Category: Features

By KENDRA BURDICK

Autumn has arrived and Redlands is prepared for the shift into the new season. All around town, citizens are putting out pumpkins, flags and colorful objects, to celebrate the beginning of this new time of year. Decorations can be seen at people’s homes and businesses. Many buildings are decorated or filled with autumn products so that people feel a warm, inviting presence as they enter their establishments.

One of the businesses that have immersed itself into this season’s charm is Starbucks.  Many people look forward to the seasonal food and drinks that they showcase, and the cafe has added more drinks and food products to emphasize the autumn theme. Their seasonal offerings include items such as iced pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin scone and iced apple crisp macchiato.

Walmart and Smart and Final have stocked their shelves with Halloween and autumn decorations in preparation for the season. (KENDRA BURDICK/ Ethic News)

Retail stores are also starting to update their inventory to have more fall products for people to buy and celebrate the upcoming season. Target and Walmart have already put some Halloween-themed toys and small animatronics in their businesses. 

Along with decorations, creepy and creative costumes are on their way. Some stores, such as Party City, are providing discounts. The Halloween store Spirit Halloween in Redlands has a stock of different sorts of costumes and theatrical decorations.

Mel Megana Franco and Ashley Ranaballer are eager about autumn because Halloween is coming soon. (KENDRA BURDICK/ Ethic News)

Because of COVID-19, a vast majority of events designated to celebrate the autumn season were canceled or not celebrated as they were before the pandemic. But now, the events are starting to reconvert back to their normal ways.

One example is the Yucaipa Apple Butter Festival at Los Rios Rancho. Even with the fire that occurred on October 2, 2020, and the rebuild, Los Rios Rancho is planning to effectuate the festival. The Apple Butter Festival is from Friday, November 26 through Sunday, November 28 this fall.

Another event that helps revitalize the autumn spirit is the “Redlands Turkey Trot.” This Thanksgiving Day 5K run and a 1K “Fun Run” is held for kids throughout the beautiful city from 7:30 to 9:00 in the morning. The race course will start at Sylvan Park and interwork through the Redlands streets and around the University of Redlands before ending back at the Park.

Fae Norris can’t wait for the rain to relieve everyone from the high sweat-inducing temperatures and Eli Naser is enthusiastic for the football season to begin when autumn comes. (KENDRA BURDICK/ Ethic News)

The students around Redlands East Valley High School are excited about the season and looking forward to the cool weather. According to The Conversation, in the article  “Academic Rigor,” the weather throughout Southern California typically lifts from the heat and begins to cool when autumn comes. 

Other students are excited about the sports games that will follow, such as football, golf and water polo. A vast majority of students and staff are looking forward to the break and taking some time off to bask in the ‘season of rest.’

According to  “Peace Through Action * USA,” a web series devoted to keeping peace within our humanity, the season of Autumn “summons us to Be Peace… Being at peace is personal behavior.”

Nicholas Valencia and Megan Rimmer are zealous to do their favorite autumn activities. Megan plans to shop and Nicholas plans on eating. (KENDRA BURDICK/ Ethic News)

Zaryah Bernard, a sophomore on Redlands East Valley’s volleyball team, shows us that she’s anxiously awaiting to see the trees change colors. (KENDRA BURDICK/ Ethic News)

Autumn is blowing through the cities, making the leaves change, and letting people know that it’s time to set up events. Everyone is excited for the season and are eager to start its festivities.

Originally published in La Plaza Press

By JAZUI MEJIA

One undeniable truth is that students have been nothing but loud as they uncover serious gaps in their social and political education. As racial incidents become devastatingly more frequent in schools, time and care are placed into building a sense of community and a mutual support system among high school students of color, making it a true definitive characteristic of this generation. 

Although it is natural to believe that the classes of 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are the first classes of people to become pioneers of change, it is not the case. Meet Alejandra Davila, a Peruvian-born San Bernardino native that graduated from Cajon High School and Pomona College with a degree in Political Science and Gender/Women’s Studies. 

She describes how during her studies, the idea of a political education program for femme-identifying students came to fruition: an idea that would eventually become the Young San Bernardino Queens in Politics (now Politics For Us): 

“I developed the idea for the Young Queens in Politics program my junior year in college after taking two courses titled 'Women and Public Policy' and 'Voices and Stories in the Latinx Community.' They were the first courses I had taken that positioned the contributions of women
and people of color at the center of the curriculum. 

"Throughout the entirety of those courses, I was continuously shocked by how little I knew about historic and powerful women. I began questioning why the Civil Rights Movement, United Farm Workers Movement, and Women’s Liberation Movement had been summarized to a bullet point in my high school history classes. I wondered how empowered I would have felt if I had learned about the change-makers that had made my presence in educational and political spaces possible.

"Last spring, I enrolled in Professor Ochoa’s course 'Chicanxs/Latinxs and Education.' The class completely changed the way I viewed the education system and pedagogical strategies. Ira Shor’s book Education is Politics served as a point of inspiration for the program. Shor argues that there is no such thing as 'apolitical' classrooms with 'unbiased' teachers and 'neutral' curriculums; rather, classrooms and curriculums are inherently political. Shor posits that an empowering education is student-centered. 

