3A - Thursday; September 4, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 3A - Thursday; September 4, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandailycom MEGAN MCDONALD PETER SHAHIN and DANIEL WANG KATIE BURKE EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. - Little eld o dreams CARLINA DUAN, TERESA MATHEW, RYAN MOODY AND NOUR SOUBANI IMICH GAN N COLOR Anew year, a new open MiC letter from the editors very sunny afternoot bat and wiffle ball walk out onto the gn backyard. At one end I had placed a temporary home plate, a fixture so common in my yard that the grass underneath seemed permanently flattened. I'd walk up, left foot in the batter's box first, then right foot. A tap of the bat on the far corner of the plate. A check swing. As I pulled the bat back behind my head, the grass of the yard gave w surrounded by filled bleach fans. Thousands of them. Ye not the Comerica Park of the the infield of Wrigley Field My backyard was now W the site of the Little Leagu Every year, the best teams from around the in Williamsport for not ju tournament,butonespeciale devotes an entire two week 12-year-olds. And there was more than to step up to th millions of viewers watch a graphic showed up on the Harris," it would read, along of hits, batting average, hom ESPN liked to include fun fac my favorite sports movie: Fie This was the field of dream endlessly hit whiffle balls ove backyard, I'd imagine it was t sixth, bases loaded, down by the grand slam I just hit won the powerhouse team from Ca little town of Grosse Pointe. greatest Little League in the Little League was the con my hometown, where the talk was always about who w and who would pitch the ne spectators lined the fences watch the local finals. Wher goal for the 12-year-old tear Win the district, then the sta the region and journey to Wi For me, the dream was even began. For the first tim as a kid, plastic career, I was cut from the postseason n hand, I would tournament team that would represent the een grass of my city. The chance for me to introduce myself with the team lineup on SportsCenter with a "My name is David Harris and my favorite baseball player is Bobby Higginson" was gone forever. No team from Grosse Pointe had made it all the way since 1979. This team, too, would fall short,endingthe dreamofyouthSportsCenter glory for 12 more kids. The 455 miles between DAVID Grosse Pointe and Williamsport seemed so HARRIS much farther.away. Youth sports are among the greatest of lesson-teachers. Lessons of winning and losing, humility and graciousness, successes vay to an infield, and failures. And sure, I learned all of that. hers of cheering But more than anything, I learned to dream. t this infield was It was the dream of victory that drove me Detroit Tigers or as I rode my bike to every practice. Coming that I so adored. to the University was once a dream too. Soon illiamsport, Pa., enough, dreams of being a Nobel-winning se World Series. scientist or Supreme Court justice ensued, as Little League it's these grandiose dreams that spawn over world convene the course of our lifetime and draw out the st any baseball path we attempt to follow. One day I'll dream noughthatESPN of owning a house, with a backyard, and my s of coverage to own son running around the grass hitting nothingI wanted wiffle balls in every direction. e plate and have I would take my baseball glove to every s ESPN's batter Major League Baseball game as a kid. I dreamt screen. "David of snagging a ball hit into the stands. I left with my number empty-handed every single game, endlessly e runs, and since awaiting my chance to catch the ball that ts about the kids, never came. But to reduce the splendor of the ld of Dreams. game to the failure to collect a souvenir is a s itself. And as I disservice to everything experienced. r the fence in my A dream is not a measure for success or he bottom of the failure, nor a straight course from point A to 'three runs, and point B. But to dream is the significance of the game against life. As Prospero says in Shakespeare's "The alifornia, and the Tempest", "We are such stuff as dreams are Mich., was the made on, and our little life is rounded with a United States. sleep." mmunal event of Eight years later, the dreams of 12 school cafeteria hometown kids would come true. And with on the day before eyes glued to the screen, my youngestbrother, xt game. Where 10 years old at the time, watched ESPN as of the fields to the team from Grosse Pointe took the field at e every year the Williamsport. Next year is his chance to live m was the same: the dream, whether or not the journey ends te, and then win in Williamsport. Welcome back to Michigan in Color, a space for People of Color (PoCs) on the University of Michigan campus to facilitate change by sharing their stories and voices. Michigan in Color (MiC) was launched on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan. 20, 2014, by three women of color - Rima Fadlallah, Jerusaliem Gebreziabher and Kayla Upadhayaya, with