Community Corner: Notable February events.

January 30, 2015 | by Admin

Photo Exhibit

Feb. 2-28: The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation’s Photo Gallery Tour will be exhibited all month in the East Wing of the state Capitol. The tour features award-winning photographs of state parks and forests from the foundation’s 2014 photo contest. A reception will be held on Feb. 24, 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the East Wing rotunda. Visit PaParksandForests.org for additional information.

Ned Smith Lecture

Feb. 3: Author and researcher Scott Weidensaul presents “The Art and Legacy of Ned Smith” as part of the Wildwood Park winter lecture series, “Keystone Conservationists.” Event takes place at the HACC Cooper Student Center, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Information is at wildwoodlake.org.

Learn about Florence

Feb. 4: Italy is in focus as the World Culture Club of Central PA hosts “Florence: Queen of the Renaissance.” The lecture by John Maietta starts at 7 p.m. at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, 500 University Dr., 5^th floor, lecture room C. For more information, visit worldcultureclubpa.org.

Winter Social

Feb. 5: Friends of Midtown will hold its winter social and annual meeting from 6-8 p.m. at HMAC Stage on Herr, 268 Herr St., Harrisburg. The event, which will review the community group’s 2014 and preview 2015, includes complimentary appetizers and a cash bar. More information is at friendsofmidtown.org.

Networking Mixer

Feb. 5: Mix and mingle with fellow business professionals at the West Shore Chamber of Commerce’s afternoon networking mixer. This month, the event will be 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Meadows at Bumble Bee Hollow, 2277 Mill Rd., Mechanicsburg. For more information, visit wschamber.org.

Truffles for Couples

Feb. 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Hershey Story Museum hosts a special, one-hour chocolate lab class involving the most romantic of sweets—the truffle. Participants will learn how to make truffles then package them in a traditional Valentine box to take home. Cost is $18.75 per person. Visit hersheystory.org.

Outdoor Show

Feb. 7-15: The Great American Outdoor Show returns for another year to salute all things hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating, etc. More than 1,000 exhibitors will pack into the state Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg for the nine-day show. For all the details, visit greatamericanoutdoorshow.org.

Civil Rights Lecture

Feb. 8: The life of abolitionist William Howard Day will be the focus of February’s Second Sunday lecture at the Harris-Cameron Mansion in Harrisburg. A long-time city resident, Day dedicated his life to abolishing slavery and to civil rights for African Americans. More information is at dauphincountyhistory.org.

Reservoir Property Meeting

Feb. 10: Capital Region Water will hold its second hearing on the proposed sale of 384 acres of land in Clarks Creek. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Dauphin County Agricultural and Natural Resources Center, 1451 Peters Mountain Rd. in Dauphin. Visit www.capitalregionwater.com for more information and a chance to comment or call 888-510-0606.

Rail History Program

Feb. 10: Former railroad official Rob Kitchen delivers a lecture, “1970-1980 Railroads in Lake Superior Area,” presented by the Harrisburg Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. The business meeting and speaker begin at 7 p.m., with a meal available as early as 5 p.m. at Hoss’s Restaurant, 743 Wertzville Rd., Enola. For more information, visit www.harristower.org or email [email protected].

Business Mixer

Feb. 10: Meet your fellow business professionals at the West Shore Chamber of Commerce’s evening networking event. This month, the free event takes place 5 to 7 p.m. at Mission Central, 5 Pleasant View Dr., Mechanicsburg. Visit wschamber.org.

Book Launch & Lecture

Feb. 11: In honor of Black History Month, YWCA Greater Harrisburg presents “Unicorn in Captivity: Poetry & Perspectives on Race in Harrisburg.” Local author Marian Cannon will discuss her recently published book of poetry, providing a perspective on race and segregation in Harrisburg. Event starts at 5 p.m. at YWCA at 1101 Market St., Harrisburg. Snow date is Feb. 24. For more information, email [email protected] or call 717-234-7931, x3057.

Economic Forecast Breakfast

Feb. 12: The Harrisburg Regional Chamber presents the Harrisburg Regional Economic Forecast breakfast, featuring Dr. Jay Bryson, managing director and global economist at Wells Fargo. The event takes place 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Harrisburg/Hershey. More information is at www.harrisburgregionalchamber.org.

CPR Classes

Feb. 14: To mark American Heart Month, Holy Spirit Hospital will offer free CPR classes with American Heart Association-trained instructors. The free classes will be offered in the hospital auditorium. For times and registration information, call 717-972-4262. Space is limited.

Bal Masque

Feb. 14: Groove to the 1960s at “LoveFest: A Happening,” the theme of the 2015 Bal Masque. The event runs 6 to 11 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Camp Hill. Tickets cost $100 apiece, with proceeds benefitting the Art Association of Harrisburg’s programs and services. Visit artassocofhbg.com or call 717-236-1432.

Let’s Go Tracking

Feb. 15: Join a naturalist to learn about the art of tracking animals. The lesson starts at 1 p.m. in the classroom at the Olewine Nature Center before heading into Wildwood Park, Harrisburg. For more information, visit wildwoodlake.org.

Homelessness Benefit

Feb. 15: Family Promise of Harrisburg Capital Region and Theatre Harrisburg will present a special performance of the play, “I Do! I Do!” at the Krevsky Center, 513 Hurlock St., Harrisburg. A 6:30 p.m. silent auction precedes the 7:30 p.m. show. Admission is $35, including refreshments. To learn more, visit familypromisehcr.org.

Maurice Goddard Lecture

Feb. 17: Marci Mowery, president of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, will explore the life and work of the “father” of the state park system, Maurice Goddard, as part of the Wildwood Park winter lecture series, “Keystone Conservationists.” Event takes place at the Nature Center, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Information is at wildwoodlake.org.

Chamber Mixer

Feb. 19: Join the Central Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce for its monthly business networking mixer at The Foundation for Hope, 107 Locust St., Harrisburg, 6 to 8 p.m. More information is at cpglcc.org.

Millennium Music

Feb. 19-21: For the 19^th year, the Millennium Music Conference and Showcase will feature hundreds of original acts at dozens of venues throughout greater Harrisburg. In addition to musical performances, the conference will include panelists, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and talent scouts, many at the Best Western Premier. For all conference information, visit musicconference.net.

3^rd in The Burg

Feb. 20: Enjoy the best of Harrisburg during 3^rd in The Burg, the monthly arts event at galleries, restaurants and art spaces throughout downtown and Midtown. For more information, visit thirdintheburg.org.

