 Dancing has always been an important part of culture all around the world. American dance has been influenced by Africa, Europe, Australia and many more diverse cultures. Modern dance started to be most prevalent in the 1920’s when the jazz era broke through, though dance has been a part of human nature for hundreds and hundreds of years. According to, livescience.com, “dancing was a way for our prehistoric ancestors to bond and communicate.” Dancing has evolved through many phases and eras and still is changing everyday.
Starting in the early 1920’s carefree and wild dances like the Breakaway and the Charleston, popular dances became the waltz and tango. Almost a century later, people still dance the tango and waltz. The 1920’s were a time of dramatic social change shifting women’s roles in society. America was just coming out of World War 1 and times were cheerful and wild just like the dances. Later in the 30’s and 40’s dancing was an escape from the poor economy. The Great Depression lasted from 1930-1940 and the economy was still rebuilding for several years after. Popular dancing was swing dancing including the Jitterbug and the Lindy Hop. People danced to Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong. Dance marathons were also a widespread form of entertainment which brought people to dance for an extended amount of time and would have contests. The 50’s are most known for the breakthrough of dirty dancing. The 50’s era inspired many movies like grease or hairspray. Everyone listened or danced to Elvis, who was a big influencer for dance throughout this time period. The odyssey says popular dances with the bop and the twist. In the well-known movie Pulp Fiction, you can see them doing the twist in the dance competition. During the 60’s music took a big turn and so did dance. The Beatles took over the nation and dancing was now less of partner dancing and more of just dancing with yourself. Dances included the Funky Chicken and the Mashed Potato. The 70’s were a bright color decade full of disco and peace signs. Dances like the Hustle or the YMCA were very popular. The 70’s paved the road for the 80’s which was the era of break dance. The 80’s also made way for punk and heavy metal. Music was now divided into different groups or genres causing different styles of dance as well. Street dance was also born in the late 80’s. The 90’s is very well known for the birth of hip-hop which originated from street dance in the 80’s. People danced the tootsie roll, the iron man, and the macarena. According to Britannica, there are four parts of hip hop, breaking dancing being one of them. Dance contributes to culture and music and becomes an art form. Later in the 2000’s popular singers like Brittany Spears and Beyonce brought in modern dance which is similar to dance trends now on platforms like tik tok. Popular dances were danced to songs like “Crank that Soulja boy” or the Cha Cha Slide. Story by Liv Suydam  Let’s take a break from all the sad news and talk about celebration! As you probably know, Saint Patrick’s Day was last Tuesday, March 17. It is a day to celebrate Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and for Irish to celebrate their heritage. We celebrate him on March 17 because it is believed t0 have been the day he died. He is celebrated because after converting and learning all about it, he spread Christianity all over Ireland. Although we may think so, he wasn’t Irish and his name wasn’t even Patrick! To learn more about that, the traditions, and why we wear green, keep reading.
Who was Saint Patrick and what did he do? Although we call him Patrick now, his original name was Maewyn Succat, and he later changed it to Patricius. He was actually born in a town in Roman Britain, not Ireland. He was kidnapped by Irish pirates and enslaved on the Emerald Isle. After 16 years, he escaped but was kidnapped again and taken to France. During all this, he learned lots about Christianity and continued to study the religion once he was free. Then he went back to Ireland and taught what he learned. Saint Patrick’s day may seem like a Christian holiday, but it is only celebrated as such in Ireland. Many people think that Saint Patrick’s day is all about parades, beer, and wearing green. All of these are traditions now, but they aren’t all originally Irish. Parades have let Irish and Irish-Americans celebrate their heritage and feel welcomed as a part of society. Beer has become a tradition on this day, but it was actually started by Americans. Irish couldn’t buy beer on the holiday, as it was during Lent. Going to bars is a way to celebrate, so now they go to celebrate Saint Patrick. Green is worn to remind Irish that they were nationalists first, not because of the American myth that it would make you invisible to Leprechauns. There are many other traditions like a feast of bacon, cabbage, potato farls, and soda bread. Now that you know Saint Paddy’s day origins and traditions, you know why it’s such a fun holiday. Story by Sarah Comer  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or AOC as she is known, is the youngest congresswoman to ever be elected. She defeated 10-term Democrat Joe Crowley from New York’s 14th congressional district. She was 28 when she was elected. She is the first democratic opponent to challenge Crowley’s seat in 14 years. She was sworn in by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on January 3, 2019. She helped organize Bernie Sanders’s campaign for President in 2016. In February 2019 she was one of the senators who introduced the “green new deal”.
