1990s
1990 :
1991 :
Monday November 4, 1991 Friday December 6, 1991
1992 :
1995 :
Friday March 24, 1995 October 17, 1995
1996 :
February 21, 1996 April 25, 1996
1997:
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Before 1926, Black leaders had not been recognized for their contributions to advance America. There was no holiday or month in remembrance of those who suffered through slavery, or of those who fought for the advancement of black people. However, that all changed when Dr. Carter Goodwin Woodson dedicated his life to studying the history of African Americans.
Dr. Woodson, known as the “Father of Negro History” was born in New Canton, Virginia, in 1875. His grandparents and his parents had all been slaves.
Wanting to educate the world about Black history, Woodson founded the Association For The Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 (later renamed Association for The Study of African American Life and History, in 1976). In 1916, the association issued the Journal of Negro History, which recorded backgrounds, experiences and writings of African American ancestry, making blacks aware of their influence on society.
Woodson’s efforts led to the launch of Negro History Week in 1926, which was originally celebrated the second week of February. Dr. Carter Goodwin Woodson chose the month of February because the two people he believed had the greatest impact on the lives of African Americans, were born in this month. Those people were Frederick Douglass, a famous leader of the abolitionist movement, and Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president, who fought to abolish slavery.
After years of fighting and educating, The Association for The Study of African American Life and History, succeeded in turning Negro Week into Black History Month. Thanks to their dedication there is an entire month recognizing famous African American leaders, activists, and writers such as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Frederick Douglass, and all those who fought for the rights of black people.
ASB Justice, Amber Keyes, describes Black history month as a “remembrance to those who contributed to the black legacy,” while fellow classmate Sophomore Class President Kendra Williams says that Black history month has helped her understand where she came from and how much better she has it than her parents and grandparents.
For these girls and other African Americans, Black History month is a time to celebrate the struggles the black community has overcome, and to honor those who made the world better for today’s African American youth.
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“Homeless: A Forgotten People”
by Carla and Katie
After two weeks of delay, on the rainy afternoon of Sunday, November 13, we went out to interview some street people for the “Homeless Over the Holidays” article in Lion Tales. Our initial approach towards the interview was somewhat nervous and awkward as well as delicate. We, in no way, wanted to insult or frighten anyone.
Oscar appeared to be the stereotypical “Bum”. Stuffed deep in what he called his “tuxedo” pant legs were his worldly possessions, then wet from the recent downpour. The two of us sat down on the damp steps and peered up at a foreboding statue of Falon, who stood above a plaque reading “The Constitution is a sacred instrument….and its vigor is passed on to generations yet to come”. The fact that Oscar, a symbol of this nation’s frequent failure to care for its needy, had been leaning up against the statue was eerily ironic.
As he began to speak we realized we were in the company of a well spoken man who simply needed someone to listen. He spoke of rape, murder, and burglary on the streets. He beamed as he told us stories about “Pick Pocket Park” and “Bunks for the Drunks” and how he outsmarted the enemy he called “juvenile delinquents”.
After two hours we needed to move on, so we asked Oscar where we could find him during the week in order to bring him something small for the holidays. He shook his head and said he did not know.
Soon, we spotted a man, carrying all of his belongings in a hiker’s backpack. We discovered his name was Keith, and he had a lot to say. Keith was a graduate of UC Santa Barbara. He was extremely articulate, and felt anger at the fact that people looked right through him. This man that is so often ignored or sneered at, is intelligent and wants, as any human would, to get his life together. When asked what would most make him happy, he said sadly, “I want to be married”.
The day we spent downtown is one that will never be forgotten. The incredible feeling of anger, sorrow, and confusion that we felt was one that can change a person’s entire frame of mind After talking so openly to Keith and Oscar with their piercing, intelligent eyes, and hopeful smiles, a burning question was left in our minds, “Why do we live in a society that so often displays a callous and ignorant attitude towards people who have fallen on bad times?”
The government in this country is constantly making it very clear that they do not care about people who have no homes. Recently, in Berkeley, the city officials tore down a place the homeless had made for themselves. Officials claimed the reason for doing this was that the place the homeless had built was unsanitary and a “Haven for drug dealers.” If the city’s major concern is sanitation, then one should wonder. Is it sanitary to be sleeping in a gutter?
