Celebrating Black Voices 2024

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The Heights

Celebrating Black Voices

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The Heights

Celebrating Black Voices

Cultivating Community

The Black Women Matter Initiative fosters a mentorship community for Black female students.

BY ERNEST ROMERO Projects Editor CARINA MURPHY Editorial Assistant

Since its founding in 1973, the Women’s Center (WC) has aimed to foster an inclusive and empowering environment for Boston College students of all gender identities, with programming on topics such as sexual assault awareness, body image, and gender inclusivity.

But in 2018, former WC staff member Courtney Wright, BC ’16 and ’20, and WC Director Katie Dalton, recognized a consistently low traffic of Black female students coming through the center’s doors.

While considering the weight of past anti-Black incidents on campus, Wright—who worked as a resident assistant on a floor in Welch Hall that was graffitied with racial epithets—was

Chestnut Hill, allowing participants to reflect far from the stressors of academia, according to Christie Louis, a current student leader of the BWM Retreat and MCAS ’24.

Louis shared that participants indulge in a few days surrounded by fellow Black female students, alumnae, and faculty who understand the heightened sense of othering that comes with studying at a PWI. Only 4.31% of undergraduate students at BC identify as Black or African American according to BC’s 2021-2022 Common Set Data.

“It’s really about cultivating self-care and also sisterhood,” Louis said. “We don’t get to have that in any other space because we’re always in a predominantly white space. You’re always kind of going ‘go, go, go,’ in school, especially as Black women.”

Upon their arrival at the retreat at the Connors Center in Dover, Mass., participants are greeted with gifts cen-

PHOTO COURTESY OF COURTNEY WRIGHT

As a WC staff member, Courtney Wright founded The BWM Initiative in 2018. motivated to create a space for Black tered around nurturing themselves. This women to find solace in an environment past October, the retreat offered particthat can feel unforgiving, she said. ipants bonnets made in and imported “One of the newly renovated study from Nigeria. rooms was defaced with spray paint “We understand what you need to with anti Black names written in there,” nourish your body and to feel good and Wright recalled. “Anytime something to rejuvenate during the school year, like this happens on campus—you and here we are providing upon entry,” know, that was not the first time—cam- Louis said. pus gets really heavy, and especially for According to Louis, the group of certain students.” about 60 retreat participants are dividWith a desire to finally fill this gap of ed into “sisterhoods,” each directed by support for Black women at BC, Wright a select group of student leaders with founded The Black Women Matter Ini- assistance from faculty and alumnae. tiative (BWM).

When building the BWM program, “I spent time interviewing current Wright knew that inviting Black female students … to understand their expe- alumnae and faculty would be an imrience at BC as Black women,” Wright portant tool to help participants navisaid. “And then asked them, ‘Okay, well gate the complications of undergraduate what would you want in a program, life, she said. in a service—especially if it’s coming “We wanted to make sure that it was from the Women’s Center—and how a mixture of the types of adults who can we use that information to create work at BC,” Wright said. their dream?”

As part of the retreat, faculty and Today, the BWM Retreat is a week- alumnae lead discussions on whatever end of comfort and joy away from subject is most pertinent to the group

PHOTO COURTESY OF VICTORIA ADEGBOYEGA

experience without it,” Olojede said. “I think you have to do it at least once. It impacts you in a way where it reminds you that there is a group of people who know exactly what you have experienced and that is not something you get to come across very often.”

Mullins echoed Olojede’s sentiment, and said the program brought her out of her shell.

“It’s helped me get connected to the Black community so much more,” Mullins explained. “And honestly, I feel like it helped me take the jump freshman year from being a scared little freshman who still didn’t know how to get involved, to joining an African dance team my sophomore year.”

Mullins emphasized the importance of the connections made in the program, and the retreat’s ability to foster meaningful relationships.

“It’s so lovely just to see how people become such good friends,” she said.

“I’ve seen best friends come out of this retreat every single year that I’ve been a part of it, and we’re allowing them to have that space to do so. Because honestly, you never know if these Black women would have met each other without the retreat.”

Though she is no longer involved in the WC’s coordination of the BWM Initiative, Wright said she is proud of how the program has expanded and hopes it continues to grow on BC’s campus.

“It’s great to have this retreat to go on, but, you know, we are students or employees here, we cannot just retreat, right?” Wright said. “We need to have our space here too” Louis said she hopes that in the future, other cultural groups on campus

On the BWM Retreat, the student s are grouped into “sisterhoods.” at that moment. Past topics range from people who are like you matters, and friendship, to love and relationships, to being in spaces with them matters general life as Black women at a PWI. when you’re constantly in a sea of white Alexis Silva, MCAS ’24, said it was students,” current BWM student leader beneficial to meet and speak with older Lashawnna Mullins, MCAS ’25, said. people who understood the struggles Mullins is far from alone in this young Black female college students feeling. According to a University of face.

South Carolina study, Black students “I always love to see that the students studying at PWIs are consistently imare continuing to meet with the [profes- pacted by both subtle and overt racial sional] staff, no matter what department discrimination from students, faculty, they’re in,” Silva explained. “Whether staff, and campus police alike. they’re working in athletics, whether “When you’re walking into a class they’re working in UCS, whether they’re and you’re the only Black female, it kind part of the Women’s Center, financial of does something to your confidence, it aid—whether they need them through does something to the way you interact the resources they provide at BC or not.” with the class,” Mullins said. “But seeing Outside of guided discussions, par- these girls really come to life on this ticipants are given unstructured free retreat is what I love the most.” time to get to know the other people in Johany Jeune’s, CSON ’25, experitheir “sisterhoods” on their own terms ence parallels Mullins’. while making use of culturally centered “My class was predominantly white activities offered by the retreat, Louis through [CSON], and so are my prosaid. fessors,” Jeune said. “So being able to “We always tell students, ‘Go relax,’” find somebody I could like, talk to and said Louis. “But students stay and make connect with … I think it just served as waist beads or play in the game room, they’ll learn Zumba. We’ve done head wrapping, we did sugar-scrub making, all those types of things.”

This past year, the BWM Retreat expanded beyond a traditional weekend getaway and launched a new yearlong mentorship program titled Lele’s Keeper.

Named after the Swahili word for Black beauty, the program retains the “sisterhood” small groups element of the retreat to give participants and student leaders the opportunity to grow their relationships even further, Silva said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VICTORIA ADEGBOYEGA “We really just want to have a time Black female alumnae and faculty act as mentors to the students in the program. to bring everyone together to just sit, a ground to meet people outside of my will start their own programs mirroring relax, and continue what we’ve been class here.” the BWM Initiative. doing,” Silva explained.

Past participant Esther Olojede, “This was someone’s big idea …

Lashawnna Mullins, another current CSON ’26, said she encouraged all Black and now it’s become something that’s BWM student leader, said the program female students to become involved in tangible and possible,” Louis said. “BC is vital in creating representation for the the initiative and that it was a transfor- has incredible resources—use those Black female community at BC. mative part of her time at BC. resources. Come up with the idea and “Representation matters, seeing “Honestly I can’t imagine a great BC make the plan.” n

Activism Through the Arts

Kemp Harris, a retired Newton educator and singer-songwriter, uses art as a vessel for activism.

BY GENIEVIEVE MORRISON Assoc. Newton Editor LANEY MCADEN Asst. Newton Editor

Kemp Harris, an activist, singer-songwriter, and retired Newton educator, has a deep and colorful history and an even brighter future, making an impact on the city with musical and political commentary.

“When he sings a song, I feel like his heart’s in it, and his history’s in it, and his passion’s in it,” Harris’ manager Ralph Jaccodine said.

Before Harris performed full-time, he worked as an elementary school teacher in Newton Public Schools for 38 years, using music and storytelling to instill a love of music and fun in his students.

Lauren Comando, a fourth-grade

teacher who worked with Harris, said her students were captivated by his engaging teaching style when he visited her classroom.

“The children were glued because, not only was he beloved, but because of his storytelling abilities and just their love for him,” Comando said.

Harris explained that his students’ takeaways from his songs and stories were often surprising.

“There are these special moments that students will take away, that you hadn’t even thought as being important,” Harris said.

“You find out that something really meant a whole lot to them.”

Harris grew up in segregated Edenton, N.C. before moving to Newton in 1957. He said his experiences with racism remain with him as an adult and artist.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KEMP HARRIS

Harris retired from teaching and began pursuing music full-time in 2019.

