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Levitt Center series on women leaders of color continues
By Ilana Schwartz ’17
November 17, 2016
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Not only was the conference table squished with bodies, but the Levitt Cen- ter Conference room walls were lined with students and staff, ready to be led by history Professor Celester Day-Moore and Elihu Root Chair in Women’s and Gender Stud- ies, Margo Okazawa-Rey, into a conversa- tion titled “Whose Politics? Race, History, and American Politics.”
Their goal was to create an open space for honest, deep dialogue full of discovery. To set this tone, Okazawa-Rey invited ev- eryone in the room to share just their first name and then something that people could not tell about them just by looking at them. Responses ranged from the fact that some- one was studying Italian, to having run a marathon, to being the granddaughter of an undocumented citizen, to being Latinx. People showed vulnerability with their an- swers, allowing for an honest and challeng- ing conversation to ensue about the election.
Day-Moore and Okazawa-Rey asked that people first share in small groups what surprised them about the election. Day- Moore gave an example “I am surprised at my own initial surprise from the election results,” and Okazawa-Rey responded, “I expected that Trump would win… but I am surprised at other people’s surprise at the results.” The room then split up into smaller groups totalkabouttheirsurprise.About five minutes later the room reconvened to share their responses. Many of these responses centered around media actions, both before and after the election, as well as how social media has in fact echoed geographical and social divides that have already existed.
With these responses voiced, Day- Moore and Okazawa-Rey then asked the room to return their small groups and with their surprises voiced to know explore their surprise.Whywereweconfused?Whatwere we curious about in our state of confusion? At this point Day-Moore and Okazawa- Rey both emphasized that this was a space in which to seek understanding and to steer away from expertise as the election results provedthatevenexpertsmightnotgetitright
and that there needs to be recognition of that. Coming out of another in-depth conver- sation in smaller groups, this time with small posters to write on, the group reconvened. Questions again circled around media, but also around how people might have voted for a candidate that, from one perspective, did not have their needs at heart and thus could be seen as voting against their own
identities and concerns.
After this, the conversation questions became more focused on action: “If we were to create a collective, how could our curiosities be included in a vision?” asked Okazawa-Rey. The room spoke as one big collective at this point, rather than in small groups.Ideaswerebroughtforthsuchasgiv- ing voice to minority groups and engaging diversegroupsofpeopleinoneconversation. Emphasis was consistently on conversation in all answers.
Okazawa-Rey then asked “How can we unknow so that we can listen?” The experts’ guess on where our country was positioned was far off and part of that, Okazawa-Rey suggested, was that many experts were so consumed with being an expert that they had forgotten to listen.
With that being said, Okazawa-Rey asked, “What kinds of spaces do we need to create on campus for these conversations… spaces I will for now call free spaces?” Ideas included multiple spaces. The DMC has al- ready created that space but “it should not be the only space,” insisted Okazawa-Rey. Spaceslike Opus,like Sadove,canhostthese conversations,though Professor Steve Orvis emphasized that these conversations need to move off the Hill, too. “I spend too much time on campus… academia is situated on hills across the world not speaking with the communities living ‘underneath them,’”she explained. Day-Moore then suggested that “there’s a radical component to doing something without administration,” and in- vited students to sign up to brainstorm more about what these free spaces will look like and to become facilitators for them. To end the meeting, Okazawa-Rey passed around sheets of paper with inspirational quotes on them, hoping to end on a more emotional note and help people heal.