"With these ideas in mind, I decided that I wanted to create a learning experience for young femme-identifying students in San Bernardino. With the mentorship of San Bernardino community organizers and educators, I founded the Young Queens in Politics program, space where young femme-identifying students could step into their power, raise their voice, and strengthen their sense of self. 

"The original program structure was a two-week afterschool program, the first one held at San Bernardino High School, and the second one held at Cajon High School. The first week of the program focused on the basics of the U.S. political system, the merits of civic engagement, and the current state of women in politics. The second week, students met with city council candidates and state representatives and asked their representatives questions about policy issues they were passionate about. Guidance on the college application process was also provided, and Claremont College Admissions Officers spoke to students.”  
- Alejandra Davila

Despite current global hardships, the program has grown tremendously and became a space that exceeded Davila’s previous vision. Davila and her planning committee which includes four radical women of color each equipped with a unique role and talents are responsible for the program’s growth. They work together to elicit powerful initiatives for the collective. 

One member of the committee is Kenia Garcia-Ramos, a sophomore at Pomona College studying both Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies. Based on the roles within the Social Change Ecosystem, Garcia-Ramos describes themselves as caregivers, storytellers, and guides.

Adriana Vazquez is a senior at Cajon High School who specializes in the role of a caregiver, a weaver, and a guide. Taelen Cobb, a senior at Pomona High School and a gifted storyteller boasts the additional talents of caregiver and healer. Lastly, Jazui Mejia, a sophomore at Redlands High School with a passion for being a visionary, builder and disruptor of all systems that do not serve an empowering purpose. 

Growth

Now, what exactly does the program’s growth look like?  Davila explains, “My two main goals were to create a very safe, empowering space to discuss “taboo” topics with femme-identifying students and to supplement their education with college resources. What Politics For Us is now, whether in-person or virtual, is a collective space where femme-identifying students can come and find their political voice, community and be somewhere where they can feel safe enough to learn about politics and education through a completely different lens. 

Young Queens in Politics was trying to replicate my education at Pomona which was just learning from the top to the bottom and saying “Let’s talk about laws, policies, structure, and theory’ whereas Politics For Us is much more localized and it’s more grounded in community, so more ‘Let’s talk about Black and Brown authors, let’s talk about social movements, let’s talk about what’s happening on the ground now.’”

Impact on Committee

For the Planning Committee, the complete shift in focus is something that has made a significant impact in their lives. Vazquez shares, “I think Young Queens was the first space where I definitely learned about what community was outside of school. I definitely consider that space to be where I realized what community is. Going into Politics For Us now, learning and establishing the sense of community as the center of our curriculum and what we’re trying to do, I love it even more, and it just makes me realize that I want this sense of community in college. When I’m writing my college applications and essays, I definitely had to talk about community a lot, as well as both Young Queens and Politics for Us.”

Cobb remembers the particular meeting day that turned everything around for the program, she reflects, “When we discussed the ongoing election, I only had feelings of helplessness, thinking we couldn’t do anything to change the way that our democracy was going. Then we began exploring what we need to look at locally. And these are, this is how these policies are just how these policies affect those how we feel about it. Then I was like, okay, like, now I can really add from a personal point of view, like, Oh, yeah, this is what’s going on here.” 

Cobb, similar to Vazquez, was inspired to write about this collective in her college applications, particularly as a way to resist the expectations placed on Black students in regards to writing about Black trauma:

“This collective has really helped me think when I’m doing my writing for college and realize that I don’t have to talk about trauma. A lot of colleges made it a point to talk about the Black Lives Matter movement during the presidential debate. I said ‘why are you debating about Black Lives?’ At the end of the day, that is so trauma-inducing. I’m tired of having to write about it even though everything that I am has been a Black person in America, but I don’t want to write about the trauma that comes along with that.” 

Garcia-Ramos feels that the program has made what is oftentimes inaccessible political education more widely available. “It’s taught me a lot about how to bring these ideas in a promoted classroom is selectively gate-kept. How we can really bring these topics that are so often just theorized about, into the lives of the people that we’re actually talking about. I think that we’ve been learning how we want community spaces to operate and how we really want to actually realize these things. Everything about this program is how education should be.”

Advice for Newcomers

The beauty of this collective is the connection and care between each individual. For this reason, if any young, Inland Empire, femme-identifying high school student is reading this and is thinking of joining in on the experience when the program opens up to the community in the coming months, the Planning Committee offers some words of wisdom. 

Davila makes sure to clarify misconceptions. “I’ve heard students say things like, ‘I just don’t have time for this, I don’t have time for another class’, but this is not a class. It’s not structured like your typical high school class, the ‘I’ll talk to you and you have to read all this stuff.’ It’s very much where we can all bring our experiences together and have more of a conversation. We reflect, we journal, we do a cool reading. That is what this looks like, because it’s more centered on the connection.”

