2 2
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The 4,2020 2020 The Daily Beacon Wednesday, October 2020 TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon ••• Wednesday, Wednesday,November February 10, 2021 Wednesday, October14, 7,
DAILY BEACON STAFF AND POLICY INFORMATION EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Alexandra DeMarco MANAGING EDITOR: Calista Boyd COPY CHIEF: Allie Justis CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR: Sarah Rainey CITY NEWS EDITOR: Jake Yoder SPORTS EDITOR: Ryan Schumpert ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR: Josh Lane DIGITAL PRODUCER: Austin Orr ]OPINIONS EDITOR: Elijah Hunt PHOTO EDITORS: Sydney Goodsell PAGE DESIGNERS: Hannah Cunningham COVER DESIGN: Claudia Gutierrez COVER PHOTO: Sydney Goodsell
ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION STUDENT ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brynn Close ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES: Emily
Bishop, Seven Swain ADVERTISING PRODUCTION ARTISTS: Victoria
Wheelock, Davis Luna
CONTACTS
TO REPORT A NEWS ITEM, please email
editor.news@utdailybeacon.com or call (865) 974-2348 TO SUBMIT A PRESS RELEASE, please email pressreleases@utdailybeacon.com TO PLACE AN AD, please email beaconads@utdailybeacon.com or call (865) 974-5206 ADVERTISING: (865) 974-5206
beaconads@utk.edu EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: (865) 974-3226
editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com MAIN NEWSROOM: (865) 974-3226
editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com LETTERS POLICY: Letters to the Editor must be exclusive to The Daily Beacon and cannot have been submitted to or published by other media. Letters should not exceed 400 words and can be edited or shortened for space. Letters can also be edited for grammar and typographical errors, and Letters that contain excessive grammatical errors can be rejected for this reason. Anonymous Letters will not be published. Authors should include their full name, mailing address, city of residence, phone number and e-mail address for verification purposes. Letters submitted without this information will not be published. The preferred method to submit a Letter to the Editor is to email the Editor-in-Chief.
Black History Month and why it doesn’t matter KAMYIA RIVERS Columnist
Black History Month, originally inspired by Carter Godwin Woodson, represents the preexisting generalization that accuses African Americans of being incapable of economic productivity and intellectual advantages due to the complexion of their skin. The establishment of Black History Month, formerly known as “Negro History Week” in 1926, occurred amongst the climax of racial violence, hatred and dehumanization that stemmed from white people’s constant desire for preponderant authority over every aspect of governmental and societal functions. This served as evidence of African Americans’ devotion and contribution to America. However, Caucasian individuals did not understand that the construction of the United States through forced servitude was only possible due to the blood, sweat and tears of African Americans, a group of people whites continue to believe are absent of value or skill performance. Carter Godwin Woodson figured Negro History Week would eliminate the stereotype of uselessness associated with darker skin color and unravel a new sense of equality between races, yet it didn’t. The week only showcased the beginning of Black peoples’ conquest for acceptance in a country they built and nurtured
More relevantly, Negro History Week did not abolish the ideology of African Americans being a nuisance to society. The event increased the reality that Black people were never being accepted even if the evidence of contribution was substantial and obvious. So, why does Black History Month matter? Being an African American woman myself, I am aware of our exceptional potential and our robust library of literature, art, music, etc. Moreover, a reminder of our poetic spirits and affluent culture is inessential because I acknowledge its existence and its overwhelming value to the well-being of this selfish nation on a daily basis. Black History Month taunts African Americans with the sad truth of never being included in a country whose foundation is designed to exclude them — whilst we, African Americans, retweet and repost all of the accomplishments, challenges and honorable acts of numerous Black prominent figures throughout history. Black History Month does not and will never matter because it does not change the hearts and minds of millions of people. We should not have to prove our value when it should already be understood. Kamyia Rivers is a sophomore majoring in political science and journalism. She can be reached at kamdrive@vols.utk.edu Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.
Letter from the Editor: Elevating Black voices ALEXANDRA DEMARCO Editor-in-Chief
Happy Black History Month! This month presents an important opportunity for us to celebrate Black achievements, art, culture and history. However, it’s important to remember that this celebration is something that should be taking place throughout the year — not just during CORRECTIONS POLICY:It is the Daily Beacon’s policy to one month. Black excellence is a foundation of quickly correct any factual errors and clarify any potentially American culture, and this country would not exmisleading information. Errors brought to our attention by readers or sta� members will be corrected and printed on ist without the countless achievements, contribupage two of our publication. To report an error please send tions and sacrifices made by African Americans. as much information as possible about where and when the Additionally, it’s important for white folks to error occurred to managingeditor@utdailybeacon.com, or call pursue anti-racism while also allowing Black our newsroom at (865) 974-5206. voices to be heard — voices discussing any topic The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University and especially those regarding issues that white of Tennessee on Monday and Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. The o�ces are located at 1345 Circle Park people cannot understand. That being said, as a Drive, 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996white woman, I will now turn this editorial over to 0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via Black voices, from those who have served as leadmail subscription for $200/year or $100/semester. It is also ers and pioneers throughout the past and in the available online at: www.utdailybeacon.com present.
“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” Maya Angelou, author The Daily Beacon is printed using soy based ink on newsprint containing recycled content, utilizing renewable sources and produced in a sustainable, environmentally responsible manner.
with their own hands and bosoms. No matter the quantity of great achievements obtained by African Americans, whites ignored their talents and deemed them mediocre to add to their own value. Despite the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that liberated millions of Black slaves and provided each individual with citizenship, white elitists continued to utilize other techniques to ensure holistic progression was not accomplished by the African American people. Minorities fought in battle during World War I from 1914-1918 to protect and defend their country and “democracy” from German destruction, yet their efforts were unobtrusive, retracting the passion and emotion internally present in each Black soldier fighting during war. Freed men returned home, receiving no gratitude or congratulations, but only newly executed laws to degrade and burden their lives. During the 1920s, there were riots, lynchings and intimidation tactics introduced by hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, curtailing the rights practiced by minorities. Also, post-Civil War segregation and Black Codes administered by the government to separate the supposed inferior beings from the alleged superior beings were still in full effect. The promises by Lincoln and the documentation of Blacks’ humanity in the constitution did not eradicate the opportunity of the system being manipulated by racist leaders due to power avidity.
