With the announcement of its eighth and final season just days prior, “Brooklyn 99” has found itself back in the spotlight. The sitcom, which focuses on a police precinct in New York, is set to continue its seven years run with ten more episodes. However, the show has experienced its fair share of controversy throughout its existence, especially since May of last year. This raises a number of troubling questions, including the future of the show and the future of traditional media at large.

To begin, it is worth mentioning all of the things that “Brooklyn 99” has achieved within the television landscape. Within the casting itself, it features two Black men and two Latina women in main roles. Furthermore, the show arguably does not lean into stereotypes when writing the character for comedy, but instead attempts to develop complex and multi-faceted characters, with race as a significant, but not overpowering, aspect of the characters’ overall personality and comedy. The show’s casting decisions are even more significant given its beginnings in 2013, in which the television landscape was even less diverse than the present day. 

In terms of LGBTQ+ representation, “Brooklyn 99” is uncharacteristic of traditional television as well, with the Captain of the precinct, Captain Holt, being presented as openly gay,  and a detective on the force, Rosa Diaz, as bisexual. More importantly, their sexuality isn’t a defining or sole feature of their character. Captain Holt is still the stoic, serious, and productivity-oriented boss that he was designed to be, with his sexuality simply being a normalized facet of his character. Rosa Diaz is very similar, as her tough and aggressive demeanor are unchanged after coming out in season five. However, the show also doesn’t stray away from discussing the difficulties associated with being LGBTQ+, including unsupportive family members, hostile work environments, and blatant homophobia. 

The problems arise with the show’s depiction of cops and the NYPD at large. The word most commonly thrown around in regards to this issue is “copaganda”, which refers to the portrayal of the police in a positively-skewed manner. Proponents of this perspective argue that the show, which is comedic in nature, glamorizes police work while glossing over the harsher realities of the job. With all of the protagonists of the show being police officers, it is argued that the show perpetuates and makes humorous the stereotype of a “good cop”, thus influencing our understanding of the police. Even the show’s politically and socially liberal stance is not a deterrent from this argument, with one headline stating, “Liberal Propaganda is still Propaganda.”

Opponents of this perspective hold a more diverse set of opinions. Some argue that the show addresses issues within the police force in a respectable and comedically acceptable manner. For instance, an episode in season four presents an example of a Black police sergeant being racially profiled and arrested by a fellow white police officer, therefore allowing an argument that the show uses their platform to amplify the effects of racial profiling and other policing issues. Others state that the “copaganda” argument isn’t valid because comedies, as well as television at large, are allowed to exist outside the range of larger social issues. They hold that it isn’t the show’s responsibility to be an accurate depiction of the police, but rather to simply entertain us and make us laugh. 

The position of traditional media within the context of larger social issues is a final consideration to make. With exceptions of weekly produced shows like “South Park ”, most TV shows and movies are often produced weeks or months in advance of their airing, leading to disconnects between the social issues of the time and the issues addressed in episodes. “Brooklyn 99” fell victim to this phenomena to a certain extent, as the final episode of the previous season aired on April 22 of 2020. Because this episode was aired before the murder of George Floyd on May 25, and the subsequent outcry regarding police brutality, the show was never able to address issues regarding police in a meaningful way. 

In any case, “Brooklyn 99” continues on. With its final season set to finish in 2022, it seems as though the show will be a part of the conversation for quite a while longer. The pressure continues to mount on the show as well, as its reaction and representation of police brutality may set a precedent for police shows and traditional media moving forward. A distasteful representation is a real danger, especially given the show’s position as a comedy. Whatever happens, “Brooklyn 99” can still serve as an interesting case of traditional media coming in conflict with social issues, and the larger implication that media can have on the general public.

As states begin to reopen, many are excited at reaching a sense of normalcy. However, after a year of quarantine, we have seemed to forget that mass shootings, unfortunately, are typical in the U.S. Safety measures such as quarantining and social distancing have made many feel isolated and lonely, increasing their stress and anxiety. According to NPR, “We’re just 18 weeks into 2021, and already the U.S. has experienced 194 mass shootings. That averages out to about 10 a week.” In the span of two months, there were shootings at the Atlanta Spa, the Colorado Grocery Store, Colorado Springs, and the most recent one at the San Jose rail yard with ten killed. Even though California has the strictest gun laws in the U.S., how does this compare to other states?

First, under the Gun Control Act, shotguns and rifles, and ammunition for them may be sold only to individuals 18 years of age or older. Firearms other than shotguns and rifles, and all ammunition may be sold only to individuals 21 years of age or older. Since the act serves as the minimum requirement, states can increase the age to purchase guns. California prohibits the sale of handguns to anyone under age 21, besides exemptions, and from loaning or transferring firearms to those under 18. Firearms purchases and transfers are made through a California licensed dealer under the Dealer’s Record of Sale (DROS) process. Prior to the sale of a firearm, licensed firearm dealers, but not private sellers, are required to perform a background check by using state and federal records OR use the FBI background check through the National Criminal Background Check System (NICS). However, state files may not be included in this database and the system is missing millions of records on criminal convictions and mental illness diagnoses, as seen with Dylann Roof in the 2017 shooting. Buyers present a California Driver’s License or ID card and are required to have a Handgun Safety Certificate and pass a safety demonstration with their recently purchased handgun. Finally, there is a ten-day waiting period between purchasing a gun and receiving the gun. Californians are also limited to purchasing no more than one handgun in a 30-day period. There is a lifetime from purchasing firearms for those with violent felonies and domestic violence misdemeanors, and those involuntarily placed into a mental health treatment twice in the same year. There is a temporary ban for those with restraining orders (State of California Department of Justice). Now, take Texas. One must be 18 to buy a rifle and at least 21 years of age to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer. The state also prohibits felons and people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from possessing firearms but there are many gaps. One being that this does not apply to people convicted of assaults against a dating partner unless the defendant has married or lived with the victim. While federal law requires licensed dealers to conduct a background check through the NICS, in Texas, if the firearm purchaser already has a license to carry a concealed handgun, background checks are not required (Texas Tribune). After the 2019 El Paso shooting that took 23 lives, Governor Greg Abott assured he would “take appropriate action to stop future tragedies.” However, Gov. Abott seems to have forgotten his promise as we see Texas to allow unlicensed carrying of guns, which means that the background check and training are not required. Despite the public outcry from law enforcement groups, Abbott said he will sign the bill. Supporters of the bill explain it would allow Texans “to better defend themselves in public while abolishing unnecessary impediments to the constitutional right to bear arms,” (Texas Tribune) This begs the question of what will it take for politicians and lawmakers to take necessary actions against gun violence. As states reopen and start to relax their gun laws, it is likely that Americans will continue to lose their loved ones. 

