Afrikan Black Coalition Conference (#ABC2k16)

Afrikan Black Coalition Conference:

"Planting the Seeds of Our Future, Defining Our Next Steps"

The Afrikan Black Coalition is holding it's annual conference this year at University of California, Santa Barbara from Friday, February 12th through Monday, February 15th, 2016. The ABC Conference is the largest California statewide conference of Black students--with participation from every University of California campus and nearly every California State University campus. This year's keynote speakers include: Umi Selah, Melina Abdullah, David Banner, and Bree Newsome. In addition to the keynote speakers there will also be a host of workshops and lectures with the aim of engaging, empowering, and educating members of the Afrikan Diaspora.

The official hashtag for the event is #ABC2k16, and you can follow along on twitter at @ABlackCoalition. Please see the agenda below.

Black Student Union at CSULA Accomplishes Historic Institutional Changes

Black Students Accomplish Historic Institutional Changes at California State University, Los Angeles

By: The Black Student Union


Contact: Black Student Union calstatelabsu@gmail.edu 

February 10, 2016

“Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will” 

-Frederick Douglass

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Los Angeles, CA— The Black Student Union demanded change, and the Cal State Los Angeles administration responded. Both parties collaborated, and continue to collaborate, to create a better learning environment for Black students at Cal State L.A.

In response to our demands for institutional changes in November of 2015, President William A. Covino, the administration of Cal State L.A., and the Black Student Union engaged in a series of meetings to establish a path to achieve our goals. Following two meetings, President Covino responded to our demands in writing on December 7, 2015. Although we have achieved some of our demands, our negotiations and collaboration continues with the Cal State L.A. president and administration as we seek to see the implementation, and fulfillment, of each of our demands.

The following have been achieved since the Black Student Union presented their demands to President William A. Covino in November of 2015:

1. California State University, Los Angeles has agreed to DIVEST from all Private Prison corporations! The investment committee has eliminated any holdings in the private prison corporations at the direction of the President. This is a historic and significant victory for Black communities and makes Cal State L.A. the third university to divest from private prisons and the second public institution to do so following the UC’s recent decision to divest at the urging of the Afrikan Black Coalition.

2. The Director of Housing has been asked to work with administration and the BSU in creating, and developing, a Black Scholars’ living learning community. We expect the development of the Black Scholars Hall to take place prior to the Fall 2016 term.

3. The president has agreed to allocate $100,000 to the Cross Cultural Centers to be divided between the four student centers effective January 1, 2016. We expect this allocation to be permanent.

4. Beginning in fall 2016, all students will be required to complete one diversity course and one race and ethnicity course.

5. The President has agreed to allocate $100,000 for staffing and other costs to increase the yield of Black students who get accepted into Cal State L.A. for Fall 2016, and an additional $100,000 for the recruitment of Black students for Fall 2017. We expect these allocations of $200,000 in total to be permanent.

6. The President has committed to the hiring of new staff psychologists who have demonstrated experience in working with Black students.

We are encouraged by this momentous victory and look forward to working with President Covino, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Jose Gomez, and other officers of administration in getting the rest of our demands met. We continue to dedicate our time and energy in efforts to improve the quality of life and education of the current, and future, Black students of Cal State L.A.

In Solidarity and Struggle,

Black Student Union

Cal State LA

Life After Sports: A Letter To Current, Former, and Future Student Athletes

Life After Sports: A Letter To Current, Former, and Future Student Athletes

by Delency Parham

It recently occurred to me that this is the first season in 12 years that I haven’t played football. For a person to understand the significance of this sudden realization, you need to take a look back at my journey as an athlete. Like many of my former teammates, I began playing little league football as a kid, went on to play in high school, and was lucky enough to earn a Division I scholarship. As I progressed through each level of competition, the NFL began to seem like a tangible goal. But there was always that small sense of healthy doubt that led to me take my education seriously.

As an athlete, you hear this advice all the time from coaches, counselors, parents, and even friends: “Get your education so you have something to fall back on.” Despite my rationalized thinking, football was still very much my top priority in college. I had put so much of my life into the sport I couldn’t fathom the possibility of doing anything else. This is where the problem lies. I have spent the last year thinking about the significance of student athletes immersing themselves so deeply into their athletic careers that they often forget it is most often temporary.

Many student athletes play, and only a tiny fraction make it to the top. According to scholarshipstats.com, in 2014 there were well over 1.1 million high school football players. Only 90,000 of those players will get the chance to play collegiate football and only 2.4% of college football players go on to compete at the Division I level. In other words, the odds of going pro are 603:1. For sports like baseball and basketball, the chances of an athlete playing Division I are slim to none.

It’s only worse for female athletes. Women are unfortunately less valued in this industry, meaning the opportunities to pursue athletics on a higher level are even less in comparison to their male counterparts. In 2014 scholarshipstats.com= reported that there were around 433,000 female high school basketball players and only 27,000 of those will get to play in college, with 1.2% of those girls playing Division I. The odds of a female basketball player going pro are 3,416:1 For a smaller sport like softball, there are nearly 370,000 players in high school. Transition to college and there are a total 27,000 players with no chance to play pro unless they play for a national team.

Reading these numbers can be extremely discouraging. Throughout my research I began to wonder why I even laced up a pair of cleats to begin with? The numbers show that student athletes have been working against what some people might deem “insurmountable odds.” With each passing year, an athlete becomes significantly closer to their career ending. There are a number of factors that lead to the end of an athletic career: injuries, age, not getting along with coaches, and the pill that most people have a hard time swallowing – just not being good enough.

With that being said, I still have no regrets about giving so much of my life to the game of football. There are certain values like hard work, dedication, perseverance, and teamwork that I wouldn’t have learned without playing football. I was able to take what I learned from the field and apply it different areas of my life. I think that should be the goal of sports on any level.

The question for most of us becomes: How can you take what you do on the court or on the field and use it in every aspect of your life? Use it to be a better student, employee, or even just a better human being. Going pro is great, and those that are blessed with the opportunity should seize it and make the most of it. For the other hundreds of thousands of student athletes who won’t play professionally, life doesn’t have to be over.

Life doesn’t have to be over after a college sports career ends. Many people take the skills they learned on the field to pursue other passions.

This is certainly true for Mario Brown, a 24 year old graduate and former college football player. Brown, who was born and raised in Berkeley, CA began playing football when he was in fourth grade. It was from that day forward that Brown let football be the foundation and the guide for which he would live his life.

Mario and his son Peyton

“I remember playing for the local youth football team the Berkeley Cougars, and just waiting for my chance to play in high school,” said Brown. “Once I got to high school my next goal was to earn a scholarship and ultimately that lead to me wanting to go pro.”

After a tremendous career at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, CA, Brown was rewarded with a full ride scholarship to Eastern Washington University, where he won a National Championship in his freshman year. As the next few years passed, Brown would experience many of the hardships that accompany a collegiate career: a few injuries, coaches losing faith in him, and the birth of a son, Peyton. These trials and tribulations might be cause for the average person to call it quits, but for Brown they served as newfound motivation, in football and in life.

“Going through the injuries and having my son gave me a new perspective on life,” says Brown. “Having to miss games and even an entire season gave me a chance to get to know myself outside of football, and I decided that even if I wasn’t going to be playing football I wanted to be the kind of man my son could be proud of.”

Brown carries ball for EWU

After graduating, Brown recently moved to Seattle and is a sales associate at Enterprise, where he hopes he can work his way up the corporate ladder and eventually leave to start his own business. Brown says he sees working at Enterprise as a learning experience and an opportunity to see how a business operates from the inside. When it comes to football, he admits he misses playing. But he no longer feels defined by the sport and he wants athletes to know that too posses value outside of their athletic ability.

“I placed a lot of my personal value on who I was an athlete and I think that is a common mistake,” said Brown. “I think sometimes athletes forget that they have something to offer than just competing. I’ve learned that is the furthest thing from the truth.”

Another example of a former player who is flourishing is Taylor Wallace, who currently serves as a Behavior Interventionist at West Lake Middle School in Oakland, CA. Wallace began playing basketball at age 11. Her reward for her hard work and dedication to the sport was a chance to play Division I basketball at UC Riverside (UCR). Although she admits that she loved basketball with all her heart, she knew that she was using it as a means to further her education.

Taylor Wallace 2014 UCR graduate

It was that kind of mindset that led to Wallace being not only a honor roll student at UCR but also an active member in the community. When she wasn’t playing basketball or in the classroom, she worked at Del Vallejo Middle School in San Bernardino. She’s now working her way through a Master's/Teaching Credential program at Holy Names University. With her credential, she hopes that she can have a positive influence on the youth of Oakland and help them through the many obstacles they too will face on their path to success and adulthood.

“I plan on taking everything I’ve learned and teaching it to the young girls in Oakland,” says Wallace. “I understand the importance of education and the opportunities it can bring. I want to instil that same perspective in as many young women as I can.”

Not to be outdone on the court — or in the classroom — is Berkeley Native Khufu Najee, who in five years of school was able to earn two Division I scholarships as well as complete both a Bachelor's in Communications and a Master’s in Sports Journalism at Indiana University- Purdue University (IUPUI). Najee is what some might consider a “late bloomer.” He didn’t play organized basketball until he was a junior in high school, but was a quick learner. And after one season of junior college, he earned a scholarship to play basketball at San Jose State University, before ultimately transferring to IUPUI. Najee believes that discovering his talents late gave him the perfect opportunity to develop other parts of his identity, so he had a sense of self worth way before he ever picked up a basketball.

