Cover of "Black Student Magazine," created by middle school and high school students
Courtesy Black Student Magazine
Where can you read a profile on the volunteer community work of former Portland Trail Blazer CJ McCollum, a QA with Oregon author Anya Pearson, reflections on individuality in Portland fashion, and a first hand description of what the last two years have been like for students during the COVID-19 pandemic? Those articles and more are published in the new “Black Student Magazine,” written by middle school and high school students who were mentored by undergraduates at the University of Oregon. UO senior Jael Calloway mentored Alex Fredrickson, a sophomore at Battle Ground High School. They join us to share more about the experience and the magazine itself, as well as UO associate professor Ed Madison, who also heads the Journalistic Learning Initiative the project came out of.
This transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.
Dave Miller: From the Gert Boyle studio at OPB this is Think Out Loud. Where can you read a profile of former Portland Trailblazer, CJ McCollum, an interview with Oregon playwright and actor Anya Pearson, reflections on Portland fashion, and the first hand description of what the last two years have been like for students during the pandemic? In the new issue of Black Student Magazine. It is written by middle and high school students from Oregon and southwest Washington. They were mentored by undergraduates at the University of Oregon. We’re going to turn now to three people who made this happen. Alex Fredrickson is a sophomore at Battle Ground High School. She is one of the writers. Jael Calloway is a senior at the University of Oregon and the editor-in-chief of the Magazine. Ed Madison is an associate professor at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and executive director of the Journalistic Learning Initiative.
Jael Calloway, I want to start with you and what you started with in your introduction to this new issue. Why did you take on being editor-in-chief of this magazine, given everything else you already have on your plate as a college senior and a busy journalism student?
Jael Calloway: I absolutely love when people ask me that question because my life is crazy and a lot of questions get met with a lot of crazy answers. But this answer has always been straightforward for me. Simply, I did not have this as a middle school or high school student. To be able to bring this to African american students was absolutely a dream come true. I have struggled for so long trying to feel like I belong in really any field that I chose growing up. And now that I’m in journalism, it’s, it’s even more important to me to give students and give other journalists of color a place where they feel like they belong, a place where they see people that look like them, that speak like them, that have the same experiences as them - that feeling of ‘oh my gosh, I do belong here’ was everything.
Miller: When you say you didn’t have this when you were in middle school or high school. What exactly is that “this”?
Calloway: It’s representation for me. And having an opportunity to represent my own self. I started as a psych major and after failing miserably on my very first big exam, I realized exams are not for me. But how else was I going to be able to help people and journalism popped up. And that was not an option for me growing up. I didn’t really see a lot of African american journalists. I didn’t know a lot of African american people in media. So to be able to give this magazine to African american students, that’s what I didn’t have and I’m so glad I was able to give them this opportunity.
Miller: Alex Fredrickson, what made you want to participate in this magazine?
Alex Fredrickson: I think I kind of had the same goals as Jael. And [I had] a feeling like this is a place I belong - and a place where my voice can be heard.
Miller: Your article in this new issue is a Q&A with a woman named Anya Pearson, Portland-based writer and actor and playwright and poet. How did you decide to focus on her?
Fredrickson: I decided to focus on her because I have known Anya for a huge part of my life. I’ve always looked up to her and the things she’s accomplished really inspire me.
Miller: Were you able to learn more about this person you’ve known for, as you say, a lot of your life because you had the professional license, in a sense, to ask her questions?
Fredrickson: Yes. Interviewing her definitely gave me more of an insight as to how she thinks and how her life has played out, especially being a Black woman and going into playwriting and such.
Miller: What do you think you learned most from the interview?
Fredrickson: I think Anya really opened my eyes to the fact that it’s not going to be all a struggle and that I do deserve a place where I want to be. And I do deserve to be heard and she really stressed that.
Miller: I want to hear more about your experience interviewing her and writing for the magazine. And also the relationship you developed with Jael who I understand was your mentor on this. But as I noted, Ed Madison is with us as well. He is the executive director of the Journalistic Learning Initiative and a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at the UofO. And how did this magazine come to be?
Ed Madison: You know, it’s interesting listening to Jael and Alex. My experience was quite different. Many, many years ago my dad was a trailblazing journalist, my mom was a teacher, and so I maybe took for granted some of the benefits of just having a journalistic lens to look at things can have for kids. It turns out that you know what the very expectations that you know colleges and employers have today benefit from some of the skills that come with journalism - the ability to write well, to synthesize information, to advocate for your ideas. And so that’s why the work that we do is about supporting kids in developing those skills so they can be more successful in life.
Miller: So that’s journalism broadly. But why make a magazine?
Madison: Well, we saw it as an opportunity to amplify and empower voices that are really often not heard in our communities. The outgrowth of this truly started with Lane Education Service District and some funds that came from the state. Oregon has realized that there are disparities. So there was a bill that created something called the African American Black Students Successful Plan. And we initially started here in Lane County with some of those funds. And then through support from other grantors like the Meyer Memorial Trust and Oregon Cultural Trust and a whole list of other funders we’ve been able to expand it significantly this year, to include students from up and down the I-5 corridor, but mostly Portland, Eugene and southwest Washington.
Miller: Jael, how do you think this opportunity was different than writing for a newspaper?
