Jazz, Abolition, and the Charles
DEFINING OURSELVES
Who are you?
Our conversation with Charles T. Wallace-Thomas IV (Northeastern University ’22) started off discussing some of his passions and things he has been involved with both on and off campus. But in telling us of all the things he does he affirms that they are indicators about who he is rather than constituting who he is. He told us that he’s involved in “a lot of activities grounded in the mission of creating the conditions for Black people to thrive, not as resistance but as consequence of being in these communities we create.” It’s the act of dreaming together and creating together that makes space for our true selves.
Charles told us that there are three guiding forces in his life that constitute his soul:
1. seeking to understand
2. seeking to integrate/connect, and
3. seeking to express.
These create a space where he knows “who his ancestors are, their imperatives for being, and how he fits in with all of this.” It’s a place where he’s deeply connected to his closest friends and they’re all moving toward the same kinds of things, in their own paths that are nonlinear but moving toward a common goal.
“take these 3 notes and say something”
He recounts first feeling this space and this peace the first time he played a solo with internal composure. Playing what he really wanted to say, not even in front of a big crowd, but in a private lesson during his senior year of high school. In the safety of a private room, his instructor said “take these 3 notes and say something” and that’s just what Charles did, and it’s what he continues to do everyday. He also finds his strength in asking and answering questions: What is? How does it work? Why do they work differently?
What do you do academically?
In describing his academic interests Charles identifies that through economics, math, and psychology he hopes to help people make these freedom dream systems real. They are looking for agency, self-determination, and protection, and looking for all of these things economically, socially, and politically. He wants to help them create social and political justice, and defined those as the broad access to what they need for a flourishing life.
He explores all of these things on campus through an organization known as SAID. SAID was founded as Students Against Institutional Discrimination and as of Spring 2021 has restructured and renamed themselves as Students Advancing Intersectional Dreams. SAID’s work makes Northeastern a more responsible institution. They have reading clubs and direct action campaigns. Some of their work is focused on combating Northeastern’s gentrification of Roxbury by demanding the institution pays its current and overdue PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) contribution. The PILOT program is important to the wellbeing of the city because large nonprofit organizations (like the 40+ colleges and universities in the area) don’t pay property taxes. The program is meant for them to contribute financially to the city they are in, and this money could be invested in educational programs, employment opportunities, and housing.
Charles has also found himself in conversation on stage with really cool people such as Patrisse Cullors (Black Lives Matter movement, co-founder), Richie Reseda (Question Culture, founder), Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow, author), and as of February 2021 Angela Davis (educator and activist).
What do you do professionally?
Professionally, Charles has worked with the Boston Ujima Project, Center for Economic Democracy, and the Participatory Budgeting Project. He pursued these paths to work toward people-powered economies. The purpose is to search for not just an anti-capitalist world but a post-capitalist one. He is also working on his thesis right now where he is exploring how much cities are controlled democratically.
Some of his personal practices that have helped his professional work include playing the trumpet and writing. Playing helps to remind him of who he is and where he comes from. The music tradition of the Black community, and more specifically the Jazz tradition keeps him on the path. He has recently established a writing practice through The Second and Fourth Review to be in community with others in a more expressive way.
How has COVID-19 impacted your work?
Charles: First I’d start with, all the death and destruction are terrible terrible things. The unnecessary loss of life is staggering and not surprising because of how we, as a people, have been unable to reconcile with ourselves to not kill each other. This of course all being related to capitalism.
C: But ultimately, leaving campus was good for me. I was very close to exhaustion because traveling to and from campus was a task that wasn’t great.
Charles reveals to us that he was going to so many places to do everything and he didn’t really have time to exist. Being forced to stay home gave him an opportunity to slow down. This meant he had a space to reconnect with books “that wasn’t because of some arbitrary sense of urgency or shame.” His bookshelf went from mocking him for sitting there and unable to be read and shifted to assuring him they would always be there. This also gave him space to figure out who he was as a writer. He started writing because he had something to say not because of an assignment. There was space and time to do that internal work and revision.
BOSTON
What brought you to Boston?
Charles was one of the students who knew he wanted Boston. This city brought him to his school rather than the other way around. Boston was this idea that existed in his mind, because of his family ties, as “an impassable and mysterious place.” When he visited in 2016 for the NSBE National Convention he saw this city as a place full of opportunity. He felt there would be really cool people to meet simply by virtue of the schools in the area and Northeastern would become his opportunity to explore everything that crossed his mind while still being in an academic setting. It’s safe to say Boston kept its promises and lived up to its potential.
What have you enjoyed? What surprised you?
He expressed that what he enjoys is also what surprised him. Boston is small — both geographically and socially. All the people you assumed to be inaccessible, really weren’t. The art of networking is a skill you learn quickly — one person can connect you to 10 more, and each of those to 10 more and it goes on and on and on. You learn to grow genuine relationships that help you experience more, and through these experiences you can learn — more about Boston, more about yourself, more about the world. And the organizing infrastructure is extensive, multifaceted, old, new, it’s everything! It symbolizes development and opportunity and growth, it symbolizes new horizons.
HOLLA!
How do you define Black joy?
Charles has done a lot of reading on the poetics of the Black experience, on the ideas that we’re still in the hold of the slave ship, still holding onto the trauma of the middle passage. And with the Black body being seen as a spectacle, he looks for the promise of Abolition, the promise of the worlds we create for ourselves.
C: Can freedom exist if it’s defined in this space and time? Is freedom joy? I don’t know, BUT joy is the complete freedom of the self and collective self. It’s the elimination of the pressure of the individual, we can do the work together. Much like abolition in jazz, it’s a collective improvisation.
C: The movement toward these things, these freedom dreams. Where I’m not an object, I’m not a spectacle unless I want to be. There’s agency and a communal aspect to it. Whether it’s hyper-philosophical like a jazz solo, or if it’s the experience of that solo. It could be hanging out with your friends without the metaphysical interpretation of what that means.
Our conversation with Charles was an amazing time that helped us reflect on how we define ourselves, why we do what we do, and what dreams we have for the future of ourselves and our communities. We thank him for the work he does in our community — past, present, and future. Follow him on IG (@charleswallacethomasiv) to keep up with the cool things he’s involved with!
Once upon a time there was a loose collective of student organizations know as BBSN, the Boston Black Student Network. BBSN aimed to create and maintain open lines of communication across campuses to uplift the Black student community and help it’s progression toward a positive future. The HollaDay was their annual event focused on networking and service, accompanied with the StrollOut Competition.
In 2021, now more than ever, we are searching for some resemblance to college experiences of the past and for any form of connection with our peers. The HollaDay: remastered. seeks to build upon BBSN’s mission by spotlighting community and student leaders to remind ourselves of who we are, what we can accomplish, and why we love to call Boston our home!
Follow @holladay.xxi on IG for more student and community leader spotlights
