Erin DeGregorio ’16
Four prominent panelists provided personal insights and social suggestions regarding the ongoing racial issue that permeates American culture to both the Siena and local communities at the forum titled “State of Black America” on Tuesday, February 2.
The panelists included: David Brown, president and CEO of the Capital Region YMCA and member of Siena College’s Board of Trustees; Christopher Ellis Jr., senior staff associate for the Educational Opportunity Center at the State University of New York; Kenneth Newman ’15, recent Siena College graduate; and Zuleika Sanchez-Gayle, principal of the Sheridan Preparatory Academy.
Sponsored by the student-run Black and Latino Student Union and the Damietta Cross-Cultural Center, students had the opportunity to hear many perspectives concerning the Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality, and the Education to Prison Pipeline. The objective was to bring Siena students and Capital Region residents and activists together in an educated discussion, and to have the panelists relay the important positive changes that need to take place in the future, both on college campuses and across the United States in general.
“What’s being broadcast on the media and social media doesn’t always get to the essence of, what for me, the Black Lives Matter really should mean because there are day-to-day instances that don’t necessarily get the hashtag, the press. For me, when I think about the Black Lives Matter Movement, it’s about the acknowledgment that there is a subset of American population that does not get to enjoy the liberties that this country is based upon,” said Sanchez-Gayle. “What I would hope to see in the near future is the ability for us to focus on the things that should be changed.”
Through questions submitted by the Black and Latino Student Union, the panelists provided information, their opinions and experiences to the audience during the 90-minute long discussion. They unanimously agreed that society, as a whole, needs to help combat preconceived prejudices through progressive efforts, engagements, and educational opportunities to better the nation and its citizens for the future.
“I think it’s really great that we can have this forum here tonight and talk, especially in light of some of things that are happening right here in our community,” said Brown. “I think [the Black Lives Matter Movement] is a very important movement for this country, and I’m hoping more and more people participate in the conversation positively.”