When I was in eighth grade, I went on a business trip with my dad to Canada. There, I met another girl my age who I quickly became friends with. After one of our daily adventures, she asked me if I liked BTS, the multi-award winning and globally known Korean boy band, accredited for putting K-pop and South Korean culture on the map. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of BTS at the time, but my new friend had insisted we watch a video on them. The video was titled, “bts in america pt. 2,” and for 13 minutes and five seconds, my friend and I were dying laughing watching a highly edited compilation of BTS doing American interviews. We watched it three more times after the fated first viewing, and when I returned to San Diego, I had gained a new interest in the group.

Almost four years, six albums, and more than ten groups later, I consider myself to be a very large K-pop fan — or a stan, as some would say. Being Korean-American, I never had any negative feelings towards K-pop — listen to what you want to listen to, it’s really not my place to judge. But after watching what must have been hundreds of videos on BTS, I had gained a rekindling to my culture. I had begun speaking more Korean around the house, I had started watching Korean dramas and shows, and I had taught myself to read Hangul — the written Korean language. While I am definitely no expert in my culture, BTS had made me feel more Korean, even if it was just through music. 

What was a new world of “biases,” “ult groups,” “lightsticks,” and “fancams,” quickly turned into a four year journey of becoming a multi-stan. Watching choreography videos even though I definitely can not dance, and praying for variety shows with English subtitles had become normal to me. And I still 100% wholeheartedly believe that anyone who’s open-minded enough can quickly become a K-pop fan in a matter of days. So, in light of BTS’s second American single, “Butter,” being released only a few days ago, here are some groups that have helped me on this journey towards becoming a full on K-pop stan. Whether you’ve been a fan since the 2000s, or just now want to get into it, here are some of my top picks and top groups that can help lead you on your own K-pop journey.

BTS: I can’t start this article off talking about BTS and not have them be first, right? BTS has been a group since 2013, which is eight years of making music. They have nine full albums with more than ten original songs on each ranging from the more 2000s hip-hop sound of Skool Luv Affair, to the delicate ballads from the Love Yourself Trilogy. Personally, the “Trivia” rap-line series, “House of Cards,” and “Airplane pt.2” are some of my favorites from the group. BTS has something for every music lover, and it is no wonder why they are the biggest name in K-pop right now. 

SEVENTEEN: Seventeen is one of my favorite groups, in terms of both music and in members. Like BTS, Seventeen has been in the K-pop industry since 2015, so they too, have tons of music out there. Seventeen has three designated sub-units: performance, vocal, and rap, and some of their songs play off the sub-unit dynamic. Their second album Teen, Age has bops like the rap line’s “TRAUMA,” the vocal line’s, “Pinwheel,” and the performance line’s, “Lilili Yabbay.” Some of my favorite tracks from their first album, FIRST ‘LOVE&LETTER’ include “Pretty U,” and “Hit Song,” both of which never get old no matter how much you loop them. More recently, their Semicolon; EP has songs based on age group and the retro vibe of both their tracks and their performance outfits are sure to induce large amounts of serotonin into anyone who listens. Seventeen is also planning to release a new album in a few weeks, so watch out for a whole new set of bops you can add to your summer playlist.

ENHYPEN: Just debuting a few months ago, Enhypen is the newest group on this list with only two EP’s so far, and I’m really not kidding when I say that all of their music slaps. “Drunk-Dazed” from their most recent EP, BORDER: CARNIVAL, highlights the group’s feelings as they debut and invites a vampire-esque concept. “10 Months” from their first EP, BORDER: DAY ONE, and “Not For Sale” from BORDER: CARNIVAL, are two very cute love songs that can refresh listeners with a hopeful sound. While they are still very new, many K-pop fans are extremely excited for what they’ll bring in the future. Their exhilarating music paired with high-energy performances have already made them one of the biggest names in the K-pop industry.

TWICE: TWICE is one of the few girl groups that I’ve come to love. With no visual hole, and a cutesy concept, TWICE’s music is always upbeat and can surely bring a smile to any listener’s face. “TT” from the album Twicecoaster: Lane 1” is one of their most popular songs. Complete with easy-to-copy dance moves, and fun, singable lyrics, TT has become an iconic track within the K-pop industry. For me, “LOVE FOOLISH,” from the Feel Special album, “I CAN’T STOP ME” from their most recent album, and “FANCY” from the album FANCYYOU, are my favorite from the group and definitely deserve a listen.

