The Black Voice
Whitewashed/ STILLblack@wisc.edu by Althea Miller
Spurred by a surreal identification with the experiences of the participants in a study
conducted by Rachelle Winkle-‐Wagner, the findings of which are described in Unchosen Me
Race, Gender, and Identity among Black
Women in College, STILLblack@wisc.edu speaks to the triumph and trauma that was my undergraduate experience at the University of Wisconsin-‐Madison from
August 2007 – May 2012. Between
the onslaught of hateful messages spewed at me by White peers, nonchalant professors, conservative think tanks denying
my place at this institution, and a myriad
of other horrors caused or compounded
by my Blackness and the other
identities intersecting it – I further grounded myself in my roots, despite
various purgative efforts
by others, or even myself.
STILLblack@wisc.edu depicts the gradation
of identity from acting white, to total and unabashed Negritude, with a deliberate (albeit
subtle) reference to minstrelsy – a message to the University that I will not allow
myself to be pandered as the fruition
of a diversity plan, nor am I a quota.
I am a voice.
And I will be heard.
On Friday, February 5, 1971 volume 1, number of THE BLACK VOICE was released to the campus.The paper was a “new vehicle on which Black people can transmit their thoughts.” During a time of turmoil and overt rejection from the greater campus community Black students created a place where their needs, conversations, interests, and community could be centralized beyond the realms of physical space. The Black student body as it currently stands is still in need of such a space. I charge you now as students charged one another then, “With THE BLACK VOICE, this new endeavor, let us all become determined to progress, let us all refuse to stagnate, and let us all refuse to retrogress. This is a long awaited beginning.”
Lift Every Voice
“If your voice is not loud enough you need to make it louder,
but at the same time you need to make it productive”-Amani Breanna Alexander
When the first issue
of The Black Voice
was published on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971 the voices
of Black students had been made loud for over a decade already. Students gathered
on the Capitol Square, Library Mall, and Bascom Hill in order to protest segregated lunch counters and overt acts of racism by predominantly white fraternities, demand improvement in the recruitment and retention of Black students and the implementation of a Black Studies
Department,
and
also to boycott the closing
of the Afro American and Native American
Cultural Centers. Fast forward 44 years later and we can all share a meal at the Nitty Gritty, yet there is still a likelihood of being called
any variation of nigger while walking down Langdon street and we’re still discussing and demanding
tangible action to solve the recruitment and retention gap that plagues all ethnic minority
groups on campus. Even the Afro- American
Studies department, though present,
still lacks sustainability and is in danger
of being dissolved into one large department along with its ethnic studies counterparts that remain at only program status. How is it that an institution known for its breakthrough research and accomplished reputation remains stagnant
in its efforts to institutionalize
the value of Black students?
Has there actually been no progress
in the campus racial climate? One answer can be found in the gallery of the Multicultural Student
Center in the Red Gym or on the walls of the second
floor of College Library. For the month
of February photos depicting the student protest
that took place on December 14, 2014 hang alongside photos of student
protests from 1940 until the late 1980s.
Aside from the color there is little difference between
the periods. Not only have the needs of Black students
remained fundamentally the same, but also there is little difference in the methods
used to implement change and the message
of why change is necessary. Even still,
these protests, marches, and boycotts show moments
in campus life that, though powerful and impactful, were briefly experienced. How have the day-to-day lived experiences of Black students
improved throughout the last 44 years?
As we near the half a century
mark, what can continue to be done ensure the safety and sanity of Black students
on campus?
