The recently-founded Reproduction Justice Aliance is organizing a 5K trail run or walk here at Amherst to raise funds for the “Prison Birth Project.” The PBP, based in Holyoke, supports and educates formerly incarcerated mothers and “trans*” parents about reproductive justice and community organizing regarding the intersections between parenting and the criminal justice system. Sam O’ Brien ’18 and Kamini Ramlakhan ’17, two staff members at the Women’s and Gender Center, founded the RJA in the wake of the new presidential administration.
I sat down with Helena Burgueño ’19 who organized the Amherst ChalkWalk — an artistic, community-wide event taking place on downtown Amherst sidewalks this Saturday, April 29.
Abstract artwork boils an idea, a thought or an emotion down to its basic essence. But its universal aspect can also be frustrating because it lacks individuality, an intimacy that brings one closer to the artist. Abstraction generalizes emotion, simplifying it to a universally shared kernel. But no one experiences their sorrows and blisses the same way. To generalize the emotional experience is to make it recognizable to everyone but not belong fully to any particular person.
In anticipation of her upcoming album, “Dirty Computer,” which will be released on April 27, Janelle Monáe began releasing songs in late February. In addition to the audio album, Monáe will release “Dirty Computer: An Emotion Picture,” a dystopian film starring Monáe herself. So far, the music and visuals from “Dirty Computer” are stunning, beautiful and vulnerable.
Walking around campus any day of the week, at almost every hour, you’re bound to see an Amherst College Police Department (ACPD) cruiser driving around. While ACPD plays a visible role on campus, it can be hard to understand what it actually does. On March 24, I spent three and a half hours with Sergeant Jeffrey Shea on a Saturday night to try and observe how ACPD runs.
Maybe you’ve seen the stickers — in stairwells, on laptops, in the A level bathroom, perhaps. Maybe you’ve seen people repping the clothing around campus, and maybe you’ve wondered what is Leftovers, what is it all about? While the clothing brand Leftovers is largely the brainchild of Noah Tager ’18, it has since become a collaboration among friends.
As the academic year comes to a close, the final weekends at Amherst are filled with an endless selection of performances, senior games and spring concerts. Last weekend, Dance and Step at Amherst College (DASAC) performed its much-anticipated final show, “DASAC’s Favorite Soundtrack,” filling the Friedmann Room with energy and music over a three-day marathon of performances.
Choreographers had worked with their dancers throughout the semester, piecing together and perfecting their routines to be ready for the show — and the hard work definitely paid off.
