Type Away Cait

photo credit: Facebook/WBNY 91.3 “Living 4 The People,” a radio program that offers a progressive analysis of political issues, airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on 91.3 WBNY-FM . Hosted by former executive director of the Community Action Organization of Western New York and former executive of Urban Think Tank, L. Nathan Hare, the show’s goal is to spark conversation and engage younger audiences. “For the college, you want our students to be exposed to as many new ideas and different ways of understanding ideas as possible, and that may not be as easily done in a classroom as we can do on our radio program,” he said. Hare finds that there are very few radio programs that offer a progressive analysis. “Most of the time radio programs are either sports or there are programs that are talking from a very right-winged or conservative point of view and very little that talks about things from a progressive point of view,” he said. “I’m always trying to figure ...

Airing today at 5 p.m. on 91.3 WBNY-FM and with all the discussion with Roe v. Wade , you won’t want to miss this episode about  “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry,”  a 2014 documentary film  produced and directed by Mary Dore, which showcases the leaders behind the women’s liberation movement from 1966 to 1971. This episode features Jennifer Ryan-Bryant, an English professor at the State University of New York College at Buffalo and former director of the women gender and sexuality studies interdisciplinary unit, who discusses further about the ways the women’s movement used language to promote equality for women in the workplace and their personal lives. This ranges from slogans they developed, speeches they delivered and an outpouring of creative works including poetry, comics and pamphlets. Ryan-Bryant, who is also the graduate coordinator for the Master of Arts program, teaches courses in American Poetry, the American novel, women and gender studies, Gender and ...

Visiting scholar Peng Zhuang presenting Buffalo State College Center for China Studies 22nd anniversary exhibit photo credit: Cait Malilay The State University of New York College at Buffalo's Center for China Studies celebrated its 22nd anniversary last week with exhibits in the Student Union and Butler Library. Because of the pandemic, as with many other school events, the center didn’t get an opportunity to celebrate their 20th anniversary. “Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we did some other kinds of activities like Chinese landscape painting and performances,” said Peng Zhuang, a visiting scholar from Xinxiang University. The mission of the center is “to promote and coordinate research, scholarly exchanges, academic programs and economic development with China,” as well as offer an international perspective to students, faculty, staff and the general community in Western New York. photo credit: Cait Malilay Zhuang has been in Buffalo for about a year and is originally from Henan,...

photo credit: Cait Malilay English department Chair Lisa Berglund launched a semiweekly book sale initiative this spring where all proceeds will benefit student and non-tenure faculty research and travel. The idea to start this fundraiser goes as far back as 2019. After Berglund’s mother passed away, she left thousands of books. “They were all over my dining room, and then I had this idea like, why not sell them and benefit the department?” she said. In addition to the 75 boxes, some retiree professors began donating their books once they heard about the initiative. After being open for a month, she sold about $150 worth of books. “Some people come back more than once. I can tell you, Dr. Mark Fulk is spending a lot of money,” she said. “He comes in like every two weeks and leaves with another five or six books!” There are many choices from mystery and detective novels to older fiction. English majors may wonder if some of the titles include those that we read in our classes, and the a...

“‘Conversations With Cait’ ep. 5: The Salem Witch Trials” is set to air on 91.3 WBNY-FM on Monday and April 4 at 5 p.m. This episode is on the depiction of women witches beginning with the historical 1692 Salem Witch Trials to Hollywood. A discussion with Rachel Christ, the Salem Witch Museum director of education, also touches on how capitalism takes advantage of the trend of modern-day witchcraft from crystal-healing to natural herbs. “Conversations With Cait” is a new podcast centered on the arts, culture and race and gender politics. Stay tuned for the episode recap! To stay up to date on articles and future episodes, follow @cait_malilay_writes on Instagram.

photo credit: Joseph Cumbo / The Buffalo State Record It’s been a little over a week since SUNY Buffalo State College was ordered to shelter-in-place after there was a nearby shooting outside of McKinley High School. Everything appears to be back to normal: students with their backpacks, the usual sound of the blender at Starbucks in Academic Commons and students rushing to their classes. The suspects may have been identified and it may feel like a lot of time has passed since then, but we mustn’t forget what we’ve learned from this experience. The Record had a chance to interview students on their experience and their thoughts on how the overall campus community was prepared. Katie Egan, a sophomore, was in her dorm in Tower One when she read the Buffalo State email alert and described that many students were acting as if nothing had happened. “I could see out the window that people had left our building. I was like, ‘Why are you leaving the building?’” she said. “I even went down to...

