N Good evening everyone and welcome to the first black voters matter policy corner of 2024 where we are about to dive into this messy ongoing fight for our educational sovereign and autonomy and how this shapes education for the foreseeable future this is a continuation of sorts if you will from
Last year around critical race Theory and band on black history uh we had quite a bit of thought Pro thought-provoking discussions on this so-called war on woke tonight we will hear firsthand how students and faculty are being impacted by the latest assaults on higher education via these Dei bans hostile takeovers of HBCU
Boards right-wing Leed School closure threats and the larger implications of last year’s Supreme Court decision to eliminate affirm affirmative action as always black voters matter is a safe space for our righteous rage and we have a dynamic panel for you all tonight so let’s get into it I’ll pass the mic over
To my colleague and sister in the movement space Anisha Hardy she wears many hats but I know her best through her work as the executive director of Alabama values Pro Alabama vales progress Anisha the floor is all yours thank you Ryan and and the black voters matter family for inviting me to
Ground us before we take off um into this timely and critical discussion around the alarming Trends um of attacks against diversity equity and inclusion um happening across the country but particularly across the South now these attacks are not isolated incidents but are part of a broader pattern that seeks
To undermine the progress made you know um I’ve been saying lately that this isn’t just policymaking um this is a war against progress uh this is a war against Justice um this is a war against us so let’s be clear the assault on you know Dei is a direct assault on the very
Essence of our Humanity um you know Community uh it is a calculated move to uphold white supremacy uh and to further marginalize and disenfranchised black indigenous people of color communities you know these attacks are aimed at erasing uh the acknowledgement of systemic racism and the need for intentional um actions to dismantle it
Um and you know and when I say that these aren’t isolated um or coordinated you know um attacks here’s what I mean let’s look at the receipts y’all so in Alabama we have you know Senate Bill 129 which was signed into law by Governor K
Ivy and it just seeks to get rid of the ability of public colleges to promote and maintain Dei initiatives um by Banning Dei offices and programs um you know it is you know this law is a blatant attempt to whitewash our educational system uh you know it is
Truly absurd to label discussions about race discrimination and Equity um as divisive uh Concepts you know especially when we consider the very Foundation of this country the United States was supposedly built on the principles of Liberty and Justice right but yet you know its history is deeply marred by the
Systemic oppression of black indigenous people color communities you know um to deny the importance of these conversations is to ignore the very live realities of millions of Americans in the ongoing struggle for equality you know it is you know this is just an attempt to erase the complexities of our
Past in present you know it’s still present people like to think that we’ve progressed right you know and to silence the voices calling for a more just and equable future you know and then in Texas you have Senate Bill 17 which has been signed into law um dismantles all
Diversity equity and inclusion programs at public institutions this law is a direct you know attack on the efforts to create a more inclusive and equable you know educational environment uh and then in Tennessee the recent decision to eliminate you know the Tennessee State Board along with the attempt attempted
Closure of Mississippi Valley State and the accreditation challenges faced by Sha University you know this represents a coordinated effort to undermine and attack HBCU you know these actions threaten the the safe spaces that HBCU provide you know for black students to learn and Thrive and um you know and
This this is part of of of a larger pattern you know that are attacking these type of Institutions um you know and in Florida the stop walk act and other legislation has you know led to the dismantling of Dei offices you know in programs and now I really don’t care
What they say when they’re on the floor debating these bad legislations you know and bills because you know however way they spend it these laws are not about promoting fairness and neutrality they are about entrenching inequality in society and silencing descent they are about maintaining a status quo that
Benefits the privilege few at the expense of many the whole color colorblind and race neutral arguments used to justify these laws are nothing but you know a smoke it’s nothing but a smokees screen to normalize lawful segregation and discrimination you know I believe that Dei is not a luxury it is
A necessity it is you know it is about acknowledging the historical and ongoing injustices that these commun face and as someone whose work focuses on narrative and messaging you know I would be remiss if I did not mention the fact the fact that you know what we are seeing is a
Trend um you know of the term Dei being weaponized in a very disingenuous narrative campaign to push forward legislation that is at its core anti- people of color these bills clothed in the guys of opposing Dei initiatives are you know not about fostering this unity and promoting you know meritocracy it’s
Instead you know it’s really aimed at you know to dismantle the very structures um to that that have been designed you know to address these historical injustices um that we face and so I am glad that we are having this conversation this evening um because you know as this legislation you know
Continues these type of legislations continue to pass we must not be complacent you know we must resist these regressive you know policies at every turn and we must continue to fight and one way to do so is to make sure that you know we amplify voices that are
Directly impacted by these policies that we make sure that we close the knowledge Gap around what’s happening because knowledge is power and one way to keep a group disempowered is to create barriers to information and you know and we must have these discussions in our spaces so that we can put out these
