FIRST OF ALL:
Hampton University
This is a flat out lie:
"Harvey praised the first-responders to the incident, saying their quick action likely averted further tragedy. He also lauded the school's system of text messages, e-mails and phone messages that warned students about the situation and the campus lockdown."
Because when I signed onto facebook after finding out about the shooting from a friend who is not connected to HU, nearly EVERY current student I know put as their status that they received NO emergency text message or phone call. Hampton needs to stop lying to the media. AND Hampton needs to tighten its security POINT BLANK.
I just watched this, so maybe it's not a FLAT out lie. It's a pretty gross exaggeration, nonetheless:
Some of the comments are pretty ignant (i.e., we have finals this week OMG!).
Hampton University is most definitely in my prayers though, even though when people say ish like "you're in my prayers," it has always bothered me because it felt so empty. Still, I am lighting an extra incense and creating some room in my journal and meditation space for HU.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
On to (frivolous) point 2.
Getting checked out by award winning film documentarians. Startling. And hot. LOL. (It happened to me today. I got to the film screening and instantly recognized the director and was like, "wait, is she checking me out? Um...yea..." Hah! It was startling because she's like, 40. I guess I'm growing up. LOL. As long as the gray hairs stay away, I don't mind it.)
Showing posts with label hampton u. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hampton u. Show all posts
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Goodbye, HU
I just grad-ya-ated.
:DDD
I'm so exhausted though. Senior week killed my energy.
Sidebar: I've been facebookless for over a week til today. I thought I missed it so much, but going on it only served to immediately suck my energy even more. I'm not even gonna lie and say that I'm going to delete my account, but I think I'm going to limit my interactions with it. I'm gonna try to go on only once a week. I'll let you know if it works.
:DDD
I'm so exhausted though. Senior week killed my energy.
Sidebar: I've been facebookless for over a week til today. I thought I missed it so much, but going on it only served to immediately suck my energy even more. I'm not even gonna lie and say that I'm going to delete my account, but I think I'm going to limit my interactions with it. I'm gonna try to go on only once a week. I'll let you know if it works.
Friday, May 9, 2008
What if
I've been kind of weepy this morning. I realize that what really scares me is the idea that things might go downhill from Hampton...and these four years have not exactly been a joyride for me to begin with. I'm plagued with all these questions that some part of me accepts are irrational--but I have them anyway. Like:
What if my overall success at Hampton is indicative of how successful I'll be in life? What if the pattern I've fallen into here...having stellar grades/extracurricular activities/hobbies and interests but sucky intimate interpersonal relationships...is the pattern I'm just stuck in? In terms of trying to form intimate relationships while I've been here, I've felt so misunderstood, so unattractive, so out of place...and my only consolation has been the idea that when I leave this place, I'll finally find somewhere/someone(s) that gets me, where I can bloom to my fullest potential without being viewed as alien or odd. Here, I get the distinct sense that I'm unrecognized, unwanted, uncared for...that people generally see me as a nice, smart but undatable weird girl...and I'm just so tired of feeling this way. Sometimes it makes me angry, sometimes it makes me weepy, most times I try to be numb to it and meditate and focus on the idea that something better is coming, if I could just make it to May 11th...
But what if I'll always be out of place wherever I am...what if people in general always view me as an oddity...what if shit doesn't change? In fact, what if I encountered my best chances of "finding something" while I was here? What if it just gets harder, as hard as it's been here?
That's so depressing. I try not to believe it. I try to believe that I can construct a meaningful life for myself by focusing my intention and taking appropriate action, and that things will work themselves out, and that everything has a reason and purpose, yadda yadda. But it's hard. And today, as I begin the first of the last couple of days before graduation, as I'm closer to the "promised land"...it feels especially hard to believe.
(Sidebar: I feel like I know how enslaved people felt when 1865 rolled around. Half-joking. Only half. And not in a disrespectful, trivializing way. Hampton does feel like a friggin plantation.)