“A riot is the language of the unheard.” Martin Luther King, activist
freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being.” Malcom X, activist
“In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.” Toni Morrison, author
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” Ella Fitzgerald, singer
“Disadvantaged white people are not erased by discussions of disadvantages facing people of color, just as brain cancer is not erased by talking about breast cancer. They are two different issues with two different treatments, and they require two different conversations.” Ijeoma Oluo, author “Racism is not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy toward some and broader skepticism toward others.” TaNehisi Coates, author “There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” Amanda Gorman, poet “Black love is liberation.” Monique Melton, activist “No matter what, we always have the power to choose hope over despair, engagement over apathy, kindness over indifference, love over hate.” Cory Booker, Senator “Virtue knows no color line ...” Ida B. Wells, activist “You don’t have to be a man to fight for
“People don’t understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it.” Billie Holiday, singer “To the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before. And we will applaud you every step of the way.” Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States “I am coming down from the mountaintop to tell every young person that is poor and working class, and has been told regardless of the color of your skin that you don’t belong, don’t listen to them. They don’t even know how they got at those seats.” Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States “The thing about hip-hop today is it’s smart, it’s insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.” Barack Obama, former President of the United States
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Wednesday, Wednesday,November February 10, 18,2021 2020•• The Daily Beacon
The importance of Black content creators, pro-Black media ELIJAH HUNT Opinions Editor
Amidst a time of critical social change and a further emphasis on the importance of Black lives and content, there are continually more great anti-racist and pro-Black media pieces to absorb. Finding these creators and finding content that is specifically anti-racist without conveying the extremely tragic generalized narrative of using Black trauma for Black-centric media can be a bit of a challenge. However, I have recently found some great resources, movies and podcasts that tell the story of their creators and highlight their talents. The first major key obstacle that needs to be overcome when searching for pro-Black media is to overcome the default “Black trauma” storytheme that has made its way into a lot of the Blackcentric media we interact with. Black trauma, or how the media is structured around racial violence and trauma, seems to be one of the most popular avenues of coverage of Blackinspired events or content. This trauma-based coverage is a rather negative and harmful way to represent a marginalized community in the media. There are plenty of films, shows and media that showcase this viewpoint and prove that a large amount of these thematic creations come from non-Black people or organizations. There are, for instance, a number of great films out there that portray Black characters and
their stories through a lens of originality and not through a trauma-inspired narrative. Films like “Little” (2019) or “Good Burger” (1997) are just a few of the many great movies that don’t rely on trauma or violence to portray their stories.
Courtesy of IMDb
Courtesy of IMDb A number of podcasts also exist that are educational, entertaining and important. The podcast
“Still Processing”, for instance, is a great podcast hosted by two queer Black culture writers from “The New York Times.” The podcast is extremely informative and great for understanding the perspective of marginalized communities. The two hosts discuss major social issues in the world along with a variety of other interesting topics. The podcast is a great way to be educated on Black perspective with key social issues and each episode is entertaining in its own way. Now is a great time for non-Black people and creators to highlight the Black community in
3
ways that directly go against the systematic injustice and racism that has been blatantly evident in America since its creation. Following Black social influencers and supporting Black-owned businesses is a great way to begin shifting the dynamic of our society. Highlighting and centralizing the marginalized communities by listening to them is the most important thing for our society as we continue forward. Share the Black content creators that you love and remind the non-Black creators who may be in privileged positions of authority to amplify the voices of the marginalized. Along with this, making a conscious effort to engage with more proBlack and anti-racist media is a great way to start highlighting unheard voices, so check your following list next time you are on Twitter or Instagram. As we continue through Black History month, do your best to look into the creators of the content you’re engaging with and ensure that you are engaging with people whose talents are overlooked because of the structure and overall whiteness of our media. The white-centric narrative of Western media is something that needs to be changed, and by looking more into authentically Black-owned businesses and media types, we can change this dynamic. Elijah Hunt is a senior majoring in journalism. They can be reached at ehunt8@vols.utk.edu. Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.
4
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, 10,2020 2021 Wednesday,February October 7,
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Wednesday,November Wednesday, February18, 10,2020 2021 • •The TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon
Events celebrating Black History Month at UT: Art, dance, lectures
JAKE YODER City News Editor
Though this Black History Month might look a little bit different from those we’ve seen before, there are still plenty of ways to celebrate. From informative lectures to live acrobat shows, here are some events celebrating Black History Month at UT and in Knoxville.
The Delaney Brothers: Lives in Art Artists Joseph and Beauford Delaney were renowned artists that put a spotlight on Knoxville, their hometown, during their lives. The two intended on having a joint exhibition of their work at the McClung Museum Gallery back in 1970 but, due to Beauford’s poor health, the exhibition ended up being solely focused on Joseph’s work. Now, more than 50 years later, the UT Downtown Gallery has collected pieces of the brothers’ work in order to finally put on the joint exhibition. The exhibition will run each Wednesday through Saturday until Feb. 27 and will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
Zoom Webinars: “Being Black Abroad, Criminalizing the Mountain South” and “Southern (Dis)Comfort” On Wednesday, Feb. 10, UT will be hosting a number of online lectures and webinars highlighting Black voices in the community. UT’s Programs Abroad Office is hosting its new webinar series “Let’s Talk Study Abroad” with “Being Black Abroad” in honor of Black History Month. The webinar will feature the education abroad experiences of several Black students, discussing their motivations for studying abroad and highlightinh their experiences. The webinar will be held from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Zoom. You can join the discussion at tiny.utk.edu/studyabroad-webinar. The Africana Studies Program will be hosting “Criminalizing the Mountain South: Persistent Inequalities” from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The interdisciplinary roundtable will explore the structural racism and politics of race, class, gender, sexuality and criminalization that has marred the Appalachian region for hundreds of years. “Criminalizing the Mountain South” will feature Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, the co-executive director at Highlander Research and Education Center, Judah Schept,
assistant professor in justice studies at Eastern Kentucky University and Sylvia Ryerson, an artist, journalist and PhD student at Yale University. Students can register for the roundtable at tiny.utk.edu/roundtable1. Finally, the Pride Center will be hosting “Southern (Dis)Comfort: Homosexuality in the Black South” from E. Patrick Johnson, dean of the School of Communication, Annenberg University professor of performance studies and African American Studies at Northwestern University. In “Southern (Dis)Comfort,” Johnson will explore themes from his book “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South,” which looks at the Black gay experience in the South. Registration for he lecture, which will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m., can be found on UTK’s calendar of events website.
Zuzu African Acrobats Live! In a rare in-person event, the office of Multicultural Student Life will be hosting the Zuzu African Acrobats on Monday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium. The Zuzu African Acrobats hail from Mombasa, Kenya, and have been featured on “America’s Got Talent,” “The Late Show with David Letterman” and have performed at three Super Bowls. The acrobats incorporate fast pyramid building, limbo, contortion, bottle balancing, tumbling, chair stacks and comedy into their performances. This performance is in-person but can also be safely viewed at home. Those looking to view the event in person or online can register at tiny.utk.edu/ZUZU.