Motorama Show

Feb. 21-22: Motorsports will be in focus at the 2015 Motorama Races and Shows at the state Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. In addition to racing, the two-day event features car shows, vendors, live music, food, a beauty pageant and more. Visit motoramaevents.com.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Flea

Feb. 22: Want to buy, sell or swap music-related items? Then stop by the 2^nd annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Flea Market at Federal Taphouse, 234 N. 2^nd St., Harrisburg, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Items will include instruments, concert clothing, vinyl records, toys and more. Visit federaltaphousehbg.com.

Wedding Show

Feb. 22: Hearing wedding bells? The AACA Museum hosts its sixth annual wedding show, “A Wedding for All Seasons,” at its building at 161 Museum Dr. in Hershey. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door for the 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. event. Additional information is at aacamuseum.org.

Oscar Party

Feb. 22: It’s Hollywood on the Susquehanna as Midtown Cinema hosts its annual Oscar party. Don your best designer threads and join area cinephiles to watch the broadcast on the big screen, starting at 6 p.m. at the theater at 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. Tickets cost $35 and include wine, appetizers and a bag of swag. Learn more at midtowncinema.com or call 717-909-6566.

Black History Lecture

Feb. 23: Retired Penn State Harrisburg Professor Dr. Clem Gilpin and local historian Calobe Jackson present “Tanner’s Alley & the Underground Railroad,” a look at life in Harrisburg’s African-American community in the 19^th century. The lecture starts at 6 p.m. at Historic Harrisburg Association, 1230 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg. More details are at historicharrisburg.com.

Legislators’ Forum

Feb. 26: The Harrisburg Regional Chamber and the West Shore Chamber co-host the second Legislator’s Forum of 2015, featuring local members of the Pennsylvania Senate. The breakfast event takes place 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Harrisburg Hilton, 1 N. 2^nd St., Harrisburg. Visit www.harrisburgregionalchamber.org.

School Registration

Feb. 26-27: Harrisburg Catholic Elementary School will hold open registration on Feb. 26 at the Holy Family Campus, 555 S. 25^th St., Harrisburg, and on Feb. 27 at the Cathedral campus behind St. Patrick Cathedral at Liberty and Church streets, Harrisburg. For more information, call 717-232-2551 or 717-234-3797.

Soccer Goals: As U.S. soccer moves into the big time, can Harrisburg move with it?

January 30, 2015 | by Cory Mull

You wouldn’t know by the look of it, but, on the first floor of a modest office park in Linglestown, the future of Harrisburg soccer is being shaped.

That’s where Tiago Lopes, the 32-year-old president of the Harrisburg City Islanders, works in the off-season. A year ago, he was hired to resuscitate the stalling franchise, which is part of USL Pro, a 14-team professional outdoor soccer league that, since 2011, has added seven franchises across the country.

“The goal is to prepare the organization for the next five to 10 years,” said Lopes, who in his native Portuguese accent calls the city “Ehrris-burg.” In his first year, he said, the city “accomplished a lot of things with limited resources.”

In business terms, that meant higher attendance figures from a year ago, going from about 1,500 fans to about 2,100 per game in 2014, including six sell-outs at Skyline Sports Complex.

But, to Lopes, the success put a real emphasis on a growing problem in Harrisburg. The stadium, located adjacent to Metro Bank Stadium, is a shell of what most other markets offer in the same league, just as the sport itself is in the middle of a boom.

On Board

When Lopes talks about the picture of soccer in Harrisburg, there’s a real concern with the future at City Island. As it stands now, rickety metal bleachers and a hilltop offer fans their main source of seating.

“When I arrived,” Lopes said, “of course the stadium at that time was in need already. Part of my plan going forward is having the stadium as a priority … the strategy is very clear. The stadium is a big part of that. There is no future without a stadium.”

Lopes talks a lot about “priority” when he talks about stadium details. Until recently, he says, the city and the organization haven’t made a new facility much of a priority.

But that changed last March.

Backed by private partners, plus an affiliation with the Philadelphia Union, which remains the City Islanders’ affiliated franchise in Major League Soccer, the City Islanders unveiled plans for a new structure at their current location.

Lopes talks about a two-phase project that includes the structural bones of a new, $6 million, 4,000-seat facility built by the 2016 season.

Construction is expected to commence after the 2015 season in August or September, he said, with the hope that the team can be on the field by the beginning of the next calendar year.

A potential second phase, which could add another 2,000 seats and $4 million to the budget, could be implemented after other feasibility studies are conducted.

In the coming months, the financial terms will be negotiated between organization personnel, partners and the city—with all financing, Lopes adds, slated to come privately.

And key to the discussion will be site location. While the city is currently playing nice with the team, there’s an outside shot both parties may not come to a solution on the Island.

“Of course, we want it at City Island,” Lopes said, “But if we don’t find the resources, the conditions, the support from the city, then we’ll have to look at other locations. At this point, we do find that the city is on board with us.”

Growing Pains

As the league grows, another concern looms. It’s becoming harder and harder to keep pace with growing travel costs.

Four franchises were added to the league in 2014, all of which were significantly west of what used to be a league dominated by East Coast teams. Cities like Sacramento, Los Angeles, Arizona and Oklahoma City all unveiled debut seasons.

Lopes said the travel part of the budget has become “extremely high” over the last two seasons with the addition of these franchises. In previous years, the main mode of transportation was a bus, but flights now are more common.

When Orlando moves up to MLS in 2015, a new franchise in Louisville will take its place, adding another team west of Pennsylvania to the mix.

“We’re working to control that piece of the budget,” Lopes said. “And that’s why we need to have partners involved with us that can help us lower those costs.”

Changing Tides

While Harrisburg is finding ways to meet its need in a growing league, business on the field has been anything but troublesome. In fact, the City Islanders continue to get better year after year.

In 2014, Harrisburg reached the league finals after finishing eighth overall in the regular season, losing 2-0 to Sacramento Republic FC at Bonney Field in Sacramento before 8,000 fans.

The Islanders, which debuted in the USL Pro in 2004, have been to the finals twice in the past four seasons under Head Coach Bill Becher.

The City Islanders have gained respect across the league, Lopes said, by winning games and competing for championships.

“If you ask any of our fans,” he said, “and you ask them within any team in this league what they think about Harrisburg—what their reputation will be—people are amazed at what we do. That’s the key point for us. We embrace that.”

A byproduct of that success has been a successful crossover of talent developing on the field. Lopes says, on average, the Islanders have put two players into the MLS each year over the last few years, including recent players like Leo Fernandes and Antoine Hoppenot.

Slowly but surely, it seems, the tides of soccer in Harrisburg are beginning to change.

By 2016, Lopes hopes to execute what he hopes will be a shift in gears for soccer in central Pennsylvania.

“If we have over 2,500 people coming to our games in a terrible stadium,” Lopes said, “imagine how many people we could attract with a good facility?”