In addition, Vazquez dives into the fear of being in a completely new space: “Advice I would give if you’re scared to come because you feel like you’re going to be the loner, or you’re just scared to come alone, tell your friends about it! If they’re your friends, and they’re supportive of you, and what you want to do, then let them know. If they say ‘okay, yeah, I’ll join you’, then there you go, you’re definitely not coming all on your own. If you can’t find friends to come and join you then don’t worry. You’re not going to be alone, because you have us, we’re here to support you. And we’re here to welcome you. We’re not here to lecture you and force you to learn. This is for you, hence the name Politics for Us.” 

To those that wish to break away from the mold created by schools, Garcia-Ramos suggests, “If you’ve ever felt frustrated with the way that your education has gone, if you’ve ever felt like you have been a loss of agency with your learning process or your education is not what you would want it to be, then I would say you should give this program a shot. If you ever want a space to, visualize, and imagine and disrupt and be emotional and talk, just like say whatever is on your mind about anything.”

Cobb keeps it simple and real: “We’re really not focused on pushing our opinions on others. It’s really like a round table sharing our opinions. It’s never like, ‘Oh, you think that? That’s weird.’ I would tell them to definitely join, come to meetings, and if they’re not feeling us, there’s no need to come back. If they are though, I’d encourage them to keep coming back, because we’re gonna have different topics and really expand on them.”

Each discussion, each reading, and every minute of both simple and authentic unity is being tailored by this team of young femmes, for young femmes. Every week, the Politics For Us (PFU) Planning committee comes together to work actively on a curriculum for when the program opens up. For more information on how to become a part of this space, follow @politicsforus_ on Instagram or reach out to Alejandra Davila at alejandra@politicsforus.org.

By LILY SHAW

Amanda Gorman: a poet, activist and inspiration. Overcoming speech and auditory processing challenges are very challenging, but Gorman didn’t let that stop her. 

A digital drawing depicting Amanda Gorman speaking at the 2021 Inauguration. At the Inauguration, she recited her poem “The Hill We Climb” and became the youngest poet to speak at an inauguration (MIA ARANDA/ Ethic News art).

Nowadays, stereotypes are very common. People with disabilities are often underestimated or believed to be a burden or even be less successful than the average person. Gorman is living proof that disabilities do not determine your success.

Gorman was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder in kindergarten. Auditory processing disorders make it difficult to understand what people are saying. She also has speech articulation issues. According to Understood, a non-profit program dedicated to helping children who learn differently, this disorder makes it difficult for her to pronounce particular words and sounds. 

Although she battles these challenges, Gorman has been invited to speak at high-profile events. During the 2021 Inauguration, as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in, Gorman recited her poem “The Hill We Climb” as the whole world watched. 

Zoie Wilson, a freshman at Redlands East Valley, said, “I thought Amanda Gorman’s poem, ‘The Hill We Climb’ was breathtaking. She addresses multiple topics that are very relevant to our country right now including economic, social and political issues. She also discusses racial injustice and black power.” 

Gorman’s uprising followed briefly after her poetry. Gorman has gained over 300,000 followers on Twitter and over 2,000,000 followers on Instagram after reading at the Inauguration. She also has had the opportunity to be featured on various television shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Daily Show, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, The Late Late Show with James Corden and a few others.

During the pre-show of the Super Bowl LV, Gorman entertained an audience of tens of millions of people. Gorman gave a new poem presentation of her poem “Chorus of the Captains.” Not only was her pre-recorded performance fantastic, but she is the only poet to ever perform at the Super Bowl.

Riley Hoekstra, a sophomore at Citrus Valley High School, says, “I feel that Amanda Gorman is one of the people many teens will look up to. At age 22, she is the youngest person to speak at the Inauguration and the only poet to perform at the Super Bowl. She has shown that disabilities don’t stop her and overcoming stereotypes as a teenager is possible.”

The inspiration of Amanda Gorman will last forever. Three of her works: Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem, The Hill We Climb and The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country are being published as books this year. Redlands-owned bookstore, The Frugal Frigate, is taking preorders of “The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country” for $15.99.

By MIRIAM YORDANOS

Learning to adjust from in-person teachings to remote teaching is a challenge for many teachers. Taylor Hammond finds himself joining Redlands East Valley during the 2020-2021 school year and adjusting to the new school and teaching virtual in a subject that typically requires materials provided in a classroom. 

Hammond received his education from Cal State Fullerton, gaining a degree in Studio Art. Furthermore, he got his credential and M.Ed. through National University, while simultaneously raising kids and working. Yet, he never prepared for a situation like this. 

Hammond describes the “whirlwind ride” of distance learning and opens up about the challenges of adjusting his curriculum as the days go by, rather than planning out his curriculum during the summer like most teachers.

“Passing out supply bags didn’t work out, and so many cameras made me feel a bit like a zoo animal on a live video feed!” said Hammond, “But, we have some really talented and empathetic students. I will never forget the kids who care enough to show their face and say good morning, they should be our next student leaders!“  

While helping younger generations develop their art skills, Hammond is quite artistic himself, theatrically, musically and visually. He had played previously in shows as a lead singer and guitarist of a rock band and Coach Bolton in High School Musical. In his free time, he enjoys showing his artworks to galleries in Downtown Los Angeles. He is also fond of writing poetry and fiction.

