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(10/24/19 12:55am)
Middle Georgia residents have already self-reported cases of influenza, or “the flu,” this fall, according to georgiaflu.com. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that three people had already been hospitalized for confirmed cases of flu by Oct. 5. That’s why health officials say it’s time for every eligible American to get the influenza vaccine — no matter how effective it’s estimated to be.
Last year, the CDC FluView report found that Georgia was one of 11 states experiencing a “widespread” outbreak and one of nine to report rising flu activity compared to recent years.
That flu season was the deadliest in decades, with more than 60,000 deaths in the United States and 647,000 hospitalizations — nearly double the yearly averages. An estimated 145 Georgia residents died during the 2018-2019 flu season, while more than 3,000 other folks required hospitalizations in the metro Atlanta area alone.
Still, only about half of Americans get flu shots each year, according to the CDC. Flu rates and severity have increased, but vaccination rates have stagnated.
Part of the reason? Vaccine hesitancy — a growing distrust in pharmaceutical companies or vaccine ingredients prompting people to forgo their shots — is on the rise nationwide. The flu shot in particular gets a bad rap due to reports that it’s ineffective against some strains, but also due to myths surrounding who needs it as well as its function and side effects.
Let’s start with effectiveness. Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that the 2019-2020 shot is only 29% effective. New flu vaccines are developed each year, and the ingredients are chosen based on the medical community’s predictions as to which strains will surface that season. But according to GPB, an additional, unexpected strain “popped up halfway through the past flu season,” reducing the number of total viruses that the vaccine formula covers.
However, the CDC says some coverage is better than none, and last year’s vaccine prevented an estimated 40,000 to 90,000 hospitalizations despite being no more than 32% effective. Even if you do still get the flu after receiving the shot, your symptoms will likely be less severe and the duration will be shorter.
This means that low effectiveness isn’t a good reason to skip the vaccine, but what about side effects? Some folks worry that the shot causes a mild flu since it’s comprised of a killed version of the virus. But that’s just the thing — what’s injected into you is dead, and is therefore incapable of giving you the flu. The killed cells simply allow you to build up antibodies capable of tackling the virus should it enter your body again in the future, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The DPH reports that side effects of the shot include soreness, redness or swelling at the site of the injection, a low-grade fever or aches for a few days. Sure, that’s inconvenient, but influenza complications can include bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections or dehydration, and can worsen chronic medical conditions like congestive heart failure, asthma or diabetes. Any of these can result in hospitalization or death — so which would you prefer?
This shot-shaming doesn’t apply to people who aren’t medically eligible to take vaccines, of course. Many vaccines aren’t recommended for infants, elderly folks or people with certain chronic illnesses or immunocompromisation. The flu vaccine is one of the safest, however — even pregnant folks and people with long-term heart conditions can usually receive it — but if you’re at all concerned, definitely talk to your doctor before you get that shot.
If you’re able, getting vaccinated helps protect those who aren’t. When enough people in a community are vaccinated against a disease, it can’t travel as easily from person to person, and the entire community is less likely to catch it. This phenomenon is called herd immunity, according to Vaccines.gov, and it helps keep everyone safe.
Flu shots are available at the Student Health Center here on campus, most doctors’ offices and pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid and Kroger. Local experts recommend that you get the vaccine before October ends, but if you miss that mark, don’t freak out: you can get the shot at any time, and it will be just as effective. You just want to maximize the amount of time that you, and the community at large, are protected.
For more information on how to access and pay for the flu vaccine, visit the HealthMap Vaccine Finder online — and in the meantime, please wash your hands.
(10/24/19 12:48am)
The Jazz Association of Macon will be hosting their 16th annual Jazz and Arts on Riverdale Festival on Oct. 26. Every year, musicians, artists and patrons gather to listen to music, eat food and celebrate the diverse art culture of Macon.
This year, there are four bands on the line up. These bands include Bravo!, Phillips Jazzy Jazz Band, Jam All Stars and Son Jazzy Latin Jazz Orchestra.
The featured artist for the festival will be Arrin Freeman. Freeman is a local artist, specializing in paintings and pet portraits.
The festival will host food trucks, a family friendly kids art corner and several art vendors selling prints, paintings, jewelry, pottery, trinkets and gems.
Proceeds from the event will go toward the Jazz Association of Macon, which sponsors scholarships in music for students across Middle Georgia. The Jazz Association of Macon has three scholarships available for middle school, high school and college students. These scholarships help foster and facilitate musical abilities among young students in Bibb County and the surrounding area. The scholarships help pay for instruments, equipment, music lessons or summer band camp.
The Jazz and Arts on Riverdale Festival will take place on Riverdale Drive in Macon Georgia. The event will start at 12 p.m. and end at 6 p.m.
(10/24/19 12:42am)
The houses were flattened. Trees appeared more like sticks or twigs, all broken in two. Boats and shipping containers were strewn around the island, many far from the shore. Hurricane Dorian had devastated Abaco, a group of islands in the Bahamas. The storm surge there was estimated to be over 20 feet, bringing water and everything else with it.
“Things just moved,” Mercer alumna Erin Brett said.
Brett and her colleagues at the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot, a section of the World Food Programme that provides logistics support for non-food items during crises, were in the Bahamas to facilitate the movement of cargo from island to island.
“I really enjoyed being on the ground and seeing how the work that we do in the office in Italy translates into the field,” Brett said.
This was Brett’s first humanitarian response, but she had worked with UNHRD and WFP before.
At Mercer in 2015, Brett became the first Mercer student to intern at UNHRD and facilitated communication between her university and the program.
Michael MacCarthy, Brett’s internship advisor, said that she was “shy yet personable,” and the kind of person that “leads from behind.”
“She's not the first person to speak up, but she seems to take everything in,” MacCarthy said.
While in Brindisi, Italy, where one of the UNHRD hubs resides, she was learning how the program worked and completing a few projects, but Brett said she was mostly “floating around,” doing whatever they needed her to do.
This was not her first time serving abroad. Brett went on two Mercer On Mission trips with Laura Lackey, dean of the department of environmental engineering. In Uganda, they tested potential causes and solutions for the excess of iron in the water supply. In Kenya, they worked on water filters for the community.
As a parting gift, Brett had left Lackey a small photograph of the two of them that now rests in her office on the bookshelf near the door.
Lackey remembers Brett fondly.
“Her kindness is infectious,” Lackey said. “That’s like her biggest gift.”
Now working with UNHRD full time, Brett is able to continue the work she started at Mercer.
“I can't pinpoint exactly that's one thing that really like influenced it all, but it was the combination of everything,” Brett said. “The environment and the atmosphere. The quality of people that are at Mercer and those who are teaching you. They're actually invested. All my professors are invested in me or my coaches are invested in it. So it's easy to learn when you're in that type of environment.”
Brett is back in Italy now, but is hopeful for the Bahamas.
“They'll rebuild,” she said. “It'll take time, but they'll get back to it.”
(10/16/19 4:00am)
Recently, rom-com movies have revitalized the genre with films like “Love, Simon” and “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” “Tall Girl” is not one of these movies.
Directed by Nzingha Stewart and starring Ava Michelle, Luke Eisner, Griffin Gluck, Anjelika Washington and Sabrina Carpenter, the film follows a 6’1” high school student, Jodi Kreyman, as she navigates life with Swedish transfer student Stig, childhood friend Dunkleman and archrival Kimmy Stitcher. The story follows her burgeoning feelings about boys, her height and her struggle with self-acceptance.