THE BOYZ: The Boyz (TBZ) are definitely a more underrated group compared to the previously named ones. They, like Enhypen, are a Gen-Z group, debuting in 2017. TBZ is known for their intricate performances, and their wins on Road to Kingdom, a highly acclaimed dance show for K-pop boy groups. “Giddy Up” from THE START is a fan favorite, along with “The Stealer” from CHASE. For me, “Salty” from REVEAL and “Whiplash” from CHASE prove that The Boyz are the real underdogs of Gen-Z K-pop groups. Not to mention, out of the 11 members, there is not a single non-visual — a true win for all Deobi (The Boyz’s fandom name).

NCT: NCT, standing for Neo-Culture Technology, are another group based on sub-units. While I recommend you check out their Wikipedia page for an in-depth look at their concept, the gist is that they have an infinite number of members who change between units. NCT 127 is the most popular unit with hits like “Superhuman” from their fourth mini album WE ARE SUPERHUMAN, and “Regular” from the album Regular-Irregular. There’s also NCT U which sports more scandalous songs than 127 like “Baby Don’t Stop” and “BOSS” from the album NCT 2018 EMPATHY. “I.O.U” from NCT RESONANCE is one of my personal favorites from the group. Finally, NCT Dream is the baby group, with members aged only 21 and under. They recently released a new album titled, Hot Sauce, with tracks like “ROCKET” and “Dive Into You” of which have been permanent adds to my favorites playlist. From Dream, I recommend “BOOM” from We Boom, and “1, 2, 3” from We Go Up. NCT also has a Chinese unit called WayV, and while I’m supposed to be focused on K-pop groups, their single “Love Talk” can show any K-pop fan to the wonders of C-pop.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: In the interest of page length and word count, I had to stop the list after six groups, however, there are definitely some honorable mentions that deserve to be included:

Baekhyun (from EXO): All I have to say is listen to his EP, Bambi. His vocals are just *chefs kiss*.

Blackpink: Another girl group that has won over the K-pop industry, Black Pink has powerful girl crush tracks like “How You Like That?” and “Lovesick Girls.” With their high-energy songs and strong choreography, it’s really no wonder why they are one of the most globally known K-pop groups today.

Itzy: Itzy is Twice’s younger sister in the K-pop world. With motivational, feel-good songs like “DALLA DALLA,” and “Wannabe,” Itzy has won over Korean and Western fans alike.

Stray Kids: Stray kids is a self-made group that writes, choreographs, and produces all their own music. They have powerful dance songs like “God’s Menu” and “MIROH,” however their earlier music like “Get Cool” and “Awkward Silence” are some of my favorite tracks from them.

Got7: Although leaving from their production company earlier this year, Got7 is full of powerhouses. Their songs “Lullaby,” “Never Ever,” “Fly,” and “Hard Carry” have grown to be iconic in the industry. Watch out for their solo careers as well, as Thai member, BamBam, is expected to release a solo album in a few days!

Tomorrow X Together: TXT is another fairly recent group and the younger brother to BTS. Songs like “CROWN,” “Blue Hour,” and “Fairy of Shampoo” are extremely popular with fans. They alsu just released a new album called FREEZE, and “Anti-Romantic” has quickly become one of my top songs on Spotify.

Four years ago, K-pop allowed me to grow closer to my culture, and has affected my life in more ways than I’d like to admit. I hope that you’ll take the time to check out the songs of at least one of these groups and open your life up to Korean music.

I can feel it in the air, can’t you? The warm breeze beginning to move in San Diego, frightening away the May Gray. A greater number of surfers beginning to dot the deepest blue areas of the ocean. Ice cream begins to become an essential food group, sunblock is an essential, and many begin to plan their weeks around what the UV will be. Summer is almost upon us and, like every good San Diegan, I’ll bet that you’re planning on spending lots of time at the beach, perfecting your tan. And with good weather comes…a lovely opportunity to grab that book that’s been hiding on your bedside table for months or finally finish the one series you’ve been working on for an embarrassing amount of time. Never fear, your guide to books that are practically written to be devoured in a sunny park or while sunbathing at Powerhouse Park is here.

Normal People – Sally Rooney

It is a solemn occurrence in which I feel completely engrossed by a book. Normal People somehow reached through the pages and clutched onto my brain, even after I finished the book. In a classic boy-meets-girl trope, Rooney takes it to a new level while exploring the human condition and the boundaries of love. It brilliantly explores connectivity with a psychoanalytical angle; at times, the reader feels as though they are intruding profusely on intimate conversations between the two main characters, Connell and Marianne. 

Song of Achilles – Madeleine Miller

Did you devour every Percy Jackson book as a child? If so, this is the book for you. Miller takes a modern and sparkling new take on centuries-old characters. Recounting aspects of the Trojan War, this book weaves in timeless mythology while serving up a devastating romance. Aside from the intriguing plot, Miller beautifully employs words to create epic prose that’s wonderfully poetic in nature. This book, just like the classics it’s inspired by, creates riveting storytelling to totally engross the reader. 

My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh

This is an excellent book that urges readers to not judge a book by its cover (excuse the pun). The main character, whose name is never divulged, has a seemingly easy life: she’s pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, and has rich parents. Mosfegh writes in such a way that celebrates the darkest aspects of human nature; this book is not for the weak-hearted. In a book that somehow emphasizes masochism and narcissism taken too far, My Year of Rest and Relaxation is bound to keep you entertained. 

Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner 

It’s in the title: this book will make you cry. Zauner, known for her music under the name of Japanese Breakfast, is a beautifully raw memoir of losing her mother to terminal pancreatic cancer. In the memoir, Zauner explores how her experience with this set off an identity crisis and a deep reflection on being a Korean American. In her prose, it feels as though you are sitting at a coffee shop with Zauner as she recounts her trauma. For this book, keep a pack of Kleenex nearby. 