What is her background? Her birthday is on October 1t3th 1989. She was born to a Puerto Rican family in the Bronx. Her degree is in economics and international affairs. She graduated from Boston University. In 2008 her father died from lung cancer, causing her family to have financial trouble. Cortez came back to her family and worked low-wage restaurant jobs to support them. She lived paycheck to paycheck for most of her 20s. How did she become a congresswoman? Her first exposure to politics was as an intern in Senator Ted Kennedy’s office. As I mentioned above she volunteered in Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in 2016. When she decided to run for congress the group Brand New Congress stood behind her. Her campaign was mostly made up of volunteers that all felt like the system was rigged. The DSA also endorsed her campaign. In the end, she won the election by 4,000 votes. Story by Maddy Peeples Sources:https://www.biography.com/political-figure/alexandria-ocasio-cortez https://time.com/longform/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-profile/ https://www.vogue.com/article/36-hours-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-primary-anniversary  Recently, we’ve been discussing examples of black excellence and resilience in Advisory during Black History Month. The Black Civil Rights movement is an issue that is still debated even today. We still don’t have equal rights in America. There are still violent hate crimes and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) still exists. There are still police shootings. These things need to be eradicated.
The best way to do that is to understand the past history of this tumultuous fight. I will go through most of the major events that shaped this historic matter, starting...now! 1954 MLK Begins Pastorate (May 14) A modest African-American man named Martin Luther King, Jr., “begins his pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptists Church in Montgomery, AL” (Civil Rights Trail). Brown v. Board of Education (May 17) This Supreme Court case ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. However, most schools remained segregated for some time. This verdict overturned the 1896 case “Plessy v. Ferguson,” which created the infamous term “separate but equal.” 1955 Emmett Till’s Murder (August 28) Fourteen-year-old African American boy Emmett Till allegedly whistled and “made a flirtatious remark” to a woman behind the counter of the local grocery (history.com). Three days later, the woman’s husband and his friend dragged Till from his great-uncle’s house, beat him up, and drowned him in the Tallahatchie River. The men confessed to his kidnapping and murder, yet they were acquitted by an “all-white, all-male jury” after a short deliberation. Rosa Parks Arrested (December 1) Alabama native Rosa Parks was arrested for “refusing to surrender her seat” to a white person on a public Montgomery bus. Her arrest prompted a yearlong bus boycott, which began on December 5th. Led by “young local pastor” Martin Luther King Jr., the protests were so successful that they were “extended indefinitely” (Britannica). 1957 Formation of the SCLC (February 14) Martin Luther King Jr. is named president of the “newly-formed” Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a “leading engine of the Civil Rights Movement.” The Little Rock Nine (September 25) Nine African-American students are “blocked from entering” Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by a white mob consisting of civilians and soldiers sent by Arkansas governor Orval Eugene Faubus. For 18 days, President Eisenhower, Governor Faubus, and Little Rock Mayor Mann “discussed the situation.” The students returned to school grounds on September 25 and were escorted inside by the 101st Airborne Division. The “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be known, were subsequently harassed throughout the school year but 8 of the 9 students finished the year. 1960 The Woolsworth Sit-Ins (February 1) Four freshmen from North Carolina A&T stage a sit-in at a Greensboro, North Carolina F.W. Woolsworth store after being refused service. They stayed until the store closed, and they came back the next day with 20 fellow students and friends. This first sit-in sparked others all over the country as young African-Americans protested equal rights peacefully on public benches and establishments. The Greensboro Four--Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil were inspired by Ghandi’s movement to act. Integration of New Orleans Elementary Schools (November 14) Six-year-old Ruby Bridges is escorted by armed federal marshals into William Frantz Elementary School, becoming the first student to integrate schools in New Orleans. She was met by mobs and parents shouting disapproval (some of whom later removed their children from the school). 