I’ll just watch the movie “Prom” on prom night

by Luckie Lovette

Prom is a few weeks away, and everyone is getting ready for it.  Except for me.

Prom is one of those school events that everyone says they don’t care about but secretly do.  For me, even if I wanted to, I can’t go.  Tickets, transportation and tuxedos exceed far more than the $100 advised to spend in the once in a lifetime night.

On top of that, being a guy, I’m supposed buy my prom date’s ticket and pay for dinner.  Realistically, we would ride AC Transit to a Denny’s and split an order of nachos, but that doesn’t sound as luxurious as the movies make it seem.

I’ll just stay at home and watch the movie “Prom” on prom night.

From President Obama to Miley Cyrus: selfies tell a story

In a small school like McClymonds, love takes different forms

Stories, photos and illustrations by students in Journalism 1

Not everyone has a “love” on campus at McClymonds, a school of 270.

People have different passions, too: sports, video games, rap music, flowers, art, fashion, food and chocolate.

Here are the stories and photos we collected:

“‘You’re over my head…I’m out of my mind..’ Every time I hear Classic by MTKO, I just snap my fingers, sing along. That song makes me really happy and brightens up my whole day. I listened to it after I had fallen down the stairs at school, hit my head, and then went to track practice in pain.”

Jaden Nixon

For Rayana Delaney, her first love was lit inside her during a balmy, summer day, at McClymonds High.  At first sight, he seemed like the “one”: charming, funny, caring, loving and overwhelmingly attractive all described him well. Fortunately, for both, they were coincidently students at the same summer school.  Delaney recalls a latent excitement after smiling at him and a requited love-struck stare, immediately prior to an exchange of introductions.

“We became friends right away,” said Delaney. “He was really cute, and he showed a lot of interest in me.  After around two months of being friends and a quick spread of my attraction toward him through my friends, we finally had our first kiss, at school; it was magical.”

Since then, they have both been in an intimate relationship, and are planning on having their first date soon—at a local movie theater.

Delaney’s Valentine’s Day gift to her boyfriend is a card with hearts on it and some chocolate.  His match: a card with a picture of a teddybear on it and pink balloon.

Rayana Delaney, as told by Anthony Beron

“Jessie was walking around her new high school and lost her way. A senior named Chris noticed her immediately and offered to help her. He walked around and around, and was so hooked he wouldn’t let her go home. There was a click between them. “We’ve been together ever since.'”

as told to Jasmine Vilchis

“My grandma makes us feel special: she brings us all together, we all sit on her bed and she’ll tell us a story. We’ll laugh and feel a special bond. We are family.”

J’Mya Gray-Martinez

 “I love hamburgers because they are always there for me, whenever I need food, hamburgers are always there with melted cheese, a juicy patty, crisp buns, and delicious pickles. Every time I’m down and out, I have a hamburger.”

Parrish Kendricks

McClymonds Team Wins Junior Achievement Competition

Three McClymonds teams were among four teams to compete at Oakland City Hall Wednesday before a panel of five judges. Winning first place was the team presenting Shake and Bake, Angelique Villasana-Hill, Jashawn Foreman and Damoni Magano.

Only 15, covered, Muslim, and McClymonds’ first non-African-American co-valedictorian

drawing by Sana Saeed who prefers not to be photographed

by Khristan Antoine and Kardel Howard

At 15, Sana Saeed is McClymonds’ youngest graduate and the first valedictorian who is non-African-American, Muslim and covers her head.

As co-valedictorian along with Iakiriyya Karimushi, she addressed the class of 2013 and guests about Stars Can’t Shine Without Darkness.

Her smile is infectious, radiating gentle humor mixed with kindness. Yet, often hidden under her friendly exterior and her elegant head covering, stylishly modified with a gem or chic pin, Saeed argues fiercely, boldly tackles controversial issues — whether about immigation or gun violence — and fits into McClymonds High School as seamlessly as any other student.

“Getting it right, getting it done,” is what propelled Saeed to a 3.85 GPA, said Dr. LuPaulette Taylor, who teaches AP English. “She’s up for challenges and never gives up.”

Junior Darlisha McGlothen describes Saeed as always curious and challenging.”Sana always answers a question with another question, usually pushing you to think more deeply”  McGlothen said. “In one discussion, I finally asked her, ‘Sana, what do you think?’ and she smiled and answered, ‘What do YOU really think?'”

Like her sisters, Saba and Esma, Saeed devoted much of her energy to academics. She is the first valedictorian in the family and the youngest to graduate, though Saba was 16 and salutatorian.  Sana is also the first to be involved in journalism, as a reporter and writer for macksmack.