4th Annual Celebration of Black Excellence The College of Arts and Sciences and the office of Multicultural Student Life will be holding the 4th Annual Celebration of Black Excellence on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. The 4th Annual Celebration of Black Excellence celebrates the culture, legacy and accomplishments of the Black community in the past year. The event will feature keynote speaker David Mills, director of health sciences, government relations and advocacy at UT, performances and short orations from other Vols and a live Q&A session. Registration for the event can be found at tiny.utk.edu/CBE.
5
February 10, 66 The TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon• •Wednesday, Wednesday, October 7, 2021 2020
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Alex Haley Heritage Square Sydney Goodsell / The Daily Beacon
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Wednesday, February 10, 2020 2021 • The TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon Wednesday, October 14,
Beacon Beats: ‘Shiesty Season’ JAKE YODER City News Editor
With discussion about the hip-hop/rap industry constantly being taken up by just a few rappers and artists, it’s always nice to see a new-comer debut with a quality first album. Hailing from Tennessee’s own Memphis, rapper Pooh Shiesty’s debut album/ mixtape “Shiesty Season” dropped on Friday and is a strong first outing. Over the mixtape’s 17 tracks, Shiesty makes it clear that, though he is new to the scene, he is a force to be reckoned with. The mixtape might not feature any big messages or big revelations from Shiesty or any of his collaborators, but it doesn’t need to. At the end of the day, “Shiesty Season” is a ton of fun and features great beats and catchy lyrics that just about any fan of rap will no doubt enjoy. If “Shiesty Season” had to have an overall theme, it would probably be Shiesty’s love for guns and their importance in his life. The theme is felt in just about every song, showing just how much of an impact weaponry has had on Shiesty’s life. “Shiesty Season,” though full of quality tracks featuring only Shiesty himself, shines brightest on tracks featuring collaborators. The first song on the mixtape, “Back in Blood,” is one of the very best. The song features Lil Durk, a rapper who flows very well with Shiesty.
Pooh Shiesty, Shiesty Season Intro Courtesy of Youtube
Similarly, songs such as “Ugly” featuring Gucci Mane and “Box of Churches” featuring 21 Savage stand out on the mixtape. Though he has only been with Guuci Mane’s 1017 Records for less than a year, Shiesty has made good use of the label’s connections. “Big 13 Gang” also shows off these connection, with Lil Hank and Choppa Wop joining Shiesty on one of the best songs on the mixtape. Each rapper plays off the others incredibly well, making a short — but sweet — track that stands out among the others on the mixtape. This doesn’t mean that Shiesty can’t stand out on his own, however. Songs such as “Gone MIA” and “Twerksum” are some of the best on the album, both supported by Shiesty alone. Though the mixtape shines overall, it suffers form a lack of originality. Many songs on the mixtape flow together a bit too well, with beats that sound too similar to justify. With all songs on the mixtape sharing a similar theme as well, it can be easy to forget which song is which in some of the less stellar tracks. Tracks such as “50 Shots” and “No Chorus” suffer from this, with no significant ideas or features causing them to be lost among better songs on the mixtape. “Shiesty Season” is a strong debut from relative newcomer Pooh Shiesty. Though it isn’t perfect, Shiesty has shown his potential in the industry, and, hopefully, future mixtapes will only show improvement from Shiesty.
7
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The Daily October Beacon •28, Wednesday, February 10, 2021 8 8Wednesday, 2020 • The Daily Beacon
Defining intersectionality: A complex history, modern meaning DANIEL DASSOW Staff Writer
It’s difficult to nail down a single definition of what intersectionality is. The concept itself is at once a critical research framework and also a trendy term used by social justice advocates online, who splash it across social media pages and slap it onto laptops and water bottles in a variety of colorful fonts. But what exactly is intersectionality, and what can it tell us about Black history? The most popular definition of the term holds that it’s an acknowledgment of the ways in which overlapping identities, such as race and sexuality, inform and compound each other to create social inequities. Patrick Grzanka, an associate professor of psychology and the chair of the women, gender and sexuality program at UT, has been researching intersectionality for much of his academic career. He says that the emergent focus on identity in conversations about intersectionality is probably too simplistic. His own working definition is predictably complex. “What I always say is that it’s not so much that intersectionality is not a theory of identity, but it’s that intersectionality is not foremost a theory of identity,” Grzanka said. “I generally offer it as an analytic framework for critiquing the ways that systems of inequality co-produce each other to create and sustain complex inequalities.” Intersectionality is an important component of Black history not simply because it helps researchers understand how intersecting systems have worked together to marginalize Black Americans and other minority groups, but also because the concept was developed by Black women. The coinage of the term is attributed to a pioneering class of Black female scholars in the late 1980s and early 90s, a group which included legal scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw and sociologist Patricia Hill Collins. This group of women developed the concept as a structural critique of legal and political systems that were not equipped to address the problems facing Black women in America. When the legal and political fields wanted to study the problems of Black Americans, they studied Black men and when they wanted to study women, they studied white women. Grzanka first encountered intersectionality as an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, an institution which came to be known for its work in intersectionality and gender studies while Grzanka was there for graduate school researching under Bonnie Thornton Dill, whose name is often included in lists with Crenshaw and Collins. He argues that, though the word was coined recently, the concept has been developing for over a century thanks to the contributions of Black women like Sojourner Truth, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells and Zora Neale Hurston.
“Intersectionality’s origins are not academic per se,” Grzanka said. “These people were writing and thinking not necessarily in the context of academia, but doing the intellectual work to articulate Black women’s struggles in the United States, to organize Black women and other marginalized groups in the interest of social justice.” Grzanka has argued for years that intersectionality ought to be taken more seriously by social scientists and humanities researchers, by which he means that it should be treated as a robust and complex framework for research. To not take it seriously, he argues, is to fall into the racist historical pattern of not taking the contributions of Black female scholars and writers seriously. “To reduce intersectionality to the observation that people are more than one thing at the same time is a gross understatement of its theoretical and methodological challenge to social science and humanities scholarship today,” Grzanka said. “To reduce intersectionality to that actually has the functional effect of minimizing the contribution of Black women’s scholarship. Because of course we already know that people are more than one thing at the same time.” Broadly speaking, there are two mistreatments of intersectionality in critical psychology. One is to treat it as the simple observation that social research should be multifaceted and thus minimize its importance. The other is to be intimidated by the demands of intersectional research and thus avoid it altogether.
Grzanka said. “Intersectionality is about coconstitution. That’s the varying of things as a function of another thing, like what sexual racism means, what gendered racism means, what hegemonic masculinity is when it manifests across racialized settings.” What Grzanka is ultimately arguing for is a foundational change in the way that psychologists approach their research. In Grzanka’s vision, there would no longer be race-blind studies on gender, for example, since such studies have a way of overlooking how race specifically informs the way that women of color experience the world. “We don’t leave our houses in the morning and say, today I’m just a white guy, or today I’m just a guy, or tomorrow my whiteness is going to matter more than my gender, or today my class is the most salient thing,” Grzanka said. “That’s not actually the way that people experience the social world. They experience all of those things about themselves at the same time in shifting and dynamic ways that are going to vary widely across context. So to take that seriously is rethinking the terms of psychology quite a bit, I’d say.” Taking intersectionality seriously does not just affect how research is conducted or how sociopolitical issues are conceptualized. It can also change the way that history is told or leadership is practiced.
