NAMED BEST CAMPUS NEWSPAPER IN CALIFORNIA FOR 2022 BY THE CALIFORNIA COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION AND CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Volume 161 No. 33 SERVING SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
BRANDON NICOLAS | SPARTAN DAILY
Students attend an event about mental health and community for athletes held by San José State University's Black Student Athlete Association on Monday afternoon.
Athletes talk unity and resources By Brandon Nicolas SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Student athletes and staff funneled into the South Campus Gold Room of the Simpkins Stadium Center to participate in Black Student Athlete Association’s “Blacktivating Community,” a speaker event with discussions surrounding student-athlete mental health on Monday evening. The Black Student Athlete Association is a student organization at San José State that strives to create safe spaces for Black athletes to forge relationships and to build a community off the field, according to its website. Jeremy Ebobisse, guest speaker and forward for San José Earthquakes, said when he first arrived at Duke University, he failed his first fitness test which triggered a series of unfortunate experiences with his team. “I was running the fitness test every morning,” Ebobisse said. “That cycle kept on going and going for 18 days where I was training separately from the team and lifting separately from the team . . . I was
completely isolated.” Ebobisse said he felt disconnected from not only his team, but the resources surrounding athletics, such as the team psychologist, who he felt disliked him. He said it was common for him to see high-level athletes enter the league as freshmen and fall into depression after not achieving the results they wanted. “They spiraled into alcohol, they spiraled into drugs, and that didn’t stop after college,” he said. “That’s followed them and they’ve had to really look into the mirror and get help.” Ebobisse said he has faced discrimination on and off the field, recalling kids from South Carolina spouting racial slurs during the second half of a match. He said at a young age, Black athletes learn to internalize that people will try to get in their way without giving a clear reason, and that it takes time to come to terms with that. Sport psychology consultant Amara Niani spoke at the event and offered mental health tips. Niani said she played basketball during high school and recalls the struggle of
balancing school work and being an athlete. “Within a year, I experienced my teammates battling depression and anxiety,” Niani said. “I had some teammates popping mollies before practice, or drinking alcohol
support system. Black Players for Change is an independent organization with nearly 200 Black players, coaches and staff from Major League Soccer working to tackle racial injustices and inequalities Black athletes face in the sport, according to its website. “Black Players for Change is a group of Black players that came together in 2020 because we felt so isolated in certain locker rooms or unheard by general managers or ownership whoever it might have been,” Ebobisse said. “We’re in a pretty good spot from a support system standpoint.” Prior to the organization being founded, he said issues Jeremy Ebobisse in the league often led to forward for the San José self isolation. Earthquakes Ebobisse said it wasn’t until players began speaking up about their experiences did in the showers because of he and his teammates realize the pressure.” how networking and building She said student athletes a community within Major should lean into their outlets, League Soccer would benefit whether it’s meditation or so many people. journaling. “Going back to racial Niani said it’s extremely aggression on the field, before common for student athletes to 2020, organizations would burn out and crash, especially shut it down and say, ‘Nothing when there is a lack of a proper happened,’ ” Ebobisse said. “I’m
I’m not saying kick anyone out of the league but at least don’t gaslight us and tell us these things aren’t going down.
not saying kick anyone out of the league but at least don’t gaslight us and tell us these things aren’t going down.” Siena Brewster, president of Black Student Athlete Association and business administration senior said she looked forward to meeting a professional athlete and sports psychologist. “Jahmal reached out to me to do this event and I was all in,” Brewster said. She said Williams has helped the association get in contact with guest speakers and host events. Brewster said she started the Black Student Athlete Association last year in hopes of forming a community, spreading knowledge and making an impact in the lives of student athletes. “Us being in such an intimate setting and being vulnerable and open with each other was perfect,” Brewster said.
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SJSU addresses accessibility and race By Melany Gutierrez STAFF WRITER
San José State’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hosted a collaborative presentation with Parents Helping Parents to discuss how disability and race can affect an individual’s experience in public spaces. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a part of SJSU President’s office and seeks to build individual, organizational and institutional capacity to bring about change in equity and social disparity, according to an SJSU webpage. Parents Helping Parents is an organization based in San José that provides support, information and training to
help families raise and assist their relatives at any age who have disabilities or a diagnosis, according to its website. Keri Gray, guest speaker and CEO of the Keri Gray Consulting Group who is a disabled Black woman, said after she was diagnosed with bone cancer as a child, she did not see a lot of open representation of disabilities in mainstream media or the world. “I wrestled with how to lean into this new part of my identity (being disabled),” Gray said. “That is a lot of what my work references today. It's a discussion of who we are, our experiences and how we can translate that to others.” Gray said it’s important to be able to use and discuss
the language, phrases and topics related to intersectional identities such as disability and race. She said starting these conversations might make people feel uncomfortable, but even if it’s difficult, it’s essential. Gray said the first step a person should take when having this potentially complicated conversation with those who are disability advocates and those who are disabled, is to listen to different experiences and perspectives. “We shouldn't stop at just listening, we should start thinking about how we can offer support, how we can offer resources, how we can offer connections and community,” Gray said.
Gray said one languagebased concept we see in these intersectional communities and conversations is code switching. She said code switching is a language alteration where a person adjusts their own style of speech, appearance, behavior and expression in a way to optimize the comfort of others in exchange for good treatment, quality service and employment opportunities. Gray said one form of code switching is the alteration in topics and language used when disabled people are around each other and are able to talk more freely about medical matters like doctors appointments, treatments and therapy, things that are custom to them. “These conversations just
happen and sometimes they bring you closer together with some of your colleagues or classmates,” Gray said. Viviana Barnwell, an employee for Parents Helping Parents and a councilmember for the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities representing Santa Clara County, said sometimes code switching almost feels necessary when talking to parents who do not have disabled children. The California State Council on Developmental Disabilities is an independent state agency that aims to ensure that people with developmental disabilities and their families receive the services and support they need, ACCESSIBILITY | Page 2