Author: Chantal Green

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/893329149

https://vimeo.com/889158201?share=copy

Yosakoi is a style of dance that originated in Japan in 1954. A friend of mine is in a dance group named Kogyoku Yosakoi based in New York. The group was founded in 2021; since then they’ve performed at JapanFest and Japan Parade and have even flown out to D.C. for a show. With permission, I’d like to speak to the co-founders and a few members about their experiences thus far and what they have planned for the future. If possible, I’d love to visit some of their practice sessions, follow them to a performance, and get a few behind-the-scenes shots. If I can follow them to a performance, I’d love to hopefully get some opinions from the audience members as well.

https://medium.com/@chantalgreen03/the-future-of-law-36ab69edfa78

Script

HOST INTRO: The Ivy League, Cornell University, is located in upstate New York and has an overall student population of over 51,000. Roughly, according to Data USA, only 5.73% of those students are Black. Chantal Green sat down with a recent Black alumni to discuss their experience at Cornell.

TRACK: I’m here with Richard Green, a former student at Cornell University who recently graduated in the summer of 2021. He was a pre-law student majoring in Industrial Labor Relations and is currently enrolled at Fordham University, studying law full time. 

ACT: RICHARD: “You have to put yourself in certain spaces in order to see other black people.”

TRACK: He says that, while he was there, he noticed that finding community as a Black student required a bit more effort.

ACT: RICHARD: Generally, the Black students had to create the space themselves. Um, fraternities didn’t have, like Black fraternities compared to White fraternities didn’t have spaces of their own. They would have to rent them out if they wanted to have a party or events or anything of that nature. 

TRACK: Despite having campus events, Cornell still did not have the most open space for their Black students.

ACT: RICHARD: There were events for Black people but they didn’t really work with the Black organizations for those events. When Black people want to do something they kinda just do it themselves.

TRACK: Cornell, like many other campuses, still has a long way to go when it comes to organizing and creating spaces for their marginalized students. For Multimedia Reporting at Baruch College, I’m Chantal Green.

Interview

https://soundcloud.com/chantal-green-496748454/practiceinterviewchantalgreen/s-1IHyKomedsO?si=287b5d19990f4c7f9319867466f55c47&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

     

https://medium.com/@chantalgreen03/black-queer-survival-in-the-city-that-never-sleeps-efcac9d8d614

https://medium.com/@chantalgreen03/practice-assignment-1-multimedia-reporting-d2ecdec59d66

One month ago today, a memorial for O’Shae Sibley was organized after his murder on July 29, 2023. He was murdered for voguing to a Beyoncé song, a style of dancing created and popularized by Black Queer people in the ballroom scene. As a Black Queer person myself, it served as yet another reminder that even in New York, we are not always safe. Through this assignment, I hope to gain some insight on how other Queer individuals within the city not only feel a month later, but how they’re able to survive and express joy despite all the hardships that come with our identities. I hope to find people to interview through friends of friends, Baruch’s GLASS organization, and other queer organizations that I may be able to find throughout New York.With the photos I take, I hope to showcase Black joy and the fact that despite everything, we still can and deserve happiness and equality.

-Chantal Green