Coolio passed away at age 59. His biggest hit, one of my favorite songs, Gangsta’s Paradise, was released in 1995.
“Tell me why are we, so blind to see
That the ones we hurt, are you and me?”
The song was featured in the film “Dangerous Minds,” a movie based on retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson’s autobiography “My Posse Don’t Do Homework.” In 1989, she took a teaching position at Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, teaching a class of mostly African-American and Latino students from racially segregated and economically disadvantaged East Palo Alto. Her students are disengaged and involved in drugs and gangs, and she utilizes unconventional teaching methods to reach and inspire them.
The song, which was released just days before the film, relies heavily on biblical themes – starting with the opening lyrics “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” a reference to Psalm 23:4. Choral background vocals add to this religious imagery. It is perhaps a surprising juxtaposition – a Grammy-winning Rap song that starts by quoting a Bible verse.
And while the rest of the song diverges sharply from the Psalm’s tone and message, it does come to a universal message –
Tell me why are we, so blind to see
That the ones we hurt, are you and me?
On Wednesday night, the Kern Community College District held the first annual Jack Hernandez Phronesis Award & Jack Hernandez Lecture Dinner. Award recipient and Bakersfield College professor Nick Strobel gave the lecture, titled “The virtue of humility in science, religion and freedom of speech.”
In his section on humility in religion, he discusses the importance of humility in our interactions with each other, and the importance of loving one’s neighbor. He quotes Paul’s letter to the Romans:
“Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead, associate with people who have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart.”
And from Paul’s letter to the Phillippians:
“Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others.”
You can view his entire lecture here:
What do we lose when instead of humility and love for one another, we focus only on our own selves with no regard for our neighbors?
“Tell me why are we, so blind to see
That the ones we hurt, are you and me?”
***
Good morning, friends.
It is October 1, 2022.
The sun shines bright over Kern CCD.
Porterville College
Janice Ledgerwood: “Campus Cuties: Trophy Wives Prep Program” Exhibition Comes to the PC Gallery on October 3rd
The public is invited to see our latest exhibition at the PC Art Gallery, Janice Ledgerwood: “Campus Cuties: Trophy Wives Prep Program”.
- DATES OF SHOW: October 3 – 27, 2022
- GALLERY HOURS: Monday – Thursday from 12 – 2 pm and 4 – 6 pm
Janice Ledgerwood’s work as an artist embraces both established and emergent technologies while examining the places where feminist philosophy and theory, political ideologies and theories, popular cultural production, personal experience, and narratives (both fictional and real) intersect.
The Campus Cuties, as named and produced by Marx Toys in the mid-twentieth century, are two series of six-inch figurines of women in contemporary clothing of that time. Since Ledgerwood’s discovery of this toy series, it has been a focus of her work.
For this exhibition, the artwork explores the confluence of contemporary political discourse with history, pop culture, and women’s roles, status, and participation within Western society. The sculptures in this exhibition are 3D-printed mid-century figurines that are hand-painted and displayed on pedestals designed in Photoshop and produced with a laser cutter.
Ledgerwood has exhibited in both group and solo exhibits throughout the United States as well as in France and the Netherlands.
Ledgerwood earned her BFA at Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles, CA, and her MFA at California State University, Fullerton. Prior to her tenure at the State Center Community College District, Ledgerwood lived and worked in southern California as an adjunct professor at USC and various community colleges, as an art museum director, and as a community art gallery director where she organized and curated a variety of exhibitions. Ledgerwood is currently a tenured art and multi-media professor at Clovis Community College.
PC VP of Student Services Delivers Keynote for CSUB Scholarship Ceremony
Porterville College Vice President of Student Services Primavera Arvizu delivered the keynote address at the 39th Annual Hispanic Excellence Scholarship Fund (HESF) Awards Program at CSU Bakersfield on Friday, September 23.
The fund recognizes academically excellent students with awards and scholarships. Since 1984, HESF has supported over 1,800 outstanding students from our community. It seeks to increase access to a college education for academically excellent financially deserving underrepresented students who demonstrate leadership potential.