Members of the Vol community painted over a hateful message on the Rock on Friday, Nov. 2, 2020. Allie Justis / The Daily Beacon “What I’m trying to do here is not so much police intersectionality’s usage, but really kind of encourage psychologists to think about what intersectionality is beyond multivariate statistics, that is, as a normative justice framework,”
Karmen Jones, Student Government Association student body president, has used intersectionality as a framework for leading both the SGA diversity affairs committee her junior year and the entire organization now as a senior. Rather
than seeing the concept as a way of understanding co-creating systems of inequality, however, she sees it as a way of understanding the specific strengths that leaders bring to organizations. “I take pride in myself being Black and being a woman, and so I would hope people would feel the same way,” Jones said. “I look at intersectionality as a strength rather than something some people can think of as a weakness or some strikes against you in society.” In leading the most diverse coalition in SGA’s history, Jones has been careful to make certain that every student feels represented, regardless of the societal discrimination they may face. “If I’m making a statement that addresses something that is pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community, I know that I identify as straight, and so I know naturally that there is strength in saying, hey, this isn’t my identity, but I know that I have been intentional about selecting members on my cabinet that can give me their subjectivity and they can take the lead on making sure that things are done properly,” Jones said. Jones sees intersectionality as a framework through which to create a strong web of diverse student leaders, who are prepared to tackle every problem because they have collectively dealt with every problem. “We know who’s the expert and who has had the lived experience and we never question each other’s intersectionality or our lived experiences,” Jones said. “And so when you build that team of people together, right, and you have people from different identities and different walks of life, it makes you so much stronger because you have a holistic view of what everybody feels ... it’s not even about tokenization because we’re students working on behalf of students.” As the first Black female student body president, Jones knows the importance of Black history because she herself has written it. She sees room for improvement in the way that UT celebrates Black History Month, specifically with creating a visibility for Black issues on campus that goes beyond tokenization. “I have mixed thoughts on Black History Month,” Jones said. “I don’t think our history can be condensed into one single month, especially not the shortest month of the year, but I get the need for recognition.” As a white man, Grzanka sees himself as a steward of the Black history that informs his research rather than a writer of it. He, too, sees room for improvement in how Black History Month is typically celebrated. If it were celebrated through an intersectional framework, he argues, it would tell the story of more than just the “nice Black men who wanted everyone to get along.” An intersectional Black History Month would tell the stories of Black activists and writers who broke out of the white, heteronormative standards of their day, standards which still dictate how white people falsely try to control Black history, Grzanka said. “No one controls where intersectionality travels,” Grzanka said.
8BLACK Wednesday, October 28,MONTH 2020 • The Daily Beacon HISTORY
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 • The Daily Beacon
9
Lady Vols kneel during national anthem, make a stand for equality JOSH LANE Assistant Sports Editor
Following the calls and protests for racial equality in this past year, the Lady Vols have been leaders in the community in promoting this equality. The biggest step the Lady Vols took in promoting racial equality first came on Jan. 7, in their SEC opener against Arkansas. The majority of the team knelt during the playing of the national anthem, one day after the violence that unfolded at the United States Capitol. “We thought that with everything going on -especially here recently in Washington and everything, that’s what we saw fit to do,” senior Rennia Davis said after the game. “The people on the team who saw fit to support that, they did. And the ones who didn’t, they supported us in a different way.” Not every Lady Vol knelt during the anthem. Freshman Tess Darby was the lone player to remain standing, alongside the coaching staff. According to the players and coaches, it was not something that had been discussed beforehand, or something the coaches suggested. “It was kind of a spur-of-themoment-type of thing,” junior Rae Burrell said, “We didn’t really plan to do it. But with everything happening yesterday and over the summer, we just felt that it needed to be done.” Not everyone, however, took this lightly. There was a fair amount of backlash from the crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena, who were not happy with their team kneeling. “We were able to see who some of our real fans were today, and who weren’t,” Davis said. “So it was great to see who was really on our side and have our backs outside of basketball and as actual people.” Despite the reaction from many fans, Tennessee’s head coach Kellie Harper and her staff supported their players and the message they were communicating. “I think a lot of it is just the emotions of what’s going on right now and where they are with things,” Harper said. “It’s been hard to watch things on
television and know where things are in the world. But hopefully we can help be the change, maybe a positive light.” “I know they’ll get some negative reactions. For them, they made a statement. And I think they need to stick to that,” said Harper. “I don’t know that you have to go back and forth. It does hurt them when they see negative comments because they feel so strongly about what they’re doing. But, you know, that’s just life: You’ve got to deal with negativity. If you’re strong enough with what you believe, and you just believe it, you just march right on.” More recently, the Lady Vols have not even taken the court for the anthem, opting to remain inside the locker room during the song’s playing. The players implemented the policy following a road trip to Baton Rouge, where LSU remained in their locker room before the game. “Well, we like what LSU did,” sophomore Jordan Horston said after the team began the new policy. “So we thought, ‘maybe we could try it out.’ And it worked out pretty good for us. We’re probably going to keep doing it.”
As Harper had mentioned earlier, the team has not backed down from what it believes. The Lady Vols have continued to stay in the locker room for the national anthem, despite the negative response from the fans. They have not been swayed, but have remain focused on the message they are trying to communicate. “We know what we stand for, we know what we believe in, as individuals and as a team,” sophomore Tamari Key said. “So we try to stay away from the negative com-
“We know what we stand for, we know what we believe in, as individuals and as a team.” TAMARI KEY Lady Vol #20
ments. It doesn’t really matter for us. We just know that what we stand for, what we believe in, is something that we felt we should express with the platform that we have. And we’re very proud of that, as a team.” And with Black History Month underway, Harper and her team have continued plans to discuss and promote racial equality. “I think with everything that has happened this past year, I think it just kind of hits home a little harder,” Harper said. “We want to make sure that we are not just talking about equality and racial injustice, but that we are also having an educational piece.”
Lady Vols players kneel as the national anthem is played before a game between the Lady Vols and Arkansas at ThompsonBoling Arena, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. Caitie McMekin/Pool via News Sentinel
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
10 The 2021 TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon• •Wednesday, Wednesday,February October10, 7, 2020
The University of Tennessee’s African American Hall of Fame SETH CHAPMAN Staff Writer On campus at the Black Cultural Center is the African American Hall of Fame. This Hall of Fame gives the spotlight to notable African Americans who have made an important impact at the University of Tennessee. From students to faculty, this list goes over just a few of its notable members and the impact they continue to have on the University of Tennessee. Theotis Robinson
HERE’S THE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC PLAYING ON WUTK. TUNE IN, AND TURN UP!
