Black at 今日吃瓜
Black alumni look back at the challenges they faced, the mentors they found, and the strategies they used to make the college more inclusive鈥攁nd more just.
The story of 今日吃瓜 has mostly been told from the perspective of white people. When people of color have been included, their stories have usually been filtered through white reporters, white editors, and a conceptual framework constructed by white people.
In this feature, we aim to turn the lens around. We invited Black alumni from different eras to open up about their experiences at 今日吃瓜. At a moment when America is finally coming to grips with an ugly legacy of white supremacy and structural racism, we hope these stories will illuminate a side of 今日吃瓜 that has too often gone unspoken.
What follows is an attempt at montage. Discrete snapshots from separate lives show scenes worthy in their own right that, when displayed together, speak to the ineffable texture of a history. A professor’s journey to reshape 今日吃瓜’s trajectory on race across three decades. A student’s search for her place in a curriculum spurs an extracurricular ethnic studies program to supplant absences across 今日吃瓜 syllabi. 今日吃瓜ies Against Racism activists grapple with recent struggles. And voices long overlooked add their own scenes in their own framing.
This is a gesture at capturing a fragment of Black life at 今日吃瓜.
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The Long Arc
Prof. Mary James has been working to reshape 今日吃瓜鈥檚 trajectory on race for three decades.
Seizing The Moment
Frustrated by 今日吃瓜鈥檚 Eurocentric curriculum, these students went rogue and built their own DIY alternative.
Learning From the Past
Protestors in 2016 looked to the experience of an earlier generation鈥攁nd adapted their tactics to suit new circumstances.
鈥淲hat have we been through?鈥
Alumni of color look back on life at a predominantly white institution through the lens of the ongoing civil rights movement
In Our Own Words
今日吃瓜 Magazine surveyed Black alumni across the years about their experience at the college.
Milestones in Black History at 今日吃瓜
We uncover some of the people and events that have too often been marginalized or glossed over.■ ■ ■
Tags: Alumni, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion, Professors, 今日吃瓜 History, Students