Maybe it's so hard to believe because on some level, it's comforting to latch onto what you know best, even if what you know best is destructive to your soul. As much as I've gone back and forth between hating and strongly disliking this place (Hampton) over the years...it has grudgingly become my home, my comfort zone...so even if there's something better waiting for me down the road, right now something in me is so scared of change that I'm holding onto the toxic idea that this is all there is. I'm scared to let go of Hampton and Hampton ways, as bourgeois and unbased in reality as they are. Even though I know it's not all there is...I know, know know that things come in their own time, and that the only thing I can be sure of is a long succession of change and new experiences.
I'm tryna fade Hampton out into the background, and let what needs to die, die, to paraphrase Clarissa Pinkola Estes again. I'm tryna illuminate/give birth to what's coming ahead, tryna focus on and prepare for the next phase of existence. Trying, trying, trying. Hoping, hoping, hoping.
I'm focusing on the Hindu goddess Kali, the dark mother:
The name Kali derives from the Sanskrit root word Kal meaning time. Nothing escapes from time. Her Tibetan Buddhism counterpart is named Kala, a male figure. Of the Hindu goddesses, Goddess Kali Ma is the most misunderstood. The Encyclopedia Britannica is very mistaken in this quote, "Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love."
It is partially accurate to say the Goddess Kali Ma is a goddess of death. However, She brings the death of the ego as the delusional self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the sriptures is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated exclusively with the process of human dying like Yama the Hindu god of death. Both Goddess Kali Ma and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. The purpose is not to glorify death but to overcome the I-am-the-body idea. The cremation grounds reinforce the idea that the body is a temporary. Kali and Shiva are said to dwell in these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Kali and Shiva give liberation by dissolving the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the ever-existing I AM and not the impermanent body. This is emphasized by the scene in the cremation grounds.
Out of all the Devi forms, Kali is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva. They are the destroyers of unreality. When the ego sees Mother Kali it trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise. An individual who is attached to his/her ego will not be able to receive the vision of Mother Kali and She will appear in a fear invoking or "wrathful" form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children. More.
What if my overall success at Hampton is indicative of how successful I'll be in life? What if the pattern I've fallen into here...having stellar grades/extracurricular activities/hobbies and interests but sucky intimate interpersonal relationships...is the pattern I'm just stuck in? In terms of trying to form intimate relationships while I've been here, I've felt so misunderstood, so unattractive, so out of place...and my only consolation has been the idea that when I leave this place, I'll finally find somewhere/someone(s) that gets me, where I can bloom to my fullest potential without being viewed as alien or odd. Here, I get the distinct sense that I'm unrecognized, unwanted, uncared for...that people generally see me as a nice, smart but undatable weird girl...and I'm just so tired of feeling this way. Sometimes it makes me angry, sometimes it makes me weepy, most times I try to be numb to it and meditate and focus on the idea that something better is coming, if I could just make it to May 11th...
But what if I'll always be out of place wherever I am...what if people in general always view me as an oddity...what if shit doesn't change? In fact, what if I encountered my best chances of "finding something" while I was here? What if it just gets harder, as hard as it's been here?
That's so depressing. I try not to believe it. I try to believe that I can construct a meaningful life for myself by focusing my intention and taking appropriate action, and that things will work themselves out, and that everything has a reason and purpose, yadda yadda. But it's hard. And today, as I begin the first of the last couple of days before graduation, as I'm closer to the "promised land"...it feels especially hard to believe.
(Sidebar: I feel like I know how enslaved people felt when 1865 rolled around. Half-joking. Only half. And not in a disrespectful, trivializing way. Hampton does feel like a friggin plantation.)
Maybe it's so hard to believe because on some level, it's comforting to latch onto what you know best, even if what you know best is destructive to your soul. As much as I've gone back and forth between hating and strongly disliking this place (Hampton) over the years...it has grudgingly become my home, my comfort zone...so even if there's something better waiting for me down the road, right now something in me is so scared of change that I'm holding onto the toxic idea that this is all there is. I'm scared to let go of Hampton and Hampton ways, as bourgeois and unbased in reality as they are. Even though I know it's not all there is...I know, know know that things come in their own time, and that the only thing I can be sure of is a long succession of change and new experiences.
