September 29, 2011
Last Wednesday was the first interest meeting of a new club at Hamilton College known as the Feminists of Color Collective (FCC). The meeting was a wild success, and those who attended had a lot to say.
The two students responsible for the creation of the club are Jennifer “JR” Roberts ’14 and Tracey Ogagba ’12. The FCC is very artistic and performance-oriented in nature.
The preamble of their Constitution states, “The Feminists of Color Collective will create a political safe space and artistic outlet for Hamilton students to explore the intersectionality between race, gender, class and sexuality.”
Faculty Advisor of the FCC Dr. Crystal Leigh Endsley of the Africana Studies Department was particularly excited to work with the FCC, as she has a strong background in the arts, including her talent as a spoken word artist.
During the FCC meeting, Dr. Endsley took us through a very basic warmup for performers and then had the members do a number of activities to give them a good idea of what it would be like working with the FCC. The first game that everyone played was referred to as “the Wubba Wubba game.” In the Wubba Wubba game, everyone got into a large circle, and people had to enter the circle doing a unique sound and movement. The game grew more difficult as people had to not only make unusual sounds and movements but also interact with one another in a distinctive manner. In another game, everyone had to split up into groups and create their own music video in the style of their choice. The first interest meeting of the FCC was positively received.
Jennifer Hightower ’12 stated that she “had an amazing time at the Feminists of Color Collective meeting. For the first time (in a long time) I took pride in being a student of color on this campus.”
What’s the deal with all the performance? Well, the second objective of the FCC is to “educate the campus by combining open and honest discourse, literature and past experiences shared within the safe space to create three activist street theatre performances each semester.” The FCC does not seem to have any plans for small, unnoticed performances either.
Kevin Alexander ’13 said, “I love this feeling. Like the first Feminists of Color Collective meeting was merely the beginning of a powerful movement. I’m glad to be a part of it!”
The final objective of the FCC is to “enlighten the campus throughout the year by hosting a variety of performances, lectures and events centered around the intersection of race, gender, class and sexuality.” In order to gain membership into the collective, one must first go through an audition, but the audition is not meant to cut members away from the club. Rather its purpose is to find out how you best fit into the club. The club has enough room for performance talents of all different types. To join, e-mail the founders or the faculty advisor of the club at jroberts@hamilton.edu, togagba@hamilton.edu or cendsley@hamilton.edu. The experience is sure to be an unforgettable one.
As Nanyamka-Keyane Fleming ’14 stated, “I had an amazing time at the Feminists of Color Collective meeting. Seriously, though, one of the best experiences I’ve had at Hamilton thus far.”