Interview conducted by Keara Kotten
#UMSocial Intern and University of Michigan Class of 2022

 

Chanel: Hi y’all. It’s good to be able to speak to you. My name is Chanel, and I’m a sophomore at the University of Michigan. 

 

Cristina: Hi guys. My name is Cristina. I’m also very excited to be on this podcast. I am a senior studying international studies at U-M and am excited to talk with you guys. 

 

Q: Let’s jump right into our episode of Conversations for Change. We will be talking about the DEI Summit that happened earlier, in October, and both Chanel and Cristina were part of the Student Advisory Planning Group [SAPG]. First off, can both of you describe your experience at U-M as a student of color and how you ended up getting involved in planning the DEI Summit this year?

 

Cristina: I’ve been involved in different DEI spaces throughout my experience in college through different student orgs, as well as being a part of the DEI student group last year. I think I’ve always just been interested and passionate about social justice issues.

“DEI is a space for me to try to make my voice heard.”

Being in space with a lot of different identities and students of color has really helped shape my perspective of social justice and solidarity, and building a world for all of us to be inclusive. 

 

Chanel: I come from a predominantly black area, and social change is always in this area because my community has always been oppressed within America. That always has been in the back of my head. Going to college at a predominately white institution definitely made me aware of DEI: diversity, equity, and inclusion; and how it’s not represented in all areas in society, including my institution.

 

I’m not going to lie: when I heard DEI being advertised, I was not here for it. It just seemed as if U-M was trying to make up for what is not there and try to advertise something that is not there, because I’m living it every day. I’m a black student at the University of Michigan and I’m living every day, not seeing my race everywhere I go. 

 

But a good friend of mine named Ryan Perry had introduced me to the student advisory planning board for the DEI 2020 summit. She knew I was passionate about social change. I wanted to make a change within the campus community. So she introduced me to the group, and I applied. Honestly, when I went in it, I was interviewing them too in terms of, “Okay, what is the background work?” Overall, it changed my life to know that there are actually people that care about DEI at U-M. And it was an honor to be able to be a part of this group. 

 

Q: Cristina, you said you were a part of SAPG last year as well. How has it been different this year under the current conditions with the pandemic? 

 

Cristina: Last year, it was obviously different circumstances. We were planning for an in-person event. This year, with the pandemic, we were online. In terms of the board in general, because we were able to meet a little bit more often this year, I felt a little bit closer with the members. And all the members were women of color, so it was really, really powerful just to be in that space. 

 

We went through a lot together. Throughout the pandemic, in March when everything started; and then throughout the summer with racial injustice and George Floyd and Brianna Taylor and just so much. I think we really built a good, little community. 

 

Q: That’s great to hear that SAPG offered a place of support and community throughout everything. Let’s talk a little bit about the experience of the virtual summit for this year. Could each of you talk about some of the highlights of the summit or just what it was like to experience it?

 

Chanel: Honestly, the highlight of the summit was just to be a part of the virtual community. I think everybody, including me, [was] longing for something to feel like U-M again. This Summit has been occurring before the pandemic, so it’s interesting to see the platform be held virtually. I really commend everybody who had a hand into putting this experience together virtually. That’s honestly my highlight: to just see creatives come together for social change and let their voices shine through works of art. 

 

Cristina: It was really inspiring to see people be able to express themselves through art. One of my highlights was seeing art in so many platforms and recognizing the importance of sharing our stories, just like my own individual story and through my own art. 

 

I think that was really a big takeaway for me, as I’ve been reflecting, is the importance of our collective stories, our individual stories.

“Everybody’s experience is not the same, but to some extent we can all find similarities between us; so we can collectively rise.” 

Q: I want to touch quickly on the theme of this year: Social Change Through Art. What is the role of art as an agent for social change?

 

Cristina: I think it was Wendell Pierce who said, “If you can’t speak it, write it. If you can’t write it, sing it. If you can’t sing it, then show it.” 

 

Chanel: Artistry can be constructed to one box, but art has no boundaries. I think where art intersects with social change—with what we are going through right now in this world or throughout the past—when people develop something out of their mind, that is powerful. They do it out of the passion and mission for social change. 

 

I believe that art is another type of voice. That art speaks for itself. That when you look at a piece of art, the intention is not for the artist to be there right next to you, telling you “this is why I did that.” No. The art is supposed to be the force to change; it’s supposed to be speaking to you. 

 

I want you to know that art is your own. It’s your own realm. I think that there’s a person out there that wants to create art for social change, and you can do it. Do not hold back. Art has a place in the realm of social change. No doubt. 

 

Q: Joanna Kepler, a recent SMTD graduate, said in her speech, “My body alone on a stage makes a statement.” Can each of you expand on the importance of just showing up in a space and the power that can have as a force for change? 