Our campus has been consistently informed of administrative intentions to reform the hostile
campus racial climate. Students, staff, administrators, and several campus entities
have all hosted their fair share
of forums, discussions, and town hall meetings in order to voice respective concerns, opinions, and plans to improve conditions for marginalized communities. Buzz words like “diversity” and “inclusivity” have been circulating in every public sphere in order to maintain assurance
that a change is coming, but with current
campus life bearing uncanny resemblance to campus 30 years ago, that change
is a long time coming. As a Madison native, former
undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, current
Assistant Director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives, and program advisor for the First Wave Hip Hop and Urban Arts Learning
Community, Adey Assefa, has had over a decade of experience in the campus’s racial climate. When reflecting on her own experiences as a Badger Adey admits, “I know from the experiences I experienced growing
up here as well as being a student
here and where I’m at now working with students, specifically Black students, not much has changed.” Incidents like the one Janetta Hill, a freshman at the university, experienced when she was called a “nigger
bitch” while walking
down State Street this past summer are still prevalent
in Black students’ lives. Instead,
Assefa has observed a change in the Black student population’s response to such a stagnant
environment. Every aspect of Black student life is engaging
in the discourse surrounding the displacement of Black students and all resources are being utilized
to address the issue. Many current students
agree that the Black
student community is collectively more active, visible, and apt to bring about more change than has been seen in recent years.
The problem, though, is that the onus falls
primarily on the shoulders of students. Responses from Bascom Hill have been slow to say the least and most seem geared towards immediate placation of students than toward
sufficient action. Two major initiatives that work to address
current and future issues facing students
of color are the Diversity Framework
and the incident/bias reporting system.
The Diversity Framework, entitled Forward Together, is coming out of the office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate and is currently aiming
to address six priority areas
of campus improvement for students of color including
undergraduate curriculum, retention and research, and access and recruitment. The first draft of the framework’s initiatives are set to be released Sunday, March 1st. While we await
the application of these solutions, students may use the incident/bias reporting system to report instances of bias and hate demonstrated within the realms of the campus community. Incidents can be reported online
under the Dean of Students office
or in person at various
campus offices including the Multicultural Student Center and the LGBT Campus Center
both located in the Red Gym. Students who have reported incidents have seen swift and just consequences for their offenders. Still, Assefa points out, there is little room for reporting acts that are well intended
or that may not have an individual, known, or direct offender. Despite these two initiatives most students
agree overall that little is done institutionally to ensure their safety and comfort. The only glimmer
of hope resides in a small pocket of campus entities.
Spaces like the office of African American Student Academic
Services, the Multicultural Student Center, or the major scholarship communities for people
of color, PEOPLE, Posse, and First Wave. Still, many students believe these offices
often function independently of the institution as designated safe space. Once students step outside of these spaces to engage
in common areas of campus life there remains a dissonance. Sophomore Deshawn McKinney points out that Black students not enrolled
in a scholarship community or those who live in the Lake shore dormitories and lack access to “centrally located”
safe spaces are further undeserved and their resources even more minimalized. He adds that even campus services such as University Health Services aren’t always able to sufficiently serve students of
color due to an inability or unwillingness to recognize the unique experiences of Black students and the unique needs
those experiences create. Consequently, most of the efforts
to create, sustain, and expand safe spaces comes from the Black student population. Student organizations geared
towards serving Black students facilitate most of the community gatherings and what little centralization the community has. Still the reach of these organizations is limited
due to what Deshawn acknowledges as a need to survive. 2012 alumnus and current graduate
student Walter Williams recognizes that there is often a lack of financial support from the university to ensure the sustainability and survival
of student organizations. Little consistent and fully effective university initiatives combined
with limiting and, sometimes, unsustainable campus spaces
cause many Black students to be constantly susceptible to the micro-aggressive environment that can be the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
When asked what ways can this climate be remedied
Black students and staff makes it clear that reform is needed at every level
of the university and action
is called on everyone’s part. There is large inclination towards diversifying the campus faculty. Adey believes, “there needs
to be a commitment
to diversifying the faculty and staff on campus so that students can see people in professional roles that look like them and be taught by faculty that look like them, especially when it comes to area and subjects that are about their identity.” Janetta agrees, expressing her own confusion over the absence of faculty
working in programs
and departments that align with their
racial and ethnic identity. “It just doesn’t
make sense for the head of all of these departments to be mainly White people
or White men, it doesn’t make sense. It’s not your experience. I want the best. UW-Madison is supposed
to be the best and I want the most detailed work and you cannot
give me that because that’s
not your experience.” The need for more faculty of color or at least faculty trained and committed
to having a truly inclusive classroom climate
can address issues
of retention. Garrett Pauli, a sophomore,
believes that“If the university is going to use words like diversity and inclusivity and that kind of rhetoric then it should be excited about incorporating that into the University experience.” Reformation is not solely required
of the university though.
