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Culture

Meditation, music at virtual UMI show

Daniel Ward and Hannah John | February 21

Though ASUNM Student Special Events has been forced to adapt to virtual concerts to “protect the pack” amid the pandemic, the featured artist didn’t disappoint on Feb. 12 as UMI showcased live acoustic music and guided meditation over Zoom. Tierra Umi Wilson, also known as UMI, is a 22-year-old singer/songwriter based out of Los Angeles who made a name for herself when she toured with fellow artist Cuco back in 2019. Her virtual concert on Feb. 12 was only available to University of New Mexico students, and about 100 students attended. According to Joe Polack, the executive director of SSE, the idea for the event stemmed from UMI’s previous shows that included meditation alongside a live performance.

Culture

COLUMN: Zen and the art of tea brewing

Liam Debonis | February 19

Imagine this, if you will: You’re over at a friend’s house, and they ask “green or black tea?” You pick green, but to your horror, you hear the kettle boiling and a few minutes later, you spend the next half hour sipping profanely bitter liquid and feigning enjoyment. If you’re the friend in this scenario, don’t feel bad. I sat down with Shawn Whitehurst — who’s been with the New Mexico Tea Company for over eight years — and learned that there’s a lot that goes into making the perfect cup of tea. Whitehurst said the tannin content in the final product makes a significant difference in the flavor of tea. Tannins are naturally occurring chemical compounds found in tea and other foods and beverages. Different types of teas release their tannins in different ways, which is why water temperature is critical for a smooth, enjoyable brew.

Culture

40th anniversary of Rush’s ‘Moving Pictures’ hits closer to the heart

Gino Gutierrez | February 19

Gene Simmons once said, “What kind of band is Rush? It’s Rush.” That might be the most accurate description of this seminal band out of Toronto. Feb. 12 marked the 40th anniversary of Rush’s eighth studio album “Moving Pictures,” a record that sold over four million copies in the United States and was also certified quadruple-platinum in Canada. The album remains the band’s most popular and recognizable of their extensive discography.

Culture

Preserving the Indigenous sign languages of Nigeria

Liam Debonis | February 16

In Nigeria, the Indigenous sign language of Deaf communities is disappearing. Despite making up nearly a fourth of the country’s population, the Nigerian Deaf community suffers from numerous roadblocks when considering their less than egalitarian status in society. But Emmanuel Asonye, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New Mexico, is working on a project to help Nigerians who lack access to their native language. Asonye, who earned his doctorate in linguistics and communications from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, has been studying and cataloging Indigenous Nigerian sign language for years. As the founder of Save the Deaf and Endangered Languages Initiative, Asonye has spent his career advocating for the Nigerian Deaf community.

Culture

Local Black-owned business wants microgreens on every plate

Megan Gleason | February 11

Papa’s Little Helpers MicroFarm is a local business with a mission to grow and promote healthy, locally grown food. Owner Rico Robinson has set a goal to better educate everyone — especially the Black community — on the importance of eating healthy. While the business doesn’t currently provide a large variety of meal options, Robinson hopes that he can incorporate a delivery service with healthy meals in the future. “It’s going to taste like soul food, but it’s going to be purely healthy food,” Robinson said.

Culture

Drag bingo takes center stage for SAC

Daniel Ward | February 11

The University of New Mexico’s Student Union Building kicked off the spring semester with a back to school bingo night on Friday, Jan. 29. Only four students attended, which is the lowest group Uni Nights have had since switching to virtual events. Coincidentally, the Student Activities Center (SAC) hosted a drag bingo night the week before with over 130 students participating. While drag bingo isn’t quite the same as the more traditional event, the two are similar enough to question the scheduling process of events for both departments. Andrea Marquez, the SAC advisor in charge of coordinating events like drag bingo, said the SAC specifically planned its bingo night earlier in the term because students would have to quarantine after coming to the dorms from out of town.

Culture

Looking back at ‘Killer of Sheep,’ a small budget masterpiece

Dylan Haworth | February 10

In 1977, Charles Burnett began production of his debut feature “Killer of Sheep,” a film following the everyday working class struggles of a Black slaughterhouse worker. 13 years later, it was one of the first 50 films deemed a national treasure by the Library of Congress. With this film and his subsequent realist works, Burnett is regarded as one of the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, going on to inspire artists like Spike Lee, Barry Jenkins and Ryan Coogler. “Killer of Sheep” puts the impoverished Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts under the microscope. The film was made 12 years after the Watts Rebellion, a six-day series of protests against police brutality in which 34 protesters were murdered. The aftermath of the state-sponsored violence echoes throughout the many scenes of children scampering through the ruins of old buildings destroyed in the decade prior.

