NUBIANMESSAGE NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY | RALEIGH, NC | THENUBIANMESSAGE.COM | THURSDAY, August 13, 2020
THURSDAY, August 13, 2020 | 2
Letter from the editor Hey, y’all, We’re almost done with the first week of classes! Things are quite interesting with Zoom University and all but we continue to take it one step at a time. I hope y’all are taking care of yourselves, especially with Miss KaRown running around. In this issue we’ve featured a wide variety of articles.
THISISSUE 4
MULTICULTURAL ORGS
6
GET INVOLVED
6
POEM
7
POLICE PETITIONS
Organizations on campus you should know How to get involved despite Coronavirus An exhausted black girl An honest update on the police petitions
On page 3, we’ve featured a discussion with a Residential Advisor (RA) on campus. The RA discusses all of the concerns and ineffectiveness of NCSU COVID policies. On page 6, we have one of my poems -- inspired by everything that’s been going on in the world these past few months.
cover photo BY Elikem Dodor/Nubian Message
ALL Black Lives Matter
On page 7, we dive into petitions. This summer, we collaborated with several other Black leaders on campus to form various petitions. In the last week, we have received responses from the NCSU administration. One specific response was not exactly up to par -- the police petition. We also talk about whether petitions are actually effective.
The Sentinel of the African-American Community at N.C. State Since 1992.
I’ve seen some of y’all on social media linking with your friends, mask-less at that, so: Stay masked up and stay socially distanced.
314 Witherspoon Student Center, NCSU Campus Box 7318, Raleigh, NC 27695 office 919-515-1468 advertising 919-515-2411 online thenubianmessage.com
My quote for the week comes from the love of my life, Rod Wave: “Stay far away from f*ck ni**as and the corona” As always, protect your peace. Love, Elikem
Only with the permission of our elders do we proudly produce each edition of Nubian Message: Elikem Dodor
Editor-in-Chief
nubian-editor@ncsu.edu Ugonna Ezuma-Igwe Managing editor
nubian-managingeditor@ncsu.edu
Dr. Yosef ben-Yochannan, Dr. John Henrik Clark, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, The Black Panther Party, Mumia A. Jamal, Geronimo Pratt, Tony Williamson, Dr. Lawrence Clark, Dr. Augustus McIver Witherspoon, Dr. Wandra P. Hill, Mr. Kyran Anderson, Dr. Lathan Turner, Dr. M. Iyailu Moses, Dokta Toni Thorpe and all those who accompany us as we are still on the journey to true consciousness.
news
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 | 3
NC State is not corona safe people may not know what an RA on duty is, they may not know common etiquette and specifically for this year they don’t know the rules put in place. They are still having us wait so I know my guide for the floor meeting isn’t quite finished yet so I can’t do it until that happens so now we have people who have already been on campus for 4-5 days not knowing any of the material we’re supposed to go over. There is a frequently asked questions page that has many answers just that a lot of people don’t know to look there”
Marissa McHugh/Staff Photographer RAs for the Tri-Towers transport bins to help student move in on Saturday. Aug. 1st, 2020. The bins were sanitized in between use to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
On Tuesday August Ugonna 4th, Nubian Message Ezuma-Igwe was able to speak to Managing Editor an RA on NC State’s
campus. The RA voiced their concerns about the move in process and students returning to campus. For the safety and protection of this RA and their job we have chosen to keep their identity anonymous. NC State began allowing students to move in on campus on July 31. With the arrival of students on campus, the NC State body was able to see the true effectiveness of their policies and protocols. Nubian: What are your concerns with move in? RA: “Housing hasn’t changed like when they are deciding to give out certain information… So for these ten days [of move-in] freshmen are not really aware of all of the rules for the dorms and things so they have been congregating in really big groups and hanging out without masks in common areas… There’s just a lot of areas in housing that it could just so easily pass and there’s not really anything being done about it.” Nubian: How should NC State go about correcting these mistakes? RA: “They [NC State Housing] needs to be better at informing the freshman… a lot
of people didn’t even know there is a rule of how many people can be in their dorm room… It’s not something that’s being publicized. They were also very unclear with the RA’s about how to enforce these rules like they are slowly being more transparent about the guidelines but a lot of it is fuzzy not just for the RA’s but for people higher up.” Nubian: From what you see do you see that what NC State has put in place is working? RA: “I don’t think much of what they are doing is working and they also haven’t put much in place. Also right now we’re seeing stairwells that have specific directions but I don’t think anyone is really listening to those… Another big issue is that freshmen are coming in and they don’t know anyone and they are craving friendship and interaction so they’re trying to find ways to do that but we’re not supplying them with anyways to do so.” Nubian: Where should students be going to find out the information being released? RA: “NC State is definitely relying on NC state using their own common sense and that’s not happening. We’re supposed to have floor meetings, as RA’s, and typically that happens right at the end of move-in so during that period before the floor meeting