There are many ways in which students, both organizationally and individually, can improve our efforts
to create a better campus climate. Coalition building
and self-awareness are essential to our efforts.
While there is much that needs to be done and many ways to contribute to
getting it done, it is imperative that we know where we can best serve.
Both Hill and McKinney agree that everyone’s strength
is not in public speaking
or organizing and that’s okay. Being willing
and able to acknowledge and address the task you can best complete instead
of the one that personally benefits
you is crucial to our overall
progression. The marches and protest, says McKinney,
are only small parts in the grand scheme of advancement. “Its more than a movement.
It should be a lifestyle because it’s literally a life style. It’s more than a moment”, says Hill. We must challenge ourselves to embody the change we want to see and incorporate it into our daily lives.
A sophomore student Hiwot Adilow says, we must start with ourselves. Students
find small ways to enhance everyday
aspects of campus life like Olivia Millet, another
sophomore student,
who strives to be another smiling
brown face to alleviate any possible
loneliness that may be felt by many students of color during
a simple daily commute. The responsibility, though, does not rest solely
upon the small
student of color population or the even smaller Black student population. There is also a responsibility of the majority student population, primarily White allies. Pauli, a white student,
believes in being
in constant communication with his white counterparts about
race relations on campus and is using his artistic platform
to address white privilege and white silence.
Coalition building within the Black community,
primarily amongst organizations, between
different student of color populations, and amongst the student population as a whole can urge for a heightened and quickened response
on behalf of administration. Allowing students to be active in the decision- making regarding
the betterment of their experiences also becomes a crucial part of actual improvement. Above all, there
is a vital need for what 2015 Black History Month keynote
speaker Marc Lamont Hill calls deep listening, or the realization that everyone speaking
at the same time does make a conversation. In order to truly advance, the faculty,
staff, administration, and the student
body in its entirety has to be willing to actively listen to the needs and realities of one another.
While the sound
of current Black voices deeply resonates with those of the 1970s this is not to be confused
with a 30-year-old echo.
Despite the fundamental feel of same sh*t different day, there is a different end goal for Black students
today. Instead of visibility and
acknowledgement there is a pressing need for holistic integration into the overall
university
mission and the ideologies that shape the Wisconsin Experience, while also ensuring
that integration is not coupled with an expectation of
assimilation. Instead it has become imperative that Black voices
are recognized for their matchless sound and are given the space
to harmonize with the larger campus without
being drowned out in monolithic multiculturalism.
Until we receive that space we can only deduce that our voices simply
are not loud enough yet.
Lift Every Voice
“If your voice is not loud enough you need to make it louder,
but at the same time you need to make it productive”-Amani Breanna Alexander
When the first issue
of The Black Voice
was published on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971 the voices
of Black students had been made loud for over a decade already. Students gathered
on the Capitol Square, Library Mall, and Bascom Hill in order to protest segregated lunch counters and overt acts of racism by predominantly white fraternities, demand improvement in the recruitment and retention of Black students and the implementation of a Black Studies
Department,
and
also to boycott the closing
of the Afro American and Native American
Cultural Centers. Fast forward 44 years later and we can all share a meal at the Nitty Gritty, yet there is still a likelihood of being called
any variation of nigger while walking down Langdon street and we’re still discussing and demanding
tangible action to solve the recruitment and retention gap that plagues all ethnic minority
groups on campus. Even the Afro- American
Studies department, though present,
still lacks sustainability and is in danger
of being dissolved into one large department along with its ethnic studies counterparts that remain at only program status. How is it that an institution known for its breakthrough research and accomplished reputation remains stagnant
in its efforts to institutionalize
the value of Black students?
Has there actually been no progress
in the campus racial climate? One answer can be found in the gallery of the Multicultural Student
Center in the Red Gym or on the walls of the second
floor of College Library. For the month
of February photos depicting the student protest
that took place on December 14, 2014 hang alongside photos of student
protests from 1940 until the late 1980s.
