Black Lives Matter...Still

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 22:34:49 -0400
diversityandinclusion, equity, race, umbc, umbccampuslife, umbcmosaic, umbctogether

Community Call to Black Beauty
You so Black!
You so Black!

When you smile, the stars come out

You so Black when you born, the God come out...

Black as you need

Black as you breathe

Black as you believe

Black as you love

Black has always been enough

Black is all of the above

Black is Lift E'vry Voice and Sing

Black is letting our freedom ring and resound

Black is adjective, color, adverb and noun

Black is crown

Black is clean

So to the Black is all everlasting to the Black is passing

and every shade of Black in between, matter of fact,

anywhere you believe your Black to be at all applicable

Baby, you so Black you transcend the physical

Black is original

You so Black, Ooo!

You so Black!

When you smile, the stars come out

You so Black when you born, the God come out.

-Spoken word by Theresa tha SONGBIRD

We, the staff of Campus Life's Mosaic, Interfaith and Pride Centers send thoughts of peace, love, and care to the members of the Black African American, Black African, and Black Caribbean community as they collectively grieve the recent beautiful Black lives lost due to white supremacist and state sanctioned violence. We acknowledge the difficult challenges of hate-based crimes against the Black community.

We see you.

We hold space for you.

Your life matters.

If you find yourself overwhelmed, or stressed, you are not alone. Please reach out to our staff or the UMBC Counseling Center for support.

Community Call to Remembrance: Say Their Names

Ahmaud Arbery (25). Breonna Taylor (26). George Floyd (46). Sean Reed (21).

Tony McDade (38).

Here are five names. Five victims of systemic, state sanctioned killings in 2020 alone. Five names whose stories we have come to know through hashtags, but whose names represent and create space for additional names we may never know. We stand in solidarity with the Black Africana community in the United States of America as they navigate the terrors of living in a structurally racist, sexist, patriarchal and militarist country even while being affected disproportionately by an indiscriminate virus.

COVID-19 has laid bare the inequity that is at the heart of this American project, but it has not deterred agents of white supremacy from upholding the power structures that continue to erase, silence and bury Black, Indigenous and Brown people. This machine moves forward, fueled by hatred and stoked by the multitude of interpersonal actions (or inactions) coupled with institutional policies that create, maintain, and grow its power and influence.

Community Call to Action:

At UMBC, we believe deeply in our values and the power of our community. We call Retrievers of all ethnicities, national origins, races, genders, belief systems and class backgrounds to join in allyship and advocacy toward the dismantling of anti-blackness in all forms now and in the future. Let's educate and re-educate ourselves so we can shift our words and actions.

We have work to do.

Here are just a few ways to engage and co-create positive social change in solidarity with Black Africana people:

Selected Upcoming Events

All the Feels: Community Care Space | Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | 3:00-4:15pm | Google Meet

Black and Latinx Alumni Welcome Social | Holding space for Black and Latinx Alums will be available. | RSVP at https://bit.ly/cblasocialjune4 or email Sara Lerma Jones at slj@umbc.edu for any questions | Thursday, June 4, 2020 | 5:00-6:30pm | Online via Blackboard Collaborate (RSVP for invitation link).

(Free)dom Friday: Black and Proud | Friday, June 5, 2020 | 3:00-4:15pm | Google Meet

At UMBC

UMBC Black Lives Matter

UMBC Black Student Union (BSU)

UMBC African Student Association (ASA)

UMBC Caribbean Student Council (CSC)

UMBC Ethiopian Eritrean Student Association (EESA)

UMBC Curl PWR

UMBC Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC)

UMBC Black Graduate Student Organization (BGSO)

UMBC Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA)

UMBC Chapter of Black & Latino Alumni (CBLA)

Beyond UMBC

Talking About Race - National Museum of African American History & Culture

National Urban League

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Race Forward

Showing Up for Racial Justice - List of Black-led Organizations

GLAAD &Together

Selected Book List:

So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo

Freedom is a Constant Struggle - Angela Davis

How to be An Anti-Racist - Ibram X. Kendi

They Can't Kill Us All - Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement - Wesley Lowry

The Good Immigrant: 21 Writers Explore What It Means to be Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic in Britain Today - Nikesh Shukla

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness - Michelle Alexander

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates

Your Silence Will Not Protect You - Audre Lorde