“When you went to the movie theaters then, you bought a ticket outside but then you went up the fire escape because that’s where Black people sat,” Harris said. “You couldn’t sit downstairs.”

Harris said moving from his hometown to Newton was an important and positive transition for his family.

“Newton, for us, was sort of part of that whole migration north kind of thing,” Harris said. “A lot of folks were leaving the South, and we just found Newton to be a very welcoming community.

As a teacher in the city, Harris found that discussing his own experiences with racism could help his students understand the issue.

“When you put a personal thing there, it affects people,” Harris said. “You know, you see black-and-white photos of the Civil Rights Movement, and it makes it seem like it was millions of years ago, but it wasn’t that far back.”

Comando said Harris’ retellings of his childhood experiences deeply moved her students.

“He started to share about his childhood growing up as a little Black boy in the segregated South, and this just spoke to my kids as such an emotional thing,” Comando said.

Harris produced music on the side throughout his teaching career, releasing albums in 2002 and 2006. Comando said Harris gave her class a CD with many of his songs during one of his visits. According to Comando, her students played his song “Edenton” so frequently that she worried they would burn holes into the disk.

“It became like a theme song for fourth grade, and for understanding that they were

on the cusp of turning into people who were going to have ideas about things.” Comando said. “He really, in so many ways, he made a great impact.”

Harris said he also educated his students on political participation by taking them to watch people vote every time an election took place at the school.

“Every time there was voting, the whole class, we would just go down and we would sit on the floor in the gym and just watch people vote,” Harris said.

After 38 years of teaching, Harris retired in 2019 and pursued singing, songwriting, and performing full-time.

He has acted in the film Bleed for This and Showtime’s SMILF series, performed in a television storytelling series with WGBH/PBS titled Stories From the Stage, and more.

“I retired at 60 because I really wanted to get into this other part of what I do—the performance side of what I do,” Harris said.

Harris says he has always regarded art as a venue for activism.

“I grew up in a time when, you know, the folk music, protest music, and all the music that I heard was for a purpose,” Harris said.

“I think that one of the things that artists should do is to keep reminding people of what our situation is.”

Jaccodine said as an artist, Harris is relentlessly truthful and persistently optimistic.

“A good artist can tell a history to talk about pain, but leave you more informed, more hopeful, and that’s one thing that Kemp’s really good at,” Jaccodine said.

At the end of January, Harris plans to record his next album, The American

Chronicles, at Fame Studios in Alabama, where artists such as Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, and Demi Lovato have also recorded. Harris says the album will document his lived experiences as a Black, gay man.

“I’m just taking my views as a Black gay man in this country, looking at what’s happening in our government, just the world in general,” Harris said. “They’re all these little short statements on what’s going on and my reflection of it.”

Harris said his 2020 single, “Goodnight America,” encapsulates his mission as both an activist and an artist—to speak truthfully about his own experience and the world around him.

“I was so tired of the noise and the yelling and the partisanship of what’s going on,” Harris said. “I’ve done other things that are sort of more pointed in terms of my politics, but with this, I just wanted to write a gentle lullaby for the country.”

Jaccodine said Harris often concludes his live shows with this song, which he says switches the mood in the audience from energetic to somber, as Harris reminds his listeners of the nation’s political reality.

“It changes the room, because he’s joyful and all over the stage and doing this, and then he leaves with ‘Goodnight America’ and it’s beautiful, but it makes you think,” Jaccodine said.

Over a simple score of melodic piano notes, Harris sings his heartfelt wish for peace and progress.

“Good night, America,” Harris sings.

“Doors will open for you / But there are miles to go before you find your way back home again.” n

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The Heights

Success over Stigma

Celebrating Black Voices

In fields that can be isolating and stigmatized, Black STEM students and professors pursue their passions.

BY ANGELINA LI Assoc. News Editor JACK BECKMAN Asst. News Editor ANNIKA ENGELBRECHT Asst. News Editor

While some kids were afraid of going to the doctor, Christie Louis looked forward to each of her doctor’s appointments. From a young age, she knew she wanted to go into healthcare.

“I was really passionate about going into medicine,” Louis, MCAS ’24, said. “I feel like little kids are usually scared of doctor’s appointments … but I would quite literally like count down to my next doctor’s appointment because I was just so excited to be able to go.”

Now pursuing a degree in biology on the premedical track, Louis said the isolation that comes from navigating STEM classes as a Black student can be difficult and disappointing.

“Just being in those classes and not seeing a lot of people that look like you,” Louis said. “That can be a bit difficult and kind of disappointing because it’s just hard to not feel like you fit in completely.”

Louis said the dynamics involved in group projects are surprising and can cause her to question herself.

“I’m seeing white students not really want to work with me or turn away,” Louis said. “And I sometimes question, ‘Oh, is it the belief that I’m not smart enough to do it?’ Or, is it like, ‘I’m not capable?’”

Louis said these social dynamics are issues worth talking about.

“I think we definitely sometimes feel isolated and like we’re not necessarily welcomed or believed the same that we could do it as much as other students,” Louis said.

“I think people want you to fail sometimes, unfortunately.”

While initiatives like Gateway Scholars—a BC program designed for students of color in STEM— are a good start, BC can continue to provide for its minority student s in STE M by creating more affinity groups on campus and expanding mentorship opportunities, Louis added.

“I also think it’d be really cool if there was some type of mentorship prog ram where you come in as a freshman and you get partnered with someone who’s a junior, senior, who kind of has gone through it,” Louis said.

Louis said her biggest advice for students of color who plan to pursue STEM majors is to not let the expectations of others get to them and to focus energy into their work.

“I think people want you to fail sometimes, unfortunately,” Louis said. “And I think when it feels like ever ybody else in [your] class is against you and wanting you to fail, that’s when you should almost fight back the most and be like, ‘No, I am capable of doing it.’”

In addition to expanding academic support for students, Louis also said creating a professional network like Eagle Exchange—a mentorship program pairing current BC students with alumni—specifically tailored to AHANA students could offer examples of success to look up to.

“A freshman just needs to see that someone did it, and that they have a job, and that they’re successful, and that it’s possible,” Louis said.

According to Louis, diversifying STEM classes is necessary for students to understand and acknowledge the experiences of people with different backgrounds.

“Whether you’re working in a

clinical space, like a hospital, or you’re working in labs, or you’re doing healthcare consulting—literally whatever it is—you’re gonna be encountering all walks of life,” Louis said. “So that should be reflected in the student body and in the student population that is taking those classes.”

Similar to Louis, Munachi Onyiuke, CSON ’25, also said that being a Black student in STEM at BC can feel isolating.

“You know, you look to your left or right—there’s nobody who really looks like you,” Onyiuke said. “I think that kind of hinders when people are communicating or in class, when you’re asking questions to your peers [like], ‘Oh, did you get that note?’”

Onyiuke is a member of the Gateway program, which she said enabled her to form strong connections with her peers and develop personal relationships with her professors.

“Relationship building with your STEM professors and being able to meet them—even if you don’t have a class with them because all of them teach upper level classes—has been such a great experience,” Onyiuke said.

Onyiuke is also a member of the Schiller Institute Student Board, which she said was created with the purpose of aligning the Schiller Institute’s values with the diverse composition of the student body.

“I was actually on the first wave of Student Board members when it first became a student board, and it is a group of about 12 of us,” Onyiuke said. “Our role initially was to kind of make what would be the precedent for the entire rest of its livelihood in the future.”

According to Onyiuke, the board was designed to promote representation of the diverse array of student backgrounds.

“Another component we’re trying to focus on is trying to be fair and truly trying to represent what the Boston College student population looked like, and kind of amplify every person’s voice,” Onyiuke said.

While there is not a specific diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) component to the student board, the board’s core mission is dedicated to creating an inclusive env ironment , Onyiuke said.

“While we don’t have a specific DEI initiative or DEI focus on the side, everything we do is geared towards making sure that the [student board] is promoting diverse initiatives,” Onyiuke said.

Onyiuke said it is important for B C to make consistent progress toward equity for Black students on campus.

“A freshman just needs to see that someone did it, and that they have a job, and that they’re successful, and that it’s possible.”

“This whole topic about being Black in America, we have to understand that it’s not just about equality, it’s about equity too,” Onyiuke said.