I'm tryna fade Hampton out into the background, and let what needs to die, die, to paraphrase Clarissa Pinkola Estes again. I'm tryna illuminate/give birth to what's coming ahead, tryna focus on and prepare for the next phase of existence. Trying, trying, trying. Hoping, hoping, hoping.
I'm focusing on the Hindu goddess Kali, the dark mother:
The name Kali derives from the Sanskrit root word Kal meaning time. Nothing escapes from time. Her Tibetan Buddhism counterpart is named Kala, a male figure. Of the Hindu goddesses, Goddess Kali Ma is the most misunderstood. The Encyclopedia Britannica is very mistaken in this quote, "Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love."
It is partially accurate to say the Goddess Kali Ma is a goddess of death. However, She brings the death of the ego as the delusional self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the sriptures is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated exclusively with the process of human dying like Yama the Hindu god of death. Both Goddess Kali Ma and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. The purpose is not to glorify death but to overcome the I-am-the-body idea. The cremation grounds reinforce the idea that the body is a temporary. Kali and Shiva are said to dwell in these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Kali and Shiva give liberation by dissolving the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the ever-existing I AM and not the impermanent body. This is emphasized by the scene in the cremation grounds.
Out of all the Devi forms, Kali is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva. They are the destroyers of unreality. When the ego sees Mother Kali it trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise. An individual who is attached to his/her ego will not be able to receive the vision of Mother Kali and She will appear in a fear invoking or "wrathful" form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children. More.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
A short paper
So I'm cleaning off my desktop as I prepare for graduation (May 11th!). I found this short paper I had to write for my positive psychology class last semester. The end part--the resolution--is BS, classic stuff you gotta write to please some Hampton teachers, but the beginning definitely pinpoints where I was, spiritually, at the time.
Much has changed, I feel.
**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****
Positive Psychology
November 13, 2007
When I took the Brief Strengths Test last September on a website called “Authentic Happiness,” I was not surprised to learn that my top five strengths were identified to be “forgiveness and mercy,” “creativity,” “curiosity,” “love of learning,” and “kindness.” I believe that I display each of these traits fairly well and fairly consistently. I was very surprised, however, to learn that my lowest strength – out of a possible 24 – was considered to be “spirituality.” Even though I have eschewed most mainstream forms of organized religion for the past five or so years, and had wavered between agnosticism and atheism in the past year, I had always thought that I was a reasonably spiritual person.
To me, spirituality was not necessarily about taking part in rituals that expressed the mainstream conception of divinity as being separate from and above creation, but it was about recognizing the absolute interdependence between all things in the universe (and beyond, if there is anything beyond this universe). It was about the understanding that we are all connected to one another, despite any facades of difference we might express on this plane. Ever since I had given up the regular practice of Islam, the religion that I was born into, my spiritual journey had included reading books by Alice Walker – my favorite author on the matter – trysts with the I Ching , astrology, crystals, dream catchers, and the Buddha. “I’m always contemplating on how I am functioning in the wheel of samsara ,” I thought to myself. “What d’ya mean that my lowest strength is spirituality?”
The Brief Strengths test identified “spirituality” as “religiousness,” “faith,” and “purpose.” It was easy for me to see how the religiousness factor did not fit into my life, but it was much harder for me to admit that over the years, my sense of faith, direction and purpose had slowly been eroding. Even though I had collected a sizeable number of sound bytes to explain my spiritual orientation to anyone who inquired (“I try to be more spiritual than religious” or “I believe in the all”), in actuality my spirituality was much more a function of intellectual processes than something deeply felt. Though I professed to be a spiritual being, in truth, I had been feeling deeply abandoned by any and all things spiritual. “If this spirit stuff was really true, then whoever or whatever allowed for my existence wouldn’t allow me to feel so unworthy, so unloved, and so lost in the world,” were my most secret thoughts. After reflecting on the test and the ensuing emotions, I wondered why I felt so inferior so much of the time. In an attempt to get to the heart of the matter, I decided to be open to any spiritual instruction that might come my way to open my heart and change these destructive beliefs.