1961 The Freedom Riders (May 1) The Freedom Riders began when a “group of seven African Americans and six whites” boarded a pair of buses bound for New Orleans. The group was beaten, the buses firebombed and tires slashed, but more groups of Freedom Riders took their place to mark the event. They were met with horrific violence, and US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (brother of John F. Kennedy) called for stricter segregation bans. 1962 Desegregation of Ole Miss (September 30) Black student James Meredith arrived at the University of Missisippi (more commonly known as Ole Miss) under the protection of federal soldiers and were met by an angry mob of 2,000. Only after the federal government sent “some 31,000 troops” to restore order was the mob quelled. 1963 The Birmingham Campaign (April 3) The Birmingham Campaign, organized by the SCLC and other civil rights groups, began. These protests and peaceful demonstations were led in the city of Birmingham, Alabama to speak out against segregation. The activists were met with “tear geas, fire hoses, and police dogs” and arrested. March on Washington (August 28) Famous civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his celebrated “I Have a Dream” speech in front of hundreds of thousands of civil rights supporters in the National Mall in Washington, DC. 1964 The Civil Rights Act (July 2) President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting “discrimination of all kinds,” including by “race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.” The controversial bill was a win for civil rights supprters everywhere. 1965 Malcom X’s Assassination (February 21) Black “religious leader” Malcom X is shot during a speech in the Audubon Ballroom in New York. He was shot “some 15 times” at close range and was pronounced dead a few hours later. Selma-Montgomery March (March 7) MLK organizes a march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery of the same state (about 50 miles) to “call for a federal voting rights law that would provide legal support for disenfranchised African Americans in the South.” The marchers encounter state troopers and are pushed back, which is recorded by camera. Two days later, King tries again to cross the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge while police block the group and beat them. This event is known as Bloody Sunday. The demonstrators finally reach Montgomery on March 25 after President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act. 1968 Martin Luther King’s Assassination (April 4) Historic civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is shot by a sniper on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was convicted in the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Fair Housing Act (April 11) President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Fair Housing Act, which guarantees equal housing oppurtunity for all people regardless of race, religion, or color. 2008 Barack Obama Elected President (November 4) The first African-American man, Barack Obama, is elected president of the United States. Countless authors, activists, politicians, judges, and other famous Black and African-American people have made an impact on their country and world on many ways. Here’s a chance for you to do the same. Story by Caroline Barton Sources: Source 1) https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline Source 2) https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-milestones Source 3) https://www.britannica.com/list/timeline-of-the-american-civil-rights-movement Source 4) https://www.nps.gov/saga/learn/education/upload/african%20american%20history%20timeline.pdf Source 5) https://civilrightstrail.com/timeline/  Did you know that, on average, women earn about 76.5% of the earnings of a man? The job world has had unequal pay for a while but it does not pay different genders equally. Unequal earnings are one of the things that feminists are trying to change. A person who is a feminist stands for a belief called feminism. As said by Britannica School “Feminism, the belief in social, economic, and political equality of both genders.” Some people believe that feminists believe that girls and women are ‘better’ then boys and men, but that is not true.
Feminism also puts stereotypes of both genders aside and explains that boys can show emotion and girls can as well without being called names. A lot of times if a boy cries, other boys will call him a sissy. If a girl shows too much emotion, she can be called emotional or vulnerable. Another thing that can happen to girls of all ages is being called awful names by other girls or even by boys. If a girl is doing a dance that uses her hips or is wearing booty shorts, she can be called ugly or a b-word. The things that feminism has done to help the world is truly incredible. Many women and men have stood up to people doing the wrong thing and that should continue to happen. Story by Natalie Edgens  Mojang (Minecraft's creating team) peaked when it started in 2009 . Minecraft was the most popular game on youtube in 2019 getting over 100 billion total views. In May, Microsoft boasted that Minecraft had sold 176 million copies across all platforms, making it the best-selling game ever. If you don’t count Tetris and its many versions. But Minecraft is widely known as one of the biggest games out there. For it’s simple concept it's a very widespread feature. Minecraft is an exploring and building and gathering game where there are many realms that you can go to. You can do countless things and there is no end to this Huge game.
