The Columbia University Black Alumni Council Responds: 2020 Uprising
By The Board of the Columbia Black Alumni Council
“The artist must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice. I have no alternative.”
-Paul Robeson, ‘23LAW
Since the arrival of James R. Priest (SEAS 1877) in the 19th century, Columbia’s Black students and alumni have been at the forefront of movements for social change. Shirley Chisholm. Adam Clayton Powell. Audre Lorde. Our community’s persistent and continued actions starting in 1968, including the movements to divest from apartheid and then private prisons 30 years later, all successfully interrogated our Alma Mater’s inertia and zestful disinterest in the flourishing of Black life. And yet again, we find ourselves having to muster through our grief to drag America- and Columbia- toward the right side of history.
The Black Alumni Council of Columbia University (BAC) denounces all forms of sanctioned violence exercised against Black life at home and abroad. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade are some of the names we’ve recently learned to say only to mourn them too soon. Beautiful, Black lights unfairly taken from their families long before their time. The BAC stands in remembrance, solidarity and rage with all Black people who see themselves in each new face we must place on a t-shirt or name as a hashtag. This historic pandemic and the uprisings that followed have made concerns of personal safety, and fears of random violence a new reality for most Americans. But for those of us who have seen our reflections in the barrel of an officer’s gun, we are tired of this reality. Our education does not make us immune. We are empowered now to make change, at every level.
To the members of Black Columbia on the front lines of protest and activism, we see you. To the members of Black Columbia using their silos of influence to dismantle structural racism and inequality, we see you. You are the embodiment of our collective dreams and struggles for a world free of racial intolerance, gender-based violence, and economic inequality.
As your Black Alumni Council, we are committed to supporting the advancement of ALL Black people, especially in the Harlem and Washington Heights neighborhoods. We are using the coming days to collaborate, strategize and advocate for the swift and lasting change of all systems, but particularly those at our University. We will host a town hall meeting for Black students, alumni, and community members to inform our approach and next steps.
Black. Lives. Matter. Always.