THEME:THEME: begin, belonging
Allies
KyAra McCray
My grandma was born in the South during the 1940s, and race was always a big part of her life.
The first question she asked me when I told her that I got into TCNJ and the first thing when I moved here, she was like, “Are they treating you okay? Do you feel welcome? How are they treating you?”
And I was like I’m being treated fine. But I know I had the privilege of being in a place where I had friends and I could make friends, and I was with people who were open to talking about race and we would sit there at two o’clock in the morning having like these open little debates and we were just talking about life.
Suchir Govindarajan
I can have my experiences, but my experience is not, you know, representative of other experiences on campus or other people. So I think that I would like to be more informed about like, you know, different issues that could affect other people so I could be more articulate in my response and like that like why is that problematic? Why is that something that shouldn’t be said in a context and why are you thinking that? What is the thought process behind it?
Ino Cintrón-Burch
I talk about race a lot because I’m very interested in social justice issues. I take classes about race. I talk about things like that. So I’m very comfortable talking about it in the abstract.
A time I had to talk about race that was maybe less comfortable for me was I was talking to two of my friends who are um Black women and they were talking about their experiences sort of with racist sexism in the Black community.
To hear it so personally coming from someone and so candidly it was just an example of like, that that’s not something I’ve had to go through.
Lloyd Padmore
You learn from what somebody went through you know something that you can never relate to. So it’s very important to ask questions, and when you ask questions you have to follow up with more questions and really dig deep into what they’re trying to say and try to understand it and then reflect on it compared to the experiences that you’ve had and then move forward from that.
Brianna Dixon
I was one of the Black people who thought the most evil of white people you know. That’s so sad that I did think that. And partly sometimes I think it was because of the 2016 presidential election. When he got elected, I feel like, especially on the floor that I was on where it’s majority white people because that’s just majority white people on any floor, not many of the white students cared how they hurt our feelings or how that affected us, so I always went back to the idea from that experience and definitely in high school, just learning only about slavery and all these historical things that like white people do not care about anything but themselves. And that is not true.
I definitely know that there are white allies out there for us. Everybody should have all human rights. Everybody should fight for one another, have allies. People are going to be mean and evil about things when it comes to your race and your identity, but, you know, all you could do give back is be nice be helpful be loving. It’s all about love and respect for me.
Ino Cintrón-Burch, Brianna Dixon, Suchir Govindarajan, KyAra McCray, Lloyd Padmore
W_XSd687HhA
begin, belonging
THEME:THEME: american, assumptions, microaggressions
Being an Immigrant
Mitchelle Abuna
So I am Kenyan, and often when I tell people I’m from Kenya they have some negative assumptions about where I come from and just about Africa in general.
And sometimes they might ask me questions that are ignorant. Maybe not coming from a malicious place, but because of media portrayal of my country, I get really offensive questions.
Like oh, do you guys have like skyscrapers? Or, you know, like do you see animals? Like how much poverty is there? Like, you know, like what kind of house did you live in?
And it’s true. There are poor people. But I find that no one wants to look into the reasons why. They just want to keep a hierarchy going on where Africa is part of the global south and it remains there,
and the global north is like the savior.
And when I tell people I want to go back they're like, “Really why?” It’s like, well why wouldn’t I want to be in my home?
Roshni Raji
Being an immigrant there’s always like a lot of assumptions on my identity. One of like the biggest I got, especially when I just moved here was “How do you know how to speak English so well?” They just assumed that people don’t speak English outside of American or European countries.
Another, like, big concept is like, I’m an international studies major. It’s not the most stereotypical of majors that you would expect an Indian child to go to, so people always ask me, ”Are your parents disappointed that you’re not a doctor or an engineer?” But I can’t say that my parents are.
Ana Camila Gutierrez
I moved to this country with only my mom and one of my siblings, so the rest of my family is back in DR, in Dominican Republic.
So my grandfather passed away a few weeks ago, and we had to travel back to DR for the services.
And when I came back I had to explain myself to people, and I feel like I shouldn’t have. But there were so many questions like, ”Why did you go back to DR?” Like, people just don’t understand how important that is to have your whole family somewhere else and having someone pass away and wanting to be there for your family.
Coming back from DR here, it felt- I felt all that grief all the way again because I was like, I see how my family is living over there and how they’re struggling and what’s going on, and I’m here.
And it’s like, I had students asking me, ”Did you really have to miss almost two weeks of school?” And I’m like, excuse me? You don’t get to ask me that. You have your whole family in the United States. You’re fine. You don’t know what being an immigrant is like.
We are missing a lot of education when it comes to taboo topics like immigration. People need to learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion. We need to be mindful of other people’s situation. We need to be aware of their culture. Different is not bad. We should be able to respect that.
Mitchelle Abuna, Ana Camila Gutierrez, Roshni Raji
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american, assumptions, microaggressions
THEME:THEME: belonging, race
Borders
Shana Thomas
Compared to my high school, TCNJ is not as diverse. It’s diverse in a sense that there are, you know, a good amount of different races, even though that’s not even very true, but you don’t see a lot of mingling between the two.
I realize that it’s still very, like, segregated within friend groups, and it’s very rare that I see, like, an equal amount of one race, you know, one creed and another. Not necessarily race, but sexuality and political views.
It's just- it’s different here. Like everyone is- How would you say, accepting? Everyone’s open. However, they still stick to what they’re comfortable with.
Ino Cintrón-Burch
I think friend groups are somewhat more diverse, but I do think that there is still a tendency of people to associate with people whose identities are more similar to their own.
Mitchelle Abuna
I would say like a majority of my friends are similar to me. When I first came here I was a part of the EOF program. So like, my friends all like have either immigrants or second-generation, and we both come from the same social class.
And it’s really helped me because I never had that before and I always felt really like outside of the loop.
I do have one friend that is like the complete opposite of who I am, but I find that when I’m in her social spaces, I don’t think I quite blend in.
KyAra McCray
It depends on how you define different.
Are there different races? Yes, one of my best friends is Hispanic. But we come from the same economic background. Our- the towns we grew up in mirror each other, Newark and Trenton.
I do interact with people outside of my race, but more commonly everyday it’s usually people who look like me, talk like me, see the world the way I do.
Marcus Allen
Racial groups usually statistically identify with their own racial groups.
There’s a book that says, why do all the Black kids sit together in the cafeteria? And you just feel comfortable. You feel safe in your own spaces.
Ana Camila Gutierrez
So, I do try to socialize with people outside my identity group.
Indian students, that- we barely have Indians in DR, so I really- I adore their culture. It’s amazing.
When it comes to white students, I try, but it gets- it gets tedious because I have to explain way too much. And I feel like we both have to be careful about what we say in front of each other.
And it’s like...It is difficult, but I believe it’s possible. And I try to do that as much as I can.
Mitchelle Abuna, Marcus Allen, Ino Cintrón-Burch, Ana Camila Gutierrez, KyAra McCray, Shana Thomas
tNYCmUzcX_o
belonging, race
THEME:THEME: belonging, race
Crossing Boundaries
Lloyd Padmore
I think that I’ve been able to interact with a lot of different people. I’ve been able to be in different groups and not feel secluded or feel uncomfortable. It’s also allowed me to connect with different groups so I know I can go to different meetings and not feel out of place because I’ve had certain experiences with those people that we can connect with and we can talk about. So being mixed and being multi-ethnic has allowed me to move around and still feel comfortable. And even the times where I’m not comfortable I still feel like I have something to relate to them with. So given that and being that I have all these support groups no matter where I go has really allowed me to just feel comfortable and feel that I’m at home when I come to TCNJ.
Quinton Casillas
I started hanging out with a group of friends recently, and it was nice because I myself have never had many queer friends. So I had a friend who they began introducing me to some of their friends, and it was nice because these are people I probably would never hang out- hanging out with. Even though there is a little bit of strife sometimes in terms of you know the culture shock. Some of their friends are white. Some of their friends are kids who’ve never necessarily been around urban culture, and that’s something that I was raised in. So it’s definitely a culture shock, but I’ve really grown to find people who genuinely do care about me regardless of whether they’re in my identified group or not.
Roman Brooks
I actually don’t socialize with many people in my identity group that much. I predominantly hang out with my white friends, to say the least. And it kind of comes from just me being at a predominantly white high school. I guess it’s what I kind of gravitate- gravitated towards. I mean even in middle school, my public school was predominantly white, so I mean it’s just something I’ve gravitated towards. So I don’t really socialize with people in my demographic.
Omobola Solebo
People would describe me as the person who branched out the most freshman year because actually right after EOF after coming in I didn’t stay with my EOF friends. I actually branched out with people I actually um lived on my floor, which was- I think I was the one of the two black people on my floor. I thought it was an easy- like I adapted to it easy. I never felt different. I mean there were certain circumstances that you know all Black TCNJ kids that we go through, but like as long as you um speak about the differences and tell them about like you know the um borders and the boundaries that you have about certain things, it’s- it’s easily like adaptable.
Shirley Hecht
I tend to find a lot of people with a lot of diversity in their personalities and their backgrounds just because I feel like I- I’m technically a foreigner, so I’d like to find other people that have you know other worldly views and have you know their own background um. But yeah in all my classes there’s a lot of- a lot of people of different races and different backgrounds. People- I mean most people are from New Jersey here, but you do find a lot of people that have traveled a lot or have parents who are from a different country. I have a lot of LGBT friends. I was part of the Black Student Union fashion show. So I do tend to be around people of different races and different backgrounds, different sexual orientation, that sort of thing. I think it’s really important to do that.