If Harrisburg wants to survive in this fast-paced and fast-growing industry, Lopes said, the city, the organization and its partners will need to invest in infrastructure to help that vision come to fruition.

“It has to be partners, it has to be sponsors, it has to be politicians,” he said. “We have to be united, if we want to keep seeing the name Harrisburg.”

Learn more about the Islanders and keep up to date with their stadium plans at www.cityislanders.com.

Changing Her Tune: A new sound, a new city for singer Kat Edmonson.

January 30, 2015 | by Jess Hayden

Vocalist Kat Edmonson, while a contemporary artist, has always looked to the past for inspiration.

Her style, which she calls “vintage pop,” is reminiscent of the movie scores and musicals that she grew up with. Her original songs are rooted in jazz, but there are also elements of rock ‘n’ roll, classic pop, folk and country.

Pulling it all together is a fabulous voice that, as a teenager, earned her a spot on the TV show, “American Idol.” Called “memorable and contagious” by NPR, Edmonson continues to garner fans with her well-crafted lyrics, clever melodies and distinctive singing style.

Edmonson will make her way to Harrisburg this month, showcasing a repertoire from her three CDs and featuring her band: Laura Scarborough on keys, vibes and accordion; Steve Elliot on guitar; Bob Hart on bass; and Aaron Thurston on drums.

“I like to create an intimate atmosphere during a concert,” Edmonson said. “I like to chat with the audience and get to know them and let them get to know me, too.”

Edmonson grew up in Houston, but moved to Austin to take advantage of the city’s vibrant music scene. After gaining experience in the local club scene, she released her first album, “Take to the Sky,”in 2009. The recording featured steamy cabaret jazz numbers, such as George Gershwin’s “Summertime” and Cole Porter’s “Night and Day,” along with a few originals.

Her second CD, “Way Down Low,” came out in 2012 and was funded by a Kickstarter campaign (raising $30,000 in just one month). On it, her sound moved away from jazz with more of a retro feel reminiscent of the early 1960s. She used the first song on the CD, “Lucky,” in an official video that she posted on YouTube.

The video is filmed in New York on Independence Day weekend and shows her playing a series of old pianos that had been dropped off all around the city. As the video wraps up, she’s on Coney Island, playing along with a stunning fireworks display.

The last two years have seen many opportunities come her way. She toured with Lyle Lovett, singing the duet “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with him on his CD, “Release Me,” and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She appeared on “Austin City Limits” and “A Prairie Home Companion,” and her songs were featured on several television commercials (Zales Diamonds, Coca-Cola). In the spring of 2013, she made her first U.S. tour as a headliner with 11 concerts around the country. The following summer, she played several festivals in Europe, including the famed Montreux Jazz Festival. She even was tapped to be one of the faces of the makeup brand bareMinerals.

About a year ago, Edmondson signed with Sony Masterworks, and, this past fall, came out with her latest recording, “The Big Picture.” To create the CD, she teamed up with renowned producer Mitchell Froom, working with him over a three-month period at his studio in Santa Monica.

“It’s a departure from the last record in many ways,” she said.” It’s more pop-oriented and more orchestrated. I had a plethora of musicians to work with, and we were laying down tracks and did a lot of overdubbing.”

These days, Kat Edmondson says that she’s very happy. She recently moved to Brooklyn, where, she added, there’s much more infrastructure for the kind of music that she plays than in Austin.

“I’ve always wanted to live in New York, and I live in a beautiful place right near Prospect Park,” she said. “It’s a place that I go and wander and contemplate and often write.”

Kat Edmonson and her band, along with opener Robert Ellis, will perform at 8 p.m. on Feb. 27 at Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, 222 Market St., Harrisburg. Tickets are $20 and $27.50 and are available at 717-214-ARTS or at www.whitakercenter.org. Learn more about Edmonson at www.katedmonson.com.

Quietly Powerful: “A Most Violent Year” explores who’s right – if anyone.

January 30, 2015 | by Sammi Leigh Melville

It seems that J.C. Chandor has a passion for putting men in hot water. The same writer/director who brought us last year’s hit, “All is Lost,” now presents “A Most Violent Year.” First, he showed us a man face to face with his mortality, and now we see a man face to face with his morality.

It is 1981, the most violent year that New York City has had in its history. Colombian-born Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) has married into a family business—a heating oil company—whose previous owner (his wife Anna’s late father) had more of a gangster’s approach to making a living. But Abel is a different man, and, though Anna (Jessica Chastain) still knows the life her father set up for her, Abel wants to live his life doing what is “most right.” When the business begins to flourish, Abel begins to feel resistance from all sides.

The company has been working towards buying a port property that will enable the business to flourish even more. Abel puts down 40 percent in cash on the trust that, in one month, he will have the rest of the money—and no more than a month or he loses his deposit and the property gets sold to his competitors. His plan is to get the other 60 percent (a whopping $1.5 million) from a loan at the bank, but it is here that they run into trouble.

For one thing, someone keeps hijacking their oil trucks, beating up the drivers and then selling the oil to competitors. The drivers want to arm themselves for protection, but Abel resists, knowing that this will cause more complications down the line. And a second problem arises: The company is being charged for fraud and corruption.

Even though Abel has been honest in his work, the charges are there, and the reputation of the company makes the district attorney assigned to the case (David Oyelowo) wary of the truth. As the deadline for the rest of the payment draws near, Abel and his family are pushed to the extent of their abilities.

The plot is so simple—a man needs to get money in an allotted time, but problems in his life become obstacles in his goal. But the way Chandor has written Abel and Anna is the refreshing part of this story. It flips the typical Mafia-esque gender roles on their heads, making Anna the one with the connections. Anna plays an interesting foil to Abel, challenging him to protect the family, and, when he hesitates to do so, working to get some protection of her own. She is a self-starter who ends up causing her own share of problems.

Isaac and Chastain are on point in their performances. Isaacs has had some pretty stellar roles prior to this, but has really topped his game here—his quiet determination as Abel is powerful. Other notable performances include supporting roles from Elyes Gabel and Albert Brooks.

Just like its protagonist, this film is quietly powerful, brewing dark ambience with nuanced characterization. This is a film that will sit with you for a while. Check out “A Most Violent Year” at the Midtown Cinema.

