Students sit in a Zoom waiting room, anticipating the Show Your Grit event to begin. They arrive little by little, each entrance announced with a pleasant jingle on their computer screens, instead of the greetings of hello that they might be accustomed to. Although the occasion was shared through computer screens, the triumph of black heritage between the students and staff shone through.
Black students and staff call for PCC to take action
Feeling overlooked and unsupported by PCC, living in fear and getting harassed by police are just some of the experiences Black students and staff shared on the “Our Black Lives Matter – Listening Forum” that occurred on Thursday, June 4. As each panel member shared and read a portion of the resolution presented to the Academic Senate for them to denounce the killings of Black people, things simultaneously grew very emotional and heated. Frustrated by the lack of action and Black student and staff support …
PCC possesses prolific transfer rates
Pasadena City College (PCC) is one of the top transfer community colleges in the state of California and they are on the receiving end of the 2018 Champion of Higher Education for Excellence in Transfer award.
PCC celebrates its diversity during Black History Month
Black History Month celebrations were taking place all over PCC’s campus this past February thanks to the efforts of Ujima and Blackademia. With over 250 students in Ujima, and many more in the Blackademia program, there was no shortage of people celebrating African-American culture. Despite hampered student attendance in the beginning of the month due to it being winter intersession, that did not stop the celebration. Director of the Ujima program, Gena Lopez, talked about this by saying, “Even though there weren’t as many students, …
Editorial: PCC perpetuates erasure of black leadership
Former Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur said that the schools we go to are reflections of the society that created them. If this is the case, then it’s no wonder that the black PCC community feels unappreciated, unrecognized and invisible.
Natashia Deon Graces PCC, Grace haunts readers
A tiny figure in a tattered and bloodied yellow dress runs through the woods. Tripping over her own feet, she clutches her belly, throwing frantic glances behind her. This is the opening to Grace, a novel by PCC’s writer in residence Natashia Deon. The scene came to her, somewhere between daydream and hallucination, while in her home, clutching her newborn so, when she was transported to the 1850s Alabama woods. Feeling connected to the young slave woman, Deon felt compelled to tell her story.