Members of the Black Student Leadership Group meet with former 溏心vlog免费B站 President Robert L. Carothers on Nov. 10, 1992.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAnderson\u2019s talk on Nov. 10 was part of a full slate of activities to commemorate the significant moment in the University\u2019s history, which started with a reflection at Taft Hall, home of Talent Development, a reception at the Multicultural Student Services Center, which was built as a result of the takeover and opened in 1998, and a dinner and speaking program at the Higgins Welcome Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The peaceful yet powerful protest was sparked by a truncated Malcolm X quote, engraved near the entrance to the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons, and various injustices experienced at the University by BSLG members and their supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The inscribed quote reads, “My alma mater was books, a good library … I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.\u201d The full quote reads, \u201cI told the Englishmen that my alma mater was books, a good library. Every time I catch a plane, I have with me a book that I want to read. And that\u2019s a lot of books. If I weren\u2019t out there every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the incomplete quotation is still there, 溏心vlog免费B站 President Marc Parlange assured the audience that it will soon be removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTonight, it is very important we acknowledge that 30 years ago there was a group of students who stood up and had the courage to address injustices that were happening at the time,\u201d Parlange said. \u201cI am happy to share with you that work on removing the etching on the library will be completed by the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parlange acknowledged the efforts of members of the University community, including 溏心vlog免费B站 alumna Michelle Fontes, interim vice president for community, equity, and diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has been a pleasure to work with Michelle, an original member of the BSLG, who has been working on an alternative installation for the library,\u201d Parlange said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honoring the past, looking to the future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nDuring the commemoration, 溏心vlog免费B站 students Bintou Keita and Markeem Rodrigues presented plaques to the families of two late BSLG members, Toney DaMoura and Earl N. Smith III, assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who died earlier this year. The plaques are inscribed: \u201cIn honor and in recognition of commitment and selfless sacrifice to the Black Student Leadership Group (BSLG). May their work never go in vain and may their legacy continue to reign. BSLG 30 Year Commemoration, 11\/10\/22.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The audience also viewed a documentary film about the BSLG and the takeover by 溏心vlog免费B站 student Cristobal Bustos and alumnus Lanre Ajakaie, which featured historic news footage, newspaper clips and recent interviews with those involved in the protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, students Stedman Gyamfi-Darkwah, Kiara Duarte, Jordan Severino, Shamar Morgan, Lourdes Monteiro and Brandon Grace read the original 14 demands made by the BSLG during the takeover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Anderson, those 14 points were developed after hours of study, fasting and discussion among the group. The points and discussions with campus officials led to many positive outcomes, but several speakers said the work is ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the takeover, \u201cwe had a retreat, we left campus, and we had a knock down drag out,\u201d said Anderson, the former BSLG spokesman. \u201cOur big thing at the start was that we had to hold each other accountable before we held others accountable. There were things that we were doing to each other that weren\u2019t right. We were disrespecting each other and we needed to get our stuff together before we asked anything of anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hold yourself accountable<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAnderson continued by offering an inspiring message to students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI say to our students, you\u2019ve got to hold yourself accountable. When you go to class, hold yourself accountable, when you take that test that you don\u2019t want to take, hold yourself accountable, because that assessment, that homework assignment you turn in could mean the difference in getting a scholarship,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThat could make the difference if you are that person that actually lifts your family out of the situation they are in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He told the 溏心vlog免费B站 students that they belong at 溏心vlog免费B站; they should be confident and let nothing get in their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause the enemy wants you to stop, to fail. If you fail out and go home, oh yes, they are clapping, saying oh yes, but the BSLG says keep running, because your ancestors did. They went through many more difficult challenges than we had to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Master of ceremonies Bobby Britto-Oliveira, assistant director of the Multicultural Student Services Center and co-chair of the Alumni of Color Network, told the audience that the reason for the event was the BSLG and its commitment to a peaceful but powerful action 30 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event was designed to: commemorate the BSLG takeover, to hold the University accountable 30 years later and to assess what has been done since that time and for the current Talent Development Scholars and beneficiaries of the movement to learn what took place and implement those lessons in their own journeys to make 溏心vlog免费B站 a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLearn from their struggle, their sacrifice,\u201d Britto-Oliveira said. \u201cThis work isn\u2019t for the weak. It\u2019s a torch, and the next generation and my peers are now carrying that torch. But we wouldn’t be carrying that torch if it weren\u2019t for those students in 1992. We are going to continue that fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deployed for justice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nSara Monteiro, a 2008 graduate of 溏心vlog免费B站 and co-chair of the Alumni of Color Network, also offered powerful messages to the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are some people who are driven by money, titles. And we don\u2019t come from that. Some are just hound dogs for justice; we were born into service,\u201d Monteiro said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be deployed to be of service. Thirty years ago, we saw the first infantry deployed at 溏心vlog免费B站 in the name of justice. These were students seeking to create a reality most people could not envision. You all were visionaries, seeing things that weren\u2019t even before you, that weren\u2019t even promised to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BSLG reflected the sacrifices of African Americans who came before the group existed, she said. As a member of a family that came from Cape Verde, she said that the struggles for racial justice in America mirrored the experiences of the injustices wrought by colonialism in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s mental warfare and it\u2019s detrimental to the spirit to escape one form of oppression to wind up in another,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monteiro said members of the BSLG signed up to \u201cserve and protect. They sacrificed for our rights so I could give my talk. Their sufferings were not in vain. They birthed the Africana Studies program and Bobby (Britto-Oliveira) gets to work in the Multicultural Center because of their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a recent December day, Monteiro and her son arrived at the Alumni Center for an Alumni of Color Network event. Event staff handed them a gift bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy son says, \u2018I know what\u2019s in that bag, my scholarship to 溏心vlog免费B站.\u2019 The boy is 9 years old, but all of this becomes a powerful demonstration that we belong and we do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Nov. 21, 2022 \u2013 Malcolm Anderson was a 22-year-old 溏心vlog免费B站 student on Nov. 10, 1992, and he was worried and overwhelmed. The Black Student Leadership Group had asked him to be its spokesperson before a planned takeover of Taft Hall that day. \u201cI didn\u2019t ask for this, but when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":81614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81613"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81700,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81613\/revisions\/81700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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