★ Arlo Parks ★ The Avalanches ★ Kiwi Jr ★ ★ Lucero ★ Weezer ★ Wax Tailor ★ ★ Statik Selektah ★ Fleet Foxes ★ SOJA ★ ★ Aaron Frazer ★ Viagra Boys ★ Rhye ★ ★ Fruit Bats ★ Black Keys ★ Kings of Leon ★ ★ Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin ★ Beach Bunny ★ ★ Foo Fighters ★ TV Priest ★ Lana Del Ray ★ PLUS: lots of local music love and different specialty shows, nightly! ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Theotis Robinson was among the first of three African American students who attended the University of Tennessee as a freshman in January 1961. Robinson was a graduate of Austin High School in Knoxville when he applied for admissions to the University of Tennessee. He was denied, but after speaking with then UT President, Andrew Holt, he was admitted after he stated he was determined to be admitted into the university, even if it meant he would have to file a lawsuit. Professor Robert Kirk In 1967, University of Tennessee President Andrew Holt hired Professor Robert Kirk. Kirk was the first Black full-time professor at UT. While he taught health and safety, he also stayed connected with students and helped them on their academic journeys. “Over the years, I had the opportunity to chair the committee of 51 doctoral candidates through to their earned degrees, or PhDs, EdDs or whatnot,” Kirk remembered in an interview with WBIR back in 2018. “And to this very moment I try to stay in communication with them as much as possible, at least once every year.” Condredge Holloway
In 1972, Condredge Holloway became one of the first African American quarterbacks at both the University of Tennessee and in the SEC. He would lead the Vols to three bowl games during his career. He was also a talented baseball player as well and one of the first African American baseball players in Tennessee history. Holloway also worked for 21 years at the University of Tennessee’s athletic department as assistant athletics director for student-athlete relations until his retirement in 2019. Benita Fitzgerald-Mosley Benita Fitzgerald-Mosley was a former Lady Vol track and field star. Before she graduated in 1984 with a B.S. in industrial engineering, she had won 15 All-American awards, eight national championships and an Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter hurdle; she was the first African American woman to achieve that honor. Fitzgerald-Mosley is now currently the CEO of Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA, an organization that uses sports to empower individuals and communities alike. Professor Carolyn Richardson Hodges Professor Carolyn Hodges is a recent inductee into the African American Hall of Fame, as of November 2019. Her career at the University of Tennessee began in 1982 as an assistant professor of German. Since then, she has moved through many titles and positions at UT. She served as the head of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures from 1999 to 2004. Hodges was also the first African American woman vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, serving from 2007 to 2016. After a career of 37 years, Hodges retired as professor of German emerita and vice-provost and dean of the graduate school emerita in July 2019.
Streaming 24.7.365 at WUTKRADIO.COM
Tell your smart speaker to “Play Nintey Point Three The Rock on Tune In!
Ron & Don Frieson Black Cultural Center File / The Daily Beacon
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Wednesday, Wednesday, October February14, 10,2020 2021 • The Daily Beacon
11
12 12
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon • • Wednesday, Wednesday,February October10, 14,2021 2020
Leadership in U.S.: Increase in representation, still lacks diversity SARAH RAINEY Campus News Editor
Although the United States has progressed throughout the years, there is still a long way to go in terms of equal representation. One must be wary of what is called the “progress narrative,” which is the thought that as time goes on, things get better. This is not always the case, even though it can appear that way when thinking about the different things people have accomplished over the years. Electricity has been developed and nearly every American now owns an iPhone. However, as has been made obvious due to recent events, the world – and America – is far from perfect. According to an article from The New York Times, out of the 992 most powerful people in America, only 180 of them identify as people of color. Mathematically speaking, this means that 82% of the most powerful individuals in the country are white. As of today, America has only had one president of color and one vice president of color. This percentage must be put in context of the reality of America’s population
makeup. The U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2019 show that of the 328 million people living in America, 28% are Black, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, “some other race alone” or “two or more races.” Meanwhile, 18.4% of Americans are Hispanic or Latinx. That being said, about 46% of Americans identify in these categories – which is nearly half. Why then do the people in power not accurately reflect the diversity of Americans? This is something to keep in mind; while America has made significant changes over the years, there is a lot of ground left to cover. The current vice president of the United States is the first-ever woman of color – and person of color – to hold the position. Vice President Kamala Harris’ parents emigrated from India and Jamaica. Harris’s powerful position is a monumental feat for America, not only because she is a woman, but also because she can finally be representative of so many Americans. Former President Barack Obama’s election in 2008 was the first time a person who was not white was elected to the highest position in the country, 232 years after the country was founded, and Harris’ election in 2020 was 244 years after America’s founding.
Members of the UT community march silently across UT’s campus to Ayres Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2020 during the third annual Silent March. The silence allowed members of the march to reflect on why Black History Month is important to them. File / Daily Beacon
Vice President Kamala Harris Courtesy of Vanity Fair
Additionally, of the 25 people who command the largest police forces in the country, over half are Black or Hispanic. These individuals include David Brown of Chicago, Michael Rallings of Memphis, Danielle Outlaw of Philadelphia and Michael Moore of Los Angeles. “Almost half of the district attorneys in the cities with the largest police forces are people of color,” an article from The New York Times said. Furthermore, there have only been six Supreme Court justices that have not been white men. “Since the Supreme Court first convened in 1790, 113 justices have served on the bench. Of those, 107 have been white men,” a CNN article said. The people of color who have held Supreme Court justice seats have been Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas and Thurgood Marshall. The other women who have held these seats are Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O’Connor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett. The first-ever person to become a Supreme Court Justice who was not a white man was Marshall in 1967, which was 177 years after the Supreme Court first convened. The first woman elected was O’Connor in 1981, 191 years after the court first convened.
Only 23% of the individuals at the very top of the 25 highest-valued companies in the United States are people of color. Two of these people of color at the top of these popular companies are Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Shantanu Narayen of Adobe. Further, there are presently only “four Black chief executives running Fortune 500 companies,” and of the 99 people who own professional sports teams, only six are Black, Asian or Hispanic. These include Michael Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets, and Kim Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Bills. “There are currently no Black governors, and only two Black governors have been elected in American history,” The New York Times said. Lastly, out of the 435 people writing laws for the House of Representatives, just over a quarter, 26%, are people of color. Just this year, Rev. Raphael Warnock was elected to be Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator. These statistics show that America is headed in the right direction, but there is substantial work to be done. With nearly half of Americans being people of color, perhaps in the future, those in power will reflect the Americans that they lead.