Roman Brooks, Quinton Casillas, Shirley Hecht, Lloyd Padmore, Omobola Solebo
MhSxSTDfyNw
belonging, race
THEME:THEME: microaggressions
Educating Others
Cristhofer Alexander Moreira
I had to talk about race to one of my friends. They found out that I was part of EOF, of the EOF summer program and they made the- the rude comment of oh saying like “Oh, of course he's EOF.” And then I didn’t really like that, so I had to explain it to them. I didn’t go on to the offense because I know that person was coming from a place of ignorance and I like to challenge people’s way of thinking. So I was able to tell them that exactly what it really means to be a part of EOF, coming from a place where students can’t get the- the resources to kind of like succeed and kind of get accustomed to like the higher- the higher education that they would get at TCNJ. So EOF just provides financial and academic assistance.
Lloyd Padmore
One of my friends asked me, “Why can’t I say colored people?” And I kind of thought about it, and I told him the first thing well, I don't say “colored people” and it’s kind of a very old term. It’s very historic um and then there’s a lot of negativity behind it, and I said you know, you don’t have to say “colored people” or you could just say “people of color.” I said just switching around that phrase means- makes a big difference. And I feel like I had to explain that to him because he also has friends who are people of color. I didn’t want him to interact with them and then say something that would offend them. For me, I knew that he was just asking questions and that he genuinely cared about what he was talking about. And you know you can’t fault him for not knowing this. It’s the fact that I have to do my job now to teach him so that when he moves forward and he does have these other interactions that he’s not going to say something that offends somebody else.
Diana Da Silva
I don’t feel like people of color need to educate other people on what it means to be of color or a different culture or race but I do feel the need that if someone genuinely doesn’t know what it means to be from another culture or especially for me the only- that I could only talk about which is being Latina like then- then okay, I will talk about race. Acts of microaggressions, macro aggressions, hate crimes do happen unfortunately they do happen on this campus.
I do talk about it because I feel like there’s a need to talk about it. We need to do what we have to do in order to advocate for our community.
Grace Hill
The idea of having to promote diversity is kind of strange because it should just be something that we understand and accept that there’re people different than us in the world.
Here it’s like 60 percent white and then the 40 are like minorities. This issue of having to educate people would be solved if that ratio even went down to 50 50 or you know the other way around 40 60. So in that way like that’s how we could become more educated about race is enforcing that melting pot and that sort of environment.
Diana Da Silva, Grace Hill, Cristhofer Alexander Moreira, Lloyd Padmore
wJ_ZKPXoPqA
microaggressions
THEME:THEME: begin, classroom, intersectionality
Future Educators
Lauren Bsales
One of the reasons that I made it a goal of mine to continue to talk about race while I was here at the college is I am an education major. And as an education major, you’re not just going to see one set of populations. You’re going to see every kind of student from every kind of background. And I wanted to make sure that I was doing the best service to those students and being able to understand their perspectives and understand where I might have certain privileges that my students might not in the future and ensuring that I’m not pitying them. Ensuring that I’m not saying, oh I’m going to come in here and like take care of them and make their whole lives better. But ensuring that I’m looking at those students and saying, you’re a student and you deserve all of the help and support every other student deserves and I want to be able to provide that support that you need in different fields.
Tara Mild
We need to fix our education system and really work into what it means to have a diverse and equitable society. Diversity should be- should be able to show off and illustrate all these amazing qualities of people, all of, like, their cultures growing up. We should be able to celebrate all of this in a way that educates people. That’s something that me as a future educator I really am pushing for in my classrooms. I want to be able to start that change with the next generation.
Kelly Saldarriaga
You are sending out a whole entire generation of young adults and they are uneducated about race, about privilege, about their own privilege. One of the biggest values is family, and we’re creating like families that are uneducated and- and who might not respect people, might not respect their neighbors, and are going to label people so quickly. So if we don't have these conversations in college, when do we have them? So I think it’s so important to have them in college so we can send people out into the workforce that are fully educated, fully understanding, respectful, aware of their own privilege and other people’s privilege.
KyAra McCray
I think it’s a huge part of not only being in college but being a future educator. You have to understand what your privileges are and what other people don’t have privilege in. We have to understand how to talk to one another. I think it’s a good thing. And how to express our opinions out and taking other people’s perspectives and ideas, as well.
It’s something we’re working on. I don’t- will it be perfect today? Probably not. But as long as we’re willing to talk about it and work about it, I think it’s- we’re going to work to the future.
Lauren Bsales, KyAra McCray, Tara Mild, Kelly Saldarriaga
QmGsvSYmCOM
begin, classroom, intersectionality
THEME:THEME: assumptions, begin, intersectionality
Get To Know Me
Suchir Govindarajan
We have seen that assumptions are dangerous. Assumptions are not always true.
Ana Camila Gutierrez
I wish people just would leave those stereotypes aside and really get to know me.
McKenna Samson
People within my own community would assume that I’m privileged because I am privileged. I come from a very privileged background, you know, two-parent household, upper-middle class. I would also say that people would assume me to be angry because I am a Black woman and that’s the stereotype, especially in a predominantly white area, which I’ve grown up in- in my entire life. And that’s kind of been the reaction I get from people is being more angry.
Kiyla Peterson
Coming to a PWI, people either suspect that I’m here because I have money or because I got lucky. My friends back home, they’re like, “Oh, she- she attends TCNJ. She has to be super smart.”
Maggie Paragian
I am bisexual, and I have been openly bisexual since I was about 16. And like coming into college, it was interesting because all the time I’m consistently coming out to people because I’m just like, ”Oh my god, that girl’s cute” or something like that. And people are like, ”What you’re gay?” I’m like, “No, I’m bi.”
And like I’ve had people just say damaging things sometimes or like people are like, “You’re gonna cheat on whoever you’re dating?” And I’m like, “No, I don’t...”
It just hurts because it’s like they’re assuming something about my personality that isn’t there.
Daliah Ouedraogo
When other people meet me, I think they assume that I am more so...high class let’s say because um in terms of what I wear or like how um kind of like the kind of phone I have and stuff like that they think that you know I just have a lot of money. Yes, I have designer stuff, but it’s the way I got it. I usually go thrifting a lot. I love thrifting, so that’s usually where a lot of my stuff comes from. So that’s like one of the most I say- I’ll say things that people assume of me.
Tara Mild
I think a lot of people assume right off the bat that I might be a little bit quieter than I actually am. I think they also think that I’m always like this happy person, but there’s also days when, you know, like college is really stressful. There’s a lot going on everywhere like both academically and socially. Like with my family, there’s always something going on. So I’m allowed to have days when I’m not always happy, and that’s just something that I personally also have to accept.
Omobola Solebo
When people hear about where I come from like the inner city, they assume that I went through a lot. Like there’s shootings every day and things of that nature. So they just assume that like those usual stereotypes that you see on television. And a lot of people did tell me that like I was the first Black person that they met um in person. They’ve only seen Black people on TV. A lot of TCNJ kids actually say that. So you know, if they just meet me head-on they kind of assume things like you know I’m real loud or she’s you know chaotic or something like that but the more you talk, the more you um express yourself, the more you get to learn about the other side of people. They get to know you more.
Christopher William Blakeley
A lot of society bases our judgments on how someone looks or how someone’s perceived, and I think that’s the hardest struggle to get past. We need to really get to know people, and we really need to get to understand who they are and the backgrounds they bring to the table. Everyone has a different story and has a different perspective.
Christopher William Blakeley, Suchir Govindarajan, Ana Camila Gutierrez, Tara Mild, Daliah Ouedraogo, Maggie Paragian, Kiyla Peterson, McKenna Samson, Omobola Solebo
VyOMNe4NMUg
assumptions, begin, intersectionality
THEME:THEME: classroom
Growth in the Classroom
Brianna Dixon
We should always strive to be better, not just based on incidents that happen, major incidents, but based on you just need to strive to be better.
Georgia Cyriax
Some students go into class like afraid to say “Black.” How do you teach a class on like Black women or like Black history when students, like, can’t say the word “Black”? And I think like that kind of thing happens a lot if students, like, they’re afraid to talk about race because they haven’t had the experience of talking about it. If students don’t ever talk about race they can’t recognize their own privilege like they can’t move forward.
Lauren Bsales
I think that a lot of times college is a more safe space to be talking about these conversations, realizing your own biases whether they’re conscious or unconscious and addressing them in a space where you are exposed to different populations.
My first year here I started as an urban education major. So one of my classes, I had the privilege to talk with other people and challenge this idea of like what is race? What is socioeconomic status, and how can we use the privileges that we have to help others and how can I identify my own biases in my life and work to ensure that everyone’s comfortable and that everyone feels that equality and equity? So through my introduction to urban education class, I had the opportunity to talk through that.
Diana Da Silva
It was actually one of my public health classes, we were talking about what it means to be equitable in- in the health setting, in the medicinal setting. And I had to give my personal experience on how I would have to take my mother all the time to the doctor, and I would always have to speak on her behalf and I would make sure that the doctor would understand where she was coming from on a cultural setting because sometimes the doctor would not understand what it meant to be Brazilian and have all these problems in terms of like high blood pressure and high cholesterol especially with the foods that she was eating that is not associated with the United States. And I share that with my class only for them to understand that when you’re working in the health field, whether you’re a doctor or even a social worker, making sure that you understand where your patients are coming from not only on a personal level but on a cultural level so that you can make sure that you’re delivering the best type of health care for them as possible.