The screening of "The Neutral Ground: A Story About Sore Losers," which took place last Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Burchfield Penney Art Center as part of the  Beyond Boundaries: Dare to Be Diverse Screening and Discussion Series , was followed by a discussion panel with Chief of Staff to President Katherine Conway-Turner and State University of New York College at Buffalo Chief Diversity Officer Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney; John Torrey, a professor who holds a doctorate in philosophy and Mikaila Morgan, an Africana studies major. Directed by CJ Hunt, a field producer for The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, this first movie to launch the spring semester chronicles New Orleans’ fight over Confederate monuments and “America’s troubled romance with the Lost Cause.” “When we talk about racism and all these deeply embedded prejudices, they’re institutionalized, and when we talk about the way they’re in our institutions, it’s not just the statues,” said Ruth Goldman, an associate professo...

One of the GOP’s main focuses lately has been on education. They’re on the hunt to ban books in an attempt to put a stop to critical race theory despite the fact there is little to no evidence that it’s taught in K-12 schools. In Tennessee, a school board banned “Maus,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin photo credit: AP Photo/Steve Helber Most recently, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin had an email hotline set up specifically for parents to address their concerns of what he called, “divisive concepts ,” including critical race theory. Democrats argue that this is an attack on education and that they are attempting to erase history. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis showed his support for the Parents Rights In Education , also known as the Don’t Say Gay Bill, which essentially prohibits “a school district from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels.” Florida Go...

Josiah Henson, photographed in Boston, 1876 Saladin Allah , the third-great grandson of the Underground Railroad freedom seeker whom Harriet Beecher Stowe used as the primary narrative for her famous 19th century novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ” joined “Conversations With Cait,” where he shared his ancestor’s history. A bestselling novel, Stowe received a lot of criticism from the public as it was one of the first books that addressed the horrors of slavery. In fact, what most people don’t know, according to Allah, is that she wrote a second book called, “A Key To Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which lists all of the references that she used, and it is in this book where she mentions Josiah Henson’s name. “He was a forerunner for the Underground Railroad, which essentially means when he made his journey from the South to the North. Harriet Tubman, her name was Araminta at the time, she was still a child on a plantation,” Allah said. “He left the south of Kentucky in about 1830 and he made that jour...

photo credit: Atlantis Build / Twitter  Tune in tomorrow at 5 p.m. on 91.3 WBNY-FM for “Conversations With Cait,” for a discussion with Saladin Allah, the third-great grandson of underground railroad Freedom Seeker Josiah Henson whom Harriet Beecher Stowe used as the primary narrative for her famous 19th century novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” In this episode, he shares the story of his third-great grandfather and as an educator, discusses the importance of acknowledging our histories, the future of the youth and education getting mixed up in the game of politics. Stay tuned for the recap article! For updates, follow @cait_malilay_writes on Instagram.

Islamophobia is nothing new and it is especially apparent today in Congress. In November, a video surfaced of Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado making anti-Muslim remarks about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minn. at a Conservative party in September.  She referred to Omar as a member of the “Jihad Squad,” and said that she felt safe since Omar didn’t have a backpack with her, referring to her as a suicide bomber. In mid-December, The House approved the Combating International Islamophobia Act , which addresses the rise in incidents of Islamophobia.  This bill “requires the U.S. State Department to create a Special Envoy for monitoring and combating Islamophobia and include state-sponsored Islamophobic violence and impunity in the Department's annual human rights reports,” according to a press release. It will also “help policymakers better understand the interconnected, global problem of anti-Muslim bigotry” and initiate "a comprehensive strategy for establishing U....

photo credit: Yu and Me Books / Instagram The owner of Yu and Me Books, the first New York City-based bookstore owned by a female Asian-American , said that the censorship of books  in Texas school libraries by Republican lawmakers is “ridiculous and terrible.” Lucy Yu, who just opened up her bookstore a month ago, sells many books that highlight stories of immigration. “This has always been a dream of mine, and I wanted to see stories on the wall reflect immigrant experiences similar to mine,” she said in an email. “A large reason why I wanted to create my space is to make sure these voices are heard.” Yu is just one of many who are concerned how this censorship will impact the younger generation. A group of librarians who call themselves the #FReadom fighters launched the grassroots initative,  #FReadom , to raise awareness of the state's actions and bring school librarians together. “Not having easy access to marginalized voices can really skew a younger person's perspectiv...

