As a child, I never worried 
about making mistakes. If my 
knees were scraped when playing 
outside, they healed, so I stood on 
the highest playground structure 
trying to look past the horizon. 
Growing up, I continued having 
this dauntless quality, always 
questioning how I could change 
the color of the sky or how I 
could solve a derivative in an 
unconventional way. For this 
reason, the liberating medium of 
acrylic paints became my favorite 
style of art. The 4 foot tall canvas 
allows a full range of motion as 
well as the ability to use brushes, 
knives, paper, and even my fingers 
to capture emotion when the 
paint is wet. And when the paint 
dries, I can keep adding layers. 
With this medium, I can be a child 
again, exploring and imagining 
ideas as crazy as I can make them.
This trait of dauntlessness has 
helped me accomplish goals and 
is still teaching me lessons of what 
it means to succeed. As a woman, 
a woman of color, and a woman 
of color with immigrant parents, 
it takes more effort to achieve 
the same as others. I have heard 
countless stories of the challenges 
that women of color face, and how 
they overcome them.
In my painting, I chose to 
encompass 
facial 
features 
of different women. But, the 

sparkling eyes and determined 
eyebrows of these women tell 
stories and challenge stereotypes. 
A few things I wanted to touch 
on in my painting are femininity, 
sports, clothing, career, and the 
reason why women of color are 
queens.
The flowers represent my own 
femininity and the challenges 
women have to face in a 
patriarchal society. If we speak 
up or act a certain way, we are 
criticized. We are not taught to 
fight and triumph. But, for me, 
being feminine means being able 
to fall down and still get up. Being 
a woman of color means to fight 
for what’s right.
The pattern of a soccer ball 
represents sports. I have seen so 
many female athletes criticized 
for being too muscular, or not 
feminine enough. Even though 
Serena Williams has won 23 grand 
slams, the reality of the news and 
modern world is that there will 
always be people criticizing her. 
It dawned on me that I would 
face challenges like she does, 
constantly having to prove myself 
in the face of stereotypes against 
women in sports.
Being 
a 
student 
at 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan 
has 
given me the opportunity to 
interact with so many other 
women of color. For all my peers 
who wear a hijab, it represents 
dignity, modesty, and faith, and 
they reserve the right to choose 

to wear one or not. Personally, 
I want the choice to be able to 
wear a bindi and be accepted 
in this community, because my 
choice is my choice, and it’s my 
responsibility to educate myself 
about the choices of others.
The blue collar and white 
collar at the bottom of the 
painting represent women of 
color in various careers. I chose 
engineering without knowing 
what I really wanted to do. Like 
every other brown kid, if you are 
good at math or science, this is the 
field for you. No, I’m just kidding. 
Anyways, when I tell people I 
study engineering, I get awe and 
wonder, but sometimes, there is 
doubt in them, and even in myself. 
How would I survive or gain 
respect in such a competitive and 
male dominated industry? Today, 
I’m still an engineer because I 
want to change the mindset of 
people that a woman of color 
with the goal of being a CEO or 
wiring NASA’s rocket ship, is 
unstoppable.
Finally, women of color are 
queens. We are fighting for what 
we deserve, and speaking up in 
spaces like this one. We shouldn’t 
need another world war to prove 
that women are capable in the 
workplace, or that they can thrive 
in sport. We need compassion, 
strength, and love, to shape the 
world into not a kingdom, but a 
Queen’dom.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Monday, April 15, 2019 — 3A

On Friday night, among the 
smooth rhythms of 90s R&B, the 
vibrant LED lights reflecting from 
the stage and the nostalgic smell of 
soul food, Black creatives packed 
the basement of the new William 
Monroe Trotter Multicultural for 
the 2nd annual Creatives of Color 
Showcase. Creatives of Color, an 
organization started last year 
by LSA senior Drew Metcalfe 
through 
OptiMize’s 
Social 
Innovation Challenge, connects 
Black 
creatives 
across 
the 
University of Michigan’s campus. 
It provides a space for Black 
artists to connect and produce art 
specific to their experiences and 
their culture.
The 
showcase 
featured 
artists from a variety of artistic 
mediums, who created projects 
or 
presentations 
after 
being 
randomly put into groups. Among 
these creatives were rappers, 
dancers, poets, filmmakers, actors, 
musicians, singers, visual artists 
and more. During each act or 
presentation, audience members 
clapped, laughed and embraced 
their fellow creatives, displaying 
the joy in Black ingenuity and 
finally having a space to revel in it.
This year’s showcase proved to 