Some people who do not want to have to deal with the homeless problem will turn the other way, or dismiss all street people as “lazy people who don’t want to work”. Any one who claims homeless people are lazy should take a trip to Michigan where the homeless are waging a war against the state officials to be allowed to reside in empty condemned apartment houses, so that they will not freeze alive on the streets. Here in San Jose, local homeless put out a newspaper, called Street Lights.
Over a hundred homeless people died on the streets in San Francisco last year. In light of these facts, George Bush turned down a bull, which would expand aid to the poor, and instead gave millions of dollars to bail out the rich in the “savings and loans crisis”. This kind of action is one that shows all of us how much our president really cares for our citizens.
The next time you see a homeless person on the streets, remember they are humans and it just as easily could be you with no place to live.
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“Into the Woods”
by Carolyn Doak and Patty Perasso
Last month Lincoln’s musical theater department put on their annual spring musical. This year’s performance was Into the Woods, adapted from the book by James Lapine and with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The play ran smoothly under the direction of John P. Healy and assistant directors Josh Heath, and Katherine. Lincoln’s excellent orchestra provided the score, under the direction of Anne-Marie Katemopoulos and assistant music director, Dione Rabago. Choreographing the entire show was Chris Scadina-Bertoldo, Lincoln’s dance instructor.
In this play an array of characters from different popular fairy tales came together in one humorous, meaningful, touching, tale that featured Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and others. The story incorporated them all into one, 2½-hour fairy tale. Each character had a wish: Jack, to get money without having to lose his beloved cow, Rapunzel to be freed from her tower and run off with her prince, Cinderella to join her prince and escape the subservient life she led at home, and the Baker and his wife who wanted to reverse a curse that had left them both barren.
Each character went into the woods to make their wishes come true. On the way they all encountered many obstacles, not to mention each other. There are many lessons to learn from the play about wishing, consequences, happiness and pain.
One performer cannot be singled out as the star or the one who stole the show because each actor and actress in the cast contributed equally to the performance and made it come alive. Excellent casting enabled the actors and actresses to demonstrate the talent that is not only expected but demanded of a performing arts magnate school. The narration of Frank Moran, who also played the advice-giving mysterious man, made the play flow smoothly. The whole play seemed to center around the baker, Daniel Chavez, and his wife, Sarah Shweppe, a team of two excellent actors who worked well together and did a very good job as as the barren couple trying to reverse a cruse, cast on them by the equally talented Whitney Stebbins, who played the witch. Also wonderful in their parts were Tyler Harvey and Sara Devenport as Jack and Little Red Riding Hood. They made the audience laugh at their silly childishness and cry at their tragic losses. The exceptional vocals and acting performances done by Rapunzel, Cloe Dydo, and Cinderella, Laura Benitez, put the audience in awe of their skill. Jacob Canote and Travis Poelle, also did an excellent job, as the funny an love-struck princes, especially in their duet, Agony. Adding laughs to the performance were Cinderella’s stepmother (Katherine Stephens) and step-sisters (Erin Aiello and Noelle Rabago). The rest of the cast was also excellent and helped make the show as good as it was.
When stepping in to see the show, it was hard to believe that it was the cafeteria. It had been transformed into an extravagant interchangeable set of a forest, a tower, and the houses of the various characters. The technical crew made the difficult transitions of the background look easy with their quick and efficient handling of the sets. Even the orchestra playing in the background was very impressive. Aside from the discomfort of the bleachers, the show as excellent.
This year for the first time Lincoln entered their musical in CLO’s Musical Theater Honors. Out of the fifteen other high school’s entered, Lincoln received the most nominations. Among the nominees are Laura Benitez, Daniel Chavez, Sara Devenport, Tyler Harvey, Travis Poelle, and Sarah Schweppe. Into the Woods was also nominated in the categories of best scenic design, best lighting and best musical. Congratulations and good luck!