Nubian: Have you expressed your concerns to anyone else? RA: “Yes, the RA’s have been talking about it. I have informed my supervisor and there has been some promise of action about food meetings and things like that but housing tends to be slow in the way they get things done. My biggest issue is that even if they were to put something in practice right now to let people know the rules making sure they are being enforced correctly it could already be too late because every single second counts when it’s a pandemic that doesn’t take long to spread.” Nubian: Do you think we will make it to the first day of class before sh*t goes terribly? RA: “I honestly don’t because if you think about the percent of people in North Carolina that may have it and how many people we are moving in, someone is going to move in during this ten-day period that has it and almost definitely more than one and I think it will get spread very quickly. They have protocols for that but I think it’ll get out of hand like really soon probably in the next month or so.” Nubian: Does NC State have a reporting process and will it be made known that an individual has tested positive for coronavirus on campus? RA: “The reporting process is to go to student health and call them and tell them that you have it and if you have it in a dorm they’re gonna move you to Avent Ferry or Western manor. “ Nubian: As a student worker do you feel NC State has provided you with the safety needed to do your job and be a student? RA: “I don’t. I feel right now that it’s almost impossible to do my job in some
ways because the job of an RA is to build community and to keep people safe and those both have huge roadblocks right now. I’ve already tried to do a virtual get together but it seems so overwhelming trying to think of things to emulate what happened last year… I’m not sure how feasible that is. Also, RA’s do rounds and they aren’t providing RA’s with gloves or anything like that and we’re going through and touching every single door handle and light switch. So our rounds are at night and housekeepers leave early evenings so it’s been probably a couple of hours since they’ve been cleaned.”
Nubian: As an RA what can you do once you see people breaking the rules in place for coronavirus? RA: “We can write people up and do a full incident report and my understanding is that people will get a warning the first time and the second time it’s like a full student conduct violations issue and if you keep violating it I think you can get kicked out of the dorms and have severe consequences. We [RA’s] can really only tackle room occupancy and not wearing masks in public areas. They only way we’d be able to stop room gatherings is if we see them go in which is a really low odds cause by the time we see them come out it’s too late and if we heard a bunch of people we could knock and see. But it does feel like even though we can write up reports there’s still this feeling of powerlessness to keep ourselves safe” Nubian: What is it that you want to tell people? RA: “ I just want people to know that NC State is not safe, that they can’t come back and have the college experience that they wanted or they had. It’s just not possible and I want people to know that coronavirus is affecting people our age, I know people who are immunocompromised who decided to come back and people just need to be careful.” NC State has put policies in place but this interview shows that there is a lot more that needs to be done. While NC State is figuring out how best to address/fill the evident gaps of information, Nubian highly encourages students to take their own precautions. There are too many people dying from coronavirus and it’s up to us to protect ourselves and those we care about. We know that y’all haven’t seen each other but it’s very important that we do our part to protect the pack.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 | 4
features
Multicultural Orgs The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) NPHC is a collaborative organization of nine historically Black International Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities. Their primary purpose is to create solidarity and maintain a commitment to service in the communities they serve. Contact Email: nphc_president@ncsu.edu Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Sigma Gamma Rho, Sorority, Inc. Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
Welcome Black Week 2020 Events: Sunday August 16th - Friday, Aug. 21st
Welcome Black Week Video Drops Hair Care - African American Cultural Center Series Video Welcome Black Week Playlist B2SJ Panel Spilling The Tea Harambee!
