After taking a month off PRISM in March due to midterms and spring break, the April issue is here! I really want to say “Happy spring,” but I’m still not sure we’re quite there yet. Regardless, we’re starting to get close to the end of the semester, making this one of my last PRISMs as your editor. I’m trying to pretend that’s not true, so let’s get into the content of this issue! We have a lot of great coverage of multicultural groups, feature student business owners and include some opinions pieces regarding issues pertinent to the multicultural community.
Starting off, we showcase some lovely photos from the African Student Organization’s (ASO) annual fashion show, Threads of the Motherland: Cirque D’Afrique. The event commemorated the organization’s 30th year on campus. We would like to congratulate ASO on all that it has done for the campus community and for all the hard work that went into creating such an unforgettable event.
We continue with on-campus group coverage with a preview of Latin Weekend, specifically focusing on Quimbamba Latin Dance Team’s event, El Polvorín Latin Festival. Personally, I can’t wait to celebrate my own culture by attending all the great festivities Latin Weekend has to offer. Next, we preview the Juvenile Urban Multicultural Program’s (JUMP Nation) main event of the school year, JUMP Weekend, in which middle school students from the Binghamton area and New York City visit the Binghamton University campus for a four-day weekend. JUMP Nation continually does important work for underserved students.
In keeping with tradition, we have our style spread — with a twist. We feature five BU students of color who have their own beauty-related businesses, from hair stylists to makeup artists to a business that creates custom-made clothing and jewelry. In keeping with PRISM’s mission to support people of color at BU, we felt it important to highlight POC-owned businesses and promote entrepreneurship within our communities. Everyone we feature is immensely talented and has so much to offer our campus and people of color in general.
Finally, we end the issue with a pair of opinions columns. First, our writer discusses consumer activism and how quickly people forget about controversies, such as the public’s response to Gucci’s blackface-imitating sweater. Following that, our writer condemns Joe Budden’s comments about Carnival outfits and explains their cultural significance. My column rounds out the issue with a discussion of mainstream media’s representation of the situation in Venezuela, and why I feel we shouldn’t take the information we’re presented at face value.
Like I said before, I’m nearing the end of my tenure as your PRISM editor and I’m trying to come to terms with that. I know that working on PRISM has been an invaluable experience for me, not only because it has helped me develop my skills as an editor but also because I truly feel a sense of joy every time I see our beautiful community represented in a campus publication. The next PRISM will be my last, so I’ll save the real sappy stuff for my letter in that issue. For now, please enjoy our April issue in the (hopefully) warm weather that we’re finally (kind of) being graced with. Have a great month!