Midtown Cinema
February Events

Digital Classic Theatre Presents
“Caesar and Cleopatra”
Sunday Feb. 1, 4pm
Tuesday Feb. 3, 7pm

Groundhog Day
Monday, Feb. 2, 7pm
Re-live the film on the day

MOVIATE Presents
“Drums and Drones”
Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs plays live music to the video projections of Ursula Sherrer
Wednesday, Feb. 4, 7pm

Foreign & Classic Series
“Royal Wedding”
Sunday, Feb. 8, 6pm

Down in Front!
Improv crew skewers
“The Brain that Wouldn’t Die”
Friday, Feb. 13, 9:30ish

Saturday Morning Cartoons
Classic cartoons on the big screen
Saturday, Feb. 14, 9:30-11:30am

Mommy & Me Matinees
Early matinees every second Saturday
Saturday, Feb. 14

Family Film Series
“Matilda”
Saturday, Feb. 14, noon
Sunday, Feb. 15, 2pm
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 7pm

MOVIATE Presents
“Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C., 1980-1990”
Sunday, Feb. 15, 7:30 pm

Digital Contemporary Theatre Series Presents
National Theatre Live’s “Treasure Island”
Sunday, Feb. 15, 4pm
Tuesday Feb. 17, 7pm

3^rd in The Burg $3 Movie
“Who Framed Roger Rabbit”
Friday, Feb. 20, 9:30ish

Midtown Cinema’s Oscar Party
Sunday, Feb. 22, 7pm
Tickets on sale now!

Powerful Dreams: Classic play explores the intersection of ambition, family, race.

January 30, 2015 | by Barbara Trainin Blank

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”—from “Harlem,” by Langston Hughes

Leonard Dozier loves “A Raisin in the Sun,” the classic play about the dreams and struggles of an African-American family in 1950s Chicago.

But having performed the role of Walter Lee Younger, its protagonist, twice, the actor thought he was “done.” Still, when Donald L. Alsedek, executive artistic director of Open Stage of Harrisburg, announced that the downtown professional theater would be presenting “Raisin,” Dozier couldn’t resist.

“It’s one of the best pieces of literature in contemporary American art,” he said.

Since its opening on March 11, 1959, the play has risen to iconic status. Both humorous and touching, it was doubly groundbreaking—the first work written for Broadway by an African-American woman and staged by Broadway’s first black director. The playwright was Lorraine Hansberry (who tragically died of cancer at age 34) and the director, Lloyd Richards.

Nominated for four Tony Awards, “A Raisin in the Sun” revolves around the conflicting dreams of three generations of a black family, the Youngers, living on Chicago’s South Side. When her deceased husband’s insurance money comes through, Mama dreams of moving to a new home and better neighborhood. Her son, Walter Lee, a chauffeur, wants to buy his own liquor store. His sister, Beneatha, aims for medical school. Meanwhile, they are beset by white prejudice.

Revisiting “Raisin” is appealing to Dozier, both because it affords him the opportunity to work at Open Stage again and because he’s now 35.

“That’s the actual age of Walter,” he said. “And I have more life experience under my belt.”

The actor appeared at the theater previously in four plays by August Wilson—“The Piano Lesson,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Joe Turner Come and Gone” and “Fences.” He was nominated for regional Broadway World Best Actor Awards for the last two.

From Dozier’s present perspective, “Raisin” seems less about racial consciousness per se and more about a man striving to improve his lot.

“But, in these racially tense times, it does retain its relevance on that level as well,” he said.

“A Raisin in the Sun” certainly has legs. It was turned into a musical in 1973 and a made-for-TV movie in 1989, in addition to a 2004 stage revival with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. More recent was the revival with Denzel Washington, which, noted Alsedek, gave a boost to a play that never really waned.

“It proved that the play still resonates, maybe more than it did in 1959,” he said. “It has become more universal and maybe even more relevant, since a lot more people are in line for that American Dream. It speaks to a large audience.”

What hasn’t changed is the perception of the play being very well written. “What a shame Hansberry wasn’t able to go on,” Alsedek commented.

Alsedek has assembled a cast that is a mixture of actors new to Open Stage and veterans.

In addition to Dozier, they are Jessica Gondwe (Ruth Younger), Madison Bond (Travis Younger), Nhadya Salomon (Beneatha), Sharia Benn (“Mama” Lena), Jurdan Payne (Joseph Asagai), Jeremy Patterson (George Murchison), Aaron Bomar (BoBo), Dan Burke (Karl Lindner) and Jason Moffitt (moving man). Gwen Alsedek designed the set and costumes, and Tristan Stasiulis did the lighting design.

One aspect of “Raisin” that may be more noticeable today is feminism.

“It’s really a women’s play,” Donald Alsedek said. “Over the years, we’ve thought of the male star—which in the original production and 1961 movie was Sidney Poitier—but, if you really take a look, the play has three very strong female parts. Mama is the glue of the family.”

Set at the brink of the Civil Rights movement, “Raisin” also explores changing expectations.

At one point, Mama states: “I was just happy to get the family together and keep it from getting lynched.” Her children, however, have other, larger dreams.

“A Raisin in the Sun” runs Feb. 6 to 22 at Open Stage of Harrisburg, 223 Walnut St., Harrisburg. Tickets cost $25 to $35, except for limited $15 tickets on PSEA Thrift Thursday, Feb. 12 and 19. Student tickets are $21 with valid ID. For more information or to order tickets, visit www.openstagehbg.com or call 717-232-OPEN.

Student Scribes: On the Nature of Grief–A Stew of Mixed Emotions

January 30, 2015 | by Quadriya Cogman

Painting by Olivia Austin

Periodically, TheBurg highlights the work of student writers at Capital Area School for the Arts.

Over my 17 years of life, I’ve attended numerous funerals. As a child, I never knew what to expect, as I wandered around and looked at everyone and everything. As I became older, showing sympathy became more of a feeling than a responsibility to the grieving world. Having both parents alive in my life, I questioned what it’s like to lose a parent at a young age.

The microwave timer read 5:50 p.m. Quinetta Jones, a middle-aged woman, stood over the stove mixing a pot of Hamburger Helper ingredients. She then added a spoonful of the food onto a plastic plate and made her way over to the kitchen table. “I was only 15 when my mother, Kathleen Jones, passed away, on Dec. 14, 1986,” Jones explained in a soft tone. “That was the day when my life took a different turn.” Jones did not want to discuss the cause of her mother’s death. “My mother had her 12^th child two weeks before she passed. I am the second oldest and the closest thing my siblings have to a mother figure in their lives.” She looked down at her food and ate a bite. Then she raised her head and stared off into another dimension. “My mother was independent, a comedian and a good cook.” She smiled, and I realized the memory of her mother was as fresh as the pain of losing her.