Aside from the color there is little difference between
the periods. Not only have the needs of Black students
remained fundamentally the same, but also there is little difference in the methods
used to implement change and the message
of why change is necessary. Even still,
these protests, marches, and boycotts show moments
in campus life that, though powerful and impactful, were briefly experienced. How have the day-to-day lived experiences of Black students
improved throughout the last 44 years?
As we near the half a century
mark, what can continue to be done ensure the safety and sanity of Black students
on campus?
Our campus has been consistently informed of administrative intentions to reform the hostile
campus racial climate. Students, staff, administrators, and several campus entities
have all hosted their fair share
of forums, discussions, and town hall meetings in order to voice respective concerns, opinions, and plans to improve conditions for marginalized communities. Buzz words like “diversity” and “inclusivity” have been circulating in every public sphere in order to maintain assurance
that a change is coming, but with current
campus life bearing uncanny resemblance to campus 30 years ago, that change
is a long time coming. As a Madison native, former
undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, current
Assistant Director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives, and program advisor for the First Wave Hip Hop and Urban Arts Learning
Community, Adey Assefa, has had over a decade of experience in the campus’s racial climate. When reflecting on her own experiences as a Badger Adey admits, “I know from the experiences I experienced growing
up here as well as being a student
here and where I’m at now working with students, specifically Black students, not much has changed.” Incidents like the one Janetta Hill, a freshman at the university, experienced when she was called a “nigger
bitch” while walking
down State Street this past summer are still prevalent
in Black students’ lives. Instead,
Assefa has observed a change in the Black student population’s response to such a stagnant
environment. Every aspect of Black student life is engaging
in the discourse surrounding the displacement of Black students and all resources are being utilized
to address the issue. Many current students
agree that the Black
student community is collectively more active, visible, and apt to bring about more change than has been seen in recent years.
The problem, though, is that the onus falls
primarily on the shoulders of students. Responses from Bascom Hill have been slow to say the least and most seem geared towards immediate placation of students than toward
sufficient action. Two major initiatives that work to address
current and future issues facing students
of color are the Diversity Framework
and the incident/bias reporting system.
The Diversity Framework, entitled Forward Together, is coming out of the office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate and is currently aiming
to address six priority areas
of campus improvement for students of color including
undergraduate curriculum, retention and research, and access and recruitment. The first draft of the framework’s initiatives are set to be released Sunday, March 1st. While we await
the application of these solutions, students may use the incident/bias reporting system to report instances of bias and hate demonstrated within the realms of the campus community. Incidents can be reported online
under the Dean of Students office
or in person at various
campus offices including the Multicultural Student Center and the LGBT Campus Center
both located in the Red Gym. Students who have reported incidents have seen swift and just consequences for their offenders. Still, Assefa points out, there is little room for reporting acts that are well intended
or that may not have an individual, known, or direct offender. Despite these two initiatives most students
agree overall that little is done institutionally to ensure their safety and comfort. The only glimmer
of hope resides in a small pocket of campus entities.
