Uncategorized

Lowell High school is a public magnet school located in San Francisco Unified and is the subject of Debbie Lum’s documentary, Try Harder! The oldest public high school west of the Mississippi, Lowell consistently ranks #1 in the western region, while being recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School on multiple occasions. While Lowell High school is a public high school it is a magnet school that allows the school to have selective admission.

These selective admissions allow Lowell to have a base of high-performing students who make up its student population. To the average person, this might seem wonderful but as Debbie Lum explores in this documentary there are pains and heartache that come with being a top 1% er.

Early on you see that these aren’t your typical students. One student claimed fairly early in the film “ You get used to feeling mediocre” in a school full of high-performing individuals. To these children getting into a top university is a must or you are an automatic failure. One student claimed, “You see a lot of freshmen wearing Stanford jerseys, by the time they are juniors you don’t see those anymore”.

The documentary follows several students Alvin, Ian, Shea, Sophia, and Rachel as they try to navigate the college admission process. Alvin is full of personality, which is probably why he is the focal point of this film. While his goofiness and charm remind you he is a teenager, the crushing pressure he is under by his “Tiger Mom” and the overwhelmingly high standards he puts on himself remind you he is much more than that. Ian’s mother takes the opposite approach and wants him to focus less on grades and more on understanding himself. While Ian is still a high performer the difference in his psyche is extremely noticeable. While he also worries about college, he doesn’t seem nearly as stressed out as the other individuals. Shea is a junior and isn’t involved as much in the college process in the beginning but he is different in that he has an unstable home life where he has to take care of himself the majority of the time. Shea is driven and he goes back and forth on whether or not going to a top 20 school is essential to success. Sophia is cool calm and collective. She has confidence in herself and her abilities, she even mentions that she doesn’t find the curriculum at Lowell too difficult. She has several extra-curricular activities as well and a part-time job. Rachel is a biracial student who alludes to certain racism in the school. At one point she mentions that a student told her that they didn’t realize black people cared about grades. She has a hard time defining herself as either black or white. Knowing that being African American in the college admission process will benefit her steers her decision. All of these students approach the pressures of “succeeding” differently, which makes for an interesting look into their psyche.

There are several things that I believe Debbie Lum wanted to address in this documentary. Early on it is made clear that most of the population of Lowell is Asian, and it is hinted that being Asian comes at a disadvantage during college admissions. At one point we were told that a Stanford representative that visits the school made a comment alluding to limiting the number of Asian students they allow in for diversity. With a lot of the student body of Lowell applying to Ivy Leagues, Stanford, and the UC system, acceptance to these is growing harder to come by for this reason. The students are also referred to as robots, unfeeling machines that only concentrate on grades. This might be the truly heartbreaking part of the documentary as these are children after all. The documentary displays the vast personalities of its subjects and they are anything but robots.

Lum does a good job showcasing the pressure that these students have to handle daily, and you can’t help but cheer for every single one of them. Definitely add Try Harder! to your watch list.

The post Try Harder! A Wonderful Documentary about the Evergrowing Pressure of College Admissions appeared first on The Nerd Element.

Twitter/Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) By Ashlee Banks ·February 17, 2021February 17, 2021

Amy Cooper—the 41-year-old white woman who infamously called the cops on a Black man who was peacefully birdwatching in New York City’s Central Park—is off the hook now that her criminal case has been thrown out. 

Christan Cooper was enjoying his hobby on May 25, 2020 when he saw Amy and asked her to leash her dog, which is the law in Central Park. Amy wasn’t too pleased with a Black man asking her to be a law-abiding citizen, so she decided to use her privilege against him in retaliation. She called the cops and lied to them. She said she was being threatened by “an African American man.” Amy wanted Christian to be punished for simply asking her to comply with the law and to be a responsible dog owner. Violent, deadly encounters between police and Black people have been more public in recent years, which means Amy knew what she was doing. Christian could’ve easily been a trending hashtag in 2020, alongside George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

Due to backlash, Amy was fired from her job as a portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton, an investment firm in California. She was also arrested and charged with one count of filing a false report against Christian. Many of us thought Amy was going to face serious consequences for putting Christian’s life in danger. That hope dissipated when it was announced on Tuesday, February 16 that the charge against Amy had been dropped. Why? Well, it’s because she completed a diversionary counseling program. Prosecutors said this program served the purpose of educating her on her actions, as if Amy was a 4-year-old girl who was ignorant about what she was doing. 

Amy knew exactly what she was doing, which is why a few weeks of counseling isn’t enough. Counseling won’t remove Amy’s racist ideologies. It isn’t going to stop Amy from calling the cops the next time a Black man or woman calls her out for being a law breaker. Thanks to her Whiteness, she knows the law is on her side. Even worse, she is the clearly the type of person who has no problem abusing her privilege. Once again, the justice system has failed the victim.

