this campus and felt like fishes out of water and I felt like I needed to do something about that.”  

Jackson’s fire to help Black students was only fueled farther when she learned about her family’s connection to Brough. Jackson learned her family survived the Elaine Massacre in February after seeing a snippet of a documentary about the event that her uncle shared on Facebook. 

Moses Jackson, the grandfather of Tyrah, and a direct descendant of survivors of the massacre, was a part of a documentary shedding light on the Elaine Massacre. 

“The man would take your cotton and then the man at the store [where] you had credit would run your books up on ya so you didn’t have nothing,” said Moses Jackson, a former sharecropper and the grandfather of Tyrah in a 2002 documentary. “You work a whole year and handpick 40 bales of cotton and you  come out with nothing.” 

In the 20 minute documentary narrated by esteemed Black actor, Ossie Davis, Moses, alongside his sister Ruth Jackson, are among the first to speak. The documentary narrates the events of the Elaine Massacre and gives a voice to the people who experienced living in Elaine at the time. 

“Colored people had more fear than they got now,” Ruth said in the film. “A lot of things they were scared of, they were afraid to talk about.” 

Many of the challenges that those Black Arkansans faced in 1919 are still there. While fighting for better pay as sharecroppers is not something Black Arkansans have to worry about in the 2020’s, there are still a number of aggressions, large and small, that they face on a daily basis. Black people are still being attacked for gathering to fight for basic human rights, as seen in the hundreds of protests across the U.S. last summer after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. They are still being murdered by the people who are paid to serve and protect. They are still fighting microaggressions implemented in workplaces and universities, like the ones brought up during the #BlackatUARK movement last summer as well.  The list could go on. 

While some things have improved since 1919, there is still exploitation and an underlying belief in white supremacy, said Brian Mitchell, a history professor at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. 

“Although we thought it was dead, it has very much been resurrected the last four or five years,” Mitchell said. 

The “history” surrounding monuments like the Fulbright statue is often lumped in with the idea of “heritage.” 

“The word heritage is loaded with emotion and nostalgia that go back and not necessarily history,” Mitchell said.  “These monuments are counterfactual, they’re not telling a whole story.” 

Jackson is a member of the committee that worked on decisions regarding the Fulbright statue and renaming the dining hall, among other issues. University officials formed The Committee to Evaluate J. William Fulbright and Charles Brough’s U of A Presence in the summer of 2020 as a part of the demands issued by the Black Student Caucus. 

The committee is made up of 19 members that were chosen to help represent campus in the most diverse and broadest way possible, said Stephen Caldwell, an associate professor and chair of the Faculty Senate. 

The committee was tasked with providing a recommendation on Fulbright’s name being removed from the college of arts and sciences, the relocation of his statue and Brough’s name being removed from the dining hall, Caldwell said. The committee met every Friday of the 2020-21 school year, spending time listening to a number of people and groups including campus members, alumni, historians and a committee from Elaine. The second part of the year was spent getting into the “nitty-gritty” of the possible changes, Caldwell said. 

Discussions surrounding the issue have included “what if” situations surrounding the governor’s intentions, Jackson said. 

“But it’s like what does he matter what he was doing when the intent —when the results —had the ramifications that they did?” Jackson said. “It’s not about intent. It’s about results.” 

False narratives have been taught to people in the United States that reinforces the narrative that people want to believe, Mitchell said. 

People have grown so attached to a patriotic narrative, that when they are confronted with facts, dates, documents that counter that patriotic narrative they reject it because it doesn’t glorify them, Mitchell said. 

“It pissed me off to see people debating it,” Jackson said. “I have the first-hand account right here.” 

Jackson’s family were sharecroppers. She grew up listening to stories from people like her great aunt Ruthie about how racist people were or from her father on how hard the work was. Jackson has five uncles and one aunt who all grew up working the land they lived on in Hughes. They all went to college and her family now owns one of the biggest construction companies in the state, she said. 

“I was astounded and I was dumbfounded and I was proud,” Jackson said about learning that her family survived the Elaine Massacre. “I think I shed a couple of tears just because of the things my family had to survive and people are still debating it and talking about it.” 

While the narrative surrounding figures like Fulbright, Brough and so many more across the country are changing and people are confronting their pasts, there is still a lot of work to do. 

Jackson has realized through all of this that she doesn’t need higher ups to get things done. There are people and groups on campus that are willing to take the time and the money to make the changes that Black students want to see happen, she said. 

Jackson thinks it is politics and oftentimes snobbery that bogs down within university systems, and academia itself, in their efforts to change. 

“It’s debilitating,”Jackson said. “I think this obnoxiousness and this clubby type mindset that comes with academia, and really all systems, is the reason we haven’t gotten anywhere. You’ve got to work from the inside out.”  

The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees voted on System President Donald Bobbitt’s recommendations July 28, exactly three months after the Committee to Evaluate J. William Fulbright and Charles Brough’s U of A Presence released their recommendation to then Chancellor Joe Steinmetz on Wednesday, April 28. 