Whether you’ll be laying poolside in your backyard or sunbathing on some exotic beach, the summer allots an unique opportunity for some free time — what better way to spend it than to crack open a good book? Whatever book you chose to add to your summer reading list, just remember to try and truly relax. You deserve it.

The founders of Zionism — the ideology which proclaims that Jews have a right to settle and control the area which is now Israel — were rather honest about the nature of their project. For them, Zionism was colonialist, plain and simple — and we cannot allow modern-day denials and apologetics to erase this basic fact.

Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism and the “father of the State of Israel,” wrote in 1896 that the future Jewish state in the Middle East would “form a part of a wall of defense for Europe and Asia, an outpost of civilization against barbarism.” Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the most prominent figure in the generation of Zionists who came after Herzl, was open about Zionism being a fundamentally colonialist project. He said as much, writing in 1923 that “every native population in the world resists colonists as long as it has the slightest hope of being able to rid itself of the danger of being colonized. That is what the Arabs in Palestine are doing and what they will persist in doing as long as there remains a solitary spark of hope that they will be able to prevent the transformation of Palestine into the Land of Israel.” Notice how Jabotinsky is shameless about using the words “colonists” and “colonized” to describe the situation in what would become Israel — and also how Jabotinsky speaks in terms of “resistance” and “danger,” a vocabulary of violence whose implications are made much clearer by the fact that Jabotinsky was the founder of the Irgun, the predecessor of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). 

But even putting aside the fact that the founders of Zionism made no pretense of being anything other than colonialist, it’s hard to think of any other word to describe the way in which Israel came to be. Large numbers of people arriving suddenly from foreign nations, laying claim to lands which belong to others, displacing the existing inhabitants by force, setting up a government dominated by these new arrivals — what else does one call that? How is that meaningfully different from what Britain or France did in Africa? And given that Zionists frequently claim God-given approval for their actions, how is it different from the similarly “divine” theory of Manifest Destiny? 

The defenders of the Israeli state make various arguments to counter this. The most common among them is that Israel is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, and therefore it is impossible for Jews in Israel to be colonizers. While this is certainly appealing on face value, there’s little logical sense to this argument — if we redistributed the entire global population to where their ancestors were at some point in the distant past, things would get rather chaotic. 600 years ago, Spain was inhabited largely by Moroccan muslims, but you don’t see anybody demanding the reanimation of the Caliphate of Cordoba. At the time that Israel was Jewish, Celtic peoples inhabited most of Central Europe — but no one is proposing an Irish state in Austria. My ancestral homeland is some brambly forest in southern Germany, but if I showed up at a Bavarian farmer’s house and ejected him from that land at gunpoint, I’d probably be prosecuted. And the timescale involved here simply isn’t meaningful to the average person; the ancient Israelites lived closer to the time of King Tut than to our day. To the Palestinians inhabiting that land, it’s all they’ve ever known. Nothing entitles one people to wreck the homes of another, and that includes some claim of ownership from a time that might as well be mythical compared to the length of a human life. 

If colonialism is Israel’s original sin, it is far from its only one. There are the crimes against humanity perpetrated by its military, from the bombing of a UN school in Gaza to the sniper killings of medical personnel; from the indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip it carried out last month to the epidemic of killings of unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank (which tragically mirror America’s own plague of police violence). The popular claim that the IDF is the “most moral army” is thoroughly refuted by all the macabre statistics which IDF attacks leave in their wake; like the fact that, during the 2014 Gaza war, a quarter of the IDF’s 2,000 victims were children. 

Then there’s the issue of the apartheid regime that Israel imposes on the territory it occupies. This word is contentious, and its use tends to draw considerable ire from Israel’s defenders, but it is really the only accurate term to describe what Israel does to the people of the land it occupies. And this is not a fringe position either; Human Rights Watch, United Nations investigators, and the African National Congress (the organization responsible for the overthrow of apartheid in South Africa) have all used that term. And so have Israeli human rights groups, including B’tselem and Yesh Din. It’s not hard to see why, when looking at the facts on the ground: a 1973 United Nations resolution defined apartheid as “inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group over another racial group and systematically oppressing them,” with specific examples of acts of segregation and oppression being listed in Article II of the document linked here. While defenders of the Israeli state will claim that Israel cannot be an apartheid state because the subsection of Arabs living within Israeli’s UN-designated borders are allowed citizenship and the right to vote, this is a pretty severe misrepresentation of the broader situation. Most Palestinian Arabs don’t live in the area within Israel’s official boundaries, but rather in the area which Israel occupies contrary to its rights under international law. It is in those occupied territories, which Israel controls but which are not legally within its borders, that the apartheid occurs. In the areas occupied by Israel, Palestinians are forced to use separate roads, pass through frequent military checkpoints, and are banned from traveling freely without possessing a pass obtained under a restrictive permit system. Israel has built a wall to separate majority-Jewish from majority-Arab areas, and has constructed settlements within Palestinian territory in which Jews live fully separately from the nearby Arab populations. In the occupied territories, Jews and Arabs are even subject to different sets of laws. Residents of the occupied territories and Gaza are likewise ineligible for the Israeli citizenship that can usually be obtained by marrying someone who is already a citizen of Israel. The systematic separation of ethnic groups and the discrimination perpetrated against Palestinians is eerily reminiscent of exactly the sort of apartheid infamously practiced in South Africa. And once again, the Israeli state contradicts the arguments of defenders with its own words: the official term for the Israeli regime in the occupied territories is “hafrada,” a Hebrew word meaning “separateness.”