According to the website, www.hospicenet.org/html/understand, children of different ages hold a different perspective about death. Between ages 3 and 6, a child imagines death to be a punishment of bad behavior. Children have difficulty understanding the term “grieving” and what causes it. Their grief is acted out with regressive behaviors like bedwetting or magical thinking, where they think their loved one can come back into their life. Adolescents, aged 13 to 18, view death as the enemy of living. A teenager may show different ways of grieving: escaping pain through alcohol and drug abuse or becoming depressed and anti-social. They may also accuse themselves of being the cause of their parent’s death. As time passes, they may find joy in talking about them.

At 6:20 p.m., I interviewed a close relative of mine. Haneefah Muhammad, 22, answered my call. We caught up a bit before the real work began. “Aug. 15, 2003, my father’s birthday, was also my mother’s death date. Her name was Miranda Jones. I was turning 14 that year. I was hurt because I was losing the person I looked up to,” she said as she began to silence herself. In an effort to lighten herself up, she recalled a memory of my mother Quinetta, who’s also her aunt, eating peas, and one falling from her mouth as her son Quazil dropped the bomb about Haneefah’s mother’s death. Haneefah laughed about the situation to break the quiet between us. “My mother passed away from a leaking brain aneurysm that eventually ruptured.”

According to Robert D. Brown, head of neurology at the Mayo Clinic, a brain aneurysm is a ballooning in a blood vessel artery in the brain. “When the small balloon bursts, it causes blood to spill into the brain or over the brain tissue that’s underneath the lining of the brain,” Dr. Brown said in a documentary, “All About Brain Aneurysms.” “Most people who have an unruptured brain aneurysm don’t have any symptoms at all,” he said. “But on occasion, the aneurysm can grow to the point where it can put pressure on the brain tissue or some of the nerves in the brain.”

Grief, the emotional suffering you feel when someone or something you love is taken away, can’t be forced or hurried, there is no timetable, and it can impact a child’s personal and social life on many different levels.

“It felt like somebody dropped a nuclear bomb on my life,” 9-year-old Michael Schultze said about his 12-year-old deceased sister, Elizabeth Schultze. He was a participant in the support group, “Highmark Caring Place,” cited in the documentary “Highmark Caring Place—A Place of Hope.” Expressions of grief can range from reacting with violence to shedding little tears. “Grief is knowing that things are never going to be the same as before,” Allison Mohn, another participant at Highmark, said.

“On Jan. 5, 1993, my daughter Elizabeth, 12½, died in a drowning accident,” Mohn stated in a sympathetic tone, remembering her child. She looked at different corners of the room while talking. She became teary. “I felt lonely.” Stephen Barber who lost his best friend, spoke about it. He too, looked off into the distance. He paused, then said: “People sort of would back away from me. I was extremely depressed. My schoolwork started to slip. I just had a rough time.”

“Grief never tends to fit anyone’s agenda at anytime. It can surface at anytime. During this initial period of grief, you will feel numbness and a disassociation with the world around you,” Helen Fitzgerald, author, “The Mourning Handbook,” stated. “The loss of someone can make the world feel like an unfamiliar place,” Brook Noel said, as part of a series on grief found at www.funeralplan.com/griefsupport.

When grief covers us with its dark wings, it can mimic a serious illness, making people become emotionally and physically depleted, with a variety of symptoms to follow. “We become so weak that we actually feel like we have the flu. Because of our lack of experience with energy depletion, this weakness frightens and perplexes us,” Dr. Catherine M. Sanders stated in her book, “Surviving Grief.”

“I lost my mother after I turned 8. Her name was Laila McCullough. I’m the third oldest out of five females,” Zaida McCullough said. We conversed over Facebook. “I know she died from cancer, I just don’t know the type. Being eight, people didn’t want to me to wonder much about my mother, or where she’s going. She passed June 6, 2005.” McCullough said. “She was a loving, caring, role model for all her children.”

Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues (www.cancer.gov/cancertopics). There are more than 100 different types of cancer, and they are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start. Statistically speaking, African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial/ethnic group. Cancer is the leading cause of death in the United States and can be triggered by many factors. For example, smoking any tobacco product can be a cause, especially ones with menthol. Menthol is strong enough to open chest holes inside the human body and makes it easier for someone to catch a chest cold.

“My mother’s name is Shirby Kirksey. She passed away on March 12, 1996, nine days prior to my 21^st birthday.” Ayesha Mayers, who’d recently married, spoke in a tone that was hard to hear between the telephone lines. She spoke softly, dragging the words from her mouth. “When she passed, I didn’t know what to do. My entire body felt sick—mentally, physically and emotionally,” Ayesha stated. “I’d felt so sick I couldn’t even celebrate my 21^st birthday.” She did not feel comfortable enough to specify her mother’s death. The tone in Mayer’s voice suggested that she was not up for the interview.

There are multiple ways to help support someone who’s grieving such as never forcing them to open up about their feelings until they are ready. Each interviewee expressed emotions in a different way. McCullough chose to face the “wall” of Facebook, Muhammad and Mayer’s spoke over the phone, and Jones spoke to me face-to-face. “Holding your breath all the time is stressful. But being able to let it out and know that grieving is normal is a huge sigh of relief.” Amy Winters, a participant of Highmark Caring Place, said.

I knew speaking about a loved one who had passed was already hard, but everyone recalled the death date of a loved one with no hesitation. The wheel of life has a start date, as well as an expiration date. Some are unforgettable.

Quadriya Cogman is a senior at CASA.

Student Scribes: Stand-Up Comedy–Only the Brave Need Apply.

January 30, 2015 | by Iain Sunday

Painting by Diana Rogers

Periodically, TheBurg highlights the work of student writers at Capital Area School for the Arts.

I pace outside the bathroom door, my fingers hovering over the call button of my phone. “Am I ready?” Two minutes of pacing, and I finally build up the courage to call. I fling the bathroom door open, shoot out of my pants, sit on the toilet, and hit call. The phone rings and my stomach rumbles. A beautiful young voice answers on the other side, much different than the stereotypical old, menacing, owner voice I was expecting. There is no, “You think you got the chops, kid?” lecture from the ‘60s. Instead, I’m greeted with a “Hello” and a “Thank you for calling the Harrisburg Comedy Zone.”

Months of built-up courage and long hours of writing jokes were about to be worth it. My voice cracks on the how of “How old do you have to be to see a show?” It’s all I can muster.

“Eighteen,” says the woman.

Whatever, I don’t really care about that. I pause. Twenty seconds pass. “How old do you have to be to perform? I’d like to open one night.”

She answers, no 20-second pause. She says they have a lot of openers right now. “You have to be 18 to perform, as well.”

My stomach drops. My poop drops. “Okay.” I hang up.

Stand-up comedy is difficult to get into when you are 17 and live in a rural area. Location and age are big factors, especially when most clubs have an age requirement. Devin Siebold, a comedian from Orlando, Fla., started stand up at the age of 27. “Anyone in a comedy club for the first time tonight? (Wait for hands to be raised) Me too, we’re f***d.” That was Siebold’s first joke. He also took advantage of a cool resource for novice comedians: comedy classes.