“And because Black students are historically the most disadvantaged students—socioeconomically, specifically—it’s also about what kind of equitable things can we put in place to support Black students?”

There also exists a stigma, Onyiuke said, around Black students’ socioeconomic status.

“At BC, I think there might be

this kind of stigma that every Black person you see probably came from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background,” Onyiuke said. “And that is also not the case in a lot of situations too. So it’s also about balancing that tightrope.”

Oluchi Ota , another member of the Schiller student board, said normalizing Black experiences in STEM fields through outreach and recognition is one of the biggest ways BC can support students of color.

“But also the recognition of just like Black normalcy … not ne cessarily feeling like they have to go to like extraneous feats just to feel equal or recognized or honored in the same way as people that are doing maybe less than them,” Ota, CSON ’24, said.

Another way to open doors for BC’s students of color is to better publicize opportunities and encourage students to apply, Ota said.

“I think that a lot of the times, I’ve often strayed from applying to things because it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s probably so hard,’” Ota said.

Like Louis and Onyiuke, Ota also said that being one of the only students of color in her STEM classes is a challenge.

“It’s tough to a l w ay s b e t h e first person—the first Black person—into a certain room that has any level of closed doors.”

“It’s tough to always be the first person—the first Black person—into a certain room that has any level of closed doors,” Ota said.

Ota said that looking at communities of color and understanding what they need can directly lead to successful innovation in scientific fields. “[Black students] all come from such different backgrounds and have such different perspectives and stories and views on things,” Ota said.

“I’m glad that I have them as people that I know because it constantly reminds me that being Black isn’t a monolith, and our experiences aren’t all the same, and we don’t come from like the same background.”

Ismael Ben Fofana, assistant professor of biology, said his deeply-held passion for science has always been closely linked with a desire to help other people.

“I’m not just interested in science for being a scientist, but how could you resolve some of the problems that people are facing—particularly in developing countries,” he said.

Fofana, who grew up in Côte d’Ivoire, initially studied crop science in hopes of devising a solution to the famines that plagued farmers across West Africa.

“I was aware of famine in some places in Africa,” Fofana said. “What I was thinking when I got into grad school was engineering plants for farmers so that they can save their crop and don’t lose too much.”

Fofana said he had always known about HIV on some level, but when he talked to graduate school colleagues who were performing HIV research, he opened his eyes to the importance of the field and shifted his focus to HIV vaccine development.

“It’s my meeting with these people that I realized that HIV was such a big deal, and that’s how I switched my mind and thought about working on HIV,” Fofana said.

While performing research in Japan, Fofana met Welkin Johnson, then a professor at Harvard Medical

PHOTO COURTESY OF ISMAEL BEN FOFANA

Fofana researched HIV vaccine development before teaching at BC. School. lenge, but we’re enjoying doing it.”

When Johnson became chair of Fofana said that mentoring stuBC’s biology department, he invited dents is one of the most gratifying Fofana to follow him—a role that parts of being a professor.

Fofana said was markedly different “That’s the fun part of it—getting from his previous positions. that email from students, ‘Oh, I got in “Yes, there were challenges, but here,’ Fofana said. “‘Last week, I got for me, it was worth it,” Fofana said. into dental school.’ You get emails “I would see the challenges as moti- like that [from students], and that’s vation to do what I really wanted to priceless.” do. I felt like, ‘Okay, I have the opAccording to BC mathematics portunity to do what I was dreaming professor Caleb Ashley, the field of doing,’ so I was just enjoying the of mathematics heavily relies on moment.” community.

According to Fofana, BC has made “As passionate as I am about my significant strides during the last research, my teaching, [and] my decade in diversity efforts—both in mentorship, the mathematics comterms of outreach and retention—for munity is something that I belong students and faculty alike. to,” Ashley said.

“I can see how the [student] popAshle y is a National Science ulation is more diverse,” Fofana said. Foundation Ascend Fellow, which he “Even with faculty … you have more said is a government-funded initiawomen professors, you have more tive aiming to diversify the profesunderrepresented minority profes- sorial. Even in the field sors , so this is good of mathematics, biases for all of us—a lot of are common, he said. progress.”

Fo f a n a s a i d h e hopes to expand and increase the funding of initiatives targeting students from underrepresented backgrounds to allow more access to opportunities “I know we have programs like SACNAS and Gateway Scholars to try to help students to achieve, but we want to see more of that and, “There’s a logical nature more importantly, give them to mathematics, but exmaybe more scholarships for a trinsic bias operates defisummer internship and things like nitely in the field, and how that,” Fofana said. it’s carried out, and one can see it,” Ashley said. “There are choices. We can act like we don’t see it, we can deny we see it, or we can confront it.”

Ashley has an anti-racism statement on his professional website, in which he describes the DEI work built into his research.

“It would be easier not to have it,” Ashley said. “But I think it’s there because even if it’s uncomfortable, the need to have these conversations is greater than the alternative of not.

Even though it’s easier to not put it there, to not have conversation, that alternative is not acceptable.”

According to Ashley, an effective way to combat inequalities in academia is to take preventative measures rather than reactionary.

“One way to respond to things is you kind of wait for some event to happen and then you kind of clutch at your pearls and have some reaction,” Ashley said. “We don’t like this and we deplore that’—that’s kind of reactionary, so that’s one way to respond to these things. Another But while mentorship opportu- way to respond is to have ongoing nities and programs are important, conversations.” students should be allowed to take Ashley said BC is making proginitiative and forge their own paths— ress toward increasing conversation especially those from underrepre- about diversity in its departments sented backgrounds, Fofana said. and among the student body.

“You want to let [students] find “This is an issue that the Universitheir own way,” Fofana said. “So it’s ty as a whole is dealing with,” Ashley not just providing, providing, provid- said. “I think it’s important to share ing, and then they don’t know how to and to be able to engage in these achieve things by themselves. Find- kinds of conversations.” n GRAPHICS BY PARKER LEAF / HEIGHTS EDITOR ing the right balance is always a chal-

“I would see the challenges as motivation to do what I really wanted to do.

I felt like, ‘Okay, I have the opportunity to do what I was dreaming of doing,’ so I was just enjoying the moment.”

The Heights

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Designing the Future of Africa As the African Student Organization celebrates its 30th anniversary, it prepares to exhibit Afro-futurism through fashion, narrative storytelling, and dance performances.

BY SOFIA TORRES Arts Editor

During the summer of 2023, Georgette Mensah-Hayes, LSEHD ’25, and Clarisse Ebeh, MCAS ’25, began to brainstorm the potential theme for Boston College’s African Student Organization’s (ASO) most ambitious event: its annual Fashion Show.

The co-event coordinators narrowed down their idea to a fashion concept that would allow the club to artistically showcase not only what they knew about the past and present of Africa, but what they envisioned for Africa’s future.

ASO is a student-led organization that is “dedicated to sharing the diversity of Africa’s cultures outside and within the Boston College community,” according to a description on its Facebook page.

For ASO’s members, the club means so much more.

“I’m Ghanaian-American, and I feel like back home I didn’t really get a chance to really tap into that identity of mine,” Maame Twum-Barima, ASO’s president and MCAS ’25, said.

Tw um-B ar ima w a s rai s e d in Princeton, N.J., in a predominantly Asian-populated area where she struggled to fit in socially—a factor that motivated her to join ASO and become one of three freshmen representatives during her first year at BC, she said.

“I feel like I wouldn’t have a career aspiration designated to the wellbeing of Africans and African Americans if I wasn’t a part of ASO and didn’t have that support system.”

“I know that every Sunday or every other Sunday, when we come together for our meetings or we come together for practice, I know that’s a time I can make jokes regarding Nigeria or talk about certain things that I know people will understand,” Temilade Onile, ASO’s current secretary and CSOM ’26, said.

Like Twum-Barima, Onile was a freshman representative

during her first year at BC. For Onile, the Fashion Show is a way she stays connected with her culture as an outsider looking in, while creating awareness on issues within the continent.

“Just because we are not living there does not mean we do not want to partake in re-writing our African future, because we’re all aware of what’s going on.”

“Even though in school I was very much in tune with myself,” Onile said.

“I just wished there were more African students like more people to relate to, so I knew when I got to college that there was going to be a bigger presence and I knew ASO was something I wanted to be a part of.”

Ali Diba, LSEHD ’25, was the third freshman representative for his class and is currently ASO’s social media chair.