A photo of Hammond and his family at an outing. His family shares a love for the arts (Photo credit to Taylor Hammond).

“Art is a window to the world within us, and the world outside us. I love seeing how student’s unique personalities and interests influence their visual expression,” said Hammond, “We live in a material world that doesn’t seem to care about our feelings, but art requires us to bring our feelings both to creating and experiencing it. In a dull, anesthetic world, aesthetic experiences remind us to be grateful for the moment and to feel fully alive.”

Along with creating art, he loves spending time with his family, from playing video games with his son to seeing theatre productions with his wife and daughter. 

The family of four commonly share a love of the arts. After graduating high school, his daughter plans to learn more about costume designs and his 12-year-old son is currently a digital artist. Meanwhile, in their town of Nuevo, Hammond, him and his wife, a theatre teacher, have created the Nuevo Arts Council to support the arts in their communities.  

Hammond cites becoming a father had, ultimately, inspired him to become a teacher.

 “I had pictured myself as either a Hollywood big shot or hopeless Bohemian until thankfully, I met my wife at college. Once we decided we were having a family, I started thinking more about the big picture of preparing the way for the next generation,” said Hammond.

After working various positions in education full-time for over 13 years, being a substitute solidified his decision as he enjoyed helping kids grow in their skills.

His classes have seemingly impacted his students. Melody Kamgar, a junior at Redlands East Valley, shared how she improved as an artist with his “encouraging, optimistic and passionate self.”

 “My favorite thing has got to be the assignments he assigns because usually he just gives us an art style and really gives us the freedom to draw something we like,” said Kamgar.

Hammond is grateful to have the opportunity to give back through teaching and a member of the Wildcat family. He shares how he felt like an awkward and lonely child, yet music and art teachers connected him with his talents. 

 “Teaching helps me be the person I needed when I was young,” said Hammond. “I think many of us struggle with guilt over having privilege; I don’t see how guilt helps anyone. Just spread that privilege around to others through a life of service, and no guilt necessary.” 

By KENDRA BURDICK

We know president’s day, Valentine’s Day, but did we know this weekend was also Susan B. Anthony’s birthday? 

Digital art depicting the 19th amendment Women’s Rights flag. The flag was originally created in 1919 and every time a state ratified the 19th amendment, a new star would be sewn onto the flag. (Josie Burdick/Ethic Art)

Susan Brownell Anthony was a woman who had a lasting impact on the structure of our country. Anthony was mostly known for her work protesting and fighting for women’s rights. Along with this, she supported anti slavery by helping slaves escape and debating for their freedom. This was just the start of what she accomplished.

Born on Feb. 15, 1820, this weekend marks what would have been Susan B. Anthony’s 200th birthday.

She was born into a quaker family in Massachusetts, which shaped her perspective on life. Anthony was reared in the Quaker tradition and her was home pervaded by a tone of independence and moral zeal. 

Growing up, she was constantly titled to be a precocious child for the fact that she learned to read and write at the age of three. At this age she had learned that a lot of people didn’t believe that all people were made with equality, so along with her parents, devoted her life to helping solve this problem.

“There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.”– Susan B. Anthony 

Anthony had seven brothers and sisters, many of whom became activists for justice and emancipation of slaves, according to “History Live, Videos, and Articles.” When they moved to Rochester, New York in 1845, the Anthonys fought for anti-slavery activist and helped escaped slave Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, who would later join Anthony in the fight for women’s rights.

The Anthonys were also part of the temperance movement, which attempted to cease the production and sale of alcohol in the United States.When Susan B. Anthony was denied a chance to speak at a temperance convention because of her gender, she was inspired to shift her focus to the fight for women’s rights. 

Anthony started to take matters into her own hands and voted in the presidential election illegally, according to the “Women’s History Education” website. She was then arrested and tried (unsuccessfully) to fight the charges. She ended up being fined $100—a fine she never paid.

Susan, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, decided to travel around the country delivering speeches in favor of women’s suffrage. Anthony soon became a pioneer in the women’s suffrage movement in the United States and president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, which she founded with Stanton. 

The two created and produced The Revolution, a weekly publication newspaper that lobbied for women’s rights under the American Equal Rights Association (AERA). 1906, Susan was found to be dead. She once said she wished “to live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women.” Many were pleased to have greeted her wish.

The nineteenth amendment was known as the “Susan B. Anthony Amendment” and sometimes the “Elizabeth Cady Stanton Amendment” to honor their work on behalf of women’s rights.On July 2, 1979, she became the first woman to be featured on a circulating coin from the U.S. mint. 

Susan B. Anthony never married and devoted her life to the cause of women’s equality. She once said in one of her protests:

“I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.” -Susan B. Anthony

By MAKAYLA NAIME

At the age of 12, Alyson Mattei wanted to develop her love for gymnastics, and found herself traveling with Circus Smirkus, the only traveling youth circus in the United States. Mattei is a gymnastics coach and a gym lead at Redlands Gymnastics Club. She works with kids ranging from ages of eighteen months to eighteen years old. She coaches the competitive team from level one to level diamond. Mattei’s job as a gym lead is to make sure that the gym is running smoothly, that everything is clean and organized due to COVID-19 and coaches and gymnasts are safe. 