Saeed researched scarves as her senior project. She was accepted to California State University/East Bay and plans to study nursing.

Earlier this month, Saeed received a $1,500 SuperStar scholarship from Burma SuperStar, which was presented by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. She was one of two McClymonds seniors (out of five winners)  to receive the scholarship.

“This is so exciting,” she said at the time.

 

Some of Sana’s pieces:

From Stewie to Springer: Curse Words Pollute

Cyber High on Hold: Will College Coordinator Be Replaced?

Tougher Gun Laws Now:  Stop the Violence

 Is My Lipstick a Lethal Weapon?

Warrior Gets A Facelift

Bloody month of June: too much violence in Oakland

by Jacob Miles

opinion piece

No teenager can feel safe in Oakland nowadays.

Just a few days after McClymonds dropout and homicide victim Darvel McGillberry was buried, violence erupted again in Oakland. Another teen was killed: 17-year-old David Manson Jr. in front of a store in  East Oakland during the daytime.

A second shooting occurred at a sideshow frequented by high school students.

A third incident — a triple shooting– took place outside a downtown nightclub which McClymonds students have frequented.

“In front of a store, at a sideshow, in front of a nightclub, no place is safe,” said Desire Combs, a senior at McClymonds.   “I think this is ridiculous: we should be able to feel safe everywhere in  our own city,” she said.

That’s not the case in Oakland, where the violence is on the rise. In just one weekend, one person was killed, 11 wounded in seven separate shootings capped by the triple shooting outside a downtown nightclub, police  said.

That incident took place in heavily patrolled, gang-neutral, downtown area, when a gunman opened fire on a group of people outside The Shadow nightclub at 13th and Webster. Two women and a security guard suffered non-life threatening wounds and the gunman remained at large, police said.

Lee Benson, a junior at McClymonds, said that he’s been to The Shadow a few times and always had a premonition that something bad might happen in that area. “A lot of the wrong people end up there,” he added.

This week, teens left flowers, candles and  you’ll-be-missed cards at the 9100 block on International Boulevard, where David Manson Jr. was killed about 1:45 p.m. Sunday. He was Oakland’s 43rd homicide victim this year.

Students at McClymonds who live in East Oakland knew Manson, who attended Oakland High School in June 2011.

“David was cool and it’s real sad how they shot him like that in daylight; he didn’t do nothing to nobody,” said Monte Smith, a junior.

What has been the police response? A vow to crack down on sideshows. What about community outreach, more activities for youths, such as new libraries and also community recreational places to hang out at.

Unless politicians and police develop a real plan, this is the start of a very bloody summer.

Winning students’ films explore Black Panthers and homelessness

By Anthony Beron

A 17-year-old Skyline sophomore’s video based on an R & B song by Moria Moore that uses footage of the history of Black Panthers won the Judges Award last week at  Project YouthView.

Lily Yu, a Chinese immigrant who plays jazz bass, created the R&B film Limitations, which revisits the Black Panther Party’s lasting presence in West Oakland.  She won a $500 cash prize, a Kindle and and a private screening of her film and luncheon at the Dolby studios in San Francisco.

Organized by Alternatives in Action, Project YouthView, which took place last Thursday at the Alameda Theatre in Alameda, screened films by nine finalists. “Human,” a film by Fremont High School graduates Andy To and Dara So, which tells the story of a local homeless man, won the Audience award.

For Yu, film was a new venture. “I really love music,” Yu says, “I’m in my school’s jazz band. I had just started in film, and I didn’t know much about it, so I decided to do a music video.”

Since filming Limitations, she’s contributed to three videos for KQED chronicling the Oakland dropout crisis.

The Skyline High School student came to film through the Bay Area Video Coalition, or BAVC, a group that organizes classes, events, after-school programs, and resources to help students. Yu found her inspiration in BAVC member, Moria Moore, who has since moved to Los Angeles.

“[Limitations] talks about African- Americans, and it came from Moria Moore’s album, History in the Streets,” Yu says. “I used found footage from documentaries about the Black Panthers, and I decided to focus the video on that. You’ll see [Moore] in the spots that the Black Panthers were in many years ago,” she told Oakland Magazine.

Yu said she did not show her family the video until it was completed, as it was so different from anything she’d created before. “I didn’t know if they’d understand,” she said. But they did.

Her BAVC mentors helped her shape her story. ” I had to write out locations for each shot—‘Where do I imagine this part of the song?’”

Mack freshman launches her Twitter novel

With a blue-ink pen in her left hand, she glides it across the page leaving behind strange squiggles as her dozen metal bracelets scrape against the worn, wooden table.

