For Members Only and Northwestern Political Union hosted author and professor Ibram X. Kendi for a conversation on antiracism and policing Thursday night.
African American Studies Prof. Nicole A. Spigner began the event by asking Kendi, who is the founding director of Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research, how individuals can practice antiracism in a racist world.
“The question for the individual is, ‘Are we upholding this system of racism or are we challenging it?’” Kendi said. “It’s not enough for us to recognize that the problem is power and policy… we then have to figure out how we as individuals can be a part of this larger struggle against power and policy.”
February 4, 2021
Editorâs Note: Alyssa Johnson was a member of the Northwestern cheerleading program during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. She was contacted by the Office of Equity for their investigation on Pamela Bonnevier but did not participate.
Content Warning: This article includes mentions of physical harassment, racial discrimination and mentions of sexual assault.
Erika Carter (SESP â18) never imagined she would sue her alma mater.
As a Black member of Northwesternâs cheer program from 2016 to 2018, she faced unequal treatment for wearing her natural hair, was forced to split up from other Black teammates on the sidelines for âopticsâ and was told in writing that ethnically Black hairstyles like braids were not allowed on the team. Now in her post-graduation years, she said she plans to take legal action for the racial discrimination she experienced.
Running for her fourth term in the 2021 municipal elections, Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) said she prioritizes rebuilding Evanston’s economy.
“We need to fill our storefronts, (and) we need to support our small businesses,” Fiske said, adding that the City has lost immense tax revenue amid the pandemic and needs more federal funding to continue to support local entrepreneurs.
Fiske said the city cannot rebuild the economy without first distributing the COVID-19 vaccine. Though she acknowledged that some may be hesitant about the vaccine, she said it is important to spread the message that getting inoculated serves the community.
Additionally, Fiske wants to continue to protect Evanston lands if reelected. She said the lakefront remains threatened by erosion, and City Council must invest in its preservation.
After more than half a century at Northwestern, I can honestly say that I see a substantial lack of leadership on the part of President Schapiro and Provost Hagerty exemplified by the exchanges between the administration and representatives of NU Community Not Cops. Students feel unsafe and that is not a good thing.
Arriving on campus in 1968 just months after Black students seized the Bursar’s office and won their demands, I have observed first hand, repeated instances in which the University has disappointed successive generations of minority students – look at the commitment Northwestern made to students in May 1968 and measure progress in those directions. I heard from my contemporaries fifty or so years ago and I hear from my students today about incidents on campus, in classrooms, in Evanston, that students of color do not feel safe from the local police. I have seen the Evanston police roust Black people in downtown Evanston, have read about graduate students being thrown
After several months of continuous pressure on Northwestern administration to abolish University Police and divest from policing and other militarized entities, NUCNC is continuing their work into the new quarter.
Since their campaign of more than 30 days of consecutive actions, the group has not held any mass protests or demonstrations, but they continue to pressure the University and practice mutual aid a core tenet of prison-industrial complex abolition.
Gonring stationed outside Foster Walker Complex on Sunday, collecting donated winter gear to distribute. (Binah Schatsky/The Daily Northwestern)
“Prisons are the biggest social service we have,” NUCNC member Eliza Gonring said. “So poor people, homeless people, Black people are just getting funneled into prisons and if we want that to stop, if we don’t want people to get preyed upon, we’re going to need to start supporting people.”