Felix “Pewdiepie” Kjellberg started his lets play on minecraft and he and his 100 million subscribers all followed him onto this journey. He got more than 570 million views in one month just for playing around in his Minecraft world. For the first time since January 2017, Minecraft had beat Fortnite as the most-searched game on YouTube. Minecraft is having a moment again, and it’s remembered of one of YouTube’s earliest gaming trends known as the “PewDiePie Effect.” Pewdiepie has really helped this game comeback and it has boosted off again. Pewdiepie started a “let’s play” game and still keeps his world going. Minecraft has 112 million monthly players. Ranking more than the multiplayer 3D user generated world game Roblox and the 3D third person shooter and builder Fortnite. By statistics Minecraft is the most successful game ever made ranking around 180 million sales. Behind minecraft is Tetris with 170 million,Grand Theft Auto V with 120 million, and Wii sports with 83 million. Minecraft Earth is mojang's take of real life Minecraft with an upcoming augmented reality sandbox game developed by Mojang and published by Xbox Game Studios. Mojang is “very happy” with its sales rates and their players are “more than satisfied.” This 3D blocky, beautiful, large scale game is still on track to keep their players happy. “Minecraft has created experiences with friends I can do anywhere else and I love to play this in my freetime.” - Aidan Mccloud . This 11 year old game is still relevant and having updates being put out one after the other. Story by Jasper Grein  With the end of a 43-year saga of movies, books, and comics, fans are excentric to find out what is next. Disney + has brought the love for live-action star wars television, with 2019’s The Mandalorian. The internet exploded when “The Child” appeared as a cute baby of Yoda. With the success of that, it was even renewed for a season two coming in October 2020, but what’s next now that the saga is over? A future project of Star Wars was in the talks called Project Luminous. It was to be a big project with five well-known authors that have experience with writing Star Wars novels and comics. The authors are Claudia Gray who wrote Star Wars: Bloodline, and Star Wars: Lost Stars. Charles Soule has written the Darth Vader comic series. Justina Ireland who has written Lando’s Luck. Daniel José Older wrote Star Wars: Last Shot and Cavan Scott has written Dooku: Jedi Lost, and many Star Wars comics.
Now, what is Project Luminous? Project Luminous is the next phase for Star Wars books and comics. There will be books and comics that are interconnected creating a cohesive story. In 2018, the five authors and many other writers and creators went on a trip to Skywalker Ranch in Nicasio, California to come up with ideas for the new stories to come. Instead of writing a story that is set in the timeline that we are used too, the writers and authors were given a blank void of imagination and creativity. Set 200 years before the events of the Phantom Menace, this era is a time of peace when the sith hasn’t been seen for 1,000 years, the newly formed Republic must explore the new frontier. It will be called the High Republic. Wave one of the releases of the books and comics will publish the second half of 2020. It will start out with Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi which will release August 25th. Next to release will be High Republic: A Test of Courage. Last to release with a date is High Republic: Into the Dark. Two comic series was also announced but official dates are to be announced. Not much is know about the story so far but fans realized that Yoda is 900 years old would mean he is alive during The High Republic, which could mean a possible cameo from the old green master himself. Fans are excentric for what will be next for Project Luminous! Story by Taylor Franklin Sources: https://www.space.com/star-wars-high-republic-jedi-backstory-books.html, https://www.starwars.com/news/5-things-we-learned-about-star-wars-the-high-republic, https://www.salon.com/2020/02/25/new-star-wars-the-high-republic-jedi-nihil/ https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0Rg1-YReYDRz5StdhHuT6_ML_gk=/0x0:714x1000/1200x800/filters:focal(301x508:415x622)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66371941/star_wars_high_republic_poster_0220.0.jpg  Have you ever wondered about how Disney became to be so famous, or have you maybe wondered what Disney did to be so great? Well, Disney is a man that has been an artist all of his life. According to How Walt Disney Animation Revolutionized the Animation Industry. Disney was born in 1901 as the fourth of 5 children in Chicago, Illinois. He started out with art by selling his neighbor a drawing of a horse. This was when he started appreciating his work. He soon started improving it. He was a very talented artist from the start, quite evidently.