Khufu and his mother at Khufu's graduation

“Oftentimes athletes have been playing a sport since they were kids and they began to associate who they are with the sport they are playing,” said Najee. “Since I didn’t play basketball until I was almost done with highschool I had already developed a life off the court.”

Najee’s understanding of who he was as a person gave him a different perspective on basketball and it allowed him to gain more from the sport than just playing time. He took advantage of his free education and saw that basketball had more to offer than just playing the game, which is how he found his passion for sports reporting. Najee is currently a radio talk show host at Sick Sports in San Francisco and he says he puts just as much dedication into his new profession as he did basketball.

“Before I was playing basketball I was really involved in performing arts but pursuing basketbal forced me to put it on the back burner,” said Najee. “I decided to do sports journalism because it gave me a chance to merge two things I cared deeply about: performing arts and basketball.”

Having the capacity to juggle both school and athletics is a habit that very few have been able to master and when done right the benefits are endless. Not only did Najee earn two degrees in five years, he was also a two year starter and one of IUPUI’s most productive players during his time at the University. Showing that it is possible to be a productive athlete as well as an exceptional student. He truly embodies the term “student-athlete” and he wants others to know that they too can be just as successful as he was.

Najee at guard for IUPUI

“I would be a lie to say I don’t miss basketball, but it’s just a game,” said Najee. “I think if you approach any sport as a game and take it off a pedestal you start to see all that it can offer you in addition to going pro.”

Students don’t need to stop giving their college sport of choice every ounce of passion that they have. But they also owe it to themselves to create as many opportunities for success as possible after graduation. As a former college athlete myself, I advise not going through college like a robot — giving all your attention to a sport when the chances of going pro are basically nonexistent. If we can teach student athletes early on the importance of life without sports, then we can get them to put more thought into other areas of their lives. These college athletes I spoke with prove that it’s possible to excel both on the court and in the classroom. And in doing so, they have put themselves in a position to prosper long after their college careers are finished. To current and former student athletes take some time to think about what else you can offer this world besides your athletic ability because you are truly worth so much more.

Delency Parham is a staff writer at Afrikan Black Coalition. He covers sports, culture, and anything else pertaining to BLACK people.

Letter from the Editor -- February

Letter from the Editor

(above: Anthony Williams, photographed by Xarí Rivera)

Hi there,

I'm Anthony Williams, Editor-in-Chief of the Afrikan Black Coalition blog and Prison Divestment Communications Director. As your editor, my job is to bring you the highest quality work from our staff writers, staff members, ABC members, and guest contributors to represent our mission of Black liberation. As a statewide Black youth organization based in California, we amplify and represent Black voices all throughout the diaspora. Please feel free to browse the archives of our blog to return to a particular piece from 2016.

 

January 2016

This inaugural letter from the editor is long overdue. In January alone we had a piece commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from our Deputy Communications Director Blake Simons, a conversation about revolution or reform from Staff Writer Alyx Goodwin, a meditation on #NotAllWhitePeople by Executive Administrator Kwesi, an exploration of the non-traditional student paradox by Guest Contributor Joel N Jenkins, and an investigation into the mistreatment of Black trans women like Deonna Mason by me.

 

What's Next?

February brings us the annual Afrikan Black Coalition Conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara, but also lots of new writing. Expect reporting on the conference from our new Staff Writer Delency Parham, voices from abroad, messages from alumni, reporting on our prison divestment campaign & petition, and a new feature that will help you get to know the Afrikan Black Coalition staff a little better. But what does ABC do, exactly? Well...

 

Top 10 Accomplishments of 2015

1. Afrikan Black Coalition (ABC) staff was formally hired

2. UC Berkeley launched a successful demands campaign

3. CSU Los Angeles launched a successful demands campaign

4. UC Merced, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz launched successful demands campaigns and are in the process of negotiation

5. Black Student Leadership Training (BSLT) was a major success

6. ABC is finalizing the induction of seven California State University campuses into our organization

7. Assembly Bill No. 953--a bill supported by ABC that requires collection of stop data by police departments across California--was signed by Governor Jerry Brown

8. Black Community Project (BCP) launched its first after school program at Bunche Academy in West Oakland

9. ABC’s Communications Department significantly increased our presence across Facebook, Twitter, and popular media.

10. The Afrikan Black Coalition pressured the University of California system to divest $25 MILLION from private prisons!

These accomplishments are also available in our new monthly newsletter, which you can sign up for here.

Thank You

As a current student and staff member myself, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Black organizers on our California campuses, but also all over the world. From #FeesMustFall in South Africa to #TraumaCenterNow in Chicago, and finally to #ConcernedStudent1950 in Missouri, we stand with Blackfolks all over the world in asserting that we will win.

Peace,

Anthony

Voices From Abroad: Jazmin Murphy, "Tanzania"

Voices From Abroad: Jazmin Murphy, "Tanzania"

(above: Jazmin Murphy, courtesy of Facebook)

From March to June of 2015, I took up residence in the East African country of Tanzania. Throughout my college years I’d dreamed of visiting an African country. I was never sure of which country, or even when I’d be able to go – that is until I joined Dr. Douglas McCauley’s Wildebeest Project. Nearly a year after joining, I was invited to join Dr. McCauley and Ph.D. student, Lacey Hughey, to conduct field research in one of the most species-rich lands on Earth: Serengeti National Park.

For two-and-a-half months I woke up to cape buffalo, giraffes and elephants outside of my home. I would fall asleep to the thundering roars of lions and eerie whooping calls of hyenas. Each day was filled with adventure: from sighting cheetahs, jackals and even rare animals such as aardwolves, to frequent standoffs with the baboons who unfortunately lived near our residence.

The women of Arusha, Tanzania would walk around town with heavy loads balanced on their heads. The babies on their backs would be wrapped in fabric with mesmerizing patterns. Women at the market in Serengeti, and many others for that matter, would speak to me in Swahili, since I appeared to be Tanzanian at first glance.

 “I thought you were of [insert tribe/people here]…” everyone would admit.

Yet, when I opened my mouth to speak, it was made crystal clear how American I truly am! Learning greetings such as jambo (hello) and habari (how are you?), as well as how to count – moja, mbili, tatu… eased the task of communication. It also deepened my experience of the Tanzanian culture that they take great pride in.

From the rich, organic food to the daily dependence on rainwater for washing and cooking, my experience traveling abroad was life-changing. Tanzania, specifically the Serengeti, became a second home. It lit within me a fire for travel and adventure that will not soon be doused.

Message From an Alumnus: Nicole Forlan, UCSB, Class of 2012

Message From an Alumnus: Nicole Forlan, UCSB, Class of 2012

Graduation could not come soon enough for me during my undergraduate years at UC Santa Barbara. However, when I finally got to that point, reality and real life slapped me in the face. Nobody warned me that college is not the golden ticket to success in this world; or that having a degree is not the key to enter any door you choose. Some of us were sold the dream that college makes life a cakewalk afterwards. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for all of us.

I graduated in June 2012, but less than a week later I had more than just society paralyzing me. I underwent surgery to have what was supposed to be a simple spinal correction. However, I woke up to a hurricane of feelings and emotions. The doctor ran a medical hammer down my legs only for me to realize I had lost mobility from the knee down in both. At the age of 22, all my lifelong dreams and ambitions had flashed before my eyes in a matter of seconds.

Throughout undergrad I had the goal of becoming a doctor. Although challenging, I knew I wanted to dedicate the rest of my life toward helping others. However, that dream began to get a hazy upon entering my sophomore year. After my first time volunteering in a hospital, I suddenly realized medical school was not the route I wanted, or needed to go.  Fortunately I did see the power that nurses hold in their ability to impact others, which completely changed my mindset. However, I still had to combat the feeling that becoming a nurse could be the biggest letdown to my family, friends and many others who believed in me along the way. Despite my uneasiness, I was determined that becoming a nurse was my way to leave a mark on people’s lives.

The day I left the hospital in a wheelchair, I felt humbled by my experience there. Yet, I arrived at the place I called “home” my entire life only to discover that I was no longer welcome. My parents asked me to find somewhere else to recover. Inadvertently they also told me I needed somewhere else to heal and somewhere else to find the love I needed to overcome this challenge. I learned quickly that the only person I could trust 100% of the time was myself.

For months after the surgery, I felt lost with no direction. I had to literally and figuratively learn to walk again on my own two feet; both on solid ground, and through this new phase in life. However, the one thing that remained certain was my determination to overcome and spend the rest of my life helping others. Throughout these months I learned not only how to walk again, but also how to bare the pain and see past my own self-doubt. Although, my fight was still far from over.

I regained enough strength to restart working full-time and taking classes part-time. Something big needed to happen for me soon, so when I discovered Duke University School of Nursing, I grew excited about the possibility of pursuing my dreams again. The thought of moving across the country to do so was scary, but my postgrad experiences taught me to embrace that feeling of discomfort. I knew if I put my mind to it, I had the willpower to see it through.