Brianna Dixon
I took up African American studies as a major. For me, it was more about learning about Black people in terms of achievement, more in terms of, like, aspirational things like what we did for like music, jazz, poetry, what we did for centuries to come, not just learning about slavery. I think going through K through 12 for me, all we talked about was slavery, and it’s kind of depressing for me.
Definitely being in this major has helped me because we talk more about things other than slavery. So we talk more about the poetry, the Harlem Renaissance. We look at films that show exploration into what we’ve achieved. We touch on the like sadness you know, Civil Rights a little bit, but it’s not the basics. It’s not the foundations. It’s more of like the celebration.
Lauren Bsales, Georgia Cyriax, Diana Da Silva, Brianna Dixon
GUbLEc-oamw
classroom
THEME:THEME: microaggressions
Hair
Kiyla Peterson
When I was on the basketball team, I felt that I had to fit in with them. So if I wore my natural hair, it just felt- I felt out of place like everybody was staring at me. But if I- if I put a sew-in in or a closure in, I felt like them. I felt, even though my skin was different, I felt like them. They didn’t ask me questions about my hair when my hair was in a sew-in or a closure, but if my hair was natural, they asked questions about it. And I just, me personally, I don’t really like receiving questions about certain things.
Omobola Solebo
Freshman year um they do a lot of tours on- on the floor that I grew up on. So this tour came in, and this white woman asked me, “Can I touch your hair?” And at that point it didn’t seem like a hurtful thing right because I’m like, “Oh god, I guess you know you just don’t know what the texture feels like.” Maybe you- you know curiosity kills the cat. So I said yes because it was like whatever. And so she touched me and- but it wasn’t until after she walked away that I felt like, Did this woman just asked to touch me? Did this woman just asked to feel on me?
It’s kind of demeaning, but it’s also, okay, they don’t understand. Like she’s never experienced, she’s never had to touch me like somebody or somebody’s hair like that before. Like she’s always been curious. She sees it on TV. So let them have these experiences. Let them understand how we’re just like everybody else and we’re not different.
Ana Camila Gutierrez
This girl, she used to always compliment my hair and I used to just say thank you. I had longer hair, had my afro. And one day we were doing a group project, and all of a sudden she started just touching my hair and she was like, “Your hair is so gorgeous. You're so exotic.” And I was just like whoa. First of all, that’s- that’s wrong. Do not- you can’t touch my hair.
Her face just faded. It was just so different. She was so offended. She was like, “I’m- like, I’m sorry but why can’t I touch your hair? It’s just so pretty.” And I was like, oh I know. I know my hair is pretty. I know. But my hair is different than yours, and this is not a petting zoo. You shouldn’t be just touching my hair like I’m your dog without me giving you my consent, like. And I know that microaggression didn’t come from a place of hate. It just came from a place of ignorance or maybe just lack of knowledge because she didn’t know that was wrong. She didn’t mean to offend me. But the intention is not the same as the impact. I know she intended to make me feel good and let me know that I look pretty, but impact was something negative that made me feel, “I am different and sometimes maybe I- do I really belong here?”
I had to address this in a class where I was the only person that was not white. And I know that catched a lot of attention but I had to move on and know that I had to stand up for myself whenever something like that happened.
Ana Camila Gutierrez, Kiyla Peterson, Omobola Solebo
AHYOPh4O8GA
microaggressions
THEME:THEME: assumptions, intersectionality
Hidden Identities
Elisa Rios
Hi, my name is Elisa Rios. And I identify as a Afro-Latina. Part of my identity that’s so important is bringing to light that Dominican women are Black woman and they don't recognize that, but that’s something that last year when I got to terms with that, that’s been my racial identity and kind of bring it into the forefront. Our Afro-Latina-ness.
Diana Da Silva
Other people assume that- as soon as they see me, that I am white. This actually gets me really frustrated and feel neglected. The only time that they will- they will understand or see that I am actually Latina is when I express that I am Latina or that I will be wearing something or demonstrating my culture.
Georgia Cyriax
If I’m like in a space with like Latinx people I'm like, “Oh I want to be part of this.” But then like there’s like a bit of a block. The Latina sorority, which I- I’ve considered joining. There’s like only two members so I’m like, “Oh, if I did join I could be helpful.” But then I’m like, “Would it be weird for me to join?” Because also I’m like only half so I- you know what I mean? Like I don’t want to like impede on the space, but I also like want to be a part of a space.
Suchir Govindarajan
We’re continuously trying to strive for people to ask questions to other people about what they identify as. And we have seen that assumptions are dangerous.
I identify as bisexual and that is something that’s a big part of my life. So, you know, people thinking something else is- it is problematic for me because it's not true to who I am.
I remember when I was little, in elementary school people would always say that I’m not Asian even though like India is part of Asia. But people would say, you know, Indians are not Asian. It’s something else. And I never really thought to question that. Maybe I am the, you know, the sole person who can say like what is my ethnicity because I am from that place. I know my culture. I know my people. I know where I’m from. But that does translate into more I guess implicit levels as you go on with gender identity or even sexual identity.
Quinton Casillas
I think sometimes when they downplay my sexuality, at times it can be a little disheartening. I think it feels like I'm being dismissed a little bit. Because even though it’s a very small part of my life, it’s still a very important part of my life.
Quinton Casillas, Georgia Cyriax, Diana Da Silva, Suchir Govindarajan, Elisa Rios
z_zjdR_H4tU
assumptions, intersectionality
THEME:THEME: belonging, stereotypes
I Belong
Cristhofer Alexander Moreira
I am resilient, and I keep pushing for positivity and for growth. I’m someone that always wants to find a way to persist. I am thankful for what I- the people that have been able to meet and what I’ve been able to do uh so far as a first-year student. I have a legacy to- to show for like my family, and I know my brothers are looking up to me.
Quinton Casillas
I’ve become a lot more self-aware in terms of where I fall as a Latino within the United States. I think oftentimes the way Latino issues are discussed in the context of the United States it’s very one-sided in terms of immigration and we don’t really talk about much else. And I think coming to college has allowed me to be a lot more prideful in who I am, allowed me to explore my culture a lot more, allowed me to be around people who are very much like me. And it’s- it’s given me a different sense of pride with about being Latino.
Ana Camila Gutierrez
Speaking up, that’s how I make room for myself. I’m already part of student government, and I’m running for elections again. I’m part of the Black Student Union, in Union Latina, and the Women's Center. Because I realized coming from a third world country to a “first world country” education is key. You know, you don't have a degree, you cannot go too far. So definitely speaking up, letting people know that yes, I’m an immigrant but I can do it too. Because people don’t expect a lot of things from us. They see us, they’re like, oh she’s gonna either end up pregnant her first year. She’s gonna drop out. Is she even gonna be able to take out a loan? She may go to a factory. She’s gonna be a housekeeper. People see us, and it’s all those stereotypes just falling on us. And I’m here to break that glass ceiling and be like, Look where I’m at, and look where I’m going.
Quinton Casillas, Ana Camila Gutierrez, Cristhofer Alexander Moreira
vACcmP2NiH8
belonging, stereotypes
THEME:THEME: begin, institutional
Incidents on Campus
Elisa Rios
And I think that’s what happens at predominantly white institutions. That conversation doesn’t actually happen until something racially, ethnically, gender-wise, sexually, and able disability-wise, really negative an event happens. That’s when the conversation starts. Like the events of last semester where the young group of African American men were called these horrific racial slurs, when the disability community had an ableist comment put on the paper. Things like that happen. That's when everyone was talking about it.
Marcus Allen
There was a hate crime that happened on campus where two- me and two of my fraternity brothers were called the N-word and racial, derogatory terms outside of a dorm window by several white students. I voiced my opinion through social media, and that’s kind of where spur- uh started this role of administrative policies trying to be changed. But you can’t change institutional oppression without changing individual oppression as well because individuals are the same people who make up those institutions.
Ino Cintrón-Burch
I was a little comforted by the fact that they were freshmen um and in their first semester because I was like maybe, like it was easier to say, maybe they’re coming from someone else- somewhere else and it’s something- it’s a them problem. It’s not necessarily an us problem. And hearing the responses of students of color, I sort of changed that opinion a little bit. I was like, nope. Maybe this was facilitated by something at TCNJ. Their choices were very intentional, and I don’t necessarily buy the like ignorance argument. And I don’t ever want to excuse what they did because they made students feel uncomfortable and unsafe on this campus on account of their race.
Omobola Solebo
There’s been several um and racial, like, incidents happening at the freshman towers that set a precedent for that. That wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last time. They stopped having um big fraternity and Black sororities and Black fraternity probates outside of the towers because they would- they would yell racial slurs during the like the fraternities or sorority probates. So they moved it to Green Hall. Things happen, and the college cannot say, oh well, you know we have standards and we have like bylaws about it or we have a conduct, you know that you sign freshman year electronically on the system. That's not how it works. You need to have open conversations so when we don't have conversations about it with these- these particular people, especially freshmen, who this is their first experience, it allows for things like that to happen.
Ino Cintrón-Burch
I’m in student government and one thing that we were talking about in governances and things like that was well, how do we introduce people to the TCNJ community while giving them the education they need to be TCNJ citizens? So we were talking about like, can we introduce like implicit bias or conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion into the FSP program? And, like, some people are going to be willfully ignorant. They don’t want to learn. They’re going to you know ruff- like it’s going to ruffle their feathers to even bring this stuff up. But I think that to the extent where people are facilitating a racist environment to make those conversations necessary when you enter TCNJ as opposed to when you enter activist spheres at TCNJ might be one way to sort of strengthen the community.
