Decriminalizing (and Re-Humanizing) the ‘Squeegee Kid’
Sydney Fryer
Mentor: Dena Aufseeser, Geography and Environmental Systems
Squeegee Kids are young people between the ages of 10-25 that clean windshields in Baltimore city for a small fee. Their informal but infamous work has been seen as entrepreneurial, hazardous, or criminal over the years. This project uses discourse analysis to analyze and understand the dangerous rhetoric often used to describe these young people and the historical racism that has led to this rhetoric. It also seeks to allow these young people a chance to redefine themselves through a series of interviews. This is all in the hope that, through a more humanizing approach to understanding these ‘Squeegee Kids’, their work, and the reason for it, there can be a more humane discussion around their place in Baltimore city.
This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
https://umbc.voicethread.com/myvoice/thread/17403608
Visit URCAD now through Sunday:
URCAD.umbc.edu
]]>“Flexing” Anything But Muscles: An Analysis Of Social Media Trends And Conspicuous Consumption
Fatimah Shaalan
Mentor: Liz Stanwyck, Mathematics and Statistics
In this era, there is an ever-growing importance for both consumers and brands to understand social media’s influence on conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous consumption often comes in the form of purchasing luxury goods to elevate social-class status or represent a social identity. Today’s internet-users are constantly being bombarded with advertisements. Internet trends pertaining to products and brands often serve as unintentional advertisements driven by consumers. Such advertisements are likely to increase conspicuous consumption. I discuss previous research to better understand how users perceive online advertisements and how brands approach online advertising. These formal online advertisements tend to occur from “social media influencers” or directly on websites. Then I discuss results of a regression analysis of the influence of popular culture on randomly selected companies from Twitter “trending topics”.
URCAD.umbc.edu
Now through Sunday!
]]>How are power dynamics and the safety of actors navigated in a healthy way when performing intimate scenes? Caitlyn Hooper analyzes the impact of intimacy direction in theater and its impact on power dynamics. The 22nd volume of the UMBC Review: Journal of Undergraduate Research premieres today! Download your electronic copy here:
https://ur.umbc.edu/umbc-review/
And be sure to check out Caitlyn's URCAD presentation on this topic, now through Sunday, April 25th: URCAD.umbc.edu
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We were struck by the powerful message that I3B, our campus friends and partners, shared earlier this week. In the wake of yesterday’s verdict of accountability coupled by yet another incident of police brutality that took the life of a young Black girl, we sit with the sanctity of I3B’s invitation to take ”a moment to pause and breathe.”
We affirm I3B’s intentions and will not be offering a community healing space at this time, but will support their efforts to be available to UMBC community members needing spaces to connect with others. Many of our community members may be feeling a wide range of emotions with yesterday’s verdict. The burden and impacts of racial trauma from police brutality and white supremacy have deep roots that cannot be healed in the case of one verdict. With this in our heart and mind, Women’s Center professional staff are holding open office care and support hours next week. Community members are always invited to reach out to us to set up meetings to connect outside of these designated times by emailing womenscenter@umbc.edu or calling 410-455-2714. Additionally, we invite self-identified Women of Color to join us at the upcoming Women of Color Collective meetingthis Friday at 1:30pm.
Open Office Care and Support Hours:
Jess: Friday, April 23rd, 11am-12pm at https://umbc.webex.com/meet/jessm
Amelia: Wednesday, April 28th, 11am-2pm https://umbc.webex.com/meet/meman1
Bri: Thursday, April 29th, 12-2:pm at meet.google.com/wga-pjuf-act
A verdict was reached. We pause. We breathe. And, our work continues. We must continue to actively call out, disrupt and change the ways racism and oppression shows up in our spaces and communities to include our campus. During this time, we invite aspiring allies (including ourselves) to recommit to practices of anti-racism and disrupting anti-Blackness. We’re re-sharing the blog post (Learning to be anti-racist: Calling IN white people and non-Black people of color) that our assistant director, Amelia, wrote last summer as a reminder and call to action to our white community members as well as non-Black people of color. We’re also re-sharing our Black Lives Matter Endlessly post from last summer as a reminder to stay present to the power of truth-telling. We must turn towards the radical truth of our privileges and our complicity and our responsibility.
There is work yet to be done and we commit, as ever, to being in it with you.
With Solidarity and Hope,
The Women’s Center staff
To access I3B’s full message, visit their myUMBC page.