Texas Republican lawmakers are on the hunt to take down books in school libraries that center on race, the LGBTQ+ community and sexual health. In a letter to the executive director of the Texas Association of School Boards, Gov. Greg Abbott urged them to be on the lookout for any books that he described as containing "pornographic or obscene material,” arguing that parents have a right to be concerned. photo credit: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo Matt Krause, chair of the Texas House's General Investigating Committee, created a list and in a letter to the Texas Education Agency's deputy commissioner of school programs and school superintendents, encouraged them to keep an eye out for any books that might generate “discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of [a student’s] race or sex.” New Kid  by Jerry Craft is one of the 850 books on Matt Krause's list In response , a group of librarians started the grassroots initiative, #F...

Last month, I had the opportunity to interview the president of Turning Point USA Buffalo State chapter, a conservative-leaning organization that has yet to be officiated by USG, on his thoughts on Critical Race Theory and what Turning Point USA is. In my last article , I wrote, “More to come on this topic soon!” Here is part two of that interview. Alexander Kolasny said that he was very hesitant when he made the decision to launch a State University of New York College at Buffalo chapter of TPUSA. “I did not know what kind of reaction or reception I would get. I’m like, I don’t want to lose the respect of my professors, [or] some of my friends,” he said. photo credit: Tampa Bay Times / Michaela Mulligan Kolasny described that he was relieved to attend the 7th annual Student Action Summit, which is an event held by TPUSA that features conversative public figures such as Donald Trump Jr, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “There were people there of...

"Conversations With Cait," a new podcast that centers on the arts, culture and race and gender politics, is set to air on  91.3 WBNY-FM  on Monday at 7:30 a.m. Don't have time to tune in? "Conversations With Cait" is now available on YouTube  and SoundCloud . Here's a recap of episode one. For the first episode, published fiction and poetry author Kayla King  shared with listeners her journey as a writer and more about her two collectives, “Pages Penned In Pandemic,” and “The Elpis Pages,” both of which are collections of poetry, short stories, flash fiction, essays and more.  All proceeds from “The Elpis Pages,” according to King, will be donated to Planned Parenthood Action Fund , an organization which helps protect access to safe, legal abortion and reproductive rights. What's the story behind these two collectives? For “Pages Penned in Pandemic,” she began a featured interview series in summer 2020. photo credit: Golden Rose Creative “I was really...

photo credit: Tedesco Knows Best / Facebook Thomas Tedesco and Connor Best, the founders of the band, Tedesco Knows Best , have been friends for a little over 10 years since elementary school. “From being friends, we discovered our mutual love for rock music,” Tedesco said. Their very first performance together as a duo was in 2017 at Sal Maglie Stadium in Niagara Falls as a part of the annual Summer Fest at the Sal event. Tedesco Knows Best recently expanded with two additional members: Cam Lord on drums and Collin Lacki on keyboard and back-up vocals. “All Around Us,” their new four-song EP that was released last April, was recorded, engineered and produced last Fall at Arkwright Loft Studio by Lord, who they were first introduced to by Lacki. “We pride ourselves in original material, but it was a matter of finding the right time, the right place to record these songs and get them into the way that we envisioned them,” Tedesco said. The original recording of their music was just the...

SUNY Buffalo State College alumna and fiction and poetry author Kayla King will be hosting a book launch party for “ The Elpis Pages ,” a collective that explores “the nuanced complexity of womanhood,” on Friday, Dec. 10 at Project 308 Gallery in North Tonawanda from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. photo credit: Golden Rose Creative King, a 2013 graduate of Buffalo State College's writing program and the founder and editor-in-chief of this collective along with “ Pages Penned In Pandemic ,” shared that this book brings together poetry, short stories, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, essays and more from self-identifying women worldwide. “I’ve seen so much strength and courage in the work that I received and allowing those women to speak up and giving them a platform has been the greatest honor,” she said in a virtual zoom meeting. The event that really encouraged her to put this collective together was the passing of the Texas abortion law, also known as Senate Bill 8. “That first day I was j...