two initial goals: to help individuals and groups see beyond their own experiences, and to feel and embrace power from other communities of color across the University of Michigan campus. Since its inception, MiC has had a powerful, widespread impact. People who had never picked up The Michigan Daily before were reading it consistently. Professors were selecting MiC pieces to initiate discussions in class. MiC writers started receiving responses from readers from across the country and the world that reflected on their own issues as PoCs. For the past nine months, MiC has radically raised discussions and awareness about issues that are important to PoCs. People listened. They still are. But MiC isn't just about getting people to take notice; we address an unmetneed.Aneedfor allstudents to be valued, affirmed and heard. With every publication, MiC proves that even though our stories as people of color deviate from mainstream narratives, our stories are worthy of words, ink, time and space. In fact, our stories are oftentimes made valuable because they stray from the dominantnorm. MiC is a crucial space on this campus - a space for PoCs to celebrate what is rarely celebrated and to take comfort in what we often feel pressure to defend. It is a space where PoCs do not have to strip or censor our stories of the ache, shame, or pain we carry before sharing them with the world. Our contributors aren't required to dissect their narratives into "logical" bite-sized pieces to prepare them for public consumption. As The Michigan Daily's first section where the creators, editors, and publishers are exclusively People of Color, we aren't here to be politically correct. This is our truth, and these are our stories. MiC is not here to be shiny, or fierce, or revolutionary. It is here to tell honest stories that shovel beneath the heart. And by doing so, Michigan in Color has allowed us to jump through windows of curiosity, rage, wonder. It becomes fierce and revolutionary because it is honest storytelling; it is honest listening that pushes, challenges, questions, affirms - and that combination unlatches all the windows. MiC offers storytelling that does not claim to be anything other than narratives from the mouth, the brain, the heart. For us, the best part about storytelling is that while you will never have the exact same experience as someone else, you have the power to weave together something from your own world that connects and supports and builds upon your own experience. We hope MiC will foster a space of connection for our readers, as well as a place of empathy, listening and generosity. Last year MiC defined itself and carved its space on campus. This year, we will take a new step. Stories can be told with words - but they can also be told with art, music, pictures, and so many more mediums. We want to create new multimedia avenues for our voices to speak and to be heard. Throughout the year, we will be introducing new visual and artistic elements to Michigan in Color with platforms for cartoons, illustrations, poetry and song. We want MiC to be more than a newspaper column; we want it to become a dynamic community - a support network for communities of color on campus, one that provides opportunities for individual and collective growth through the sharing of our stories, one that pushes us beyond the space to listen, challenge, empathize and grow. We want all our readers to see that there is no one way to be any color, any ethnicity, any identity. MiC is a space for stories to be told. We do not speak for all - we speak for ourselves, and these narratives have a right to be heard. Let us tell them proudly. We are the new Michigan in Color editors, and these are our stories: I'm Carlina Duan, and I'm here because I want to help build an accessible, powerful space on cam- pus that uses narrative to pummel past doors. As a first-generation Chinese American, I'm often stuck switching between codes of "Ameri- can" versus "Chinese," navigating feelings of strangeness and small- ness, while simultaneously hatching wonder and joy. For me, my identity as a Chinese American woman is as stunning as it is confusing. As a stu- dent on this campus, I want to talk about the confusion. I want to talk about what gets skimmed over or pressed into flatter shapes. For me, Michigan in Color is urgent. It has the ability to amplify honest conver- sations surrounding issues of race, ethnicity, and personhood. It has the power to dimensionalize and heal, teaching us all how to stretch - and, ultimately, how to grow. I'm Ryan Moody, and I'm here because I am tired of me and my friendsbeingsilenced and dismissed as oversensitive. For me, the desire to be understood, disprove negative stereotypes, and avoid offending others prevents my speaking can- didly outside of the few spaces creat- ed by and for people of color. Instead, I am often telling a white-washed version of my truths. Though each person has unique life experiences, I think that we, as PoCs, are all linked