Counternarratives because who controls the narrative controls the power and so with that I will turn it over to our moderator for this evening and thank you all for you know for having me I encourage those who are watching to chime in whatever platform you’re looking at this on in the comment
Sections there will be a Q&A please put your questions you know in the chat uh you know this is this is us this is for us so let’s have let’s have this critical And Timely conversation this evening thank you hey what’s up everybody this is Dr West Bellamy from the Virginia State
University I think it’s really important that first and foremost we show some love to our black voters matter family you can give a virtual Round of Applause for them convening this quarterly talk and always answering the call and standing up for us like they always do
Now tonight I can assure you you know y’all thought the kickoff was dope doc bought the fire but I’m telling you this conversation by not only some of the leading uh student activists and leaders in the country but also some of the thought leaders in the country about
This topic specifically you know WTF what the well we’ll leave it there what’s going on with diversity equity and inclus and I know you know we’re all hearing all of this stuff about this and about that but we are really looking forward to not only hearing from you but
From some of our panelists about exactly what it is that we have to do in order for us to move forward and again I know y’all see it the war on woke attacks on critical race Theory all these tools to normalize segregation and guys the color blind and this Roost this race neutral
Arguments we’re not having it and we’re going to speak up like we always do so I’m really really looking forward to this conversation and with that being said we’re gonna bring in some of our Dynamic panelists starting with the honorable uh lovely Incredible Dr Kimberly Brown pelum y’all give a
Virtual Round of Applause for Dr Brown pelum yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah next up we got the incomparable leader of incat you know I’m a little old I guess I’m a un now because I call North Carolina ENT just in and I heard it’s incat now uh
The the lovely and intelligent Miss kie rice what’s up Miss rice good to see you hello thank you all and definitely last but not least my main man from the TSU Tennessee State University y’all been causing some Havoc down there I heard y’all asking some folks to run y’all
Y’all money absolutely man respect to my dear brother uh future Sams Future Doctor Samson cook let’s give brother cook a round of applause virtual Round of Applause so yo I want to give y’all the opportunity to introduce yourself I’m from down south so we believe in
Ladies first let’s start you uh Dr Brown pum tell us a little bit about yourself oh you’re on mute you’re on mute my sister hi everyone thank you so much for having me this evening I look forward to hearing the views from the rest of our panel my name again is Kimberly Brown
Pelum I am born and raised in Montgomery Alabama which is both the home of the Confederacy and the Civil Rights Movement so there’s always attention and intersection there I am honored to teach at the highest of Seven Hills in Tallahassee Florida otherwise known as bamu thank you doc we really appreciate
You madam rice Madam future Dr Rice come on hello I am Kylie rice I am a junior honors political science student and I attend North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University the largest HBCU I’m from Roswell Georgia but I attend school in Greensboro North Carolina so I see both sides of the
Fight as well being from Georgia just seeing all the suppressive laws that sometimes happen over there and just being so close to Florida too we see what’s going on down in Florida specifically and I can’t wait to talk about that but I’m really excited and thank you all for having me here
Tonight thank you for joining us Doc and you know again my brother brother cook man let us know a little bit about yourself Cook brother good evening everyone I am Sam cook I’m a freshman political science major at King the illustrious Tennessee State University and I just like to
Express my gratitude for allowing me to um express my um concerns um about the uh the EI implications of the state government currently thank you so much no man thank you so much for joining us we really appreciate each of you and your contributions to this conversation
So let’s just get right into it um I’m gonna start with a couple of general questions uh for for each of you whomever would like to go first do you see the Dei bans or the war on woken attack on critical race Theory as tools to normalize segregation under the guys
Of color brine or race neutral arguments or s or excuse me or is segregation already a common experience um for students maybe at your institution or those who you may know at pwi and the like I can go ahead and start off the conversation so I think specifically
Like this policy concerning de it’s not something that’s new I don’t think this is something that all of a sudden just came about and just started impacting people I think this is just a new form of gim Crow laws like every time they start getting something they’re just
Going to change it into something new so whether it’s book bands whether it’s dni whether it’s critical race Theory they all have the same concept underlying which they’re threatened they’re threatened by the successes of black people they’re threatened by HBCU specifically because anent is 14,000 of the smartest brightest black students
Coming together in spaces like that scare a lot of other people I know we see the importance of HBCU but unfortunately that’s not seen in other sides of the argument unfortunately so I think it’s really important as students that we recognize that that it’s not just something that kind of came about
Just recently this is a tool this is to employ segregation to continue keeping us down in the system so yeah yeah well said brother cook what are your thoughts I totally agree I feel like that these Dei implications are used to segate our black students within our HBCU I feel
Like that um it’s more of a weapon not saying so it’s like um when we think about when we’re not using this the word like racism I feel like this is just a word to cover up their blatant racist attacks so I think it’s a blatant blunt
Weapon to um again um put us um down for okay okay drown pum what what are your thoughts the panelists are correct this isn’t new um you know I always ask folks in fact I was walking with a friend this morning and we’re both mothers and she shared some