About a couple of weeks ago, a few of my friends held an event called “BCP Breaks it Down: a General Introduction to Alternative Consciousness.” At one point, all of the participants meditated to a tape of positive affirmations from a company called “Think Right Now.” This may sound cheesy, but the meditation proved to be just the medicine I needed. I noticed an immediate shift in my thought patterns, and my acceptance of the one spirit that I believe pervades us all. I have read in many psychology texts, including a text by Dr. Williams, that positive affirmations and meditation are useful tools on the road to radical self-acceptance and self-esteem (which may be understood as a facet of spirituality since it is all about one’s sense of purpose). How true I have found this to be! I now meditate to the tapes regularly, and I am finally on the path to feeling, and not just thinking, spirituality. I’ve finally realized that it’s something that takes willful practice, and not just intellectual acknowledgement. Hopefully the next time that I take the Brief Strengths test, I’ll score a little higher on the spirituality aspect.
Much has changed, I feel.
**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****
Positive Psychology
November 13, 2007
When I took the Brief Strengths Test last September on a website called “Authentic Happiness,” I was not surprised to learn that my top five strengths were identified to be “forgiveness and mercy,” “creativity,” “curiosity,” “love of learning,” and “kindness.” I believe that I display each of these traits fairly well and fairly consistently. I was very surprised, however, to learn that my lowest strength – out of a possible 24 – was considered to be “spirituality.” Even though I have eschewed most mainstream forms of organized religion for the past five or so years, and had wavered between agnosticism and atheism in the past year, I had always thought that I was a reasonably spiritual person.
To me, spirituality was not necessarily about taking part in rituals that expressed the mainstream conception of divinity as being separate from and above creation, but it was about recognizing the absolute interdependence between all things in the universe (and beyond, if there is anything beyond this universe). It was about the understanding that we are all connected to one another, despite any facades of difference we might express on this plane. Ever since I had given up the regular practice of Islam, the religion that I was born into, my spiritual journey had included reading books by Alice Walker – my favorite author on the matter – trysts with the I Ching , astrology, crystals, dream catchers, and the Buddha. “I’m always contemplating on how I am functioning in the wheel of samsara ,” I thought to myself. “What d’ya mean that my lowest strength is spirituality?”
The Brief Strengths test identified “spirituality” as “religiousness,” “faith,” and “purpose.” It was easy for me to see how the religiousness factor did not fit into my life, but it was much harder for me to admit that over the years, my sense of faith, direction and purpose had slowly been eroding. Even though I had collected a sizeable number of sound bytes to explain my spiritual orientation to anyone who inquired (“I try to be more spiritual than religious” or “I believe in the all”), in actuality my spirituality was much more a function of intellectual processes than something deeply felt. Though I professed to be a spiritual being, in truth, I had been feeling deeply abandoned by any and all things spiritual. “If this spirit stuff was really true, then whoever or whatever allowed for my existence wouldn’t allow me to feel so unworthy, so unloved, and so lost in the world,” were my most secret thoughts. After reflecting on the test and the ensuing emotions, I wondered why I felt so inferior so much of the time. In an attempt to get to the heart of the matter, I decided to be open to any spiritual instruction that might come my way to open my heart and change these destructive beliefs.
About a couple of weeks ago, a few of my friends held an event called “BCP Breaks it Down: a General Introduction to Alternative Consciousness.” At one point, all of the participants meditated to a tape of positive affirmations from a company called “Think Right Now.” This may sound cheesy, but the meditation proved to be just the medicine I needed. I noticed an immediate shift in my thought patterns, and my acceptance of the one spirit that I believe pervades us all. I have read in many psychology texts, including a text by Dr. Williams, that positive affirmations and meditation are useful tools on the road to radical self-acceptance and self-esteem (which may be understood as a facet of spirituality since it is all about one’s sense of purpose). How true I have found this to be! I now meditate to the tapes regularly, and I am finally on the path to feeling, and not just thinking, spirituality. I’ve finally realized that it’s something that takes willful practice, and not just intellectual acknowledgement. Hopefully the next time that I take the Brief Strengths test, I’ll score a little higher on the spirituality aspect.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
ARRRGH Hampton's Stupid Internet Censorship
I'm mad.
Hampton is doing this thing where it blocks websites it deems offensive or pornographic.