13 12
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, Wednesday,February October 10, 14, 2021 2020
Celebrating important moments in Knoxville’s Black History ALLIE JUSTIS Copy Chief In honor of Black History Month, now is the time to reflect on the achievements of Knoxville’s Black community and its history, as a means to see where the city has been and where it could be going. And remember — it’s important to remember and pay homage to Knoxville’s Black trailblazers year-round. Cal Johnson’s business success To start, one of Knoxville’s oldest and most important figures in Black history is Knoxville’s very first Black millionaire, Cal Johnson. Johnson grew up as a slave of the McClung family, and post-Civil War, he ended up owning and operating some of the most popular saloons in the city. When he wasn’t spending his time at the saloon, Johnson was also a very successful jockey and horse-owner like his father before him, and after he made his money, Johnson established Knoxville’s first ever horse-racing track. Though Johnson died in 1925 after falling ill, the remnants of his legacy can still be found all across the city, and in 2017 a plaque was made in his honor and placed in front of his last remaining building.
UT’s desegregation For its entire history, UT was a deeply segregated school that did not even have its first Black graduates until 1954, when Lillian D. Jenkins graduated from the special education program. In 1956, R.B.J. Campbelle became the first Black person to graduate with a UT law degree. These two, along with 68 other Black students, were only able to enter UT’s graduate school thanks to the hard work of grassroots activists like Gene Gray, Jack Alexander, Lincoln Blakeney and Joseph Patterson, who took on Tennessee’s lack of graduate programs for the Black community. However, UT’s undergraduate integration did not occur until the 60s, in large part thanks to the large number of students and faculty who were strong integrationists. In 1960, students held a large protest in downtown Knoxville in front of segregated businesses. But the one who broke the dam was activist Theotis Robinson Jr. who, after getting rejected from UT, set up a meeting with Andy Holt and invoked his right to state education since he was a citizen and a taxpayer. Willie Mae Gillespie and Charles Blair entered UT alongside Robinson as the first Black undergraduate students. Following the Civil Rights Movement, the atmosphere on campus began to change.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to Knoxville Another important moment in Knoxville’s Black history is when Martin Luther King Jr. himself visited the city back in 1960 in order to give a commencement speech at Knoxville College. Before the Civil Rights Movement was at its height, MLK gave the city some sage words about his goals for the Black community and how he endeavored to bring “first class citizenship” for all Black people. He talked about ending segregated society for good, and then a
Theotis Robinson Jr., the first Black undergraduate to attend UT. File / Daily Beacon
year or so later met up with Mahatma Gandhi to begin his work with peaceful protests. MLK’s words of wisdom and pride in Knoxville’s Black community ultimately inspired Knoxville’s own peaceful protests in 1960, which helped encourage the efforts of desegregating UT’s undergraduate program as mentioned above. Black Lives Matter march 2020 This past August, 60 years after Knoxville’s largest Civil Rights protest, UT students marched on Knoxville in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, after the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Alton Sterling, Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and countless others at the hands of police. The peaceful protesters, led by UT athletes such as Solon Paie III, Trey Smith, Matthew Butler and many others, spoke out about injustice and violence against the Black community, advocating for change in much the same way as students did before them. With hope, the work of years and years of Knoxville’s Black activists and pioneers will bring about the change they were wanting for Knoxville and the Black community as a whole.
14 12
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The TheDaily DailyBeacon Beacon •• Wednesday, Wednesday,February October10, 14,2021 2020
Black history: Classes that teach, organizations that celebrate MADELYN MUSCHEK Staff Writer
As we celebrate Black History Month, an important part of being involved in the conversation about race is learning about Black history and how that past has impacted the African American experience. Here are some classes that are offered at UT, as well as some organizations that celebrate Black history and educate participants. Classes Taking classes that focus on Black history and experiences is perhaps the best way to become more educated about these topics. Of course, introductory classes are helpful to get more generalized information, but if you’re looking for more specialized classes, here are a few in different areas that offer deep insight into African as well as African American history. The Africana Studies department is the most straightforward area to be involved with in learning about Black history and offers classes on many specific topics, such as literature, history, music and art. Introductory classes such as AFST 235 and 236 are a good place to start. Some
upper-division classes that focus on specific topics include AFST 413 (Music and the African Diaspora), AFST 484 (African American Women in American Society) and AFST 380 (The African American Experience from the Civil War to the Present). It is important to note that currently, UT is looking into an incident that occurred in an Africana Studies class this semester during which a professor wrote a racially charged term on a campus white board. English classes offer the opportunity to change the way we look at literature canons, both American and worldwide, to include the significant and talented Black writers that have been ignored previously. ENGL 225 (Introduction to African Literature) and ENGL 335 (African Literature) are two classes that celebrate African writers as part of their own important literary canons. Sociology is also an interesting lens through which to learn about Black history. SOCI 341 (Social Inequalities) and SOCI 343 (Race and Ethnicity) are two classes that analyze racial inequalities through a societal lens. SOCI 452 (Race, Ethnicity, Crime and Justice) and SOCI 460 (Capitalism and Racism) are more intense classes that look at the effect of race in the context of both capitalism and the criminal justice system
Students sit in classrooms while wearing a mask and social distancing in a setup photoshoot in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building on July 9. Courtesy of Steven Bridges Geography classes offer significant perspectives on topics such as the African diaspora and movement and are another place to learn about African and African American history in a more global context. Some of these classes include GEOG 320 (Cultural Geography: Core Concepts), GEOG 350 (Geography of Human Rights: Africa and the Americas) and GEOG 372 (Geography of Africa). Organizations These are just some of the many organi-
zations at UT that focus on Black history as a central part of their mission, as well as education, outreach and celebration. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter at UT is an organization focused on educating students about racial issues, while also providing community outreach and leadership interaction. The African Student Association is an organization, open to those of any racial background, which seeks to “bridge the gap between Africa, UT and the greater Knoxville Community,” according to their page. The Black Cultural Programming Committee focuses on creating events that educate students, helping to create a sense of unity with both the UT community and the surrounding Knoxville community, and celebrating Black students and their careers. The Black Student Union is an organization with the goal of uniting Black students at UT and building “awareness for political, social and cultural movements and issues affecting minority students,” according to their VOLink page. All of the become organizations can be found on VOLink, along with hundreds of other student organizations. Stay educated, stay involved and have a happy Black History Month, Vols.