Concerns about her child not having access to thoughtful and inclusive curriculum and I responded with when has the curriculum ever been inclusive and so I think a lot of the uh anti- dni efforts have to do with speaking to their voter base um and inciting fear among a broad population in order to
Again um excite those voters that would perhaps uh support the legislators who are supporting this kind of legislation yeah I I wanna I want to stick with you for this next question because I think you’re touching on something that is really interesting um and specifically from your perspective
And Vantage Point uh one being from Alabama uh the the home of the cap home of the Confederacy I think over in Virginia we call ourselves the capital of Confederacy and we’re trying to get rid of all of them uh there and Alik likee but being from Alabama and then
Currently teaching at fam um in your view how do anti-diversity laws impact the campus climate for students and faculty particularly in terms of academic freedom you know like open dialogue like overall learning environment how do these policies and their laws like impact that from your opin from your finish point so first and
Foremost I want to keep my job Governor DeSantis Hi how are you if you’re on the call so I’m gonna be careful in how I answer that question right but I mean again it’s not new um anybody who studies just a slice of our history specifically as it relates to the
Pursuit of Education knows that you know we can go all the way back to the enslavement period in bookert Washington who ultimately uh helps to establish the Tusk University while we’re talking about HBCU he talks about as a little boy his mother having to uh essentially
Steal a a reading book um so that she could teach her children literacy very early on so in terms of blocking access to education that is a very old story furthermore when you’re talking about an inclusive style of educating people that has never been a norm that that’s never
Been a norm uh for the nation uh in fact when we talk about the roots of black studies um that movement traces back to the 1960s when black college students began to challenge these prevailing academic Norms that overlooked the experiences and contributions of African-Americans and so the
Responsibility has always been on us to shift the system not the other way around okay yeah on something really fast in terms of the story that Dr PM just shared about just seeing yourself in like curriculum or seeing it in history books and stuff like growing up
I really never saw like we only hear about the same few names like Rosa Parks um Martin Luther King like it’s just never anyone new that ever gets brought to the table aren’t taught correctly yeah like we just never actually hear about substance like in terms of History like what did our
People do what did they do then what are they doing now we just ever we don’t ever hear anything about that and unfortunately we always have to do our own research and going to an HBCU you do have to hear your you do have to do your
Own research but we do thankfully get a little more discuss where we do kind of bounce off ideas and hear new names where we then do our own research they at least open the door but in terms of like straight curriculum we were never really there and unfortunately they’re
Trying to strip the little bit that we are so yeah and and I wanna I want to stick with you um Miss rice sun to be Dr Rice to that point in terms of I think what you just alluded to was really interesting about not being taught
Correctly and I and I heard Dr Brown pelum say yeah you know you just you were not taught correctly you were taught incorrectly which is accurate in in your um there’s a there’s a Synergy from my vantage point in your quest for knowledge similar to uh The Honorable
Brooker Washington I mean I know some of you may have read his book Up From Slavery and he talked about setting the clocks backward at the M yeah so he could go and and go to school and then still go and do his work and he did
Whatever he needed to in order to be able to to obtain his education and be able to learn so so for you miss rice and for you Mr cook for those like you two are already um and I’m speaking this into existence you two are already bound and destined
To do phenomenal things and you’re G to do you already are doing these things you’re you’re leading the culture you’re making impacts but for those who are coming behind you who also have not been taught correctly or who have been excluded from certain opportunities um what do you two believe that we should
Should be doing collectively for younger folks to ensure that they have the opportunities to be able to learn prior to getting to these institutions of of Higher Learning um I’m gonna say it starts at the home like it really starts where you’re raised at who you’re raised around those conversations that are
Started in the house are just so important so I think as a collective we need to be educating students really early on about their rights what they should be doing in their off time because as much as they’re scrolling on Tik Tock and stuff they need to pick up
A book too so it’s just about educating our own selves encouraging the people who come after us to educate their own themselves as well and we also have to kind of open the door for people to come after us too so whenever I talk to students prospective students
Specifically about an I’m telling them ways that they can get money ways that they can get involved in the community ways to really get your foot in the door at Auntie because it’s not about me it’s about who will come after me and I really want that door to stay open for
Hundreds of thousands of students to come after me once I graduate well said well said brother cook what are your thoughts absolutely uh I 100% agree with Miss rice but I also would say that we as a collective I believe it’s Our obligation to serve our community as
Well I believe that it is us to is our duty for us to share the knowledge that we know with the younger generation so I believe doing talk shows like this is very very essential I feel like um just getting in their faces is is essential
And I feel like that we just need to continue to push out the word that these things are happening that these issues are prevalent and so again yeah I believe that we should encourage the youth to get involved with these type of issues early yeah yeah you know one of