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by Raphael di Donato
•Litter at school…
While there’s nothing more sickening than a self-righteous environmentalist tree-hugger, I can’t help but notice that around school (as well as all over my world), people are littering casually. I don’t like to boast or anything, but Lincoln is, without a doubt, the best-looking high school in the district, and people don’t give a second thought to dumping their garbage on the ground. Furthermore, it’s not as if there aren’t any trash cans or filth receptacles wither. You’d think that people would try to appreciate attending a school as visually pleasing as this one, but nooooo. Chimichanga wrappers and Coke cans (product placement…) litter the entire school. Most people just don’t have the decency to try to preserve the good looks of our school. For chrissakes, the school has a day-glo yellow garbage bin every ten feet> Swallow your pride. Stop trying to impress your friends. Just put trash in its friggin’ place. Do you really want Lincoln to end up looking like… ick …Pioneer?
•Nike…
That was just venting. What I really wanna know is, what does Lincoln think of Nike? I think the company’s ethics are pretty screwed up, but I notice a lot of people proudly emblazoned with the Nike swooshtika….err… swoosh. Many people are ignorant to thier blatantly dehumanizing practices of child labor in sweatshops, but they remain apathetic when informed. “Who cares ’bout the kids? They makin’ some of the dopest shoes around,” an unnamed youth in journalism colorfully quipped . Someone’s got brains! I dunno, buying anything Nike seems kind of like a lame cop-out, when plenty of humane shoe companies can get the job done. Reebok, New Balance, Adidas…and when you really get down to it, it’s a moot point. As much as a lot of people wouldn’t like to admit, buying Nike really won’t change your performance in sports. Write to Lion Tales, and let me know how you feel about Nike.
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“Bulldogs plead no contest”
by James Newburg
In sport, the contempt felt toward a rival is a feeling capable of unifying a group of people that may share no other common thread. Such was the case on Thanksgiving day, when over 3,000 Lincoln partisans gathered at San Jose City College to support their football team during the annual Big Bone Game. the 57th edition of the rivalry with San Jose High Academy was hardly a classic. Lincoln (5-5 overall, 4-2 West Valley Division) executed well in all aspects of play on their way to a 41-0 victory.; Judging from the loud post game reaction, however, most of the points scored may well have been unnecessary.
On paper, San Jose (0-8 overall, 0-6 West Valley Division) looked to be at a disadvantage heading into the game, having lost their last 17 games. However, Lincoln fans remembered what happened in the 1997 Big Bone Game. The Bulldogs were winless before that game, but managed to notch a 17-7 win on a muddy quagmire that resembled turkey gravy more than it did a football field. With that in mind, there was some suspense before the opening kickoff.
The suspense lasted all of 6 minutes and 25 seconds. That was all the time Lincoln needed to jump out of a 21-0 lead, and render the outcome of the game anticlimactic. On the first offensive series of the game, the Lions drove 50 yards down the field. Ray Farias kept the drive alive when he ran up the gut for 7 yards on the fourth-and-two on the San Jose 27. Two plays later, Tim Higbee put Lincoln up 7-0 with a punishing 18-yard run to the end zone.
San Jose hadn’t seen the worst of it. Lincoln regained possession after just two plays at the San Jose 42. Higbee was the johnny-on-the-spot again, as quarterback Tyler Silva connected with him a 40-yard gain down the left sideline. The Lions grabbed a 14-0 lead on the next play when Farias bullied his way into the end zone from the 2.
Any hopes there were for a competitive game were dashed when Lincoln got the ball on their third series. At the Lincoln 59, Silva fired a quick pass toward the sideline to Farias who stutter-stepped and lofted the ball to a wide-open Jason Lauro.
With no Bulldog defender in sight, Lauro camped under the floating ball and made the catch. He quickly turned up field and raced to an easy touchdown, and a 21-0 lead with 5:35 to go in the first quarter. On the play, Farias knew he would be going for the jugular. “I was thinking touchdown” said Farias. “It was all wide open. [The defenders] all bit up, and I just tossed it to him. Touchdown.”
For all intents and purposes, this game was over. Later on in the game, both teams lost their cool. Midway through the third quarter, with the score 27-0, there was a heated confrontation after San Jose’s Joseph Rodriguez intercepted a pass and returned it 15 yards to the Bulldogs’ 30. Coaches, referees and administrators separated the two teams, and a couple of Lincoln players were ejected for their role in the melee. The rest of the game was played without incident.
After the final whistle made it official, Lincoln players were jubilant. The thoughts and feelings after the game may have been best expressed by senior Ben Marshall. How does it feel to win the Big Bone Game? “It feels damn good.” The entire Lincoln campus would be inclined to agree.
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