Arvizu, who is a former recipient of an HESF award, delivered the keynote address to a room of over 20 scholarship recipients, including three recipients from the Kern Community College District. Frank Ramirez, PC’s Director of Student Services, was also in attendance at the event. He had the following to say about Arvizu’s Address, “Primavera inspired the recipients of the California State University, Bakersfield Hispanic Excellence Scholarship. The biggest moment [for me] was when she dropped the African Proverb about a Gazelle. Read it and let it sink in on how it relates to the journey that all first-generation college students and first-generation professionals face every day.”
The proverb used in her address follows:
Next CHAP Event Explores the Claim, “We Are All Romans”
The Porterville College Historical Awareness Program (CHAP) continues its celebration of 20 years and this semester’s theme of The Anthropocene with our next presentation, “We Are All Romans”.
The event, presented by PC Professor Emeritus Jay Hargis, will explore our understanding of our historical roots.
Join us on Thursday, October 6th from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm in the PC Theater for this discussion on heritage, history, and where we all come from.
Professor Jay Hargis has offered classes in history at Porterville College since 1991 – first as an adjunct and then as a full-time history professor. He retired from PC earlier this year. Areas of historical interest that he has explored in 23 previous CHAP and other topical presentations over the years have included Mexican and Mexican American history, the Cold War, US politics of the ‘60s and ‘70s, our Islamic heritage, medieval history, 19th-century European conflicts, the legacies of World War I, the US in the Middle East since the 1940s, fictional history in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and other topics.
For more information on the CHAP program, you can visit https://www.portervillecollege.edu/chap.
Cerro Coso Community College
Star Party and Barbecue Draw Big Crowd to Cerro Coso
Cerro Coso understands the public’s fascination with the night sky and goes the extra mile to welcome and accommodate guests that are keen to stargazing at their annual Star Party and Barbecue.
For the first time in two years the annual Star Party and Barbecue was held on Friday, September 23, 2022 in the fountain area of the Ridgecrest campus.
After an evening a good food, great music, and raffles, participants stayed to enjoy the spectacular night sky at the Dr. Alex Shlanta Astronomical Observatory.
Special thanks go out to this year’s event Sponsors: Desert Valley’s FCU, Henzel Phelps Construction Company, Ridgecrest Regional Hospital, Toyota of Ridgecrest, 760 Fitness, The Swap Sheet, T.J. Frisbee, and Sylvia Sotomayor.
The China Lake Astronomical Society joined Astronomy Professor Dr. Scott Cameron in educating party goers on the impressive objects in the sky.
The event drew kids of all ages to the college for a variety of fun activities, games, and viewing of the beauty and wonder of the night skies.
Thanks to the Maintenance and Operations team for their hard work in setting up and bringing new and creative ideas to this year’s event, and to the many volunteers that contribute to the success of this year’s event.
The Cerro Coso Community College Foundation held this fundraising event in support of Cerro Coso programs, students, and staff. It is estimated between 350 and 400 people were in attendance.
Hands on with science and astronomy – educational and fun for the whole family!
Cerro Coso to participate in Relay for Life
Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraiser, bringing communities together to honor and remember loved ones and take action for lifesaving change in the fight against cancer. Cerro Coso will be participating and invites all to be a part of their team.
The event will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2022, at the Leroy Jackson Sports Complex from 9 AM to midnight.
The goal of participating in this event as a whole college is to recognize and honor those individuals and support the cause to raise funds to fight against cancer. The more people who participate in Relay for Life, the more money can be raised to support breakthrough research, 24/7 support for cancer patients, access to lifesaving screenings, and much more.
Will you join us to help raise money for the American Cancer Society? To walk, simply Click here to view the TEAM page for Cerro Coso Community College
Purchase a Luminaria: https://secure.acsevents.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=relay_luminaria&PROXY_TYPE=21&PROXY_ID=102622&fr_id=102622&search=event Click that link and find the team name Cerro Coso Community College you can donate and purchase a luminaria in honor of someone you love.
Banned Books Week
The Cerro Coso Library celebrated the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, September 18th-24th, with displays encouraging students to #resistthepurge on social media or by reading books that have been banned from libraries across the country – titles that include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Diary of Anne Frank, and the Harry Potter series.”