When the defenders of the Israeli state cannot defend Israel’s actions on their merits, they generally resort to a peculiar form of character assassination; namely the accusation that Israel’s critics are antisemites. As a person of Jewish heritage myself, this certainly seems like a stretch in my case; and there are many other Jews, prominent activists like Noam Chomsky or Norman Finkelstein, who vehemently oppose Israel’s appartheid and colonialism. For many, one’s Jewish heritage is actually what impels them to oppose Israel’s actions; knowing that the Jewish people were brutalized and oppressed for thousands of years, it hurts to think that Jews would turn around and inflict the same thing on another people. My heritage tells me to oppose oppression, not to support it. My great grandmother on my father’s side was the only member of her family to survive Auschwitz. On my mother’s side, my great grandfather was murdered by the SS because he fought the Nazis as a member of the German resistance. My family’s stories are the foundation of my belief that every single person, regardless of their race, religion, or origin, deserves to live a decent and dignified life free from bigotry and oppression. And if an oppressive government is composed of people with a similar heritage to me, I do not see how that particularly matters; what’s wrong is wrong and that is the end of it.

But let’s return to what I mentioned above briefly — the idea that criticism of Israel (especially by non-Jews) is antisemitic. This makes transparently no sense; wanting Palestinian children to not be shot to death clearly has absolutely nothing to do with how one feels about Jewish people as a whole. But I think the ultimate proof of there being no relationship between opposing Israel and hating Jews is the fact that many people are both pro-Israel and rabidly antisemitic. Look at former President Donald Trump for instance: his niece wrote that he used the most vile antisemitic slurs in conversation, and he refused to condemn the Nazis who marched in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us.” But despite this track record of blatant antisemitic behavior, Trump himself was probably the most pro-Israel president in American history; going so far as to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a huge symbolic win for Israel and a move so drastic that previous US presidents had declined to consider it. (The international consensus that Jerusalem is still legally divided between an Israeli West Jerusalem and a Palestinian East Jerusalem, and so the city of Jerusalem cannot be an undivided capital city. East Jerusalem has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.) And similarly to Trump, many of the most pro-Israel Americans hold antisemitic views: take as an example Evangelical Christians, a group who have long been a bastion of support for Israel (for reasons I’ll get into in a moment). In spite of very high support for Israel among evangelicals, surveys find that antisemitc beliefs are rampant among this exact group. So, if not love for the Jewish people, why do these groups support Israel? For Trump and his ilk, it’s probably a decision based on pure geostrategic interests. For those who are obsessed with projecting US strength across the globe, having a US ally in the Middle East is critical to maintaining America’s strategic interests in that region. And for Evangelicals, the reasons are fundamentally theological in nature: the Bible states that the Jews returning to the Holy Land is one of the main events preceding the return of Christ, and so Jews establishing and emigrating to Israel is a means of bringing about the End Times. Such individuals and groups still support Israel for their own reasons despite often being fairly antisemitic themselves — and so it’s clear that one’s stance on Israel is in now way related to one’s stance on Jews. One can hate Jews but love Israel, and one can absolutely have the utmost respect for Jewish people as fellow human beings while still opposing the actions of the Israeli state when those actions are wrong or criminal. 

There’s one last thing I’d like to address here: the role of America in all of this. I’ve heard some say that, yes, the actions of the Israeli state may be reprehensible, but it’s senseless for us as Americans to get worked up about them — after all, this argument goes, it’s happening on the other side of the world and what can we do about it? I disagree with this for two reasons — firstly I don’t think that our empathy and humanity ought to be bounded and closed off by national borders, and secondly it’s a crucial fact that America is the primary enabler of Israel’s actions. The US sends Israel hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of military aid every single year; our bombs are used in IDF attacks on schools and hospitals and houses in Gaza, and our bullets are used to maim children and protestors in the West Bank. Our government gives Israel diplomatic cover on the world stage, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital contrary to the will of the international community and vetoing UN resolutions which condemn Israel’s actions. Our government is deeply enmeshed with the crimes I have written about here; it is in our power to change that. Without the hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, without American planes and bombs and bullets, the Israeli government’s ability to oppress and brutalize would be severely curtailed. America’s massive support for Israel could be used as leverage to force Israel to change. This is something we as Americans have power over directly: we can elect representatives who will work to stop America’s unconditional support for Israel through the legislative process, and we can protest and petition our government to make the changes we want to see. And above all, we can organize in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. 

The basic goal of BDS is to apply the same types of pressure to Israel which were applied to Apartheid South Africa in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s: boycotting Israeli goods and products, convincing corporations and institutions to end financial dealings in Israel, and placing economic sanctions against Israel in order to encourage a change in Israeli policy. When applied to South Africa, these measures convinced the South African government that Apartheid was simply costing the country too much to continue — opening the way for the multiracial democracy in place today. It’s for these reasons that leading figures in the anti-apartheid movement — widely regarded as one of the greatest human rights struggles in history — have endorsed BDS: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, world-renowned human rights activist, has lent his support to the movement, as has the African National Congress. 

A large portion of BDS’s activists are Jewish, but the movement is still attacked as anti-semitic by those who wish to discredit the push for Palestinian rights. BDS’s opponents will say that BDS “singles out” Israel for criticism and sanction, which they’ll therefore construe as evidence of some alleged ant-semitic basis for the movement. This, however, makes no sense: BDS does not single out Israel, but merely demands that Israel receive the same treatment as other human rights violators. American companies refuse to do business in countries which violate human rights all around the world, and the US government places sanctions on numerous oppressive governments; BDS only asks that Israel be included on that list. There’s nothing in BDS which states that Israel is the only oppressive government on earth. As is the case with so much criticism of Israel, pro-Israel reactions to BDS usually take the form of baseless ad-hominem attacks designed to discredit a genuine movement fighting on behalf of human rights. 