After all was said and done, I can truly say that nursing is the one thing in life that gives me joy, breaks my heart, pushes me to be my best, allows me to love freely, and makes me feel like I have purpose. Just like undergoing surgery and waking up partially-paralyzed changed my life, nursing has done the same. Attending Duke University School of Nursing paved a road that allows me to continually grow and explore myself.

Yes, school was challenging and being away from family was hard. But what I found most difficult to combat was my own self-doubt. Attending an institution where everyone is highly intelligent--and most come from privileged backgrounds--made a young African-American woman from Long Beach, California question her place and belonging. Being surrounded by individuals who could not identify with my struggle as a woman of color was eye-opening. I had to learn quickly that I did not need to prove myself to my fellow peers or faculty members. I was already enrolled, and the only person that could truly defeat me was myself. This belief ultimately granted me the courage to speak up for what I believe in as a young woman trying to become one of the pioneers this world needs.

It is the moments that we overwhelm with a mixture of emotions that true change and growth occur. Inevitably we find ourselves in places we never thought possible. Feelings of discomfort are something I learned to embrace not as a place of helplessness, but a place for me to push myself and discover a new strength within.

In summation, the late Maya Angelou stated: “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

Class is in Session: Watch Whiteness Work

Class is in Session: Watch Whiteness Work

by: Alyx Goodwin

Last week a photo surfaced of a group of White high school teenage girls, each with a shirt and a letter so that when they stood together it spelled out “Best*You’ve*Ever*Seen*Class*Of*2016”. However, a second photo from this same lineup had a much wider reception on social media when six of those girls lined their shirts up to spell “NI**ER”. Their smiles and poses imply this was just a joke to them, as most “non-racist”-yet-actually-racist White people like to conclude after they have committed such ugly acts. Rachel Steigerwald, one of the teens involved, confirmed during the press conference the joking nature as well. “I know people have been offended from what I did,” Steigerwald said, “and I have come here to say that I am incredibly sorry. I have love for everyone in my heart. I am not a racist. I am asking everyone for forgiveness.” Watch Whiteness Work.

Here’s the problem: 99.9% of time, the person saying “I’m not racist” is still racist after they’ve issued that statement, if not more racist than before. Let’s break it down.

Common instances in which people say “I’m not racist:”

1. After they’ve done something racist and gotten caught

2. When they are preparing to say or have already said something racist

3. When they need to deflect their current racist acts onto someone else

Unsurprisingly, this high school teen has committed all of the above, but let’s talk first about how this statement makes her more racist than she “intended to be.” The pattern looks like this: a person publicly claims that they are not racist, everyone goes home for the day, and apparently the problem is solved. There is rarely an intervention to get at the root of the action and little to no public discourse with this individual on racial equity. Rather than learning from their very intentional “mistakes,” these people walk away with minor repercussions, if any. Ignoring the history and misunderstanding the Black community is what made this group of girls think the n-word would be funny. When all white people have to do is state they aren’t racist, it’s an example of their white privilege again allowing them the room to ignore the experiences of Black Americans in both past and present tenses.

One key piece of knowledge that White Americans fail to unlock for themselves is that while distancing themselves from their role in structural inequalities makes sense (because who wants to be racist, amirite?), it also makes the problem worse. Their distance keeps structural racism intact, further oppressing the people they claim to love and call their friends, families, coworkers and partners. For decades now there has been a very surface level understanding of what racism is. Standard American K-12 education teaches students to believe that they are only racist if they call Black people the n-word and inflict physical harm on them because of their skin color. There has been a flaw in the conversations with young White people about other versions of racism such as housing and school segregation, a growing wealth gap, and inconsistencies in the criminal justice system. 

The failure to discuss racism past the surface level--discrimination--of the word, people actually uphold and strengthen structural racism. White people are the majority in terms of political, economic, and social power. Whether they believe it or not, their attitudes towards communities of color make a difference in the socio-economic futures of these communities. In the case of these White teens it makes sense that they would say they “didn’t mean it that way,” because they haven’t been taught the full scope of their complicity in racist institutions and systems. But let me be clear, this does not excuse them or absolve them of their actions. 

To top off this extravaganza of white privilege and ignorance, the high school’s Black Student Union came forward and announced their campaign to end using the n-word. Let me put this kindly: IT IS NOT BLACK PEOPLE’S FAULT THAT WHITE PEOPLE ARE RACIST. Black people are expected to dismantle the system of White Supremacy that they didn’t build or weren’t given the blueprint for. I understand the Black community at this high school wanting to step up and set a good example, but that wasn’t it. Black people use the n-word, and as tired as this argument gets, “nigga” and “nigger” are not the same, especially when someone white is using either. It wasn’t Black students' use of the n-word with an -a that prompted these lily-white teens to intentionally spell out a word created to highlight a false sense of inferiority in Black people. As it was reported, this group of girls actually did it because “…[t]he photo was originally intended for the boyfriend of one of the girls, who is black.” 

Let us all take part in a moment of silence, because I truly hope it was ashes to this schoolyard crush. 

While these girls may scream and shout at the top of their lungs that they aren’t racist, when you take a look at the facts, they’re racist. Denial comes first before acceptance, and for too long White America has been in denial about disproportionate privileges that keep structural racism intact. The longer we allow these kinds of actions to go without punishment, the further we get from true liberation and equality of Black people in America.

Alyx Goodwin is a staff writer for the Afrikan Black Coalition, with her own blog coming soon. 

Not All Snakes are Poisonous, But Every Snake Bites

Not All Snakes are Poisonous, But Every Snake Bites: 

An Exploration of “Not All White People”

by: Kwesi

A cousin of mine recently traveled to Austin, Texas to partake in their Annual Community March commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy. Upon returning, her excitement about the entire trip was uncontainable, with the community march serving as an essential highlight. In response to her raving about how successful it was, I felt obliged to ask: “How so?” She responded with a laundry list of achievements, headlined by the diverse assortment of groups who were represented at the commemoration. Those she mentioned included: the visually-impaired, members of America’s indigenous population and--to both her surprise and mine, although for different reasons--white people.   

And so began the seed of our disagreement.

Her prideful tone of voice, along with her specification of the white presence as a marker of "success," helped me to realize that my cousin was overjoyed by their attendance. I will simply state that I did not share in her delight. In fact, I felt unmistakably shaken and disheveled by the very notion that white people were present at the event. If memory serves me correct, I recall voicing that to her verbatim, which made her quite upset. After a brief, but noticeably awkward pause in conversation, she irritably retorted, “not all white people are bad,” a six word story that carries greater significance than many of us realize. After an equally brief, but more calculated pause, I challenged her by inquiring, “How are we supposed to know the difference?”        

June 17, 2015

Dylann Roof, playing the role of a peaceful attendee, murders nine African-Americans during their weekly prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina. One of the victims was then United States Senator, Clementa C. Pinckney. Upon his capture the next morning, the arresting officers treated Dylann to Burger King.

March 3, 1991

Four LAPD officers --Stacey Koon, Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Laurence Powell--are covertly videotaped while they savagely beat Rodney King following a high-speed chase. By its conclusion, King had sustained fifty-five baton strikes, a fractured skull, and damage to his internal organs. Three surgeons operated for five hours to save his life. All four LAPD officers were acquitted by a jury of their peers.

May 31, 1921 

One of the most violents acts of white supremacy in recorded history takes place in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, more commonly known as “Black Wall Street.” On May 30, 1921, a 19-year old Black male, Dick Rowland, is accused of assaulting a 17-year old white woman, Sarah Page, in an elevator. Shortly after his arrest, Tulsa’s white residents began organizing to lynch Rowland, but Greenwood District’s Black residents took up arms in his defense. White aggression exploded at the courthouse and tactically moved towards Black Wall Street where they began burning property and murdering Black people indiscriminately. Numerous survivors reported witnessing bombs dropped and rifles fired overhead from military aircrafts. In just 24 hours: 191 businesses, 1,256 homes, a church worth $80,000, and incalculable Black lives were destroyed. A compensation suit was filed by five elderly residents in 2003, but to this day the United States Supreme Court refuses to hear their appeal.  

1460 AD 

The first Europeans sail down the coast of West Africa looking for a faster trade route to India, ultimately stopping at what is now Sierra Leone. They disembarked their ships to vast agricultural systems, fascinating technological advancements and a welcoming African society. They only saw resources, gold and slaves. 

Despite volumes of irrefutable evidence worthy of its day in court, asserting that “all” white people are bad is simply ludicrous. 

However, rebutting knowledge of the historical and continuing planet-wide destruction that white people have wrought with the statement, “Not all white people are bad,” does not eradicate their devastation. Nor does it improve our present condition as victims of white supremacy.       

Not all snakes are poisonous, but every snake bites. As an act of survival, humans have studied snakes thoroughly enough to know which might kill us and which won't. History teaches us that Black people are similarly unsafe around white people, if not moreso in comparison to venomous snakes. White privilege is the bite that allows us to be murdered without consequence in the form of lynching, police brutality and looting of our resources. White privilege is also the bite that only leaves puncture wounds in the form of job discrimination, gentrification and outright denial.

I will leave you with a quote by figurative and literal freedom fighter, Muhammad Ali, from an interview in 1971, 

“So now I'm gonna forget the 400 years of lynching and killing and raping and depriving my people of freedom, justice and equality … And I’m gonna look at two or three white people who are trying to do right, and don’t see the other million trying to kill me?” 