by common pressures that restrict the ways in which we express our- selves. Michigan in Color is working to repair that dynamic. I'm excited to help build and maintain one of the few spaces on campus where I have seen people of color be and thrive unfiltered. I'm Teresa Mathew, and I'm here because I want all people of all colors and heritages to know that they deserve to forge their own identities and tell their own stories. I'm tired of people thinking that because they can look at me and classify me as Indian they can ascribe everything they think that identity means (a love of Bollywood, elaborate weddings, Hinduism) to me. Guys, literally none ofthose things are true. For me, Michigan in Color is a furnace. We will ignite fires and blaze our truth, bringing light and warmth to those who have been left out in the dark. I'm Nour Soubani, and I'm here because I've learned that not telling our own stories erases us. As a Pales- tinianAmericanmyidentity wasone that people, didn't even recognize - "Palestine? What's that?" - and so it becamesomethingIfeltIhadtohide, something I couldn't even under- stand for myself, let alone explain to someone else. Only when I was sur- rounded by people who wanted to talk about and listen to Palestinians did I have a chance to truly embrace who I was and where I came from, and that has given me awell of inspi- ration and courage on which I draw often. For me, MiC is necessary; it is critical for our survival. I'm a MiC editor because I believe in the trans- formative power our stories have to heal us and those who listen to us. We need to talk about who we are and what our identities mean, to find strength and passion in our strug- gles and resistance and bravery. By speaking our truths uninterrupted and unapologetically, we can come to know ourselves, our sorrows and sadness, our triumphs and our pain - and love and appreciate all of it. So for all of you PoCs who see this as something you want to be a part of, now is your time. This can be your space, ifyou wantto make itso. If you would like to join the Michigan in Color team as a regular contributor, please contact us at michiganincol- or@umich.edu to request an appli- cation. Similarly, if you're interested in contributing to the space, but not as a regular contributor, feel free to e-mail us to request more informa- tion. We welcome your voice. We hope you'll continue to read, reflect, and join our MiC community. This is an active space, so get ready, University of Michigan. We are passing the MiC. Carlina Duan is an LSA senior, Teresa Mathew is an LSA senior, Ryan Moody is a Engineering senior and Nour Soubani is a LSA senior. lliamsport. over before it e in my baseball - David Harris can be reached at daharr@umich.edu. Read o this, actually. This isn't important. Doubtless there are other things - chemistry textbooks, news stories, 18th-century English novels, brilliant yet ridiculously dense academic works that make your eyes glaze over - you should be reading right now. For time's sake, just skip the rest of this column and go read them. Why? Sometimes the syllabus says so and that's ERIC justification enough; after FERGUSON all, you will miss some things in college if you don't get into the habit of doing the readings. At the very least, you'll actually know what's coming out of your fingertips while working on a term paper 24 hours before the deadline, frantically pumping out text to meet the page requirement. If you just can't take the time to read because you're busy volunteering for a nonprofit in Detroit or agitating in the Diag on your social justice issue du jour, fine - you're probably reading up on and learning about those things, and that's good enough for me. Well, almost good enough. If you're passionate about any issue at all, chances are you want to do something about it. And fortunately for you, it's election season once more. You should participate, but recognize at the same time that there will be issues at stake you know little about. There is nothing wrong with that - to some extent, each and every person is a mountain of ignorance - but for the sake of your future and that of everyone around you, don't just go vote on Election Day without seeking out information on the issues beforehand. Being informed is a responsibility you can't afford to ignore. Who you choose to represent you and the decisions you make to favor or oppose state Supreme Court candidates or ballot measures (Prop 1, Prop 2, et cetera) will affect the lives of others. Any political scientist would tell you the act of one more random person casting their vote matters little due to the statistical improbability of that vote deciding the election. However, the consequences of failing to "do the reading" on the issues on which you vote - and even ones not on the ballot - are damning in the long run, while the benefits of doing the reading are great. If you want to win others over to your side or even just increase their awareness of your cause, being knowledgeable is