I tried to access this blog I used to visit called "Daily Dose of Queer"--and was told that I couldn't because it violated Hampton's acceptable use policy. Apparently it contains pornographic and adult content.
#1. I'm an adult
#2. No it's NOT a porn site--it's purely informational
SMT.
Hampton is doing this thing where it blocks websites it deems offensive or pornographic.
I tried to access this blog I used to visit called "Daily Dose of Queer"--and was told that I couldn't because it violated Hampton's acceptable use policy. Apparently it contains pornographic and adult content.
#1. I'm an adult
#2. No it's NOT a porn site--it's purely informational
SMT.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Grr
So.
I'm getting ready to go back to Hampton after being away for Thanksgiving Break.
Not looking forward to it in the least. I am realizing - again - how much that place annoys me, to say the very least. Maybe I should have transferred. Gone to a different school. For a while, I had sucked up my dissatisfaction with the school - after all, I have met amazing folks. Learned a lot about race in the U.S. of A. (how HBCUs differ from other schools in terms of resources, rules and regulations about our sexualities, etc., and why) - but I'm sure I would have learned a lot about race and privilege at any institution; it just would have been served to me in different form. I'm mostly happy with the friendships I've made (sad about ones I've lost or haven't developed fully.)
But take the cool-ass folks away, and we're left with nothing much to be impressed with, in my opinion. I'm sick and tired of that place, forREAL. I'm tired of duking it out with the administration. Tired. Me and Hampton are in an abusive relationship that has dragged on far too long. It needs to end.
I just wish I could graduate already.
I'm getting ready to go back to Hampton after being away for Thanksgiving Break.
Not looking forward to it in the least. I am realizing - again - how much that place annoys me, to say the very least. Maybe I should have transferred. Gone to a different school. For a while, I had sucked up my dissatisfaction with the school - after all, I have met amazing folks. Learned a lot about race in the U.S. of A. (how HBCUs differ from other schools in terms of resources, rules and regulations about our sexualities, etc., and why) - but I'm sure I would have learned a lot about race and privilege at any institution; it just would have been served to me in different form. I'm mostly happy with the friendships I've made (sad about ones I've lost or haven't developed fully.)
But take the cool-ass folks away, and we're left with nothing much to be impressed with, in my opinion. I'm sick and tired of that place, forREAL. I'm tired of duking it out with the administration. Tired. Me and Hampton are in an abusive relationship that has dragged on far too long. It needs to end.
I just wish I could graduate already.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
I discovered Margaret Cho for the first time today and she is my new hero <3
First, look. In the Daily Press, no less:
dailypress.com
HU students demand changes from school leaders
In an "open letter" in the campus paper, two dozen students state that students' "rights have been eroded, their morale diminished."
By Kim O'Brien Root 928-6473
November 16, 2007
HAMPTON —
Student leaders at Hampton University blasted school officials for their treatment of students and demanded changes in a full-page "open letter" that appeared in HU's campus newspaper Wednesday.
The letter, on Page 5 of the student-run Hampton Script, was signed by 26 student leaders — including the president of the Student Government Association, the Script's editor and the presidents of the senior, junior, sophomore and freshman classes. It was written out of "concerns for our future alma mater, its longevity, and its continued reputation as an elite institution."
"The students of Hampton University have silently suffered while their rights have been eroded, their morale diminished, and their educational and social experiences jeopardized," the letter reads.
Among the claims, the students said they've witnessed mistreatment of students, disregard for university policies by school officials, exploitation of students, mishandling of student handbooks, misappropriation of funds within student organizations' accounts and "systematic removal of democratic safeguards protecting student rights."
The letter demanded that the school's student affairs division be restructured and its leadership reviewed, and that the university's student handbook be suspended.
The student leaders also asked for a meeting with HU President William R. Harvey, giving him a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday to respond to a request for a meeting if he wanted to resolve the situation.
The time came and went Thursday. Mychal Smith, editor of the Hampton Script, said shortly after 5 p.m. that there hadn't been a response from the administration.
Signers of the letter, including Darrian Mack, president of the Student Government Association, wouldn't comment Thursday.