I imagine Mr. Ali would be disappointed to know that nearly 50 years has passed, but his question remains as relevant as it was the moment it parted ways from his lips. The other million are still trying to kill us.

Kwesi does not have many white friends. Kwesi does not care if you think he is a reverse racist. Be like Kwesi.

The Non Traditional Student Paradox

The Non Traditional Student Paradox

By: Joel N Jenkins

As a first generation non-traditional student (someone who enters college age 24 or over), it often feels like very little has prepared me to understand the unique hurdles that appear on this race to a degree. Granted, we all come to college with varying levels of preparation, financial backgrounds and of course cultural realities. These all converge in the classroom. With our eyes directed towards the front we all attempt to not nod off or panic during the course of the semester. We balance taking notes with finessing the instructor for extra credit and working through the procrastination vs study struggle via social media. Meanwhile, for those of us like myself, this process comes with a unique set of challenges that change the texture of the terrain. The journey of a non-traditional student is uniquely challenging because we find ourselves torn between two worlds, lacking support and entering school with real world competencies that don’t always transfer well.

My life is torn between two worlds.

My Saturdays are this odd testament to how many parts of my life just don’t mesh together seamlessly. Mornings are spent in the writing workshop tutoring fellow students in academic writing. The conversation revolves around fixing syntax, delivering cogent messages and grammar. Meanwhile, during the downtime between tutoring consultations fellow tutors discuss our angst over our junior transfer applications, gossip about how many thesis statements we’ve looked over and how far behind we are in the weekly analysis for our literature survey classes. 

By the time the evening rolls around, the world around me shifts. Standing at the bar somewhere in gentrified SF (pick a neighborhood) we discuss how bad the vegetarian appetizer options are with a former officemate while downing bourbon at our favorite pre-game spot. One social worker friend had a mildly psychotic client and is still recovering the day after. I grimace as she catches me up on the HIPAA violations, office politics and updates on which grants are still active.  Another tags along to enjoy the town for the weekend as he visits for a conference from New York. Yet another friend is enjoying her first night out as a new mom but can’t help monitoring her phone constantly. At some point I notice we’re mirroring each other, because I’m sifting through email to verify that I’ve submitted an essay that’s due. Life marches forward and I’m caught in between.

I’ve made a U-turn in my life and can’t count on the same support as when I first became an adult.

The timeline of adult expectations is real. The significance of signing my first lease for an apartment, purchasing a car and passing the background checks for a job with a 401k are significant. As those happened in my life, it also came with the assurance that I was fulfilling expectations set for me by society at large. Along with this approval, I received support from the community of people that had known me growing up. My friends and family were there for me as I worked through the confusion making the transition from teenager to adult. There were training wheels. There was reassurance and at times there was even a well to do relative that helped out with rent. Someone helped me read over my rental agreements, commented on what I might wear to the company Christmas party to politick for a promotion and reminded me to use my credentials in my professional email signature when the promotion landed me in an office. Now though? Not so much.

Suddenly, I have the feeling that I’ve become the aunt who shows up to Thanksgiving with her third husband. Everyone around the table leans in awkwardly. A hush comes over the crowd. They shift their attention from the dry cornbread that our recently paroled cousin made -- because he needs to feel needed as he rejoins community. The kids table starts to quiet down. The young adults lose track of how much more ‘adult juice’ they need to stay the right amount of buzzed, polite and awake. Then it happens. Grandma shifts her weight slightly before announcing, “Oh well, another change of plans? Well… good for you.” Insert the shade of a thousand oak trees here. That feeling, the grimace on your face and the lack of reassurance never leaves. It plays out repeatedly, each and every time you inform people that you’re past drinking age and tackling undergrad for the first time. Granted your family, friends, and old co-workers care about you. 

However, the legends society tells you about the linear path life is meant to take is the very air we breath. It seeps into even these treasured and intimate interactions. They don’t get it. They’ve already seen you pick out a life for yourself. They’ve already been here before and mysteriously you’re making a U-turn. Needless to say that confusion turns heartfelt support into a lot of kind words but very few forms of tangible aid.

I’m highly competent in many things but almost none of them directly equate to being an excellent student.

There is not a spreadsheet that I’ve seen nor a snarky e-mail cc’d to three levels of bosses that has yet to scare me. I’ve been there. I relish the thought of  working my cruel rhetoric into a carefully worded paragraph that delivers the message “don’t fuck with me” in the most professional way possible. Turning these linguistic somersaults into an brief analysis of Virgina Woolf through a post-colonial lens? That took elbow grease and got stressful. Similarly, I have no difficulty organizing the financial books for a department that processed transactions in excess of $8000 daily while adhering to company, federal and state policies. This stressful exchange involved a salary, distinct expectations and a performance evaluation that could improve both periodically. Yet, homework during my first semester of statistics involved frantic calls to friends, real tears throughout the week and comfort food built into my study plan. In this new environment I pay for the privilege of working under high stress with a hazy outline of performance metrics split between a handful of different people and structures that may or may not equate to tangible rewards. Let’s be honest, grades can only say so much. There are many things that I’ve proven that I can do but few of them are related to the formal act of being a student in a classroom. 

This creates an internal struggle that’s something akin to waking up the morning after a long party. Am I still drunk or is the sun just that bright? In comparison to the greater student body, very few persons have switched tracks like this. So it creates the paradox that entices me to enter situations that are way over my head and glance past opportunities that are perfect fits. In short, it screws with your bearings in a way that can be really hard to perceive.

The reality for everyone that enters higher education is that you will exit transformed. More will be thrown your way in the form of challenges that can be planned for or expected. However, as non-traditional students our presence in higher education means that we’ve bucked against the system. We’ve challenged norms and in turn face challenges unique to taking that risk. We function between the worlds of what we knew in the world and what we are learning about navigating academia. We tend to lack the foundational support of family and friends who have trouble understanding why we shifted gears in the first place. Similarly, internally we find ourselves recalibrating what it means to be smart and competent in the workplace as we shift into student life. All of these form a complex, diverse perspective that make us more competitive candidates and great assets to our learning communities. The process of making that transformation a successful one, though, has a unique set of difficulties that relatively few of our fellow classmates and professors understand.

Joel N Jenkins is a student pursuing Linguistics. He still believes the power of the internet is found in vines of Black people clapping as they talk. He is also House President at the African American Theme House, a Hebrew school teacher, and a tutor.

ABC Makes Presence Known at UC Regents January Meeting

On Wednesday, January 20, 2016, the Afrikan Black Coalition spoke at the University of California Regents meeting in San Francisco, CA. The Afrikan Black Coalition spoke during the public comment section to condemn the $425 million the University of California system has invested in Wells Fargo, one of the largest financiers of private prisons.

Listen to their speeches here and read their transcripts below. Timestamps in parenthesis correspond to the recording.

Yoel Haile, ABC Political Director (13:55):

My name is Yoel Haile and I'm a Masters student at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. I am the Political Director of the African Black Coalition, a statewide Black youth organization that represents Black students throughout the UC system. The Afrikan Black Coalition is coming off of a great historical victory of getting the UC system to divest or sell off nearly $25 million worth of shares from private prisons in partnership with the Chief investment officer. We call it divestment, you call it selling shares, but that's just tomato, to-mato. I'm here to deliver the message from Black students that we want you, the UC regents to divest the nearly half a billion the UC has invested in Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo provides over 1.2 billion dollars line of credit to private prisons and is notorious for its discriminatory lending against Black and Latino folks. It is an amoral bank that finances the dehumanization of Black and Latino communities. Dr. King says the ultimate measure of a man is not what he does in times of comfort or convenience but what he does in times of challenge and controversy. In the era of the Black Lives Matter movement, we urge you to honor Dr. King's legacy of doing the RIGHT thing in these challenging times. If you do not honor Dr. King's legacy by divesting from Wells Fargo and taking a courageous stand, we, the Black students in California, will honor the legacy of Malcolm X by using any necessary to get you to do so.

All power to the people!

Bianca Graves, UCSB General Body Member (35:20)

The private prison-industrial complex is a brutal mechanism of institutional racism. In which, Well's Fargo issued the CCA a 900 million dollar line of a credit. The UC system is renowned for it's fight for equity, but our dishonorable investments in Well's Fargo directly profit from the profiling and mass incarnation of black lives The UC system puts on a facade about their concern for eligible black youth to be able to attend our schools. Then undermine said claim by investing in an institution that redlined the communities and left them neglected, feeding into the school to prison pipeline which thrives off of at risk black children. Most of those children will never step foot on a college campus because of a system the UC predisposed them to. The 425 million into Wells Fargo must be retracted and put to good use. Otherwise, the UCs have explicitly manifested a toxic environment for black students and the UC system must sever all ties or suffer dire consequences.

Edan Tessema, UCSB BSU General Body Member (36:56):

I am a UC student and member of the ABC Political Bureau. The UC system as a whole has proven to its students that education is not the priority. Unethical investment after unethical investment, the UC System has demonstrated to us that you are a corporation lacking a moral compass. As a Black student who has learned to navigate your ways, I demand that you, as our UC Regents, think critically as to what it looks like to invest in such a heavy benefactor of the inhumane suffering of Black people. If Wells Fargo does not cut its ties with the private prison industrial complex, I urge you to cut our ties with Wells Fargo. This is a warning.