Marcus Allen, Ino Cintrón-Burch, Elisa Rios, Omobola Solebo
75dVKhcQdU4
begin, institutional
THEME:THEME: institutional, stereotypes
Institutional Racism
Mitchelle Abuna
I think now as a sociology major and my minor is also African American studies I have more of an understanding of how history has shaped today and how like there’s obviously like racism that is social but there’s also racism that is institutional. When I first moved here, I spent about two years of my life in Jersey City. And I moved to my high school that was in like an affluent area, and I started to realize that this was a affluent area was predominantly white. Where I was living before wasn't as affluent. It was predominantly Black. And I started to question that.
People tend to have the idea that racism is only social, that racism has to be super aggressive. Racism can be subtle. It can be a microaggression. It can be systemic. When I took um African American History with Dr. Fisher, it like opened my eyes. Like it was such a great class, and it showed me the ways in which yes, perhaps slavery ended years ago as people might say, but its effects are still there. This country’s history with legalized and institutionalized racism is still like- it still affects today every aspect of a person of color’s life, whether it be police brutality, whether it be certain laws, whether it be segregation. It’s still there.
In my high school, people would be like well, my parents worked really hard. And I would just be like, yeah, your parents worked hard, and so do their parents. And the people have this idea that people who are perhaps poor, just are lazy. But you have people who work as domestic workers all day. And it has really bothered me because people tend to have these like negative ideas. But they don’t understand the history behind people being characterized a certain way. Black people being characterized as violent, Black women as angry, as lazy. And that’s why I think it’s important to talk about race is that people have these ideas they don’t realize are buried in racism. They just think it’s fact. And we like- you can’t allow that to happen.
Mitchelle Abuna
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institutional, stereotypes
THEME:THEME: assumptions, microaggressions
Microaggressions
Mitchelle Abuna
My first like microaggression was I think in high school. There was a song I knew by Lil Wayne, and I was like, ”Oh, do you remember this song?” And this girl says, ”Well, I’m not ghetto.” And i was like, oh, I didn’t realize that Lil Wayne was considered ghetto, honestly. He’s just a musician that happens to be like world-renowned in my opinion. Like everyone knows who he is. So that was the first time that I realized that people have an assumption of who you are. And I realized that if my friend who was white had said that she knew the Lil Wayne song I don’t think that girl would have said ”Well, I’m not ghetto.”
Kiyla Peterson
When I came to TCNJ, I was a part of the women’s basketball team. They were playing music, and somebody sitting next to me, she was white. And the person that was rapping said the N-word. So she went along with the song and said the N-word, too. And I told my coach. I called my mom. I told my coach. I told both of my coaches. And my coach decided to have a talk with her by herself instead of talking to her in front of everybody and just like nipping everything in the bud.
Roshni Raji
I took my women and gender studies class. My professor gave us an assignment on stereotypes of Black women date- pre-dating the slavery era. And it was like two stereotypes, either like primarily like the mom stereotype or like the hyper-sexual like almost like young girl stereotype. Those same two stereotypes are the same like perspective of Black women that we have even today. Learning about race in a classroom setting is so eye-opening and so almost liberating in a way because you don’t realize how all these like little microaggressions that you do come off when that’s all the other person faces.
Mitchelle Abuna
When I got into TCNJ and some people were like surprised that I got in because they were waitlisted. And there- this girl started complaining about affirmative action the next day. And I was like well, I actually did do well in high school. I didn't speak, but I did do well. And some people just have this idea that you got a free handout if you get somewhere or you’re not as smart as you’re supposed to be. Or like, if I speak well, people are like, “Oh, you speak really well.” Or just really minor aggressions. Every time people would like commit these microaggressions against me, I didn’t speak up for myself because I felt like well, is anyone going to care because no one understands where I’m coming from or they might just think I’m overreacting.
Mitchelle Abuna, Kiyla Peterson, Roshni Raji
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assumptions, microaggressions
THEME:THEME: intersectionality, race
Navigating Friendships
KyAra McCray
It’s kind of hard because I want to make friends. I want to get to know people, and I kind of start making friends through having the same life, like stories. So if I can’t find people who grew up like me in the same environments I have or who knows what it’s like to be someone, a person of color then it’s harder. But do I make it work? Yeah, I can make it work. I try to be nice with everybody.
Roshni Raji
I’ve kind of found my own community within the larger community that the school is. I’m a commuter, so I don't have a floor. But if you’re like ever in the Stud like if you go upstairs, you’ll find us all at a table. My orientation leaders especially did a really great job making our group like really close.
Kiyla Peterson
I would describe TCNJ as a welcoming environment, but when you come here it’s just you don’t see- you don’t really see many people that are like you.
Suchir Govindarajan
I was with a group of my friends over the summer and we were talking about halloween costumes. And they all suggested that we do The Incredibles. And so I said, “I want to be Jack-Jack,” you know, the baby. But someone said I should be Frozone. And again, this is a group of white people who I’m friends with. And, you know, they assign me the one character that is of color. While their motivation to do that is to assign me a character that makes me fit in better it comes from the reason that I don’t fit in at all. And that got me thinking that, you know, why are people not thinking about these things more often? Why are we not more conscious about what we’re saying? You could be friends with someone who, you know, doesn’t make references to their own race. I saw my, you know, my group of friends, and I wanted to do something really fun. But my race had to go in the way of something that shouldn’t have involved race in the first place. When you take someone’s race or color and- and use it as something to put them in a certain place that doesn’t make them feel included at all.
Suchir Govindarajan, KyAra McCray, Kiyla Peterson, Roshni Raji
NmPCpd1A8JQ
intersectionality, race
THEME:THEME: begin, intersectionality
Now is the Time
Roshni Raji
I’m an immigrant. I’m first generation. I moved here five years ago, so really recent. I’m Indian, and I’m a woman.
Shana Thomas
At face value, I’m a Black woman. I must be American. And I’m probably from an inner city, you know. And a lot of people assume I’m EOF. Talking about race at TCNJ is something I believe that I’ve had to do just because I’m an EOF student. I do believe that it is an extra task that I have to take on and I have to prepare myself to deal with because I am affected, you know, by that topic. I have to talk about race, you know what I mean, because I have to understand why what that person said to me made me feel that way. It wasn’t explicit, but now I can put a name to it. It was a microaggression. And those type of nuances affect me as a student because I am Black and because I do have, you know what i mean, I- I do deal with those type of intersectionalities.
Roshni Raji
The racism that a Black man or a Black woman faces is not the same racism I face. A lot of the racism I face is typically with immigration. People ask me why I’m here. And if I criticize the country, why don’t I just go back?
Christopher William Blakeley
You’re never really able to step into someone’s shoes. It’s really not possible and really hard because you don’t know their story. You don’t know their background. They may be struggling with something with ableism. They may be struggling with something with race. They may be struggling with their gender identity. And you don’t know that unless you have a conversation and let them tell you their story.
Shana Thomas
People get upset. People get upset when you talk about race. They get upset when you talk about ethnicity. It’s a touchy topic because there’s so much negative history associated with it. There’s so much hurt. There’s so much pain. But in this case, we have to talk about it because if we don’t we're just going to be repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
Christopher William Blakeley
I think a lot of people are scared to take that first step. They’re scared to ask a question. They’re scared to make themselves feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. And I think college is a place to do that.
Shana Thomas
You’re definitely more open. You’re more aware. You know, they say ignorance is bliss. Not all the time.
Christopher William Blakeley
Take that step back and take that step outside of your comfort zone because that’s where you learn the most.
Roshni Raji
If you haven’t started already, now is the best starting point.
Christopher William Blakeley, Roshni Raji, Shana Thomas
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begin, intersectionality
THEME:THEME: classroom
Open Class Discussions
Roshni Raji
A lot of my conversations actually start in my women and gender studies class. It’s really about learning about these things in an academic setting and then going back to see, oh wow, I do that. Like one thing for me was like, I remember asking a Black woman if I could touch her hair. And I never realized how that came off until I learned about it. I’m like, oh my god. But now I know not to do that again.
Maggie Paragian
My understanding of race has totally changed coming to college. A lot of it has to do with just being educated more like the fact that we have our liberal learnings and our general education classes where you have to take like a sociology class. You have to take like a women and gender studies class. It’s super important because I didn’t know certain things about certain communities and the fact that I engaged in these conversations within class helps me interact with people better because I’m not going to automatically assume something about you. I remember telling someone in sixth grade who legally moved here from Peru I told her to like go back where she came from and like, that’s not who I am. Like, I ended up calling her my friend later that year. We ended up being friends but like you have to learn how to grow out of whatever you were conditioned as a child or even within your own community. It doesn’t necessarily have to be your parents. It could be your friends. It could be teachers. It could be whatever environment you’re in. But growing from what you’re conditioned into actually thinking for yourself and looking at the facts.
Georgia Cyriax
I’ve tried to look for classes where I could talk about race just because I want to make sure that I have an intersectional education. Like I want to be as educated as I can but like I know some people either don’t have the space in their schedule or like don’t want to. And I think at TCNJ you can like make that choice, which is a good thing for some people because they can make the choice to but like bad for others because they can make the choice to not.