Harvey was unavailable, said Yuri Rodgers Milligan, HU's director of university relations. Earlier in the day, Milligan said she "couldn't say" whether there would be a response.
"The university has a grievance process," Milligan said. "If students have a grievance, there's a process they can go through."
Among those processes, Milligan said: Every month, student leaders meet with the administrative council, which includes the president, vice president for student affairs and general counsel.
The last administrative council meeting was Oct. 23, and student leaders also met with the university's Board of Trustees on Oct. 26. Milligan said she wasn't aware of any of the issues mentioned in the letter coming out.
"Obviously it wasn't to this magnitude," Milligan said.
Wednesday's letter requested a formal, non-administrative council meeting, but details of what that meeting would entail were not clear.
The letter is the latest in the squabbles among Hampton University students, teachers and administrators over the years.
Last year, a journalism teacher resigned because he said the school had a repressive attitude toward the First Amendment. Four years earlier, the then-journalism school director resigned over differences with Harvey over whether students would be allowed to practice free speech and press freedom in their reporting.
In 2005, a student faced expulsion after being accused of handing out fliers about the Bush administration, genocide in Sudan, AIDS awareness and homophobia. Seven students who participated in a walkout were disciplined for not getting approval for the event.
And in 2003, HU administrators confiscated an issue of the Script after it ran a letter from Acting President and Provost JoAnn Haysbert on the newspaper's third page rather than on the first page, as she had requested.
Several students outside a Burger King and a laundromat on Settlers Landing Road near HU said Thursday that the letter in the Script was the talk of campus and had been posted in dorms. One sophomore political science major, who declined to give her name out of fear she'd be disciplined, said she was glad to see student leaders taking a stand.
Another student said she's heard complaints about the administration ever since she came to HU from California this year as a new, five-year MBA student. Among the complaints she said she's heard: Lack of organization and confusion about exactly where money goes.
"Everyone knows the 'Hampton run-around'," said 20-year-old Cristina Nataniel, a junior biology major from Maryland. "That's a quote. Everyone uses it."
Fellow junior Folasade Gallimore, 19, a biology major from New Jersey, said the student handbook this year only appeared on the university's Web site — which made some worry that school officials could change it at will without notifying anyone, she said. But she said she doubted the Script letter would have an effect.
"I don't think Dr. Harvey's going to do anything," Gallimore said. "He's so stuck in his ways."
-----
Well. I'll be. Hampton students are definitely getting more riled up, less complacent, and are seriously tryna get some shit started. There's a new wave coming over Hampton--how ironic that it's happening in my last year here when my thoughts are set far beyond this tiny locale that I have refused to allow to define me for the past 3 years.
Speaking out against injustice is always an act of bravery, but it's so necessary. Like the great Audre Lorde said,
"Death...is the final silence. And that may be coming quickly now, without regard for whether I had ever spoken what needed to be said, or had only betrayed myself into small silences, while I planned someday to speak, or waited for someone else’s words...I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. The transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation and that always seems fraught with danger...In the cause of silence, each one of us draws the face of her own fear—fear of contempt, of censure, or some judgment or recognition, of challenge, of annihilation. But, most of all, I think, we fear the very visibility without which we also cannot truly live. And that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength...It is necessary to teach by living and speaking those truths which we believe and know beyond understanding...And it is never without fear; of visibility, of the harsh light of scrutiny and perhaps judgment, of pain, of death. But, we have lived through all of those already, in silence, except death. And I remind myself all the time now, that if I were to have been born mute, or had I maintained an oath of silence my whole life long for safety, I would still have suffered. And, I would still die."
Yea. That's why I stand behind the student leaders, even as my sights are far, FAR beyond Hampton at the moment.
But anyhoo, I discovered Margaret Cho--I watched her stand-up routine called "Assassin" that I checked out from the HU library. (The HU library actually has some surprisingly good material sometimes.)
Outstanding! I love her! She's great. She's a married (to a man) bisexual Korean-American woman who is one of the LGBT community's fiercest public champions, and she gets questioned or labeled hypocrite by some media forces because of it. Some folk can't quite fathom how you can be so dedicated to the fight for equality and not be in a primary relationship with someone of the same sex. How you can still claim the LGBT community as your own even when partnered with someone of the opposite gender.