The things um that I I loved hearing you two talk about one in terms of it starts at the home it starts early and brother cook saying you know the collective I often challenge my students um so I used to the the vice mayor Virginia and now Ser as the political science department
Chair of Virginia state we of often challenge uh our students about who’s going to take on the task of doing the community work and what happens when the parents who also haven’t had the opportunity or the ability to be able to learn these things because it wasn’t taught to them and
They’re just trying to work and or survive because the systems that we have in our communities are not often advantageous for us those of us who have this knowledge and those who those of us who have aspired and ascended to certain levels we have an obligation to give our time our
Talent and our treasure to our community so I was really really pleased to hear uh both of you um touch on that and and kudos to you for sure um Dr pelm Brown I want to come and ask you another question one that that is not going to
Jeopardize uh your your job because you know I I see all those books back there and I’m sure they not free um and You Gotta Eat Right so in Florida uh specifically what are some things in which you believe that our listeners or the persons uh who may even be on this
Panel or colleagues who may be tapping in at a later time what can we do to support efforts on the ground in Florida in terms of educating our communities um and ensure that you know again we’re combating Dei in our own way or not combating de Dei but ensuring that our
Folks have access to De so it’s always been Community centered anytime that anytime throughout history that we’ve seen success for ourselves it’s always been a result of the many and not the few right and so when we talk about access to education in general uh for instance in the state
Of Alabama oftentimes when we talk about um the history of HBCU the primary narrative that we’re given is that white philanthropist are responsible for the early rise of historically black colleges and that’s just not true uh specifically for ASU for Tuskegee for uh Florida A&M uh you’re talking about
Formerly enslaved black folks who came together in community and decided that education was going to be the route uh that changed the trajectory of their lives the Mary and nine uh were nine um formerly enslaved indiv individuals who ultimately founded the Lincoln normal school in Maran Alabama they scraped up
$500 to establish a school that would provide education to black folks in the post- Civil War era um I don’t have to tell y’all about the founding of Tusk and that’s not to say that uh White philanthropy was not involved but they were not at the center of black folks
Who exercised their own agency and changing the outcome of their lives and the definition of freedom for themselves and the same thing is true for FAMU and our founding um it was black men who met at a what was called a colored Men’s Conference in Jacksonville Florida and
They decided then right this is 1887 we were founded they decided then that no we don’t need to consider Destin we don’t need to consider Tampa we don’t need to consider Jacksonville as where we set up shot we will do so in Tallahasse because it is the seat it is
The legislative seat of the state and we know because of who we are because of what we represent um as African descent people we need to be in front of those people who make laws that will influence ultimately the outcomes of our lives and so they they establish FAMU and
Tallahassee and we have been engaged um in in in we have been contesting uh state government ever since uh when you talk about duplication laws you mentioned earlier um Tennessee state right and uh getting is just due in terms of State Provisions right uh we can see that across the country um
University of Maryland versus University of Maryland Eastern Shore which is the black campus uh right uh said fam you just engaged in some uh in a in illegal battle with the state of Florida night versus the state of Alabama is the infamous case whereby the they actually
Settled and admitted um that it had been underfunding uh historically black colleges for um decades so this issue again is an old one um that is my way of saying that it has always been Community it has always been many of us um to step up and teach one another share knowledge
Exchange in wisdom uh when you talk about uh Carter G Woodson and the establishment of what we now know as Black History Month that came out of his work uh his vision um and his Partnerships really with churches sororities fraternities and other black historians who had and maintained I
Think that’s so important not only did they have connections to to community but they maintained connection to community so what is the point in calling me doctor you doctor or anybody else um given those titles if we can’t find ways to channel um that knowledge to
Those folks around us so I I think it’s always been Community Center yeah and and and I wanna I want to segue and I don’t want to labor or stay on this point for too long but you said so much that I would love to unpack just a
Little bit no no no no no no it was it was great um but what instantaneously came to mind or I think what consistently came to mind uh as you were talking was these these stories about our foundations that show the tenacity and the resilience of our people that far
Too many of us do not know and I guess a follow-up question to you Dr Brown pelum if if you if you could indulge us and educate us some more because I feel like I’m in class and and I’m I’m thirsting to listen uh how do we and I understand
You know we have to go from a community aspect but how do we get more of these stories again about our foundations out how do we tell and talk more about about again like like our starts for so many of the barar rocks of our institutions I think it’s just about
Collabor collaboration and we don’t have any excuse right because when we talk about Dr Winston we talking turn of the century we’re talking 1920 there is no Instagram there is no email and these black folks are figuring out ways to literally publish popularized and legitimize material related to the black
Past and they’re doing so successfully so much so that Dr Woodson even uh threatens to cancel Black History Month that one he said y’all ain’t taking it serious enough y’all only call my office during February this is yearlong work so I I I I think it’s absolutely possible I
