Uncovering the history of Black History Month

by Margarita Forbes

Black History Month is an annual observance in the United States for remembrance of important and influential African American people throughout history.  It all began in the mid 1920s by Carter G. Woodson.

            Black Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson strongly believed that truth could not be denied and that reason would prevail over prejudice.   He founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), which conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925.  This was when Woodson realized that his hopes to raise awareness of African American's contributions to civilization had were coming true. The event was first celebrated during a week in February of 1926 that encompassed the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The response was overwhelming, and many stepped forward to endorse the effort.

            By the 1950s, Negro History Week had become a central part of African American life and brought more Americans to appreciate the celebration.  The Black Awakening of the 1960s dramatically expanded the consciousness of African Americans about the importance of black history. 

            In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Finally, fifty years after the first celebration, the ASNLH held the first African American History Month. Now, the entire nation had come to recognize the importance of Black history in the drama of the American story. Since then each American president has issued African American History Month proclamations. And the association—now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)—continues to promote the study of Black history all year.

            People who are often remembered each year during this month long event, include the infamous Martin Luther King Jr. who used his nonviolent approach to atrocities of humanity force in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s, earning himself a Nobel Peace Prize.  Another black citizen includes Jane Bolin, the first black woman to become judge in the United States (1932), the first black woman to earn a law degree from Yale, the first black woman to pass the New York State bar exam and the first to join the city's law department, opening the doors to many African American women for the future.     

Another significant African American woman in U.S. history was Rosa Parks.  Parks, an African-American civil rights activist in the 1950s, refused to give her seat up on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama to a white man, something that symbolized ending the injustices that she and her race had to endure as a community. 

Many ask “Why is there not a White History Month?” but that is because we essentially celebrate it all year long.  Black History Month is for those who are unaware of, or have simply forgotten, just how many African American people have contributed to making America what it is today.

Teen suicide: an often ignored reality

by Erica Rabito

Earlier this month, the news of the third in a string of suicides among teens in Newton was released to the public. Karen Douglas, Katie Stack, and Roee Grutman were all students at high schools in Newton who chose to end their lives. Their parents have all expressed shock and understandable despair at the loss of their children. A statement put forth by Grutman’s school principal also expressed this sadness.

“There were no indications to any of us — or to his family — that Roee was even contemplating suicide. There are no easy answers. It is simply beyond comprehension,” stated principal Stembridge in an email addressing the community.

Unfortunately, this statement is very familiar. Far too often when teens commit suicide their families are confused as to what caused this tragedy, or shocked at the idea of their child doing such a thing when they hadn’t even seen any signs!

When looked for however, the signs of depression can be found very easily, and are being discovered more and more among teens in the recent years. The Mayo Clinic listed a few of these emotional symptoms:
·         Feelings of sadness, which can include crying spells for no apparent reason
·         Irritability, frustration or feelings of anger, even over small matters
·         Loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities
·         Loss of interest in, or conflict with, family and friends
·         Feelings of worthlessness, guilt, fixation on past failures or exaggerated self-blame or self-criticism

If these sound familiar to you, it’s because you have probably heard them repeated over and over as simply “teenagers being teenagers.” Because these real and difficult to deal with symptoms are often brushed aside by parents and other adults, teens feel the need to internalize their struggles and keep their feelings to themselves.

Doctors and therapists usually suggest sharing feelings with others in order to deal with them and move past them properly. Having their emotions constantly disregarded can deepen a depression and even lead to thoughts of suicide. Teens believe that no one will understand or be willing to understand them.

Parents, guardians and adults in general need to recognize that teenagers deserve to be taken seriously and respected when they ask for the help that they need, or show the signs of needing help but are too afraid to ask for it.

If you see any of the previously mentioned signs in a loved one, talk to a guidance counselor, a trusted adult, or go to a website such as www.save.org to find more information on how to help. In order for levels to decrease, teen suicide needs to be recognized as a real and treatable problem, and needs to be treated by everyone as such. 

