PinnedMember-onlyHow to Interact with AfricansWhen talking to Africans, the first thing is to look them straight in the eye, and mouth every word carefully and in slow cadences to make sure they can understand you. Make sure your every word drips with the sympathy that they came from a far country. Understand that the…Africa3 min readAfrica3 min read
May 16Inkabi Zezwe Make a Case for Cultural Values, Love & Community on their latest album ‘Ukhamba’When you first hear the term Inkabi Zezwe, you may immediately think of violence, angst, or aggression. However, that’s not the message you’ll hear from ‘Ukhamba,’ the highly anticipated new album by two of South Africa’s most influential musical minds, Big Zulu and Sjava, or Inkabi Zezwe. At the onset…Big Zulu6 min readBig Zulu6 min read
Sep 22, 2020Surviving Two PandemicsIt’s a few hours to midnight at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park in Rochester, New York. Music plays as a few thousand people of different ages, races, and ethnicities gather on the grass. …Black Lives Mater4 min readBlack Lives Mater4 min read
Nov 10, 2019Living with Social Anxiety on a College CampusA professor asks you a question you happen to know the answer to, you have all the words at the tip of your tongue, ready to snatch up points for the participation grade but there’s just one problem: the thought of raising your hand in a packed auditorium conjures up…Mental Health3 min readMental Health3 min read
Aug 5, 2019When Home Becomes a Foreign Place(How) can a place where I grew up in feel so foreign? — Home is a place of general security and relative comfort. It’s a cushion against the backdrop of a chaotic world, or a home town usually far away from the hustle and bustle, and stings of life. Going home at the end of my second year of studying abroad, I realized…Home4 min readHome4 min read
Apr 22, 2019University of Rochester (NY) Can Do ‘Ever Better’ in Honoring Native American Land on Which It StandsThe 17th-century contact with European conquerors, the history of genocide and forced migration, and broken political treaties continue to disadvantage Native communities in Western New York and the country as a whole. The UofR’s River Campus and the Bausch and Lomb Riverside Park sit on an ancient Native American town…Native Americans3 min readNative Americans3 min read
Mar 25, 2019It’s Always about RaceWhen we have conversations about race, it is usually in response to racist-induced incidents like when a white college student calls the cops on a black student for sleeping in a common area, some students wear blackface, or somebody hangs bananas from nooses around campus. Although these are awfully disgusting…Racism4 min readRacism4 min read
Dec 7, 2018Living with a foreign accentFrom having your name spelled incorrectly on a Starbucks cup even after spelling out every single letter to the barista, to observing a room freeze into empathetic silence after everyone notices your foreign accent, even dismissing you as speech-impaired or unintelligent — living with a foreign accent is difficult. Accents…Culture4 min readCulture4 min read
Nov 9, 2018Facilitating difficult conversations through debateRecently, there have been many conversations in our community related to uncomfortable subjects such as the nature of gun violence, racial privilege, acts of terrorism, and racism. …Debate3 min readDebate3 min read