The sound is amplified when students drift out of the room like a stream flowing downhill after the first rainstorm.  She is left alone.  Hunched over the desk, Janaya Andrews, 14, freshmen, composes the first 140 characters of her first twitter novel.

“I’m an observer.  Anything that pops into my head I’ll write a story about it,” says Andrews.

Andrews carries a black handbag on her right shoulder.  From there, she pulls out out an old purple composition notebook with pages hanging loose.  She opens it up to the next blank paper and begins to write.

“While I’m in my room listening to Escape The Faith, I’ll write about celebrities, but mix it with fiction.”

And so the twitter novel begins at McClymonds High School:

“As I walked into Mack, MC Hammer was demonstrating the Hammer Time but Destiny dragged me up the littered stairs, away from the joy & chaos”

Taylor Made: Why I’m Going to Prom

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by Taylor Murray

I promised my mom I’d attend prom. That’s the only reason I’m going.

She said, “You WILL regret it if you don’t go.” She also said, “Prom’s a memorable moment.”

But why get all dressed up for one night? The ‘oohhss’ and ‘aaaahhhs.’ The pictures and the lights. It sounds pretty fancy though. I was convinced. But now that prom’s on my mind, what about school?

School vs. social life is a big issue. How can you balance the two? What if I tell you that sometimes you have to choose between the two, between writing note cards on teachers’ salaries and looking for a little black dress.

It seems like everything has a deadline, 40-50 note cards (for my senior project) due by Friday, prom next Friday, and selection of  the college I will attend next year by May 1st. As for my own preference,  I just want to pause my life.

With so little time left at Mack, I want prom to be just right. My hair is a major issue and I don’t know where to start.

As for my senior project, I’ve been procrastinating. I only have TWO note cards done so far! It is amazing how well I work under pressure, so everything I do, will be done the week of.

The one certainty is my college decision. I’ll be going to Saint Augustine’s College, all the way in North Carolina.

Now there’s last minute dress shopping to do. I just hope that my prom night will be all that I expect it to be. Fun with plenty of activity, fast dancing to Wayne’s music, romancing with my date, and eating shrimp and garlic bread. I will take loads of pictures of embarrassing moments so I can post them on my Facebook.

Why Hair Tells Me A Lot About You

LOTS OF LOCKS Amber Hill styles senior Sarai Cornejo’s hair during a break

LOTS OF LOCKS --Amber Hill, left, styles senior Sarai Cornejo's hair, right, during a break at McClymonds High School. (Photo by Pamela Tapia)

by Amber Hill

Hair. It defines every female student. Especially at a small urban high school. Just look around McClymonds. Students are into their hair. There’s everything from singles, weaves, press, flat iron to French braids.

People like to copy their hairstyles after those of celebrities. Walk down the hall, you’ll see someone with the same wild hairstyle as Beyoncé. Turn a corner and it’ll be Nicki Minaj’s China bangs and colorful weave.

At a small high school like ours, hair has even more significance. People notice every little change in appearance, every “hair out of place.”  “We notice more about each other because we see all the same people all the time,” says Ciana Augustine, a junior at Mack. “Our school isn’t like Tech or O’High where you cross someone walking down the hall maybe once a week.”

Hair is also a way to express the type of person you are without speaking.             As Asia Hill, a junior at Mack, notes, “If you walk around with a ghetto hairstyle, that is what people will think you are. You want to look presentable, not like you’re walking in from a circus.”’

What sets me apart at this school is that I have my own style. I wear more hairstyles — a Mohawk, an Afro, even flat-ironed hair– that you will never catch someone else wearing. Until they try to copy me.

The majority of the girls don’t have their own style when it comes down to hair. I feel that they could be a little more original.

In 2008, I came to school with a hairstyle that no one at Mack had worn before. Weeks later, another female student, a stranger to me, came to school with the same hairstyle I had worn. The only problem was, she had a weave when I was wearing my real hair. There was a huge difference between our hairstyles.

There are many ways in which girls learn to “do” hair. Some people have family members teach them: they sit around and do their sisters’ hair, just like they once practiced on Barbie dolls. Working on people is a lot harder: Barbie’s hair was thin and flat and easy to style. Real hair, thick hair, can get scabbed, cut badly, poked with needles and even burned. I’ve seen it all: burns from leaving a perm in too long or dipping the ends of a braid; cuts when someone takes a sewn weave out of your hair a little too violently. Because of these risks, some girls prefer to go to the hair shop and pay $25 to $100 to have their hair permed or braided or flattened or curled.

I know about hair from my work as a paid stylist. It’s given me a new outlook on people, an appreciation for originality, and self-confidence.