If you’ve ever seen the Disney movie Mulan, you might recall the scene where Shang, the army captain, challenges all his trainees to reach the top of a tall wooden pole and retrieve an arrow. The catch? They must do so while weighed down by two brass disks tied to their arms. All the trainees approach the task viewing the disks as a burden, and are unable to climb the pole. Only Mulan discovers by accident that the disks don’t have to be a burden: when she swings the disks upward and then tugs back on the ropes, they interlock behind the pole – now she’s able to use the…
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CERRU OP-ED: Tip of the Iceberg
On the couch, Gary lays sprawled out, a game controller in his hand, images from “Grand Theft Auto” flashing on the screen. Brooke, his girlfriend, is in the kitchen. She walks into the living room, and in a low voice filled with so many underlying emotions, she asks, “Gary, can you please help me do the dishes?” Eight simple words begin the scene that ends Brooke and Gary’s relationship. (Yes, spoiler alert, this is a scene from “The Break-Up”). One small request starts an argument that brings hidden emotions rushing to the surface. But how could such a simple question trigger such chaos? On October 15 during free…
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CERRU OP-ED: Sexplore with Sexploration this Semeste
QC Sexploration and Information Group, your favorite (and only) QC Peer Sex Education Team, is back for another year of research and events! As always, be sure to check out our Annual Sex Day in February – but in the meantime, there are lots of other opportunities to get involved, participate, ask questions, and learn. Who are we? We are a participatory action research team started through the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding here at Queens College. That just means that we are a team of Queens College members, mostly current students, figuring out what other students want to see covered on campus through surveys and conversations.…
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CERRU OP-ED: Burst your Media Bubble
Besides the copy of The Knight News you’re holding in your hands right now, where do you get your news? How you answer this question matters a lot, as all of us learned the day we met Annafi Wahed. On February 26 during free hour, the founder of “The Flipside,” came to speak at “Burst Your Media Bubble,” an event hosted by the QC Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding. “The Flipside” is a daily email newsletter, that sends subscribers news summaries on trending headlines, with both liberal and conservative perspectives. During the event, Wahed shared her story on what inspired her to create an organization which opens…
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Radical Empathy: An (Un)complicated Act
“It’s complicated!” So opens the film “Wrestling Jerusalem,” a line shouted in frustration by the sole actor, Aaron Davidman. That’s right, you read correctly, Aaron is the only actor in “Wrestling Jerusalem,” but by no means is he the only character. Before the film is over, his face will reflect many other faces, and his voice will hold many other voices as he strives to shed light on the people he has met in preparation for the film. Davidman has listened to the stories of Israelis and Palestinians, whose views clash and harmonize within him in endless ways. “It’s complicated,” as he attempts to answer the questions of “What…