Black: One Word; Different People
On February 22, NYU Wagner hosted a conversation between Wagner staff and faculty on their black experience and what black history means to each of them, featuring Kevin Collymore, Assistant Director of Advising and Student Services, Student Services, and Carla Jackie Sampson, Clinical Associate Professor of Healthcare Management and Public Service and Director of Health Policy and Management Program and online Master of Health Administration Program. The event was moderated by Carmel Boyle-Lewis, Director, Human Resources and Diversity & Inclusion Officer at NYU Wagner.
Boyle-Lewis started the conversation by asking about participants’ ancestry. Collymore explained that his parents are from Barbados, and he is a first-generation American, Sampson grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and migrated to the United States as an adult. When asked what home means for them, it was contextual. Collymore stated that his definition varied depending on who he was speaking to, while Sampson emphasized that home was more of a mental state for her. Both Collymore and Sampson agreed that they learned to code switch to feel more welcomed in their multicultural realities.
When asked what “black” meant to them, it differed between the United States and the Caribbean. Collymore learned about the histories of the United States and Barbados to understand how the word differed in each context. For Sampson, the concept of being black and race was first brought to her attention when she arrived in the United States. In Trinidad and Tobago, there was no differential treatment based on race. They agreed that the political context of their ancestral homes is more divided through the idea of class and not race. More recently, a divide between natives and foreign nationals has emerged as natives are being priced out of their homelands by foreign investments.
Black History Month meant different things to both Collymore and Sampson. Collymore sees the month as an opportunity to learn about what was happening in America and broaden his knowledge. Sampson did not understand it at first and sees the month as a form of tokenism as it tends to focus on specific people and accomplishments. There is a rich cultural fabric of black people ignored by the emphasis on certain events and exceptional people in history. Collymore and Sampson acknowledged that black history is made every day.
Boyle-Lewis asked if they had opinions on the seemingly interchangeable use of the labels African-American and black. Boyle-Lewis pointed out that black does not refer to any specific country of origin. While African-American is meant to include those who are part of the African diaspora, its hyphenation implies a sort of “otherness.” Sampson called the label black a sort of black box, as lots of history was lost in the Middle Passage, but she would not consider it a negative label. However, the use of African-American has pushback from those that have ties to specific regions that are not the continent of Africa. Collymore states his family, being from Barbados, does not prefer the term and black is a safer label. He mentions that opinions on the labels will depend on the person.
Finally, Boyle-Lewis asked them to reflect on their experiences being black and any biases they have encountered. Sampson stated that she could count how many black faculty she has encountered as a student in the United States.. Her natural accent and speech rate also made it harder for people to understand her earlier in her career. Students have told her she was the first black professor, or even teacher, they have ever had. Collymore then said a student emailed him saying they were grateful to have a black academic advisor as there are not many black men in administrative higher education roles. Reflecting on his experience as an academic advisor, Collymore cautioned that guessing what struggles black students may encounter might not be beneficial as every black experience is different. By sharing their black background, the speakers expressed how each experience is unique.