Love is in the air at WMHS

Students have a variety of ways to show Valentine's Day spirit this week--even if it means shredding paper to make a fun heart on your desk.
photo by Steph Ho

by Emily Crampton

Are you looking for a fun alternative to sitting at home, watching Netflix and whining about how much you hate Valentine’s Day? There are many fun activities run by different clubs at Woburn High to distract you from the love in the air.

                During school on Friday, February 14, Interact is hosting the annual Dating Game. This fun activity can get you out of class for periods 6 and 7 to watch your classmates embarrass themselves. Interact member and senior Dylan Scott explained the format for this year’s Dating Game.

“There will be four rounds including the regular ‘Bachelor Round,’ ‘Bachelorette Round’ and the always fun ‘Best Friends Round.’  A new addition this year will be the ‘Exes Round’ which will add a fun, new twist to the event,” told Scott.

If you plan on attending the Dating Game, make sure you get your ticket as soon as possible! Tickets will be sold for $5 during all three lunches this week and are anticipated to sell quickly. They will not be sold at the door.

                Also, with the spirit of love in the air, the Student Council will be selling both carnations and serenades during lunch, which will be delivered to homeroom on Friday. You can send a flower for just $1, or a serenade for $5. Use these fun Valentine’s Day surprises to profess your love, embarrass a friend, or ask someone to the upcoming prom. All proceeds will go to the Student Council. The Student Council will only be selling these fun surprises until today and they will not deliver serenades addressed anonymously, so be sure to note who the serenade is coming from. 

In the hopes of making Valentine’s Day a little sweeter for some who may be lonely this year, the Keystone Club will be having a bake sale on Friday during all three lunches. They plan to have a selection of Valentine’s Day themed baked goods and candies to support heart health. All proceeds will go to the American Red Cross, so help support a great cause and get a treat in return.

If you are looking for something to do this Friday night, attend the Intrepid Keystone Club’s “Have a Heart” event. This event will be held at the Boys and Girls Club of Woburn from 9pm to midnight to benefit the American Red Cross. While admission is only to wear the color red, they are asking you to bring some cash to buy baked goods, drinks and snacks. The activities happening there include playing games, swimming  and other fun Valentine’s Day centered festivities. You will also be able to send your crush a Crush Soda for just $1 that evening, so be sure to bring money. Anyone is able to attend, whether you are a member of the Club or not, so bring your friends and enjoy a fun night, while supporting a great cause!

Whether you are looking forward to Valentine’s Day or not, there is a lot going on this Friday. Between the Dating Game, bake sales, the delivery of serenades and carnations, and the Intrepid Keystone Club’s event, there is no excuse to ignore the love in the air. If you are truly against anything love and Valentine’s Day, look forward to President’s Day, which is right around the corner. Start your February vacation off right and participate in the fun activities happening this Friday. 

The hot new fad for political regimes: censoring media

Editor's Note: Students in Journalism were asked to read Maziar Bahari's memoir, Then They Came for Me, a story of how the Newsweek journalist was arrested and held for 118 days in an Iranian prison for espionage. Students were then asked to write an article inspired by the memoir. One submission appears below.

Maziar Bahari's memoir recounts his 118 days in Iran's Evin Prison. The movie, Rosewater, based on the memoir and directed by Jon Stewart will be released in 2014.
photo by Abby Gillis

The hot new fad for political regimes: censoring media

by Alexander Paladino

The basic freedoms of speech, religion, and the press are fundamental tenets of an individual’s rights in the United States of America and many other modern countries around the world.  This liberty, however, is not as quickly bestowed upon citizens of second and third world nations.  

These countries tend to be ones where the governments are communist or socialist; however, most important is that these governments are almost all run by authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.  The dictatorial nature of how the government holds the lives of citizens under a fine scope often leads to the abuse of power and manipulation of the public.  

One stark example of such manipulation is a censorship of media that is commonplace, allowing terrible leaders to remain in power.  Recently, this questionable act has proliferated across second and third world nations, from Cuba to Iran to China.  

