I want to do a story on greek life and the disparities between Panhellenic sororities/IFC fraternities and the NPHC – which is basically white greek life vs. black greek life. There is a distinguished difference in the resources that both groups are provided, and the opportunities on this campus. My challenge will be to pick just one of those issues to hone in on… but I think I’m going to focus on the removal of the barn – which was one of the only spaces that black sororities and fraternities could throw parties in, and go from there. I plan to interview the director of sorority and fraternity life and members of both organizations.

I’m interested in doing a profile on a freshman DACA recipient, Rebecca Rodrigues. I think this story would be interesting because she’s shared before that she was born in Rio, but moved to America when she was a baby. She finds it hard to fully be accepted by either culture. I think our nation’s current climate warrants conversations about DACA and how those students feel, as well as how she feels in her identity.

I think I want to write a story about the new Sustainability major that’s forming in 2020. I feel like I can take an angle about how this is overdue as interests in sustainability and environmental sensitivity have grown in society. I plan to interview the professor who is heading the department, and hopefully an expert in environmental studies (perhaps Prof. Catanoso?). I also am searching for a student who has taken any sustainability courses at Wake to hear their thoughts on the major.

I plan to write a localization about the outbreak story of Kaepernick recently settling his collusion case with the NFL. It’s been a long time coming, and it seemed like Kaepernick would never receive resolution for his longtime battle with the NFL, but now that the case is settled, people have mixed opinions. While some believe he’s finally received the reparations he deserves, others are calling him a sellout for causing so much “commotion” just to be paid off. I plan to gauge the opinions of individuals on this campus. Potential interviewees include Kami Chavis (expert who specializes in racial profiling, racial bias, police reform, hate crimes, etc.) and Tim Davis, J.D. (expert who specializes in racism in sports, professional athletics, sports law, etc.). I also plan to interview Wake Forest football players since they possess a better understanding of Kaepernick’s situation and mindset as a high performing athlete.

After evaluating Sopan Deb, I see an obvious trend of him reporting news that is controversial and arguably racially motivated. Since the Jussie Smollett story broke, he’s written multiple articles concerned with the actual attack, updates on the case, and the aftermath domino effect that the entire ordeal has caused. His writing style is straightforward and to the point, and he often references past instances that the reader would find interesting since they’re related in some instance. For example, in his most recent story about Hannah Beachler and Ruth Carter receiving Oscars, he emphasizes how they are undeniably making history for both the awards show and for all black women. He quotes Carter saying “This has been a long time coming,” in her acceptance speech. And then explains that she had been nominated two times before, in 1992 and 1997.  Statements like this serve to emphasize the grand scheme and scope of society, and inadvertently show that these accolades are well overdue and that the Oscars are arguably behind on the times in terms of recognizing minorities. He also tends to have pretty interesting opening sentences on his feature leads. Looking at the same Oscars story, he starts it with “The wait was long. More than three decades, in fact.” Some people could perceive this as condescending of the Oscars, but I see it as a fact that needed to be emphasized. Ultimately, Deb covers stories that are important not only because they spread news, but because they intertwine politics and trends that could be tied to racial disparities. A lot of the NYT stories in his repertoire are a reflection of the stories I’m personally most interested in as a black woman. He isn’t hesitant to cover stories that could be seen as racially divided. These stories range from Jussie Smollett, to Gladys Knight and her opposition of Kaepernick, and even to Amazon being sued.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/arts/black-women-oscar-winners.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fsopan-deb&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection

I’ll be covering the event “Dean Franco: The Border and the Line.” Dean Franco will be coming to the ZSR library to talk about his upcoming book: The Border and the Line: Race, Literature, and Los Angeles. This book delves into the geography of racial identification and how literature has a role in forming and transforming race. This talk will educate those who are uninformed about the diverse makeup of communities and neighborhoods in LA and touch on the opportunities for inclusive improvement.

I chose to follow Sopan Deb, a culture reporter, because his articles highlight the intersection of culture and politics. I was intrigued by an article he wrote about  Jussie Smollet because it delved deeper into the controversial motivations behind a homophobic attack, rooting it to the current presidential administration. He graduated from Boston University with a degree in broadcast journalism and his first job was as a reporter for State House News Service in Massachusetts. He has since worked at The Boston Globe, NBC News and Al Jazeera. I also found it interesting that in March of 2016, while he was covering a presidential campaign rally for Trump at the University of Illinois at Chicago (which Trump ultimately cancelled due to large protests), he was arrested by the police and charged with resisting arrest. The police later dropped the charges after footage aired depicting the incident, showing that he hadn’t actually resisted arrest. This type of controversy expresses his dedication to the art of journalism and I look forward to following his writing throughout the semester.