Stronach Baccalaureate Prize - Letter home from Rasheed Shabazz (Reginald James)

May 2014

Presentation on newsmagazine layout and design for staff of UCLA’s Nommo Magazine.

Dear Stronach Family,

May has been an exciting month for me personally, professionally, and definitely

for my project. The first weekend of May, I was invited to be a panelist at the “Liberating

Dreams” symposium, sponsored by the Department of African American Studies at UC

Berkeley. I shared my vision for the UC Wide Black Student Media Collective and the

role of both Onyx Express and students in Black Studies in making it a reality.

The week prior, I presented at the Multicultural Community Center’s annual

research symposium. My project, “#BlackatCal: Black Students, New Media, and the

Rise of OnyxExpress.org” detailed my research and praxis over the past two years in

developing the website and social media infrastructure of Onyx Express.

I received an award for my writing from the Berkeley Student Media Center. I

wrote a critique of artwork of the African American Theme House (Afro House). Another

staff member received award for a Multimedia Story that I helped edit. It was an

appreciated affirmation of our efforts to tell our own stories and create our own

narratives. It is my hope that we will inspire others.

Stronach Baccalaureate Prize - Letter home from Rasheed Shabazz (Reginald James)

May 2014

The most important story that I covered this month was the racial profiling and

attack of two Black graduates of UC Berkeley. The story of the incident received the

most views, but has the potential to catalyze attention on the poor campus climate at

Berkeley for Black students. Just last month, the UC Regent’s UC Wide survey revealed

that, across the System, Black students reported the highest levels of disrespect. This

contributes to the low numbers of Black students enrolling at UC.

In addition to covering this story and subsequent issues, I plan to refocus on my

own reporting. I’m interested in long-form journalism about issues facing students. Now

that the infrastructure is set for others to do event photography and cover events, I can do

more investigative journalism on issues like: student loans, health care, the status of

student-athletes, admissions issues, all focused on both Black students and their

perspective. I also hope to do more long-form features of students, faculty, staff, as well

as departments and programs.

Lastly, I wrapped up my class. All of the students passed. I’m either a pushover,

or these scholars are bright and dedicated. Definitely the latter. I hope the course

continues in the future to better sustain and stabilize UC Berkeley’s publication.

Finally, on the UC Wide front. I visited UCLA to do a presentation on publication

layout for Nommo. I will help layout their publication this summer. Most people are in

finals mode. In mid-June, we plan to convene a few meetings to apply for grants, discuss

staff recruitment and retention, as well as trainings to prepare for the fall. I am also

focused on recruiting staff for The ABC Movement. Sadly, all my efforts have been on

helping individual campuses recruit staff to create content I could curate for the central

site. I will soon be able to focus primarily on the central site, while providing grassroots

support and training to those on the ground. This enables me focus UC Wide.

Lastly, in addition to the award I received from the Media Center, I received

awards from staff at Nommo as well as women at UC Santa Cruz. I was also asked to

speak during their Afrikan Cultural Show. As much as the award from an industry-related

organization is affirming, I feel the recognition from those I serve provides greater

validation. I plan to distribute similar awards to various staff members of publications

and as contributors to the collective next month.

All in all, this experience has been amazing. The struggle continues.