The Arab Spring uprisings, a wave of revolts from Northern Africa to the Middle East that started in late 2010, have brought about liberation and democracy, yet at the same time hardship and an increased scrutiny of citizens.  While liberating Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen, the newfound democracies put in place are not all too different in terms of censorship.  

During April 2013, Bassem Youssef, host of an Egyptian comedy program akin to The Daily Show, made a joke that offended President Mohammed Morsi.  Youssef was questioned for several hours and the channel that broadcast his program was pulled from the air.  

This act raises the question of whether or not some of these democratic countries in the Middle East are merely veiling their authoritarian rules through censoring media that pokes holes at them.  

In accordance with the International Press Institute’s report, the IPI Press Review 2009 Focus on the Middle East and North Africa, the situation regarding censorship is getting worse.  Dozens of journalists have been convicted of crimes without trial.  News blackouts are put on foreign media.  Countries like Iran have arrested online bloggers who speak against them and have cracked down on the online flow of media on a whole.  

While the censorship of civilians for political gain is occurring in the Middle East and North Africa, it is occurring all around the world, and is not due to the Islam religion prevalent in the Middle East.  

In terms of online freedom, in order from least to greatest the bottom three countries are as follows: Iran, Cuba, and China.  Iran is mostly Muslim, yet Cuba is mostly Christian, and China has no one majority religion.  The list follows with the Muslim countries of Syria and Uzbekistan, yet then goes to Christian Ethiopia, and Buddhist Myanmar and Vietnam (Sterling).

The religious lineup of countries with minimal online freedom is erratic and does not point censorship to any one religion.  However, all these countries do have similarities.  Most have communist, socialist, and/or authoritarian governments.  

Governments with these ideals are often malicious to their people. They tend to strip rights away from their citizens in order to stay in power, and those who try to uncover the corruption are the ones who unfortunately get punished.

Works cited

Sterling, Joe. "Report: Mideast, North African Countries Censor, Control Media." CNN World.

CNN. 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 07 Feb. 2014. 

Bibliography

Calamur, Krishnadev. "U.S. Embassy Tweets Jon Stewart's Egypt Monologue; Diplomatic

Incident Ensues." NPR. NPR, 03 Apr. 2013. Web. 07 Feb. 2014.

Fortin, Jacey. "The Surprising Truth About Internet Censorship In The Middle East.

"International Business Times. N.p., 12 Oct. 2012.Web. 07 Feb. 2014.

Going for gold: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games

by Mairead O’Riordan

Starting on February 6, the Olympic Games will be kicking off in Sochi, Russia.  This will be the first time that the games are taking place in Russia.  There will be many events happening near the slopes like skiing and snowboarding and you can also cheer on your favorite team in the ice rink. 

If you have the need for speed, make sure to watch the events such as luge or skeleton where lugers can reach up to 87 mph.  Freshman Sam Ficociello is counting down the days until the games so she can watch some of her favorite events.

            “My favorite part is hockey, but I like watching sports that I don’t see very often outside of the Olympics like skiing, snowboarding and speed skating,” said Ficociello.

            The United States is sending its largest group ever to Sochi for the Olympic Games this year.  There will be 230 men and women athletes at the games competing in fifteen different events.  When the games took place in Vancouver four years ago, American athletes brought home 37 medals, setting a record for Winter Games and also setting the bar high for athletes in Sochi.  Junior Mark Marshall is looking forward to seeing his favorite athletes compete in the games.

            “I’m looking forward to seeing Shaun White in the snowboarding contest as well as the USA hockey team,” stated Marshall.

            This time around, the USA Women’s Hockey Team has their eye on the gold.  Four years ago they had to leave with silver, losing their last game to their biggest rival, Canada.  The team has put the loss behind them and has headed to Sochi with the hopes of leaving with the gold.