Brianna Dixon
Talking about race especially in a PWI I’m thinking, okay in the class it’s just going to be like the Black/Hispanic people, but no. There’s white people taking African American study classes because they want to learn. They’re interested in knowing about you. But they’re also interested in knowing about well, you know, your culture, your history’s so fascinating. And then, you know, it’s that side with kind of like, why do white people do this in history? And it’s kind of like they’re learning about it and that’s important. And I feel comfortable talking about race in those classes every single day even with people who are not the major or maybe minoring or just taking the class for fun. Maybe you are taking it for just a liberal learning.
Georgia Cyriax
There’s one class, uh Cultures and Canons, where we have to talk about identity a lot and like the canon and why it’s so white. And so like that was the first time in like my English major career that I had to talk about race. And um a lot of times people would be like, oh this sort of thing happened to me. And then we would all talk about like that experience. And it was usually about like racism or something.
Roshni Raji
Our professor really like when these conversations are brought into class, she really focuses on factual information and also uplifting the voices of people of color in that classroom which is I feel like the most practical and most meaningful way to go about it.
Georgia Cyriax, Brianna Dixon, Maggie Paragian, Roshni Raji
ES3tW4AaLlQ
classroom
THEME:THEME: race
Political is Personal
Shana Thomas
Making friends with- making friends with people on- at TCNJ is something that’s very easy to do. It’s just the communication that happens between. Do you know what I mean? The content of the friendship. It’s all good when you’re friends, right, and you’re having fun and you’re going out and everything’s okay. We’re great. We love going out together. We hit the library together. And all that’s, you know, fine. We enjoy each other’s company. However, when important issues step in, whether it’s talking about Planned Parenthood, birth control. Whether it’s talking about um sexuality. Whether it’s talking, you know, like marriage laws or the current state of the United States, that’s when the content of the friendship comes into play. And that’s when things can get quite turbulent because now it’s like, alright well I have these beliefs but they’re contradicting our friendship and they’re contradicting who you are as a person. Now, do I stick to those beliefs because it’s something that I’ve held or I don’t even know what the or would be because it’s like so- it’s such a sticky thing to traverse. The political is personal. So it’s easy to make friends. It’s just the content of the friendships, I believe, at TCNJ that, you know, that we have a hard time navigating.
Shirley Hecht
Right around second semester of my sophomore year was when the elections were happening. And my best friend at the time her mother brought in a mug of a donkey and an elephant for Democrats and Republicans. And she says, whoever wins can break the other’s cup um which was daunting um. It was the weirdest thing, and I never really saw it coming because we never really talked about our you know political affiliations. And it was, you know, never really an issue. And the night of the election, I got very upset um and she was not very supportive in that at all. I was seeing this person who I had called my best friend for two years kind of let her political affiliation get in the way of being a person um which was really tough at the time. So I guess that’s kind of like the biggest like the worst thing that could potentially happen especially now that you know political affiliations are truly part of someone’s identity and it’s so out there and it’s you know so much more concrete uh versus you know maybe four years ago um. So it was very intense and a lot of um, you know, falling apart type of thing that- where we couldn’t communicate without it becoming heated. And we couldn’t see each other. You know, even though I think a certain way, you can still be- you can still be friends and you can still talk to each other and you can still have your doubts about each other but there’s no reason to stop caring about a person just because of that um. So yeah that was- and I haven’t talked to her since so yeah, yeah.
Roman Brooks
People have different views, and you can lose friendships just because of it. My friend, he’s made racist remarks in a joking way and he’s made some um homophobic remarks. And I’ve tried to address them with him and he just doesn’t understand. So rather than being hurt by what he says and him not learning from trying to talk to him, I’ve withdrawn myself from interacting with him.
Roman Brooks, Shirley Hecht, Shana Thomas
PBgbLgwHOwQ
race
THEME:THEME: belonging, classroom
Socializing in Class
Shana Thomas
I typically socialize with people outside of my identity group when I’m in class. And it’s primarily because when I’m in class I’m normally the only Black girl in class or Black person just in general or person of color in general in the classroom so socialization is bound to happen when it comes to group work, you know. And it’s- no one’s really reluctant towards it but it- you know it’s- that’s what happens. And it just so happens is because the dynamic of the class is who’s there.
Quinton Casillas
I really tend to socialize with like kids in my classes or other kids on my floor that I’m friendly with, I’m acquaintances with but not necessarily close with. For the most part, I believe TCNJ really is just like a nice community. I think just when I’ve been associating with people outside of my like- of my identified group I think sometimes there can be that culture shock and a little bit of blow back in terms of people not understanding the references I make or people not understanding why I am the way I am. And me being a Latino has a big part to do with that.
Marcus Allen
Even though we can say that race is a social construct, that is the first identifying feature that we would talking about when we’re talking about a stranger and then followed by size and then characteristics of what they’re wearing. So I would say before anything, I’m Black. So when I’m looking at those things the first group I’m going to be drawn to are Blacks. And that’s not even looking at socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender expression. That’s not looking at any of that but it’s just the commonhood that we’re Black and that we have that common experience.
McKenna Samson
When do I socialize with people outside of my identity group? That would be within my classroom settings, so classes. I would also say I’m in the Bonner Community Scholars Program here and that’s a very diverse program. I would say, I also identify with people outside of my group in that setting. And on the occasion that I have lunch or catch-up time with my friends from high school that go here. Other than that, that’s really it.
Marcus Allen, Quinton Casillas, McKenna Samson, Shana Thomas
-EIXZPsFI8k
belonging, classroom
THEME:THEME: stereotypes
Stereotypes
KyAra McCray
Being an African American female, one of the first things they assume is that I’m uneducated and that I am very angry because there’s a stereotype that’s associated with African American females that if we show emotion or if we get frustrated that we are automatically angry. So I try to avoid certain ways and behaviors that I know will seem to glorify that stereotype because that’s not what I want and that’s not who I am.
Marcus Allen
I’m a bigger man, so by my physique they see I’m intimidating, I’m aggressive. White masculine men seem as like you know strong-headed leaders, rational um and strong. But then Black masculine is seen as aggressively strong is more of a physical intimidation strength. When people find out about me being bisexual it kind of gets tricky because they’re blending feminine traits as well to associate that I’m weak. But at the same time my physical body also seems to have to be strong. I try to shape how people perceive me in a different way than the stereotypes of my identities. I’m a musical fanatic, and I love Hairspray. So like, I sing Hairspray. And like, it’s funny that I sing Hairspray, which is about race in the ’60s. But then a big Black man singing a musical is defined as feminine versus masculine. So it shifts their perspective of me because like oh there’s a Black guy who likes musicals, like that’s different.
Ana Camila Gutierrez
I was taught in my race class gender sexuality class that racial stereotypes or even gender stereotypes are something automatic in our brain that are really form in how we grow up in our environment. So I know people look at me and they already think I’m this sassy Latina that likes salsa and rice and beans. And people would make jokes about that. When I complained about the food somewhere they just jumped oh, so you just want rice and beans. And it’s like, look. I’m more of what you think I am. And I wish people just would leave those stereotypes aside and really get to know me because it’s difficult sometimes to be in an environment where people make you feel like you’re different when you already know you are.
Marcus Allen, Ana Camila Gutierrez, KyAra McCray
GZ_7OBiCllM
stereotypes
THEME:THEME: belonging, race
Taking a Knee
Kiyla Peterson
When I came to TCNJ, I was a part of the women's basketball team. And this girl on the opposite team, she took a knee and I was like, wow that’s so courageous. Like that’s so brave of her. And we were lined up for the flag and my teammates said, “That’s disgusting. That’s so disrespectful. Like’s wrong with her?” I asked my coach if I could take a knee because of how I felt my teammates didn’t really understand everything that was going on especially with me being a person of color. At that being the only person of color on the women’s basketball team. And I said I want to talk to my teammates and tell them I want to take a knee. My reason would have been to teach my teammates that it’s okay to take a knee and stand for something because it’s my right. It’s a part of the First Amendment that I have the right to say whatever I want to say. It was hard for me to find a reason, like a real reason for me to stand up and do it because I would be the first person on TCNJ’s campus to do it. A lot of backlash would happen for my teammates and for me, and I don’t- I don’t know if my teammates were ready for that. I didn’t want to drag them into something and they weren’t ready for their parents to say something or for their friends to disrespect them or disrespect me. And I don’t know. I- it would have just caused a divide between my team and me. I started to take Writing 102 which was athletic activism with Miss Dionne Hallback. And she helped me find reasons why I should take a knee and why I should stand for something. But eventually I decided to quit the basketball team because I just felt like no one on the team- when I went to practice, I felt like either crying or breaking down because no one on my team looked like me, could relate to anything I did. When I went to practice, I felt I was the outcast and nobody pushed me to go extremely harder. Nobody knew what limits I had. Miss Lakeitha Murray came to practice one time, and I just turned up. I was um, I was doing stuff that my coach never seen me do. And my coach asked her like, why- why like I never seen this Kiyla. She’s- she looks different. And I was just comfortable with her being there like comfortable with like showing off my talents to somebody that could relate to me.
Taking a Knee - Video Transcript
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belonging, race
THEME:THEME: american, microaggressions, stereotypes
The American Dream
Brianna Dixon
My mom was born in Jamaica, so like I’m half Jamaican. And my dad was born in Guyana, which is a small country in South America. I was brought up in a household where you know yes, you were born in America which people will say you’re Black American but you have to understand that you come from an immigrant family and you should be prideful of that experience so like that doesn’t just include food and culture includes- or music but it includes like how you represent yourself, how you go about through your schooling. Like education is very important to Black immigrant people in their communities.