Diba believes that his time at ASO, along with bringing him closer to his identity and connecting with other African cultures, has impacted his career goals.

“I was pushed to learn more about my culture, Senegalese,” Diba said.

“In terms of career aspirations, I’m looking to pursue something along the lines of Black psychology, which leads to why I’m majoring in both applied psychology and African diaspora studies. I feel like I wouldn’t have a career aspiration designated to the wellbeing of Africans and African Americans if I wasn’t a part of ASO and didn’t have that support system.”

This year, ASO celebrates its 30th anniversary as the e-board prepares to exhibit Afro-futurism through fashion, narrative and visual storytelling, and dance performances.

At the beginning of each academic year, Twum-Barima says the club starts to contact fashion designers in the local Boston area to participate in the show.

This year, however, the club has the privilege of collaborating with Akachi, a Nigeria-based designer who will ship her custom-made clothes to Boston for the event.

The 2024 Fashion Show will be

composed of three catwalks, performed by 23 different models wearing the work of four fashion designers.

In between each catwalk, the event will follow a narrative arc that will begin with the story of Africa’s past, then dive into its current events, and end with an optimistic vision of Africa’s future.

ASO’s Fashion sSow will also showcase BC’s dance group, Presenting Africa To You (PATU), Boston University’s dance group, Afrithms, and Benedita Zalabuntu’s, MCAS ’25, spoken word.

“For me, the Fashion Show is very sentimental because, more times than not, it is hard to envision yourself, for like an African student, it is hard to envision your own heritage being showcased on such a wide scale,” Diba said. “Having our fellow students and us as an e-board walk on stage in front of hundreds of people and showcase our African heritage with pride and confidence is really impactful for us first and foremost, but then for Africans attending the event too.”

The Fashion Show will spotlight the pros and cons of Africa, Diba said, but the main premise of the event will be to envision a successful future for Africa.

“If you’re not familiar with African cultures, I think this is a good first experience or a digestible form of intaking African art, media, and knowledge.”

According to Onile, most ASO members have African heritage but were born and raised in America.

This perspective allowed them to experience their culture from an outsider’s point of view with deep appreciation and a clear understanding of their privileged standpoint.

Onile was born and raised in Norwood, Mass., but, regardless, she feels deeply connected to her Nigerian heritage.

“Just because we are not living there does not mean we do not want to partake in re-writing our African future, because we’re all aware of what’s going on,” Onile said. “Things like corruption, political instability, civil unrest, are all things we are taking note of and just because we aren’t part of the diaspora does not mean that we don’t want to be part of the change.”

Last year, ASO’s Fashion Show tickets sold out, and this year, the club is preparing to

welcome a larger number of people in a new venue.

ASO’s fashion show will take place on Feb. 24 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at 300 Hammond Pond Parkway. The club is almost ready to welcome 700 people to the event that they have been preparing for since July 2023.

“If you’re not familiar with African cultures, I think this is a good first experience or a digestible form of intaking African art, media, and knowledge,” Onile said. n PHOTOS COURTESY OF @VISUALSBYJAIDEN AND LILY GU GRAPHICS BY BROOKE GHALY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Celebrating Black Voices

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Celebrating Black Voices

“Singing with Your Soul” BC’s Voices of Imani choir performs gospel and spiritual songs. The group serves as an emotional outlet for its members.

BY LEAH STITZEL Asst. Arts Edtior

When Joey Zama-Lenfest, MCAS ’26, was navigating the chaotic course selection process during his freshman orientation at Boston College, he noticed a class on EagleApps that piqued his interest.

Strapped for credits and willing to branch out, he signed up for Gospel Music Workshop, a one-credit course centered around “choral music and oral traditions that capture the Black experience in America,” according to its course description.

This course would change Zama-Lenfest’s time at BC unexpectedly.

Students enrolled in the course are required to participate in a practicum, where they sing with BC’s Voices of Imani gospel choir for the semester they take the course.

Zama-Lenfest decided to stick with the choir long after the class had ended and now serves as its treasurer. He explained that “Imani” means “faith” in Swahili, and described what the group means to him personally.

“It was just a space where I could be me, I could be really authentic and really myself.”

“It was just a space where I could be me, I could be really authentic and really myself,” Zama-Lenfest said. “So that was definitely what attracted me to it. It just didn’t even feel like a class anymore.”

Christian Hawkins, MCAS ’25 and current vice president of the choir, also saw the group as an important emotional outlet. After a stressful transition to college, he was encouraged to join by the current president and MCAS ’24, TeRonce Williams, though he said he was hesitant at first.

“I was inside such a daze of stress that it never really happened, until one time it did happen,” Hawkins said.

“I came in and I really didn’t feel the stress anymore.”

Williams explained while singing gospel can be physically and emotionally taxing, it also provides a deep comfort and connection for members.

“Singing with your soul, is like, that’s what gospel is,” Williams said.

“Of course, we have to push and pray, but even then, it’s like, most of our songs are there to affect your soul in some way. And it’s reaching from me to you, more than physically.”

For those who might be unfamiliar with the meaning of “push and pray,” Kae’la Powell-Cobbs, MCAS ’25 and the choir’s social media and events coordinator, explained how the term fits the spirit of gospel music and perseverance in general.

“With gospel music, it’s very high, very strenuous on the voice at times,” Powell-Cobbs said. “Pushing and praying means, like, preparing yourself for these difficult moments, praying for support and guidance, and then just hoping that it works out.”

“Of course, we have to push and pray, but even then, it’s like, most of our songs are there to affect your soul in some way.”

Powell-Cobbs had never sung in a gospel choir before joining, but she said Voices of Imani far exceeded her expectations of what a gospel choir could be.

“Gospel to me is a place to feel,” Powell-Cobbs said. “In Voices especially, we don’t just do, like, Christian music. We’ve sung a Hanukkah song, we’ve participated in Arabic music, and we also sing, like, African-American spirituals—just music that has a message, a very strong message.”

One of Voices’ goals as a group is to educate people about the rich history and emotion behind different types of music.

For example, many people are unaware there’s even a difference between African-American spirituals and gospel music.

“Through listening, and through singing, you notice trends in both types,” Zama-Lenfest said. “You notice, like, that spirituals tend to be a little more somber, whereas gospel is a lot more upbeat. And you get to learn about the history of that.”

Although many African-American spirituals have roots in heavier aspects of Black history, including slavery and the Underground Railroad, Zama-Lenfest emphasized the songs can resonate with and have an impact on anyone.

“There are others as well that have felt the way you feel, have done w hat you’ve d one, or have gone through whatever you’ve gone through.”

“I think it’s history for everybody,” Zama-Lenfest said. “So I was a little bit surprised that, even though you see the PWI [predominantly white institution], that it’s mostly Black people in the choir. I feel like it’s a really great place to interact with people who, like,

may be different from you.”

Hawkins agreed that this interaction and connection is part of what makes Voices of Imani special.

“There are others as well that have felt the way you feel, have done what you’ve done, or have gone through whatever you’ve gone through,” Hawkins said. “And there’s still joy and happiness on the other side of whatever it is.”

Powell-Cobbs said one of her favorite parts of her role in the group is being able to capture and recognize those moments of joy and happiness.

“There is some discomfort singing certain songs because of their background and history,” she said. “But when we do touch upon the spirituals especially, it’s just so strong, and singing them with other people who look like me, and also don’t look like me, is just a great camaraderie.”

One of the unique things about Voices of Imani, according to Williams, is its inclusivity.

“Knowing that we all want more for the group, like, always gives hope to the fact that the group will thrive even further than what we are now.”

They don’t require auditions or any vocal background, but have nevertheless built a tight community and successful legacy they hope to expand.

“Before COVID, we were going on tours and everything,” Williams said.

“So many different things were going on. There were, like, 12 people on the e-board. But COVID happened, and things had to slow down. We had to rebuild.”

The choir included nearly 50 members prior to the pandemic. When BC students returned to campus, it had only three or four, according to Powell-Cobbs. Currently, it stands at about 20.

“Knowing that we all want more for the group, like, always gives hope to the fact that the group will thrive even further than what we are now,” Hawkins said. “So I feel like that small piece of hope is what I enjoy about my role.”

Its spring showcase, which will be held on April 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Vandy Cabaret Room, will highlight a variety of gospel and spiritual songs.

The four board members said they are looking forward to the opportunity to share their music, along with spreading the group’s energy to the BC community as a whole.

