SWC voices ambivalent during Black History Month

Black History Month had an edge in 2016 after a year of police violence against African-Americans and the emergence of Black Lives Matter.

Southwestern College students also spoke up. They made it clear they did not feel equal and were vexed that America seems to have reverted to some old bad habits.

SWC’s Associated Student Organization and members of The Exponential Learning Academy (TELA) organized a spoken word as part of Black History Month allowing students open testimonies.

Lorise Diamond, communications major, spoke to the audience about her concerns living in today’s society as a black female.

“I worry about my son, my grandsons, my nephews,” she told the crowd. “They’re being targeted by the ones who are charged to protect us. It seems as if there’s a group of people that are not to be protected. But we will not live in fear.”

Caleb Henderson, an ASO senator and vice president of the Black Student Union, highlighted the importance of forgiveness in the face of injustice.

“The reason I forgive is to release the spirit of bondage, depression, anger and hate out of my life,” he read to the crowd.

Henderson said society should have a deeper conversation about race.“Our society loves black culture, but we still for some reason don’t like the black people,” he said. “That’s something that I see as a huge problem.”

Henderson referenced the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech, saying that even though King’s vision was present in the multicultural crowd at the spoken word event, there’s still a lot of work to be done to achieve equality.

“It’s subliminal racism, it’s that under-the-skin racism,” said Henderson. “(Decades) ago, Dr. Martin Luther King did all that he did and we’re still having the exact same issues. His vision is not being followed at all. Why do we have the Black Lives Matter movement? It’s because there’s an issue with race right now. Why do we have the KKK? Because we have an issue with supremacy.”

Henderson said the black community has faced many challenges over the decades that have not been overcome and society does not realize that.

“We forcefully settled here and we’re being told, you shouldn’t be mad,” he said. “You shouldn’t be angry, you should be grateful that you have a place to stay. It may not be necessarily the best place to stay, the projects, or ghettos, whatever, you have a place to stay. Be grateful. Why are you even complaining when there’s black on black crime? You’re all killing yourselves so why should we help people that don’t even want help? These are things that I hear. You whipped, you enslaved, you tarred and feathered and you hung and you ripped out genitals and cut us up and all of that. How dare you not even help us qualify for a job? We can’t even get a job. And we can’t get a job because of our attitudes. We can’t get a job because of our names.”

Although Henderson said the black community has the right to be angry, he said he would rather have forgiveness and love.

“The point of my speech was to leave across a tone of peace, but yet a revolutional peace,” he said. “I’m tired, too. However, we need to reach a peaceful, diplomatic solution in order to solve the problem. Learning to love your very enemy is so important.” TELA president Leah Richie read her poem, “I Am Queen,” which addressed the way society judges her based on her appearance.

“What do you see when you look at me? I’ll tell you what society tells me,” Richie read. “I’m supposed to be a bad chick with no morals or class. All I know how to do is shake my ass. I can be disrespected and that’s okay because I love it. Remember, I’m a bad chick anyway. I’ll tell you what I see. I am the intelligence that can run a nation. I am the heart that can love past what the world can’t. I am the heart that keeps this country alive. I am love. I am unapologetic. I am queen.”