In This Issue

“In 1963, Malcolm X gave a speech in the wake of the assassination of JFK. The speech was titled “Roosting Chickens” in which, he responded to grief over the president’s murder, and referred to the concept of the “Imperial Boomerang” theory as expressed previously by Aime Cesaire in his writings on European colonialism. He said “I don’t think anybody here would deny that when you send chickens out in the morning from your barnyard, those chickens will return that evening to your barnyard, not your neighbor’s barnyard… the chickens that he sent out, the violence that he’s perpetrated in other countries, here and abroad… I think this same violence has come back to claim one of their own.”

“As I am preparing to enter my 3L year as a part time evening student next semester, I’ve found myself reflecting on how much has changed for me since I first stepped into UIC Law with a casebook in one hand and imposter syndrome in the other. 

Let’s be real: law school final exams are stressful. They’re designed to test not just what you know, but how well you can organize, argue, and analyze under intense time constraints. It’s easy—natural, even—to start believing that your self-worth is somehow tethered to your GPA, your class rank, or the number of hypos you can conquer in one sitting. 

It’s not.”

“Defamation! Libel! Slander! Personally, I love to throw these words around any time my friends say something, jokingly, about me that I want to oppose. And recently, the surge of high profile defamation lawsuits has them asking more and more about these and the differences in the claims, if there is one at all. Cases like the Justin Baldoni/Blake Lively case, Drake suing his own record label, and Johnny Depp/Amber Heard have brought defamation to the front of the public eye, but what is defamation and why does it seem to be growing in “popularity?” And is the rise in cases about actual harm or just hurt feelings?”

““We are so proud of you.” 

Those are my favorite words to hear from my parents after I tell them about my accomplishments because I know they truly mean it. In many ways, I am so lucky to have the support system I do, but the statistics of getting to where I am today were always against me. I am a first-generation student in both attaining a college degree and a law degree. While I am so honored to carry the title of being first-generation, (or popularly just called “first-gen”), it can be difficult to break glass ceilings.”

“By now, most people have heard that Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have launched a political movement they’ve coined the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. On its face, the movement is bold and unapologetic: Bernie and AOC are condemning the current administration’s treatment of working class Americans with fiery quotes like “You know who the biggest criminals are in this country? They are the CEOs of major corporations who are robbing us every single day.” Honestly, I couldn’t agree more. But rhetoric is one thing, an action plan is another.”

“education system. 

“The mission of Professor Watchlist is to expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom. Professor Watchlist is a carefully aggregated list sourced by published news stories detailing instances of radical behavior among college professors.” 

The published news stories in question are derived from such notoriously reputable sources as CampusReform.org (“A conservative watchdog ... [exposing] leftist bias and abuse on... college campuses...”); the Washington Free Beacon (“a privately-owned, for-profit online newspaper ...” which purports to publish stories that the “mainstream media” is too afraid to publish. The Beacon prominently features a list of “Men of the Year,” typically consisting of trans and nonbinary women in politics); and the notoriously neutral Fox News. Some profiles merely copy-and-paste the educators’ bios from their respective websites, absent any commentary aside from one or more designated labels of indictment: Violence, Socialism, Racial Ideology, Protests, LGBTQ, DEI, COVID-19, Corruption, Climate Alarmist, Antisemitism, Anti-Law Enforcement, Anti-2nd Amendment, Anti-1st Amendment, Anti-Judeo-Christian values, Feminism, Abortion, Sexualization, and Antifa. Additionally, the Watchlist invites visitors to participate in the fight against “China infiltrating our college campuses.” While UIC has apparently evaded accusations of colluding with communists, the website calls out Chicago Public Schools for perpetuating “Communist China’s” influence on high schoolers.”

“Political philosopher Karl Popper coined “the paradox of tolerance” as follows: tolerance of the intolerant is ultimately self-defeating as the latter will inevitably take advantage of being tolerated to gain the upper hand, and eventually abolish tolerance. Popper uses Egypt and the United States as case studies to examine the dangers of excess. 

In Egypt, Popper notes that while democratically elected, Mohamed Morsi (the 5th President of Egypt) fostered an increasingly repressive administration. Morsi was eventually removed by the military with initial public support of pro-democracy Egyptians. However, the military soon turned authoritarian; thus, the justified intolerance, that of Morsi, paved the way for excessive tolerance, that of the military, ultimately undermining constitutionalism.”

• Which ice cream flavor are you?

• What does your favorite Bluebook rule say about you?

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All About Sierra Osowski