Spaces like the office of African American Student Academic
Services, the Multicultural Student Center, or the major scholarship communities for people
of color, PEOPLE, Posse, and First Wave. Still, many students believe these offices
often function independently of the institution as designated safe space. Once students step outside of these spaces to engage
in common areas of campus life there remains a dissonance. Sophomore Deshawn McKinney points out that Black students not enrolled
in a scholarship community or those who live in the Lake shore dormitories and lack access to “centrally located”
safe spaces are further undeserved and their resources even more minimalized. He adds that even campus services such as University Health Services aren’t always able to sufficiently serve students of
color due to an inability or unwillingness to recognize the unique experiences of Black students and the unique needs
those experiences create. Consequently, most of the efforts
to create, sustain, and expand safe spaces comes from the Black student population. Student organizations geared
towards serving Black students facilitate most of the community gatherings and what little centralization the community has. Still the reach of these organizations is limited
due to what Deshawn acknowledges as a need to survive. 2012 alumnus and current graduate
student Walter Williams recognizes that there is often a lack of financial support from the university to ensure the sustainability and survival
of student organizations. Little consistent and fully effective university initiatives combined
with limiting and, sometimes, unsustainable campus spaces
cause many Black students to be constantly susceptible to the micro-aggressive environment that can be the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
When asked what ways can this climate be remedied
Black students and staff makes it clear that reform is needed at every level
of the university and action
is called on everyone’s part. There is large inclination towards diversifying the campus faculty. Adey believes, “there needs
to be a commitment
to diversifying the faculty and staff on campus so that students can see people in professional roles that look like them and be taught by faculty that look like them, especially when it comes to area and subjects that are about their identity.” Janetta agrees, expressing her own confusion over the absence of faculty
working in programs
and departments that align with their
racial and ethnic identity. “It just doesn’t
make sense for the head of all of these departments to be mainly White people
or White men, it doesn’t make sense. It’s not your experience. I want the best. UW-Madison is supposed
to be the best and I want the most detailed work and you cannot
give me that because that’s
not your experience.” The need for more faculty of color or at least faculty trained and committed
to having a truly inclusive classroom climate
can address issues
of retention. Garrett Pauli, a sophomore,
believes that“If the university is going to use words like diversity and inclusivity and that kind of rhetoric then it should be excited about incorporating that into the University experience.” Reformation is not solely required
of the university though.
There are many ways in which students, both organizationally and individually, can improve our efforts
to create a better campus climate. Coalition building
and self-awareness are essential to our efforts.
While there is much that needs to be done and many ways to contribute to
getting it done, it is imperative that we know where we can best serve.
Both Hill and McKinney agree that everyone’s strength
is not in public speaking
or organizing and that’s okay. Being willing
and able to acknowledge and address the task you can best complete instead
of the one that personally benefits
you is crucial to our overall
progression. The marches and protest, says McKinney,
are only small parts in the grand scheme of advancement. “Its more than a movement.
It should be a lifestyle because it’s literally a life style. It’s more than a moment”, says Hill. We must challenge ourselves to embody the change we want to see and incorporate it into our daily lives.
A sophomore student Hiwot Adilow says, we must start with ourselves. Students
find small ways to enhance everyday
aspects of campus life like Olivia Millet, another
sophomore student,
who strives to be another smiling
brown face to alleviate any possible
loneliness that may be felt by many students of color during
a simple daily commute. The responsibility, though, does not rest solely
upon the small
student of color population or the even smaller Black student population. There is also a responsibility of the majority student population, primarily White allies. Pauli, a white student,
believes in being
in constant communication with his white counterparts about
race relations on campus and is using his artistic platform
to address white privilege and white silence.
Coalition building within the Black community,
primarily amongst organizations, between
different student of color populations, and amongst the student population as a whole can urge for a heightened and quickened response
on behalf of administration. Allowing students to be active in the decision- making regarding
the betterment of their experiences also becomes a crucial part of actual improvement. Above all, there
is a vital need for what 2015 Black History Month keynote
speaker Marc Lamont Hill calls deep listening, or the realization that everyone speaking
at the same time does make a conversation. In order to truly advance, the faculty,
staff, administration, and the student
body in its entirety has to be willing to actively listen to the needs and realities of one another.
Black is the New
L
A
C
K
a lover’s poem
Black is the New
L
A
C
K
the sun loves me so much people say they see him when i walk into a room.
i am golden. the sun loved me enough to leave a kiss from himself on my cheeks.
the sky could say the same thing.
he wakes her from a mourning color.
he turns her over from blush to bruise. she blues, only grabbing
glimpses of him before he dusks away. she turns
a violent hue and i do too. both of us grow grey and starless
when he goes. we flood everything with how full we are of thunder.
it’s nighttime, the sun has sunk.
the sky and i almost
forget: yesterday we split
a tree down the middle.
we remember that we are not always so dark.
we take this truth
and shawl it around
our shoulders.
By Hiwot Adilow
Abandon Whenever a blk person
is senselessly murdered (and I shiver through
the bones at how smooth it comes, like wind across my cheek, the bitter
truth that waves whenever)
I find myself, my Other name, biting
at The Atlantic—I will simply go Back Home. Ethiopia waits
for my lips, spitting
My father’s name so wrong.