Look out for more info: @NCSTATEBSB
photo Contributed by NPhc website
Multicultural Greek Council (MGC)
Aug. 16th 6:00p.m. Aug. 16th Aug. 16th 1:00p.m. - 2:00p.m. Aug. 17th 6:00p.m. Aug. 18th 7:20p.m. Aug. 19th 6:00p.m.
Sitcom TBT: GLBT Center
Aug. 20th 6:00p.m. - 7:30p.m.
What’s on the Table? Black Week Giveaways
Aug. 21th 3:00p.m. - 4:30p.m. Aug. 21th 12:00p.m. - 4:00p.m.
The Multicultural Greek Council serves as the governing body for culturally-based Greek organizations. Their goal is to maintain high standards for their community. Contact Email: mgc-president@ncsu.edu Alpha Phi Gamma Sorority Inc. Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority Inc. Delta Sigma Iota Fraternity Inc. Lambda Theta Phi Fraternity Inc. Theta Nu Xi Sorority Inc.
Alpha Pi Omega Sorority Inc. Lambda Pi Chi Sorority Inc. Phi Sigma Nu Fraternity Inc. Pi Alpha Phi Fraternity Inc.
features
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 | 5
You Should Know: Fusion Dance Crew
A multicultural Hip-Hop dance crew here at NC State comprised of student dancers from all walks of dance. Contact Email: fusiondanceclubncsu@gmail.com
Sube Ritmo Latin Dance Team
Channel Blond
Channel Blond is a closed group aiming to bring together members of the Black LGBTQ community at NC State. They help those in the Black community come to terms with their sexuality; utilizing anonymous coming out services. Contact Email: jtbulloc@ncsu.edu
NC State’s only Latin dance team that wants to help unify people
Vietnamese Student Association (VSA)
and celebrate Latin culture through Latin Dance. Contact Email: ncsusuberitmo@gmail.com
An organization whose goal is to strengthen the awareness of Vietnamese culture on NC State’s campus. Contact Email: ncstate.vsa@gmail.com
Dance Visions
DanceVisions is a student-performing dance company organized in 1977 by three African American female students who wanted to continue dancing while in college. The focus of DanceVisions is to offer a unique extracurricular activity for the entire student body. Contact Email: dancevisions.club.ncsu@gmail.com
Exploring a change of major outside your current college?
Mi Familia
Academic Advising Programs and Services can help you!
Contact Email: facruzca@ncsu.edu
AAPS Walk-in Advising Virtual Advising Information about all majors and minors
The purpose of Mi Familia is to promote the richness of the Latinx community and culture. The group often hosts community events that unify the community and educate students.
National Society of Black Engineers
National Society of Black Engineers is a national organization with the mission, “To increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.” Contact Email: ncsupres@gmail.com
advising.dasa.ncsu.edu I 919-515-8130 #NCStateAdvising
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 | 6
news
Joining organizations despite corona
Adarsh Puvvadi Ramamohan Kumar/Staff Photographer Disha Patel, a senior studying Biological Sciences dances as part of Garba celebrations in the Talley Ballroom on Saturday evening, October 19, 2019.
