By Briana Wiggins ’15
As the sun set on another week of classes, meetings and essay writing, black Amherst students welcomed alumni in the Gerald Penny Center for “Brother Talk, Sister Speak,” a recurring meeting that unofficially opens Black Alumni Weekend. The attendees ranged from first-years to alumni from the class of 1975. The conversation surrounded activism, Amherst and the ways varying generations have dealt with nationally and locally relevant acts of racism and injustice. The room was abuzz with discussion and advice from older alumni, as well as encouragement and bonding. Black Alumni Weekend 2015: By Any Means Necessary was finally under way.
A biennial event held since the early 1970s, Black Alumni Weekend had been planned months in advance by members of the Black Student Union with assistance from Amherst’s Alumni and Parent Programs. The weekend was filled with activities, guest speakers and many opportunities for Amherst students and alumni to converse and connect.
On Saturday morning, alumni were given the chance to relive their time at Amherst with “flash courses”—half-hour sample classes with Amherst professors introducing themes from current courses. Professor Marisa Parham spoke about her newest project, Black Haunts: Thinking Black Lives Digitally,and the current state of iRevolution. The resident expert on creolism, Professor Cobham-Sander, took inspiration from a course she’s co-teaching this semester called “The Creole Imagination.” Professor John Drabinski discussed “Panther Theory: Reading Black Power,” a favorite course among Black Studies majors. And James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time was explored by Professor Khary Polk.
Highlights of the weekend included guest speakers Sonia Sanchez, poet and activist, and Dr. Blair L.M. Kelley, historian, author and commentator. At Saturday’s community lunch, Sanchez gave an emotional, eloquent and inspiring speech about the late Gerald Penny ’77 and black solidarity. With a charge to support and uplift one another, Sanchez left attendees in awe and near tears. Dr. Kelley delivered the evening’s keynote address and spoke about remembering the past so that we may shape our future. “Too often, we forget,” she said over and over about the trials people had to overcome during Jim Crow and the civil rights movement.
The day’s finale was the Charles Hamilton Houston Dinner, named for the 1915 Amherst graduate who became the legal architect of Brown v. Board of Education. Student organizers set the scene in the Powerhouse with centerpieces featuring small, lighted tree branches and napkins wrapped in twine to represent the connectedness among the generations of black Amherst students. Vanessa Olivier ’01, New York-based defense attorney, was presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award by Constance Holden ’15. Students then gifted convolvulus seeds to alumni as a reminder of the weekend and the relationship they will always have with Amherst College.
I think I speak for all current students who attended this weekend’s events when I say we have been encouraged, renewed and inspired by the visiting alumni and speakers. Our theme, By Any Means Necessary, permeated the air to rouse another generation to stand, fight and work against the injustices of the world. Meeting and learning from the Amherst alumni who have worked toward this goal was truly motivating.
