NEIU Independent

The Independent is currently on pause until April 14 as our team focuses on rebuilding, training new members, restructuring, and finalizing key documents to better serve our community. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming very soon. Stay tuned!

During this Spring Break, NEIU students, including members of the Student Media Board (The Independent), went on Alternative Spring Break Trips (ASB) to either Oklahoma, Tennessee, or Arizona. The mission was to serve the community, whether it involved cultural immersion, civil rights, or immigration.

Dan, former News Editor & current Staff Writer for The Independent, & MaKynna, the Treasurer for the Student Media Board, went to Arizona near the U.S.–Mexico border. The trip involved learning about immigration & border control, crossing into Mexico, witnessing the conditions many undocumented immigrants face, & observing the courthouse setting where families await their verdicts.

Simona, the Social Media Manager for The Independent, traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to learn about the Civil Rights Movement and participate in service work. Along with her group, she visited the Civil Rights Museum, where Martin Luther King Jr. was famously assassinated. The trip also included volunteering at food pantries and homeless shelters, as well as gardening and planting in the community.

Dennis, the Student Media Coordinator/ Advisor, went to Oklahoma to connect with the Cherokee Nation & the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. This involved speaking with local community members, volunteering, & becoming culturally immersed in their history and traditions. He also visited Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Chief Egunwale Amusan spoke about the Tulsa Race Massacre, during which the once-thriving “Black Wall Street” in the Greenwood neighborhood was destroyed by white mobs, with planes reportedly dropping incendiary devices, leaving generational economic & social impacts.

These trips that NEIU provides teach us valuable lessons about the power of humanity, history, & the forgotten injustices that need to be remembered, so history does not repeat itself or, when it does, we as the next generation can recognize these patterns and call out the injustices. They make us better leaders and advocates, especially since the theme of the Student Media Board is community & advocacy. These trips reflected our mission and purpose.

What journalistic movie should "The Independent" showcase? Help us decide by voting in the polls below. Polls close in a week!

Shattered Glass (2003, dir. Billy Ray, 94 min) A rising reporter builds his career on deception until other journalists expose the truth, showing the consequences of losing integrity.

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005, dir. George Clooney, 93 min) A newsroom stands up to political power, highlighting the importance of ethical journalism and speaking truth despite pressure.

Broadcast News (1987, dir. James L. Brooks, 133 min) Journalists struggle with ambition and ethics as entertainment begins to shape the news and challenge the role of truth.

His Girl Friday (1940, dir. Howard Hawks, 92 min) Reporters chase a major story, showing the power of journalism and the risks of crossing ethical lines.