be extra-special because it was the 
inaugural event, after the ribbon-
cutting, for the new Trotter 
Center. President Drew Metcalf 
talked about the importance of the 
showcase being the new Trotter’s 
kick-off event.
“We’re the first big event in 
here and that’s groundbreaking, it 
feels special. Definitely a lot better 
than 
our 
previous 
locations, 
we have official staging now,” 
Metcalf said. “I’m just excited 
about the progress we’ve made. 
We got to have events here all day. 
We were painting upstairs and 
we got to curate the art gallery. 
Having access to that kind of stuff 
in such in a new building, as a new 
org, feels really encouraging and 
positive.”
The showcase’s placement in 
the new Trotter center reflects 
the goal Metcalf set out to 
accomplish a year ago: to create 
an 
imaginative 
environment 
for Black artists to share their 
work and gather in the name of 
originality and ingenuity. The 
center lends itself to collaboration 
and acts as a unified space for 
Black creatives to explore their 
artistry. Committee Head of 
Performative Art, Kandis Terry, 
spoke about her decision to join 
the Executive Board of Creatives 
of Color.

“A lot of times I’m usually the 
only person of color, the only 
Black person, let alone Black 
woman in the spaces that I’m in 
and when (Drew) said he had 
this idea for collaboration for all 
artists on campus, it was a chance 
for me to help other people get 
comfortable in their art,” Terry 
said. “Art doesn’t have to be 
something that’s so serious, it 
should be a form of expression and 
mental wellness. People who are 
so good at it are good at it because 
it’s something that they have to 
do. It’s an impulse…. This space is 
very open, it doesn’t feel limited, 
there’s no cap on it. There’s space 
for everyone to be a creative 
person of color.”
Treasurer Clarence Womack 
also talked about the significance 
of creating opportunities for 
Black creatives on campus and 
why he joined the trailblazing 
organization.
“I joined Creatives of Color 
to support my friends and their 
decisions to support people in 
the Black community. There 
weren’t a lot of opportunities 
for artist of color to collaborate 
(or) understand other people’s 
talent,” Womack said. 

On 
March 
14, 
Netflix 
announced it was cancelling its 
original series One Day at a Time. 
The streaming giant’s decision 
came after several appeals by 
the cast, other Latinx celebrities 
(including Hamilton creator Lin-
Manuel Miranda) and viewers to 
save the show.
On the surface, One Day At 
A Time is like any other family 
sitcom, with a close nuclear family 
and a wild cast of friends, but it 
distinguishes itself by centering 
around a Cuban-American veteran 
and her multi-generational family.
Replete 
with 
cultural 
references, the Cuban, Latinx, 
and recent immigrant identities 
permeate beyond the odd joke 
here or there: they drive the 
show. Rita Moreno – who is best 
known as Maria from West Side 
Story – plays the staunchly Cuban 
grandmother Lydia, who fled Cuba 
as a teenager in the 60s. Her desire 
to follow tradition brings her into 
conflict with her American-born 
grandchildren Alex (played by 
Marcel Ruiz) and Elena (played 
by Isabella Gomez), as well as her 
newly-divorced daughter Penelope 
(played by Justina Machado).
The show plunges headfirst 

into the Alvarez family’s inherent 
Cubanness, using white supporting 
characters to introduce less well-
known concepts. Instead of the 
Alvarezs having to ditch their 
heritage to conform to mainstream 
American culture, their friends Dr. 
Berkowitz (Stephen Tobolowsky) 
and Schneider (Todd Grinnell) 
learn what it means to be Cuban 
and become part of the family.
One Day At A Time presents 
more than racial diversity: the 
show endeavors to cover a wide 
range of issues from sexual 
harassment to the flaws in Veteran 
Affairs to recreational drug use. 
More than simply touching on 
them, the series gives plenty of time 
to each topic and handles them 
sensitively. No matter how dire the 
situation may seem, the Alvarez’s 
always find some kind of way to 
solve the problem or otherwise 
have a happy ending. It’s a staple 
of the feel-good sitcom genre, but 
given how serious these issues are, 
it is incredibly well done and never 
seeks to minimize the impact they 
can have on individuals.
You don’t have to be Cuban 
or even Latinx to find the show 
relatable. Many of us in the 
broader 
immigrants 
of 
color 
community can find themselves 
in the Alvarez’s. In one episode, 
Lydia warns her grandchildren 

that walking on the floor barefoot 
can cause them to catch colds. 
This reminded me of my Chinese 
grandmother scolding me for 
sleeping 
with 
my 
hair 
wet 
because cold air would rush into 
my follicles and give me a cold. 
(Obviously, neither of these bad 
habits are desirable, but I’m still 
skeptical of anything any grandma 
tells me that a doctor won’t.)
There are already so few shows 
starring people of color that 
losing One Day At A Time comes 
at a major cost. UCLA’s annual 
Hollywood Diversity Report found 
that there was fewer than one lead 
of color for every two white leads 
in scripted digital series alone. Not 
getting to see positive and deeply 
explored depictions of people like 
us informs us that our experiences 
are unimportant and not valued – 
which is far from the truth.
Netflix may have cancelled One 
Day At A Time, but that doesn’t 
necessarily mean that the series 
is gone for good. As showrunner 
Gloria Calderón Kellett continues 
to fight for, the show can continue 
if picked up by another network.
 