Jordan Mitchell, UCSB BSU General Body Member (37:49):

Hello, my name is Jordan Mitchell, I'm a first year CCS Diversity Chair from UCSB. It is ironic that the UCs will invest millions of dollars to a system designated for the incarceration of the same people whom they tokenize to make the campuses appear diverse. More money spent in the the incarceration of Black bodies in jumpsuits, than Black bodies in college pursuits. The same prisons whom keep Mumia captive, and Sandra Bland'ss heart inactive. We got degrees for the education of my people by the institution that funds the injustice of racist evil. And y'all think this is ok? The resources to get here was near impossible, and the your investment in our failure is not logical. Applying is a hard step when no one is there to direct, all the AP kids went but sixth sevenths of my class couldn't. Is this institutionalize ignorance that got them 9 years on a non violent offense? This money you invest consigns to a school to prison defect, taking away the knowledge that makes the UCs legit. Education is key to our youth not the investment that put us into jumpsuits.

Nia Mitchell, UCSB BSU Union Political Chair (38:55):

 Hello everyone, my name is Nia Mitchell and I am UC Santa Barbara's Black Student Unions Political Chair. I was compelled to drive 5 hrs last night with some of our general body members in order to make our sentiments extremely clear. As my colleagues have stated, the UC system's 425 million dollar investment in Wells Fargo is egregious, morally indefensible, and quite frankly disrespectful to its Black students. For this reason, Black student organizers refuse to take part in this complicity. We are living amidst a wave in which Black youth in particular has realized our collective power and ability to change our reality. We are focused, organized, and determined to wash our hands of the pain and suffering our compliance in the private prison industrial complex has called. We urge wells fargo to end their investment in the dehumanization of our communities and for the UC Regents to act accordingly to their decision or prepare for Black students relentless strides towards justice if not we will make the UC system ungovernable.

Take the next step and sign and share our petition, telling the University of California to:

1. DIVEST, effective immediately, all of the $425 million it has currently invested in Wells Fargo if Wells Fargo does not cancel its business relationships with the private prison industry by February 20th, 2016 and
2. INSTITUTE a policy to never invest in private prison corporations, and
3. INSTITUTE a policy to never invest in Wells Fargo for as long as Wells Fargo has any business dealings with private prison corporations, and
4. INSTITUTE a policy where the Chief Investment Officer provides quarterly investment reports to the public on the Regents website and
5. IMPLEMENT a Socially Responsible Investment screen committee that actively researches whether future corporations the UC invests in are held to ethical standards and that such committee has representatives from the Afrikan Black Coalition and University of California Students Association and
6. RE-INVEST the money that's being divested in education, and companies that are owned or controlled by the formerly incarcerated.

My Dream for Equality Died Before I Was Born: The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

My Dream for Equality Died Before I was Born: The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

By: Blake Simons

In the last conversation Martin Luther King Jr. had with Harry Belafonte, King told Belafonte “I have come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house.” During the Civil Rights Movement, our government (or white peoples’) made many promises to Black America. One of America’s promises was an equal education. This turned out to be a lie, as schools today are just as segregated as they were pre-Brown v. Board. Another promise was the right to vote. Yet today Black men are more disenfranchised than during Jim Crow. In addition to these civil rights that have been denied to us, Black Americans have been denied the most basic right: the right to life. What are civil rights if the right to life is violated by America?

Michael Brown was executed with his hands up and Darren Wilson was not charged for a crime. Kayla Moore was suffocated to death and the officers involved were not charged. Aiyana Stanley Jones was sleeping in her own home while executed. The Charleston 9 were praying in church while attacked by a white terrorist. Eric Garner's last words, like so many other Black folks were “I can’t breathe”. When a house is on fire and smoke fills the room, one cannot breathe. Martin Luther King Jr. was right - the house of America is burning, and our lungs are filled with the smoke of white supremacies ever burning fire.

For the last few decades, Black people have attempted to put out the fire of racism from inside the house; the blatant and constantly worsening lack of justice we experience today makes it clear that this approach is not working. We have integrated a Black man as President, a Black woman as Attorney General, and a Black man as the Director of Homeland Security, yet we still cannot get one racist cop convicted of murder. When we fight back and affirm our right to life, we are met with violence that is nothing short of domestic terrorism. Perhaps the most sickening metaphor to King’s fear is the sheer number of Black churches that have been burnt down by white racists in response to Black activism. Our house is literally burning.

Today, my generation of Black activists are facing the same problems that King’s generation faced - and arguably even worse.  The police are significantly more militarized. Surveillance systems are more advanced, and the concept of privacy no longer exists. And we are in the most heightened age of mass incarceration to date, where we see more Black people under correctional control than were enslaved. With the development of private prisons, incarcerated Black people are traded as bodies and dollar signs in the stock exchange, like a virtual slave auction block. Even more shockingly, is that in 2015 Black people were killed by the cops at a rate of 46% more than the rate of lynchings in the post-Reconstruction South.  This means that in 2015 Black people were killed at a rate of every 26 hours by the police. We do not have the right to live, we do not have the right to thrive, we do not have the right to be economically independent, we do not have the right to succeed. The house is burning, and my dream for equality in America died before I was born.  

I say this because King was one of the most loving people in the world. He loved white people. He wanted integration. He let white racists brutalize him in the most savage of ways, in the name of non-violence and taking the moral high ground. He and the many freedom fighters of the Civil Rights movement did this because they wanted to be treated equally, to be accepted as a part of mainstream American society. And even after all this, King was assassinated by the same America he loved and of which he wanted to be a part of. 

King was a peaceful nonviolent Black organizer, and then white America still turned around and killed him. It is a false reality to believe that King's dream of equality can come true under the same American justice system that killed him. I must speak my truth: my dream for equality in America as we know it died on April 4th, 1968, the day Martin Luther King Jr.'s body laid slain on the steps of Lorraine Motel in Tennessee.

When we as Black Americans celebrate King, we pay respect to his desire to uplift and liberate his people. When white America celebrates King every year on January 18th, it reads of nothing but irony - white America is the force that killed him.

May Martin Luther King Jr. rest in power. May he help guide us to freedom. May we learn from his hard work, from his sacrifices, from his successes and from his mistakes. May we continue to fulfill his legacy, and the legacy of all Black people that fought with him; not by cornering ourselves further into the burning house that King realized was on fire all too late, but by heeding his final words. May we strive for freedom, until our freedom is truly won.

Blake Simons is the Deputy Communications Director for the Afrikan Black Coalition.

The Community is Putting Wells Fargo on Notice

featured above: Rasheed Shabazz for Afrikan Black Coalition, ABC Conference at UC Irvine (Jan 2015)

You’ve read about how the Afrikan Black Coalition pushed the University of California to divest $25 million in private prison shares.

You’ve read about how the University of California still maintains a $425 million investment in Wells Fargo, one of the largest financiers of private prisons.

You’ve read about how the Afrikan Black Coalition has put Wells Fargo on notice for their $900 million credit line to private prisons, among other atrocities.

Now we need you to sign on in support of the Afrikan Black Coalition’s petition. Private prisons affects all of our communities, not just Black student communities. 

Want to help us out? Follow these two simple steps:

1. Sign our Color of Change petition

2. Share our Color of Change petition your family and friends via social media

Make it known: you will not stay quiet as long as Wells Fargo funds private prisons.

Finding the Balance Between Reform and Revolution

above: photo by Ferran Moya

We know the U.S. Democracy is a grand idea on paper, but like most of the ideas America was founded on, democracy in action doesn’t exactly work out like that. Because America doesn’t live up to the standards it has set, many of us dream of a revolution. I know I do. But just as quickly as those revolutionary thoughts enter, they exit with the realization that it’s 2016. The next election is in nine months and we don’t have time to plan a revolution. So what do we do? What is the “happy medium” between improving the system we have (reform) and scrapping the system to make room for what the people need right now (revolution)?

Democracy, like the American Dream, has proved to be another one of those thin veils our country uses to influence our belief that it is a just place to live and thrive in. We are sold these beliefs through history lessons and corporate media that boast ideologies that any person that dreams of freedom would want to be a part of. The numbers however, do not reflect these founding ideologies. If we could overlay the reality of country with the definition of “Freedom”, we see that large portions of the country are disadvantaged due to institutionalized racism, classism, and sexism. Not to mention the many other -ism’s that befall those who are not straight, white, able-bodied, and male. These systems are all held in place by those in monetary control of our country.

White men comprise 80% of Congress, yet make up only 31% of the country. We need revolution because the wealthy white men in power do not reflect the everyday needs of the people of color this country relies on. I think we can all agree on that. Where we all fail to agree, is how to fix a broken system. Revolution would be perfect, were it not run by perfectly flawed humans battling external and internal wars.

Part of the draw to a revolution is the very romanticized imagery. When I think of the revolution I want, I see masses of Black people walking in and occupying Congress, local and metro area City Halls and no longer calling for accountability but instead telling these administrations what’s about to happen: we are instating a government for the majority - for the people - to reverse the disadvantage that has been held in place by the historic tradition of oppression in this country. We want a new constitution or the bullet.

