Tag: art

Letter from Alex Mette

Dear Antioch,
Between periods of extreme stress and sadness I have thought about what this all means for me and my future, but mostly my heart goes out to others.  I came here not too sure about how I would feel about this place, in fact, after I came here to visit I had a lot of doubts about whether I really wanted to come here.  I remember that some people were doing an art project called ‘Antioch is Fucked’ and I asked them, “Is Antioch fucked because of us (the incoming class) or without us?”  “Both,” they told me.  While I have come to realize that while they had a point, there is also a lot of “the new class is so watered-down, the real Antioch is dead, etc.”  Well, for my part, I’m pretty watery but besides our poor grassroots recruitment I think that people always idealize the past.  Antioch may only have a hundred students but it remains a vibrant community and an amazingly educational place.  I think that Antiochians remain concerned about this place, what it is becoming, what it maybe used to have been, because the idea of Antioch is so beautiful.  That same idea remains today.  It is, and always has been, an image.  Despite that, Antioch, the people here, the environment, has helped to me find that image for myself, not of a flourishing progressive bastion of education and social activism, but of the personal.  For me there is always an ideal, and there is reality, what we want to become, and what we are.  Whether these differences are real or just mental, Antioch has taken me closer to my image of the world and myself than I have ever experienced.  I have seen glimpses of what life can be and I think that the freedom that Antioch creates, freedom to express as well as to learn, makes it a sanctuary.  Continue reading Letter from Alex Mette

Dispatches from Community Meeting

By Erin-Aja Grant
In the last 7 days there have been two community meetings held, mainly about the same thing. The much-anticipated University BOT meeting held in L.A. was supposed to provide some clarity about the intentions of the AC3 and the status of acquiring Antioch College. Both meetings talked extensively about the BOT meeting and the AC3 but differed in their message.
On Friday Andrejz Bloch called an emergency community meeting that was facilitated by ComCil chair Levi Cowperth-Waite and fourth year Sara Buckingham. There was no CFB, announcements, or ‘thank yous’ but it was very much a community meeting. This meeting was met with great anticipation from the community since Andrejz and Linda Sirk had been in L.A. and CG remained in L.A. for the results of the University BOT meeting that commenced this last weekend. When Andrejz made his announcement on Friday the community had a mixed bag of emotions. Many did not understand, as Andrejz described,  “As the University’s reaffirmation that the college will be closing as of June 30, 2008.”  Faculty members like Chris Smith asked questions as well as community members, staff, and students. Many felt disheartened by the news because the media was awaiting the community’s’ reactions about the closing of the college. Antioch Alum, former staff, and AC3 member Steve Schwerner was openly in opposition to Andrejz’s announcement. He said the AC3 asked for Eric Bates and David Goodman to go to L.A. and they were not allowed. As questions were fired at Andrejz many were left unanswered. Continue reading Dispatches from Community Meeting

Adventures in the Crescent City

By Kawai, Yoshitomo
In July 2006, I was on Amtrak heading all around the major cities of the United States as a backpacker. As a one of destinations, I chose New Orleans. I was looking forward to having the fun of hearing real jazz and wanted to observe what was going on there after Katrina. I would be glad if my article were used as a guide of New Orleans by anyone who has not been there.
Before I tell you about New Orleans, let me draw your attention to Amtrak. The city is served by rail via Amtrak. I was very frustrated due to a painful delay. Despite that the trip from Los Angels to New Orleans was supposed to take 48 hours, eventually it took me 72 hours. They always give priority to freight trains. Anytime a freight train passed by from the opposite way, our train had to stop and waited for the train passing even though they have two railways. Although I do not exactly know why, it was sure that I had to survive for 72 hours with expensive noodles and hot dogs on the train. I will not choose Amtrak if I head to New Orleans again. Continue reading Adventures in the Crescent City

Last Poets at Antioch

By Alex Mette

This Saturday night Antioch hosted the ‘Godfathers of Hip Hop,’ The Last Poets.  The group’s name is a reference to a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who believed that the era of poetry was at an end, soon to be replaced by that of guns.  The group, originally Felipe Luciano, Gylan Kain, and David Nelson, was born on Malcolm X’s birthday (May 19) at Marcus Garvey Park, East Harlem, 1969.  Today The Last Poets are: Abiodun Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan, and Don Babatunde Eaton.  Like Malcolm X himself, the Last Poets have changed their political ideologies over time, and today denounce much of modern Hip Hop music.  An article by DuEwa M. Frazier entitled, “The Last Poets: Still on a Mission,” quotes Abiodun Oyewole as saying that “Hip Hop has become a circus. The vehicle is still the same, but the artists, the drivers are silly. We know they’re doing this because niggas are trying to get paid, but see a lot of people are on the line to be niggas and they’re being paid to be sleazy and greasy.”  On Saturday, Oyewole spoke of the importance, or lack thereof, of rhyme in poetry.  While their use of rhythm and rhyme probably had a significant impact on what would become Hip Hop music, Oyewole stated that rhyme should come second to substance and that “You can’t just talk because your mouth runs.”  In terms of political philosophy, when asked in an interview done in 1997 how his ideas about revolution had changed, Abiodun Oyewole stated that “back then, I wanted to see everything burned and people hanged.  I wanted to see riots. The one thing that stopped me in my tracks was this guy speaking at one of our forums.  [He said] ‘You can’t really be a revolutionary until you know the kind of world that you want your kid to live in.’” Going on to say, “Now, my whole thing is, we have to see how we can be the greatest part of us, which is the healing part of us.  This self-empowerment mode is where I’m at. I’d rather that folks learn how to save themselves before they kill themselves. That’s what I’m trying to do.”       Continue reading Last Poets at Antioch

Metaphysical Plant

By Tim Peyton

Students can’t make it out of the side of North anymore due to the broken step.  Walking out the front door from North only leads to a gigantic puddle in front of the Union.  “We were thinking of getting boats to cross it,” said first year Stacy Wood Burgess. In the Caf all the tables by the window are gone.  Red ‘caution’ tape surrounds where they once were.  If you ever decide to play pool, chances are you won’t find a stick because they are broken so often.  Students trying to work in AIMAC can barely stand to be in there because of the broken window.  This sounds like some sort of nightmare but unfortunately this is the state of Antioch College these days.

Some students are even getting injured because of these issues.  International student Yoshitomo Kawai fell the other day walking up the steps to North.  “ I was holding a glass of wine and it got everywhere,” Yoshi said.  Some students are also having trouble getting to class on time because of the ice and large salt cubes on walkways.   Continue reading Metaphysical Plant