Think we need to as the young people say put some respect on on uh these uh black folks who have uh historical knowledge there are so many both professionally trained uh African-American historians and so many Grio in our community uh so it can be as simple as um making sure
That collaborations take place between historians like me and maybe I don’t know the the the marketing dude on campus to make sure that you know we’re connected to the local YMCA we’re connected to the to the youth center and it can also be something as simple as making sure that you record your
Grandmother when she speaks you know she’s teaching you um so I I think if we can get past uh some of the smoke related to a and I don’t mean to suggest that um these anti-dna efforts are not real they they very much so are um but
What is also real is our record of self-determination and saving ourselves and so if we could get past some of the smoke of what we’re seeing now and sort of um spend some time appreciating what we’ve already done and maybe explore some ways to continue to do that I think the blueprint is
There thank you thank you for that I I really I think we all can attest that we really appreciate you sharing that um so we have another student leader uh my dear brother Justin Williams who’s going to be coming in and joining us where’s my man Justin Justin what’s up good
Brother how you doing all right man how you doing man tell us a little bit about yourself as you’re joining us okay um my name is Justin Williams I’m a sophomore political science major double minor in pre-law and public policy administration at the eminent tuo College in Jackson
Mississippi um I’m here to shed light on the Dei bands and things like that that just really holds us back in the state of Mississippi well let’s let’s jump into that really quickly we’ve been discussing this at length as well as uh some historical data and information so
So Justin you’re at talo the place that allegedly had the largest uh homecoming um out of all HBCU this year allegedly I don’t know about you know I don’t even know how y’all fit all them people at the school but that’s another story here or there but but in all seriousness down
Down in Mississippi there are some very regressive state laws and policies that are being passed that are uh uh tremendously impacting institutions like yours um can you tell us a little bit about what’s going on specifically in Mississippi and again how it’s impacting tulo um so from my knowledge um based on
All the three HBCU we were really affected just with the Senate Bill 2726 um it wasn’t directly targeting our school because we’re a private independent HBCU um however it was targeting our surrounding HBCU and State Jackson State all corn um Mississippi Valley State and the thing with that is
We’re not able to go over there and stay accustomed with our own culture and with Mississippi being the like I said one of the poorest states it’s hard to go over there and keep the same resources that we’re steady trying to build to pass down to the Next Generation and it’s
Somewhat we use it as a crutch and it’s like when the policy is put in place it’s taking everything away from us taking away all hope all strategy and all plans that we have for the future um with me being a first generation college student I’m still getting acclimated
With everything pertaining to policies laws and just simply College culture and so with me coming here I was able to gain a better mindset because I previously went to the University of Mississippi of pwi um while Ching there of course they had the resources they had all the opportunities but it wasn’t
Targeted specifically for black men with me being a black man the only black person and the only man in my major I felt out of place I wasn’t able to truly accept and understand the college life that I was experiencing but when I attended T College I was able to
Truly connect with my professors with my advisors and all and ever since I came here I was able to do the internships and take all those opportunities and I felt the policy that they were trying to put in place it was actually just ruining it for other black men and
That’s my true passion so yeah when it comes to it it’s like the same opportunities I’m being afforded I just think about my little brother who’s getting ready to come into college he won’t be afforded those same opportunities and I feel as a state of Mississippi we need more solidarity not
Only from my minori African-Americans but from all minorities and the major races well said well said you you you bring up a very interesting point that I love to hear from uh Miss rice and Mr cook about solidarity and ways in which we combat Dei i’ love to hear from your two
Perspectives Advantage points how can we use specifically black solidarity to combat some of these Dei policies that we see in these other places I say one specific strategy that I’ve employed on my campus is making things fun I know that black people we have to stay rooted in culture sometimes
For things to really pop off so the past um two national voter registration Day events at the campus I organized them to turn into block parties so we had meet the Greeks out there we had a little party going on we had giveaways we had free t-shirts we had free food so we
Have to keep the culture sometimes when we want stuff to keep going and going to an HBCU of course black people love parties like so what there not to lose when we’re going to combine a party with a serious matter in terms of education and a heavy topic for voter registration
So I say the biggest strategy for just having everyone collectively come together has to do with the way that we’re reaching out to people and I feel like entt does a great job in terms of seeing what the people want and kind of twisting it into more of a
Serious issue so like we’re addressing the voter registration we’re addressing education while we’re out there but of course you’re getting your free t-shirts your food and everything as well and I wanted to go back to one of the points you said earlier too about having it
Being Our obligation to do so because as I said it’s really important to recognize when you have privilege and going to an HBCU being able to afford to attend an HBCU that’s privileged within itself not everyone can go to college not everyone can even graduate from high
School so it’s really important that we use our knowledge our resources whatever we do have and bring it out into the Greater Community and that’s one thing that I really advocate for on behalf of myself and the students in North Carolina anent because we’re situated in