Stand-up comedy classes allow aspiring comics to learn, as well as to gain confidence. The Helium Club in Philly offers a class where Brad Trackman, a successful comedian and instructor, teaches you the ropes. I signed up for classes starting in February.

John Powers, a comedian who spent most of his time in comedy on the New York circuit, but recently has retired and moved to Orlando, remembers his first joke, as well.

“It was about Popeye,” he told me. “The punch line was that the green stuff was marijuana, not spinach. I was 19 to 20 when I open mic’d.”

Getting on stage and doing comedy provided a transition between playing music, he said. He would go to an open mic in New Paltz, N.Y., and play his guitar. “I’d tell jokes in between songs and people responded better to the jokes than the songs.” Eventually, John dropped the guitar and stuck to the jokes.

“I hate guys who call the gym the lab. Just because you are stupid, doesn’t mean you can make places different places.” That’s my first joke. Well, it will be when I perform. Unable to test it out on a stage, I funnel the joke through my friends. I massage the word placement judging by their reaction. The original joke was, “I hate guys who call the gym the lab. You can’t make words other words just because you are stupid.” It doesn’t seem like a lot, but sometimes the smallest details make for the biggest laughs.

“My jokes have always been more witty than funny…it’s that extra bit of intellect that makes you question things. It takes longer to write clever jokes, but it’s totally worth it,” Powers said. This attention to detail is something great comedians like Norm MacDonald, Mitch Hedberg, and Demetri Martin use and can really make the difference in a set. It’s a style that fits Powers, and I hope, me.

Telling jokes isn’t as easy as going on stage and launching into the set you prepared. I am terrified. It’s not just stage fright. Comedy is one of the few things in life where you get an immediate response to how you’re doing. There is no wiggle room. People laugh or they don’t, and I am terrified they won’t. “What if I’m not funny?” I think this to myself every day. I’m not the only one.

“All the time,” Siebold told me when I asked if he ever questions if he’s funny. It doesn’t matter how many times people laugh. It is hard to be a stand-up comedian. You put yourself out there every single time you perform. He relies on the support from his friends to push through.

Powers thinks differently. “I’m the funniest person I know, and I know a lot of comics.” Powers is teaching me a lesson. You can’t be a good performer without confidence. “The worst performers look nervous up there.”

However, I believe all comedians are confident. If you can get on stage, especially when you are scared, you are confident. Comedians are brave, whether they admit it or not.

Bravery alone, however, doesn’t make a successful comedian. Neither does just being funny. It takes a combination of both, plus hard work, dedication, and a good bit of luck. When Powers first started, he performed at a Greek restaurant called Mezzo. He drew a crowd. On his third night, the show runner didn’t show, but Powers did. He did so well the owner gave the show to him. He took that and ran with it. He grew in popularity and after a while, he took his show to a club in Manhattan. For five years he performed there, once a month, killing it. It was a combination of talent, hard work and opportunity.

Siebold also struck an opportunity goldmine. “I lucked out,” he said. The booker of his first show kept inviting him out to shows. He also networked, a skill a lot of people don’t know comedians must possess. “I networked and talked to him (the booker) and other comics and, within about two months, he offered me a paid hosting spot at a really crappy bar.” When Siebold performed that night he bombed, but he made $25. He got paid to do comedy! More importantly, he got his feet wet. Siebold attributes his transition from open mic’s into paid spots to networking that night.

Comedy isn’t as easy telling a joke; it’s a mind game. Can you get on stage? Are you brave enough? Do you know you are funny? Are you going to work for it? Comedians are some of the hardest working people in the world. Powers thinks it’s worth it. “I’ve always enjoyed making people laugh. There’s an art to putting a smile on people’s faces, and it takes wit and intellect and timing.” He basks in the feeling he gets when people enjoy themselves over something he did.

When people in the crowd laugh because of Siebold’s comedy, he’s ecstatic. He knows he made their day better. “So many times, I have had people come up to me, or another comic after the show and say how we helped them through a death in the family, or getting fired, or a bitter divorce.” Comedy is therapeutic. “Laughter heals, and it is a privilege to be a humor doctor.”

According to Helpguide.org, laughter relaxes your whole body, protects your heart, decreases pain, as well as many other benefits. Dr. Paul E. McGhee once said, “Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.”

I’ve been obsessed with stand-up comedy for years. It’s a world many people admire and love, but one where few people actually have the balls to contribute. Powers and Siebold gave me a view from the inside, answering each question with detail and passion. It’s a passion I’m already starting to feel. These comics work hard and genuinely care about what they do. Oh, and they are also really freakin’ funny.

Iain Sunday is a junior at CASA.

Student Scribes: Gamut Theatre, Behind the Mask.

January 30, 2015 | by Bernard Joseph

Painting by Mekhi Hall

Periodically, TheBurg highlights the work of student writers at Capital Area School for the Arts.

It’s 7:15 in the evening as patrons flood into Gamut Theatre, located in Strawberry Square in Harrisburg. This is my second performance with the company, playing the role of the 4^th Volsce, or tribesman, for the fifth night of the Shakespeare tragedy, “Coriolanus.” I peek through the crack of the dressing room door as audience members file in line at the concession counter, while others rush in to grab the best seats.

A female voice nearby says, “I finally get a chance to see ‘Coriolanus.’ I heard great things about this show.”

A toothy grin stretches across my face.

“Fifteen minutes until show time!” shouts Hannah, a stage manager.

Actors and actresses don their 19^th-century soldier uniforms and Victorian-style dresses. We tribesmen grab our battleaxes and machetes, quietly hooting and chest-banging our warrior chant, “Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!” Green and red paint covers my face with a yellow streak down the middle. I hop on one foot to the other, psyching myself up to fit tonight’s character.

Gamut, a crown jewel in the south-central PA theater scene, introduced itself to the local acting community 22 years ago, when it began as The Popcorn Hat Players Children’s Theatre Company.

“Melissa and I were regional actors…but we wanted to settle down and open our own theater,” said Clark Nicholson, artistic director and part owner.

For the first two years, the plan for the company was to collect a lump sum of money and move to an area where the theater market thrived. If not for a friend convincing the founders to put on a Shakespeare play, the Harrisburg Shakespeare Company half wouldn’t exist at all. Both entities operated under different boards of directors until 2000, when the directors formed the umbrella name, Gamut Theatre.

Act 1, Scene 4—the first major fight scene.

