During Winter Carnival, students traveled to Yale University to participate in the 16th Annual Black Solidarity Conference. Members of African American Alliance (AAA), Women of Color (WOC) and Distinguished Men of Color (DMC) participated, funding the trip with their own resources as well as grants from the Alliance for Civic Engagement, Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Office of Diversity.
The conference’s purpose, as stated in the program, is “based on the belief that we, as students can learn not only from those who come before us, but also from our peers. Our hope is that these exchanged will inform dialogues and action at colleges and within communities across the country…”
The conferences included participants from colleges around New England as well as Arkansas, Florida and Washington, D.C. In addition, the conference hosted eminent black scholars, educators and entrepreneurs who lead panel discussions with visiting students.
The keynote speaker of the event was the esteemed Dr. Cornel West, one of the leading voices on racial justice in the country.
Dr. West, a philosopher of religion, Africana philosophy, funk, and the blues and whose self-proclaimed former “gangster proclivities give way to the Blues Man” delivered a passionate speech about how his generation of black leaders were shaped by hard times, yet lionized by love of community. He explained to conference participants that this same love is what should and does drive them as the next generation of leaders.
While a majority of the participants at the conference were black and the focus of the conversation was black students, Dr. West made a point to discuss the diverse nature of the social justice work.
Dr. West spoke of the black community’s history of enriching the lives of all people around them as well as themselves, a tradition in this country that dates back to days of the fight to end slavery, the Jim Crow era and Civil Rights movement.
In Dr. West’s words, “Just because we begin [with the black community] does not mean we end [with the black community].”
“Educational and Economic Empowerment” was the theme of this year’s conference; specifically, the role of young black graduates and college students in creating changes within themselves, their home communities and the world.
Discussion topics included educational responsibility, sustainability of black businesses and consumers and post-graduate empowerment.
The conference also hosted a Professional Networking and Career Fair, a new addition to the conference and one that is expected to grow over the coming years. Among this year’s attendees were Google, Abercrombie & Fitch, Princeton’s Doctorate Program Office and Teach For America.
The College’s participants were presented with opportunities to interact with established leaders in the Black community as well. Most importantly, they were given an opportunity to meet with emerging leaders consisting of their peers, recent college graduates, and underclassmen.
Wahid Ahmed ’12, Evan Auguste ‘14, Phil Camille ’12, Missan DeSouza ’14, Samantha Grant ’12, Brandon Hawkins ’11, Alana Jenkins ’12, Mona Quarless ’12, Khalid Telis ’13, and Dane Verret ’12 represented their communities and the College at the event.
Yale conference inspires students of color
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