As proven through this site, throughout the years Black women have constantly put themselves on the line in working towards dismantling systems of oppression. Still, examples of such organizers and their influence have yet to be provided throughout our academic career at Silberman. In doing so, not only are we dismissive of the strides made in society as a result of this population and their organizing but we also turn a blind eye to groups who have had limited social power in society but still managed to enact change through a variety of ways.
Therefore, we are calling out Silberman’s performative commitment to promoting social justice.
Social justice without representation is NOT social justice.
These are our demands:
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Inclusion of the contributions of Black woman identifying organizers in the Silberman curriculum
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While we recognize the inclusion of #BlackLivesMatter in the CO syllabus, we find it to be a performative act as discussions related to the movement were surface level and often very critical. Indeed there were, and still are, areas to improve on within the movement, however, when referred to in class it was often to pick out the flaws of it. This was one of the very few movements developed by black women that was addressed throughout our academic career at Silberman. In fact, we were in awe that the curriculum failed to include the efforts made by the Black Panther Party who were a powerful force of organizing and, by the early 1970s, was 60% black women. Therefore, we demand Silberman develop a more inclusive curriculum and recognize the strides made in organizing by a diverse population, U.S. centered and globally. Examples of such topic students should be aware of include:
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Analysis of the meaning of organizing and how Silberman promotes the act to students
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The current curriculum merely looks at organizing through campaigns which is not representative of the all forms of organizing. In doing so, the curriculum neglects to acknowledge the strides made by those who don’t have the power and positionality to create and maintain campaigns. As students we, ourselves, may not have access to the networks needed to develop or join a campaign – so why is this solely being promoted as the way to organize? We call for a complete analysis of the term “organizing” and demand the institution acknowledge the various efforts made by groups without the use of campaigns. In doing so, we bring attention to impacts made by individuals with varying social statuses. Examples of this include:
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