Black Diaries: Diversity Matters

By Samantha Romero ‘16

Board member of Black Diaries, Koryn Frye Fuentes shares the importance of diversity on campus.

SR: Tell us about the upcoming event by Black Diaries.

KF: Black Diaries is an event at USC under the umbrella of BSA and SGB Black History Month Event. We’re bringing this film and creating a space in which students can come and view the film and it is this Thursday (2/25) at 7-9pm. It’s in WPH 207.

I’ve helped co-produce the narratives of four different students on campus some are graduate students some are law students that all identify as people of color, predominantly African American, African, we also have someone who identifies as Afro-Latina, Black students essentially. So they’ve shared with us and they’ve been so open in sharing their experiences as far as feeling victims of microaggression and also victims of feeling marginalized in their classes because of their materials that isn’t relevant to who they are and what their culture brings to the conversation so a lot of it is based upon the fact that although we are here, we don’t see ourselves in the faculty.

SR: Tell us about the NGO Black Diaries and how you became involved.

KF: Black Diaries is an NGO based in New York. It’s purpose is to create an atmosphere and a forum for black students at predominantly white institutions to voice their experiences and to build community through those experiences.

What we’re seeing now with so many first generation students entering predominantly white institutions and seeing our numbers slowly increasing we see there is a difference between what people of color experience at these schools and what non-coloured people of color experience. So what Black Diaries does is build community through that. They’ve done a Black Diaries Columbia and I was presented with the opportunity to do the Black Diaries USC.

SR: Why is diversity on campus important?

KF: Diversity matters because it is our world, it is merely the depiction of what the world really looks like. I hate even calling it diversity because no it’s just who we are. We are a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and various different identity people. I think the problem is that for so long only a portion of people were represented and now it’s spreading out and now everyone is able to get a piece of this pie and we want more of it. We want it to be equally distributed.

SR: What are different ways that you think the campus can improve diversity?

KF: I think being deliberate in hiring professors that are people of color and people that come from marginalized communities and various identities, I think the campus should represent the real world. Our world is changing and it’s evolving into one that is not defined by one heterosexual normative and I think we should look for professors and read academia that supports those themes.

I think diversity training should be mandatory Just like we have sexual assault training. We should have diversity training before we register for classes. I think that’s a great way to educate other students on the topic of diversity . I think so many of the times we marginalized communities are having conversations with just marginalized communities talking about everything we could change and the conversations isn’t really shifted to those who have questions like what is diversity and why does it matter.

I feel like it’s things like that is something the university can implement, making it mandatory for everyone so it’s a conversation about everyone because it affects everyone. That it’s not simply that group complaining about their issues, it is us as a university, this is our issue. So programs implemented by the university downwards to the students making things mandatory really making it a community effort rather than ‘we’re going to deal with you guys and what you guys want, like no it’s for the betterment of everyone.

SR: What future projects do you have planned with Black Diaries?

KF: In the future we would like to take Black Diaries to surrounding LA Schools such as UCLA, CSUN, we want to provide a space and a platform in which students can unite and find community. It’s so easy to feel alone when you’re not reading books about your people and you’re not seeing anyone who looks like you .

So it’s very easy to feel alone and discouraged asking what this is all for and then you look out in the world and it doesn’t seem like your life matters either because all of these current events. You find yourself asking if all my hard work is for nothing so that’s the goal of Black Diaries to spread throughout communities to encourage and inspire people of color to stand strong and to keep fighting, to fight on.