Unfortunately for viewers and for “Tall Girl,” the story conveyed is hardly a new one. Too many teenage romantic comedies feature an outcast girl who falls in love with the new student, deals with the antagonistic popular girl and has a childhood friend who is in love with her. “Tall Girl” follows the formula to the letter, complete with make-overs, petty third-act conflict and a big social event at the end of the film.
Following this mainstream theme, the characters are all the typical rom-com archetypes with the standard development — or lack thereof. Jodi, our heroine, is an insecure teenage girl who can never stand up for herself. Dunkleman is the childhood friend who has a crush on Jodi and the inability to accept no for an answer. Fareeda is the eccentric, outgoing best friend who at one point lampshades the lack of attention she receives in the film with rhetorical requests. Stig is the gorgeous and kind-hearted new exchange student, and Kimmy reigns as the cruel queen bee of their high school. The only difference in the formula is Jodi’s older pageant queen sister, who contrasts Jodi’s shy and introverted nature.
While some of the character development makes sense, such as Jodi’s standard journey of self-acceptance, other characters’ personalities change only to move the plot forward. Most of the characters are one-dimensional and are difficult to root for or against. Fareeda, Harper and Harper’s parents are probably the most interesting characters, diverging from the predictability of the other characters. Unfortunately, they also receive far less screen time than the less interesting characters like Jodi, Dunkleman, Stig and Kimmy.
Ironically enough, “Tall Girl” accidentally calls out one of its biggest flaws: the intended lesson of overcoming adversity. Early in the film, Jodi’s mother tries to reassure Jodi by explaining how she, too, experienced “adversity” in high school, due to being so beautiful that all of the other girls hated her while she had to continuously reject suitors. The movie portrays an unrealistic and problematic message that Jodi being teased for her height is similar to racial, social and gender oppression.
The irony comes from the fact that the movie constantly tries to portray Jodi — a middle class, conventionally attractive white girl who lives in a very large home — as being the most victimized person in school. Along with the juvenile “bullying” that the film shows, which in and of itself is not worth nearly as much notoriety as it receives, it’s hard to really pity Jodi for her pain. The absurd nature of painting a 6-foot-1 girl as a “freak” distracts from the movie’s attempts to tell a story about how people should celebrate their differences.
Ultimately, the biggest flaw for “Tall Girl” is the timing of its release; I expected better stories and representation considering other romantic comedies currently in the market. The film is far from unredeemable; it’s just an average teen rom-com that you could pull out of the '90s. With a mundane plot, cliche characters and a clumsy message, “Tall Girl’s” biggest problem is simply that it is average.
(10/15/19 4:00am)
Recently, artist Post Malone has been making another big come-up. Known for his striking facial tattoos and famous song, “Congratulations,” his new album showcases a more sincere and vulnerable side of himself.
His third studio album, titled “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” was released at the beginning of September. The album is a complete turn from Malone’s other music, and his subjectivity and vulnerability allowed it to skyrocket on the charts. The overall album takes his usual genre of hip-hop and adds some soulful pop, creating a beautiful and meaningful project for his fans to enjoy.
The album is comprised of 17 songs, featuring other well known artists such as Lil Baby, SZA, Halsey, Travis Scott and more. Malone uses features on his songs constructively and creates music that transcends not just one audience, but multiple.
The album’s opening song, “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” starts off almost like a soft ballad, then smoothly transitions to bass-filled bumps of rap, which is something I’ve never heard from Malone. This first song shows Malone’s more vulnerable side, then quickly changes tempo to the usual funk-filled Malone that we know. This is a recurring theme throughout the album.
“Circles” has a groovy guitar melody with pop undertones and seems to be a low yet upbeat cry for help from Malone. The strumming of the guitar combined with the sensual lyrics create a feeling of love, hinting at Post Malone’s past relationships.
Not only did Malone give us insight into his personal life, but this album has resulted in major successes in his musical career. His song “Sunflower” is featured in the movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse” and has expanded his audience to a new demographic of listeners.
This album is completely seamless. I am always appreciative of artists that immerse themselves fully into their work, and Malone is an artist who does just that.
Overall, “Hollywood's Bleeding” is an intricate meditation on Malone’s censored side. He branched out of his comfort zone by combining multiple genres and different artists to create a lasting experience that appeals to all audiences, rather than one. Malone took a major risk by portraying himself in such a lucid way, but ultimately did an amazing job in doing so. This album has been a huge success for Malone, and hopefully will continue to grant him more success in his future.
(10/14/19 4:33pm)
Christie DeNizio is the most recent artist on display at the McEachern Art Center in downtown Macon. Her exhibit, “How to Fold a Paper Boat,” is full of vibrant, breathtaking, yet simple images made of random objects that still fully grab the audience’s attention. DeNizio has created a world of small, insignificant objects that coalesce into one whole.
“Within a shallow space, pieces of ephemera are arranged into collages and shadow boxes. Ephemera are items meant to exist for only a short time, but often saved for sentimental reasons. Each painting is a poetic record,” according to the description of the exhibit.
With the use of inspiration from famous works, drawings, postcards, tarot cards and other print materials, the details in DeNizio’s art are amazing.
DeNizio currently serves as visiting assistant professor of art at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and as an instructor in the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Upon first examination, her paintings showcase items that may not seem important to all but are important to the person who receives them. The painting “Counterfeit Strawberries,” for example, portrays simple paper materials that are thrown in a pile.
The painting shows order in chaos, as the strawberries shine bright red against the dark green surrounding them. The sun peaks out its head slowly, rising gently from the chaotic pattern to rest in the bottom left corner before the watcher’s eye travels slowly up to the bright, colorful birds that dominate the left side of the painting.
DeNizio uses a metaphor found on a flyer posted in the art center, to explain her intentions: “Imagine a paper boat. We have followed the instructions and spent time carefully pressing edges and folding each plane until transformed. It will float, but not for long. And yet still, we fold out little paper boats and set them upon the waves.”
By looking at the images, I see how DeNizio has chosen to infuse her own memories into her medium. Her work is influenced by where she was, where she is now and where she hopes to be.
I saw the influence of the digitized world in the piece “Body Tapestry.” The urge of female empowerment and strength of women is showcased in the bold orange and the calm blue of “Double Crown Annie.”
You can also see the importance of diving into a history beyond just what is known, looking at the solid material behind the bright, elaborately patterned facade conveyed in “Burial.”
While each piece is different in its complexity, the unifying theme is that there is no unifying theme. This exhibition shows that there is no true whole, for each piece is just a scrap of paper within the much broader fabric of the world. We as humans try to picture this whole. By giving things their meaning, we ourselves make them important.
That is the beauty of the exhibition: the different pictures allowed me to come up with my own definitive ideas as to what the painting referred to, if it referred to anything. There is a secret meaning for every person, which makes discovering that meaning and gazing at the paintings even more poignant.
While I would argue that her work is not necessarily for everyone, what is for everyone is the ability to decide for themselves what the paintings mean and how the paintings affect them. Upon first examination, these paintings show nothing. Upon deeper examination, however, I, and other viewers, can see the ways in which attention was paid to each detail.