The reality of that though: the bullet is a likely answer, and although we may feel revolutionary, not everybody is ready for that answer. Reform, then, becomes a likely option. So instead we vote, right? We fulfill our civic duties and participate in the political process? Wrong. Even in 2016, while they aren’t characterized as voting restrictions, there are definitive and intentional boundaries between constituents and the voting booths in the “Land of the Free”, and more often than not those constituents are poor people of color. 

In Ferguson, following the tragedy that was and still is the killing of Mike Brown, residents organized voter registration efforts and as a result ‘changed the face of city council’. This was reform, but these people were revolutionary in their capacity. Often times, we do what we can to make political change, but without an upheaval of the system in total, those revolutionary changes can only go so far. 

Following Ferguson, we’ve seen a rise in proactive and vocalized consciousness, activists suggesting policy reform, national discussions on criminal justice, and overall celebrations of Blackness. These actions are revolutionary in thought, but take the route of reform to ensure sustainable change. Without revolution we cannot remove a traditionally oppressive government overnight, not when it took hundreds of years for this same government to establish and sustain its oligarchic systems with the goals of keeping a prototypical ‘elite class’ in place. “A system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect” and it also won’t change for those it was designed to oppress.  

So what is the balance between reform and revolution? I don’t know that there is a balance, I feel as if we need reform first to make room for revolution. While revolution is what we need, it can’t be done under the circumstances of a lack of unity or true consciousness. Then what is the tangible solution and what can the individual person in America do to change the system today, right now? There is no answer. The solution is as complex, if not more than the problem, and maybe this is a cop out – but my suggestions is to recognize that the system is broken, find your lane of change, exercise your vote locally and nationally, and ensure that what you’re doing is working towards making revolution possible. 

Alyx is a Staff Writer for the Afrikan Black Coalition. 

UC Divestment from Prisons and its Financiers: Putting Wells Fargo on Notice

UC Divestment from Prisons and its Financiers: 

Putting Wells Fargo on Notice

The Afrikan Black Coalition (ABC), a statewide Black youth organization based in California, announced last month that the University of California will have sold under $30 million in private prison holdings by December 31, 2015. However, despite selling shares in Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), The GEO Group (GEO), and G4S, the University of California still maintains their $425 million investment in Wells Fargo. To continue to support Wells Fargo is both unethical and financially risky for four reasons:

1. Wells Fargo owns nearly 1.5 million shares in CCA and GEO, effectively financing the dehumanization of Black and migrant people.

2. Wells Fargo acts as a syndication agent and issuing lender on CCA’s $900 million line of credit as of 2013.

3. Wells Fargo serves as the bond trustee to GEO's $300 million corporate debt as of 2012.

4. Wells Fargo settled for $175 million in 2012 to cover up discriminatory lending practices where Black and brown borrowers paid higher fees than their white counterparts.

Given these four unethical practices, the Afrikan Black Coalition hereby puts Wells Fargo on notice to sell all shares and terminate the stated business relations with private prisons by February 20th, 2016. If Wells Fargo does not stop funding the dehumanization of Black and migrant people, Wells Fargo will be met with the relentless force of Black organizers who are committed to Black liberation. Locally, ABC will push the University of California to divest the $425 million invested in Wells Fargo. Nationally, ABC and our allies will call for a boycott of Wells Fargo by our supporters and all those who stand for freedom, equality, and justice. We encourage Wells Fargo to protect the human rights of all people, rather than continuing to fund the criminal and racist prison industrial complex.

#JusticeForPrissy, or how we've failed our trans sisters

#JusticeForPrissy, or how we've failed our trans sisters

Deonna Mason, a Black transwoman, has been on my mind for over three months. Early in the morning on Friday, October 9th, 22-year old Deonna Mason was reportedly struck by a state trooper while crossing an interstate on foot in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was pronounced dead on the scene and few people outside of North Carolina have heard her name.

Deonna Mason's life mattered. Black trans lives matter. But as a cisman, I often only learn the names of my trans sisters after their deaths rather than during their lives. We, especially cisgender folks, need to #SayHerName and commit it to memory, the way we should have with India Clarke, Mya Hall, or the over 20 trans women of color killed last year.

Reading these facts is often so sobering that people sometimes reach a saturation point of Black death. However, nightmares like Laquan McDonald’s prove that due diligence is the only way these stories even surface. Evidence of Laquan's murder was wiped clean and it took over a year for it to come forward. McDonald’s murder and the following city-wide coverup became national news through the work of the people on the ground, mainstream media, and activists utilizing twitter. However, Mason's death flew under the radar of many activists, including those who focus on Black trans lives. So what happens when the messengers don’t know about another Black person robbed of life?

We cannot rally around an injustice we are not aware of, and this is what happened with Deonna Mason's death. Finding comprehensive information on Mason is difficult, as all local news reports misgendered her. One article even referred to Mason by her birth name and claimed she was “dressed as” a woman, despite her actual presentation as a woman. Misgendering is a disgustingly common practice that is an act of violence many transwomen deal with every day. Not even in death can transwomen express their gender without the resurgence of their "dead names" or incorrect pronouns.

In creating the beloved community necessary for this work, I reached out to Deonna Mason's cousin, Kea Poole, on twitter. She reached back out on Nov. 30, 2015:

"Deonna "Prissy" Mason was a loved and loveable person. To know her was to love her. She left a lot of loved ones behind: her mother Mica Belin, her father & step father Derek Mason and William Belin, along with brother Jason Poole, William Belin Jr & sister Essence Belin. Her death will not be in vain.”

Deonna Mason was fortunate to have a family who loved her and who has not let her presence disappear. Poole informed me that Mason's family plans to help others like Deonna by creating “House of Prissy,” a safe haven for LGBTQ folk. In service of Mason’s family, I write this today to bring attention to her death but also to remind us that we must show our trans sisters love while they are living. Men allow hypermasculinity to drive them so far that they kill transwomen because they feel like they were “tricked" (#ZellaZiona). No one is “tricking” anyone. If a man has an issue with transwoman then he has an issue with all women. We cannot claim to be pro-Black if our fight for Black lives does not include transwomen. Our liberation is intrinsically tied to the most marginalized people within our own communities, and the sooner we realize it, the stronger we’ll be.

Black Girl Dangerous tells us how to support trans women now. Autostraddle has a list of 24 actions to help transwomen of color survive. GLAAD even has tips for how to be a better ally to transfolk. But, for me, the common theme among these pieces is simple. Let’s start treating transwomen like the humans that they are. Let’s stop being so defensive when someone calls us transphobic, because our language and actions often are transphobic. We cannot do this alone, either; let’s call out our friends and family when we see transphobic actions or hear transphobic rhetoric.

We must remember that we live in a world that assigns us a gender at birth on the basis of our genitals, so many of us police gender variance, but this is not a valid excuse to continue. We must deprogram the notion that the gender we are assigned at birth determines our whole lives. We justify the murder of transwomen when we deem transfolk as less deserving of less than cisfolk. The mere existence of transgender and gender non-conforming folk does not make cisgender folk more or less “man,” or “woman.”

If we really want justice for Prissy and the other trans women of color killed this year, let’s start with ourselves and our circles. We must do better for our trans sisters. Our freedom depends on it.

Anthony Williams is Editor-in-Chief of the Afrikan Black Coalition blog.

After lynching threat, Berkeley High's Black Student Union releases demands

For Immediate Release:

Black Student Union Demands

Contact: Berkeley High School Black Student Union

berkeleyhighschoolbsu@gmail.com

In light of the terroristic messages left on a Berkeley High School Computer on November 4, 2015, and the continued instances of systemic and interpersonal racism that plague our school, the Berkeley High School Black Student Union is issuing the following demands to the site administrators of Berkley High School and the Berkeley School Board.

1. WE DEMAND that history curriculum for grades K-12 be amended to cover Black history and an accurate view of colonialism. We demand that this curriculum include African history up into the present day, the history of Black people in the Americas; including, but not limited to enslavement, the Civil Rights movement, and historically significant Black people outside of equality movements. We demand that Black history be taught as an important and relevant piece of world history rather than its own independent subject that is relegated to a semester of Ethnic Studies. It is essential that Black students are educated on their history in its entirety. We as Black students cannot be expected to excel in an institution that gives us knowledge with which we can only see our ancestors as slaves. Moreover it is insulting to condense all history of non-White people into an Ethnic Studies class, and in order to properly educate students the Berkeley Unified School District must work to integrate what is now considered “Ethnic Studies” into the a-g curriculum.

2. WE DEMAND full funding of the Berkeley High School African American Studies Department. We demand that this funding allow for the continuation and betterment of all currently running programs. The Black Studies department is a resource from which Black students can learn about our history and culture in a district that rarely gives us opportunities to do so.

3. WE DEMAND the creation of an on campus Black Resource Center. We demand that this center be funded by the Berkeley Unified School District general fund and not Measures A, BB, H, or I. The Black Resource Center would be a location in which Black students can congregate and be directed towards on campus support for any issue that we may face. This center would become a permanent school fixture until Black students regularly have the same test scores as, and are graduating at the same rate as, White students.