Banned Books Week has been an annual nationwide campaign led by the American Library Association since 1982. It draws attention to the problems of censorship and highlights the value of open access to information.
For more information, check out https://bannedbooksweek.org/
Bakersfield College
Delano 50th Anniversary
On Monday, September 26th, I joined the Bakersfield College community, Kern CCD Trustees Romeo Agbalog and Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, and Assembly Member Rudy Salas to commemorate 50 years of Bakersfield College supporting Renegades in Delano.
It all began when the Kern Community College District voted to build a second campus for Bakersfield College in downtown Bakersfield in the mid-1970s, Delano’s leaders clamored for their own dedicated campus in Delano. That led in the fall of 1977 to the construction of a new facility on Randolph Street where 50 courses were offered to 850 students. Now, BC continues to grow and looks forward to the opening of the newest Learning Resource Center facility on the BC Delano campus. Special guests in attendance at Monday’s event included Julio Segura, Trustees Romeo Agbalog, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, and Assemblymember Rudy Salas.
6th Annual Panorama Creative Music Summit
The Panorama Music Summit kicked off this week at Bakersfield College for the 6th time. During week one, students were invited to participate in special workshops throughout the day and concerts were held for students and the community in the evening.
Luke Temple gave an Improvisation talk on Wednesday, and spoke about his own sources of inspiration. As a child he enjoyed listening to punk rock and later found an interest in jazz, though now his favorites also include The Beatles and Elliott Smith. His songwriting career began with folk music. One student asked Mr. Temple, “What distinguishes pop music from the other genres?” Temple responded, “Well, pop stands for popular, so the primary thing that distinguishes pop music from the others are simply the numbers.” Temple later went on to say that songwriting is meaningful to him because he sees it as a form of self-discovery and expression.
For information on next week’s activities, visit bcjazz.org.
Bakersfield College RN – Mercy Hospital Recruitment
Another of our many partners, Mercy Hospital, hosted our upcoming graduating class of Registered Nursing students at the beautiful Stockdale Country Club this week. Future RNs had the opportunity to meet with department managers and ask questions about each department and their individual culture. Fifty-six of our soon-to-be graduates took advantage of learning detailed information from Mercy’s various departments to determine if they are a good fit for that team. Thank you, Mercy Hospital.
2022-23 Basketball Media Day
The Bakersfield College Athletics Department would like to invite the campus to attend the 2022-23 Basketball Media Day. The 2022-23 Basketball season is upon us and BC Athletics is extending a warm welcome to join the Renegades in kicking off the season with the 2022 BC Basketball Media Day on Thursday, October 6th at 11:00AM at the Gil Bishop Sports Center. The event will take place on the top floor of the main front entrance. A full list of speakers can be found below and more to come.
The event is free to the public. Attendees are encouraged to park in lot P7, off of Mt. Vernon.
Fun Photos & other news spotted on social media
Subscribe to Kern CCD TALE blog today – https://kernccdtaleblog.org/
The Teaching-and-Learning Experiences (TALE) blog provides a virtual space for faculty, instructional support staff, former faculty, and others within KCCD to contribute original blog posts that describe their insights and ideas rooted in their experiences in the classroom or working with our students, their implications for ensuring that learning occurs with intentional outcomes, and their relationship to faculty engagement and innovation, and student success.
BC Industrial Automation shared this post:
“Thank you AeraEnergyLLC for your internship presentation and for creating an Automation Internship opportunity for our students locally.”
The Cerro Coso Learning Assistance Center created this video to help students access their Math & Writing Lab:
And check out this great video by Jonathan Hernandez at Porterville College:
====================
hat’s a wrap for now.
See you next Saturday!
The future is bright at KernCCD.
-sonya
a joyful and grateful Chancellor
#KernCCDDaringMightyThings
Tagged: #Delano50, #KernCCDDaringMightyThings, Bakersfield College, BC Delano Campus, Cerro Coso College, Kern Community College District, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, Porterville College, Romeo Agbalog, Rudy Salas, Sonya Christian
Leave a Reply