Alyson Mattei in 2013 playing Dorothy in Smirkus Circus’s performance of “The Wizard of Oz ” called Oz Incorporated. Mattei was sitting in a cloud swing and going around in a circle to make the tornado at the beginning of the show. (Photo credit to Robert Sanson)

Born in Pasadena and raised in Southern California, she has moved numerous times and now lives in Highland. She comes from a large Italian family. Her immediate family consists of her mother, Lisa Mattei, her father, George Mattei and her older sister, Amanda Mattei. 

She enjoys spending time with her family in her free time and has a close relationship with them. They love to hike, fish and travel together. A few of her favorite places she has ever visited are Alaska, Tennessee, Jamaica and the Caribbean. 

During her youth, Mattei was a gymnast for seven years before she quit to do other sports. During her time in gymnastics, she competed on the Aerials Gymnastics team which she now coaches alongside some of her former teammates. Mattei says, “My personal struggle with COVID-19 was being unable to coach. My job is one of my biggest joys, and not seeing my gymnasts for a few months was difficult. COVID-19 changed how we taught gymnastics.” She and all the other coaches had to adapt to teaching smaller classes as to social distance properly and space out classes much more in order to have time to clean equipment.

  When she’s not spending time with family, Mattei enjoys listening to music and podcasts to relax and is also currently studying biology and forensic science. Growing up, she met her two biggest mentors at Circus Smirkus. They were her tour counselor, Dani Kehlmann and her artistic director, Troy Wunderle. During her five years with the circus, she learned many life lessons. She says, “They taught me respect for others’ opinions, patience, how to be a good role model, humility and so much more. I would not be who I am today without their many lessons.” To this day Mattei still loves to walk her tight rope in her own time.

She says that others may not know that she is a very caring person and “[tends] to fill the needs of others before [her] own.” She believes that is why she might love coaching so much, as sharing her knowledge and skills with others makes her feel rewarded when they succeed.

Advice that Mattei wants to share with young athletes is “to set a goal and work hard to achieve it. You will have good days and bad days but always keep yourself open to learning new things. Most importantly, respect those helping you reach your goals whether it is your coaches or teammates. They are there to help you achieve your goals.”

By JASMINE ROSALES, HANNAH PATRICK and ARIANA GHALAMBOR

It’s not common for the average American to celebrate Christmas and New Years, but it is important that our society educates themselves and learns about the diverse winter holidays and traditions that people celebrate all around the world. America is a “melting pot” of all cultures, races, traditions, religions and colors. It’s important to educate oneself on the different cultures and celebrations of the holidays because education is one step closer to uniting people from all different backgrounds. 

Boxing Day:

An old tradition where it allowed servants to take a day off and receive special gifts from their “ masters.” Boxing day begins the day after Christmas and it is usually used for charity drives. Typically, boxing day is celebrated in Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Boxing Day coincides with another holiday, St. Stephen’s Day, that is observed in many of the same countries. St. Stephen’s Day honors a Christian martyr who was stoned to death in 36 A.D.

It is considered a shopping holiday. Boxing Day is a time to spend with family or friends, particularly those not seen on Christmas Day itself. Many people will gather for meals, spend time outside, or simply relax at home and enjoy the day off. Traditional Boxing Day food includes baked ham, pease pudding, and mince pies with brandy butter, along with a slice of Christmas cake or another dessert. Boxing Day has recently become synonymous with watching sports. A number of leagues in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland hold football and rugby matches, while Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are known for cricket matches on Boxing Day.

Omisoka:

Omisoka is a Japanese traditional celebration on the last day of the year. Traditionally, it was held on the final day of the twelfth lunar month. Its important activities for the concluding year and day were completed in order to start the new year fresh. Some of these include house cleaning, repaying debts and purification. About an hour before the New Year, people often gather together for one last time in the old year to have a bowl of toshikoshi soba or toshikoshi udon together. At midnight, many visit a shrine or temple for Hatsumōde, or the first shrine/temple visit of the year. People celebrate with their friends and families with various traditions to remember the past year, and bring in the new. The history behind the day is to prepare for deifying and praying for “Toshigami Sama” which can be translated into Shinto god which takes charge of the whole year, rich harvest of rice.

Omisoka is a holiday celebrated and loved by Japanese people on the final day of the lunar month. (ARIANA GHALAMBOR/ Ethic News art)

Three Kings Day:

Three Kings Day is celebrated Jan. 6, which is the twelfth day of Christmas known as the Feast of the Epiphany, or Three Kings’ Day. It celebrates the biblical tale in which the Three Kings, or Three Wise Men, visit baby Jesus after his birth three Kings find baby Jesus by following the path of a star across the desert for twelve days. According to the Gospel, the three Kings, named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar traveled to Bethlehem to bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to baby Jesus. Children celebrate Three Kings’ Day by receiving gifts of their own. Children in Spain and Latin America are instructed to leave their shoes by the door of their house so, like Santa Claus, the three kings can come and leave them presents. Three Kings’ Day is as important and as widely celebrated as Christmas. In Mexico, bakers make a “rosca del rey,” a sweet bread meant to represent a King’s crown, that is a mile long. People fill the streets to get a slice of the special holiday bread. The bread often has a baby Jesus doll hidden inside.

