written by Thameka Nicole
Imagine this scene: You arrive at a foreign place; a place where hardly anyone—your peers, your elders, your teachers or administrators—looks like, thinks like or dresses like you. Yet, somehow, you are not only supposed to survive in this place; no, you are expected to thrive in this place, because most likely your parents, your brothers, and sisters, and quite possibly your extended family have all sacrificed in order to make sure that you—the quintessential "chosen one"—could be here. You are at Yale University, "Ivy Heaven," in the early to mid 1960’s and you are, simply put, black, negro, African American…
This past weekend, October 16th through the 18th, 2009, hundreds of former and current Black "Yalies" gathered in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the African American Cultural House at Yale. Fondly called the "House" by the over two generations of Yale students and scholars, who have been privileged to call this place their cliché "home away from home," the cultural center, was established forty years ago by a group of students who recognized the urgent need for a safe space for black students; a place that would allow students of color to not only survive, but to thrive in the foreign place in which they found themselves; a place that would ensure the continued renewal of black faces and black life at a formerly all white, all male institution—the demographics of a not-so-distant past.
The founders, all of whom are deceased, were Glen DeChabert, ’70, Armstead Robinson ’68, and my beloved godfather, Donald Ogilvie, ’68. For me, personally, Yale and the "House" hold such great significance, not only because my godfather loved the place dearly, and cared about it enough to dedicate his time and energy in order to make sure that it was a home away from home for future generations of black students such as myself, but also because my mother and father, Yale College classes of ’77 and ’72, respectively, met there and were also nurtured by the AFAM House and BSAY (the Black Student Alliance at Yale). For that reason, this weekend was especially meaningful for me and for my family, but this weekend was much larger than me, much larger than my folks, or even Ogilvie, Armstead, or DeChabert; for, as I stated at the beginning, hundreds of black Yale alumni and current students all gathered together in celebration of the House’s 40th birthday.
Aptly titled "A Movement and an Institution: Charting A Course For the Next Generation of Black Yalies," this weekend was not simply about reflection, remembrance, catching up with old friends, wine and cocktails, and fun times. While all of those things colored various parts of the weekend’s activities, as the title suggests, the weekend was largely about looking forward—looking forward to the next 40 years of African American cultural life at Yale, the next 100 years, 200, looking infinitely into the future and presence of beautiful black faces and black bodies, and most importantly, brilliant black minds at the Ivy League school.
The only full day of the celebratory weekend, Saturday, was largely occupied by workshops and roundtables in which students and alumni partook in discussions and conversations on a variety of issues, ranging from "The Black Church, Sexual Identity and Gay Marriage," to "The Practice of Medicine and Healthcare in Black Communities." In addition to these participatory roundtable discussions, alumni and students were also encouraged to attend a host of lectures that were graciously given by current Yale professors, particularly professors in the African American Studies Department, another institution at Yale that my godfather and the fellow founders fought hard to obtain and secure.
By all accounts, the roundtable discussions and conversations, as well as the Professor led lectures were not only interesting, but informative, collaborative and highly successful. Dean Pamela George, the current Director of the AFAM House, arranged for current Yale students to act as scribes and take notes at each of the sessions, fulfilling the promise of "charting a course." The notes from the sessions can be accessed by both alumni and students, and who knows what their future use may be…perhaps someone will take it upon themselves to use the notes to begin new research, or perhaps start a new course at the University…the possibilities are really quite endless.
Although there were activities on Sunday morning, including a traditional Black Church at Yale session, the weekend largely concluded Saturday evening with a Gala Dinner at the Omni Hotel at Yale. Lani Guinier ’74 JD provided the Keynote speech in which she discussed society’s collective responsibility for the overwhelming number of young black men who are imprisoned, and she stressed our responsibility to stem this alarming trend for fear that our complacency with the notion that "some black men are dangers," is a slippery slope to the one that "all black people are dangerous," and she used the recently controversial arrest of her colleague and fellow Yalie, Henry Louis (Skip) Gates, Jr. as a striking example.
Stemming from Guinier’s speech ,and what was arguably the main takeaway from the whole weekend is the idea that although some of us, especially those in attendance at this weekend’s celebration, and those of us who have been fortunate enough to attain higher education, may be successful black people who are "keeping up," that there are many more of us who, for one reason or another, are not. Yale, the "House" and the Black Student Alliance at Yale," as well as many other resources and institutions have definitely and definitively helped and shaped the lives of all Black Yalies, past and present, and all black people who are "keeping up"; now it is our responsibility, especially as young black people, to be metaphorical "the House," and to be the literal "Alliance," that will nurture and cultivate future generations of successful, black people. To do anything less, would essentially be "criminal" making us no better off than our shackled brethren…let us all rejoice in our collective successes and victories, but let us all not forget how hard it was to get there and the many who’ve been left behind…
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