4. WE DEMAND the immediate creation of a committee with the sole focus of recruiting and retaining Black staff and faculty throughout all of the Berkeley Unified School District. We demand that this committee include representatives from Berkeley Elementary, Middle, and High Schools along with members of the Berkeley High School Black Student Union. We expect a preliminary list of recommendations to be submitted to the School Board and the Berkeley High School Black Student Union by February 29, 2016.

5. WE DEMAND comprehensive racial sensitivity training for all Berkeley High School faculty and staff. We demand that classified staff be included in this training so that every adult on the Berkeley High School campus has an understanding of race and racism. We demand that this training be ongoing and that it not be limited to a singular Professional Development Day. Black students cannot be expected to feel safe in our classrooms or on our campus if Berkeley High School staff is not equipped to discuss or handle issues of racism and racial bias.

6. WE DEMAND that all of our demands be put into the process of implementation within the next 3-6 months and that the Superintendent gives us an official response no later than December 16th.

I Fit The Description: The Day I Was Racially Profiled By Berkeley Police

I Fit The Description: The Day I Was Racially Profiled By Berkeley Police

by: Delency Parham

First I want to start this off by saying peace and blessings to my brothers and sisters who are locked in a cell for a crime they didn’t commit. May you keep your spirits high and your head up. Justice is on the way.

I was browsing the Internet the other day and I came across a story where a professor at MassArt talked about a recent encounter he had with the Boston Police. His story sounded all too familiar. Steve Locke, who has been teaching at MassArt for 13 years, was recently stopped for fitting the description of a robbery suspect: 5’11, Black Male 160 pounds, wearing a black puffy coat and a knit cap. Fortunately for him, he was able to walk away from the misunderstanding, unlike the many Black males we see and read about on the news each day. The Trayvon Martins. The Laquan McDonalds, and many others. Reading Steve Locke’s story brought back memories of a situation I encountered with the Berkeley Police department the summer after my high school graduation. An experience that continues to haunt me til this day.

The summer of high school graduation is considered the most exhilarating time of many people’s lives. You and your friends are at the top of the world. Riding that post-graduation high without a care in the world. You're on the cusp of adulthood, but still young enough to spend your time lounging around and not being judged for it. The beginning of my summer was off to a great start. I was working out everyday in preparation for the upcoming football season. I had signed my letter of intent to play football for Humboldt State that February and I had my mind set on arriving at the university in the best shape possible. The rest of my time was spent hanging with friends and going on the occasional date. I was 17 and enjoying the fruits of my labor. It wasn't until a Monday night in early July that my summer and my life came crashing down. It seems like it was so long ago, but I can still see it so vividly.

It was a normal night at my aunt’s house, who lives on Ashby and Otis right across the street from the BART station. My aunt was downstairs watching TV and my younger cousin Jayla was upstairs washing my little sister’s hair. My grandmother had got me a Macbook for graduation, the first laptop I could call my own and I was fascinated by it. I was watching a Mike Epps comedy special, and every few minutes I would go check on my sister and cousin. I got a call from a really good friend of mine, Daniel, telling me he was about to pull up in front of my house and asking me to come outside to smoke. I took my laptop with me to the car because I figured “hey we getting high, might as well have a good laugh while we’re at it.”

As I walked down my driveway to meet Daniel, I saw my cousin Keenan and his girlfriend in the car across the street. I gave him a head nod and proceeded to enter Daniel’s car. Time goes by, we’re smoking and having a good time watching the comedy special. I mean it Mike Epps, the guy is hilarious. About 15 minutes go by and he tells me he’s about to head home. We shake hands and I get out. As I’m walking back to the house, I scream Keenan’s name, he looks up, and I give him the middle finger then turn around and moon him. I pull my pants up and take a few steps and that is when I see the red, white, and blue flashing lights. Car after car, they pull directly on the curb. One officer gets out his car gun drawn and yells “get on the fucking ground or I will blow your head off.”

I screamed “Don’t shoot it’s just a laptop.” I had heard stories of Black men getting killed for having objects in their hands and police “mistaking” it for a gun. I had to make sure I wasn’t another statistic. By this time I was delusional with fear, my heart is racing, and between all the flashing lights I couldn’t see a thing. I continue to plead for my life. It wasn’t too long ago that Oscar Grant was executed and the first cop made it clear he had nothing but the worst intentions. Two cops made their way towards me and one said “You thought you could get away.” The other told me put my hands behind my back and then handcuffed me. They both lift me off the concrete and when I get up the first thing I see is Keenan staring at me; he’s just as confused as I am. I look to my left and see two cops with their guns drawn on Daniel. He opens the car door and a cloud of smoke exits the vehicle.

I yelled to Keenan, “Go get Auntie Cathy!” and before I could say another word they put me in the back of the squad car.

While in the back seat, I have a million thoughts going through my mind. I had seen this story one too many times and it never ends well. Usually someone that looks like me loses their life or they go to jail.  Either option was not right for a kid who was turning 18 and headed to college in a few weeks. The voice on the dispatch got me out of my head and back to reality.

“Suspects of the 211 detained, one more at large,” says the voice.

I looked at the police monitor and it read: 3 suspects at large, 3 Black males, one wearing a black hoodie, the other white t-shirt and blue jeans” I stopped right there because I knew where this was headed. I had on a Black hoody and house shoes, while Daniel wore a white T and blue jeans. Now anyone with common sense knows that this is common attire, especially in the Black community, so by all means we were done. We fit the description enough for them to take us in.

Another loud voice was able to bring me back to reality: my auntie’s loud cries for an explanation. She pleaded with them that it was pretty much impossible for me to have committed the robbery when I was in the house all night and had just walked outside a few minutes ago. The cop explained to her that a laptop had been stolen. They had chased the suspect from downtown Berkeley and lost him on the dead end on Russell and Milvia, right around the corner from her house and when they went around to try and meet him guess who was standing right there on the corner holding a laptop...ME!

My aunt told them that the laptop was a gift and to provide more proof my grandmother drove to the scene with a receipt of purchase, even though my name was on the lock screen. A couple more minutes go by and finally a cop enters the squad car I’m in. I try to tell him that I’m innocent and that the only description I fit is the black sweater. I had on slippers and basketball shorts with no underwear, I was no way fit to commit that crime and then run from downtown Berkeley in house shoes.

He simply replied, “ The victim is our en route, they’ll be able to clear this up.”

More time goes by. By this time, my sister and cousin have come outside and both my grandmothers had arrived pleading my innocence. My mother -- who had recently graduated from JFK Law school -- was in Barbados celebrating her accomplishment had no clue what was taking place back at home. The cop returned to the car and this time he walks to my door and tells me to “get out.”

I saw Daniel being pulled out of another squad car with a guy who I had never seen before; I assumed it was the other suspect. They put all three of us  in the middle of the street on Ashby Avenue. All my neighbors were outside and a couple of people who were just passing by decided to stop and see what was going on. I was put on display in front of my immediate community and family. It was the most embarrassing and dehumanizing moment of my life. A month ago prior, these same people saw me walking this same street wearing a cap and gown.

Now when you are being identified by victims, they flash the lights bright in your face so that they can see you, and you can’t see them. One by one they made us step up, turn left, turn right, and then look straight ahead. After we each had a turn, they escorted us back to separate squad cars. Still I had some hope that we would be alright.I looked out the window saw the cops talking to my family. I saw my auntie shed a tear and then drop her head. The cop made his way back to the car and put his key in the ignition.

“Sorry buddy but you’ve been identified.”

I was sent to the Juvenile Detention Center. It was at that moment my life could have took a turn for the worst. Fortunately, many of my uncles and aunties work for the Oakland Juvenile department and were able to speak on my behalf. They explained to the judge that I had no record and I was a good student on his way to college on a football scholarship. In addition, to the many that vouched for me, one of the actual perpetrators who was arrested with Daniel and myself admitted to not knowing either one of us and that we had nothing to do with what went on. I was released from the juvenile detention center after 4 days and 3 nights. I know many will look at this and say it was just juvenile hall, what many don’t understand is what this could have led to. I was two weeks away from turning 18, which means I would have been tried as an adult. The minimum sentence for first degree armed robbery is 3 years, and that would have been my sentencing if I was lucky. It wasn’t just me whose life would have been ruined. Daniel had an academic scholarship to La Sierra University in Riverside. He was released a few days earlier than me.

I am one of the “lucky ones.” Sandra Bland didn’t get to plead her innocence. Mike Brown never got to give his side of the story, and here I sit, 23 and a college graduate. I was one more misunderstanding away from being another black man trapped by the system. I often sit back and think, what if the officer didn’t give me that fair warning? Or what if one of his colleagues didn’t feel like talking, like the cop who killed Laquan McDonald? Maybe going to juvenile hall was the blessing.

I was able to dodge the system once, but everyday I’m forced to see those who aren’t as fortunate. Through my own experience I was able to see the amount of power that law enforcement possesses, and I was also given the chance to see how one’s life can be ruined if that power is not handled with care and precaution. Through this experience I got to witness the power of prejudice, I fit the description of a young Black criminal. I often wonder if I were white and the circumstances were the same. Would I have been presented with the same disrespect and embarrassment?