Culture

Divine Nine orgs continue tradition of Black excellence

Ana Gutierrez | February 10

Brianna Edey is the current president of the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) and the University of New Mexico chapter of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. When asked about what makes the “Divine Nine” —a collective of historically Black Greek letter organizations, with eight of the nine active at UNM — unique compared to other organizations, she narrowed it all down to its rich history. “In fact, our (individual) organizations were created because we weren’t allowed in existing councils,” Edey said. All of the Divine Nine organizations were founded throughout the 1900s, when Black students in the United States were often ostracized and banned from joining primarily white Greek organizations on college campuses, according to Edey.

Culture

The Fro celebrates ‘Black joy and happiness’ for Black History Month

Shelby Kleinhans | February 7

This year, the University of New Mexico’s African American Student Services (AASS or ‘the Fro’) launched Black History Month on Jan. 1 with the raising of the Pan-African flag at Scholes Hall, a symbol of “Black liberation” according to AASS. The event as well as the raising of the ‘Black History Month’ banner by UNM Health Sciences Center were streamed virtually on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Other virtual events that were either streamed virtually or crafted on social media since then included: “Popular Hair Moments in Black Music History with Natelege Whaley” on Feb. 2, “CROWN Act Town Hall” on Feb. 4 and “National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day” on Feb. 7. The pandemic created the necessity for wholly virtual events, but the team at the Fro readily accepted the challenge.

R.A.W. Tuba the Documentary Film by Early Light Media

Culture

UNM tuba professor builds legacy through kindness

Daniel Ward | February 7

Richard White is a man of many accomplishments with a life story full of determination and dedication. Even after becoming the first Black person in the world to achieve a doctorate of music in tuba performance, White said his greatest accomplishment was coming to the University of New Mexico, where he has the ability to make a difference in others’ lives. The journey he took to get where he is today was no smooth path. As a boy, White found himself unhoused on the streets of Baltimore, fending for himself. White had to imagine luxuries like a warm blanket and full stomach just to get through the night until he was eventually taken in by a local family. This may have saved his life, but the tuba is what shaped his legacy.

Culture

Tonic for the Times raises money for struggling New Mexicans

Sarah Bodkin | February 5

Tonic for the Times, a star-studded documentary and music festival to raise money for New Mexico’s health care workers, streamed virtually on Saturday, Jan. 20. Some of the guest speakers and performers for the event were Steven Michael Quezada, Penn Jillette, Chevel Shepherd, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Sophie B. Hawkins, Prism Bitch and Bob Odenkirk. Cyndi Conn, one of the event’s organizers, said “(health care workers) never actually leave the hospital mentally,” so the inspiration for the event was to show gratitude for their hard work. Performances were recorded from all over the country, including from Meow Wolf, recording studios and performer’s homes.

Culture

Mexican gray wolves released from BioPark into the wild

Shelby Kleinhans | February 3

For one wolf, it meant returning to the country where she was born in captivity; for the whole pack, it meant a chance to start a new life roaming free in the wild. The pack in question? Kawi, Ryder and their seven pups — a Mexican gray wolf pack that formerly called the ABQ BioPark their home. The BioPark recently reported that on Jan. 15, the nine endangered wolves were loaded into crates and started the trek down to their destination, a “wilding school” south of Mexico City. BioPark staff members transported the pack to the U.S./Mexico border, and a final green light from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) meant the pack could continue their journey with a team of conservationists from the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro.

Culture

Black History brunch highlights racial justice efforts

Megan Gleason | February 1

Black Lives Matter (BLM) and racial justice took center stage at the University of New Mexico’s Africana studies Black History Month kickoff brunch with guest speaker Melina Abdullah, a current professor and former chair of Pan-African studies at California State University, Los Angeles. Abdullah was among the original organizers of the BLM movement in 2013 and is a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter. Abdullah opened her lecture with a brief discussion on Black history, emphasizing the work of Carter G. Woodson. The historian is widely credited for starting “Negro History Week” in 1926, which would eventually lead to the creation of Black History Month in 1976.

