As many people have known about the tragic event that took place at The University of Oklahoma with the SAE racist chant, it was my facebook status that started a minor controversy but was still so empowering to many students. I stated, “This whole situation is why BLACK PEOPLE NEED TO STOP PLEDGING WHITE SORORITIES AND FRATERNITIES! They don’t care about you! Their founders didn’t care about our ancestors so what makes you think they’ll care about you too? WAKE UP!!! Get mad all you want. But I don’t care, that’s the truth!” Although I did not clarify what I meant in my status because I was so infuriated with this issue, a lot of people jumped to conclusions and assumed that I was generalizing all sororities and fraternities, which was totally not the case. I got a chance to clarify what I meant and suddenly most people caught my drift.
As President of the Association of Black Collegians, I felt that it was my duty to stand up for something that is important to my culture and my family. Although some people did not agree with what I was feeling, none of that mattered because I knew what was right. Because I and other students of different organizations were feeling like this situation was way too close to home, we came together to start L.E.A.D. It stands for Leaders of Equality, Awareness, and Diversity. This organization is about more than just race. It’s also about awareness of sexuality, women’s rights, anything you can think of—we are ready to educate you on it.
L.E.A.D. is important to me because these issues that are happening in the world are slowly but surely making their way to campuses, and my goal is to prevent it from happening before it is too late. Currently, we have about 30+ members ready to understand what it’s like coming from a minority’s point of view. All I want to accomplish is getting everyone on campus involved in this movement. I am happy with the turnout that we have so far. However, I want people to get involved because they really care and not because it’s mandatory for any organization. I would also like to see more faculty and staff getting associated with this specific organization as well.
If anyone has questions about what L.E.A.D. or wants a more detailed explanation, please feel free to contact me, and please don’t be afraid to want to learn about the people on this campus.
Jasmine Antwine
President of the Association of Black Collegians