Powell-Cobbs concluded with a mantra she said wholly defines what the group aims to be— “Come as you are, come as you can.” n PHOTOS BY SHANE SHEBEST / HEIGHTS STAFF

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“A Voice For The Unheard”

The BMI helps Black athletes find a community beyond athletics. Through service work and internal programming, the organization works to fulfill its mission of “being a voice for the unheard.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC ATHLETICS

BY LUKE EVANS Sports Editor EMILY ROBERGE Assoc. Sports Editor

As an athlete in a high-level, Division I athletics program like Boston College, it could be easy for a student-athlete to focus solely on performing on the field, boxing oneself into a routine centered around their sport. But according to Nick Thomas, athletes should be looking to make an impact beyond the field.

“I think it’s really important, because at the end of the day, sports are only going to last so long,” said Thomas, Black Male Initiative’s (BMI) co-president and offensive lineman for BC football. “One day, you’re gonna have to put the ball down and when you find another outlet to put your energy to that benefits you and your community, it will definitely be much better than just sticking single minded.”

“You know, it’s not just about how many yards you gain on the field or how many free throws you hit or how many times you’ve made the Dean’s list, but how are you being a leader in your community?”

BMI, founded on Dec. 11, 2020, serves as a place where Black athletes at BC are able to become involved in the BC community beyond athletics and make an impact outside of sports.

Kenny Francis, assistant athletics director of student athlete formation and success, expressed a similar sentiment in regards to BMI’s focus on conversations and themes outside of BC athletics.

“You know, it’s not just about how many yards you gain on the field or how many free throws you hit or how many times you’ve made the Dean’s list, but how are you being a leader in your community?” Francis said. “How are you being a service not only to yourself, but others?”

According to Thomas, finding an outlet beyond athletics is one of the reasons why he joined BMI when he first arrived on the Heights in 2021.

“So when I first got here, Taji [Johnson] came up to me and introduced me to the Black Male Initiative and brought me in, because I was a young Black man being here on campus, and

I wasn’t sure where I usually would fit in other than football,” Thomas said.

“And he gave me another outlet to go and fit in with.”

Meeting on the third Sunday of every month, BMI also provides a space for 20 to 30 guys to enjoy each other’s company in a casual setting, according to Thomas.

“The meetings alone were just always my favorite experiences because we had a Sunday where we’d just get together, talk, play music, joke around, watch some football,” Thomas said.

“That whole experience I had had my first two years and being able to carry that on, has just been amazing for me.”

BMI also works with other universities in the Boston area to offer Black athlete mixers that provide local student athletes the chance to attend panels on topics ranging from financial literacy and mental health to empowerment and real estate, according to the BMI co-president and sophomore running back Alex Broome.

The work of BMI does not stop there, though. The organization works directly on BC’s campus and in the greater Boston area to live out its mission of being “a voice for the unheard.”

“Our mission is just to be a beacon of light, beacon of hope for people … of color across the Boston community,” Broome said.

Over the years, BMI has worked with various elementary schools, hoping to serve as an example of all that is possible for young kids to achieve in their own lives.

“It makes me think a lot,” Thomas said. “Because I think of my upbringing and where I come from, and seeing kids of similar nature and similar backgrounds, it really makes me think like, I’m blessed to be where I am. And knowing that I can make it here and give them that hope and vision that they can make it as well, it makes me feel like I can do anything for them.

And you know, if I can I will.”

On BC’s campus, BMI also holds an annual 3 v. 3 basketball tournament, partnering with local nonprofit organizations. In previous years, BMI partnered with Mothers for Justice and Equality (MJE) to raise awareness about the group’s goal of ending neighborhood violence by empowering mothers and youth.

Last year, BMI worked with Fathers’ UpLift, which provides mental health counseling, coaching, and advocacy to assist fathers with overcoming emotional, traumatic, addiction-based, and racism-based barriers that prevent them from remaining engaged in their children’s lives.

“You know, something as small as a 3 v. 3 tournament and I say small, but it’s actually a big production,” Francis said. “It gives them opportunities to apply their leadership skills and, you know, spread the word and create flyers and manage the logistics and do outreach to gauge which nonprofits they would like to partner with. That brings awareness, and that’s progress.”

Michael Harris, director of stu-

dent-athlete academic services, echoed this sentiment when describing the 3 v. 3 tournament.

“What we see with the three on three basketball tournament is the opportunity to be like ‘No we’re all family,’” Harris said. “We’re all a community… It becomes a cultural exchange, and it shows the rest of the campus that we’re more than just student athletes.”

Harris added that the 3 v. 3 tournament fosters a sense of community while also allowing its members to take leadership roles.

“The three on three tournament, and the other types of things they coordinate, gives them opportunities in a group space where they feel comfortable, they’re not going to be judged,” Harris said. “They have other people they identify with, to lead and to give back, you know, through that leadership.”

Like Francis, Broome discussed how at a predominately white institution (PWI) like BC, BMI’s importance is even greater for young Black men to feel represented on campus.

“It can be a harrowing task when you don’t see people that always look like you in spaces that breed excellence, whether it be this place or any other PWI across the country,” Broome said.

“I think it is good to have BMI so we know that we are not alone.”

According to BC’s common data set just 411 of the University’s 9,532 undergraduate students identified under the Black or African American, non-Hispanic option. That is just above 4 percent of BC’s total undergraduate population.

“For a student athlete or a Black student athlete that’s new to this institution, to know that there’s a group that’s advocating for causes you’re passionate about or that you have an interest in makes the acclimation and transition phase a lot easier,” Francis said.

According to Francis, one of BMI’s goals is also to debunk the stereotypes often placed on Black men.

“I think trying to debunk the stereotypes that are too often placed on Black males is a major goal and priority of the Black Male Initiative,” Francis said. “That is a major goal of mine to communicate that and convey that to our student athletes, so that they can … just think critically about their experience and who it is they want to be and who it is they’re striving to be.”

February is Black History Month in the United States, and for Thomas, Broome, and BMI, the month is a time to remember and celebrate the Black people who paved the path for social progress today.

“I think it’s important to recognize people like … Rosa Parks, MLK, Malcolm X, W.E.B. Du Bois, people like

that,” Broome said. “But also recognize smaller people that we might not talk about as much but played just as much of a role.”

Thomas reflected on how his appreciation of Black History Month has developed over the years.

“Growing up, Black History Month was something that I didn’t pay as much attention to just because I didn’t really understand what I was going to gain from it,” Thomas said. “But now that I’m older and I get to look back on it, Black History Month is really important for us, for future generations to learn about what’s really going to happen, and what’s going on in the world, and what mistakes that we’ve made in the past that can focus on fixing in the future.”

In late February, BMI will be hosting a Black Male Initiative Week to ensure everyone on campus is aware of the impact it can have on BC’’s community.

“Obviously, the campus knows about us and our 3 v. 3 tournament at the end of the year,” Thomas said.

“Which is a staple for us, but we want to make sure that we take over more than just that, we want our name to be known as Black Male Initiative, not just ‘Oh, the BMI group.’ We want to make sure that everybody knows who we are. We want to leave an imprint on BC.” n

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC ATHLETICS

Since its founding, the BMI has worked with several elementary schools and local nonprofit organizations.

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“They Make Me Excited To Come Into Work Every Day” BC basketball’s coaching staffs mirror the ACC’s rise in Black coaches.

BY SOURABH GOKARN Deputy Managing Editor MARIA STEFANOUDAKIS Asst. Sports Editor

Moving over 15 hours away from home for a job opportunity—even if the move means working in the field’s highest echelon—is never an easy decision.

But for Chrissy Roberts, the decision was made easier because it meant working with one of her closest friends—Joanna Bernabei-McNamee, Boston College women’s basketball head coach.

“I consider her family,” Roberts said of Bernabei-McNamee. “She is an amazing individual.”

The two first met at Eastern Kentucky and repeatedly tried to reunite on a coaching staff in the years that followed, according to Bernabei-McNamee.

But their careers did not cross paths again until 2023, when Roberts joined Bernabei-McNamee’s coaching staff at BC. “Sadly her mom passed away a couple years ago, and ironically my mom passed away—it just kind of gave us an opportunity to get back together as coaches,” Bernabei-McNamee said.

Enduring relationships, like that of Roberts and Bernabei-McNamee, form the glue binding together both of BC basketball’s coaching staffs.