Culture

‘Lobo Social Packs’ provide outlet for student socialization

Megan Gleason | January 27

Lobo Social Packs are a new way for students to connect with one another at the University of New Mexico, bringing five students together to attend both in-person and virtual events. The Student Activities Center (SAC) will organize and host these groups, which will include four students and one “involved” student leader. “We’re really looking at trying to find ways to connect students during the pandemic, because things have obviously been really tough with very few in-person classes,” Ryan Lindquist, the director of the SAC, said. The 25 students who have signed up so far met virtually for the first time on Thursday, Jan. 28. Applications will continue to be accepted throughout the semester.

Culture

‘Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ swings the PS5 into new heights

Gino Gutierrez | January 25

This review contains spoilers. A follow-up to the hugely popular “Marvel’s Spider-Man” released on the PS4, “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” not only keeps the same amazing swinging and combat system from the previous title, but adds new and interesting features that give new life to the old formula. This new addition to the franchise puts players in the role of the eponymous character Morales as he embarks on a journey to discover what kind of hero he truly is. He is not only trying to live up to the reputation of Spider-Man but also separate himself and become his own hero, not just a teenager pretending to be Spider-Man.

Culture

The life of a fully vaccinated UNMH resident

Megan Gleason | January 25

As COVID-19 began to spread around the world just under a year ago, University of New Mexico Hospital employees knew they would be seeing patients flooding the halls of the wards, and quickly. Residents felt a mix of fear and pride as they prepared to face what would likely be the largest and most shocking wave of disease and illness they would see in their careers, creating a daily physical and emotional hurdle for doctors and patients alike. “This is it — this is my cause that I get to fight for,” Dr. Jessica Evans-Wall, a second year resident, said. Still, there were many unknown variables to COVID-19, as there still are, and employees were there to help as best they could.

Culture

SciFi Blast Off virtually draws in new fans, geeks alike at UNM

Megan Gleason | January 24

Science fiction lovers at the University of New Mexico are in for a treat as University Libraries start SciFi Blast Off, a series of virtual science fiction-related events throughout the spring semester. Upcoming events for the series include team trivia on Jan. 26, a movie watch party featuring the film “Prospect” on Feb. 10 and a book discussion on Sarah Pinsker’s “Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea” (specifically on the included short stories “Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea,” “Our Lady of the Open Road” and “And Then There Were (N-One)") on Feb. 26.

Culture

‘Death to 2020:’ Retelling a brutal year with bad comedy

Ana Gutierrez | January 18

“Death to 2020,” a British mockumentary from the creators of “Black Mirror,” revisits every monumental event to have happened over the past year in an attempt to put it at rest as the title suggests. Despite having left much to be desired, the film’s quirky tone and lack of solemnity provides for some casual viewing if that’s what 2020 should amount to in history books in some way. In the 70-minute Netflix original, Samuel Jackson and several other B-list celebrities are casted as an assorted troupe of false leading experts and exaggerated everyday people who recount the trauma-inducing year 2020.

Culture

‘The Office:’ An homage to the ordinary

Liam Debonis | January 15

As heartwarming, relatable sitcoms like “Frasier” and “Friends” began disappearing from the airwaves in 2005, a groundbreaking new show emerged with a focus on the mundane, the boring and the ordinary. “My job is to speak to clients, um, on the phone, about … uh, quantities and, uh, type of … copier paper,” salesman Jim Halpert explains in the pilot episode. “You know, whether we can supply it to them, whether they can, uh … pay for it. And, um … I'm … I'm boring myself just talking about this.”

Culture

‘The Office’ leaves Netflix, encouraging users to make better viewing decisions

Shelby Kleinhans | January 15

With the removal of “The Office” on Jan. 1, 2021, American Netflix audiences can finally move on from their toxic relationship to a sitcom that ended in 2013. At long last, Tinder bios will be written with care instead of littered with a slew of Office quotes. Society as a whole can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Nature is healing. Let me start off by clearing the air. I don’t think that “The Office” is the worst sitcom in existence, nor is it wholly unfunny. However, at its best, “The Office” made me chuckle, and at its rock bottom made me cringe so hard that I vowed never to watch several episodes ever again. Looking at you, “Scott’s Tots.”