A part of East Greensboro that is not the best um we always make it a point to go into the community and pour back into them because as much as we’re taking from them we must be giving as well so one thing specifically that we did this
Past I think October I had a whole bunch of student I’m a student government Association so I had my whole come out with me and be registered locals um residents on how to vote and where to vote and who to vote for and things like that of course keeping it nonpartisan
But just encouraging people to get out to vote encouraging people of what resources they have these are all ways to kind of unify because of course you don’t need to just be unified on your Campus Community but you need to reach into where your surroundings are as well
So yeah well said we’ll said brother cook what are your thoughts okay so in the case of Tennessee State University um we’ve done various of different we have employed various different tactics into um encouraging our students and informing our students about the issues um that are prevalent within our
Institution um one of the things that we do in Tennessee State University we have these tall hell meetings um we um have our student leadership our SGA president SGA vice president our student trustee um speak about these issues in a large setting um we give t-shirts we have food
Served and so we could you know incen incentivize um students to come out and to actually learn about the um issues that are um going on another thing that we do um I’m part of the NAACP I am the get out to vote subcommittee chair on my
Campus so one of the things that we’re doing I believe next week on the 17th of this month we’re gonna have a voter registration drive as again it’s going to be non- bipartisan but again it’s to encourage students to vote and to actually learn how the voting process
Works and how that affects legislation within the state and you know the nation um lastly um one another thing that we do um we have a student trustee committee um so what we what their job is is that we inform our students about again about the issues that are happening revolve revolving the
University but we use social media um we post newsletters every month we have these weekly updates um with our student truste just to bridge that connection between them the leadership of our school with you know the common student and so I believe that yes we do need to
Employ more tactics to resolve these issues but again what we do is we U we inform our students about the issues that prevent well said well said well said well we we’ve been having a very thorough conversation I want to make sure that we provide people in the crowd
And the audience the opportunity to ask any questions um Miss Haynes do we have any questions from the audience all right you know we got some for the culture all right cool cool cool cool all right so look I got um or excuse me I have a I have another question so this
One may be a little different is it’s not necessarily uh a Dei in terms of policy but I do think it’s related in this regard now you know I’m saying this as as one individual um not black BS matter saying this this is this is just
Me West B me asking this question and saying this right I really feel like uh Dei is the new way for a lot of white people specifically to call us the nword um it’s it’s coded language um and dog whistling in a wide variety of different
Ways how do you all feel um when you hear people who are and this is for the students people your age speaking negatively and saying Andor calling persons like yourself getting into positions um Dei hires or or affir affirmative action hires or trying to make slight comments as if you’re not
Qualified and things of that nature I don’t know if many of you saw um the mayor of Baltimore Maryland Brandon Scott be called a Dei elected official even though he’s been the mayor for going on four years now and doing very well in the city of Baltimore so I love
To hear from your students perspective like how do you all feel when you hear those things and then as a followup do the students on your campus truly understand and or grasp how people are viewing them through this lens okay I’ll start then Wai to see if
Anyone want so I think first to answer the question about students I think and I’m going to address the question too in the audience if you don’t mind um so one thing specifically I think students some students get it to a certain extent and I think way to get students to care
About it or the way that I personally go about getting students to care has to do with rooting it back to what they’re passionate about so when we’re talking about um let’s say housing so you’re saying that you know like you don’t like the dorms that we have on campus you
Really wish that we had some updated dorms and I kind of bridge the conversation through that lens then and say okay so have you ever went to like planning and Zing of the city like do you know what permits that anent has where we’re allowed to build do you know
Much money we have do you know why we don’t have as much money do you know who you elected into office last year so it’s those little conversations that start out with a passion is which make which makes students kind of more aware to the issue and get them to grasp it
Further so that’s kind of my take in terms of grasping Concepts because they are really difficult to understand like they’re just really extensive in the GoBack generation so the best way now is to always root it into what they’re passionate about and what they care about um in terms of like the other
Question like how do I feel personally about dni representatives and that whole it’s just I think it’s really frustrating especially because if I was white like I would be getting all the praise like and it’s just you just have to see it for what it is like I think
The resume speaks for itself and it’s really unfortunate that the fact that the skin color is what determines yes or no sometimes for some people so it’s just frustrating but it always propels me to keep going forward and educate the next person of the problems because just
Growing up I saw in little things like I was a gymnast and when I was competing it would be a panel of three white judges and the girl in front of me the white girl in front of me you know would get a certain score I do a better