Calloway: I think one of the main things that stuck out was in the early days. Before we even had the students pitch their stories [or] reach out to contacts we would bring in other journalists of color to come talk with them. We recorded the sessions, it started at 3:30 and some students didn’t get out of school at that time. So we did record all of them and made sure to distribute them to both the teachers, administrators and to students themselves. But just having that time of sitting down and seeing, in person,another trailblazer, another person of color just kicking ass, honestly, in the world of media was I think a lot different.
You know, in the newsroom, you’re really focused on your story and focus[ed] on how to work as a team. But [being] introduced to other people outside of your media group,I think, was really special about this. Even before starting their stories they were able to talk to and get advice from other journalists of color.
Miller: And one of them was you right? You’re a senior there and you mentored a number of young writers, if I’m not mistaken, including Alex. Alex, how would you describe your mentor-mentee relationship with Jael?
Fredrickson: I think it was a very strong relationship. Jael’s really helped me a lot with not only getting my ideas ready and just her advice for brainstorming but how to structure our rough drafts. And she’s just been tons of help for me because this is my first experience getting an article written.
Miller: What’s an example of something that you think, in terms of craft, that you picked up from Jael?
Fredrickson: I think her method of writing a rough draft helped me immensely because Jael really pushed that you should just keep writing and kind of word vomit what you want to say. And then refine it, refine it, refine it.
Miller: How did you approach your mentorship relationships with these young journalists?
Calloway: Yeah. I started out by telling them I’m always available. I think having that open communication right off the bat was something I really wanted to hone in on. And I think it’s so important, especially in COVID where everything is online. These students have school online, homework online, maybe some clubs are online. And so it was really important for me to have that connection with them and to let them know [that] I know this is another thing online, but you know, I’m a real person. You’re a real person. Just keeping that line of communication open and making sure they felt comfortable coming with me with any questions, comments, even concerns that that line of communication was super, super important.
Miller: What were the challenges of doing this in the middle of a pandemic?
Calloway: As a student myself, I know how tiring looking at a screen can be. I would sometimes skip office hours because I would rather want to take a walk outside just to get away from the screen. So really making sure that this project for the students, especially, was something that they could see as not just another thing online. It was challenging but also kind of fun to try to work around.
We had raffles where students that were there would get Amazon gift cards. And we had temperature checks about what they felt they were doing fine on their stories or on getting their contacts and just making it really fun for them. But it definitely was a challenge at first to try to make it feel like not just another thing they have to be on the computer for.
Miller: We’re talking right now about Black Student Magazine. It’s a collaboration between journalism students at the University of Oregon and middle and high school students in Oregon and southwest Washington. We’re talking with Alex Fredrickson who wrote an article for the Magazine. She is a sophomore at Battleground High School. Jael Calloway is Editor-in-chief of the Magazine, a senior at the University of Oregon, and Ed Madison an associate professor at the UofO School of Journalism and Communication and also the Executive director of the Journalistic Learning Initiative. Ed there are ads in this magazine. I was curious how selling those ads worked?
Madison: We are blessed with a really great full time Director of Development and Philanthropy who reaches out to various corporate sponsors and then also with our foundation partners. We provided them just an acknowledgement through the form of an ad. We don’t necessarily call them ads but they’re full page acknowledgements of the contributions that those entities and organizations have provided us.
Miller: Alex Fredrickson, what do you most hope that readers will take away from this magazine?
Fredrickson: I think that young readers like I definitely took away that being Black isn’t fully a struggle and that we can get into these spaces that otherwise we feel like we couldn’t. And I think that Anya displaying all of her successes really,
I just want them to take away that being Black isn’t just mostly a struggle.
Miller: Is that not something that you knew before this? One of the things that Anya talks about is the importance of embracing and finding joy and being proud of every aspect of who she is. I guess it sounds like you’re saying that, to some extent, hearing her say that was a lesson for you?
Fredrickson: Yes, somewhat because where I’ve grown up, there’s really no Black people around and I’ve struggled a lot with my identity. Being able to relate to Anya to that and hear how she grew out of that kind of limbo of who she was, was really inspiring to me.
Miller: Do you intend to do more journalism?
Fredrickson: I believe so. This is my first time really diving into journalism and I found it was a wonderful experience.
Miller: Jael, I’m curious how this experience, because this was not your first experience with a big journalistic project, but I’m curious if this has made you think differently about what you want to pursue for your career? You are a senior.
Calloway: Yeah, absolutely. It definitely confirmed to me that I’m in the right space. Being an editor and being able to work with other people on one singular project was definitely right up my alley and it definitely is what I want to do. I think the only thing that really changed was that, maybe, after I graduate working with the youth might be more significant than it was before I started this project. Being able to help younger students be able to come into their own and to feel proud of themselves at a young age is, was really, really, really inspiring.
Miller: Ed Madison, where can people read copies of this new magazine?
Madison: An all-digital edition is available online at blackstudentmagazine.com. And printed publications are being mailed to specific zip codes. And we’re also doing drops at various after-school programs and actual schools, libraries mostly in the Portland metro and Eugene Springfield communities.
Miller: Will there be another issue?
Madison: Absolutely. We already have some funding in place and we’re already starting to work on some articles. And we’ll also be doing workshops and in-person, cross our fingers, opportunities for students in other parts of Oregon including southern Oregon. And we’ve got some relationships down there that we’re forming.
Miller: Ed Madison, Alex Fredrickson and Jael Calloway. Thanks so much.
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