I rush to Titus Lartius (local actor Aidan Roth), battleaxe in hand, driving it down to his sword. Titus smacks me aside with his cane. I stumble back to my feet, parrying a right and left shoulder cut. I swing Titus’ sword out of the way, screaming at him until he scuttles off, down stage left. I retreat through the scaffold, my heart beating faster and faster, adrenaline coursing through my veins. Sweat travels down my forehead as the cool air calms me. The audience’s hands clap like popping oil, applauding the fight choreography.

Like Gamut, many of the major theater companies rooted themselves into Harrisburg’s artistic culture through the years. The grandfather, Harrisburg Community Theatre (now Theatre Harrisburg), has been around for 88 years. Open Stage of Harrisburg was formed in 1983, thanks to a Greater Harrisburg Foundation planning grant. Being a children’s theater in the early stages, Gamut built its patron base around the people who came to see its shows as children. “As those children grew up, they supported the theatrical arts in Harrisburg,” said Nicholson.

Kolbe Gelbaugh, a student at Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School, shares with me her exposure to Gamut Theatre.

“I was about 8 years old. My sibling always attended PHP shows,” she said. “Since sports weren’t my strong suit, my mom put me into their acting classes, and I loved it.”

Gelbaugh performed in many of Gamut Theatre’s Young Acting Company shows, noting her participation in “The Jungle Book.”

“From working with them for all of those years, they’re like a second family to me,” she said.

I first came in contact with Gamut Theatre during my ninth-grade year in high school. As I sat in Strawberry Square, bored out of my mind, a few people climbed upstairs to the third floor. I got curious, so I made my way up. Turns out, the company was holding auditions for the Shakespeare in the Park show, “Romeo & Juliet.” My best friend sat on a bench reciting her monologue in a whisper. I auditioned for Benvolio but failed to get the part. The director, Karen Ruch, called me back to “reset” my audition, and I got the role of Friar John. It was my first audition for a professional stage production, and I’m glad it was with Gamut Theatre.

Act 5, Scene 2—Coriolanus’ death.

We Volsces gather in our campsite with our general, Aufidius. We fall silent as Coriolanus enters. Aufidius brands him a traitor for not conquering Rome. 1st Volsce bludgeons Coriolanus with a blood egg-loaded hammer. Then I follow with two back stabs. 2nd Volsce stabs him in the gut. 3rd Volsce slashes behind Coriolanus’ knee. Aufidius finishes with a throat slit. The lights dim to complete darkness. The show ends as Aufidius strolls off center stage, laughing at the lifeless Coriolanus. I peek through the curtains once more. The audience stands, clapping and whistling at the great performance. I blow out a huge breath of relief.

“Only seven more shows until we close,” I whisper to myself as I travel to my placement for bows. All actors walk on stage. The crowd shouts and applauds even louder. Tom raises his right hand, leading the final bow of the night. A huge grin plasters across my face as I exit the stage.

“I think I’ll do this more often,” I think to myself.

Throughout a single year, Gamut Theatre presents more than 350 performances and workshops for more than 10,000 people. The theater reaches an additional 36,000 people with a combination of performances and classes.

Gamut Theatre is a priceless treasure among the Harrisburg theater community. It’s been an honor for me to be a part of a great company, and thanks to the close-knit patrons for supporting the theater community. Please do a great service by visiting Gamut and the other prominent theater companies in the area.

Bernard Joseph is a senior at CASA.

On Hipsters and Harrisburg: Can beards & vinyl coexist with church socials and civic engagement?

January 30, 2015 | by Tara Leo Auchey

In the city of Harrisburg, there is an ongoing battle about who’s who. Historically, it’s consisted of skirmishes based on politics, socioeconomics and race.

However, in the past two years or so, those typical lines of division have been marked by the arrival of new participants—hipsters.

A figure of controversy and confusion, the hipster embodies many of the issues the city has been fighting about for a long while, yet not until recently was there such a particular character to point to who symbolizes the conflict.

The hipster is commonly defined as a 20-something, white, suburban, middle-class person who transplants to a city to live a Bohemian life free of conventional impositions.

The term is a throwback to the 1940s, but its modern usage was coined in the 1990s and, since then, has become a common term, sufficiently overused and not well understood. Urban areas across the nation deliberate on who the hipster is and what it means to be one.

In fact, the idea that hipsters have arrived in Harrisburg actually signifies that this is a real city.

While almost every other city has been debating hipsterness for the past decade (this is central PA after all…things seem to land here long after other places have been there, done that), Harrisburg’s debate has really revved up in the past year.

Like the word gentrification, it’s been increasingly thrown around—not always appropriately—especially in discussions on the capital city’s economic development. To many born and raised, long-lived here Harrisburgians, “hipsters” are the token menaces of their society.

Before the perceived Harrisburg hipster invasion, the fights of progress were rooted in issues of entrenched politics and struggles for power. For some, former Mayor Stephen Reed was a man of vision. For others, he was a neglectful ruler. Under Linda Thompson, the bouts became more overtly about race and money. Always, it’s been about insiders and outsiders.

Knowing this, I’ve become more and more concerned about hearing the word “hipster” in Harrisburg. Simple research shows that anywhere the word is used, it tends to invoke disdain. It’s often used pejoratively, referring to someone identified as young, white and well off, with a “too cool for school” gait bedecked in skinny jeans and witty T-shirts. It’s a stereotype, and, like all stereotypes, it’s unfair. Yet at the same time, there’s always some truth to it.

I’ve been worried that in our small, fragile city, the hipster would be the scapegoat for the growing pains of Harrisburg’s reconstruction. I’ve also been worried that the hipsters are ignorant of this city’s history, politics and true troubles.

The battlegrounds of Midtown, the Broad Street Market and ballots are being riddled with the word. Hipster. The “us” and “them” are no longer loaded yet ambiguous terms of this city’s war. Now, the hipster has sufficiently become the “them” to those looking for someone to blame for the discomfort of change.

What is a hipster of Harrisburg? Are they the ones hanging out in the coffee shops and walking the streets during 3^rd in The Burg? Are they those people with beards and oversized glasses who love craft beer? Does this mean anyone who fits that description is one of “them?”

That seems to be what’s unjustly happening in Harrisburg.

Unjust as it may be, that doesn’t mean the “hipster” doesn’t exist around here.

In a thought-provoking 2012 essay in the New York Times entitled “How to Live Without Irony,” Christy Wampole builds off of the general definition of hipster as the white millennial subculture group migrating to America’s cities. She defines “the hipster” as someone who lives in an irony that is characteristic of a life of comfort and one of choices. The hipster can be ironically clever because a life of relative privilege has permitted such contemplation. This becomes apparent not just in attitude but in aesthetic, as well.