There is blood in the city I was born in And it trails from one coast to another. I say beYesussm
and dream of flight Wondering where the dying will go.
Can I pull them onto the boat I inherited? Who is to say I will
not die running? Who is to say that the bullet cares Anything for where I am “from?”
By Hiwot Adilow
 | |||||
| "Just a KID" by Jerry Jordan |
 |
| "Mattea" by Jerry Jordan |
Prayer (Song) for Magic
[
17- year-old Travyon Martin
fatally shot by 28-year-old George Zimmerman 17-year-old Jordan
Davis fatally shot by 45-year-old Michael Dunn
18- year-old Michael Brown fatally shot by 28-year-old police officer Darren Wilson 12-year-old Tamir
Rice fatally shot by 26-year-old police officer Timothy
Loehmann
[Verse]
white men with magnums make black
children phantoms,
I’m singing anthems praying to freeze
handguns,
I don’t have powers but I produce poems that ask if my children
can make all the cannons unmade
[Chorus] (x4)
oh heavenly father give us all your magic give us every spell you can lend
we have your good book now we need your spell book the bible can’t battle
a bullet
“ df dkjhnjnkj ink dv they used to put on a white sheet hey how are you doing today .. Today they've taken off the white sheet , and
they're doing the same thing.”
-Malcolm X
By Sean Avery
Upcoming Events
Sunday, March 1st:
First Wave Womyn’s History Month Showcase Featuring “Rose Gold”
By Zhalarina Sanders Fredric Play Circle, Memorial Union
6pm-9pm
Tuesday,March 3rd
Wisconsin Black Student Union
Talk to Me Tuesday:
Addressing the N Word in the Black Community MSC Lounge, Red Gym
6:15pm
6:15pm
Thursday, March 5th:
Filipino American Student Organization Breakfast for Dinner- Pancake
Fundraiser MSC Lounge, Red Gym
6pm-8pm
Wednesday, March 11th:
D-Squad Presents: The Mask You Live In Overture Room, Gordon Commons
6pm
Friday, March 13th:
Gamma Epsilon, Zeta Iota, and Epsilon
Tau Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha PHInesse
The Red Zone Madison 10pm-2am
$8 presale tickets, $10 at the door
Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc 2015 Triple ‘S’ Show
Shannon Hall Theatre Doors open at 8pm
Sunday, March 15th:
[un] bound call for submissions deadline
This edition
intends to capture the challenging and celebratory moments where our intersectional roots as LGBTQA+ and ally identities find liberation
in a world that challenges our very existence.
Mediums: paintings,
poems, sketches, comics, photography,
songs, drawings,
quotes.
Formats: JPEG/ PNG/ TIFF/ Doc/PDF Files, color or black and white Submission Size:
No specific size, but
a submission will be published in a 5.5’’x8.5’’ page
Page Limit: Submissions will have a limit of being printed on 2 pages of 5.5’’x8.5’’ for questions and submissions contact,
Ricardo Mora, mora2@wisc.edu
March 11th-
17th:
First Wave Hip Hop and Urban Arts Learning Community Presents
The Line Breaks Festival 2015 Overture Center for the Arts
Thursday, March 12th- Friday, March 13th:
Multicultural Student Center
The Symposium on Race & Politics in Higher Education
Special thanks to:
Hiwot Adilow
Shade Adu
Shade Adu
Amani Breanna Alexander
Adey Assefa
Janetta Hill
Deshawn McKinney
Olivia Millet
Garrett Pauli
Egal Warsame
Walter Williams
Hard copies are available in the Multicultural Student Center, POSSE office, Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives, and PEOPLE Program office.
To send in submissions of poetry, prose, artwork, or article topics please email Jordan Gaines at jsgaines@wisc.edu
To send in submissions of poetry, prose, artwork, or article topics please email Jordan Gaines at jsgaines@wisc.edu
For all question,
comments, or concerns please email aasas@ls.wisc.edu