key. The knowledge you bring to the table multiplies when you use it to raise others' awareness. Even better, knowledge is invaluable if you're called upon to make a decision like the ones every voting-age American is called upon to make on Election Day. Besides, you'll be far more likely to impress those around you with what you know, and far less likely to make an idiot out of yourself in conversation. Getting into the habit of being informed now, as a stu- dent, is therefore both personally beneficial and unquestionably a good thing to do. So read for the classes in your major. Read, at least a little bit, for the classes you're required to take. What you learn there might even come in handy someday. Read up on issues on which you have a strong opinion - and for the love of God, don't just read the latest ThinkProgress or Fox News article on the issue and call yourself informed. Read the best arguments you can find that go against your strong opinions, and remind yourself that some people's views justifiably differ from yours. Read comments on the Internet every so often, if only to remind yourself how many people have no idea what they are talking about. You are entitled to your own opinion on any issue, but if you're going to even think about affecting someone else's life by expressing that opinion through voting or advocacy, read. Read like the quality of your life and the lives of everyone you know and love depend on it - simply because they do. -Eric Ferguson can be reached at ericff@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Jaekwan An, Berry Belmont, Edvinas Berzanskis, David Harris, Rachel John, Nivedita Karki, Jacob Karafa, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Paul Sherman, Allison Raeck, Linh Vu, Meher Walia, Mary Kate Winn, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe MELISSA SCHOLKE Unaddressed for too long Articles describing the horrific tragedy that occurred at Isla Vista, California on May 23rd appeared on newsfeeds across the nation while the stream of hashtags feverishly trended across Twitter. While I fully supported the emboldened outcry of my fellow feminists, I hesitated before open- ing each journalistic piece offering coverage of the incident. Before each click of the mouse, I wondered: "Now, what is this article going to say about the shooter?" Therein lies a flaw of our news media. While piece after piece sensationalizes the event, the media has yet to delve into the overreaching problems that led up to this rampage. The name of the perpetrator is plastered across cyberspace, but more of a focus should be placed on raising aware- ness of the dangers objectification and misogyny pose to our society. Now, I don't mean to insinuate news outlets are being neglect- ful in their coverage. Rather, I'm extremely troubled by the amount of the news hole occupied by a sin- gle individual. Why are news outlets continuing to only give attention to a man who was seeking infamy when he committed these acts? The motivations behind the rampage are complex and no single issue - whether it be mental illness, misog- yny or objectification - is the sole driving force behind the incident. However, I'm bothered by the manner in which some articles fail to acknowledge how the tragedy at Isla Vista illustrates a glaring epidemic still running rampant in this patriarchal society of ours. While this recent incident demonstrates the dangers of misogyny to an extreme degree, society needs to learn objectification and misogyny are harmful to women on every level. Likewise, these problems are far too prevalent and sadly go unaddressed in our society. Objectification is the reduction of a human being until they are treated merely as an object. These young women and men were more than just the "beautiful blonde girls in revealing shorts" or the "obnoxious brutes" described in those chilling and vengeful YouTube videos. Yes, the man responsible for their deaths was deeply troubled and a vehement misogynist who erroneously believed women owed him whatever he desired. However, he's a single case out of many. The stereotypes and images polluting our society allow individuals to believe reducing a human's worth to nothing more than good hair or their physique is acceptable. When women and a number of men are viewed merely as objects, it's far too easy for others to treat them as such. Misogyny develops as a result. These flawed beliefs lead to the unbelievably large amount of violence and harassment women face on a daily basis, and they help to explain why the United States possesses one of the highest rates of rape in the world. Misogyny, objectification, harassment and violence against women aren't merely the ranting of angry feminists. They're widespread problems with dire consequences. While these issues shouldn't detract from the coverage of recent events, these actions indicate these issues have gone unaddressed for far too long and need to be brought to light. Melissa Scholke can be reached . at melikaye@umich.edu. A i