24 Opinion JUNE 16, 2021 Voices of Newport Black Student Union: Black People Magic LAUREN KIRKPATRICK, MAYAH AKANBI, RUTHIE LARTEY, JAMES NGUYEN, and CANDACE WARNER Black Student Union Core Leadership sense of relation and understanding in the majority. This is where BSU is one of the many building blocks steps in. We foster a space in which to the solidarity among all POC, but you can celebrate, share, and laugh especially the Black community. This with those that look like you, those is what BSU is all about. Community that understand where you’re coming is family. It sounds like a cliché, from. but it's true. It is a place for Black students to feel free, accepted, and "This is where BSU steps understood. Especially in a school in. We foster a space in in which the total number of Black students can be counted on our which you can celebrate, hands. Yes, we will always face share, and laugh with challenges. However, when we have the support of others, these struggles those that look like you, become manageable. Community those that understand goes beyond relating to one another; where you're coming it's raising and uplifting those around you in order to create change, build from." solidarity, and empower one another. The Black experience certainly encompasses much struggle; Whether big or small, Black however, it is crucial to embrace Student Union is there for it all. A the beauty and excellence as well. space to talk and simply be. A space Embracing our Black identities to empower and allow Black students and cultures are core parts of Black to feel included, supported and loved. Student Union. The celebration of A space to explore our similarities, Black people, accomplishments, differences and what students ideas and experiences are valuable bring to Newport. High School is Images courtesy of Black Student Union BSU's mission statement on their Instagram page. The account posts information about and have been essential to America challenging as it is, but being a part meetings and club announcements. You can learn more at @nhsbsu on Instagram. from day one. Yet, this easily slips of the minority adds another layer of the minds of many. Navigating difficulty. BSU is here to make this Calling this year overwhelming Others may find the need to take Newport as a Black student can be journey a bit smoother. No matter the would be an understatement. a step back due to finding further quite challenging. Whether this be background, everyone is invited into Whether this be the verdict of Derek exposure overwhelming. This is curriculum or the seemingly harmless the magic. Chauvin, the seemingly never-ending why it’s essential to recognize attitudes and words of peers, it incidents of police brutality, or even this universal truth: community can feel that, in every instance, our *Asian, Asian American, Pacific the growing hate crimes against the has become more important than authenticity is at stake of being lost Islander AAPI* community, said events have ever. We all experience struggle or, perhaps, taken. There can be so **Black Indigenous People of touched the lives of all of us in one differently, but the bottom line is much pressure to conform and deny Color way or another. But such tragedies that we all share that struggle. This parts of you that aren’t represented and challenges have especially taken a toll on the mental health of BIPOC** students. On the surface, with every tap through Instagram stories, every click to breaking news, what we see are individuals who remind us of our siblings, parents, and friends. Yet as we dive deeper, it becomes clear that this shared generational trauma and struggle opens the door for pain to be shared and for relationships to strengthen. The Black experience extends beyond simply undergoing and coping with the reality of race in the United States. Though perhaps, many of us have lost the meaning behind this communal necessity. Let’s make one thing clear: these instances of trauma affect students in numerous ways. And the ways in which students cope are different. Some of us have the bandwidth to keep up with the news and expose ourselves to the current events that many find absolutely draining. JUNE 16, 2021 Opinion 25 Voices of Newport Asian American Student Union: A Review of Our First Year CHEREEN KWON Founder of Asian American Student Union I am Asian American, and I am a person of organizers and creators. color. It has recently come to my attention that We’ve had conversations quite a few Newport students and staff have not about representation in yet recognized this fact. So I will repeat myself. I media, internalized racism, am a person of color, and I am Asian American. our relationship with our I am an Asian American woman, and I founded country of ethnic heritage Newport’s Asian American Student Union in (the “motherland”), October of 2020. Founding AASU was a personal intersections with gender passion project. I wanted to know where I fit in and sexuality, the impacts American society, if I did at all. I wanted to know of immigration and how my relationship with race had shaped my generational differences, and personality, relationships, interests, and passions. more. We’ve put together I wanted to know where to go from here. I built presentations and projects, myself the space to discuss and process my Asian our most recent being American identity. featured on our Instagram But, any work in racial equity and/or inclusion account @nhsaasu. We’ve is larger than any individual. In a country where had concurrent meetings and only 5% of the population identifies as Asian, been able to gawk at how over 57% of Newport’s student body identifies as wrong our assumptions of Asian American, and it’s a mistake to assume that people’s height have been. the overrepresentation in our local community In the insanity that was means that Asian American students are not this pandemic, perhaps subject to reconcile those two starkly different one of the most meaningful realities. Whenever an Asian American student purposes AASU has filled made a self-deprecating joke about their race, came during the dramatic their ethnicity, the languages they did or did not rise in Asian American hate speak, the languages and proficiency at which crimes, and eventually the their parents spoke, how weeb someone was, how Atlanta mass shootings. Images courtesy of Asian American Student Union much of a koreaboo someone else was, I knew We provided a full month In honor of AAPI History Month, AASU featured well-known Asian American figures I was witnessing them grapple with their racial of meetings to help Asian across different timelines and industries, including popular Youtuber Ryan Higa, Hollywood star Anna May Wong, and comedian Hasan Minhaj. You can learn more at identity. I hoped AASU would be a place where American students find @nhsaasu on Instagram. any Asian American student would feel welcome some peace and solidarity. to talk it out. Although I’m sure it will friends just discussing important topics.” One Since October, AASU has certainly grown never truly be enough, I am incredibly proud that pleasant surprise was the way we could connect out of my weekly late night Canva designs. With it was able to act as a gathering point. I know that students new to the school and/or country with the guidance of our advisors, Ms. Yuen and Mr. personally, having AASU members to talk to was some friendships and community. Member Elly Wong, the leadership team has grown from one much better at nudging my mental health back Lee (12) says, “As a first generation American/ to four, our members have steadily created a towards homeostasis than Twitter ever could. immigrant, I didn’t know about my new community, and we’ve been fortunate to have had As an end of the year reflection, and to reaffirm community in the US, and AASU helped me fit in collaborations with SOAR (Students Organized that we were [ful]filling our purpose, I asked our and gave me [a] heads-up of what it is like to be an Against Racism), hosted guest speakers, and members to fill out a short survey on how AASU Asian American.” connected with other Asian American student has affected them. They’ve been reassuring, to As the first year of AASU comes to a close, say the least. When and I must leave it as I graduate, I leave some asked about what hopes for it and the Newport community. I hope they like about AASU, AASU continues to be Newport’s base camp for one of our leadership all things Asian American. I hope for an increase members, Alisa in solidarity work between the affinity groups, Saisakorn (10) and the equity/inclusion teams. I hope members commented that for years to come find community and solidarity “AASU tackles a lot there. I hope Newport’s conversations and actions larger and deeper for equity diversify. I hope its existence empowers topics than your Asian American students, whether they’re typical ‘identity’. members of the club or not, to be unabashedly There were a lot of loud and take up space, as I’ve been repeatedly things that I never reminded this past year. reapplied [that] have I’m beyond grateful for everyone who affected my identity, encouraged me to begin AASU and pressed and it’s caused me for more when 2020 and 2021 hit its hardest, to learn more and including everyone in SOAR, our incredible think deeper about advisors who have given us so much of their myself.” Another time and wisdom Ms.