How the Black Student Union is providing a safe place for growth KENNEDY HILL Contirbutor
As the founders of the Black Student Union attended the predominantly white University of Tennessee in 1967, they knew something needed to change. Their voices needed to be heard. There needed to be a place that provided for the cultural, educational and political needs of African American students on campus. Through this need being seen, a group of Black students came together to create a safe place for their fellow peers. This place would enable them to learn about their culture and embrace it with others around them. This is when the Black Student Union rose and started to implement changes for future generations to come. Now, 54 years later, the Black Student Union is following in its founders’ footsteps, paving the way for Black students here at UT. The Black Student Union promotes unity and beneficial change on campus, as well as acts as a liaison between students and administration. The Black Student Union continues to encourage respect, service, high academic achievement and the true
Volunteer spirit. Vanessa Jackson, the organization’s president, is a junior majoring in retail and consumer sciences. Coming to a predominantly white school, Jackson knew she would want to find a group of people that were similar to her, as this would allow her to find a safe place to express herself, as well as educate others around her through an organizational platform. “I want people to enjoy this organization as we continue to grow,” said Jackson. “Things can get discouraging during this pandemic, but we must be strong and find a way to get things done. No excuses.” Jackson has benefited from the Black Student Union through growing as a Black leader, as well as having the opportunity to collaborate with other Black students to ensure campus is a safe environment for new ideas and friendship across all backgrounds and ethnicities. The Black Student Union has recently shown its strength through networking with other leadership-based student organizations as well as the Student Government Association to put a stop to systemic racism here at the University of Tennessee. As issues continue to rise in and outside of the classroom, the Black Student Union is continually finding ways to push forward
with perseverance, while working with other students outside of their organization in order to spread awareness and create an environment of positive change. Another student who has been impacted by the Black Student Union is Josie Campbell, a senior studying music performance and Africana Studies. Serving as the organization’s vice president, she started her journey with this organization in her junior year, with the hopes of making a bigger impact not only in her academic life but her personal life as well. “The BSU has impacted my college experience by providing me with a safe space and platform to learn about my culture and help educate fellow peers about the Black experience,” Campbell said. The Black Student Union, alongside the Black Cultural Programming Committee, stimulates and increases the knowledge of Black culture on UT’s campus, as well as contributes to the progress of American society and in so doing fosters an atmosphere of unity. When issues arise on campus surrounding students of color and the Black community, the Black Student Union works alongside other Black student organizations to bring them to the attention of the UT administration.
The Black Student Union is always looking for new students, whether they are incoming freshman or just needing a place to feel at home. They encourage students to join with open minds, bringing their ideas and uniqueness to the table. Students can find more information about the Black Student Union and how to join through VOLink as well as on the organization’s Instagram page, @utk_bsu.
Courtesy of The Black Student Union.
12 The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, BLACK HISTORY MONTHOctober 14, 2020
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 • The Daily Beacon
15
Black in Appalachia: Spreading the Black historical narrative CALISTA BOYD Managing Editor
Black communities have been subjugated to mistreatment by the government and society for centuries in the U.S. This didn’t automatically change when integration was implemented or voting rights were granted in the 1960s. The struggle for equal opportunity and recognition is ongoing, and 2020 highlighted that further with the Black Lives Matter movement and the illumination of structural violence and systemic racism. An organization that is close to home that works toward spreading Black narratives and promoting community-based improved circumstances is Black in Appalachia. Black in Appalachia is a regionally-focused organization that began in 2012. They partnered with the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s School of Information Sciences and spread Black narratives throughout East Tennessee. William Isom II, director of Black in Appalachia, explained the role of the organization. “So, our role is providing material and technical support to these families to show that they are and have been here, in every corner of this region and have contributed to the development of what we now call Appalachia. Throughout that needed work, we’ve continued to produce locally specific documentaries such as; ‘The 8th of August: Tennessee’s Celebration of Emancipation,’ ‘The Eastern Kentucky Social Club,’ ‘Knoxville’s Red Summer: The Riot of 1919’ ...” Isom said. “... through the production of these films, which oftentimes can be sort of older, black & white history, we’ve taken documentary photographers along with us to document that these communities are alive and thriving.“ Black contributions to Appalachian development were crucial to the economic growth of the region. Black communities,
Courtesy of Black in Appalachia
however, faced discrimination and violence by white people, as white culture dominated historical narratives. “Black culture and history in Appalachia is inseparable from white culture and history. The differences we see are differences that come out of slavery and Jim Crow segregation. There were also vast differences between Black communities in the region, from county to county, depending on the economy of the county, what the dominant industries were and how repressive the bosses were,” Isom said. “... there was a shared Black experience that included living under the boot of slaveholders, slave catchers, hostile townspeople and through Jim Crow segregation.” The shared Black experience throughout history forcefully developed strong networks across state and county lines that fostered Black cultural development separate from white culture. According to a TedTalk with a founder of Black Lives Matter Alicia Garza titled “An interview with the founders of Black Lives Matter,” the measurement of social harm to Black people that impact the Black experience can’t be solely stated. It has to be looked at in comparison to white advantages to fully understand the scope of the problem. “When we think about how we address problems in this country, we often start from a place of trickle-down justice. So using white folks as the control we say, well, if we make things better for white folks then everybody else is going to get free,” Garza said in the interview. “But actually it doesn’t work that way. We have to address problems at the root.” Addressing issues within Black communities involves younger generations, but it also involves encouraging older demographics to participate in change, as well. “So we know that young people are the present and the future, but what inspires me are older people who are becoming transformed in the service of this movement. We all know that as you get older, you get a little more entrenched in your ways,” Garza said in the interview. Approaching these hardships relies on
the interdependence of all levels of the Black community to encourage one another in the process of fighting for equal opportunities. Harsh economic circumstances led to Black people increasingly moving away from the region in order to escape the poverty traps of Knoxville, which are only magnified by the lack of support for Black residents. “The issues Black people are facing in this region are issues that everyone else is facing, but magnified. Economic parity needs to be achieved across the region, but particularly so in our cities. The city of Knoxville has a Black poverty rate of 40%,” Isom said. “Our young people don’t think that staying in their home communities is a feasible option and that is an issue that particularly bothers me when you see the numbers of Black scholars and capable students leaving for a more nurturing environment. But that’s not new. That’s been the case since the 1950s.” Isom explained the need for further efforts toward social and economic equality for Black people. While Black people have increased access to political participation or education in comparison to the first half of the 20th century, there are still grievances that pale to the majority due to a history of prejudiced public policy and social exclusion. “For myself, having a broader understanding of the actual history of Black families in our immediate area helps everyone to see exactly where we are in the continuum of our history. Ok, we can vote. We have access to more educational opportunities than we ever have,“ Isom said. ”Where we’re falling short, in some regards, are in the spheres of political representation, resource allocation, locally-immediate infrastructure development. It’s an issue, again, of economic parity and really creating space and providing resources to our young people to do what they know needs to be done. Black people and poor people know exactly how to progress social and economic change in our area, it’s creating the political will and cutting the checks to repair what is essentially irreparable.“ With a focus on grassroots economic initiatives, the political will for change can be influenced to allocate the financial resources to help resolve socio-economic issues. The history of the Appalachian region and striving for civil rights is a violent one, including forced internal displacement and murder. These were often times masked as “urban removal projects,” which happened right here in Knoxville. “The history of Appalachian towns and governments in regards to Black communities has been incredibly violent. Where the railroad industry had its expansions, you had the forcible removal of entire Black populations from Corbin, Kentucky (in 1919), Erwin, Tennessee ( in 1918). Lynchings in the coalfields of Southwestern Virginia,
