“Don’t Talk About It, Be About It: A Model of Material Support for Black Graduate Students”
by Lida Colón, Digital Black Lit and Composition (DBLAC) | Xchanges 15.1, Spring 2020
DBLAC’s Impact
DBLAC’s Signature Programs provide direct and immediately beneficial service to Black graduate students. This work, which offers both material and immaterial resources, has helped me develop emotional insulation made of affirmation by way of being reflected in the digital and in-person communities of the organization. The network members develop diverse frames of reference which serve as a resource when difficulties navigating the academy as a Black person arise. As a result of that support, students develop higher capacities to promote and advocate for diversity and equity at our home universities, as illustrated by my experience with the #NotAgainSU movement. In the wake of varied instances of racist violence, the Syracuse University administration responded by minimizing the safety concerns of Black students. As a Black person, and as an educator, my responsibility was clear, even as my concern for students, colleagues, and faculty of color took me away from my work in the last weeks of the semester. DBLAC actively and materially shared this responsibility with us, not only spreading awareness and providing emotional support, but also fundraising almost $1000 to buy food for protesters and to help students buy transportation home. Sharing this responsibility helps us do our work so that we can complete our degrees and continue serving as a resource to rising Black scholars.
Ahmed’s (2012) words about the unequal distribution of diversity labor come back to mind. The presence of Black-centered fellowships and research grants developed by institutions over the last half decade indicate an effort on the part of higher education to diversify the scholarship being produced by their graduate programs. Harper and Simmons (2019), however, reveal that many universities have difficulty graduating their Black undergraduates. Shelton’s (2019) survey responses lend themselves to a possible source of withdrawal rates amongst Black graduate students as well. Organizations that center Black experiences like DBLAC address students’ concerns and needs in ways that their departments and even other graduate student organizations are currently unable or even unwilling to do. DBLAC’s mission statement articulates our commitment to “the academic retention and success of Black graduate students” across disciplines (“Welcome and Mission Statement”); it is aware of and responsive to the interdisciplinary nature of our field. Among us are historians, anthropologists, theologians, sociologists, and creators of countless other knowledges.
Finally, not being drained by the emotional labor of simply existing as a Black graduate student means cultivating a life outside of the graduate school environment—oft-given advice to first-year graduate students. DBLAC’s material and immaterial support—the multiple levels of community, the exposure to Black scholarship, the advantages of a broad professional network—all works to take into account the unique challenges of being a Black graduate student in Rhet-Comp programs and responds with pragmatic solutions.