 

Cristina: This really resonated with me: just the importance of showing up and taking up space. Essentially I think that being in these spaces, being at a decision-making table, being represented, that in itself has so much power. Rarely do we see people of color represented in these leadership roles or in the media. Then when you do see yourself or other people of color reflected, you’re like, “Wow, I didn’t realize how much I’d been missing that.”

 

Having that representation is so important in order to just build that space for people to enter. Once somebody else has done it, you realize: “I could do that, too. Why can’t I do that? What is stopping me from being a part of that, being at the decision-making table, being in leadership?” 

 

Chanel: I love this quote. I really do. I want to say one more time that my body alone, on a stage, makes a statement. I grew up always wanting to speak. I took a speech class when I was in 11th grade. Back then, I was really scared to speak. The teacher had a quote on her wall that said, “When you step on a stage, it’s yours. That stage is yours. It doesn’t matter who stepped on it before or after you. It is yours.” 

 

I’m a firm believer that it is about who you are on the inside that matters more. Though when we present ourselves, it invites people into our realm. When I hear this quote, I think of art again. I think of how our body is a work of art. We are a masterpiece, alone. Every stage that we step on, we have to remind ourselves that we are a masterpiece. I love how Kepler has said this. Anybody can interpret it in their own way, but how I interpret it is: I set my stage, I know myself more than anybody else does, and I’m a masterpiece. That’s all I need to command a stage. 

 

I don’t even have to speak. Just me being me and the passion that I have within myself to make change is enough to know that I’m a masterpiece with any stage I step on. I can command power. I can command change. I can command someone to listen to me and to hear about the change that needs to happen within this unjust world.

 

Cristina: You don’t even have to do anything, just being there. I’m here. Listen to me. And you have a right to be listened to. 

 

Chanel: Social change is right now. You see something that’s not going right; you have a voice. That’s social change. You can do it. Seriously, that is your weapon, your voice, your presence. When she says, ‘My body alone,” your presence alone will make the change. 

 

Q: After experiencing the summit, how do you see DEI initiatives moving forward in the future? 

 

Cristina: DEI at UMich, this is only the beginning. I’ve been a part of some boards through the office of DEI, working with student orgs that are doing this work and contributing to the campus climate and culture. All the cultural shows and dances and events, those are the things that enhance this community. Those things are diversity and equity and inclusion. [It is important to] Uplift those events and their voices. I think that is a really good space for U-M to progress and support, really just amplifying those events and the work that’s already being done through these student orgs. 

 

And also through faculty and staff. I think that’s something that also is very important, having professors of color in the teaching space. I never had a professor who looked like me or a teacher who ever looked like me until sophomore year of college. I didn’t realize how powerful that was to me until I had that experience.

 

History is so important. One quote is, “Know history, know self,” or, “No history, no self.” There is no self without history. Living the true histories, learning about them is super important because, in my experience, history was taught in a very, wishy-washy, white supremacist way that amplified white saviors. But that’s not the lived truth about US imperialism. Overall, I think that there’s a lot of space for growth and for U-M to engage more students. 

 

Chanel: We know it starts with us, people. It starts with us, students. We got to go to the students. I just want to say there was a Black Action Movement to just get to 10% [ black students] at U-M, and we haven’t got there yet. Come on now. If we’re really going to search for diversity, equity, inclusion, we [have to focus on student representation.] 

 

Q: To finish up, if either of you would like to share some final thoughts about being part of the planning group, the DEI summit, wishes for the future, or any final words, the floor is yours. 

 

Cristina: I would say the biggest thing is learning when to step up and when to step down, and building solidarity with these groups and amplifying the black and brown communities that have been disenfranchised for so long, and building camaraderie, brothership, and sisterhood. When I see people as my brothers and sisters, I think it motivates me more to be an agent of social change. Hopefully it encourages other people to come along the journey as well. Something that I would like to express to people is: you don’t have to be of a certain identity to be a good person and advocate for people who have not been advocated for historically. 

 

Chanel: I love how you said that, Cristina, about brothers and sisters. I think that’s really said within my community, as an African American. When you said that, I actually heard it. We’re brothers; we’re sisters;  and our pain and our hurt and our trauma, it matters. To prepare for this podcast, Cristina and I were talking yesterday, and I said, “Instead of asking how are you doing, ask someone or ask yourself, how’s your heart doing?” I think that really gets to the heart of the matter of this issue with racism. 

“I just want to encourage someone to take care of yourself first and foremost and that social change starts with change within yourself.”

When you have changed within your heart, everything else changes around you. Seriously, it starts with the heart of the matter.

 

To tie it back to art, you are art. You are a masterpiece. You are not the racism that people bestow on you. You’re not the ignorance that people bestow on you. You’re not the social injustice that people bestow on you. You are beyond that. Your worth is greater than that. You are a masterpiece. And art has a space within social change.