By Lilly Sibel
Students and faculty at the University of Maryland gathered in the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center on Feb. 18 to hear three panelists discuss black women’s advocacy, activism and mobilization in an event for Black History Month.
Sika Wheeler, the LGBT Equity Center Coordinator at the University began the panel with an open forum.
She asked the crowd, “When you think of activism and/or advocacy what visuals come to mind?”
Attendees had many ideas regarding advocacy and activism. Some stated that they thought of activists taking to the streets to fight for their rights, while others associated these concepts with less direct actions via social media.
Wheeler then introduced the panelists, Ola Ojewumi, Jaimee Swift and Maryam Abdul-Kareem.
Ojewumi works as a public speaker and is an alumna of the University of Maryland while Swift is the founder, creator and executive director of Black Women Radicals, a feminist advocacy organization. Abdul-Kareem is a racial equity and justice advisor for Muslims Collective, an organization striving for shared abolition for Muslim communites and beyond.
During the first panel, which took place on Feb. 11, panelists discussed “unlearning stereotypes about themselves,” and shared stories from their own experiences, according to sophomore journalism major Elisa Posner.
The second panel sought to inform attendees that black activism can represent many identities. Panelists explained to students that black activism includes the voices of black women, supporting rights for all walks of life from people with disabilities to those who practice different faiths.
Abdul-Kareem expressed the importance of speaking up for yourself in times of being the subject of prejudice.
“Not saying something kept me up at night,” she said, regarding her personal experience.
Ojewumi had similar experiences of discrimination due to her race and physical disability. She said that she felt tired of being ignored by white feminists and white women with disabilities.
Swift said that most of the time when people think of the “black movement,” they have a slim image of what Americans describe as this trend. However, she wanted attendees of the panel to understand that the movement stretches far beyond the racial politics of the United States with many different movements across the world like the black Brazilian movement.
Mariama Lukulay, a sophomore public health science major, expressed the importance of having events such as this panel take place during Black History Month.
“Only one race comes to this, usually only black people,” Lukulay said. “It would be better if other people could talk and listen.”
People who did attend this event, however, can take their knowledge and share it with their peers. Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Maryland, Georgina Dodge, attended the event and expressed how the value of shared experiences should be celebrated beyond Black History Month.
“That panel was fantastic. It was illuminating, not only for Black History Month, but for every month,” Dodge said.
She also said that in addition to the information learned from the panelists, attendees need to seek different ways to educate themselves about black history and culture.
More events for Black History Month are scheduled to take place at this university. These include the Black Cooking Competition on Feb. 24 and Women of Color Artist Panel on Feb. 26. The full list of events can be found on the Adele H. Stamp Student Union website.