Growing up, my absolute favorite brand of toys to play with were G.I. Joes; as innocent as the idea of a toy may be, the constant exposure for my imagination sparked something that led to my decision to enlist in The Marine Corps. They exemplified traits I wanted- things my childhood heroes had. I figured maybe I could try on the uniform and see how it fits.
Words were screamed across the room
A man was beaten, battered, and tried
Everything comes to a halt
It all comes down to this; who lied?
I watch from the safety of my own home
Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard,
The trial that is being seen across the world
The comfortability and safety of my own life
Sits in the back of mind, rarely coming out to play
For others, their safety is dangling off a tightrope,
A finger away from falling into the depths
One in four women
One in nine men
10 million suffer
10 million too much
After a marriage full of hate, fear, and humiliation
Witnesses are brought to tell the truth as
Everything comes to a halt
It all comes down to this; who lied?
Interruption, objection, hearsay
Years of being silent,
Depp is silenced once again
But now is the time to tell his story
Seeing toxicity since childhood left him bruised
The shadows of trauma followed him to his adulthood,
He didn’t have a voice then, but he has one now
In horror I listen to the audio clip playing at the end of testimony
“Tell them Johnny Depp, I, Johnny Depp, a man,
I’m a victim too of domestic violence”
What did he say?
“Yes I am.”
Written by Jessica Mananquil | Photo by Georgy Rudakov, Unsplash
Strolling home from work, careless and free
Headed home to make my bed, clean sheets off the line,
What a shame to do at bedtime.
Entering my home, I notice no one, I see, I hear nothing
Suddenly attacked, impaled throughout my body
In and out, with such malice.
Forcibly violated, and left cold as ice.
Floating in a pool of my lineage as it drained from my veins.
Taken from me my spirit, stolen; my spirit.
What gave you the right to me?
Robbing me of my safety, my life, my future?
Who told you it was ok to play God and decide when?
When my last breath was taken, my last moments with family.
42 years I lay frozen, forever a 20 year old with the world at my feet.
Shattered in a moment of impulse.
42 years until my family would rejoice, “I feel like I can go on with my life now.”
The terror, pain and heartache frozen with me
Unthawed as handcuffs squeeze your wrists.
My soul set free, my nightmare unthawed.
Written by Vontress Ortega | Photo by Manjari, Pexels
College students spend thousands of dollars on tuition, living expenses, food, gas, etc. but have little room for anything else. What if you had to choose between period products and groceries? This situation occurs more than people may think. A new study found that 14.2% of college students experienced this problem known as Period Poverty in the past year.
Students aged 24 and younger make up 92% of the college-attending population, and approximately 1 in 6 people aged 18-24 as of 2021 identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer. (LGBTQ+). Despite the many students who identify in these ways, colleges have struggled to create a safe and inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ students.
The year 2020 redefined the word, “essential.” Home essentials, health essentials, work essentials, but most notably essential workers. Though the Fight for 15 movements began in 2012, the COVD-19 pandemic brought a new wave of unionizing movements to fast-food chains across the nation. After years of unsafe working conditions, low wages, lack of accessible healthcare, sexual assault, sexism, and racism, fast-food workers of the Sacramento area are fighting back.
As summer ends, kids start to dread going back to school while parents go back to their usual schedule of waking up, dropping their kids off and then going to work. For many, there’s not much to look forward to during the months of August and September. That is, until the beginning of October comes around each year. Continue Reading
Parenting and family planning have evolved in countless ways over the years. Some things have stayed the same; the pride of first steps, hearing first words, art created on walls, and learning quickly to never be caught without a snack. Others have changed dramatically, such as balancing passions and hobbies with the duties of work, college deadlines, and what we define as our family. How is anyone supposed to “balance” it all? What does “balance” mean? To Ryan Moskun, a claimed father by our 5-year-old daughter, Thea, that balance lies in priorities.
Rock climbing, snow sports, and anything semi-dangerous was what fueled my childhood. Living in Sacramento allowed my family and I to be just an hour and a half away from some of the coolest places, such as Lake Tahoe and John Muir Woods. Choosing to study at Sierra College allowed me to stay close to amazing places like these, with the opportunity to take classes even closer to the mountains at the Nevada County Campus.
The Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students (ECOS) is a club at Sierra College that I was lucky to join. It helps educate students on the importance of sustainability and the principles of Leave No Trace. Thanks to ECOS, I was able to participate in outdoor activities and meet people who feel just as passionately about the earth as I do.
Written by Alexis Young
Working as an electrician in Tennessee was something that grew old for Charles Armistead Reeves. This prompted him to travel from Tennessee to Hawaii in search of work and new experiences. Here is where he met Rose Lokalia Miguel in the 1900s. The two married in 1902, having nine children together.
Becoming a mother at 17 was scary to me. I thought that I would ruin my children’s lives before they ever had a chance. Following in the footsteps of my mother and determined to break a cycle. Just a teenager not knowing myself or even who I would be. I did not understand the responsibility that I was taking on, not for just one child, but six.
I had to strive to be better than I’d ever been and understand that mistakes would potentially put me and my children in a bad position. It was up to me, and only me, to ensure that my children had everything under the sun, no matter the curve balls thrown in my path.
In this 8:22 minute video, Journalism and Communications: Reaching your Dream Career, viewers hear from KFBK reporter with iHeart Media, Nikka Magahis, and Sierra College Communication Studies professor and consultant, Tara Franks, PhD, on their paths into journalism and communications careers. Each describes their unique journey into an evolving field that touches on radio, writing, multimedia, performance, teaching, and higher-education.
Video by Hayley Repetti