The governmental response to BDS has been utterly egregious. 35 states in the US have passed bills designed to punish participation in BDS, to various degrees. Under numerous state laws, groups participating in boycotts of Israel are barred from receiving government funds or contracts; some local laws go even further, including barring BDS supporters from serving as public employees. These laws represent a blatant attack on free speech, and in many cases represent an extreme deviation from traditional practice; for example, it’s perfectly fine under state law for the government to do business with a Klansman, but not with a person who supports BDS. This is directly contrary to the freedom of speech and expression which America claims to stand for. Fighting these antidemocratic laws is likewise something that we as Americans can do to further for the struggle for Palestinian rights. 

The situation in Palestine is one of the great moral tests of our time, and I hope that we are able to meet it. I hope that we are able to come to terms with the true nature of Zionism and the Israeli state, and that those realizations will guide us on a path to ending our nation’s complicity in oppression and crimes against humanity. Now is the time to say finally and definitively that every single human being on this earth deserves the right to live in peace and the right to be seen as equally worthy of life and happiness. The values of freedom, justice, and equality are fundamentally at odds with the policies implemented by the Israeli government and supported by the United States. Either the values must go, or the policies must; let us decide to let go of the latter, and hold the former closer to our hearts.

In the Jewish tradition, the bar or bat mitzvah, also known as the b’not or b’nai mitzvah for twins or triplets, is the culmination of the five years spent studying the Torah. It celebrates the passage of a Jewish teenager, often between the ages of 12 to 14, into religious adulthood. Because of its cultural significance and almost-unanimous practice by Jews across the religious spectrum, a parallel does not exist in any other religion.

Many of us at CCA attended at least one bar/bat mitzvah sometime in middle school. Usually among Western Jews, the long and oft-forgotten temple service in which the bar/bat mitzvah reads from the Torah is overshadowed by a huge party at a country club or some other venue. Wealthier families go out of their way to secure headliners who are booked to the tune of six figures or more. All in all, the celebration could be priced at a modest amount, or not at all with celebrities and the metropolitan elite shelling out a lot for just one night of festivities.

To some, the modern Western bar/bat mitzvah has become so far divorced from its original meaning that all it represents is an over-the-top display of wealth or a ploy to generate some sense of exclusivity. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that Jews of the diaspora were forced to take this ceremony underground. What comes to mind are those who lived in the tenements of New York City and Chicago, as second-class citizens in the Arab and Persian kingdoms, and of course, in Nazi-controlled Europe and North Africa. Unquestionably, our ancestors would be completely foreign to the state of bar/bat mitzvahs today.

During the bar or bat mitzvah party, there is a candle lighting ceremony, one part in which the bar/bat mitzvah’s grandparents would come up to the stage and say a prayer in Hebrew. I remember that as a seventh-grader, my friends and I would admittedly be entertained by the grandparents’ strange pronunciation of Hebrew. They’d stress their vowels, trill their Rs, and voice their consonants in a way that my generation was never taught in Hebrew school. My mom and grandfather, both born and raised in America, would do the same.

It took me until I was old enough to grasp the Israeli-Arab conflict to find out why this phenomenon occurred: why the pronunciations of Hebrew liturgy varied among the older generation; why the grandparents of my Russian Jewish friends would cook a certain way, while those of my Persian Jewish friends and Moroccan Jewish friends would do so another; why much of my European Jewish family was not afforded the opportunity to become bar mitzvahs as kids; ultimately, the reason as to why subethnic divisions even exist within Judaism. It all goes back to the exile from Israel.

When onlookers see our extravagant bar and bat mitzvahs and the privileged lifestyles of most Western Jews today, they might see us in a negative light. The Holocaust, to the majority of individuals in the 21st century, is an event that is just another distant part of history. And the question of Israel is another can of worms in and of itself. 

Unfortunately, Jewish history is the sum of centuries’ worth of misunderstanding, persecution, and conflict. The fact that Jews are a part of the upper echelon of society today and that half of us have returned to our ancestral homeland that is Israel is a remarkable feat. It’s even more impressive to see young Jews like myself learn the same dialect of Hebrew and partake in a unified culture that had been scattered and isolated for longer than any of us can even remember. We have the honor of celebrating Jewish tradition and, arguably, one of the most important ceremonies in a Jew’s life, which is the bar/bat mitzvah.

To fully understand the Israeli-Arab conflict, the world must look at it from a Jewish perspective, too. As an Ashkenazi Jew that many self-proclaimed social activists would dismiss as a white privileged American, let’s not forget that only a few decades ago, my ancestors were being massacred for their Middle Eastern features and alien culture. Those same ancestors were never white, they were always Hebrews — Israelites, even after being enslaved by the Roman and Babylonian Empires and forcibly brought to Europe. This same Jewish “otherness” prevails today, wherein Yemenite Jews are actively being exterminated in the 21st century. At our doorstep in Los Angeles and New York, hate crimes against Jews have skyrocketed. My cousins in London can’t even publicly wear yarmulkes or other visibly Jewish symbols anymore due to the threat of mugging, assault, or worse.

That is why three summers ago, instead of having a party for my bar mitzvah, I decided to personally make aliyah to the Holy Land and read from the Torah upon the remains of an ancient synagogue in Katzrin, Israel. This was where my ancestors came from and lived. It’s the only place in the world where I can celebrate my Jewish otherness, and it’s also the place where the descendants of the nearly 1 million Jews unscrupulously expelled from the Middle East and North Africa can do the same. 