Christmas: 

Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ; people celebrate Christmas Day in many ways. It is often combined with customs from pre-Christian winter celebrations. Many people decorate their homes, visit family or friends and exchange gifts. Some groups arrange meals, shelter or charitable projects for people without a home or with very little money.

Many different families celebrate the holidays with their own traditions some considered old fashioned ways such as leaving cookies and warm milk near the fireplace or tree or leaving a mistletoe above the door and a common one of the good and naughty list hence the gift of “coal” for christmas.

Christmas trees are used in several countries to celebrate Christmas. Typically, people leave presents under the trees for loved ones to open up. (ARIANA GHALAMBOR/ Ethic News art)

Every year a big staple in Christmas festivities is buying a Christmas tree and decorating it for the holidays to lay your presents under to unwrap on christmas morning. Then legend has it that a fir tree grew out of the fallen oak. 

New Year’s Eve: 

New Year’s Eve is one of the largest global celebrations because it marks the last day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, Dec. 31, before the New Year. Many people celebrate New Year’s Eve to bid farewell to the year that ends and to welcome the New Year.

Common traditions throughout the United States include singing “Auld Lang Syne” to greet the New Year, and eating black-eyed peas for good luck.

On Dec 31., many people worldwide either watch a countdown on live TV or go to an event where they countdown to welcome the new year. 

Chinese New Year:

Tied to the Chinese lunar calendar, the holiday was traditionally a time to honor household and heavenly deities as well as ancestors. It was also a time to bring family together for feasting. 

With the popular adoption of the Western calendar in 1912, the Chinese joined in celebrating Jan. 1 as New Year’s Day.

Ritual sacrifices of food and paper icons were offered to gods and ancestors. People posted scrolls printed with lucky messages on household gates and set off firecrackers to frighten evil spirits. A common tradition of Chinese New Year is for elders to give out money to children.

Along with every holiday comes countless traditions, such as “Confucianism,” which “puts special emphasis on filial piety, which was believed to preserve harmony and keep families together. … For thousands of years, traditional Chinese family structure was strictly patriarchal, with the father or eldest male as the head of the household as well as provider and guide” (Britannica.com), such as according to Cindy Tang. A lot of popular traditions world wide are different festivals before and after chinese new year.

Kwanzaa:

Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday created by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor and chairman of the Black Studies at California State University Long Beach in 1966. The aftermath of the Watts riots sparked an idea in which Dr. Karenga found a way to unify African Americans as a community, so he began to research African harvest celebrations. After combining several different harvest celebrations, he combined aspects of the harvest celebrations from Africa to form the basic idealisms of Kwanzaa. 

The name Kwanzaa comes from “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili. Every family has their own unique traditions and ways to celebrate Kwanzaa in their own way, but typically they celebrate by singing and dancing with African drums and a large feast. The celebration lasts seven nights and families join together and a child will light one of the candles on the Kinara (candleholder) and one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa is discussed. The seven principles of Kwanzaa are as follows:

1. Unity: to strive for and maintain unity in families, communities, and race
2. Self-Determination: to define, name, create, and speak for themselves
3. Collective work and responsibility: To build and maintain their community together and collectively solve one another’s problems
4. Cooperative Economics: To build and maintain their own stores, shops, and businesses to profit from together
5. Purpose: To make a collective vocation of building and developing a community in order to restore their people to their traditional greatness
6. Creativity: To always do as much as they can for the community and leave it better than they came into it
7. Faith: To believe with all our heart in their people, parents, teachers, leaders, and the righteousness of the Black victory in their struggle

The principles of Kwanzaa are meant to unify and strengthen the Black community by celebrating family stories, a feast, and dancing. The African feast is called a Karamu and it is eaten on Dec. 31. The candles are ceremonial objects that represent the sun’s power to provide light. 

Another important object in Kwanzaa is the “kikombe cha umoja” otherwise known as “the unity cup.” The kikombe cha umoja is a special cup that is used to perform the libation (tambiko) ritual during the feast on the sixth day of Kwanzaa. The liquid inside of the cup represents the living dead whose souls stay with them on Earth where they worked. The Ibo of Nigeria believe that to drink the last part of a libation is to invite the wrath of spirits and the ancestors because the last part of the libation belongs to them. During the feast, the unity cup is passed to each guest to drink from it and promote unity. After the cup has been passed around to everyone, the eldest guest will pour the liquid (usually juice or water) in each directional way (North, East, South, West) to honor their ancestors. The eldest will ask the gods and ancestors to join their festivities and bless all people who did not join the gathering. After the blessing, the elder will pour the liquid on the ground and the group says “Amen.”