Miguel Gonzalez
As a citizen of the United States, you know, coming from you know Bergen County, New Jersey at Westwood. My mother is a housekeeper. My father is like currently working at a bagel store as a, you know, storekeeper and stuff. I also worked a lot during the weekdays and weekends mostly because I wanted to save up for college and that kind of inspired me to be just- just as persistent in high school as well. I want to make sure my grades were up and also just like making my parents proud.
Trying to find myself was a bit difficult because I didn’t have that much time to be and hang out with my friends in general. I didn’t know what to like to envision myself as. It also didn’t help that, you know, back in high school like there was some name that my friends often called me. It was called guapo, which- which pretty much means “good looking” but I didn’t- but I took a bit offensive at the time because they said it kind of as if like I was like some kind of weird Mexican kind of which I didn’t like.
Once I got to college, I felt like it was a whole new kind of way to start like a coming up with a fresh clean slate. Like I didn’t have to worry about anything from the past. It’s just all me now. I can do what I- what I want to do.
Mitchelle Abuna
I’m really grateful for the opportunities that this country has presented me such as going to this institution but at the same time people have to realize that America has its faults, whether it be in just the racism in this country and discrimination. I tell them about, like, the wealth gap in this country or the microaggressions I’ve dealt with or the inequality that I see every day, and they’re just like “Wow, you know, I don’t think of this.”
And then the movies we watch, like the Black people are always the thugs but they just never had thought about it. And I explained to them how it has to do with associating Black people with backwardness and criminality they’re like, “Wow, now I see it.”
But people have this idealization that it’s the land of opportunity and the land of freedom and it’s a meritocracy. But I tell them that that’s not necessarily a meritocracy because you could work really really hard and you will still not get to where you want to be. And I- I see this in the local Kenyan community. One of the women I work with, she works seven days a week. Seven days a week. Two jobs. She’s always tired. My mother works five days a week, 12 hours a day. But she’s not upper-middle class. She’s not making that much money.
So I tell people not to idealize America as this land where if you work hard you’ll make it because I don't think that’s always necessarily true. There's class discrimination. There’s race discrimination. Different types of discrimination that are presented I think in everyday level of life.
Mitchelle Abuna, Brianna Dixon, Miguel Gonzalez
7U7Uhcpkexk
american, microaggressions, stereotypes
THEME:THEME: assumptions, belonging
The Double Consciousness
Shana Thomas
In high school, I didn’t know half of the term- I was very naive. If you asked me to describe myself back then, I would tell you that I’m a high school student and- and I play tennis, you know what i mean. It’s- it’s definitely different than how I describe myself now. And I do believe that that’s because I had to kind of adopt that double consciousness. I had to adopt the fact that okay, this is how I see myself. Yes, I am a college student and yes, I work and I do x, y, and z. I have to take into account how that person sees me, right, because now that affects how I behave and how I move. And I- I wasn’t conscious of that before. So you think you have all the privilege in the world because you don’t see yourself as any different, you know. But then when you start to realize and accept those differences and you kind of have to claim them and like take- take ownership of it. And where we are, even in TCNJ, sometimes you have to put in ten times as much work as the person with the privilege next to you, you know what I mean, to get the same grade. And it’s- it radical acceptance. We may not like. It- it’s not fair. It’s not just. It’s not equitable. But this- that is what it is.
Daliah Ouedraogo
You’re a Black woman. You need this education. You need to work twice as hard. You need to put yourself out there. And now coming to TCNJ, even though sometimes I can be like the only Black student in my class I feel like I just internally have to put myself above everyone because I don’t want to be let’s say judged. I don’t want to be stereotyped. I don’t want to- I don’t want to be seen as less of who I am because I’m a Black woman here on campus.
KyAra McCray
When I was in high school, I never thought of race. People say that race doesn’t matter and that happened a long time ago. I think as we grow older, our concept of time really shows. Like a second grader now, when I said I was born in 1998, they were like ”Do you know Abraham Lincoln?” So, yeah. So now I’m thinking back like 65 years ago, I probably wouldn’t be going to this school. I probably wouldn’t have the same opportunity. My grandma’s 74. Going to TCNJ, I was able to understand time. And I was able to understand the history of the importance of race in our nation and not- in our world. So I can only imagine what it’s like for people who haven’t had the opportunity to have these open discussions and who haven’t had the opportunity to go further their education in college. When I first learn something, it might get a little roughy. But if you give me a chance to prove myself I can show you that I can work hard and just as hard as anyone else. I like to make things perfect. I like to think things over. And if I’m given the opportunity, I can definitely put my best foot forward. And I want you to imagine with me. Imagine the hundreds of people thousands and millions of people who don’t have the opportunity to put their best foot forward who are left in the dust and just imagine what they could do if they were found- found somebody who gave them a shot.
KyAra McCray, Daliah Ouedraogo, Shana Thomas
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assumptions, belonging
THEME:THEME: intersectionality, stereotypes
The Intersection of Identities
Mitchelle Abuna
I think I have more of an understanding of race now than I did in high school surprisingly because I’ve always identified as Kenyan or as Luo. We identify more along the lines of tribe and your- your ethnicity. But when I came here is when I first had to identify as Black. And when I came here, I realized that when I did say I was Black or when people saw me they knew I was Black they would have certain expectations of- of me even- even if I didn’t say anything you know what I mean. And if they didn’t know I was Kenyan, they would still lump me into a preconceived like stereotype. And now I think I understand race more because I understand the history of this country and the history of race in this country and the history of race relations.
Ino Cintrón-Burch
In an African American women’s studies class, the professor had a conversation with me where she didn’t read me as white. And she was like, well you’re Latina. You wouldn’t be white. So that was a conversation about race that was very thought-provoking for me. I think I learned a lot more about the idea that no one is just one thing. That everyone’s identities combined to shape their experience. And I think that helped me a lot because that allows for a lot more nuanced conversations. When you’re talking about race with someone, you’re not just talking about like their experience as a Black person but it would be as a Black woman or a Black man certainly a Black gay woman or a Black gay man. Like all of those things go together. I’m able to sort of see outside of a binary and into more of a place where race isn’t a defining factor of someone’s identity but an element of it that might be defining if they identify as such but it might not be.
Suchir Govindarajan
You can’t walk into your room with your race. You can’t, you know, just, you know say this is my race all the time. You know, race is very, very subject to definition of the person who is identifying with it.
Elisa Rios
I’m an intersectional feminist so I believe that all our social identities intersect and affect us in one way. And so trying to- in multiple ways. And trying to get a conversation with different communities and learning from them that’s something that I do every single day. When I really became friends with people who were part of the LGBTQIA community pronouns was something I wasn’t used to. He, she, they, them. I wasn’t used to. Now, you know, interacting with them I got used to having that speech in conversation but I also got used to kind of learning that there’s other social identities that affect them and let’s be friends. I’m very much, let’s learn from another population before I talk to another population because I want to see- I know these identities affect me. I want to see how they affect them. That’s how you learn also to strengthen yourself and learn how to communicate and learn how to be kind of a more profound person.
Mitchelle Abuna, Ino Cintrón-Burch, Suchir Govindarajan, Elisa Rios
8mk9Wb9IbEI
intersectionality, stereotypes
THEME:THEME: belonging, classroom, race
The Only One (Part 1)
KyAra McCray
I’m a history major, education major, as well, and each semester I take four classes. I could say that three out of the four classes I’ve been in I was the only Black person in the class. So if I was missing, you would know I was missing. I was always the first person the teacher name they would memorize. I can recall one time my freshman year in my freshman seminar I did not miss class. My roommate was there and the teacher- she said the teacher was like, “Where’s KyAra? She’s not here.” And I was like, yeah, cause the class is like 30 people and I’m the only person.
But it makes me, I don’t know, I try to be on top of my game. I try to always be prepared, always be ready to have an answer for questions that I know are going to be asked. Only makes me work better.
Tara Mild
My friend whose whole family is from Haiti, he was I believe the only Black person on our floor last year. I don’t know what it feels like to be the only person who looks the way you do. So did he feel welcomed? Maybe. But there needs to be some sort of change to making sure that everybody despite what they look like, how they act, feels as though they are being accepted on campus.
Omobola Solebo
I remember through my college experience inviting my um white friends to like minority parties or to uh like ethnic parties and they saying that like they couldn’t attend because this was the first time they would have to be an other. This is the first time that they would be a minority. I invited them to a birthday party of mine and they said they didn’t want to go because they would be the only white people. They felt uncomfortable being in Black spaces um Hispanic spaces because they didn’t know how to- how to um how to act. But I felt like when you say that you feel uncomfortable being the minority I’m a minority in my classes every day. I’m always the only Black girl. Not even the only Black girl. In business classes, I’m the only Black person period. So every day at TCNJ, I’m the minority. I’m the one that stands out. I can’t go to class and not go and not be unnoticed. I’m the- I’m the Black face in the crowd. My teacher knows when I’m not there. Even when you build these connections with people, you still kind of feel a disconnect because even after you built this relationship with them, friends- best friends for three years but I won’t come to your birthday party because I’m scared of being an other. That kind of hits you a hard way.
KyAra McCray,Tara Mild, Omobola Solebo
sx9QfkHHtJs
belonging, classroom, race
THEME:THEME: belonging, classroom, race
The Only One (Part 2)
Lloyd Padmore
Coming to TCNJ, especially as a predominantly white institution you know there’s very few people like me especially within the business field. I would sit in class most of the time and look around and not only am I only male there but I’m the only Black male there and because of that it kind of made me feel like I didn’t belong there at times.