The Jewish values of education and hard work that led to our standing in society today, along with the relegation of Jews to the unholiest of work as deemed by our Christian and Islamic overlords, were always meant to bring us back home. As the Jewish went for millennia, “Next year in Jerusalem!” Now, we can say “today in Jerusalem,” as undeniable proof that our home, through expulsion, through pogrom, through genocide, has remained Eretz Yisrael.

I saw a Facebook representative defend Trump’s ban off of Twitter and it made me think, since the time Trump has been banned off of Twitter what has changed? What stayed the same? And what kind of precedent did his ban set? With that in mind, I’ll set off on the two year retrospective.

On January 7, 2021 Trump sent off two tweets that would eventually get his account banned. “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” and “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”

Twitter banned Trump promptly after citing a breach of its terms of service, not glorifying violence: “These two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks.”

Twitter’s given reason for the ban, while accepted by the majority of users, still angered others. Some people criticized Twitter’s decision calling it censorship and declaring that it set a bad precedent for the site. Social media sites, while being private businesses, are one of the primary ways people receive their news and have a lot of power in shaping the opinions of the population. For some it was concerning that one of the biggest political figures on the planet could be removed from the conversation. 

That’s not to say that a lot of the criticism wasn’t in bad faith, however. Many of the people who criticized the policy, were also the same who would staunchly protect a businesses right to reserve service from anyone they pleased. 

At the same time, Twitter is still a private corporation. As such, they have the right to ban any user for pretty much any reason (which is actually kind of concerning). And the policy seems to have been a net gain overall. Without the public platform of Twitter, Trump has had a lot less power to invigorate his followers and can’t nearly as effectively spread election denialism. 

Alongside the fact that he is no longer president, Trump’s ban really does lessen his influence. There has overall been a decrease in inflammatory speech that’s accessible to the public at large. Parler is a good example of this. In response to the bans, right wingers created their own social media page where the bigotry was mask off and not taken seriously. 

Overall, the ban was probably for the best. Despite the dangerous precedent set by the action, it resulted in more good than bad. However in the future we should all be cautious of any authorial action by Twitter.

She’s the Disney channel actor turned music super star everyone is raving about — Olivia Rodrigo has taken the music industry by storm with her recent release of SOUR, an eleven track album. With two of her songs — “good 4 u” and “deja vu” — in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100, and her song “driver’s license” tailing right behind at number eleven as of June 7th, there is no doubt that Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR is one of the biggest hits of the summer of 2021.

Her quick fame didn’t come out of nowhere however; Olivia already had a relatively large following after her role in “High School Musical The Musical The Series.” On top of this, she actually had a hit song within the series called “All I Want,” which unsurprisingly was a hit among not only Disney fans, but also teens on TikTok, where the song quickly gained popularity. Then on January 8th 2021, Olivia released her long teased “drivers license” a song which would later be a part of her SOUR album. This track is currently her most popular song, afterall, it spread quickly among teens especially through TikTok where it was a trending “TikTok sound.” But what is all this rave about? Why is everyone so hypnotized by Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album? Let’s dive into the songs of SOUR.

brutal

“brutal” is Rodrigo’s first song in SOUR, kicking off her album with an aggressive and loud tone. In it, Rodrigo rants her struggles to manage her success and teenage life, at one point screaming “they say these are the golden years, but I wish I could disappear,” a sentiment that many teenagers often find themselves having at one point or another in their highschool career. This mix of ranting lyrics and almost piercing strums of the guitar combine to create a letting out of anger feel that’s therapeutic to the overworked teenager of the 21st century.

traitor

“traitor” is a much slower song in comparison to its predecessor. Unlike “brutal,” “traitor” follows the theme of Rodrigo’s sadness after her recent break up, which is a recurring narrative among many of the following songs in her track-list. The song explains the feeling of betrayal Rodrigo felt after her ex boyfriend moved on to another.

driver’s license

“driver’s license” is arguably the golden child of Rodrigo’s album, with the most streams among any other of her songs. It, much like “traitor” follows Rodrigo’s emotions after her heartbreak, reminiscing on the previous memories with her ex. Following the theme of a driver’s license, the song applies strongly to the memories associated among teenagers with getting a driver’s license.

1 step forward, 3 steps back

This one is once again a slower song, however unlike “traitor” and “driver’s license” this song dives back in time to the shortcomings and miscommunications of her previous relationship. This is a very relatable mood for many teenagers who have little understanding of feelings as well as a hindered ability to communicate as a result of quarantining for COVID-19.

deja vu.

“deja vu” is a repeat of the jealous mood set in her album as Rodrigo views her ex’s new girlfriend. This song was one of the three most popular songs in her album.

good 4 u

In “good 4 u,” Rodrigo returns to the more quick and upbeat songs after the four previous slow and sad songs. Despite the upbeat nature of the melody, the lyrics paint a much different picture of her jealousy and almost vengeful sounding sentiments. This mix of both upbeatness and jealousy are what make this complex work of art so sophisticated and popular, making it currently the most popular among her songs on the billboard charts.

enough for you

“enough for you” is another song about her previous relationship, in which she explains all of the struggles she went through to be as perfect as she could for her boyfriend. In the second half of the song she switches from how much she cared to blaming her ex and complaining about his little care over all the work she put in that ultimately wasn’t “enough for you.”

happier

“happier” takes a slightly different turn with the breakup concept, wishing for her ex to be happy, although not as happy as he was with her. Despite the continued sad nature of “happier” in this song, Rodrigo breaks away from the SOUR concept; instead wishing happiness to her ex rather than being jealous or sour.