Many Kwanzaa gatherings are held at churches. It is common for families to have a cup specifically reserved for their ancestors and everyone else has their own individual cup. The last few ounces of the libation is poured in the host’s cup who drinks from it and passes it to the oldest person in the group to make a blessing. On the last day of Kwanzaa, the community celebrates what is called “Imani” and they share gifts with one another as a sign of growth, self-determination, achievement, success, and health. They exchange gifts with only members of immediate family and especially children to reward their accomplishments. It is encouraged to give handmade gifts to promote the idea of self-determination, purpose, and creativity and to avoid material consumption in the December holiday season. It’s common for a family to spend the year making candleholders, cards, or dolls for their guests. Accepting a gift signifies the obligation to fulfill the promise of the gift: for the recipient to follow the training of the host and stay in the social relationship.

Hanukkah:

A traditional Jewish menorah is used during Hanukkah where the candles are lit each night. The art also features the Star of David, another meaningful symbol in the Jewish culture. (ARIANA GHALAMBOR/ Ethic News art)

Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that starts on Kislev 25 (Dec. 25 in the Gregorian calendar) and is celebrated for eight consecutive days. Hanukkah is a holiday celebrated in Judaism and is used to remember the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by the lighting of candles on each day of the festival. Even though the holiday wasn’t officially mentioned in Hebrew Scriptures (such as the Torah), Hanukkah came to be an infamous holiday and one of the most widely celebrated Jewish observations. Hanukkah starts on Friday, Dec. 11 to Friday, Dec. 18 in 2020. It lasts for eight days because the Talmud states that when Judas entered the Second Temple in Jerusalem, he found a small jar of oil that wasn’t used by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The jar only had enough oil to burn for one day, but as the story goes, the oil was able to burn for 8 days until a new oil was found. Hanukkah includes a variety of religious and nonreligious customs and the most famous and important of all is the menorah lighting. A menorah is a candle holder with 8 branches to hold a candle stick in each and holder for the shammash (“servant”) candle that is used to light the other eight candles. In older times, Olive oil was used for lighting the menorah, but over time the Jewish people used regular wax candles of their choice. These candles are placed in the menorah consecutively each night of the festival from right to left but are lit from left to right. Usually the people celebrating this religious observance offer a blessing while the candles are lit at night. Due to the unfortunate hatred towards Jewish people and their traditions, the menorah is now brought inside the house because before when it was placed outside the home because of offending neighbors. 

Winter Solstice:

Winter solstice, otherwise known as “Shabe-e-Yalda” in Iran is one of the most ancient Persian festivals celebrated every December 21 by Iranians globally. Yalda is the celebration of the winter solstice because it is the longest night of the year and last night of autumn. Yalda directly translates to “birth” because it refers to the birth of “Mitra”, the mythological goddess of light. This is because the days get longer and the nights get shorter in winter, so Iranians celebrate the last night of autumn as the renewal of the sun and victory of light over darkness. On Shab-e-Yalda, people gather in groups of family, friends, and neighbors (usually at the home of grandparents or familial elders) eating fruits and reading Hafiz poems (a famous Persian poet). Eating is the most lengthy part of the night. Persians gather to eat typically red colored foods like watermelon, berries, and pomegranate to share the last remaining fruits from summer together. The fruits of Yalda have a symbolic meaning: watermelon symbolizes the sun by its spherical shape and is said to keep one safe from winter diseases. Pomegranate is the symbol of birth and the color red symbolizes the glow of life. Reading Hafez poems is one of the most quintessential aspects of Yalda. Each of the family members makes a secret wish as they open the book to a random page and the elder reads the selected poem loudly. Since the poem is believed to be the interpretation of the secret wish, the guests will try to guess the wishes of others.  Yalda is also celebrated in other formerly Persian Empire countries such Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan sharing the same traditions and ways of celebration.

While there are many holidays celebrated at this time of year, it doesn’t mean they don’t have the same “winter-cheer.” One thing all of these holidays share is the gathering of family. It is important we all take the time to commemorate and spend time with our families, whether it be on a Zoom call or at home. Although more than 2 billion people globally celebrate Christmas, it is still important to recognize the 200 countries that celebrate other holidays in this time of year. 

Featured Art: Diversifying your narrative means to educate oneself on the different cultural and religious celebrations around the world. (ARIANA GHALAMBOR/ Ethic News art) 

By MIYAH SANBORN

Some people have lived in the same place for most of their lives such as Diane Michelle Escudero. Born on June 27, 1957, Escudero has lived in Redlands since she was a child. 

“I’ve lived in Redlands since I was three years old, we all moved here to Redlands and I was raised here,” says Escudero. 

Escudero has many memories of growing up in Redlands and living out her childhood here. “My fondest memories are the orange groves all over Redlands. I just loved the smell of oranges and smudge pots. The smudge pots were lit up in the groves early in the morning to keep the oranges from freezing,” says Escudero. 