Routine than her I get a less score and it’s just like it was blatant things like that when I was younger and I just became un fortunately accustomed to it but I think my HBCU has done a great job in validating student opinions like making us feel heard telling us that the
System is broken they don’t try to sit there and cover it up especially certain professors if it’s a safe space they make sure that it’s truly safe so they tell us you know you probably didn’t get that job because of X Y and Z they probably weren’t comfortable with who
You were they probably didn’t like that your cover letter talked about how you’re a black woman and how you don’t like the situations with police brutality so it’s just being loud and like taking up space in a room but unfortunately it does have the repercussions but one thing about me
I’ve never going to silence who I am just to get a job you’re either gonna let know who I am or you’re just not going to hire me but it’s frustrating and of course like de and like the critics who are saying like you know you’re only getting hired for de Andi I
See de Andi as a tool of equity like I I would have been overlooked otherwise and I’m going to take it and I’m going to show you why I should have been hired regard of this is a quota a statue or not so okay Dr Rice bring the fire okay
Okay uh brother Cook brother Williams how how do you feel a response to the question you don’t have to I’m just I could go um so in regards to the uh the first part of the question again I agree with rice I’m very very frustrated when I can achieve an accomplishment and it’s
Due to Dei and so um when I heard you talk about it U Mr Dr bamy I really thought about epistemic credibility um especially with um professors within our HBCU and um not just HBCU but within um universities around the nation and so how that affects you know Dei and epistemic
Credibility it’s sad you know um I feel like that I should be seen for who I am and not just for my skin color for my accomplishments and so um when I can say I’m just going throw it out the ballpark uh Dei scholar accomplishes this de scholar accomplishes that it’s
Frustrating it’s really frustrating but in terms of the second part of the question with the students I really it’s along the lines of What U Miss reice said but I really what I employ I really um show I like to emphasize how these issues affect our students on campus um
So another thing with us we have a housing issue um the hall um with the um residence hall you want have a better you know showers um have a better um just you know better quality of life you know better quality um just better quality room and so when we specifically
With us we’re underfunded $2.1 billion what I really like to do is to say what do you imagine when you if you had that $2.1 billion do what do you think how much better would your student life be if our school was allowed $2.1 billion do to have better dorms you know better
Recreation better food such and such better academics more opportunities more opportunities to go abroad more opportunities to have scholarships know tell them how these issues affect them personally right well said well said Mr Williams any thoughts yeah um I’ll answer the first question um like you guys said
Again frustrated and annoyed honestly um me personally I feel as though whenever we’re extended with our resources just because they want some type of diversity it’s a problem but when it’s the white man getting a job for one of his like his friend son it’s totally fine so me
Personally of course I get annoyed by it but like I the work ethic shows I’m we’re able to do the job and even better um it shouldn’t really just be judged based on our color and that’s honestly I find that dumb I’m sorry but I really
Find that just ignorant that you can say that I’m not equipped to do this job because of the color of my skin I got this job because the color of my skin and it really doesn’t correlate at all and um to the second question I have to
Agree with you guys again but one thing that my student body really interacts with is really social media um social media and we have our alumni um Benny G Thompson who is our Congressman for the US um so one thing we see whenever anyone is really coming at him it really affects
Us so we make sure that we go over there and stand our ground um and to get the students really involved we try to go over there and just correlate it to the things that they’re actually interested in because honestly they connect better with parties they connect better when we
Have little concerts and things like that so why not have a concert that goes over there and Stems around voting rights that stems around social justice issues economic issues so it’s just being able to give them the information but make it acceptable for Our Generation so just building a bridge and
Making sure that we’re getting our message across while having a great time doing it and I want to make one more comment in terms of that because Justin made a really good point two really good points the first one in terms of you know they I’m just going to call them I
Don’t want to keep calling them white people but they utilize their resources so because your granddaddy built the library now all of a sudden you get a full ride to Stamford or whatever so it’s like that’s seen as okay like that’s excusable we understand it we
Respect it okay cool like if that’s cool then I don’t understand why de and I isn’t either so it’s just it’s the lack of being held to the same standard like if we’re to excuse one thing then let’s I don’t want to say excuse it all but
Let’s actually use let everyone use the tools that have been granted to them yeah and then the other kind of side of it is just labeling people as you know Dei scholar or de employee because who’s to say that they even got hired for Dei like we’re just assuming that because
They’re black which is just racist within itself so it’s just we can never actually be seen for having like qualifications are being successful it’s automatically a conversation of well they only got it because we needed a little bit of diversity you know so it’s just yeah it’s frustrating yeah yeah I
Think the the initial point in what you were making Miss rice um revolving around specifically using the liary example is like Legacy emissions and whatnot um which we see to be very prevalent not only on college campuses but nepotism throughout the workplace and just access uh in a wide variety of