From Chris Meadows Sr. and Roberts on the women’s side, to Anthony Goins and Corey McCrae on the men’s side, these assistant coaches are the latest in a line of ascendant Black ACC coaching power.

“They make me excited to come into work every day,” Bernabei-McNamee said.

Unlike Roberts’ relationship with Bernabei-McNamee, Goins and McCrae’s relationships with BC men’s basketball head coach Earl Grant functioned more as a years-long mentorship, they said.

It was Grant, in fact, who helped

PAUL CRIADO / HEIGHTS STAFF

Goins land his previous job as an assistant at Clemson—a role Grant himself served for four years. Feeling thankful and indebted to Grant, Goins said joining his staff on the Heights was a natural fit.

“Sometimes people do things for you, and you always are extremely grateful, and then when you get the opportunity to repay that person, I think it’s important to do that,” Goins said.

McCrae also said his relationship with Grant swayed his decision to come to BC.

“Sometimes people do things for you, and you always are extremely grateful, and then when you get the opportunity to repay that person, I think it’s important to do that.”

“I think Coach Grant sold himself to me even before the job opened because of how he carried himself as a head coach at the College of Charleston,” McCrae said.

For Meadows and Bernabei-McNamee, however, it was a small and seemingly insignificant interaction that paved the road for their current relationship.

Meadows, who is in his second season working with the Eagles , first met Bernabei-McNamee during his daughter’s college recruitment process.

“I talked to Coach Mac during that process,” Meadows said. “And it was a brief interaction, but at that time, I remember telling my wife there was something different about her. Little did I know, years later, I would come back and connect with her.”

The ACC—a conference which has made imperfect but steady progress toward equitable hiring practices in recent years—currently includes a record nine Black men’s basketball head coaches.

While the women’s side lags behind with five Black head coaches, Virginia Tech’s Kenny Brooks made history in 2023 as the first Black head coach to win the ACC women’s basketball tournament.

In Chestnut Hill, Grant and Bernabei-McNamee’s assistant coaches are seeking to add to the ACC’s recent progress by shaping both Eagles’ squads into bona fide contenders in the storied conference.

“I’m going to do everything I can to help Boston College win its first national championship,” Meadows said.

The key to accomplishing such a lofty goal, according to Meadows, lies primarily in recruiting.

“It’s never in the back of my mind, it’s in the front of my mind,” Meadows said, his eyes widening when asked about his role in recruiting for BC. “It’s what I think about. It’s what I work for.”

Grant echoed this emphasis on recruiting, particularly praising Goins’ keen eye for prospective talent.

“Through the transfer portal, the first person that brought Quinten Post’s name to my attention was Anthony Goins,” Grant said.

As collegiate athletics evolve, advancements in NIL deals and collective money also play a large role in recruiting, Bernabei-McNamee said.

“An ongoing challenge with recruiting is NIL and collective money and trying to find players that fit what we need and also what we can give to them,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “And

judging what players are going to be more academically driven, because that’s … a player that would want to be at Boston College.”

Although she coache d at the mid-major level and played Division I college basketball herself, Roberts said recruiting and coaching at the ACC level poses a unique set of challenges.

“I’ve never coached at this level,” Roberts said. “Times have changed, kids have changed, coaching has changed.”

Player development—on and off the court—also plays a critical role in the programs’ future success, a responsibility entailing the coordination of community service, team bonding events, and more, Roberts said.

“I’m going to do everything I can to help Boston College win its first national championship.”

“When you look at player development, it’s just overall,” Roberts said. “It’s not just on the floor, but it’s off the floor—in terms of helping the student-athletes become better at their craft, but also becoming better people.”

Regarding scouting and gameplanning, Grant said Goins focuses on the offensive end and McCrae on special situations, but that he tasks both coaches with academic-related responsibilities.

“They also have responsibility as an academic coach,” Grant said. “Each one of those guys have four or five players that they’re responsible for as it pertains to academics—just making sure to help them stay organized, remind them of their appointments,

and set them up with tutors when they need it.”

This holistic approach to coaching transcends on-court duties, according to Goins.

“They’re 18, 19, 20 year old kids that need someone to care about them every single day,” Goins said. “Because if that’s not happening, then the basketball piece is so far secondary.”

With all of these responsibilities on their plates, each assistant coach said their central focus lies squarely on the present.

“Your individual success will come if you focus on the team success,” Goins said. “I truly believe that, and have always believed that, even from my first opportunity to coach in collegiate basketball.”

But that doesn’t mean they haven’t pondered their future.

Aside from Roberts, who said she’s noncommittal toward eventually returning to a head coaching role, each coach expressed interest in running a program of their own one day.

“I think anybody who’s competitive, as I am, and who loves the game as much as I do—that is definitely something that when the time is right, it will be something that I will welcome with the opportunity to excel,” Meadows said.

In the meantime, their roles at BC and exposure to their respective bosses are giving them the skills and experience they need for a potential next step.

“I think my time is coming at some point, but I have a lot to learn here,” McCrae said. “And I couldn’t be around a better teacher and a better person than Coach Grant.”

Relationships—which brought these coaches to the Heights in the first place—will be what ensures their next step is a success, according to Grant.

“I think they have the experience and the knowledge and the relationships throughout the profession to run a team,” Grant said. n

CALLIE OXFORD / HEIGHTS EDITOR CALLIE OXFORD / HEIGHTS EDITOR

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Celebrating Black Voices

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“She Broke New Ground”

Ruth-Arlene Howe, the first Black female faculty member to achieve tenure at BC Law, holds a legacy of inclusion.

BY LYLA WALSH Assoc. Magazine Editor

From her arrival as a law student to her emergence as the school’s first tenured female Black professor, the work of Ruth -Arlene Howe has echoed through the halls of the Boston College Law School since 1970.

Her legacy at the school is one of inclusion and encouragement, characterized by an ability to recognize the true potential in her students, according to Mark Brodin, former associate dean for academic affairs at BC Law. “It’s a legacy of the first Black woman on the faculty, and—as far as I remember—the second woman on the faculty,” Brodin said.

“She broke new ground. She pushed Boston College Law School in a forward, progressive direction.”

In addition to being the first Black female faculty member to achieve tenure and the rank of full professor at BC Law, Howe was a founding faculty advisor to the BC Journal of Law and Social Justice and served as an advisor for BC Law’s Black Law Student Association (BLSA).

But for some of her former students, her legacy extends beyond a list of accomplishments. Her support of all students—especially students of color—is one of her most memorable traits, according to Leslie Harris, BC Law ’84 and Howe’s former student.

“95 percent of students of color would say that she was a mentor, a person they could go to for guidance, not just while we were in school, but even after school,” Harris said. “You know, it’s one thing to be connected to a professor while you’re there, but another to stay connected.”

Before arriving at BC Law, Howe studied sociology and anthropology with a minor in psychology as an undergraduate at Wellesley College. Late in her junior year, she was inspired to pursue her Master of Social Work (MSW), she said, which she received from Simmons University.

“A guest presentation by the Simmons School of Social Work director convinced me that pursuit of a MSW degree would be the best way to acquire the skills needed to fulfill my obligation to contribute to the improvement of the position and status of my community of Americans of African slave descent,” she wrote in a statement to The Heights.

After receiving her MSW in 1957, Howe worked for the Catholic Youth Service Bureau in Cleveland, Ohio for four years, and as a social group worker in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood for two years after that.

She then returned to Boston with her husband, where she said she balanced motherhood with her continuing work to support the Black community.

“I joined the [League of Women Voters] and began working on issues affecting low-income housing and educational services as a way to fulfill my personal commitment to serve my underserved Black community,” Howe wrote.

Before taking the next step in her education, Howe had to decide between business school and law school. She ultimately decided that a law degree better aligned with her background in social work, she said.

“It was clear to me that I could more easily build on my social work training and experience pursuing a law degree than a MBA at the Carroll School,” Howe wrote.

When Howe first arrived at BC Law as a student in the fall of 1971, her class consisted of only 12 Black students, she said.

After joining the school to teach as a fulltime faculty member in 1978, Howe said she experienced rejections from students as a result of her race.

“For five years I taught one section of first year Property at 9 am while Mary Ann Glendon (with whom I had taken Property) taught the other at the same time,” Howe wrote. “We became aware that a student assigned to my section had been attending all of her classes and not mine, but took my mid-term exam.”

