same stuff different generation

A blog that explores topics and opinions across different generations.

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Youth across the nation are suing the State and Federal Governments demanding them to take action on Climate Change. Xiuhtezcatl, is an Indigenous Climate Activist that is very active in this movement. This video shows him talking at the High-level event on Climate Change.

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My friend Rachel Fifi-Culp is one of the six Columbia University students who occupied President Bollinger’s office for eight days.  The group, which began with 16 students, sprang their divestment movement into action, demanding that the President divest from fossil fuel endowments to the University. The group was flooded with student and faculty support for this movement. After the students who were involved in the sit-in received threats from the university’s administration, 169 faculty signed a petition that “demand[ed] that they be protected against suspension and expulsion.” Not only did the group, prompt a meeting with President Bollinger after their eighth day of occupation, but their persistence encouraged the same movement at institutions across the nation. Above is a photo of kids of CU professors demonstrating on the steps.

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If you have have been on the internet any day since April 23, you have probably heard of “Lemonade,” Beyonce’s recently released album. I decided to interview my good friend who knows her Bey facts more than anyone I know and was the first to encourage me to listen and watch the album. Here is her take on Lemonade:

My name is Sharnicia Dotson and I am a 21 year Black woman from Houston, TX. My mother is one of the biggest Beyoncé fans I know, so Beyoncé has been on every road trip I have ever been on and makes a cameo in many of my school talent shows. I am definitely a fan and like many of the Beyhive inspired and awed by what she does. 

What does Lemonade mean to you? 

Lemonade means hope. Anger and trust issues and sadness are only moments that you go through, but you don’t finish the race until you have hope. Hope is a sweet thing that takes sour experiences and makes for a beautiful journey.

What are your thought/opinions?

To me, Lemonade (the album) is at first the typical relationship saga that Beyoncé has been singing about throughout her entire career. As you continue to listen though, you hear something more raw and something more personal than ever before. Though you cannot get the full Lemonade experience without actually watching the visual album. It is with the visuals that you see that Beyoncé is hitting at a more specific struggle and telling not her own story but the story of Black women in the United States. 

How did your perspective of Beyoncé change after listening and watching the visual album? 

I was honestly more proud of Beyoncé after listening to this album. With her last album, I watched her docu-mini-series and she discussed how her self-titled album was her finally growing up and being the person that she wanted to be-not the person her mom or dad expected her to be. I think with Lemonade she not only found herself, but celebrated herself and that includes embracing her black culture. This really resonates with me because being a Black Women is an identifier that I too am recently celebrating more and more. 

How do you think other people are perceiving it?

I have mostly just been fangirling with my friends about our favorite songs, but I have taken the time to read other people’s thoughts on the album. One of the most controversial opinion pieces came from Piers Morgan. I thought it was interesting how he said that Beyoncé was basically a fake feminist and a fake ally to the Black Lives Matter Movement. Of course what Beyoncé is singing about is timely, but why would she not sing about black lives mattering-she is Black. Many people believe that all of this is coming from nowhere, but Beyoncé has always been Black. I will not say that Piers Morgan cannot criticize the message Beyoncé is trying to convey because he is white and will never understand the struggle of the Black woman. I will say that anyone trying to critique the portrayal of something that they cannot relate to should be careful that they are seeking understanding and not silencing the conversation. 

In the video, Beyoncé used women of many generations, what do you think that represents?

I think that Beyoncé used women of many generations throughout her video because the struggles and story that she is telling affects all aspects of life. The protagonist of the video (who most people assume is Beyoncé) discussed how her relationships with her father, grandmother, husband, and mother all shaped the outcomes of her life. I think this can be broadened to everyone with the message that we are all made up of our experiences and we carry them with us forever. 

What do you think Lemonade say about society/the time we are living in? One of the most powerful moments in the Lemonade visual album happened with the song Forward. It was during this song that Beyoncé showed the mothers and grandmothers of Black men and boys that had died recently at the hands of police officers. Earlier in the video, she featured a clip from Malcom X speech about how marginalized Black women are-I thought together this was an incredible juxtaposition. It spoke volumes to how the world may not be as different as we would like to believe. 

 What age group do you think responds best to Lemonade?

I think that Lemonade is something that young adults would receive the best because it is an album that discusses a journey, which all young adults find themselves on. It inspires hope that thing will get better and that all of the bitterness of life will work out to something sweet. Think about that while you take all the finals.

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Here is a photo of my grandpa- Indar Singh.

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My great grandfather, D. Ram Singh, was one of the first Sikhs to settle in Texas. He was required to register for the draft in 1918 shortly after his arrival in the US, even though he was a citizen of India. He first moved to Texas in 1924, when he bought this land in El Paso that is now my grandpa’s farm. At the age of 16, my grandpa dropped out of school to take care of the farm when his dad died. My grandpa and grandma still live on this farm today. This is an outhouse on the land that was built in 1935 through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The WPA was part of the New Deal that employed millions of unemployed people during the Great Depression to carry out public works projects.

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When parents or grandparents tell you a story and then end it with “seems like yesterday,” the phrase doesn’t really impact you when you’re young. It seems like there’s an infinite amount of time before you’ll be in that same position- reminiscing about a time in your life that seems so far away. Yet here I am, going into my senior year of college, and it really does seem like just yesterday when I was a freshman moving into my dorm at St. Edward’s University. Naturally while thinking about all of this, I had this strong desire to read the very college admissions essay that I wrote to end up where I am now. I wrote about all the adventures my sister, cousin, and I would have, spending the summers on my grandpa’s farm in El Paso. I still visit good ole Chucotown once a year, but how I spend my time on the farm changes as I get older. Instead of those farm adventures I would go on, I walk around and find myself thinking of the memories attached to the things that stay untouched: the plow, outhouse, vegetable stand, old truck, classic Coke vending machine. The picture above is the view from the front door of my grandpa’s house. To read my actual college essay, you can go to the “Writing” tab. 

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“Grown-ups are always talking about the ‘good old days’ and how things were so much better when they were young.”

My 8 year-old cousin, Noey, read me a couple of pages from her favorite series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, when I was with her last time. This first sentence stood out to me. Chances are that no matter what generation you are a part of, you have heard something said a long those lines. The time period that a person is born in often shapes the opinions that they have towards a topic in some way. Noey told me a little bit about how it is being an 8 year-old in today’s Digital Age. I thought it would be interesting to compare her thoughts with a couple of college students’. In this video, Noey, Paula, and Natalie all read an excerpt from Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School and talk about it.

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My Great Grandma Vicky turned 107 and drank Shiner’s 107th anniversary beer. 

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Part of Wildfang’s lookbook “Badass Never Goes Out of Style.” 

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Model and actress Jacky O'Shaughnessy talks body image, self-acceptance, and how she grew from her experience of modeling for American Apparel at an older age in The What’s Underneath Project. As part of this project, individuals remove their clothing as they tell their story and exemplify that style is not the clothing you wear but truly “what’s underneath.”