A new club centered around student social liberties, Living While Black, is hoping to be established and recognized by Colorado State University in the next year.
The American Civil Liberties Union is planning to continue the Living While Black campaign on the Colorado State University campus with the establishment of a new club, said Savannah Brown, the leader for the creation of Living While Black.
Living While Black is a club that serves as a platform for students to share their own experiences, interact with others and confront issues of social justice, Brown said.
“With all the divisive rhetoric and politics and insanity and racism, we want to raise awareness about bias policing, and we want to make sure that campus works for all people,” Brown said.
Living While Black has not begun the registration process but plans to begin with an event to generate interest and support, said Joy Enyinnaya, social media director for Living While Black.
“At the moment, for us as an organization, where we are in the start up process so to speak, our focus is connecting with students and making them aware that there is this resource available,” said Mitali Vaidyanath. “As an ally, it is not my time to speak up. It is my time to pass the mic on because there are voices far bigger than mine with far more to say that need to be amplified.”
We want to be that platform where students feel free and safe to share their stories and how things are affecting them.” –Joy Enyinnaya, social media director for Living While Black
For the initial kickoff, Living While Black is looking to find support among preexisting student organizations, Brown said.
“We will be reaching out to student of color affinity organizations, student government, faculty, alumni and other allies in the CSU community,” Brown said.
This kickoff event is scheduled to happen in January in the Lory Student Center and is going to be a panel discussion regarding topical issues, said Enyinnaya.
The club hopes to work with other student organizations because they have similar missions and goals, but what distinguishes Living While Black is that their purpose is specifically tied to student policing, said Enyinnaya.
ACLU started the program at Smith College and is hoping to instate a new iteration at CSU, Brown said.
“The Living While Black campaign is multicultural,” Brown said. “The name ‘Living While Black’ is what ACLU has called their campaign, but I want to stress that we are open to all students.”
Through campus events, Living While Black hopes to engage and educate the student body about bias-motivated issues to have a truthful conversation about race and privilege, Brown said.
“People do things without understanding the consequences of their actions, so where we come in is to educate and to share the stories of students that have been personally impacted,” Enyinnaya said.
This organization will focus on changing bias views and will serve as a platform for students to share their experiences, Brown said.
“We want to be that platform where students feel free and safe to share their stories and how things are affecting them,” Enyinnaya said.
Corbin Reiter can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @CorbinReiter.