I was able to accept my scholarship, go play college ball and then graduate. I was able to  grow from my experience. It’s given me an appreciation for life and an understanding of how quickly things can go south for Black people when dealing with the police. I have developed a deeper sense of sympathy for those who fall prey to unruly cops, and as a result lose their lives. As tension across the nation continues to grow between the Black community and law enforcement, I hope that things can get better and more Black people have the opportunity to leave the scene with their lives, instead of being left in the street in a pool of blood like Mario Woods.  I hope that at the very least we can make it to the courtroom and exercise our right to a fair trial, not die in police custody like Kindra Champman.

Delency Parham is a product of Oakland,CA and is member of the University of Idaho's 2015 graduating class. While at The University of Idaho, Delency played football and graduated with a degree in journalism. He is currently a contributor at Berkeleyside, an online publication where he writes about culture, sports, and community issues.

Black Student Union at UCSC Issues Demands

by UCSC BSU 

In addition to demonstrations initiated and acted out by the Afrikan Black community here at UC Santa Cruz, we as a community have created a list of demands that we want to be met in the next 4 months. This campus has been a perpetual source of discomfort and is an unwelcoming environment for a large population of Black students. This campus has been unwilling to address racism and in addition to that has an administration that participates in fueling this environment. The email sent from the chancellor’s office addressing anti-Semitism on campus was a prime example of this perpetuation.  To address the racist climate of this university, we want to see these demands met by Spring Quarter.

 We are well aware that last year the Black Experience Team or BET was created out of a climate of Black students feeling uncomfortable and not welcomed on this campus and this has not changed. We have had discussions with our community and we share the sentiment that there is more that this university can do to recruit, retain, and embrace Black students. Below, we have listed the demands that we want met this academic year.

Our Demands:

• We demand a 1.5% increase in Black male admissions of all admitted students every year

• We demand a 2% increase in Black student representation than the current representation of Black students for the 2016-2017 academic year

• We demand the creation of a Department of Black Studies

• We demand more scholarships for Black students in the annual amount of $1.5 million for the span of 5 years

• We demand more funding for undocumented students

• We demand more funding for EOP

• We demand the hiring of more Black students in campus jobs

• We demand a 48 hour response to anti-Black hate crimes

• We demand a competency education for all students about the issues pertaining to Black Queer students.

• We demand a permanent increased funding for the AARC in the amount of $1.5 million

• We demand a response from Chancellor Blumenthal by Dec. 14th, 2015 no later than 5pm.

Mainstream media doesn’t like Black Women *Kanye Voice

Mainstream media doesn’t like Black Women *Kanye Voice

by: AG

Is it truthful? Is it informative? Will it help the public think deeper on a particular issue? Is it newsworthy? These are questions those in the media must ask themselves before covering different stories and topics. So when a cop rapes and sexually assaults 12 Black women and one minor, who is Black, and national network news isn’t covering the original story or trial, the public has to question the integrity and values of media. Like clockwork, the US media machine has showed the public that the lives of Black women are not relevant to the nation.

The relationship between mainstream media and Black Americans has been a tumultuous one and because of that, throughout history the Black community has taken it upon themselves to create media outlets of their own. Mainstream media hasn’t gotten it right, and 2015 has been no different. The country has witnessed race relations return to the center  of the national conversation; however, in true mainstream media fashion, they omitted relevant details to our movement for their TV ratings. As a result of the power of social media, the voices of Black Americans were amplified as the community took media matters into their own hands, and truthfully I prefer it that way.

Last week, former Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw was found guilty on 18 of the 36 rape and sexual assault counts against him, brought forth by 13 Black women. Because television news doesn’t see the correlation between this and the #BlackLivesMatter Movement, this particular story from investigation to trial was never publicized through this medium. Thanks to Twitter and women, such as Feminista Jones, who use their platform to discuss the issues related to Black women--issues  television news won’t discuss--there is an abundance of online stories and tweets about this case.

Social media in conjunction with citizen journalism is what will write the narrative of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement that began in August of 2014. The Daniel Holtzclaw investigation and trial was the nail in the coffin that will close the opportunity for mainstream media to accurately depict the Movement and struggles of Black people in this country.

Similar to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, the imagery of today’s movement is very male-centered. When we talk about police brutality it is often depicted in the way that it impacts the men in our community, rarely highlighting how it impacts Black women. The case against Daniel Holtzclaw was an example of how state violence is just as dangerous to Black women. Yet, because so much of the media, and our country’s history, are dominated by stories by men and about men I can see why this didn’t make the cut as “newsworthy”.

Many Black Americans expressed their frustration, disgust, and disappointment in media as an institution regarding the lack of coverage on the Holtzclaw trial. While those feelings are valid, what did we expect? It sounds harsh, but personally I’m officially over these major television news networks with their token Black correspondents that they only call to sit on a panel when a major city is full of unrest. If media is only willing to cover the Holtzclaw case as long as there are some strong visuals of Black unrest and Black unhappiness, then I almost don’t even want them reporting on it.

If we want reform, then yes, let’s work on making sure that our voices are heard and our stories are accurately told within mainstream media. But if we want revolution, which is what we need, then it’s time to amplify our own voices and tell our own stories.

AG is a staff writer for the Afrikan Black Coalition. 

Afrikan Black Coalition Accomplishes UC Prison Divestment!

After months of research, conversations with the University of California and steady pressure from the Afrikan Black Coalition against the UC’s complicity in the prison industrial complex, ABC confirms that the UC has begun selling all their shares in private prisons. This victory follows an initial November press release from the Afrikan Black Coalition announcing the University of California’s investments in private prisons and a unanimous vote from Black Student Unions calling for divestment from private prisons and their financiers. ABC Political Director, Yoel Haile, states:

"This victory is historic and momentous. Divesting $25 million is a good step towards shutting down private prisons by starving them of capital. This is a clear example of Black Power and what we can achieve when we work in unity. This victory belongs to the masses of our people languishing behind America’s mass incarceration regime."

UC Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher broke the news to ABC staff in a meeting at Bachher’s office in Oakland, CA on Friday, December 18th, 2015. Bachher stated that he would partner with the Afrikan Black Coalition and has pledged to inform each UC Chancellor and financial institutions--with whom the UC maintains a relationship--about the UC’s decision to sell all holdings in private prisons. Bachher maintained that as a matter of policy, the UC does not divest, but "looks at things from a sustainable investment framework." This decision makes the University of California the second U.S educational institution to divest from private prisons after Columbia University’s decision to divest in 2013, as a result of relentless organizing by Black students and allies.

The University of California is clear that investments in these corporations are financially unsustainable and now stands as the first public education institution to denounce the private prison industry. In addition, Black students have declared private prisons to be morally rotten and ethically compromising to the mission of any educational institution. Our position on private prisons has been clear from the very beginning; we want them outlawed and out of business. The University of California has sold all but $2 million of its holdings from private prisons and is in the process of selling the remainder of their holdings by December 31st, 2015. Following this historic victory, many invigorated supporters are now asking: where do we go from here?

As our ABC Divestment Resolution demands, divestment from private prisons by the UC is not complete until the $425 million invested in Wells Fargo Bank is dealt with appropriately. Wells Fargo Bank has never been the ally of Black, working class, and migrant people or the intersection thereof. Like many banks, Wells Fargo is well known for their discriminatory lending practices in Black and brown neighborhoods. Wells Fargo also acts as a syndication agent and issuing lender on CCA’s $900 million line of credit, serves as a trustee to Geo Group’s $300 million corporate debt, and is a Million Shares Club member. As a Million Shares Club member, Wells Fargo owns over one million shares in CCA and Geo Group, effectively financing the dehumanization of Black and migrant people. The private prison industry shows little concern for our people and demonstrates few signs of stopping without direct action from organizations like Enlace, Responsible Endowments Coalition, and ABC. Unless Wells Fargo immediately cancels all of its business relationships with private prisons, the $425 million the UC has invested in Wells Fargo must be divested immediately. ABC Field Organizer Kamilah Moore states:

“In order for the UC's mission to be fulfilled, it is imperative to assess investments not only from a risk perspective, but from a socially responsible perspective as well. Our campaign is not over. We will continue to call for complete divestment, increased transparency, and reinvestment in education and businesses owned or controlled by the formerly incarcerated.”

Wells Fargo’s direct financing of the prison industrial complex is morally bankrupt and incongruous with the UC’s sustainable centennial investing strategies. The UC Investment Report clearly states that “[a]s long-term investors, we seek the sustained returns associated with strong governance, rather than the rapid gains that can vanish quickly if they are rooted in corruption, fraud or falsification.” Wells Fargo is a bank whose practices run contrary to the values articulated by the UC and its sustainable investment framework. In our estimation, the UC should not invest the money of young college students, distinguished faculty, and the Board of Regents in Wells Fargo.

Selling $425 million in Wells Fargo holdings would benefit the UC and set a historic precedent for the nation. Our resolution explicitly states that the newly-released funds should be invested in education and companies that are owned or controlled by the formerly incarcerated. Doing so would place the UC at the forefront of a national movement for smart, visionary, and ethical investment decisions that aim to benefit society at large. 

If the UC does not sell their $425 million of holdings in Wells Fargo Bank, they will have a statewide coalition of relentless, strategic, and fearless Black students who are intent on contributing their part to the Black Freedom Struggle. Our patience is quickly reaching its limit and we intend to wage this struggle by any means necessary. We do not and we will not act alone, as the prison industrial complex targets Black, brown, poor and migrant lives, and the most marginalized have the least to lose.