My classmates and I are enrolled in a African literature course at Western Michigan University. We are assigned a collaboration project, where we are trying to combine experiences and share ideas on how we can improve equality for all. Our idea to make this happen is to hold a 90 minute seminar that will be an open discussion for everyone to include their experiences and thoughts on how we can improve equality for everyone.
How it started:
We started our project by first doing research on organizations across the world who are currently fighting for blm and fighting against racial discrimination. We found that here in our own city we have multiple different organizations. We found ISAAC of Kalamazoo, which is a anti-racism task force. Also we found the Kalamazoo Defender's Office, BASA in WMU (Bronco African Students Association), and BSU in WMU (Black Student Union). We also thought about the NAACP. In Africa we found that the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Anti-Racism network South Africa Anti racism week, which is held March 14 to the 21st 2022, and lastly we found the United Nations does diversity training on a global scale.
Some things we learned about our topic:
We have learned that while Africans have embraced the Black Lives Matter movement after the murder of George Floyd starting in Cape Town they do not yet have their own branch of BLM. We have learned that right here in our own city we have plenty of Anti-Racism organizations that we can volunteer with and collaborate with to help stop systemic racism in our own city. And we have learned that the intersectionality of these two topics are very deep in America but also are starting to emerge in Africa even though the world view for many is that racism is not prevalent in Africa.
After finding groups that focus on this issue across the world. We then decided to reach out to professors at various universities in africa. We reached out to multiple professors specifically at the University of Cape Town. Unfortunately, the professors at the University of Cape Town were too busy. So we reached out to Wandile, who is apart of the law school at Cape Town and they were able to get students in Africa to join our seminar to discuss the issues and what we can do to make things better.
Seminar:
Our seminar was held Friday April 8th, 2022. It was a great success. We had multiple students studying at the University of Cape Town come and share their experiences and thoughts on racism and racial discrimination.
We had 15 students from Cape Town attend the seminar. We came up with six questions that we thought was important for conversation.
Our six questions were
What does racism look like where you’re from?
What are you doing to fight against racism and racial discrimination?
What do you know about Black Lives Matter movement?
How has racism affected your everyday life?
How can you support anti-racist organizations where you live?
How do you actively practice anti-racist behavior?
Here are some of the responses we got from the students:
“You feel your skin wherever you go”
“Constant state of anxiety”
Richard Wolfe
Rawls Difference Principle
Chris Hedges
A treatise on Pre-colonial Anarchist Africa
“Into the heart of darkness- Confessions of Apartheid Assassins' -by Jacques Pauw
Biko is also very relevant, “I write what I like."
Fanon: Black Skin, White Masks & Wretched of the Earth.
Cuba pays for medical degree if serve underrepresented communities for 5 years post grad
Study Abroad in UCT - very diverse
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