Black Lives Matter: Celebrating Juneteenth
This year on Juneteenth, FIUTS is honored to feature a special blog post by Mariama Sibide, student-staff member from Guinea working in Education Programs...
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Mariama Sibide, FIUTS Education Programs staff.
My name is Mariama Sidibe and I am a Junior at the University of Washington studying International Studies with a concentration in human rights. I am originally from Guinea but I was raised in Seattle for the majority of my life. I am connected through FIUTS as a work study student, holding the position of Education Programs Assistant. My role includes facilitating visiting programs and community engagement work with the Education programs.
In light of the recent events happening around the country concerning the fight for Black Lives, I have joined several groups to organize for Black Students. The efforts that I have been most committed to have been to have the University accommodate its Black students by canceling finals, as well as calling for greater demands for defunding and divestment from the Seattle Police Department. The wellbeing of Black Students at UW is a key priority for me in my organizing efforts because I believe that the University space can often be unsafe for students when we face racial profiling from University of Washington Police Department (UWPD), or have our concerns as Black Students unheard.
The Instagram of the coalition of Students United for Black Students at UW. Photo provided by Mariama Sibide.
A GoFundMe created by the Coalition intended to raise funds for local organizations . Photo provided by Mariama Sibide.
Calling for accommodations was the most urgent of these demands because Black Students are collectively grieving and should not be expected to produce academic work at the expense of their psychological well being. Through the student coalition Solidarity4BlackStudentNeeds, my friends and I shared a petition to cancel finals, drafted email templates calling for accommodations, and attended several meetings with administration to call for accommodations.
I was also a part of organizing and speaking at a protest at UW that called for immediate accommodations and promoted the demands of Divest and Demilitarize UW. Ultimately the impact of this work is that we had a few of our accommodation demands met, but we were still told that there is a limit to accommodations because of faculty members’ academic freedom. As for the calls for changes of policing at the UW, Black Students and Faculty are still in communication with administration to move towards the demands of Divest and Demilitarize UW.
Students and community members gathering in protest in the University District, Seattle. Photo provided by Mariama Sibide.
For the next year at UW, I hope that the administration is willing to work with Black Students and Faculty to make progressive changes towards making the campus a safe place for Black people. As of right now, Black Students have expressed that they do not feel as if they are adequately represented on campus and that the presence of UWPD does not make them feel safe. The history of policing in the United States has targeted Black communities for the protection of White Americans and property, and the extension of these practices have been felt by Black Students at the UW. Moving forward, I hope to see the administration listen to the Black voices on campus and take actions to foster a safe campus for Black Students and Faculty.
Guest posts on the FIUTS blog represent the experiences and views of individual writers. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FIUTS or any organizations or institutions affiliated with our programs.
Read other posts in our Black Lives Matter series:
