Bayan Scholars Engage in Real Talk about anti-Blackness

Bayan recently held a “Real Talk” dialogue to discuss how we individually and collectively circulate anti-Blackness. By “anti-blackness,” we mean beliefs, words, actions, inaction, or policies that perpetuate racism toward African Americans. Anti-Blackness is a relatively new term. It is not meant to replace terms like “racism;” the term distinguishes racism that specifically targets African Americans. 

Twenty students and Southwestern professionals of Filipino descent met in small and large group discussions. We wrestled with questions probing our experiences observing anti-Blackness, how we contribute to anti-Blackness, what stops us from confronting our own anti-Blackness, and what prevents us from speaking out or taking action against anti-Blackness. 

The impetus for the program was three-fold. Part of our motivation came from some of our members' participation in Asian Solidarity Collective of San Diego's Anti-Blackness Convo. Another is the fact that the Bayan Learning Community will soon share a physical space on campus, "The Hub,"  with UMOJA, the African American Learning Community and the PUENTE program, the Latinx Learning Community. An overarching aim of this event is that Bayan is a space where Filipino/a American students prepare themselves not just to know themselves but also to prepare to enter and build a multicultural, multiracial, interethnic world. 

We knew we had to be purposeful in order to play a part to build an anti-racist world. And we recognized that this work requires self-awareness and consciousness of our own particular and collective relationship to anti-Blackness. This is why we needed to speak amongst ourselves and share our stories in order to be better at combating anti-Blackness.

Students mentioned anxiety about participating; many had never addressed the issue until this event. Being among friends made the convo feel less scary. “Anti-Blackness is a touchy subject,” one student wrote in his reflection on the event. “It makes me think about everyone that has been affected by this. . . .[And yet] I knew that I was not going to have much difficulty once I saw my group. I was paired with people that I’m close with, so I was open to sharing.” 

The dialogue structure helped one student be brave: “Having the faculty facilitate the conversation helped me open up about my anti-Black attitude and behaviors because there was someone there to guide the conversation and steer it into a new direction if things were about to get heated.” That environment helped folks tell difficult truths: “What surprised me about the event was that a lot of us [witnessed] some sort of anti-Black racism.” 

Goals and Communication Habits to Encourage Real Talk 

Many realized how anti-Blackness seeped into our lives. One recalled how he was “conditioned” to be anti-Black: “I remember as a young kid, my family would tell me to stay away from black people because they are criminals and a bad influence on others. At the time, I believed my parents. And for a long time, I had mixed feelings and views about Black people.” However, having African American people in his life changed his views, how real connection combats stereotypes: “In middle school, I started to meet and have more Black friends and they were able to change my perspective . . . and allowed me to break out the false messages about Black people.” 

Others mentioned how “colorism” in the Filipino community, the way lighter complexion is valued over dark skin tones, factors into anti-Blackness. Sharing those experiences unveiled how “colonial mentality” reinforces anti-Blackness. “We are sometimes inherently racist at times, and we don't even know it,” wrote another scholar, “especially stories about Filipino parents telling their children to not play outside to not darken their skin.” One student wrote about how internalized racism predisposes us to anti-Black attitudes.”Colonial mentality of ‘white skin equaling beauty’ in the Philippines is negatively affecting darker toned Filipinos and positively reinforcing Western ideals. It is prominent enough that when you travel to the Philippines, skin whitening products are all over the market and on the TV.”

This line of discussion revealed how we don’t spend intentionally talking about internal struggles ;like colonial mentality. One shared a common story: “ When I was younger, I was met with a lot of confusion of whether or not Filipinos were considered Asians or Pacific Islanders.” Someone else noted that, “Self awareness about our own Filipinx identity and experiences [can] help us deal with anti-blackness because it allows us to share our story” helping us to see points of connection and responsibility.

One student’s response summarized what many expressed: “I personally do not engage in addressing anti-Blackness because prior to this event, I did not know about this topic. Now that I am aware, I would engage in a deeper discussion on anti-Blackness with my peers.” She states how she wants to bring the conversation to others in her life: “ I would also talk to my parents about this topic because I have a close enough relationship with them where I can bring up issues such as anti-Blackness and have a conversation with my parents without any of us becoming "offended" by what one of us is saying.” Her final comment points to a possible follow up “Real Talk” - how to specifically address or “call in” someone saying or doing something anti-Black

We covered a lot of ground in two hours.Naming our contribution to anti-Blackness is a good first step. Recognizing how anti-Blackness is rooted in home-training and our historical experience with imperialism and colonial mentality is another important step. These revelations point to an analogous histories of marginalization African Americans and Filipinos face in the United States. That “family of resemblance” perhaps provides a point of connection and empathy. 

At the same time, there’s more work to do. Folks recognized we must link awareness and stories with action. One student mentioned the relationship between “looking inward” and taking action: “We gain more knowledge and awareness when we combat stereotypes and stand up for one another. I personally gain a sense of gratitude and more awareness of situations that try to bring races down.” His words remind us that awareness and action build upon one another, helping us be better: “I try my absolute best to stand up for people who are being discriminated against. If someone is getting bullied or is being excluded, I try to help to de-escalate the situation by either talking to them or defending them.”

Big salamat to Bayan Scholars for giving us permission to share their reflections. 

Of “Common Sense” & SMART Goals: Practice using Mentor Texts

This semester, Bayan Scholars asked professors to devote formal time to helping them prioritize and set goals - academic and otherwise. To that end, we played with the SMART protocol, an acronym that spells out traits of an effective plan: Specific, Measureable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time Oriented. Instead of relegating this topic solely to the Personal Development class, the professors wove SMART goals activities throughout the program. 

After a range of activities at the Winter retreat and Personal Development classes to develop ideas, students met up with both the Bayan professors to share their preliminary written SMART plan brainstorms. During these individual conferences, Bayan scholars received feedback, and subsequently revised and added in their journals more ideas into their prewriting.  

After all that, students had developed quite a lot of content they could use to create a statement, a narrative of their goals. In the English class, writers began to shape that content into a formal essay. 

To do so, students analyzed three “founding documents” of the United States: "The Declaration of Independence," The Preamble to the Constitution, and an excerpt of Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense.” Our purpose was less about the content than about the “moves” the authors used to express their ideas, the decisions they made around structuring their content - the "bite" the authors' patterns of expression. 

For instance, the Preamble is basically made up of three “chunks,” three distinct moves that answer the questions:

• Who are we? 

• What’s our collective problem? 

• What do we propose to do? 

Snowballs and Transitions to Higher Education

The academic core of the Bayan Community is a pair of linked classes: English Composition and Personal Development. Most of us have a good idea about English classes. We write. We read. We write and read - a lot, practicing the analytical and critical skills students need to succeed in college and beyond. But what about Personal Development? What is "PD"? What do students do in a PD  class? 

This semester’s Personal Development class is PD 114, “Transitions in Higher Education,” a course that provides a step-by-step approach to preparing for the culture and rules of higher education as well as acquiring and practicing the “soft-skills” required to the move from community college setting to a four year institution. This also include in the process of selecting and applying for college and securing funds to pay for it all. 

The very first activity of the semester students did is emblematic of the work students do in PD. Professor Crystal Alberto, Bayan’s coordinator and counselor, canvassed from students the obstacles, barriers, and issues they anticipate facing when they get to the college of their choice. She used one of the students’ favorite routines, the “snowball fight,” to brainstorm different items. Students jot down answers to a series of questions onto a sheet of scratch paper, crumple up those sheets, and toss them in the air to simulate a snowball fight. Students pick up the "snowballs", unwrap them, and share written responses with the entire class. A discussion follows to debrief and unpack ideas. Here's a link to guidelines for the activity. 