Ugonna Ezuma-Igwe Managing Editor
Joining and finding organizations during college is already a very intimidating process and due to coronavirus this process has become even harder. While this process is intimidating it is a necessary process that needs to be done. Organizations provide numerous resources and opportunities to students that are beneficial during college and while navigating life. Organizations help build leadership skills, create networks and develop new friendships. NC State has many clubs and organizations but due to the unexpected changes brought on by coronavirus students have not been exposed to them. Joining organizations is an essential part of the college experience so Nubian compiled a couple of ways that students can use to better navigate the experience during coronavirus times. Make a list of your interests: NC State has almost 700 organizations available to students which allows for students to explore a wide variety of interests. While having numerous organizations is very helpful, it can also be overwhelming. Nubian suggests that each student writes a list that narrows their interests down in order to limit the amount of organizations that the student has to sort through. This allows for the search process to be quicker and more fruitful. Look at NC State Get Involved Page: There is a website devoted solely to organizations on campus. Students are able to look through the website and pick
specific categories that they are interested in. The website provides the organization’s contact information, social media and their upcoming events. Follow organizations social media: Many clubs have become active on multiple social media platforms especially due to covid. Majority of NC state organizations have at least one social media platform that they use to keep their members and potential members updated. Many NC state organizations have put ncstate or ncsu in their social media handles to make it easier to find them. Check out Nubian Message’s instagram: Every monday on Nubian’s instagram , @nubianmessage, we post a “What’s happening this week” on our story. This story includes flyers of upcoming events from different organizations. Viewers can expect to see new events posted every week. Feel free to send in your organization’s flyers so they can be included in our story. Reach out to people on social media: Don’t be afraid to reach out to people through social media who are actively posting their organization’s flyers. Many students on campus are already active in different organizations and don’t mind talking to students about their organizations. If this is a route you choose to take, please be polite as you are asking these students for help. It’s ultimately their choice whether to help you or not. There are many organizations available and we encourage you to reach out and get involved in anyway you can.
Experience Me Before It’s Too Late Experience me before it’s too late
Experience me before it’s too late
Before the cruel words of the world
Before pop culture steals my identity
consume me whole
and claims it as their own
The medical system that doesn’t
My box braids that were deemed
believe in my pain
unprofessional
That allows me to be 2 to 6 times
The locs that got me kicked out of
more likely to die from complications
school
during pregnancy
The fro that they claimed is unkempt
That allows me to be
and overly-frizzy
disproportionately impacted by this
My long acrylics that were called
pandemic
ghetto and dirty
Sweeping through my community
My bamboos and hoops that were
and not protecting our lives
met with “the bigger the hoop, the bigger the hoe” It’s the tik tok “trends” for me
Experience me before it’s too late Before the police gun me down in the
Experience me before it’s too late
comfort of my own home
Before they steal and appropriate
Even after a long shift as an
everything that I have to offer
emergency medical technician, rest is
Before they rob me of my breath in
never my own
this supposed land of the free
153 days and my murders still run
Before the violate me through public
free
policy and then harass me for not
Getting engaged and taking vacations
wanting to vote
Whether I am 7 or 26, my life still
When will we ever be free?
ended the same Being murdered in my own bed
- Elikem thee Poet
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 | 7
opinion
Do Petitions Have Any Impact? This past summer, we have seen many peopleespecially young people take action against the injustice in the country by protesting about Black lives and signing petitions, in hopes that a change will happen. With Oluwajoba these instances being Ogun so eminent, it forced Staff Writer people in power to look at the real problem for a moment, but now we have sort of allowed things to go back to normal. The Black Lives Matter movement is no longer ringing on the platforms of social media along with many other relevant, but not talked about issues. We see some petitions here and there, but are they the best that we can do. Is simply signing your name on a list the best way to help solve the issue? To have change be successful, it requires some type of effective effort.