Well, besides the fact that she id's as bi, gay rights is not a "gay" issue. Fighting for gay rights is an expression of compassion, of wanting certain gestures of basic human decency extended to everyone. You don't have to be gay or be partnered with someone of your own sex to feel a deep need to undo the damage of homophobia and heterosexism. You just have to want equality. You just have to see yourself reflected in all people, no matter what superficial differences exist between you.
This hit home for me because a few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me that he would stop being my friend if I ended up having a primary marriage relationship with a man as opposed to a woman, because I wouldn't "understand" the struggle for equality anymore. That I would be changed somehow, my activism and committment to LGBT compromised.
Bullshit.
First of all, ANY person who is partnered with me would have to measure up to certain standards. One of these standards is the committment to undo any homophobic or heterosexist conditioning that he or she has acquired as a result of living in an unequal, fucked-up society. I constantly seek to undo the damage within myself, so I could only be with someone who was also actively working on doing the same thing.
Secondly, what? As my friend, I would hope that you would be happy for me when I find love period, regardless of the form it packages itself in.
But alas, people are fickle, fickle beings. Maybe he won't really end our friendship over something like that, should it come to pass. But it's definitely a hurtful thing to say to someone.
dailypress.com
HU students demand changes from school leaders
In an "open letter" in the campus paper, two dozen students state that students' "rights have been eroded, their morale diminished."
By Kim O'Brien Root 928-6473
November 16, 2007
HAMPTON —
Student leaders at Hampton University blasted school officials for their treatment of students and demanded changes in a full-page "open letter" that appeared in HU's campus newspaper Wednesday.
The letter, on Page 5 of the student-run Hampton Script, was signed by 26 student leaders — including the president of the Student Government Association, the Script's editor and the presidents of the senior, junior, sophomore and freshman classes. It was written out of "concerns for our future alma mater, its longevity, and its continued reputation as an elite institution."
"The students of Hampton University have silently suffered while their rights have been eroded, their morale diminished, and their educational and social experiences jeopardized," the letter reads.
Among the claims, the students said they've witnessed mistreatment of students, disregard for university policies by school officials, exploitation of students, mishandling of student handbooks, misappropriation of funds within student organizations' accounts and "systematic removal of democratic safeguards protecting student rights."
The letter demanded that the school's student affairs division be restructured and its leadership reviewed, and that the university's student handbook be suspended.
The student leaders also asked for a meeting with HU President William R. Harvey, giving him a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday to respond to a request for a meeting if he wanted to resolve the situation.
The time came and went Thursday. Mychal Smith, editor of the Hampton Script, said shortly after 5 p.m. that there hadn't been a response from the administration.
Signers of the letter, including Darrian Mack, president of the Student Government Association, wouldn't comment Thursday.
Harvey was unavailable, said Yuri Rodgers Milligan, HU's director of university relations. Earlier in the day, Milligan said she "couldn't say" whether there would be a response.
"The university has a grievance process," Milligan said. "If students have a grievance, there's a process they can go through."
Among those processes, Milligan said: Every month, student leaders meet with the administrative council, which includes the president, vice president for student affairs and general counsel.
The last administrative council meeting was Oct. 23, and student leaders also met with the university's Board of Trustees on Oct. 26. Milligan said she wasn't aware of any of the issues mentioned in the letter coming out.
"Obviously it wasn't to this magnitude," Milligan said.
Wednesday's letter requested a formal, non-administrative council meeting, but details of what that meeting would entail were not clear.
The letter is the latest in the squabbles among Hampton University students, teachers and administrators over the years.
Last year, a journalism teacher resigned because he said the school had a repressive attitude toward the First Amendment. Four years earlier, the then-journalism school director resigned over differences with Harvey over whether students would be allowed to practice free speech and press freedom in their reporting.
In 2005, a student faced expulsion after being accused of handing out fliers about the Bush administration, genocide in Sudan, AIDS awareness and homophobia. Seven students who participated in a walkout were disciplined for not getting approval for the event.
And in 2003, HU administrators confiscated an issue of the Script after it ran a letter from Acting President and Provost JoAnn Haysbert on the newspaper's third page rather than on the first page, as she had requested.