Despite this experience, Howe supported students of all races and helped create connections across student groups, according to Harris.

“She’s always there to help students,” Harris said. “The Hispanic student group would go to her. The Asian student group would go to her. And, as a result, those are still my friends because we were all able to use the same mentor who was a role model for us.”

While serving as an advisor for BLSA, Howe often hosted meals at her house, according to Harris. Charles “Chuck” Walker, BC Law ’78 and a former student of Howe, said he first met Howe after she invited

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC LAW MAGAZINE

Howe co-founded the Black Alumni Network to foster relationships between Black students, alumni, and administrators. him and other students to a potluck dinner mentoring them, advising them, counseling “We want to celebrate professor Howe at her home. them, which makes it remarkable that she in any way that we can,” Harris said. “That’s “Boston was as … far east as I’d ever was able to produce the scholarship she did why the heritage dinner that we have every been, and my first impression was, ‘Wow, given the lines outside her office.” year is named after her. And I think that this is cool. She’s a teacher, and she’s a law Howe co-founded the Black Alumni speaks volumes to who she is, that we have professor, and she’s inviting us all over for a Network (BAN) in 1985. Its founding was both a scholarship and a dinner named potluck dinner,’” Walker said. “And I felt like urged by the announcement of then BC Law after her.”

I was in good hands.”

Dean Richard Huber’s pending retirement, Howe retired from teaching duties in Howe’s experience as a working mother which pushed local alumni to formally the fall of 2009. Her retirement was saddencontributed to her ability to support her organize, Howe said. ing for many, according to Brodin. students in similar situations, Harris said.

“We created a structure that would “I was not alone in being very disap“I also had to take my child to school promote the kind of relationships between pointed when she left us,” Brodin said. “I with me often, and I could leave him with students, alums, and future administrations tried to convince her to stay because she Professor Howe or leave him in the BLSA that had been developed during Huber’s was just a force at the school. Every day that office, because they were supportive,” 15-year tenure as dean,” she said. she was there she was a force, in the most Harris said. “You needed someone who Howe served as an anchor for BC Law positive way.” understood being a parent and a student alumni, keeping BAN connected to the Nearly eight years later, The Massachuat the same time, and Professor Howe had school and its community, Harris said. setts Black Lawyers Association awarded done that.”

“Now as a group, we realized that we Howe with their top honor, the Lifetime Walker said Howe’s commitment to needed to be more formally connected to Achievement Award, at their annual gala her family was related to her scholarship the law school,” Harris said. “So we took the in 2017. in family law. little bit of money we had, a couple $100,000 For Walker, the legacy Howe leaves “She’d written extensively about inter- at least, and we gave it to the law school in can be found in her care, calm voice of racial adoptions and care for adoption,” her name to create that lock.” reason, and dedication to generations of Walker said. “So she pretty much lived her In addition to BAN, the Ruth-Arlene Black people. scholarship.”

W. Howe ’74 Black Student Initiative is a “Her legacy is carrying on the generaHowe managed to master her schol- scholarship started by alumni, and Harris tion,” Walker said. “Bringing forth the genarship in family law while also constantly said many donors only consider giving eration of her parents, my parents—making supporting students, according to Brodin. because her name is on it. BAN and BLSA sure it was instilled in all of us and our “Students would seek her out for ac- also named the annual Ruth-Arlene W. obligation, our resolve to get it right … She ademic matters, for personal matters,” Howe Heritage Dinner after her, according is direct evidence that God allows angels to Brodin said. “She spent an awful lot of time to Harris. walk among us.” n

Holy Cross’ First Black President At both BC and Holy Cross, Vincent Rougeau has used his platform to expand diversity efforts.

BY SPENCER STEPPE Magazine Editor

The year 2020 is etched into the collective memory of people across the United States. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and moments of racial reckoning across America, 2020 marked the beginning of a major cultural shift in the United States.

During this time, Vincent Rougeau, current president of College of the Holy Cross, was serving as the dean of the Boston College Law School. In response to the events of 2020, he helped create and served as the inaugural director of BC’s Forum on Racial Justice in America, which provides space to discuss issues of race and racism.

“We felt that it would be important for Boston College to have a forum where we would think deeply about these issues as they relate not only to the campus and to life at BC, but also to the broader community,” Rougeau said.

The Forum on Racial Justice in America hosts guest speakers, panels, and seminars exploring race-related issues.

As the inaugural director of the Forum, Rougeau said he initiated these projects to create a more just and inclusive BC community.

“What I did as director … was bring together people from across the BC community to think deeply about how BC as a University could contribute in a positive way to moving the nation forward around issues of race and racial justice,” Rougeau said.

These efforts were a direct response to the increase in conversations about race that began in 2020, Rougeau said. He said it served as an outlet for the BC community to address these national issues.

Rougeau was exceptional at leading the law school through these nationwide reckonings, BC Law Professor Kent Greenfield said.

“Toward the end of his tenure, we had some really difficult times,” Greenfield said. “We had moments of real racial reckoning in America, and, as a Black man, a Black leader, a Black law professor, a Black scholar … I think people were really attentive to his views.”

Rougeau was the dean of BC Law

from 2011 to 2021. During his 10-year tenure, much of his effort was focused on diversifying the law school, he said.

“We did want to diversify the student body, and we worked hard and did that,” Rougeau said. “It wasn’t a straight line.

It took efforts that went up and down in the early time, but I think over time, we were really more consistently successful.”

According to Rougeau, these efforts to diversify BC Law went hand in hand with improving the school’s prestige.

“We worked really hard to position BC Law School as, you know, a top national law school,” Rougeau said. “Part of that work involved broadening the applicant pool and really making sure that we were a school that students of all kinds of backgrounds would look to as a place where they’d like to get their legal education.”

At the beginning of his time at BC Law, one of the biggest challenges Rougeau faced was evaluating the strength of the existing legal curriculum and assessing how it could be adjusted to better suit the needs of the workforce.

“There’s a tension between getting the

PHOTO COURTESY OF VINCENT ROUGEAU

During his 10-year tenure as the dean of BC Law, Rougeau promoted diversity effor ts and community.

kind of intellectual and academic training that you need to be a great lawyer, and also preparing you [with] foundational skills that get you up and running when you leave law school and start working,” Rougeau said.

To address this issue, Rougeau said he guided the school to focus on promoting more opportunities for clinical education, skills training, and off-campus internships.

“We were able to think in new ways about the curriculum and making it relevant for today but still ensuring that it was academically rigorous,” Rougeau said.

In 2021, Rougeau departed BC Law to become the first Black president of Holy Cross. The Jesuit values that Holy Cross shares with BC made the two positions similar, he said.

“It’s incredibly important that they’re both Jesuit institutions,” Rougeau said.

“They’re both rooted in what I believe is a very special and transformative mission. And I think it matters for how we teach, how we learn, how we develop our students, and how we live in community with each other.”

Just as he did at BC, Rougeau plans to expand diversity at Holy Cross, he said.

“We’re working really hard to bring Holy Cross to communities where maybe it is not as well-known so that we get applications from students from different parts of the country, different racial and ethnic groups,” Rougeau said.

At Jesuit institutions like Holy Cross, prioritizing diversity reflects the values of the Catholic faith, according to Rougeau.

“We believe it’s very important to have a diverse campus community, not just for diversity in and of itself, but just because it is a representation of our mission … the Catholic church is a diverse community,” Rougeau said.

Rougeau also said he has a unique position as the first Black president of Holy Cross.

“Being the first Black president offers me a certain platform on those issues that I try to use,” Rougeau said.

In recognition of his service to BC, Rougeau was presented the St. Thomas More Award by the BC Law Alumni Association in May of 2023.

The award is given to a legal professional who preserves BC’s mission and embodies the ideals of St. Thomas More, according to Rougeau.

“That means you can’t always do whatever you want to win—you have to recognize that we, as lawyers, are carrying a responsibility for making sure that the system always functions in a way that tries to push towards justice and fairness,” Rougeau said.

According to BC Law Professor Mary Sarah Bilder, Rougeau’s empathy, fairness, and keen sense of ethics are what make him stand out.

“He’s just an incredibly compassionate person who has a real moral center and yet understands the complexities of the real world,” Bilder said.

Though Rougeau has taken on a variety of powerful roles, Bilder said he remains authentic and compassionate.

“Nothing about the positions he’s held has ever changed who he is,” Bilder said.