Here are some things to do before signing a petition: 1. Figure out who is in charge of the petition- If you’re not familiar with the name, search the organization and find out what their goal is, and the problem they’re trying to solve. 2. Pay attention to how it’s presentedDon’t believe everything that is written there at first. Be on the lookout for exaggerated statements, unprofessionalism, etc 3. Check the petition’s receiver- Make sure that the petition is aimed at the right people or organization. 4. Make sure you care about the particular movement. Petitions are formal ways to appeal to a higher authority, requesting them to make a change. The important word here is request, that means the person in power can choose to accept or deny the proposal. It is not guaranteed that the plan will be granted. A very relevant example is the murder of Breonna Taylor. Taylor, who was sleeping in
her home, was brutally shot by officers who barged into her house believing that she was connected to a drug crime. It turned out she wasn’t. It has been more than 150 days since her death and the officers who killed Taylor still haven’t been charged. One officer was fired while the other was reassigned. There have been many petitions all over, but again, nothing is happening, why? Because the higher authorities don’t believe that this type of crime is worth truly investigating. That is why it is essential to dig a little deeper by finding other ways to get an issue the attention that it needs. A lot of people believe that they have done their part by helping shine a light on the issue, and yes you have assisted in one way, but it is just the start, there is so much more that can and should be done in making sure that voices are heard. So to answer the question, are petitions effective? Yes, but it’s only step one. We have to fulfill all of the other steps to make sure that change is successful. Here are some ways that you can do more after signing a petition:
1. Continue to educate yourself on the matter - Indulge yourself into the core of the problem and follow up on what happens and if there’s any change after the petition 2. Donate to organizations 3. Use your platforms to speak out- If you’re passionate about the matter, PROVE IT! Speak about it through media outlets. In this day and age, where we have access to resources, let’s be wise and use it adequately. As we begin the new semester, though it is under limited circumstances, let’s still do more than sign petitions. When you see something you don’t like on campus that can negatively affect you and other students, write to the people in power, speak about your experiences, join clubs that you know you can make a difference in. Don’t let the situation crawl back into the box. Don’t stop sharing until you see the matter is solved the correct way. Be proactive in the change that the world needs to make.
An Honest Update On The Police Petitions On June 9, a petition titled, “A Request for Substantial Change in Policing at NC State University,” was released by the Coalition of Black Organizations. Since its initial release, the petition Jalen Rose has gained more than Staff Writer 5,000 signatures. On June 12, the Coalition of Black Organizations released a second petition titled, “Advancing Black Undergraduate Life at NC State University.” This petition listed demands pertaining to the safety and progression of Black undergraduates on campus. Since its initial release, the petition has gained more than 6,000 signatures. The Coalition of Black Organizations has repeatedly met with administration to discuss the demands in the petitions and how to implement effective change on campus. The demands within the “Advancing Black
Undergraduate Life at NC State University” petition have largely been met. Any of the demands that have not been met so far, have been planned to. The police petition however, has received a different response. The immediate response to the police petition was a promise to hold a town hall on July 8 that would allow students and the University Police Department (UPD) to have an open dialogue on the issues we currently face. The town hall was then postponed to a later date that is currently unknown. On July 7, Chief House sent a document to the Coalition of Black Organizations addressing the demands of the police petition. The Coalition of Black Organizations held concerns that the document lacked clarity and could not be easily comprehended by the public. On July 8, Black student leaders met with Chief House and other administrative staff members to discuss the demands in detail. The meeting concluded with Chief House
promising to publicly release the University Police Department’s response to the petition by clearly stating which demands could or could not be met. On July 21, The NC State UPD publicly released a document addressing the demands within the petition. Out of the 12 demands within the petition, the UPD promised to honor 4 of them. These 4 include: amending their current database to include general statistics regarding the use of force, allowing studentbased organizations to participate in the hiring process of UPD officers, holding RPD officers to the same standards of the UPD officers when they’re employed by the university, and requesting access to the employee personnel file of RPD officers to ensure that they do not hire an officer with a record of excessive force. As for the other 8 demands, the UPD has provided their reasoning for why they won’t implement them. These reasonings however, were purposefully vague. The main theme throughout these reasons was that they felt
like they already met the demands. It should go without saying that if a group of organizations on campus felt the need to make these demands in the first place, then you clearly do not meet them. This ambiguity isn’t just a sign of neglect. It’s a sign of harm. The UPD intentionally not meeting each demand that was asked of them will lead to further violence enacted on Black students. The UPD ended the document by saying that they would be open to a conversation to discuss the petition. They invited students to join any of their outreach meetings (like Coffee with a Cop) or to personally schedule a meeting with the Police Chief. While these invitations are good-willed, they don’t acknowledge the urgency of our demands. The issues addressed in the petition cannot be solved through drinking coffee and talking. Action needs to happen. And action is what we demanded.
FOLLOW @NUBIANMESSAGE