Several students outside a Burger King and a laundromat on Settlers Landing Road near HU said Thursday that the letter in the Script was the talk of campus and had been posted in dorms. One sophomore political science major, who declined to give her name out of fear she'd be disciplined, said she was glad to see student leaders taking a stand.
Another student said she's heard complaints about the administration ever since she came to HU from California this year as a new, five-year MBA student. Among the complaints she said she's heard: Lack of organization and confusion about exactly where money goes.
"Everyone knows the 'Hampton run-around'," said 20-year-old Cristina Nataniel, a junior biology major from Maryland. "That's a quote. Everyone uses it."
Fellow junior Folasade Gallimore, 19, a biology major from New Jersey, said the student handbook this year only appeared on the university's Web site — which made some worry that school officials could change it at will without notifying anyone, she said. But she said she doubted the Script letter would have an effect.
"I don't think Dr. Harvey's going to do anything," Gallimore said. "He's so stuck in his ways."
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Well. I'll be. Hampton students are definitely getting more riled up, less complacent, and are seriously tryna get some shit started. There's a new wave coming over Hampton--how ironic that it's happening in my last year here when my thoughts are set far beyond this tiny locale that I have refused to allow to define me for the past 3 years.
Speaking out against injustice is always an act of bravery, but it's so necessary. Like the great Audre Lorde said,
"Death...is the final silence. And that may be coming quickly now, without regard for whether I had ever spoken what needed to be said, or had only betrayed myself into small silences, while I planned someday to speak, or waited for someone else’s words...I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. The transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation and that always seems fraught with danger...In the cause of silence, each one of us draws the face of her own fear—fear of contempt, of censure, or some judgment or recognition, of challenge, of annihilation. But, most of all, I think, we fear the very visibility without which we also cannot truly live. And that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength...It is necessary to teach by living and speaking those truths which we believe and know beyond understanding...And it is never without fear; of visibility, of the harsh light of scrutiny and perhaps judgment, of pain, of death. But, we have lived through all of those already, in silence, except death. And I remind myself all the time now, that if I were to have been born mute, or had I maintained an oath of silence my whole life long for safety, I would still have suffered. And, I would still die."
Yea. That's why I stand behind the student leaders, even as my sights are far, FAR beyond Hampton at the moment.
But anyhoo, I discovered Margaret Cho--I watched her stand-up routine called "Assassin" that I checked out from the HU library. (The HU library actually has some surprisingly good material sometimes.)
Outstanding! I love her! She's great. She's a married (to a man) bisexual Korean-American woman who is one of the LGBT community's fiercest public champions, and she gets questioned or labeled hypocrite by some media forces because of it. Some folk can't quite fathom how you can be so dedicated to the fight for equality and not be in a primary relationship with someone of the same sex. How you can still claim the LGBT community as your own even when partnered with someone of the opposite gender.
Well, besides the fact that she id's as bi, gay rights is not a "gay" issue. Fighting for gay rights is an expression of compassion, of wanting certain gestures of basic human decency extended to everyone. You don't have to be gay or be partnered with someone of your own sex to feel a deep need to undo the damage of homophobia and heterosexism. You just have to want equality. You just have to see yourself reflected in all people, no matter what superficial differences exist between you.
This hit home for me because a few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me that he would stop being my friend if I ended up having a primary marriage relationship with a man as opposed to a woman, because I wouldn't "understand" the struggle for equality anymore. That I would be changed somehow, my activism and committment to LGBT compromised.
Bullshit.
First of all, ANY person who is partnered with me would have to measure up to certain standards. One of these standards is the committment to undo any homophobic or heterosexist conditioning that he or she has acquired as a result of living in an unequal, fucked-up society. I constantly seek to undo the damage within myself, so I could only be with someone who was also actively working on doing the same thing.
Secondly, what? As my friend, I would hope that you would be happy for me when I find love period, regardless of the form it packages itself in.
But alas, people are fickle, fickle beings. Maybe he won't really end our friendship over something like that, should it come to pass. But it's definitely a hurtful thing to say to someone.
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