“I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.” -Audre Lorde
I chose to sign my name on the Wespeak entitled “Diversify the Faculty of ‘Diversity University!’” published in Friday’s Argus (May 1, 2009, Vol. CXLV, No. 20) for multiple reasons.
First, this action of solidarity enacted by the student body, especially amongst the community of color, has severely dwindled over the past few years. In fact, it is well known that in recent years this community has not been as engaged in activist-oriented activities as in the past. I do not wish to devalue the activism that has recently occurred on campus, yet wish to shine light onto what I have experienced as a downward slide of action-oriented work present on campus, specifically issues of mobility centered around race, CLASS, gender, sexuality and all other equally important aspects of one’s identity including the various intersections that inevitably arise.
Additionally, I have lived in the Womanist House for the past two years where Professor Price is our faculty advisor. This is just one of the many ways she has shown her support for Wesleyan students. For this reason alone I feel personally obliged to reciprocate these supportive energies on her behalf. As a community, we must acknowledge Professor Price’s expertise in her field, the importance of her physical presence on campus and the various ways in which she has affected us as a student body, whether you hate her classes or not. This holds especially true for us students of color, specifically of black and Latina/o decent, for sheer lack of visibility of and accessibility to models that look like us. This of course is the bigger picture that the letter addresses: the lack and necessity of faculty of color at Wesleyan especially those of black, Latina/o and Native American decent.
To the members of the Wesleyan community who have recently posted anonymously online in response to our Wespeak: Thank you for your words. While it is important that these discussions are occurring in a public (white) sphere, they are also problematic. They too are reflexive of our campus climate. For that reason I encourage us to move beyond the convenience and comfort of cyber space. While the space to freely rant is necessary and for many inaccessible, I cannot stress how important it is for us to bring these conversations to life physically, face to face. Let’s talk and push behind this cowardly bickering. Yes, I know. All we DO is talk. Yet a current issue lies within where these conversations are and are not being held. This is when posting anonymously can become very dangerous because intent is lost. Our voices are not crossing borders. Honestly, we’re too old and too intelligent to play this “that’s retarded/that’s wrong/I’m right” game. What are the issues? What does our community need? What needs changing? What can be changed? How can we bring about these changes? We have nothing without respectful communication. For every problem there is a solution and it is our jobs as members of this Wesleyan community, including staff, administration and faculty, no matter how brief our stay, to start the process of finding a solution to these issues that greatly impact all of us in the community.
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