Activism and advocacy on behalf of those who cannot, for whatever reasons, voice their experiences and speak for themselves on behalf of those experiences, has been a large part of my own identity during my time at The University of Alabama. Living in state that is largely seen as regressive, oppressive, and out of touch with reality, while tempting to stand behind as a legitimate statement, would be doing a disservice to individuals like myself and my fellow faculty, staff, and students, whom all take part in voicing in various tones of resilience and resistance, "No, we will not be ignored." Alabama, and the South as a whole, is given this label as being backwards, reluctant, and otherwise, archaic in its social norms and ideologies. And yes, parts of that are true. Though there is an inherent trend of activism and advocacy originating at the college campus level both at The University of Alabama (and throughout the country, more on this later). However, I'd like to emphasize our campus situation first and foremost.
For me, as an individual, that fine line between the personal and the political is often a blurred and very gray area. It is not a place that exists with a clear boundary demarcating between the two. Rather, I go to school, as an out gay male, on a campus that was built on the backs of African American labor, which celebrates the victories and triumphs of the hegemonic masculinity complex, coupled with the "illustrious" (and I use that term very loosely) history of privileged individuals born of "old money" whom have never really been told "no" in their lives. On a nearly daily basis, I see my classmates fighting to be heard on issues of racism, sexism, heterosexism, homophobia, transphobia, issues of body-shaming, ableism, and the like. I go to a school where we celebrate football victories in front of buildings named by heterosexual white males for heterosexual white supremacists, racists, and eugenicists. I go to school on a campus where I am called derogatory words while walking through specific areas of campus, regardless of the time of day, simply because I carry my politics on my bag, on my person, and in my demeanor. I go to school on a campus that prides itself on being "The Capstone of Higher Education" but does not hold a single full-time diversity staff position nor a diversity center of any sorts. I go to school on a campus where my fellow classmates are judged by issues of social construction such as race, gender, sexuality, and the like, versus being judged by the merits of their academic prowess, their intellectual dexterity, and their social magnitude, many of which center themselves on fighting on behalf of the very individuals that I began discussing. Those who cannot speak for themselves. The complexity of the issues at hand are intertwined with the complexity of the institutions that perpetuate those issues, whether they result in acts of oppression, erasure, feelings of invisibility, feelings of being ignored, unwanted, or simply inhuman. The complexity of the issues is not a bad thing. I will elaborate on this in a bit.
In light of what has transpired in the last few weeks, coupled with the experiences that I have had at this university, it is abundantly clear that the power dynamics of what is "said to have happened" and what "actually happened" are alive and well at The University of Alabama. Our campus is divided between the narratives of those in power. The privileged, the prestigious, and the hegemonic. And the silenced and marginalized narratives of those living on the edges of campus, in the borderlands, to borrow from our class discussion, in which we are seen as being on campus but not fully acknowledged as being a part of that campus environment. As a classmate referenced recently, there is a tremendous amount of in-fighting that occurs on this campus among groups that pride themselves on being social justice advocates, activists, and fighters for truth, justice, and equality. And yet, they manage to spend more time tearing down their fellow students for something that is only given significance because of the institutions that perpetuate these constructions and oppressive elements. The very institutions that individuals like myself and my fellow activists fight against. The very fight that is often ignored because in order to do so, those in power would have to give up both some of that power, as well as accept responsibility for the actions that have resulted in a need for that very activism. There seems to be this innate message that difference of experience automatically equates to a difference of significance, thus negating individuals whose subjectivity and experience differ from our own are somehow less than human and thus less worthy of our efforts or our attention. As Kiese Laymon referenced in the Q&A section of his discussion at UA recently, if we are to effect change, we must put aside the differences within our respective groups, student organizations, departments, and otherwise, and come together, through the commonalities shared among us as members of The University of Alabama, to join our unique and different experiences and talents together for a common goal. The complexity of that difference is what makes us human. Embracing that difference as an asset and a tool for empowerment is what will unite us.
In the end, I want to be able to say that I went to school on a campus that was heavily and historically divided but I graduated from a school and a campus that was able to effect change and unite in the fight to give voice to the need for those changes, whether they be the installment of a Chief Diversity Officer, the establishment of a diversity or multicultural center, or even on a smaller scale, the campus-wide advertisement and circulation of diversity programming, events, or curriculum offerings, thus creating opportunities for learning, education, awareness, involvement, and engagement with not only the problems created by these institutions of oppression but also active engagement in the dialogues and discourse surrounding solutions to these issues.
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