DeNizio paints from the heart, using her own experiences to draft an image that bombards the senses and has a unique meaning for everyone. It is this power to create something from nothing that allows her work to shine. Overall, I really enjoyed this art installation. It was different from what I was expecting, but I thought the artist showed tremendous talent and control in what she created.
DeNizio’s paintings will be on display at the McEachern Art Center in downtown Macon until Oct. 19.
(10/14/19 4:13pm)
There’s a dominant religion in the southern United States, and it’s not what you think. It’s college football.
Saturdays are the most important Sabbath in the land from September to December, and no Saturdays are bigger than home games.
Mercer’s campus truly comes to life whenever the Bears play at home, but with all the food, fun and festivities, how can you have the most spiritually fulfilling Sabbath this Saturday?
Lucky for you, I have attended nearly every single home football game in my time on campus — and many before I became a student, going all the way back to 2014 — and have all the tips you need to make the most of your game day this week.
Tailgates
If there’s any way to celebrate a game day, it’s tailgating. Food, music, friends and cornhole all make for a great time, so what’s better than having them all in the same place?
Mercer offers not one, but two different locations for tailgating, with student organizations gathering on Cruz Plaza and other groups congregating by Black Field. Finding your favorite group and stopping by for a burger is a must on game day.
Black Field isn’t just the home of tailgates though. This year, Mercer is introducing even more festivities to liven up game day. From the Ford Concert Series to the Bear Garden, inflatables for the kids — sorry students, we don’t count — and all sorts of other fun, Black Field is the hub for pregame activities.
Hit the game
This seems like a given, but I honestly get surprised at how few people actually attend the games. It seems like most people just go to the pregame festivities and then go home.
That defeats the whole point of football!
Mercer games offer a fun, relaxing atmosphere that everyone can enjoy. Watching the Bears take the field is exhilarating as the team runs out through a cloud of orange smoke. Miss the entrance? No problem! Awards, recognitions and giveaways all take place on the field throughout the game, many of them benefiting or at least involving the Macon community.
Are you a Mercer student? If so, then great! Because not only does that mean that you get a free ticket, it means that you get to sit with your classmates and get hype while you cheer on your Bears.
The Mercer Maniacs bring the student section to life with their energy, face paint, streamers and chants flowing like Gatorade throughout the section.
Hungry at the game? Don’t sweat it! There’s food for sale all around the stadium, and you can use your Dining Dollars and Bear Bucks at any of the Mercer Dining concession stands on popcorn, nachos or any of your other game day snacks. Snag a souvenir cup from one of these stands and get a free refill! What a deal!
Catch the marching band
Okay, I admit it: not everyone is as big of a football fan as I am. Maybe spending three to four hours of your life watching big, muscular dudes pound each other into the dirt over a leather ball is just not the way you want to spend your Saturday. That’s fine, but there is something you should want to see at all of the football games: the marching band.
Under second-year band director Blake Garcia, the Mercer Marching Band has truly become the best halftime show in Middle Georgia. The band sounds incredible and plays amazing songs; I could talk for hours about this year’s New Orleans themed halftime show.
To reiterate how good the band is, I have been attending Mercer football games for five years. The band has literally never sounded or looked better than they do right now.
Conclusion? If you haven’t heard the Mercer Marching Band, you need to. If you don’t want to go to the whole game just to see the band, they play on the UC steps before every game, and play their way back to Penfield Hall after every game. You have no excuse to not hear them.
Go out to eat
I get it, it’s 100 degrees out still. No one wants to sit out in that heat. However, you can still catch plenty of football from the TVs in the restaurants around campus. Margarita’s and Amici are probably your best bet, but who can complain about any place with great food and big TVs?
Experience it all with your friends
I know, this point is cheesy. Maybe Mercer doesn’t have tens of thousands of students like UGA, or the best team in the country like Clemson, or decades of history behind our football program like Notre Dame, but Mercer does still have something great: community.
We don’t just know that we’re a small school, we embrace it. We don’t put our athletes in insultingly easy classes and elevate them to celebrity status, they’re our friends and classmates. We are the Bears, and we love to show it on the field, in the classroom and in the world around us.
As easy as it is to take those things for granted now, don’t do it. You’re only here for four years, which means you only have 20 or so chances to experience a Mercer gameday in all of its glory. Once school is over, you can no longer just roll out of bed, throw on your favorite orange shirt and take a leisurely walk to the student section.
Take it from a senior, college flies by fast. Make sure you hold onto every opportunity you have to “Be the Bear” with your friends while you still live within walking distance of each other. Before you know it, you’ll be a senior too and wonder where the time went. Embrace the community, enjoy the events, spend the days with your friends and eat all the free food you can get your hands on.
Make sure to make your Mercer memories.
(10/14/19 4:00am)
A new Mercer organization, Bears Engaged Across Religion, was approved by the Student Government Association last month. B.E.A.R. aims to reach students with religious and nonreligious backgrounds to participate in an interfaith dialogue about faith traditions.
Comprised mostly of senior students, B.E.A.R. is the successor to an organization from seven years ago, the Mercer Interfaith Alliance. Mercer professor Eimad Houry, who is the chair of the international and global studies department, served as the Alliance’s adviser, and wanted to see a similar group come back to campus.
“When the Mercer Interfaith Alliance (MIA) group was established, there seemed to be a lot of interest on campus,” Houry said. “I had participated with several colleagues in several interfaith conversations sponsored by the university, but there was no forum for students to have this type of discussion.”
While the Mercer Interfaith Alliance and B.E.A.R have similar focuses, B.E.A.R. has a specific purpose in promoting interfaith dialogue.
“The idea is to mobilize people of faith to work together to deal with difficult issues locally and internationally,” Houry said. “We want to encourage interfaith collaboration to work on specific problems by offering interfaith responses.”
He started reaching out to students primarily from the international and global studies department over the summer to see who might be interested in doing this type of outreach and service work on campus.
Eight founding students have since been developing their plans for what they want B.E.A.R. to be and planning events for the semester. Though they founded the organization, B.E.A.R. does not have a traditional executive board. In an email, founding member Kaila Banker said that all members actively participate in events, meetings and goals.
B.E.A.R. has established five specific objectives: to introduce students to religious traditions that they may not have known about before, bring existing religious organizations together to collaborate on events and projects, contribute to Mercer’s community of respect, provide service for common community issues by mobilizing and engaging religious organizations and establish a platform celebrating religious diversity.
“There are a lot of stereotypes out there about what religion means, and we would like people to share what their religion means to them and have them also answer questions that people may have about their beliefs,” Banker said. “Our goal is not to proselytize to anyone, but to educate and share.”
Houry said he thinks B.E.A.R. is a necessary addition to Mercer’s campus right now.
“I believe that this organization fills a critical vacuum that currently exists on campus. In this day and age, and considering all the misinformation that exists about religion and religions, interfaith dialogue is more important than ever,” Houry said.
Banker also said that they do not want to generalize any religious traditions, which is why a lot of their goals rely on participants’ personal experiences.
Currently, B.E.A.R. has met with multiple religious organizations, including the Wesley Foundation, Delight Ministries and the Muslim Student Association. They still want to meet with different organizations and students who represent different faiths, and are open to anyone regardless of religious background.
The group currently invites interested students to their Wednesday meetings at 10 a.m. in Groover Hall or their Religious Expo event Oct. 25 on Cruz Plaza from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. They plan to have different organizations for individuals unrepresented by organizations to explain their religions and traditions.
“We hope to bring the campus together to engage in service to the community,” Banker said. “To show that we all have common goals regardless of belief systems.”
(10/13/19 6:24pm)
This August marks professor Chelsea Rathburn’s first semester at Mercer as the newest addition to the English department.
Rathburn is originally from Miami, Florida, and came to Mercer from Young Harris College in northern Georgia. At Young Harris, she worked the creative writing department alongside her husband. In addition to being a professor, Rathburn is also a published poet who now has three collections of poetry.
Rathburn has always known she wanted to have a career in English and writing. She has been writing poems since she was a child, influenced by childhood favorites like Shel Silverstein and Edgar Allen Poe. She was also heavily influenced by literary magazines.
Her love for reading stems from her childhood. Rathburn said her mother used to take her to the library almost every day during the week. Each day, Rathburn would check out stacks of books that she would devour, only to go back the next day to grab another stack.
“There was this world of literature, this world of books I could get into,” Rathburn said.
Originally, Rathburn thought that she was going to be a fiction writer. When she went to college, however, she decided to take an introductory poetry class that she heard about while standing in the English office at Florida State University.
“I ran home to the dorm and signed up, and I got in,” she said.
Since completing her undergraduate degree, Rathburn has published three collections of poetry. Her first collection, “The Shifting Line,” was published when she was still in graduate school.
“(My first poetry book was a) grab bag that I started in graduate school,” Rathburn said.
[pullquote speaker="Chelsea Rathburn, professor of English and Georgia Poet Laureate" photo="" align="right" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]You hear a lot of no’s. It’s kind of like talking into the void … does my voice matter?[/pullquote]
Her second book, “A Raft of Grief,” was published in 2013. This collection features poems that were published in magazines like The Atlantic and brought Rathburn more notice. The collection follows Rathburn’s first marriage and explores themes such as grief and alcoholism.
“The poems were a way to figure out how to write about things that you don’t want to outright say, or by naming names,” Rathburn said. “(It plays with the) stories we make out of our lives and the way that places can transport us, or not.”
Her latest collection is titled “Still Life with Mother and Knife,” and was published in 2019. In this book, Rathburn writes poems about motherhood, the female body, maternal fear and trauma, and it also contains a series of poems based on a painting of Madea. This collection serves as a distancing ground for Rathburn to talk about topics such as postpartum and the way that it looks and functions differently for every person.
Rathburn said publishing can become a bit of a drag when it comes to poetry. As with publishing fiction, there can be a lot of criticism, and oftentimes no criticism at all.
“You hear a lot of no’s,” Rathburn said. “It’s kind of like talking into the void … does my voice matter?”
Rathburn found that her voice does matter. In March of 2019, Rathburn was named Poet Laureate of the state of Georgia. While her job is mostly ceremonial, Rathburn does serve on the Georgia Council for the Arts and as a literary ambassador for the literary arts in the state of Georgia.
Recently, Rathburn’s poetry has gained quite a bit of popularity. Her works have been featured in magazines like The Atlantic, Southern Review and Poetry Magazine, but Rathburn said she is more proud of the poems that impact others than the poems that land national magazines.
“(I’m) interested in poems finding the readers who need them … Sometimes I have poems that appear in small places, and it’s cool to have people message and say ‘I needed this poem,’” Rathburn said.
Rathburn is currently working on her next project: a collection of poems centered around Florida and creating a project centered around Miami, her hometown.
Rathburn is hoping to begin this research for her new projects this year, and hopes to focus on her work over the summer.
(10/13/19 6:19pm)
“Frozen, Jr.” is taking the stage in Middle Georgia. The junior version of the Broadway musical was made available for production recently. Now that it has been released, Theatre Macon director Richard Frazier has snagged the rights to this popular show.
The show has only become available in the last year, according to the Music Theatre International’s website. Since its release, there has been an explosion of interest; there will be 20 productions of the show all over the United States within the next three months.
“We are actually the third group to produce Disney’s ‘Frozen, Jr.,’ but we are the first to produce it with full costumes, sets and special effects,” Frazier said.
Being one of the first theatre groups to produce “Frozen, Jr.,” Theatre Macon has gained some celebrity attention. Brooklyn Nelson, the actor who plays young Elsa in the original Broadway production of “Frozen,” sent a short, 13-second video to Theatre Macon to wish them good luck during the run of their show.
“I work closely with many theatre professionals from around the country, and I reached out to a friend who worked with the young Anna and young Elsa in the original Broadway production,” Frazier said. “I asked if she thought if either of the young ladies would be interested in sending a ‘break a leg’ video to our cast, and we are so grateful they did. The cast was so excited, and it really gave them an extra jolt of energy before their second performance on Saturday.”
“Frozen, Jr.” is being produced by Theatre Macon’s Youth Actor Company (YAC). The show stars YAC alumni Ella Trotter as Elsa and Anna Buckroth as Anna.
The production process started in the summer; auditions were held in July and the cast has been in rehearsal since the middle of August. Frazier said they took about two weeks to learn the music, then two weeks to perfect the choreography and blocking. After that, they started to include technical elements like lighting, sound and costumes.
Costume designer Shelley Kuhen has been working on the show since August alongside her design team members Katie Trotter, Logan Best and Kayla Astin, who is also Kuhen’s granddaughter. The team has hand-crafted almost all of the costume pieces for this show, including a hand-embroidered and hand-painted dress for Anna and a magnetized breakaway dress for Elsa.
“The magnetized dress was sewn to look like two pieces, but was actually one piece that has magnet buttons down the front,” Kuhen said. “When it came time for Elsa to reveal the ice dress, she rips off the magnetized dress and someone from underneath the stairs whisks it away to show the ice dress underneath.”
The show opened Sept. 27 and had a great turnout; several of the shows sold out throughout the run. Frazier said he is very excited to share this work with everyone in the Macon community.
“It has been wonderful to be in the theatre with parents bringing their children to see what could possibly be their first live performance anywhere, and they are choosing to come to Theatre Macon,” he said.
While Frazier and the design team have taken inspiration from the Broadway and movie versions of the show, there have also been design elements incorporated that make this show unique to Theatre Macon.
“Something that really makes this show exciting is that we utilize four snow cannons as well as many other special effects. We are also using video projections for the production, which really allows us to create some theatre and movie magic,” Frazier said. “We’ve had a blast bringing this production to life, but also giving it our own Theatre Macon touch.”
Tickets for future productions at Theatre Macon can be purchased through their website.
(10/13/19 6:14pm)
The Mercer Green Coalition staged a climate strike on Sept. 28 to raise awareness for issues of environmental sustainability. The strike was held on Cruz Plaza and was done in partnership with the Friday for Future movement.
“The biggest thing is that we hope that people make changes in their personal lives and their habits, but obviously we would like to see a change in the way that Mercer itself is structured and how it handles sustainability issues, which is something that we have been trying to do for the past two years since the Green Coalition was formed,” said Emily Harvey, a Mercer Green Coalition member.
The strike, which was inspired by the young activist Greta Thunburg, incorporated groups from several local colleges and high schools.
“We got some emails from groups at Middle Georgia State and some from Milledgeville, as well as from some Macon high schools that wanted to join us,” said Nidihi Saakshi, director of the Mercer Green Coalition. “It was nice to see that people were interested and willing to travel for it.”
One of the ways for students to participate in the strike was to pose with signs displaying various climate and environmental concerns, in addition to artwork with memes and witty phrases.
“We had people come out Wednesday to make the signs, and they were really excited and engaged with it, so we hope things go well,” Harvey said.
While the strike was the latest action taken by the Coalition, they have been active on environmental issues since they were founded.
“The Green Coalition has done a lot to try and improve sustainability on campus. We do have recycling on campus, but it is out of the way and people don't really know about it. We have pushed for institutional changes in that way that Mercer builds buildings, what they use in them and the way that sustainability is thought of on campus,” Harvey said.
While the Coalition is primarily focused on campus sustainability issues, they also have a wider outlook.
“We hope to engage in conversation, to get people talking about climate change so that they can push and show the university and the community that they want change and that they are passionate about it,” Saakshi said.
This wider perspective is also reflected in the makeup of the group.
“Green Coalition isn't an organization. It’s made up of student organizations that have partnered together: Bear it Natural, SGA, Greener Mercer and the Vegan club,” Harvey said.
With this range of members and a goal of sustainability, the Coalition has set its sights high.
“We would love to see a world with a future,” Harvey said.
October is International Campus Sustainability Month, and Saakshi said the Coalition will have three events throughout the month. More information will be posted on their Instagram and through Bear Blurbs.
(10/13/19 5:58pm)
Wise Avenue Park opened Sept. 18 as the latest development in Macon-Bibb’s Blight Remediation Program. According to Macon-Bibb County Communication Specialist Rachel Gambill, the county purchased the abandoned, blighted properties around Hudson Street and Betty Tolbert Way, knocked them down and replaced them with the park using $2 million in bond funds.
Blight refers to the abandonment and often degradation of properties that can cause further abandonment and economic loss for the community, according to a publication by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The project aims to eliminate this blight in Macon-Bibb County.
“After visiting cities successfully attacking blight and spurring revitalization, they learned a better effort was to tear down groups of blighted homes in the same neighborhood,” Gambill said.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Sept. 18, according to Gambill.
This park is part of the Walnut Creek Village Master Redevelopment Plan, according to the Macon-Bibb County Big Picture Comprehensive Plan Update 2040. This plan includes “new sidewalks, monumental signage and street trees” around Gray Highway and other streets within the area. In these other streets, parking lanes will be revitalized as well. The county will also rezone the corner of Emery Highway and Second Street for mixed use, with housing and retail.
Other steps have already gone underway in order to reduce blight.
In February, county commissioners for Macon-Bibb approved a tax on residential properties experiencing blight, according to previous reporting from The Cluster.
Gambill said that the Macon-Bibb County Community Redevelopment Tax Incentive Program started Aug. 30 when the Code Enforcement Division of the Business Development Services Department sent approximately 275 letters to the owners of properties deemed blighted.
The tax commissioner, Wade McCord, helped auction off many blighted properties at the Macon State Farmers’ Marketon Sept. 3, Gambill also reported.
The Macon-Bibb County Land Bank Authority is in charge of many of the properties within the blight reduction program, and currently lists available properties on its website, which last updates its list in July.
The land bank describes these properties as “vacant residential lot(s).” Prices currently are listed as either $400 or $1,000.
Blight has been an issue in Macon for many years. According to a 2014 article by Emily Farlow from The Cluster, the Center for Collaborative Journalism (CCJ) held an “UnBlight” conference to discuss ways to fix blight. That year, students working with the CCJ catalogued structures facing blight.
“New businesses are hesitant to enter areas with blight, leaving less money and fewer jobs for the city,” Farlow said.
Macon-Bibb’s Blight Remediation Program will continue to make efforts to improve the local economy through targeted projects.
According to Gambill, other projects include the expansion of property around the Bert Bivins Fire Station & Sheriff’s Office Precinct on Napier Avenue, the expansion of Filmore Thomas Park and Henry Burns Park, a pedestrian bridge along Log Cabin Drive and infrastructure improvements in the Beall’s Hill Neighborhood.
(10/12/19 1:16am)
This is an opinion article. Any views expressed belong solely to the author and are not representative of The Cluster.
I tend to have a soft spot for the Caf. I feel like a lot of the criticisms about Mercer’s dining primarily focuses on the Caf’s flaws while letting everything wrong with the restaurants or the Farm go without even a second thought. I can’t be the only person to be grossed out that the Farm’s ice cream bowls are always dirty, right?
The Caf has its benefits! The staff is friendly, it’s close to a good portion of the dorms and the buffet-style is super convenient. That being said, the inconveniences of the Caf are a lot more prevalent and make it a far less desirable place for lunch on campus.
If you happen to frequent the Caf enough, you may have noticed the abrupt temporary switch to plastic utensils, plastic cups and Styrofoam plates a few weeks ago. I asked workers at the Caf, and they confirmed that the dishwasher had broken that week, necessitating the temporary switch.
Of course, that brings up the question. Why does a school with over 8,000 students, over half of whom are undergrads, not have a backup dishwasher, or at least a plan that doesn’t rely on a massive amount of Styrofoam plates?
There’s also irony in the fact that this immediately followed the Caf’s switch to reusable to-go containers in an attempt to be more eco-friendly, which was quite a contrast with the amount of waste one can imagine ended up in the trash.
Along with that, students with dietary restrictions struggle to find food to eat at the Caf, because of the limited options. Mercer Dining literally had a day for the Caf to offer meatless options as a special event because of the typical lack of options for vegan and vegetarian students.
One of the most exciting things to me about independence last year was the ability to control how I ate, but I wasn’t given much of an option at the Caf. Eating healthy is a challenge, especially if you want it to also taste good. It doesn’t help that a lot of the time, the Caf’s food will be sitting out for quite awhile, unless you go by the deli or the grill.
No matter how often you do or don’t eat at the Caf, you’ve either heard about or complained about the hours. The Caf closes at 8 p.m. every night, which doesn’t seem problematic until you realize that there are classes that don’t end until 8 p.m. or later during the week. There are also organizations and clubs that start at 8 p.m. or later, along with students working or studying later.
One of my friends had a class that lasted until 8:30 p.m. last semester and another that doesn’t end until 8 p.m. this semester. I worked the football games and I always had to find some other way to get dinner afterwards, because the Caf was always closed. At another point, I had to resort to leaving campus to get dinner after an interview on one Friday, because everything was closed. With so many students clearly still active on campus far past 8 p.m., the fact that one of the two food options that offer unlimited food and meal swipes close far earlier than most students retire is an issue.
Most of these are not new issues for the Caf either, which raises the question of why Mercer Dining refuses to address any of them, despite student complaints. Ultimately the Caf, though well-meaning, is a lot more inconvenient for students than the other dining choices that offer better backup plans, food options and hours.
(10/12/19 12:50am)
When people find out I’m a twin, I always get the same questions and reactions. “Oh my gosh, can you feel each other's pain? Can you read each other's minds?”
The answer is always no, of course.
As we get older, the questions have evolved into more mature versions with the same idea. “Why would you guys choose to go to different schools? Is it weird not being together anymore?”
Having a twin is no different than growing up with older or younger siblings, but all our lives we have constantly been characterized as a unit, as if our minds and souls are somehow literally connected to one another. I never mind the silly questions and the playful banter, but growing up with someone who is the same age as you, looks like you and sounds like you definitely imposes an identity crisis in one phase or another.
As you can expect, my twin sister and I did everything together when we were younger. Ballet, gymnastics, cheerleading — you name it, we did it, and we did it side by side, hand in hand. We learned how to ride bikes together, and we lost our first teeth around the same time. When she couldn’t catch on to the complexities of tying a shoe, I taught her.
Growing up, having someone to share every milestone with was very comforting. For many people, the idea of sharing every moment of your upbringing with another person seemed so crazy, almost undoable.
The rumors are false. In all actuality, we have always been very independent.
In elementary school, we were never in the same classes, which really allowed us to cultivate our social skills outside of each other. We had different friends and different experiences to share with each other after our day apart. This separation allowed us to learn and formulate our own thoughts and make our own decisions without each other’s biases.
As we got older and school got harder, clear distinctions started to take precedence in different aspects of our lives. My sister was always the better student; when she got an A, I got a B. When she received academic honors, I sat in the crowd cheering her on.
Where I lacked academically, I made up in pristine social skills. I never felt fazed by her brains, but everyone around us felt as if I should have. For the first time in our lives, I could see the stereotypes affecting our dynamic. From an outside perspective, everything was always a comparison as to who was better at this or that. Our strengths and weaknesses never stood alone but on a balance, toggling back and forth between who was the “best.”
As a young, impressionable teen, people's opinions really can have an effect on you. I don’t know what she felt, but constantly being compared by others to someone I shared such an unwavering bond with was a weird experience for me during our adolescence.
When it came time to make college decisions, going to different schools seemed to be a big deal to everyone except us. We wanted different things out of our college experiences, so it only made sense. Of course, we got the question, “Will it be weird not being with your sister anymore?” It’s funny, no one questioned my other sibling the way we were interrogated about separating our twin bond by a couple hundred miles.
We made the decision to attend different schools, and like many other aspects of our lives, at the end of the day, we always make whatever decision is best for ourselves, individually. I grew up with very loving, supportive parents who taught us the importance of the “me” not “we” mentality, the idea that we are two individuals and despite the opinions of others or even each other, we have to do what makes us happy.
I never considered growing up with a twin to be this unusual concept, but so many people do. Living through it, you never consider how unconventional it is to others. At the same time, outsiders don’t consider how their single identification of two individuals can affect the individuals being combined. Though people make these preconceived notions about the way twins have to be, my sister and I never let that get us down for too long.
I love being a twin; I love having someone who can relate to me in a way that no one can, or ever will be able to. Despite our independence, we share a bond that is unbreakable by any amount of academic achievement, distance or external opinion.
(10/11/19 1:23am)
During October of her freshman year, Willow Stuckey was in the middle of adjusting to the wild world of college. Then, she received a devastating call: one of her family members was placed in hospice care.
“I was just freaking out and I didn’t know who to call — I just called one of my section members and they came right away,” Stuckey said. “They ran right across campus.”
As a current sophomore in the Mercer marching band program, Stuckey found a support system that helped her adjust to college and get through the issues she was having at home. Considering she did not know many people in her classes or her dorm, this support system was incredibly valuable, she said.
“It was just another outlet to help you adjust,” Stuckey said. “It is just another group of people to reach out to that you have an extra connection with.”
Stuckey’s experience also reflects the philosophy that Mercer’s director of athletic bands, Blake Garcia, brings to the marching band: band should be a community, not a source of stress.
“I want to make it a sort of escape for them — a refresher — to be able to get away from their stressors in life,” Garcia said.
While Garcia, as a band director, has to hold the group to a certain level of excellence, he said he wants to make it a social activity as well.
Garcia also uses this approach when it comes to band camp. During band camp — when band members move in a week early to prepare for football games — the group went bowling, visited a nearby lake and played laser tag.
This helps make their long days of practice more fun, Garcia said. When school starts, he tries to keep it on the relaxed side as well.
“It’s one of the more relaxing parts of my day because there is no school work involved,” Stuckey said.
That does not mean, however, that the program does not require effort.
While many marching bands practice every single day, the Mercer marching band practices only two days a week during the school year. Each practice lasts about two hours. Additionally, the band adds a practice the Friday before home football games.
Game days can be full-day affairs. However, Garcia said they still practice much less than many other collegiate marching bands.
“I do that so that this does not consume their life,” Garcia said. “I want them to be able to do other things.”
The group does not have auditions, and players of all skill levels are welcome. The group works to accommodate students of all marching experiences, he said. Some members have marched competitively, while others have never marched at all.
At the end of the day, however, the group has to sound good.
“There’s a lot of different demographics interacting; a lot of people from different backgrounds,” sophomore trumpet player Da'Joun Dotson said. “But the expectation is that you’re going to give your all."
That expectation is something that Garcia echoed. When they show up, the members are expected to be ready to play, he said.
“What it (being a member) means is to have fun but at the same time field a very high-quality production that they are going to be proud of,” Garcia said. “It’s a fine balance.”
During football games, the marching band performs at halftime, in between plays and at Bear Walk. The marching band season ends after the last home game of the season.
(10/11/19 1:07am)
As astrology has hit the mainstream, from horoscopes in Cosmopolitan to apps like Co-Star and Astro Guide, tarot card readings have also grown in popularity. Tarot readers looking for cards used to be limited to metaphysical shops and certain Etsy stores, but today, major retailers like Urban Outfitters and Barnes & Noble — even the one in Macon! — sell decks.
Like asking someone their zodiac sign, reaching for a tarot deck when life gets confusing isn’t considered as strange as it once was. But what is the tarot, and how is it really used?
A lot of folks think that the point of tarot is to tell your future. In my experience, though, they can only guide you in deciding how you want to shape your own future by helping you access your intuition.
At the risk of oversimplifying a complex system, consider this: have you ever flipped a coin to make a decision, been disappointed with the results and realized that the other option was the outcome you really wanted?
That’s the same way the tarot works.
However, they can apply to more complex issues than a yes or no, should I or shouldn’t I situation, and learning to intuit what the cards represent takes time, effort and dedication.
Let’s get down to the basics. A traditional tarot deck contains 78 cards, 22 of which comprise the Major Arcana. The rest fall into the Minor Arcana. You’re probably most familiar with Major cards, like The Fool, The Sun, The Moon, Death and The Lovers.
Major cards refer to important life events, transitions and transformations; for example, Death refers to a period of rebirth and is often represented by a phoenix rising from the ashes, while The Fool usually indicates the start of a new journey, experience or phase of life, characterized by childlike innocence, excitement and naïveté.
The majority of tarot cards consist of the Minor Arcana. These cards refer to day-to-day experiences, feelings and situations, and their meanings can be devised by considering their separate parts: suit, number and Court rank.
The four suits of the tarot are Cups, Wands, Swords and Coins, which are sometimes called Pentacles. Cups represent emotions, interpersonal relationships, intuition and the element of Water; Wands signify elemental Fire, personal will, energy, and creativity; Swords represent danger, power, intellect, cunning and the Air element; and Coins stand for Earth energy, grounding, physical sensation and worldly experiences such as accumulating wealth.
