Aerial acts in Crisis

With the news breaking of a large oil spill in Huntington Beach, CA and the fate of women’s rights still up in the air, autumn remains the same. It comes to us every year, and brings with it a cool breeze of change.

As the weather dips below 75 degrees in Los Angeles, the summer blues that I am doomed to every year, vanishes without fail. The focus and mental clarity that the cool weather brings adds to the empowerment that I am trying to embody in my own life, and for The Corsair.

Something that a lot of people don’t know about me is that I am an aerialist. When I’m not in the newsroom, I’m typically within the perimeter of a lyra hoop, upside down, and ignoring the world for a moment.

Ironically enough — suspending myself upside down, with only my body strength keeping me from hitting the ground, has become one of the most empowering things that I’ve done. Within my hoop, I am in complete control of everything that happens.

There is no one else to blame if I fall, and no one to blame if I can’t hold my body weight up. While I am performing aerial arts, I can only blame myself should something go wrong or I quite literally, hit the ground.

In a way, it’s not unlike being the Editor of The Corsair. When things go wrong, or if it gets a little wonky, it falls on my shoulders. The problems that arise and the balance that it takes to lead the team is a balancing act that I’m still figuring out.

I take a lot of inspiration from one of our Advisors, Ashanti Blaze-Hopkins. As a leader, she projects strength and grace — and as I get to know her and spend more time in the off moments with her, I see first hand that she is a woman empowered. I couldn’t fathom writing this ‘LEditor’ without mentioning her powerful opinion piece that got the attention of Governor Gavin Newsom himself, and propelled him to sign Senate Bill 98.

The bill itself protects journalists covering ‘protests and civil unrest’. A previous version of the bill was vetoed by Newsom last year. Yet on October 9, 2021, Newsom signed SB 98, just weeks after the opinion piece was published. Ashanti had only a few hours to write it, and 600 words to say something that could make a change. Even with those limitations, she accomplished exactly what she set out to do.

To have the opportunity to learn from her, and watch as these changes are enacted feels like I’m watching a version of history that I’ve always wanted to be a part of. (Gloria Steinem’s bra burning protest, I’m looking at you.)

This history unfolding and these changes being enacted by ‘everyday’ people shows that change is a part of our daily life, and it is up to us to not only make said change, but to choose to be on the right side of it. Or not.

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