jealousy, jealousy

In this song, Rodrigo once again takes a slightly different turn from the precedent made by the rest of her album by instead talking about her insecurities from comparing herself to others, something that is a very common theme among teenagers.

favorite crime

“favorite crime” is another song lamenting on what Rodrigo and her ex were, stating that Rodrigo was her ex’s favorite crime.

hope ur ok

To wrap up her album, Rodrigo has “hope ur ok.” In this song Rodrigo writes about a queer girl who is rejected by her family, showing support and hoping shes ok. This final song takes the very bitter album into a totally different direction, ending it on a somewhat sweet note where Rodrigo shows her support for the LGBTQ+ community.
All in all, Rodrigo’s hit SOUR album has given teenagers an album to cry over, literally. This album with its many, often relatable, songs will be a perfect go to listen for the summer season.

A new TikTok trend has creators leaning into late-night good vibes by paying homage to the “bumps” on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network’s overnight programming block that airs shows geared towards an older audience.

These bumps — transition clips between commercial breaks and featured programming — which include short films, time-lapses, or brief text sequences. These segments all end with the Adult Swim logo ([as] or [adult swim])appearing somewhere within the actions. However, bumps aren’t unique to Adult Swim, but the programming block’s transitions have become known for their conversational style. The bumps’ brevity, cheeky tone, and tendency to break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience through the on-screen text make TikTok the perfect platform to parody them. 

The trend can be as simple or elaborate as a creator wants, but it typically involves hiding the Adult Swim logo — stylized through text as either [adult swim] or simple [as] — somewhere in the environment, revealing it by moving a subject’s head, exposing something, flipping a mirror, crumpling a piece of paper, or anything you can possibly think of. 

The Adult Swim trend is also sound-tracked by a dreamy beat produced by user Vano 3000, whose path to TikTok fame began when he joined the app in January. On May 23, he used the now-viral Adult Swim beat on TikTok for the first time to soundtrack a video of him standing on a street corner, eating a sandwich. The beat was sampled from BADBADNOTGOOD’s song, “Times Moves Slow”, and was chopped up and pitched up in creating what’s now become TikTok’s biggest earworm. A day later, he originated the trend with a video of a person in a Spider-Man costume in the Times Square subway station in New York City, adding text and the Adult Swim logo.

Over the past several weeks, and particularly over the past weekend, the concept has grown massively viral. Adult Swim even joined in, acknowledging the trend on its own TikTok account using Vano 3000’s beat. The sound driving the trend now has over 123,000 videos to its name as of Monday, and the #adultswim hashtag has over 882 million cumulative views. Many people on different social media platforms are praising how much they love this simple yet nostalgic trend. 

The format of the Adult Swim bumps is quite particular, between the rich visual communication necessary for the [as] logo reveal and the conversational tone of the on-screen text. Given the specific tone, it has raised some questions on TikTok about those who may or may not have “understood the assignment” — users who could and couldn’t properly replicate the style of the trend. 

Still, the trend has established a creative sandbox on TikTok and overall on the internet: by riffing on an established format, creators play around with an existing video syntax that opens the door to endless possibilities. 

The idea of “normal” has always confused me. As an Asian-American, is it normal to eat culturally-diverse foods for lunch? As a CCA student, is it normal to take multiple AP classes? The term seems to represent different things to different people, with no one quite being able to define what it truly means. In this same way, the upcoming summer presents a lot of questions regarding normalcy.

With San Diego presenting an impressive COVID-19 positivity rate of just 1.3%, it seems as though summer is returning to normal. At least, if normal to you means travel, exploration, and general outdoor interaction. With masks, gloves, and vaccines running through their veins, it seems that many are making plans for vacations, amusement park adventures, concerts, and more. The age restrictions for vaccinations are going down as well, meaning that more and more families are becoming comfortable with gatherings, outdoor eating, and other previously inaccessible activities.

For others, the summer will be normal because nothing will change from their previous summer vacations. High school mainstays like Khan Academy, Discord, and Spotify will remain accessible into summer, and many people may opt to stay home, regardless of regulations regarding lockdown. In fact, some people’s summers may be identical to their summer of 2020, despite the rapidly changing world around them. And of course, that’s normal.

Our return to in-person schooling, both high school and college, presents some conflicts about normalcy as well. While we seem to be returning to a five-days-a-week, in-person schedule, the effects of distance learning will not disappear once we return. Both students and teachers have become more familiar with the extent to which a distance learning system can be effectively established, which could impact our education moving forward. Similarly, it seems likely that, with our new understanding of online communication and productivity, that after-school collaboration could become much more common. 

In a larger sense, our idea of normal is returning and new norms are being established. Restaurants are opening back up, with outdoor seating being more and more of a common occurrence at this point. At the same time, the convenience and financial opportunity provided by food delivery has created a new normal within the restaurant industry. In the same vein, according to the CDC, vaccinated individuals are able to stop wearing masks, signaling a return to a pre-March 13 society. Yet, the idea of masking has implanted itself into our collective culture, meaning that masks are likely to stay, regardless of COVID-19. Essentially, the idea of “returning to normalcy” is at once both factually correct and inherently impossible.

Although the term “normalcy” has been thrown around by people since quarantine began, it has become more and more difficult to pinpoint what that truly means. After all, society has been radically altered by the outbreak of COVID-19, and expecting a specific summer experience seems infeasible. Thus, by realizing that being “normal” is an arbitrary term, we can individually pursue our ideal summers and go back to school feeling refreshed and excited. Have a wonderful summer, and stay weird CCA.