Posted inCulture, Education, Opinion, Representation

COMMENTARY: Higher education, La Raza, reflections of LA Chicano scholar

Yet, if not for my participation in Upward Bound (a federally funded program to help prepare historically marginalized, first-gen kids to pursue higher education), I wouldn’t be able to compete at the highest level in my mathematics. More specifically, if not for my childhood friend Hector from the projects, who peer pressured me to apply to Upward Bound at Occidental College (Oxy) – a six-week, residential program – I would be oblivious to the college application process.

Posted inCulture

JOY BUCK$, life as an LA Chicana rapper

What Joy Buck$ loves more than being in front of the microphones is the positive message that she can deliver and leave behind via rap verses. “In high school all of my friends would freestyle, that’s how we would vent to each other. We were a tough crowd, kids who wouldn’t like to show emotions,” Joy Buck$ said. “We would just bump a beat and rhyme our words with what we were going through.”