Roshni Raji
The experience of being the only person of color in like a room full of white people is almost like you have to justify what you’re saying and what you believe in every second with everything that you say. Every belief I have is based on a belief that my parents taught me or that I feel like I should have based on my identities. And in a room where I am the only person with my identity it’s really hard to have to justify to other people why I hold the beliefs I do because sometimes they just don’t understand.
Brianna Dixon
I’ve learned to pick and choose my battles. Um, definitely coming to a predominantly white institution some of them are just completely unaware and not knowledgeable so it’s kind of like sweeping it under the rug is kind of safer for me. I think I’ve grown from that. It has allowed me to get into more spaces where it’s just not going to be multicultural spaces. Definitely protect yourself but pick and choose how you play to, you know, go about doing it.
Lloyd Padmore
It was very, very different coming from high school just because it was like I saw people who look like me and then they all went away. I said, ”How did that happen so- so fast?” But it kind of just made me adjust and just learn to adapt to a different environment in society. I have to look around and like reevaluate the fact that we’re all at the same school that we’re all doing the same things and because of that I felt like that allowed me to get comfortable even when I felt like I wasn’t in place.
McKenna Samson
It is hard for Black students, Black women to be on this campus and exist and not be tired all the time because you’re constantly faced with- with your own identity, the way people treat you, the way you have to walk about yourself, the way you have to present yourself in certain settings that it gets tiring having to present yourself in a way that’s pleasing for other people. And there are students that, you know, go about and they- they operate in the ways in which they feel are best comfortable. And I really do salute them for that because it takes a lot of bravery and a lot of heart. But that can also be tiring when you have to be unapologetically you all the time and then go to class and you expect to learn and have professors that necessarily don’t understand that or you know don’t understand you.
Lloyd Padmore
I feel like I have a job to do my own representation. So it’s my opportunity to showcase what we’re made of especially as just Black people in general because there’s all these stereotypes that follow that. So when I work and I break all of them it’s kind of new to them and it makes them embrace it more. And what I really truly love is when they start to ask questions. That’s how I feel like our relationship’s being mended. So having friends who don’t look like me and them asking me questions about myself, about my culture, it creates that relationship where I feel comfortable as if I was talking to anybody else. So being the only Black person in my class has allowed me just to explore and help teach others about my culture and just learn about them too because you know I realize that there’s a lot of within-group differences than without. So when I get into those spaces, we have more in common than I actually think of.
Brianna Dixon, Lloyd Padmore, Roshni Raji, McKenna Samson
JZLJXbT3zGc
belonging, classroom, race
THEME:THEME: race
The Word
Omobola Solebo
You have this ignorance that you don’t want to mistake for arrogance. Like things like the N-word. Every Black kid at TCNJ can tell you an experience of somebody call- I’m telling you. We’ve talked about this in multiple groups and like you know just like friend sittings and talked about like “Yeah, like freshman year a friend of mine thought it would be cool.” Or you know, somebody wrote this on the door. Every single Black TCNJ kid has encountered the N-word. It’s not serious enough to go to the Dean of Students about it like other circumstances but we’ve all encountered it. I’ve been called the N-word freshman year in a friendly manner of what they think is a friendly matter many times. But that’s where I’m talking about building this bridge of where you set your boundaries and you explain certain things to- those certain cultural appropriations. Certain things that you um need to explain to them because they may not have had experiences in.
Ino Cintrón-Burch
I had never been exposed to that kind of racism at TCNJ, and I was a little bit horrified when the reactions of people of color were like, ”Well, yeah.” Because I was like, ”Wow, that’s not my school.”
Maggie Paragian
Last year on my floor, I had a white resident use the N-word in our floor group chat. And I immediately was like, oh no. This is not happening right now. And so we had an emergency floor meeting. We had to like, I had to sit them all down and be like, this is not okay. I don’t really care what context you were using it in. Just the weight of the word itself was not okay.
Mitchelle Abuna
My high school teacher for my English class, she would say the N-word repeatedly while reading Huckleberry Finn. And it kind of put me in a position where I felt powerless because I was never- never able to confront her. I was the only student of color in the class, and I was in a predominantly white school. And I was- I never spoke so I was like, I don’t know what to say. I literally just could feel it like every time she said it. I was just uncomfortable.
Shana Thomas
When you’re the only Black person in the classroom you interpret things differently I believe. For instance, right here’s a good example. I was in a classroom, and the professor had used the N-word, hard R, explicitly. And I was the only visibly Black girl in the class. There was another girl who was Hispanic that sat across, and we were the only two that flinched. Everyone else just let it go because what are you gonna say? It’s- he’s not talking about you. It’s hard because it’s like, you know, you want to not cause a scene but at the same time you want to also like respect yourself, you know? And at that time, I didn’t say anything because I mean it’s a class of like 28. I’m the only Black girl. I’m- it’s you know some- some wars you just kind of leave alone. - People don’t realize that it’s not something- not a word you can just joke around with and use lightly.
Mitchelle Abuna, Ino Cintrón-Burch, Maggie Paragian, Omobola Solebo, Shana Thomas
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race
THEME:THEME: classroom, institutional
To My Professors
To My Professors - Video Transcript
Mitchelle Abuna
So I would just like professors to really, really understand how difficult it is for someone to be the only student of color or maybe only two students of color. Someone to feel maybe powerless in a social space. Be mindful of the differences of other students.
Lloyd Padmore
A lot of times professors kind of have these assumptions of who you are and the- the grade level that you’re at and part of that gets eliminated because we’re all at a great institution but at the end of the day there’s still these biases that linger around. As a faculty member, it’s a lot more than just teaching and learning. You have to just move away from the topic sometimes and have those personal relationships because if you don’t have that you’ll never truly understand what somebody’s going through or where they’ve come from. If we don’t get into my personal life, we’re never going to have that connection. And until that connection is made there’s always going to be these little microaggressions here and there that they just truly don’t understand.
Marcus Allen
I’m not who you think I am. You can take that as a good thing or a bad thing. Actually talk to me, converse with me, and that’s how we actually build conversations and build compassion for another.
Elisa Rios
I am a highly educated Afro-Latina who has a mental disorder, who is hard working, who cares about my communities, who wants to go out and help my communities. That’s all I want professors to see in me, no matter what, it’s going to be like a bad Afro-Latina, bad is a good thing, but a great Afro-Latina that’s going to be a great scholar.
Quinton Casillas
I’m learning a lot more from the world around me than I am in those classrooms. Yes, I am Latino. Yes, I am queer. That is will never change, and I will only use that as fuel. And I want to use my education to reflect those important things about me.
Daliah Ouedraogo
It’s okay to say my last name. My last name, Ouedraogo. It’s West African from Burkina Faso. And it’s okay. I know that the letters are a weird mixture but just try it. And that’s respecting me. And then that’s respecting my culture, where I come from, and yeah. You know, just give it a shot.
Omobola Solebo
Teachers make this assumption that we all have the same opportunities as everybody else the same time management as somebody else, but we don't. Teachers will say, oh we’re having a study group. It’s mandatory at 8 pm Wednesday. Go travel to the Met or go travel to a museum and write a paper on it. Hey, buy this 65 dollar book and this 150 dollar calculator because we’re going to need it for a week. Most of the times and what I did last semester and this semester I don’t buy it. I have to ask somebody else. I have to go to the tutoring center and use their things. I pay my own rent so other students don’t have those responsibilities. They don’t have to go to work five times a week for four hours each day. So it becomes a bigger problem. So group projects, those 20 pages that people split up into four, I did the whole 20 pages myself because nobody could work with me because I had to work so much because I couldn’t afford the same things that they could. It creates this disparity between us and the level of success that we can both reach.
Roshni Raji
I would like all professors to be aware of microaggressions especially that students can make towards other students in their classroom. The classroom can be a safe space for all students rather than just some.
Mitchelle Abuna, Marcus Allen, Quinton Casillas, Daliah Ouedraogo, Lloyd Padmore, Roshni Raji, Elisa Rios, Omobola Solebo
LeHBwrlj0Mg
classroom, institutional
THEME:THEME: stereotypes
When They Look At Me, What Do They See?
When They Look At Me, What Do They See? - Video Transcript
Shana Thomas
Normally I identify myself as a Jamaican woman. I’ve realized being out in the world more often that there’s more to that. Not that I necessarily have to give the label to myself but I realize that you know there’s other things that people do see me as. And I guess that does also account for you know who I am as a person.
Shirley Hecht
I do feel that there’s a little bit more judgment in college I guess. A lot of people just kind of assume or kind of have a prejudice and I felt like in high school that was a little bit easier to you know curve. I get a lot of ambiguity with like what people think I am. People think that I’m Latina or maybe a mixed race or whatever it is. Israel is usually not the first thing that pops up.
Elisa Rios
Most of the time they assume I’m a Latina. And so the conversation of me being Black is not really in the story even though it’s my skin tone um and- and I base it off my skin tone, my phenotype, and what I’ve been through but like it’s- it’s usually your’re Latin and that’s- that’s basically the only identity I’ve gotten throughout my life. And so that- that’s basically been it.
Roman Brooks
Assumption that people tend to make when they see me is they look at my skin color and they really don’t see anything past that until I get to know them. They tend to put names on me instead of just who I am. It’s definitely just embedded racism within people.
Maggie Paragian
A lot of people, first of all, think I’m Hispanic. So I’ve gotten spoken Spanish in public. I don’t know Spanish.