According to How Walt Disney Animation Revolutionized the Animation Industry, Walt went to the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and became the cartoonist for his school newspaper. According to How Walt Disney Animation Revolutionized the Animation Industry Later on in his life, Disney and Iwerks created small cartoons called Laugh-O-Grams. These small cartoons were featured in Kansas City. They became extremely popular. Disney even created a studio called Laugh-O-Gram. He was starting to be better known and so were his Laugh-O-Grams. He was a very talented cartoonist. Later on, in 1923, he created the Disney film studios. According to How Walt Disney Cartoons Are Made: 1939 Documentary Gives an Inside Look It was here that the Disney brothers created the Alice Comedies. The first one of which earned the pair $1,500. According to How Walt Disney Cartoons Are Made: 1939 Documentary Gives an Inside Look Snow White was the first Disney Production. It was also the first cell-animated feature film ever produced. Snow White was the first animated film ever to have color. According to Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt went to California with $40 to pursue his dreams. Walt Disney had a creative mind and was a talented artist. He was an amazing cartoonist and smart businessman. He had a good life and people will always remember his work. Story by Zoe Stock You may say “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave,” but the only thing I hear when you say these words are ¨Land of the Racist and Home of the enslaved.¨ Violence doesn't have a specific name, it doesn't target a certain race and it never looks for a face. Some people may be offended by the words I just spoke...But you can't look at our world today and tell me I'm not speaking the truth. Beaten, Bruised, Killed, Gunned down, Chained...All of these things still currently happening today and they even happened hundreds of years ago.
“Look at me when I'm talking, boy.” “Hands behind your head back towards me.” “Get on the ground right now!” These phrases have scared our Black kings and queens for years. Youth violence is a very disturbing, crucial, and heartbreaking topic. You may want us to write about it, but our writing hasn't made an impact on youth violence. Do the Write Thing has been happening for almost three decades and you have yet to do the right thing in reality. I hope that this will be the last youth violence letter that you will have to read. One of the main things that spike youth violence is racism. Racism is a way to ensure white survival. Police brutality is a huge part of youth violence. If you want youth violence to end, you have to actually make a change. I know I won't be the first child to say this, but I want to be the absolute last. The most abused person in America is a Black American woman. The most unprotected thing in America is an African-American man. We have to stop abusing and start protecting. A wise math teacher that paid more attention to black history more than any eighth-grade teacher I know once told me, “speak your truth even if your voice trembles.” I don't want you to just listen to me speak these words. I want you to feel the pain hear the roar and see the struggle. My people struggle with youth violence the most. We literally fight to survive and make it everyday. Many of us can't walk around with a black hoodie on. We can't walk into a store without people instantly thinking we are going to steal. I don't know how to make it anymore clear that you can't just push these things into the dark. I won't let these things be pushed into the dark anymore. I will bring these things out of the dark no matter how hard, brutal, and painful the journey may be. If your reading or listening to this letter you have now been brought into the light. You can’t turn away, you can't just brush it off. You can’t look over it because this burden is so big that it goes right over your heads. I bet you didn't get what I just said did you...I’m not saying you as in one person I’m saying as the population in America and the government let these things just happen and exist. You need to step up! Speak out and make it known that you are here and you will force a change! You don’t know what's behind a closed door until you open it. Your eyes are the doors, the world is behind them. You have to open your eyes and see the truth. If I die from knowing, remember me for speaking. Story by Aniya Griffin 
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