Different ways and and then to all of y’all’s Point revolving around um the labeling of of how individuals like to to call US based off of their preconceived notions which are often rooted in based off of racism is something that we’re just not going to stand for and that’s why personally I I
Have so much respect for black voters matter um and the like and other organizations who are doing similar work for convening us in in these to say hey we’re we’re gonna have tangible conversations um about these topics and then allow us to be educated and then go
Out and fight so you know we’re we’re we’re coming up on um an hour and close to our time I want to uh I saw in the comments there was one question about um some ways and the best way to approach someone to help them see how Dei is
Being politicized but I see you all have answered that in in a wide variety of different ways I think I think brother Clemson or excuse me uh whomever Clemson terano is they answered that um so so good stuff and and I want to allow you all the opportunity and we’ll start with
Dr Brown pelum um to provide some closing remarks if you will uh in any anything in which You’ like to share as we move forward and we’ll we’ll go with uh Dr Brown pelum and then um Dr Rice and then Dr Cook and then Dr Williams I’ll just offer the words of
Great ancestor Tony Morrison who said that the function the very serious function of racism is distraction it keeps you from doing your work it keeps you explaining over and over again your reason for being somebody said say you have no language and you spend 20 years proving that you
Do I encourage all of us to not allow it to be as much of a distraction as it is meant to be and instead look back at the work of folks like Mary McLoud B who used it as motivation to establish a college um other black women men black
Men and women Educators who you know taught under trees withy was Washington taught under a tree in in a in a old Shanty uh for the first classes at Tuskegee uh when cartery Woodson went to Harvard his dissertation advisors told him black folks had no history worth studying and instead he envisioned
Something that would allow us to again legitimize professionalize and popularize uh the study of ourselves so again I think the examples are are there as long as we keep the distraction at well said Dr Rice I would say the biggest I advice piece of advice something that I would
Recommend everyone else to do is to First hone in on yourself this fight is a long fight it’s a tireless fight but I think the first thing that I always tell like people around me my counterparts is to identify your passion and how it can
Keep you rooted in the cause too so if you’re not really passion about things like this then you’re not going to want to fight when things get hard so it’s really important to acknowledge what you truly care about and what will affect the community around you your parents
The people who come after you um and I also think it’s really important to hone in on yourself in terms of strengths and things you bring to the table there’s a place in a fight for everyone so it’s truly good to know what you’re good at
So if I always tell like students around me you know if you’re really good at content creation then sit down and make an infographic about just various things pertaining breaking down a complex social issue and turning it into photos for students so someone else could understand what’s being said or
Understand what’s being presented around this as well so I just think it’s really important to f um first kind of focus on yourself hone in on yourself what your passion is what you’re good at and educate yourself you can’t go around telling people different things if you
Don’t even know the answer yourself so it’s really important to educate at your own self on issues that are going around when then you can educate others who are around so yeah well said well Dr Cook okay I also agree with Dr Rice about um having to look through yourself and make
Sure that you know what you’re talking about looking for your gift but also I believe that um I would like to encourage others to stay informed and also to share the News That’s prevalent you know you know within our within just the black community and another thing I
Like to encourage people I would like to encourage people to think for themselves because a lot of a lot of bad things happen because people don’t think for themselves they’re told from someone else they told from their parents they told from their teachers they’re told from someone they may look up to but
It’s not necessarily the right thing that’s happening so I like to encourage students anyone to start thinking for themselves and actually thinking is this a good thing is this a bad thing is what I’m doing is good is what is what I’m doing is bad how is this affecting other
People how is this affecting myself just being able to critically think about the things that are you know that happening critically think about the legislation that they’re supporting critically thinking about you know the things that they’re actually saying and so yes I would say to
Think said what said was that yes sir I would actually say learn about your rights learn about your rights use your voice and understand your power okay what we really lack is just that single thought of knowing how much power we have by ourselves and the power
That we can have as a collective yeah we can truly get things done a minority is only seen as a minority when they back down we can really stand up and really fight for change well said well said well I really on behalf of black voters matter and and
All of our listeners want to thank you all for your time your energy the wisdom and gems um Dr Brown pum thank you so much for educating us tonight and please continue to work and be safe down there in Florida my dear sister uh Dr Rice Dr Cook Dr Williams you three student
Leaders who are not just student leaders but you are leaders of our people and we appreciate the working what you’re doing thank you for dropping gems and again man thank you infamously for black ERS matter for putting this kind of work together in these panels um shout out to
My guy cliff and shout out to Tanisha and our dear sister Brown thank you to everybody who have put this together and we we love you all all the folks behind the scenes in front of the camera behind the camera thank y’all and everybody who tuned in we appreciate you and until
Next time we’ll catch you much love and respect thank you thank You
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