From there, the number on the card helps you understand to what extent the keywords of the Suit are being evoked:
Aces are the idea or potential behind the idea.
Twos are the very beginning of its application.
Threes are initial structure of a plan, project, or cycle.
Fours represent it starting to stabilize.
Fives indicate troubles or disorganization along the way.
Sixes imply difficulty with balance.
Sevens show the first sight of completion.
Eights suggest problem-solving.
Nines imply the ending of the cycle.
Tens appear upon completion.
After Tens come Princesses or Pages, Princes or Knights, Queens and Kings, known as Court Cards or Royal Arcana. Princess and Pages are youthful, embodying new perspectives on the traits associated with the suit. Princes and Knights represent a potential imbalance, moments of high energy mixed with bouts of procrastination. The Queen is the most mature embodiment of her suit and leads with intention, while the King leads with swiftness and setting boundaries.
If you want to start reading tarot, the first thing you’ll need is a deck. You can purchase a deck at plenty of retail stores, as I mentioned before, but if you’re willing to look a little harder you can find beautiful decks created by independent artists online.
Some indie decks I like are The Tarot, psychedelic-art-themed cards by Oliver Hibert, and Fifth Spirit Tarot, a queer re-imagining of the traditionally gendered tarot by non-binary artist Claire Burgess. You can also pick up a deck from a metaphysical store, like Modern Mystic Shop at Ponce City Market in Atlanta, or on Amazon or Etsy.
Artists create decks with any theme you can imagine: cats, intersectional feminists throughout history, space, African-American icons, Harry Potter, flowers, Judeo-Christian religious figures and even anime. If a tarot deck is too expensive (a produced deck retails for about $45), you can also draw your own cards based on the archetypes or download a free tarot app (I use Golden Thread and Mystic Mondays).
Then you need to figure out what to ask! For some people, this is easier said than done. It can be hard to ask a question that’s both specific enough and broad enough for a combination of 78 cards to clearly answer. That’s why many tarot readers use spreads.
A spread is essentially a way of organizing the cards you pull in a specific order where each card answers a specific question based on its placement in the spread. Some examples include the iconic Celtic Cross, which calls for 10 cards, or a simple Past/Present/Future spread, which only requires three.
There are also spreads for different areas of your life if you just need a full rundown in one area: career, love life, academics, mental health or anything else. Some social media influencers share spreads on their accounts; some of my favorites are Emerald Lotus Divination and Biddy Tarot.
If you do have a specific question, just make sure to keep it open-ended. When I’m asking the cards about a decision I have to make, I pull one card to answer, “what will my experience be if I choose option A?” and another for option B. Then, I select a third to describe what can help me make the choice between the two. Yes-or-no queries like, “should I go to this event?” or “should I drop this class?” are a bit too limiting. The cards can’t tell the future, so try not to ask things like, “will my ex come back?” either.
It might feel awkward the first time you perform a tarot reading, especially if you have to follow a spread you find on Instagram, Google every card or look up their meanings in a book. That’s okay, though; it’s part of the learning process, and I still like to research cards when I do my readings just to be sure I’m considering every perspective.
Remember, it’s totally fine if you only turn to the tarot when you’re facing a particularly confusing issue or challenging situation. And of course, some people just use them for fun.
If you’re into the idea of tarot but not sure you’re ready to read cards for yourself, just pick up the next issue of The Cluster and look for Clusterscopes in the Lifestyle section! I’ll start pulling a card for each zodiac sign, so make sure you know your Sun, Moon and Rising signs. You can use an online natal chart creator like the one at CafeAstrology to help you figure yours out.
(10/10/19 6:50pm)
Macon's southern rock scene was forever changed when Capricorn Sound Studios opened for the first time 50 years ago. Once a recording spot for iconic groups such as the Allman Brothers Band and Wet Willie, the dilapidated Capricorn Records building saddened Macon’s rock fans for years. Now the studio will open for a second time this December as Mercer Music at Capricorn.
“This place holds so many incredible memories, I don’t know where I could start,” said Chuck Leavell, a former member of the Allman Brothers Band and current musical director of the Rolling Stones. “You know, we’ve made a lot of music in this building.”
The restoration was funded by donations from the Peyton Anderson Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Mercer University President Bill Underwood said.
“Mercer owned this place when I first arrived in 2006,” Underwood said. “My heart sank with despair when I saw it.”
Restoring Capricorn Studios is a way to honor part of Macon’s music history. Leavell said the studio has come back to life.
“It does my heart so good to know that it’s not just gonna fall into dilapidation and just fade away, because it just can’t do that,” Leavell said.
The restored Mercer Music at Capricorn will feature rehearsal rooms, offices space, sound stages, a museum and the iconic center sound studio.
Mercer will kick off the opening of the studio with two days of festivities and music. A public ceremony will begin Dec. 3 with performances from students at Mercer’s Robert McDuffy Center for Strings, the Otis Redding Foundation’s Dream Choir and Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie. The studio will then open for tours with more live music followed by Capricorn Revival, a concert at the Macon City Auditorium.
“Mr. Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie will be the headlining act that day, and I can’t wait to see President Underwood introduce them on stage. I think that’s gonna be really fantastic,” said Jamie Weatherford of Rock Candy Tours, a Macon music history tour company.
Leavell said the opening will honor Macon’s rich music heritage.
“This is a great day to celebrate music in Macon, Georgia and the history of music,” Leavell said.
(10/10/19 6:45pm)
The folk-rock group The Lumineers have evolved over the course of their career, and are well known for songs such as “Ho Hey” and “Ophelia.” With their third album, “III,” The Lumineers enter new territory, exploring issues of substance abuse and addiction through nine songs that all connect the same narrative. The stunning visual album tells the story of the Sparks family and the consequences of alcoholism through three chapters and three generations.
For their second album, “Cleopatra,” The Lumineers released a short film titled “The Battle of Cleopatra,” which connects the music videos to several songs on the album. While they draw on that project as inspiration for these nine interconnected songs and videos, they have never produced something quite like “III” before, and the final product is truly a sight to behold. “III” is dark, bold and introspective, especially the final chapter, and though this new album shows a different side of the band, personal touches from their previous music is never lost. Much of “III” is inspired by songwriters Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites’s personal experiences with loved ones facing addiction. This emotion bleeds through every song and lyric and makes for a truly remarkable listening experience.
Set in the 1980s, the first chapter focuses on Gloria, the mother of Jimmy and a raging alcoholic. The first track, “Donna,” begins with a haunting piano melody and the family posing for a photo. We are quickly shown that this family’s situation is not as happy as it seems; the lyrics delve into the ramifications of Gloria’s alcoholism: “A little boy was born in February, you couldn’t sober up to hold the baby.” “Life in the City” treats listeners to Gloria’s escapades as a young woman in the big city, and we learn more about her background and the events leading up to her addiction, which occurs in “III’s” first single, “Gloria.” Throughout these three songs, the neglect of baby Jimmy is never forgotten. At the end of “Gloria” we see him left alone, clutching an empty bottle of vodka, a scene that is unfortunately a foreshadowing.