Alicia Garza Courtesy of ted.com Southern West Virginia and the Cumberland region of East Tennessee,” Isom said. “Urban removal implemented in Knoxville, Kingsport and Bristol that literally erased whole historic neighborhoods from the map, places that Black people slowly began to own, with very little resources, straight out of the end of the Civil War.” In the public education system, desegregation is always celebrated as a turning stone for rights and social inclusion, yet the curriculum often does not include discussion of the damage done to Black communities. Black in Appalachia’s vision for the future includes educating the public through teaching Black history, raising awareness of their resources and uplifting Black voices in communities throughout the Appalachian region and beyond. “Whether it’s providing mobile Black history displays for the library of a small town, fixing the window at the church, to documenting the location of abandoned grave sites, our vision for the future is one of continued hard work and the holding of space so that Black people can speak freely, share openly and decide amongst themselves a plan of action,” Isom said. “That work in support of communities can occur most effectively, when we have the data, resources, time and space.” A new media project is shedding light on this issue. The Black in Appalachia podcast with Dr. Enkeshi El-Amin, a sociologist currently at the University of Tennessee, and Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Angela Dennis, launched in August of 2020 and has just completed its first 13 episode season. The Black in Appalachia Podcast takes a lot of these historical narratives and topics and places them in a modern context. It’s really aimed at a younger audience — at least younger than the traditional PBS viewer. You can listen to the podcast here at https://www.blackinappalachia.org/podcast and the Black in Appalachia website is found at https://www.blackinappalachia. org/.
16 12
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The Daily Beacon Wednesday, 10, 2021 The The Daily Daily Beacon Beacon• •Wednesday, Wednesday,February October February 14, 10, 2020 2021
FBCC provides students with resources throughout pandemic KEENAN THOMAS Staff Writer
The Frieson Black Cultural Center gives students a sense of community, even during a pandemic. The Frieson Black Cultural Center has operated since 1975. In 2001, former University of Tennessee alumni Ron and Don Frieson gave a large donation to the Center. The Center added their name to the building after the donation. It continues to provide a space for students and organizations to gather and utilize their resources. The coordinator in the office of Multicultural Student Life Aaron Dixon spoke about what resources they provide. The center works in four departments, focusing on “diversity education, academic success, student org (organization) support and building support.” They have their own tutoring system, provide preparation for finals, support eight different student organizations and educate students on diversity topics. They provide spaces for students to study and relax. “Before COVID, students were able to come into our space to utilize computer labs,” Dixon said. “We have four tutoring suites, where you can have individual … relationships with the tutor or conversations with the tutor.” Dixon added that they have a “library downstairs” for students who want to study along with “a student lounge for students to … relax with a TV, chairs, tables, games.” They also have a full functioning kitchen. Due to COVID-19, these resources had to undergo changes. “Programming wise, we took everything virtual,” Dixon said. “Tutoring went virtual. We took all of our office programming virtual. We started to do trivias and a lot of social media initiatives that we … still have going on.” They had “to create policies for sanitation” and make new signs for the Center. Dixon stated that students not coming into the Center “was a hard hit” for them. Since last summer, the Center has worked to make this school year better. Dixon stated that the initial move to online “was our trialand-error period.” “Once the fall came, we pretty much knew that most of our things were going to have to be virtual,” Dixon said. “During that summertime, it gave us a lot of time to prepare for the fall. Not that we were experts in virtual programming or this online way of school now, but I think we did have a good amount of time to prepare and kind of get our programs and services … in place before the semester hit.” They now allow students to enter the Center and use some of their on-campus re-
sources. “Students have been able to phase back into the building, similar to the Student Union,” Dixon said. “Students have come in to use our tutoring suites. And every now and then we get a student to use our lounge. But … we’re not advertising ‘Hey everybody come into the FBCC,’ just because we don’t want to have the traction.” The Center tracks how many students occupy the building through “a check-in process” where students scan a QR code and indicate which part of the building they are going to. This helps the Center avoid going over capacity.
port during this time. “I want students to know that we are always here to support them no matter what it is,” Dixon said. “If it’s academic trouble that they’re experiencing, whether they need to get involved on campus, whether they just need someone to talk to, or if there’s something that we … don’t provide oversight for, we can always help connect them with different areas across campus.” They have several events planned for the month of February and onward. Because of COVID-19, students will attend these events virtually. “We have a diversity dialogue series hap-
Aaron Dixon co-led “Agents of Change” with Madison Merrifield during the 14th Annual Black Issues Conference on Feb. 2, 2019. Nathan Lick / The Daily Beacon The assistant director of Multicultural Student Life Ronni Williams talked about these measures and how they affectf students. “We have heightened cleaning practices and (we’re) making sure that we’re sanitizing and doing our best in that area,” Williams said. “Also, just trying to be an open space for students to come and feel like they can be both safe but have a place to call home on campus. ... We still want to make sure that students feel like they have a home here at UT.” They want to provide students with sup-
pening on Feb. 11,” Dixon said. “It’s going to focus on hair and hierarchy and how much power our hair holds. On Feb. 25, we have the celebration of Black excellence, featuring speaker Mr. David Mill. That event is happening at 7 p.m. virtually.” Williams added that they will hold two Frederick Douglass events on Feb. 11 and 12. A Black arts showcase will occur on Feb. 15, and the Zuzu African Acrobats will perform on Feb. 22. They will also hold a screening of the film “Moonlight” by director Barry Jenkins in
partnership with the Pride Center. They will show the film in the Student Union auditorium on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. Students can find these events on the UTK events calendar by searching for the tag “BHM21.” The calendar will update with information on future events in March and April. They hope that they can continue to reach students. “The Center has always prided itself on being able to provide support for all students, especially traditionally marginalized student groups,” Dixon said. “We continue to just provide support and enhance what we can.
When we see a need, we try to meet the need. Knowing that we aren’t able to reach every single student, we try our best to reach as many as possible.” Dixon said that they look forward to this semester and onward. “I’m hoping that the Center has a pretty bright future ahead where we are able to … continue to grow and enhance our services for all of campus to enjoy,” Dixon said. The website for the Office of Multicultural Student Life contains further information on the Office along with the Center. They have events planned for students through the month of April.