In juxtaposition to those who live in irony are those who don’t. She writes that those who live non-ironically—the opposite of the hipster—are “very young children, elderly people, deeply religious people, people with severe mental or physical disabilities, people who have suffered, and those from economically or politically challenged places where seriousness is the governing state of mind.”

This highlights what, I think, is the ultimate tension of having the hipster in Harrisburg—this place is almost too complicated for such irony as the hipster embodies.

Harrisburg is the quintessential place of economic and political challenge. It is where people have suffered for generations.

The fact, though, is the hipster—or any influx of youth, energy and culture—can help boost this city.

Yet problems arise when anyone, whether hipster or other fleeting label, arrives in Harrisburg and neglects to acquaint themselves with the trials and tribulations of this place.

If people who live here don’t make themselves familiar with Harrisburg’s past and potential, then its problems will remain.

Ultimately, in order to quit the battles, we have to agree that anyone, no matter who they are, is welcome to fit into the Harrisburg community as long as they don’t think they are solely the community.

Tara Leo Auchey is creator and editor of today’s the day Harrisburg. www.todaysthedayhbg.com.

Student Scribes: Confessions of a (Recovering) Angry Young Man

January 30, 2015 | by Alejandro S. Guzman

Painting by Mekhi Hall

Periodically, TheBurg highlights the work of student writers at Capital Area School for the Arts (CASA).

Walking into the house, finally out of the cold, my mom calls me to come to her room. My body tenses as I drop my bag. “Alex!” She’s yelling. Opening the door, I see what I feared the most: her face is red as if something in her brain blew up. “Why did you get suspended?” Now she’s screaming. In my head, hitting that kid felt good. Feeling flesh connect with my hand and knowing that he just might be in pain, felt oddly soothing. “I told you if he hits you first, THEN you hit him back. You don’t start the damn fight. What is wrong with you? Now I have to deal with this crap in court. When will you grow up?” She continued to yell, but I got stuck on why she was concerned more about going to court than about me. I didn’t understand.

I knew from an early age that hitting someone first was wrong. I didn’t care. If I hadn’t hit him, I probably would have been lying on the floor with a knot where my forehead should be. At that moment in time, I thought about survival of the fittest and without hesitation, I hit him as hard as I could. The crowd the fight attracted began howling like a pack of wolves as my opponent stumbled back, holding his jaw. I fed them what they wanted. Conflict.

It’s sad looking back and seeing peer pressure as the trigger. About.com emphasizes what peer pressure really is: “Peer pressure is pressure from others to conform to the behaviors, attitudes and personal habits of a group or clique.” Peer pressure, without a doubt, is a form of bullying. A child growing up may never bully, but when peer pressure comes into play, everything changes.

At 13, my only friend was a kid named Adam. We always had each other’s backs, or so I thought. I protected him. Always protected him. But because his “friend” stepped out of line, and we beat his butt, he hit my little brother with brass knuckles.

Thinking about it now, I wonder if he, too, was bullied. Could he have been a victim of peer pressure, or did something else trigger it? Bullyingstatistics.org tells us “there are a variety of reasons why people bully.” Some of them include: “Cultural causes, a culture that is fascinated with winning, power and violence…” Others are “social issues, family issues and the bully’s personal history.”

Seeing the bottom of my little brother’s teeth reach the back of his throat kills me inside. I did this, I taught him this way. Now, because of me, this a-hole who I thought was my friend, is the reason I can’t see my brother’s teeth. His shiny white teeth. The only color I can see is red. I protected Adam, and this is how he repays me.

Sitting in the car on the way to the hospital, I contemplate how I’ll take his life. Being the sadistic little s-t that I was at 13, when I lived in York, Pa., I had friends with knives, guns and many other deadly items. Thinking back on that now, four years later, I realize how stupid it all sounds. Going to jail at 13 wouldn’t have been worth it, but at the time, I didn’t care.

Knowing now that fighting is a form of bullying, I try to avoid it at all costs, but is it really avoidable? There is an internal conflict that rises up whenever I am confronted. I always ask myself, “Should I fight, or let myself be walked all over?”

In the article, “Social Goals: How Kids’ React To Bullying,” found on Futurity.org, Professor Karen Rudolph explained what a child with developing social skills will most likely say to himself or herself: “I’m not going to do anything negative, that’s going to make me look like a loser, that’s going to embarrass me…”

She explained the internal conflict I talked about earlier: Imagine living in a world where peer pressure and bullying are normal to some children, and they see nothing wrong with it. Now imagine yourself fearing school. “Mommy please, I’ll do the dishes, I’ll clean the walls, I’ll help you do whatever you need. Just don’t make me go to school, please?” Then mom asking you, “What’s wrong, why don’t you want to go to school, is someone bothering you?” But you can’t tell her because she’ll go to the school and tell someone, then the bully will come back and do it again. So, you tell her, “Oh no mommy, I’m just really tired,” or “I just feel really sick.”

I’ve wondered at times if adults could be bullied. Pondering this for hours and, in the end, deeming the theory impossible, I found contradiction in an article at www,bullyingstatistics.org: “Verbal Adult Bully”: “ Words can be quite damaging. Adult bullies who use this type of tactic may start rumors about the victim.” Another example the site offers involves “the workplace bully—an employee being excluded from company activities or having his or her work or contributions purposefully ignored.” As trivial as it may seem, this can cause a person to hate his or her job and, when they quit because they want to find a job that creates joy, they could receive a bad review because they weren’t “lively” or “joyous.”

The stress and depression that tag along with scenarios such as this one are depressing enough. Adults don’t have their mothers or fathers to retreat to as children do. “Mommy can I please stay home? I’ll help you do whatever you need. Please,” becomes, “This is so f-in’ stressful. I’m going to quit, screw this. This is bull… but the bills. How am I going to feed myself, where would I shower?” If you have a child and a bad job, the stress level increases.

Lying on the floor as my mom passes by, I call for her.

“Yes, Alex?”

“I feel so lonely, why do I feel like this?”

Raising her voice, she replies, “What are you talking about, Alex? You know I love you!”

I can’t help but tear up and get angry to the point where I create a hole in the wall. Now she’s in my face, red as the devil on his worst day.

“Why would you do that?”

“I‑I’m sorry, I hate this! I know you love me, I know it’s there, but I can’t help my feeling this way. If I could change it, I would!”

Continuing to blow up, she shouts, “Look at that wall, what am I going to tell the landlord?”

Again, she’s more concerned with saving her own butt. Glancing at me as I sob, she walks over to me, tears welling in her eyes. “We’ll get through this, I promise you. Together.”

My sobbing continues, only faster.

I’m doing better…I’m working on it.

Alejandro S. Guzman is a sophomore at CASA.

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