The second and third chapters are set in modern times and feature a now-adult Jimmy and his son, Junior. Jimmy’s relationship with Junior’s mother has fallen apart and, like his mother Gloria, he becomes an alcoholic. The family is now caught in a vicious cycle, and in “Leader of the Landslide,” Junior is forced to watch his father descend into oblivion. In one particularly jarring instance in “Jimmy Sparks,” shots of a broken Jimmy stumbling down the road are accompanied with clips of a home film of the family when Junior was an infant. If this contrast wasn’t painful enough, Junior ends up driving past his father and following the advice that Jimmy gave him: “don’t you ever give a hitcher a ride, cause it’s us or them.”
“III” is made intentionally by the smart lyrics and beautifully tragic music and – paired with the emotionally charged videos – it becomes something truly incredible.
The music of “III” is very raw, very emotional and tells a real, human story. The beautifully shot videos tell the same story with impressive cinematography. Every detail is meticulously thought out and the strong narrative never breaks. “III” isn’t just an album, it’s an artistic masterpiece, and it sticks with the listener until long after the final track.
(10/10/19 5:26am)
[sidebar title="" align="left" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]
This is an opinion article. Any views expressed belong solely to the author and are not representative of The Cluster.
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Once again, Instagram has disappointed me. What was once a beautiful haven of puppy pictures and self-expression has reminded me why I have a hard time staying on the platform: blackfishing.
Blackfishing is a term that refers to white or non-black celebrities and personalities using black features or characteristics online to make it appear as if they themselves are black.
Essentially, it’s modern-day blackface.
Emma Hallberg and Alicja Brzotowska, two Instagram models, are the most popular perpetrators of this trend. Many also link Ariana Grande with popular blackfishers as she has had quite the noticeable tan in recent years, seeming several shades darker than what her natural skin tone is.
My issue with blackfishing is that these models are clearly mimicking my culture for clout and money, when every time I perform my culture, it’s ridiculed and sometimes even criminalized.
I am uncomfortable with non-black women making themselves several shades darker than their natural skin tones while dark-skin black women still have to deal with harsh names and discrimination as a result of their dark skin.
It is inappropriate for non-black models to wear black hairstyles for paid sponsorships when there are countless black people who are losing their jobs over “unprofessional” hair, and children are having their hair cut off in schools because of racist dress codes that don’t allow them to have natural hair.
The worst thing about blackfishing is that none of these models or celebrities will admit they are doing it.
Both Hallberg and Brzotowska have claimed to be of European descent and said publicly that they are not trying to be like black women or mimic their styles in an offensive way, yet they have both continued posting pictures of themselves in dark foundation and treated hair.
This is an interpretation of what the world thinks black women are, but instead of being for comedy, it’s for Instagram followers.
Some would say I should be flattered that so many wish to have my features because they are so beautiful and popular.
They would be wrong.
I’m not flattered, because the world does not consider those features beautiful or high fashion on me. They are considered “ghetto” and “low-class” and “scary” on me.
Having black features and performing black culture has disenfranchised me in my life and kept me from opportunities, and it's disrespectful that non-black people get to put on my culture like a costume and profit from it.
I’m not a fan, and it needs to stop.
(10/10/19 5:01am)
This semester marks new beginnings for Mercer’s Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM). Due to budget cuts and restructuring in the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, BCM’s minister Chris Fuller was laid off in the spring of 2019. Now, the student organization is adjusting to the changes with the help of their leadership and volunteers.
Amy Jenkins, president of BCM, said the organization is a place for “people from all backgrounds” to “learn more about God and to grow together in their relationship with God.”
On average, BCM’s weekly worship meetings draw 80 or more students.
“One of the great things about BCM is that it’s a student-led organization,” Fuller said. “It is amazing that this organization is continuing on just as it did before, just as strong as it was before.”
After being told that BCM would lose Fuller, Jenkins said it was difficult to process the news because of his involvement with the organization and his importance to the students.
“It’s one thing to be allowed a lot of freedom to make decisions when there is still someone serving as the mentor figure to kind of give you advice on whether or not your ideas are good,” Jenkins said.“It’s a lot different to not really have that person there anymore.”
Fuller and his wife Dianne moved to Macon in the late 1990s after he ministered in Savannah for over 10 years. In Macon, he ministered for Wesleyan College and Mercer University.
“I like ministering to college students because they are so open to the truth, open to adventure… college students are very inquisitive,” Fuller said. “And of course, Mercer students are exceptionally bright … I like working with people who are smarter than I am.”
As campus minister, Fuller supervised BCM, taught leadership skills, chaperoned mission trips and served as a mentor and counselor to students.
“Chris is a very good person to talk to, like if you need life advice, not even related to BCM at all,” Jenkins said. “He’s an incredible person, too, like if you ask about his life, his story or anything, he’s lived such a wild life. Like, he played football against Bill Clinton one time — I think he scored a touchdown on him.”
Fuller said he wanted to help his students succeed and give them the chance to forge their own paths.
[pullquote speaker="Chris Fuller, former campus minister for Mercer BCM" photo="" align="left" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]I saw my role as a campus minister to empower them, to give them the choice, to give them the opportunity to lead, to make mistakes or to succeed wildly. Ninety-nine times out of 100, they did way better than anything I could have imagined.[/pullquote]
Mercer is not alone in its loss of a paid campus minister; other universities, such as Kennesaw State, have also lost theirs.
There’s not much Mercer can currently do to bring back a paid minister on its own terms. The Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC) cut its ties with Mercer University in 2006 due to Mercer’s decision to support an LGBTQ+ event on campus, among other disagreements.
The split means the university can’t rely on funding from the convention and must pursue it through individual churches. Although the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, which does the work of the GBC, had extended help through its funding of a minister for Mercer’s campus, its inability or decision not to fund its campus minister anymore leaves Mercer in a tight place.
The break of Mercer’s association to the GBC also means that Mercer can’t prioritize Baptist groups over other organizations on campus. Jenkins said that in a talk with Mercer President Bill Underwood, Underwood said he was concerned for the preservation of the organization, but also stressed the importance of not showing favoritism.
Like Fuller, President Underwood was himself a member of BCM as a college student.
“When this all happened, the students organized and… wrote a three-page document where they made a case for why Mercer continues to need to have a BCM and needs to continue to have a campus minister,” Fuller said. ”The head of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, Reverend Thomas Hammond… (is) coming to speak, and they are hoping to win that appeal and get another campus minister here, and I hope they do. I’m praying for that. These students are amazing.”
Jenkins said that regardless of the circumstances, BCM wants to continue their mission on campus.
“We don’t want us not having a campus minister to affect who we are on campus. It’s a big change, but we also believe that the good news of Jesus, which is the reason that we exist in the first place, hasn’t changed, and that Jesus is still there providing us with new life and providing us with a reason to gather and be friends,” she said.
BCM is also receiving support from professors on campus. Andrew Pounds, who teaches computer science and chemistry, currently serves as the official volunteer campus minister.
“God has been really good to us in that things have been going smoothly,” Jenkins said. ”Obviously, we would love to have a campus minister, and I would say we need a campus minister … Despite the changes that we have been dealing with, moving forward, we want who we are to stay the same in terms of loving each other and loving Mercer’s campus.”
Fuller now serves as the pastor of Russellville Baptist Church in Forsyth, but he still attends BCM’s weekly leadership meetings and remains involved on Mercer’s campus.
BCM meets on Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. in Newton Chapel.