The committee recommended renaming the College of Arts and Sciences, relocating Fulbright’s statue and renaming Brough Commons. 

One of those recommendations was met — the renaming of Brough Commons. It was voted that Fulbright’s name would remain on the College of Arts and Sciences and that the statue will remain behind Old Main. 

In an email to students following the meeting, then acting Chancellor Bill Kincaid reasoned leaving Fulbright’s name because of, “his association with promoting international understanding and world peace through education.” 

The email also discusses the decision to leave the statue where it is, instead of relocating it as recommended by the committee and Steinmetz. 

“However, since Act 1003 of 2021 prevents removing or relocating monuments on public property absent receipt of a waiver from the Arkansas History Commission, I believe the statue should be contextualized in its current location,” Bobbitt wrote in a letter to the board. “If a path presents itself at a later time to consider the relocation of the statue that is consistent with state law, the Board can revisit this issue.” 

Kincaid’s email goes on to talk about efforts to diversify campus and university plans. 

Jackson’s focus remains on Black students who are ready to make these changes. Before the final votes were made this summer, she said she no longer cares about the decisions the administration makes because of the backlash or dichotomy that would eventually follow. 

“It’s in the roots of the university that you’ll make the most change, not necessarily in high administration,” Jackson said. 

Jackson knows that there are students on campus waiting to share their voices and their ideas. 

“There are Black students out there who have some type of confidence in me to do something, and so my big thing now is going to each individual Black student that I can find and asking them what changes they want to see at the university,” she said. “‘What is it in your heart of hearts, in your complete soul, in your soul – not in regards to anybody else – what are the changes you want to see in the university?’” 

The post Slaughter in the Delta: Confronting Racism, Need for Change on the UA Campus appeared first on Hill Magazine.

At the start of the pandemic, the FBI warned that hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities would rise due to the COVID-19 pandemic

A year later, awareness of Asian hate crimes has become heavily circulated through the media.

“Obviously, during the pandemic is when the AAPI community has seen an uptick in hate crimes and racist attacks on our community,” said Aysia Nguyen, president of the Arkansas Vietnamese Student Association.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in China, a lot of people wanted someone to blame “for causing such a huge shift in our life,” and that perpetrated a lot of hate toward the AAPI community, Nguyen said.

Phrases such as “China virus” and “kung flu” didn’t help the situation. Many people didn’t see the harm in using them — including former President Trump.

“When you call the COVID-19 pandemic or COVID-19 virus itself kung flu or Chinese virus you’re just putting a blame on a group of people for something that they have no control over,” Nguyen said.

A study done by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University released findings that between the years 2019 and 2020, hate crimes against Asian Americans increased  by 149%.

The latest report of hate crimes against Asian Americans collected by the organization Stop AAPI Hate reported 9,081 incidents from March 19, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

“We’ve seen a lot of times that the majority of people who are being physically attacked and physically harmed are elderly people,” Nguyen said. “They are our parents or our grandparents, and if I am fearing for anyone’s safety in the community, it’s theirs.”

One of the attacks on the AAPI community occurred in Atlanta on March 16. Although authorities have not made an official conclusion that the attacks were racially motivated, of the eight people killed, six of them were women of Asian descent.

These attacks have brought a renewed sense of urgency to pay attention to hate crimes against the AAPI community across the country.

University of Arkansas leaders have come up with initiatives to stop AAPI hate in the campus community, according to a UA press release.

Several registered student organizations worked together to raise money for the AAPI Community Fund, put on by GoFundMe. The organizations involved were the Vietnamese Student Association, the Filipino Student Organization and the Chinese Language and Culture Club.

Another organization is the Asian Pacific American Employee Impact Group.

“The mission of the university — for employee impact groups — is to basically serve as an affinity group, as a resource for staff, anyone on campus faculty,” said Er-Gene Kahng, D. Mus, professor and president of the APA Employee Impact Group.

The group specifically addresses APA issues on campus through Zoom sessions and plans to host some social events in the future.

“It’s a way for [AAPI] people to build community,” Kahng said.

As for concerns at the university, Kahng said that there is “an anxiousness.”

“Arkansas is still one of three states that does not have hate crime legislation and so I think there’s always this idea or fear in the back of many AAPI folks who sort of think ‘well if something does happen to me, what are my resources that I can fall back on for protection or even support?’” Kahng said.

Both Nguyen and Kahng suggested that staying educated is the best way to be an informed ally when it comes to the matters of the AAPI community.

If you’re looking for more resources on how to educate yourself regarding AAPI issues:

• Stop AAPI Hate: A Resource Guide to Support the Asian-American Community is a guide compiled by the Playbill Staff on methods to support and donate for the AAPI communities
• Self Evident: Asian American’s Stories is a podcast with the goal of challenging assumptions about Asian Americans
• Stop AAPI Hate Resource Page hosts links to get informed for safety tips, bystander intervention and local resources

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