Bring your chains to the table
I’m Pedro Polanco, a recent graduate from the mechanical engineering department at MIT, and a brother of Chocolate City. This year, I had the opportunity to MC for the Black MIT community’s largest formal event, Ebony Affair. Ebony Affair is a now annual celebration of black achievement on campus. This year’s theme was ‘A Seat at the Table.’ The following is a slightly edited version of my opening address….
About four years ago, my family drove me up to Cambridge from my hometown in the Bronx for the first time. It was Campus Preview Weekend (a.k.a. CPW), and, compared to what I know now, I didn’t know a thing about MIT: not a thing about the black community, not a thing about navigating the campus, and certainly not a thing being taught in any of the classes!
I’ve spent the better part of 4 years learning about the world, learning about leadership, and learning about myself. It’s hardly been easy, but it’s been made easier by the privilege of sharing countless seats with unstoppable people; seats all around the greater Boston area from lounges, dining rooms, and restaurants to lecture halls, T.A. offices, and labs. I’m humbled to share a seat with you all again at this year’s celebration as your co-master of ceremonies.
Last year, Solange released her fourth album, A Seat at the Table. When asked about her motivation, she said, “I set out to make an album about self-discovery and empowerment and independence. The idea of having to fully understand where you’re from — when I say that, I mean it in a variety of ways, not just your history but some of the family heirlooms and traumas that might have been passed down to you, your overall existence.”
Let me ask you a question: amongst the students here, how many of you have ever been told that you only got into MIT because you’re black? Please raise your hands…. {As expected, every one of the 100+ black students raised a hand.} As someone who graduated from the alleged titlist university of the world, I’m here to tell you that they’re wrong.
You got into MIT DESPITE the obstacles that COME with being black. Since the misnomer known as the discovery of the New World by European colonizers, America has systematically oppressed, dehumanized, and denigrated the black body. The rattle from the shackles of the steps of the first slaves on this soil rings resoundingly today, even at this celebration. You can hear the clinks of the metal links like gasps for air in a poorly ventilated and decrepit urban housing complex, being suffocated by the gentrifying city around it, a crumbling once chocolate city. Despite the ambient color-blindness, you can see light reflect off of the fetters skillfully manufactured by the new Jim Crow. Today, I feel the weight of a metal restraint tugging down on my neck. It feels like the entire weight of my family’s future is bearing down on my shoulders; they ask me to carry them forward despite being chained to a country moving backwards.
To all my problem-solvers, I have a problem for you: 241 years ago, at the Second Continental Congress, at least 41 slave owners sat around the table where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Not a single seat in that hall was occupied by a black person. Yet, those white men decided that their self-declared independence was an exclusive right…. 121 years ago, 8 supreme court justices, including a man who fought to restore white supremacy during the Reconstruction, upheld state racial regulation laws for public facilities under the doctrine of “separate but equal”. Not a single seat on that board was occupied by a black person…. 62 years ago, at the Emmett Till murder trial in Mississippi, the jury deliberated for less than an hour before issuing a verdict of “not guilty.” Not a single seat in the jury was occupied by a black person, and yet “JUSTICE” was decided by these individuals…. You see the problem here?
I’ve just about had it with letting others who have no vested interest in my well-being make decisions on my behalf. Amongst the great number of problems that have challenged our strength as a people, one of the greatest is the fact that we have had decisions that impact us on a community level decided by people who would rather see us fail.
Today, we’re fortunate to have in our company Ms. Valerie Jarrett, who’s dedicated her career to tackling this problem. She’s occupied one of the most important seats at arguably the most important table in the world. My friends, today I challenge you to follow her example and occupy these seats of power. In this day and age, it’s not enough to have a voice. We need to take matters into our own hands, and make our own decisions….
Of course, I don’t have to tell all of you that. By simply attending the schools at this university, you’re already making it clear that you intend to occupy these seats. The shackles worn by the first slaves to step foot on this hemisphere have left a permanent weight on our shoulders, and forever chained us together. This is nothing to hide; when you take your rightful seats at the heads of academic departments, corporate meetings, and conferences, bring your chains to the table. Don’t just bring your history; also bring some of the family heirlooms and traumas that might have been passed down to you, your overall existence, and uplift us all that are forever chained to you by history. Don’t forget where you came from. Don’t forget what we’ve been through.
Thank you.