Many friends and family members lived in Redlands with her. Many of her memories from her childhood were with her friends. “I remember having a lot of friends,” she says, “we would play out in the street, we would play baseball [and] ride our bikes through the neighborhood. We would always go to Sylvan Park, they used to have a pool there, it was called the Sylvan Plunge. Every weekend we would go out there to swim.”

Diane Escudero celebrating at her son’s, Eric Escudero, wedding. Escudero has been living in Redlands since 1957. (Photo credit to Diana Escudero)

Escudero had numerous pets through her years which she loved very much. “I think my coolest pet was my monkey when I was about 12 years old. [My father] knew I wanted a monkey or a pony so I think a monkey was easier. I named him Coco, we kept him for about a week then he had to go back to wherever my dad got him.” She also had dogs, cats, birds and reptiles. Along with growing up in Redlands, she received an education from the Redlands Unified School District, ranging from Cram Elementary, Lugonia Elementary and Clement Middle School to Redlands High School. 

“I would get bus sick all the time on the bus going to and from school, they would give me a barf bag every time I would get off and on the bus,” says Escudero. 

Escudero was always very focused on her studies and even managed to graduate mid-term. “I graduated in January and then I went to college at [San Bernardino] Valley College and I was still high school age, still 17,” she says. 

After high school, Escudero also attended Crafton Hills College to become a preschool teacher and eventually obtain her Medical Assistant certificate. 

Escudero was a very active member of her community and took every opportunity to volunteer and help those in need. “I volunteered with the YMCA, and worked with something called Family Services. They gave out food and clothing to families in need, so I volunteered doing this and also after school activities.” Additionally, she was also featured in a newspaper for speaking out against domestic violence as a young adult at City Hall. 

Escudero has had an amazing experience living and growing up in Redlands, California and plans on passing her experiences and wisdom down to all her family members. 

Originally published in La Plaza Press

By MIA ARANDA

Driving can be a nerve-wracking experience for the developing, easily-distracted teenage mind. After all, there are many factors to keep in mind, such as when one is allowed to change lanes or observing the speed limit in specific areas. Aside from knowing the rules of the road, drivers must also have a keen sense of awareness of cars and pedestrians around them, always preparing for the unexpected. 

Photo made with Autodesk Sketchbook, a drawing and sketching app. (AILEEN JANEE CORPUS/ La Plaza art)

Students from Redlands, Citrus Valley, and Redlands East Valley High Schools shared their tips and experiences from driving in order to help other teens become more skilled and aware on the road.

“My advice is to create a solid base of rules and laws of driving, so you are less nervous when getting behind the wheel. In my experience, I thought I would be able to drive well after reading the driving handbook once and watching my parents drive, but now, a month away from my driving test, I have found myself forgetting very important rules while driving. It is very important to know what you are allowed and not allowed to do to prevent getting a ticket or causing a collision.” – Annabelle Su, RHS junior

“Have common sense, and just go with the flow.” –  Chase Dabbs, REV senior 

“I got my license before the lockdown, therefore when I was finally driving alone, no one was on the street or highway. Since everything began to open everything is more crowded and there’s a lot of people on the street. My biggest tip is to be as nosy as humanly possible. Watch everything and make sure you’re paying attention. There really is no way in telling what that random man in the car in front or next to you is going to do which is why it’s crazy important to be paying attention to everything. Attention is the one thing that is going to prevent you from being in an accident.” – Diana Garcia, RHS junior

“Practice your spatial awareness and your ability to judge distance and time your decisions. The more aware you are of what is going on around, the easier and more comfortable you will be driving. Also, your ability to judge the road ahead and make decisions on when to [brake], accelerate,  and switch lanes will help you become a better and safer driver. And, always make sure to look for pedestrians, especially at night or in dimly lit spaces!” – Tora Bruich, CV junior

“Don’t just be respondent to the road signs and rules, but also be courteous to other cars on the road (if someone is trying to merge, you are drifting lanes, you have your brights on, etc). Too often do people fail to realize their position among other cars, which causes the most aggravation and many accidents.” – Matt Marinkovich, REV senior 

“Driving can be tedious at first as there are many steps necessary in order to obtain your permit and license.  My advice is to not only know what to study for, but have enough experience driving where you can feel comfortable.  It is important to be conscientious about your surroundings and maintain a calm composure in order to make sure that you are as safe as you can be.  I know this is a weird piece of advice but make sure that you are not on your phones!  Be concentrated in order to minimize accident potential.” – Ben Bartlett, RHS junior

“It’s not as difficult or scary as it may seem. The most important thing is to drive as much as you can so you become more experienced. Everything will get easier the more you practice.” – Ethan Zander, CV senior

“You need to be confident in yourself.” – Robby Everhart, REV senior 

“My tip that I have for teenagers learning how to drive is to always look out for the other drivers, you can be the best driver, but you never know about the person in the car next to you.” – Lily Shergold, RHS senior

To become a better driver, students have suggested practicing more, always being aware of your surroundings, being courteous to other drivers and pedestrians, and believing in yourself. Driving is a privilege, so keep in mind that abiding by laws and exhibiting polite manners should always be practiced in order to prevent accidents and stay safe.

By AALEYAH WINSLOW