            US bobsled driver Steve Holcomb has made outstanding progress from about seven years ago when he was almost fully blind during the past Olympic Games.  Holcomb was diagnosed with an eye disorder that almost pushed him into retirement.  He knew that he could not give up his passion for bobsledding, and after a life changing eye procedure, he was back in the games.  Holcomb led his four-man bobsled team to victory as they won the first gold medal for this event in 62 years.  Now, four years later, Holcomb and his team are ready to go back and bring home the gold for the second time in a row.

            Mikaela Shiffrin, an 18-year-old slalom skier headed to Sochi has already been crowned the US slalom champion, which makes her the youngest person to ever win a national title.  Shiffrin is getting a lot of attention with the games quickly approaching because Lindsey Vonn, also a US slalom skier, is out of the Olympics due to a knee injury.  Already named Colorado’s Athlete of the Year, Shiffrin has big shoes to fill in Sochi, and if she is able to bring home the gold, she will be the youngest American alpine skier to ever win a gold medal.

            This year is going to be a big year for all American teams participating in the Olympic Games.  Since it is the largest group that America has ever sent to the Olympics, a lot of people will be hoping they can bring home the gold in as many events possible.  Each event has a great competition and the US is going to have to work very hard to come out on top!        

Tips to take on gym class

by Michaela Zelandi

With the new gym requirement plaguing Woburn High, the nightmare of having to take gym class is now becoming a reality for all of those who previously thought that they left behind their mandatory gym days in middle school.  It is now required that every student, graduating with the Class of 2016 and beyond, has to take some sort of wellness class for a semester, which includes regular PE, cardio, weight training and personal fitness.  Needless to say, this requirement isn’t being looked forward to by all students.  So for those who are dreading the gym experience, here are a few tips that can help you get through the class.

            First of all, students should know what they’re getting into when they sign up for a gym class.  There are different options of classes, so students should sign up for the one they think they will enjoy the most.  The regular gym class is for those who actually enjoy playing games and participating.  This may not be the best class for a person who does not like playing physical games. 

Cardio is class where students do, quite simply, cardio.  Students work out in the weight room and the gymnastics/wrestling rooms.  For students who are more focused on building up their muscles, weight training is the recommended class.  This class makes use of the weights in the weight room, for these students are lifting most of the time. 

Personal fitness explores different types of healthy exercise.  One exercise is introduced and students work out to this exercise for two weeks and then learn a new exercise.  This class is good for those who are likely to get bored with doing the same work-out routine week after week. 

            One of the most dreaded things about gym class is the realization that on must change their clothes – every single day.  This may seem like a daunting task to most people, having to go through the struggle of putting on your skinny jeans or tights every day.  To make this much easier, try to wear clothes that can pass for gym attire as much as you can to avoid having to change.  Girls should try and wear leggings, yoga pants or sweating pants as much as possible because as long as a student’s not wearing jeans, that student will get full credit for changing.  Boys should just wear sweatpants if they want to avoid changing too.  Sophomore Mollie Fraser took personal fitness last semester, and her least favorite part about gym was having to wear different gym clothes every day.

“Changing for gym stresses me out, having to remember another outfit for gym everyday was a hassle,” stated Fraser.

To avoid Fraser’s dilemma, instead of lugging different gym clothes every day to class, simply bring one pair of gym clothes for the entire week.  Also, make sure to bring a pair of sneakers that aren’t important because leaving a pair of sneakers in the locker for the semester will ensure that a student doesn’t have to participate in gym with UGGS or even flip-flops (which the gym teachers don’t appreciate).  By wearing the right attire for gym class, a student will most definitely be on their teacher’s good side.

Each gym student is given a locker and a lock, but sometimes the combination locks given are very difficult to open.  Bring a lock from home instead to make your life much easier.  It’s no fun struggling to get the lock open when the ending bell rings and you’re not even changed yet.

Another essential tip for gym class is making sure to bring perfume, deodorant or cologne.  After gym class, some people begin to regret going all out for whatever activity because they feel sweaty which means they may be smelly.  By having perfume, deodorant or cologne, one can quickly cover up and not have to worry about the smell.

Gym class is now mandatory, so we must make the best of it.  These tips will help make gym as painless as possible.