Officials had the power to sentence Amy and make her serve as an example to all the “Karens” who constantly put the lives of Black and Brown people in danger. She is no different than the White women who scream rape when they’re caught with Black men they secretly desire. She’s no different from Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman who lied on Emmett Till. 

Amy Cooper threatened a man’s life that day in May. Some would say calling the cops to make a false claim of violence against a Black person amounts to attempted murder. She deserves a punishment that fits her crime. 

The post Amy Cooper Proves Once Again That White Privilege Prevails appeared first on Essence.

Fans of multi-talented actor Nick Sagar may recognize him from roles such as Charles Frederickson in Tyler Perry’s The Have and Have Nots or in both installments of Netflix’s hit Christmas films, The Princess Switch, in the role of the handsome dad, Kevin Richards. Now Sagar is set to take on a new role as sauve Anderson Louis in Starz upcoming show Run the World.

Sagar tells BGN about his excitement for the upcoming show.

Run the World is set to premiere in Spring 2021. Tell me about your process of auditioning and your reaction when you booked the role.

I was over the moon when I got the role. I’d had a chance to read the script and knew what the premise was going to be. It’s exactly the type of show we need right now — a fresh innovative look at four Black women and their careers, love lives, friendships, and how they navigate life in the big city. I’m just glad to be a part of it.

You play Anderson Louis in the show. How did you prepare for this role and how would you describe this character?

What stood out to me about the role was that I could relate to parts of him. I used that as a base to create Anderson. He’s a very passionate loving guy who values his lady very highly. The struggle comes when balancing their careers and love life. He definitely makes some decisions I wouldn’t [laughs], but that’s where the fun in playing characters comes from.

The show tells the story of Black friends simply navigating through life. Why do you think these storylines are important to have in this day and age?

They’re extremely important because there wasn’t enough growing up. Media has a huge role to play in shaping people’s realities and has the power to help people dream. On the flip side, it can also limit us if we’re not getting the right content. Accurate cultural representation is vital for us as humans to move forward as one. Telling these stories sheds light on the lives that so many can relate to but have had less representation over the years. I love that we are breaking molds and stereotypes, which is long overdue!

You’re currently working on other projects as well, such as the third installment of Princess Switch. How has set life been amid COVID-19, and has it been difficult to get acclimated to such a huge change in set life?

We’re almost done on Princess Switch 3. It’s been so good to be back with the family. They’ve been missed dearly. Having such a close set helps to make navigating these difficult times easier. We’re extremely privileged to be working at this time, and everyone takes that into account. They really are a great bunch.

If you could work with any actor on any project, who/what would it be and why?

That’s a good one. There are a few I’d like to work with. I’d love to do some action with Jackie Chan. Denzel, of course. It would be cool to do something different with my good friend Tika Sumpter. We worked on The Have and Have Nots together. Maybe some sort of action flick. [Laughs.] You can tell I’m looking for some action roles!

Any closing remarks?

Just thank you to everyone who takes the time to read this. Thank you to the team at Black Girl Nerds for featuring me — it’s really appreciated. Blessings, peace and love to all!

We hope our listenership is enjoying this Valentine Day's weekend but what better way is there to enjoy the break than to listen to Afronerd Radio's Grindhouse broadcast? And for the uninitiated, The Grindhouse airs every Sunday at 8 p.m. eastern on the BTalk 100 platform.  Your "not ready for prime time" AFROnerdist hosts will be unpacking the following topics: Cyborg/Justice League actor, Ray Fisher seems to be getting even more help from industry friends in the wake of allegations he levied against filmmaker, Joss Whedon for crass and unprofessional behavior while on set;  it appears what was once perceived as a joke, hence the term "gay burger," and its trending on Twitter is now a fully-realized restaurant IP.  The question remains when (and how) can blackness capitalize on ideas in a similar fashion?; former MMA and actress, Gina Carano loses her gig with Disney +'s Mandalorian TV series but lands on her proverbial feet thanks to conservative pundit, Ben Shapiro?;  thoughts about episode 6 of Wandavison including the identity of  Monica Rambeau's mystery contact (Reed Richards or Adam Brashear?); legendary jazz musician, Chick Corea passes at 79; 

It looks like a few folks (Daniel Kaluuya, Ryan Coogler) decided to revisit a different "Black Panther" story via this weekend's release of HBO Max' Judas and the Black Messiah film; and even more hype (is that possible?) is at play concerning the latest trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League. A film also slated for an HBO Max  streaming release; 

And lastly, the importance of Black comic book IPs becomes apparent via the return of Milestone Media during BHM and Black Sands garnering a 1M investment into its burgeoning publishing house.

*One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF

Call us LIVE at 508-645-0100. AFTER CLICKING ON THE HIGHLIGHTED LINK, GO DIRECTLY TO AFRONERD RADIO!!! 

or This link below.....
function openPlayer(s){window.open("https://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/"+escape(s),"Player","height=630,width=940,modal=yes,alwaysRaised=yes")}