Because of the Filipino focus in the Bayan Learning Community, Professor Alberto used questions that compelled students to look for a "Filipino" angle regarding transferring. To be sure, many of the items on the list Bayan Scholars generated apply to all transfer students. And still, noting the particular "flavor" of their obstacles helped students see that their cultural and ethnic identities are constitutive, at least part, of what they may experience. That identity piece is definitely a worthy angle of investigation. 

Agbayani Village Trip: Pride and Provocation

Once again, Bayan Scholars made our way to Agbayani Village in Delano; it's become a yearly tradition for our learning community. This year, we visited this historic site on November 7th and 8th, a few weeks after Filipino American History month. To prepare for the trip, we devoted class time to begin untangling the difference between history and heritage. We also studied sections from Dawn Mabalon's Little Manila is in the Heart to familiarize ourselves with the plight of Filipino farm workers and the significance of Delano.

SWC Professionals help Bayan Scholars Develop Networking Skills

Photo by Ernesto Rivera

As we grow, Bayan plans to offer a mentor program, matching scholars with professionals for all the benefits we know that mentorship provides. Even as we aren’t at a place - yet! - for a full-blown mentor program as  PUENTE has, we can still help students develop skills they will need to make the most of mentor opportunities such as networking, introducing ourselves, asking questions - those “soft skills” that can make a huge difference. 

To that end, we set up a “mixer event” where students and Southwestern College professionals met “cocktail party-style” (there was no alcohol - just candy!) to practice meeting and greeting each other.

We broke the program up over a few days, reserving a portion of two class periods of Personal Development to prepare for the event. On the first day, students composed and practiced informal “elevator pitches,” quick self-introductions students might make when meeting a new teacher, prospective employer, or other person who they meet. The pitches we practiced were less formal than those proposed by Forbes or LinkedIn. Ours were intended for a more casual, low stakes situation. Folks jotted down their elevator pitches and practiced in front of the class and in pairs. 

Prepping for Finals: Finishing Strong!

At our last class meeting, the week before finals, we asked ourselves what we needed in order to finish the semester strong (yes, it should be "strongly", but artistic license, yeah?). For all but one student, this is first semester in college for everyone, our first experience with the ups and downs of the season, so we needed to spend a few minutes attending to this pressing issue. 

Scholars wrote their advice on index cards, and we collect them here in the two-minute video embedded above. In the spirit of helping ourselves, each other, and our followers, we share our collective advice for thriving during this crazy-making time of year.

What advice do you have for finishing out a session of school? What works for you? Share your comments below. Oh, and here's a link to the video should you want to share it. Cheers! 

Being Sweet: Caring for the Brains in our Bodies

In our quest to be more holistic in our approach in Bayan, we asked students to consider the concept of “sweet”. Not “sweet” as in sugar or candy, what FIlipinos would call mamatis. This "sweet" is an acronym to help us remember what we need to do to take care of the brains are in our body, to make sure that we attend to, crudely put, the physiology of learning. 

Sweet stands for Sleep, Water, Eating Healthy, Exercise, and Time to Relax, practices required to take care of our bodies, which in turn, keeps our brains working at top conditions for the cognitive challenges we face in our classes. 

With the exception of time, the elements of being sweet are easy to grasp. Time, in sweet terms, has to do with giving our brains and bodies “down time”, perhaps meditating or purposeful relaxation. Not channel surfing or binging on Netflix, but intentional practices to allow our bodies and brains to rest. Like the kind of "diffuse thinking" that Barbara Oakley discusses in her book Learning How to Learn. 

Jose Bowen, president of Goucher College and author of the provocatively titled  Teaching Naked discussed the “sweet” acronym on an episode of Teaching in Higher Education. We introduced sweet the first day of class. Every so often, we'd revisit the concept to check ourselves. Below is a Flipgrid, a video recording, of students' sweet self-evaluation we did right before the Thanksgiving long weekend because after the weekend, we only have one more week before finals. We figured that just before a break it would a good time to review how well we are treating the brains in our body. Have a look, and leave a comment about your sweet status below!