Kiyla Peterson
People assume that I am either Hispanic or mixed with white and Black but I just identify as African American.
Lloyd Padmore
People just see Black. When I- when I talk to people and I introduce them to myself and say what I am you know they’re shocked. The- their biggest shock is the fact that I’m Hispanic especially because I’m Mexican and I don’t look Mexican or whatever people perceive to- Mexicans look like. And because of that they kind of judge like, are you sure you’re Mexican? And then kind of put me through this test of do you speak Spanish? What do you like to eat? All these cultural things that they attach to this ethnicity that I feel like it’s not my life because I’m so mixed. Like I’ve had so many different experiences I don’t feel like you can just put me into one group per se. It’s more so I’ve just had knowledge of everything as I was growing up.
Roman Brooks, Shirley Hecht, Lloyd Padmore, Maggie Paragian, Kiyla Peterson, Elisa Rios, Shana Thomas
bS7IfeaPz1c
stereotypes
THEME:THEME: race
White Privilege
White Privilege - Video Transcript
Ana Camila Gutierrez
I remember this guy said once in our class, we were talking about race in class specifically, he said, and he was white, and he said, “White people have it bad, too. Like, I’m poor, too. Like, I do- I struggle, too.” And we had to explain to him that look we understand. We’re not minimizing what you’ve been going through. We’re just establishing that it doesn’t get difficult for you- or more difficult for you because of your skin color. That you are less likely to be shot by the police. That you are more likely to get a job because you have a name that people is used to and a skin color that people is used to. So it’s not that white students don’t suffer and don’t struggle. We know that. We know that. It’s just this systematic oppression does not apply to them.
Tara Mild
I walk into a classroom, and I see people who look like me. I walk into the Student Center, and I see people who are acting and dressing like me. And I recognize that there are people on campus who don’t feel that way because even though we- TCNJ claims to be a very diverse community, we’re still very white. It’s become very eye-opening, especially this past year, to see that my own privilege has given me that chance to feel safe and comfortable on campus when there are other students who haven’t.
Kelly Saldarriaga
Most people do assume I am white. I think a lot of other people who are Colombian but are darker than me have experienced a lot more than I have just because of the slight difference in tone of our skin. And I haven’t felt like I’ve ever been targeted or stopped by the police because of how I look. And I know other people, even my residents, have been.
Suchir Govindarajan
I think in high school, I was very of the mindset that, you know, you can’t be racist against white people. White people are the oppressor. Everything is our responsibility. Take it back um in these marginalized populations. But I think that being here and just having conversations with people you know you can be- you can be um, you can have implicit bias against you know white people. You can have implicit bias of you know Caucasian people and straight people. Um the whole idea of race and- and bias is um it should never be put on the marginalized population to address those issues. It has to be something that we all tackle together. And we cannot tackle that together if we are excluding a part of the population.
Ana Camila Gutierrez
A lot of our students never had to discuss about race and their privilege and where they grew up. They don’t want to look at poverty and police brutality. I think they’re just very uncomfortable and that’s why they don’t show up for when we have this type of conversations because it does not affect them and therefore they can look away and they shouldn’t but they do.
Tara Mild
If I hadn’t had conversations like my African American literature class has I wouldn’t be able to do this interview today. I wouldn’t have been able to be thinking so deeply about my place in society and what it means for me to be a white female in society. How different it is compared to a Black woman or a Black man or an Asian woman, any person. It’s so different and I think avoiding those conversations and pushing them aside really shows off a white privilege that I and a lot of other people have.
Suchir Govindarajan
Progress is together, and if you’re excluding people from that conversation then they’re not going to contribute to the solution ever.
Suchir Govindarajan, Ana Camila Gutierrez, Tara Mild, Kelly Saldarriaga
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race
THEME:THEME: race
Whiteness Is Not The Default
Whiteness Is Not The Default - Video Transcript
Ino Cintrón-Burch
When I walk into a room, the first thing people see about me is what I’m saying or maybe that I’m a woman. But they see me as a white woman. I can talk about issues relating to social justice because I want to talk about them because I’m passionate about them. There’s not a responsibility there, which I think from talking to some like students of color on campus, they’re asked to convey the Black experience or to convey the immigrant experience or things like that. So I think that my experience differs because I’m allowed a lot more freedom. I’m not restricted to a certain position and I have to take that position and you know represent an entire group.
And I think that that goes to the fact that like whiteness is considered a default and everything else is considered an other. And that probably like me talking about race and saying like- in identifying immediately people of color and not necessarily looking at whiteness as a race sort of reflects that. That definitely feeds into all of our like white supremacist institutions to make you know white normal and everything else an other. Because with an other comes, you know, stigmas and discrimination and all of those things.
I had the white guilt phase where I was like, oh my god, like I’m so privileged. I’m taking someone’s place. All this stuff. And like, you know, it comes back every now and then but it’s something I’ve tried to get over and to get to the point where it’s like well it’s not anyone’s responsibility to make me feel better about that. Like I don’t need to be guilty. It just is what it is, and I need to use my privilege in a productive manner.
Ino Cintrón-Burch
R_Mr5YUZEtQ
race
THEME:THEME: institutional
Whitewashed Education
Whitewashed Education - Video Transcript
Roshni Raji
I went to a predominantly white high school, and with that came a predominantly white-focused education. I feel like the biggest thing in college is learning more in-depth about America’s history and how it was from the perspective of a Native American versus a Black person versus a white person and how that puts into context the realities of communities today and the struggles they face.
Tara Mild
In high school, I really didn’t learn much about racism except for slavery and then the civil rights movement. My friend and I went to the St. Louis Courthouse and that was where the Dred Scott case had taken place. And to be there, I realized I barely learned about the Dred Scott case. I really realized how much I’m missing from my education. And I said in high school, oh yeah, like racism is definitely a big issue. But did I ever actually think it was? Did I ever really comprehend what that meant?
Georgia Cyriax
I know in high school, it was very like, there was slavery and then it was the civil rights movement and then racism was over. And like obviously like I have an internet connection. I knew that wasn’t true. But like uh. I don’t know, like I’ve definitely seen like the way in which racism has transformed in America.
Mitchelle Abuna
You have people who literally all the time will be like well racism is over like we’ve made so much progress. Yes, progress has been made but when we keep focusing on the fact that progress has been made and we don’t talk about race then people tend to forget the fact that institutional racism is still alive.
Tara Mild
I’m in Dr. Piper Williams’ African American literature class and we’re always focusing on this incident of race. On these intersections of like feminism and gender sexuality. And it’s just so interesting to see how little this country has come in those strides to like having equality among people. We are learning and constantly building off of that but we still have a long way to go.
Mitchelle Abuna, Georgia Cyriax, Tara Mild, Roshni Raji
-l6etZ_cyfM
institutional
THEME:THEME: begin, belonging
You Can See the Entire World From This One Place
You Can See the Entire World From This One Place - Video Transcript
Suchir Govindarajan
A lot of the stuff that I’ve done on campus is all based on my interests you know in social change or in theater or music. And that’s what has really driven my association with people. My friends are all based on those kind of groups.
Ino Cintrón-Burch
The main thing I found that brings me together with people of different groups is a common purpose or interest.
Maggie Paragian
I’m president of the manhunt club, TCNJ manhunt. So the club that I’m in does a lot to help me actually talk to different people because we’re all just weird so that’s how we kind of bond. I’m also in the radio station on campus so that common thing is just we love music.
Lloyd Padmore
I intern for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Cristhofer Alexander Moreira
I’m a part of student government where there are people that mostly don’t look like me.
Kelly Saldarriaga
Being a community advisor has exposed me to a lot of people with different backgrounds. I mean the people that I work with are so diverse. And it’s just getting to know people.
Omobola Solebo
I’ve actually learned a lot about the LGBTQ community from coming here because of the whole um organization that they have. When they email you, when they talk to you, it’s- it’s really like friendly. It’s really welcoming especially on campus.
Brianna Dixon
My first two years, I was very adamant. I was just like, you know what, I’m just gonna be in multicultural organizations. So Black Student Union. I’ll be in you know Haitian Student Association even though I’m Jamaican and Guyanese. I’ll be in all the ones that are not white. But it grew to a point where it’s just like well nobody knows you but the safe space that you’re in and the whole point of college is to get to know people who are not like you. I kind of scratched everything and I was just like okay I’m gonna join student government which I did and I was like you know what I’m gonna run for senator which I did and I won. And for me, it was kind of like I was forced to talk to a lot of people who were white. And it scared me to death. Now I’m gonna be a senior. I’m glad to say like oh thank god I didn’t stay in my safe spaces because I’ve made great relationships. I’ve sat on great positions in organizations and I’ve grown as a person. It helps because that is what the world is.
Miguel Gonzalez
When I started reporting events with The Signal taking pictures at those events like I realized that they are not all the people you expect to be kind of. Like you don’t necessarily have to be you know Latino or Hispanic to be in Union Latina. You don’t have to be Asian or you know Korean or Japanese or Vietnamese to be on triple-A which is the Asian American Association. They’re all welcoming. Like I think TCNJ especially with small-sized community, you can pretty much take advantage of that. So it’s kind of like as if you can see the entire world from this one place in Ewing.
Ino Cintrón-Burch, Brianna Dixon, Miguel Gonzalez, Suchir Govindarajan, Cristhofer Alexander Moreira, Lloyd Padmore, Maggie Paragian, Kelly Saldarriaga, Omobola Solebo
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