Latest Articles (49 total)

Kelechi Taye

At about 3:15pm local time on April 29, 1992, the jury deliberating the Rodney King Incident released its verdict. It had acquitted the four accused Los Angeles Police Department officers involved in the violent beating. Within a half hour of the announced verdict, a small crowd of a little over 300 people had gathered at the LA County Courthouse to protest it.

Kelechi Taye

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

Toni Morrison, Beloved

On April 22, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States in the Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action upheld Michigan’s Proposal 2, an amendment prohibiting the state’s public colleges and universities use of “preferential treatment” on the basis of race in its admissions process.

Kelechi Taye

“ …. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as  one people.  Let's  resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and

immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share…” Barack Obama - Acceptance Speech 2008

Kobena Amoah

At noon on Friday, January 20, 2017, it was official that America had a new president. Donald J. Trump had been inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. In hindsight, it was obvious President Trump’s tenure was marked with a background of contentious divide within the nation. Yet, the development of growing discontent could not be limited to developments immediate to the election. Discontent had always been a general theme of American politics. However, the fact is there was a change in American politics that year. It was not that more people suddenly became aggrieved. It was that more aggrieved people started to express their grievances. And so a question naturally arises, why did social movements become commonplace?

Editor's Comments

Kobena Amoah

The idea of restoring the publication became reality in the 2019-20 academic calendar year, under the initiative of Ellen Kazembe (Former Editor-In-Chief) and has ever since been successful. While I had not been involved in the first publication, my encounter with the chief editor at the time, Ellen Kazembe, inspired my association with the publication.

HISTORICAL TIMELINE: LFC STUDENT EQUITY MOVEMENT

By ALICIA MAYNARD ’20 

EDITOR 

Editor’s Note: This is a snapshot of the student activism during the 2019 Spring semester. Some names have been redacted to protect the privacy of students and Staff members who actively engaged in incidences related bias that have not yet been made public. 

THE BEAUTY OF INTRICACY

By TEBATSO DUBA ’22

CONTRIBUTOR

MI BELLA CULTURA

By YESSENIA ALVARADO VASQUEZ’20

CONTRIBUTOR

BLANCO Y NEGRO 

By JENNIFER MORALES’22

CONTRIBUTOR, Volume 1, Issue 1

What does politics have to do with it anyway? 

By ELLEN KAZEMBE’20

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Jacob Lollis is a student at Furman University in South Carolina. He is currently engaging in Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign in Iowa. During his internship in Washington D.C., he worked with, Jim Clyburn, who is the third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Kazembe interviewed him to learn more about his interests, motivations and to find out his thoughts about youth involvement in politics.

Have you Heard? Studying Abroad Is Your Best Bet To Grow

By NOMBUSO DLAMINI’20

CONTRIBUTOR

Before I embarked on my journey, people used to ask me where I was going to study abroad. And I would respond, “The United Arab Emirates (UAE).” Most times I would get the same puzzled response, “Where is that?” And I would give one of two responses, “You know Dubai?” And then a light bulb would go off - “Oh! That sounds awesome.”
Or I’d say, “In the Middle East” and most often I’d sense the puzzlement in people’s response - Why would I want to go to a region that’s a big, dry desert where women wear hijabs?

你好! 

By Nathalie Mintjens’21

CONTRIBUTOR

The question ‘Where are you from?’ should be fairly easy to answer. However personally, it has always been a very conflicting question; are they asking for my race, my ethnicity, my nationality, where I was born, or where I grew up? For me, the answer to all these questions are different.

The pathway to success: Bill Lowry ’84

By ELLEN KAZEMBE’20

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Bill Lowry ’84 is the Cook County Board Commissioner for the 3rd district in Illinois. He is a member of many Cook County Board Committees that include: Contract Compliance, Criminal Justice, Business and Economic Development,Environment and Sustainability, among others. He is also the President and Managing Shareholder at Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry P.C. and a Lake Forest College Trustee. In 2009, he won the Lake Forest College Outstanding Alumni Leadership Award. 

Editor’s Note: In this issue of Black Rap, the Editorial Team has reprinted selected photographs of different Black student organizations at Lake Forest College from the 60s to the 90s. The featured student organizations include: Sisterhood, Afrikan Students for Afrikan Liberation (ASAL), House of Soul, Black Ensemble, Black United and Concerned Students (BUCS) and United Black Association (UBA). This issue also features some of the events that were hosted by Black Student Leaders including Soul Week. It also features the Lake Forest College Tutorial Project which began in 1963 after the, “Crisis in Race Relations” conference.

COPING WITH tHE COVID-19 PANDEMIC TOGETHER

By ELLEN KAZEMBE ‘20 and ESTHER KIM ‘22

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and CONTRIBUTOR

COVID-19 has affected us all. With schools and businesses shutting down, the virus has significantly changed our lives. The narratives we had planned for our lives were cancelled. Not only have people lost their jobs, many have lost their loved ones. All of a sudden, our daily routines shifted. Graduation ceremonies were cancelled. Health care and grocery store workers were recognized as being essential. Yet, in a new era of social distancing, people are connecting over social media, singing on balconies, and figuring out innovative ways to make masks. Here are 17 different experiences that were shared by global citizens from across the world:

FALL 2019 ACTIVISM AND EVENT TIMELINE

By ALICIA MAYNARD ‘20

EDITOR

Editor’s note: This is a snapshot of the student activism that took place on campus during the Fall 2019 semester.

I CHOOSE THE LADDER

By ELLEN KAZEMBE ‘20 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Watchen Nyanue is a business strategy leader from Liberia. Not only is she the founder of I Choose the Ladder, but she is also the Vice President of Marketing Partnership for the WNBA Chicago Sky. Additionally, she is the co-founder of Little Doebahyou, a monthly subscription box, which teaches children between the ages of 6-11 to embrace and understand the history and culture of the African Diaspora. Nyanue has been endowed with many accolades. She is a 2018 Chicago Business Journal Woman of Influence Honoree, a Chicago Scholars 35 Under 35 Honoree, and a Biz Women 2018 Headliner. She has also been featured on Windy City Live, WGN-TV and Chi at a Glance. 

THE ROLE OF JEWISH RABBIS DURING DR.MARTIN LUTHER KING’S MOVEMENT

By DENZEL MARUFU ‘23

EDITOR

Much has been said about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s industriousness and charismatic pursuit of racial equality in the mid 20th century. The focus has often been on his stance against the discriminatory policies that were in place so as to inhibit the African American community, at the time, from obtaining adequate opportunities to advance in the society.

WHAT IS SCIENCE WITHOUT DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION? 

By ELLEN KAZEMBE ‘20

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Matt Wallaert is a Scientist who has applied Behavioral Science to start-up companies, including some that are listed among the Fortune 500 companies, as well as tackled multifaceted social issues to make an impact. He is the first Chief Behavioral Officer at Clover Health where he leads one of the world’s largest behavioral science teams which includes: qualitative researchers, project managers and quantitative researchers. Prior to his role at Clover Health, he worked as Microsoft’s behavioral scientist and he was also a director at Microsoft Ventures.