Growing up in Acres Homes Texas – a predominantly black lower to middle class community – I never imagined that I would one day be in a place where I would not be a part of the majority. Throughout elementary middle and high school there were always more students who looked like me spoke the same slang as I did and enjoyed mostly everything I enjoyed.
One could imagine the major culture shock that I experienced as being an 18-year-old black girl from the South arriving at Pepperdine University for the first day of New Student Orientation. I was completely overwhelmed by not only the laid back surfer dude California style but also by the apparent lack of students of color on campus: I could count on my fingers the amount of black students I met that week. There is also the initial feeling I got in the waves café my freshman year when I looked for a place to sit always ending up with the black people even if I didn’t know them; it just felt comforting.
When I found out there was an organization called the Black Student Union I felt so relieved and assured that there was something on this campus that I could naturally feel comfortable being a part of.
This is the sentiment that many black students – or any student that is not a part of the majority culture at Pepperdine – may feel when they first arrive here. I must note that the feeling of standing out in almost every setting you can think of never goes away. I still experience that “first day of school” feeling every time I enter the classroom for the first time and discover that I am the only black person. I know every teacher I have in a class with less than 30 students will know my name without thinking twice. At Pepperdine there is always some setting in which I am the Lone Black Ranger.
These are some of the experiences that bring the members of Black Student Association (BSA) together and create a sense of connection and belonging to our campus. Therefore one of the first purposes of BSA is to serve as a safe place for belonging and identifying for many black students as well as those of other ethnicities.
Sometimes it is just comforting to know that you can let your hair down literally and not have to explain why you don’t wash your hair everyday. I truly believe there is a place for every person here. BSA serves as one of them.
Its mission is to promote intellectual spiritual social and cultural diversity while educating the Pepperdine community about the black culture. As the co-president of BSA it is my responsibility to ensure that this organization lives out our mission in every event and activity in which we take part.
One challenge for me however is combating the misconceptions that students have about participating and joining BSA. The question we hear the most from students is: “Do I have to be black to be a part of it?” Our answer is always “Of course not!” I completely understand why someone would ask that question and also how uncomfortable it is to be the minority within a group of people that do not look like the same or share the same background. That is the main reason why we open BSA to all students; it is a growing experience for students to step outside of their comfort zones and learn about a culture and group of people first hand rather than from a distance or in a history book. Just like we learn about the ways of the Europeans in our humanities and history classes there is a great deal to learn about the black American experience.
BSA is here at Pepperdine to show everyone what they have been missing and to both confirm and reject some of the stereotypes formed about black people that are also shaped by the media. We hope to bring the student community together through social events like coffeehouses and talent shows that focus on black music dance poetry and “soul food” dinners. These are the unique parts of black culture where you just have to be there to really appreciate the authenticity of it.
Throughout the month of February BSA will host many events and activities on campus that are open to all students. Events include showing CNN’s “Black in America which features my family. There is so much to learn about black culture and heritage; BSA is here to share just a small piece of the pie to educate and promote diversity on campus.