Category: Stories

Accepting and validating different kinds of grief is a necessary step to dealing with this pandemic.

By: Mili Mansaray, Washington Square News.

This situation is unprecedented. Since December 2019, the coronavirus has devastated the globe, rampaging country after country at an exponential rate and bringing life as we know it to a standstill. Globally, drastic measures have been taken to combat the spread of the virus. Major concerts, sporting events and festivals have been cancelled or postponed. Many have transitioned to working from home and making social distancing the new norm. Still, COVID-19 has managed to strain healthcare systems and shut down the city that never sleeps. This discontinuation of everyday life has resulted in loss for all kinds of people and it is essential to grieve all of them in order to move on.

Being a senior near graduation can be hard. Hear one writer’s take on why you shouldn’t worry.

By: Mili Mansaray, Washington Square News.

Senior year of college, for many reasons, is a gruelling experience. Most likely, this isn’t the first time that seniors have heard that the final stretch of undergrad is taxing. Difficult, nerve-wracking, unparalleled, heartbreaking, insightful; the list goes on, and all are true.

The projection of college students into the real world is a journey that is often accompanied by various mental hardships. Balancing multiple demanding classes, having a job, seeking a job and extracurriculars all while on very little sleep and coasting by while financially unstable is already an everyday process for many. In fact, one in five college students battle anxiety or depression and over 40% of students said they felt too depressed to properly function day-to-day.

An onslaught of people awaits anyone that steps off the elevator into the fifth floor of NYU’s Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life. To the left of the entrance a line spills out of the main room and into the corridor. Just before the entrance is a space lined with racks of shoes on the walls and floor. Muslims must be clean when they pray, therefore it is commonplace to take shoes off before entering any space in which prayer will take place, according to Islam Question and Answer.  

Inside, about 25 people squeeze together on each side of four long blue plastic sheets, with two people on each end. Men laugh, women, many with their heads covered and many without, hug,children chatter and babies crawl. All discuss in comradery over their plates, smiling, nodding and chewing. Two lines for food  wrap along the room, encasing the festivities in the middle. On the menu is rice, baked chicken, lentils, naan bread, chopped fruit and salad. This is iftar, the meal Muslim eat to break fast, hosted by NYU’s Islamic Center, or ICNYU.

As an institution, New York University has taken many steps in order to be more Muslim inclusive, Lipton dining hall was certified fully halal last year, but both the university and its Muslim community can further themselves in terms of inclusion, according to students and Islamic Center faculty alike.

The stereotypes surrounding black women make it impossible to feel our emotions the same way our white counterparts do.

By: Mili Mansaray, Washington Square News.

New York is exhausting, college is distressing and life is heartbreaking. We all know this. Life’s highs and lows can bring you to the peak of ecstasy or drive you to the point of depression. If Johnny doesn’t get his dream job, or if his sports team loses, we allow him to be upset.

But imagine a woman that is not in the business of smiling for strangers on the street. And if the woman conserving her emotional availability is black, the image is almost unfathomable. Black women being forced to repress their emotions reinforces a negative stereotype stemming from racism and sexism, one that we need to dismantle.

Sol Sips, a tiny vegan restaurant hidden away in Bushwick, is popular with customers coming from all over New York City due to its homey atmosphere and affordable pricing.

“There is definitely a cultural aspect here,” Anisa Matthews laughs over her Chick’n Biscuit Sandwich. The most popular menu option, the sandwich includes fried mushrooms slathered in a fresh strawberry jam. Overhead, the speakers gently entrench the tiny space with RnB music while customers sip on cups of complementary lavender infused alkaline water, a glass pitcher placed atop all three tables. “You can see them making the food in the back, you can smell the kitchen, you see who they are,” she says. “It all reminds you of your  aunts and your grandma making food in the kitchen.” Matthews travelled about 40 mins from Soho to eat at Sol Sips after hearing about it on Facebook. This is not uncommon, as the restaurant is frequented by customers from various ends of New York City, many of them having seen the restaurant on social media.

“I live quite far away, so I usually come on the weekends or if I get off of work early,” says Taylre Nwambuonwo. Her job alone is about a 30 minute train ride to the restaurant. Nwambuonwo encountered a post about the owner on Instagram, and since then has returned five times. “The food is great and it’s black owned and woman owned and I’d travel even further for that,” she says.

Opened in April 2017, Sol Sips  was founded by 22-year-old college student Francesca Chaney. The young entrepreneur was raised by a vegan mother, and after moving out, she began living off of home-made fruit juices, eventually selling them, according to a profile done by Elle.com. Her endeavour became popular, and thus, Sol Sips was born. Located on 203 Wilson Ave., the menu contains various vegan dishes ranging from $8-$13 and freshly made fruit smoothies and juices, priced from $6.50-$9. The wellness community can be really classist,” Chaney told Essence. With her restaurant, where she is also the main cook, she seeks to make vegan meals more accessible to underprivileged communities.