You can support One Day At 
A Time by watching the three 
seasons on Netflix and by tweeting 
with the hashtag #SaveODAAT.

The Gray, White, Black, and 
Gold teams competed against 
each other on the night of April 
10th for the second annual 
“Train Like an Alpha” event in 
the Mendelssohn Theatre in the 

Michigan League.
Flashing lights, Old Town 
Road and whistles echoed the 
theatre, and the energy of the 
crowd matched that of the four 
teams of girls who danced to the 
coordinated routines of current 
members of the fraternity, Alphi 
Phi Alpha.
For their annual event, Alpha 
Phi Alpha holds campus-wide 

tryouts for girls who want to 
try their hand at some of the 
fraternity’s 
dances 
and 
step 
routines for their hand at the 
grand prize. Each routine had a 
specific theme or reference, and 
their uniqueness showed in each 
of their choreographed dances. 
The Gray Team started the 
night off with an “Indiana Jones”-
esque adventure theme, decked 
out in gray tank tops, green cargo 
pants, and black utility belts –– 
their energy was definitely felt 
by the audience. The girls were 
on a mission to find the “golden 
whistle” before it fell into the 
wrong hands. With a routine full 
of clean moves and gymnastics 
feats, the night was off to a good 
start.
However, the following two 
teams still held their ground 
pretty well. The White team had a 
sporty workout theme with all of 
the dancers clad in workout bras 
and joggers. Their clever routine 
started with a nod to the Everest 

college commercial that was 
familiar to the Michigan natives 
who grew up seeing it on their TV.
Next was the Black Team. 
Dressed in black unitards with 
black and gold accent pieces, 
they channeled the energy of the 
character Katana from the video 
game Mortal Kombat in an action 
packed fight theme routine. The 
routine stayed true to the theme 
of the game and their steps were 
sharply executed.
All the teams kept their 
routines lighthearted and fun 
by adding in voiceover moments 
where they’d stop and narrate on 
the action. They also involved the 
brothers of the Alpha Phi Alpha 
fraternity as characters in their 
skits between the dance moves. 
In between the performances, 
the energy was also kept high by 
the light hearted MCs who made 
playful jabs at the competition 
and 
themselves. 
Audience 
members also got a chance to be 
involved in the fun through trivia 

contests, lottery drawings, and a 
riveting competition to see who 
could hold the fraternity’s famous 
hand sign the longest without 
falling.
Last but certainly not least was 
the gold team. Their performance 
ended the night with a high-
energy performance that used 
vibrant colors and the benefit of 
stage lighting to execute their 
routine. With a nightclub theme, 
they certainly brought energy 
that the audience could feel and 
the confidence of the performers 
with every stomp and clap that 
lined their performance.
In the end, the judges seemed 
to really admire the gold team’s 
ingenuity because the won the 
competition. 
Each 
member 
received a gold medal and took 
a picture with the giant trophy 
that was awarded to them as a 
result of their performance. With 
every team member on stage as 
well as the fraternity members 
who helped to choreograph each 

routine, everyone joined in to 
dance to the organization’s go-to 
stroll song, “Knuck if You Buck.”
Even though the gold team 
won, it’s safe to say that all of the 
dancers still had fun. According 
to 
School 
of 
Information 
sophomore Leila Akan, a dancer 
on the Black Team, the best part 
of the competition was getting to 
know and work with everyone on 
her team. “Our practices were a 
lot of long late nights, but in the 
end everyone pulled off a great 
show and I’m extremely proud of 
them.”
The “Train Like an Alpha” 
Event was definitely a night to 
remember as it succeeded in 
making an evening of excitement 
and energy to a Wednesday 
night for Black students. Current 
students and alumni alike, for a 
night of dancing, laughing and 
merriment. Even though this 
was the event’s second time 
happening, it’s easy to see that it 
will continue for years to come.

LORNA BROWN
 & EFE OSAGIE
MiC Editors

DIERRA BARLOW
MiC Editor

ELIZABETH HO
MiC Blogger

“Train Like an Alpha” brings together community 
and talent for annual dance and step competition 

Creatives of Color holds 
annual showcase of Black art
Let’s save TV show “One 
Day at a Time”

HARSHITHA BALAJI
MiC Creative Contributor

Queen’dom

Illustration courtesy of author

Photo courtesy of authors 

Read more online at 
michigandaily.com