Greenfield also said Rougeau is known for his compassion, and that his ability to connect with others gave BC Law a renewed sense of community.

“I became more dedicated to the institution during his tenure, rather than using the institution for my own purposes—furthering my own work and my own research and my own goals,” Greenfield said. “He helped the institution become a place that was worthy of my dedication.”

For Rougeau, this heightened sense of community was the highlight of his tenure.

“I am very, very proud to have had 10 years of leading it, and I feel still very attached to the people there,” Rougeau said. “[I’m] very proud of the students, alumni, faculty, and staff who work there because I think it is just a really extraordinary place.” n

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Celebrating Black Voices

Teaching Kindness in an Ever-Changing World Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah brings teaching experience and humility to his work at O’Neill Library.

BY VERONICA PIERCE Asst. Magazine Editor

Many of us are making new goals everyday. Eat more vegetables. Work out at the gym twice a week. Study nonstop for two hours every day. Read 50 pages of a book each week. But for most, there is one aspect of our daily lives that we forget about improving: our interactions with those around us.

In a small office in O’Neill Library, one person works to fill these interactions with love and kindness every day. His name is Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah, manager of instructional services in Boston College’s libraries.

Sarkodie-Mensah attributes this attitude to his early days as a child in Ejisu, Ghana, and his experiences with The Brothers of Holy Cross.

“When I tell people about my life, I have to bring in the brothers from Notre Dame who left the comfort of everything they had in the U.S.,” Sarkodie-Mensah said. “They came to Ghana to take care of people like me.”

One of Sarkodie-Mensah’s most formative experiences was with Raymond Papenfuss, one of the brothers and the vice principal of a Catholic high school.

“I remember he came to my elementary school and encouraged me to apply to go to the high school, and I was able to get in,” Sarkodie-Mensah said. “So, for seven years, 150 miles away from home, these brothers basically took care of me and maybe 300 other people.”

Throughout his time in high school, Sarkodie-Mensah said he often struggled with the English language but consistently heard one word that stuck out to him.

“I noticed that the brothers, every time they talked about me to their fellow brothers, they would use the word ‘kind,’” Sarkodie-Mensah said. “I didn’t know the meaning of kind, so I said, ‘Let me go find out the meaning of kind in the dictionary.’

And when I found the meaning of kind, I wasn’t surprised because I grew up with my dad and my mom who were so kind to everybody. So, I wasn’t doing anything extraordinary.”

While Sarkodie-Mensah started college with hopes of becoming involved in the world of international relations, he eventually decided to pursue a more fulfilling profession and share the kindness and knowledge that the brothers had shown him with the world.

“I decided to look at different professions, and I just happened to come across librarianship,” Sarkodie-Mensah said. “I love to read.”

Sarkodie-Mensah said he was drawn to librarianship because of his desire to teach and help others with their academic work.

Now, Sarkodie-Mensah works as a BC research librarian in charge of the psychology and first-year writing departments.

“All my other classmates from other parts of the world depended on me to get the right type of information because, 40 years ago, when people went to the reference desk, American librarians didn’t make the effort to understand them,” Sarkodie-Mensah said.

This goal of making minority and international students feel included has not gone unnoticed by his colleagues.

Leea Stroia, instructional service librarian and Sarkodie-Mensah’s officemate, said Sarkodie-Mensah exhibits an exceptional love for other people in the workplace.

“I think one of the areas that he excels in is welcoming people,” Stroia said. “I have watched him time and time again meet somebody new—often international students—and just listen to them and be really present with them.”

Through all of Sarkodie-Mensah’s work, Stroia said his humility is constantly present.

“He invests into that space where people can be themselves, and he really focuses on the team aspect of that,” Stroia said. “So, anytime he does something here that I think, ‘Kwasi you did this thing. It was wonderful, and I really admire that,’ he’ll say, ‘Well, I couldn’t have done it without everybody.’”

Sarkodie-Mensah’s service not only impacts the BC community, but the larger global community as well. He has ventured to Belize, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic, to teach children to read and write.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KWASI SARKODIE-MENSAH

S arkodie -Mens ah brought BC student s to Ghana to teach children technolog y and computer skills .

According to Sarkodie-Mensah, these trips inspired him to implement a similar program in his hometown.

“After my fourth service trip, I remember I was sleeping and then I woke up and said, ‘I want to go to Ghana and do something for my own people,’” Sarkodie-Mensah said. “So, I decided that I’m going to take a group of BC students to go to Ghana, and they’re going to teach the children basic computer skills. And that’s what we did.”

BC provided computers and books for the group to take to Ghana, according to Sarkodie-Mensah. Students on each trip facilitated a literacy camp, teaching children how to use computers, read, and write. Overall, Sarkodie-Mensah said the program served 3,000 Ghanaian students.

“BC makes sure that we practice what we preach,” Sarkodie-Mensah said. “So, men and women for others—it’s not just men and women for Boston. BC has given me a lot of support to serve the world.”

After their hard work teaching others throughout the day, Sarkodie-Mensah said he and the students would engage in reflections, during which he encouraged them to practice humility and talk about what they learned.

“In America, we have this savior mentality—‘I went to Haiti to help the

children,’” Sarkodie-Mensah said. “I know you came to Ghana to help the children, but before we go to bed, during our time of reflection, I want you to share with us what the children taught you.”

In both tales of his library work and accounts of his service expeditions, Sarkodie-Mensah emphasized the importance of listening to stories. Reading about important historical figures and listening to the shared experiences of those who are often overlooked can help battle discrimination, he said.

“Whether it’s Fela, whether it’s Dr. King, or whether it’s people in the Black American movement, they are actually doing things that most of us don’t have the courage to do,” Sarkodie-Mensah said.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to wake up.”

But Sarkodie-Mensah doesn’t just find importance in the stories of others—he also tells his own story in the classroom at BC. Lynne Anderson, director of the program for multilingual learners and English professor, works with Sarkodie-Mensah through First-Year Writing Seminar, a class that Sarkodie-Mensah provides research support for.

Anderson said that Sarkodie-Mensah begins each presentation by talking to the students about his childhood in Ghana

and his path to BC. His story resonates particularly with international students coming far from home, she said.

“He talks about coming here from Ghana for the first time and feeling a little overwhelmed,” Anderson said. “He talks to the students about finding new mentors, believing in themselves, immersing themselves in the culture in all kinds of authentic and meaningful ways.”

Both Anderson and Stroia said that Sarkodie-Mensah’s talent for listening to others comes naturally to him, and that he taught them how to pause and truly take in what others are saying. He serves as a reminder to make space for others throughout everyday life, they said.

For Sarkodie-Mensah, Black History Month is the perfect time to employ this skill of listening. Though he considers Black History Month to be incredibly important, he said that listening to the stories of minorities should happen everyday—not just during the month of February, “I’ve heard this many times—‘Black history is American history,’” Sarkodie-Mensah said. “It’s a good thing that we’re doing it in February, but it’s also even better when every day is Black History Month, because we need to keep reminding ourselves about it.” n

Weynand: Horror Films Have Historically Mistreated Black Characters—Jordan Peele Changed That

BY JACK WEYNAND Assoc. Arts Editor

You know this group of rag-tag survivalists all too well—there’s the jock who may not be the brightest, but still comes in handy for a fight, the nerd who can only outsmart the killer for so long before they’re killed off, or the comic relief who’s always cracking jokes, even when they meet their untimely death.

I’ve seen these stereotypical protagonist tropes in countless horror movies— the recent iterations of Scream, Halloween and Netflix’s The Fear Street trilogy all play into a few of these classic horror character tropes.

Unfortunately, I’ve also seen the trope where the Black character is killed off first.

It turns out the trope isn’t as common as I’d thought, according to some.

As a casual modern horror fan, the only horror films I’ve seen where Black characters were developed substantially were Jordan Peele’s recent slew of horror movies. Other than a few exceptions, I hadn’t seen any movies where central Black protagonists survive to the end of the movie. This trend is frustrating for many viewers who tend to see the same white protagonists in lackluster stories instead of diverse casts, and it can degrade the quality of the genre.

The difference between Peele’s films and the typical horror films isn’t the presence, or even the survival, of Black characters until the end of the film. Peele

uses Black characters in a meaningful way that makes them fantastic horror protagonists who make smart decisions, but their plots also have a greater meaning than just survival.

By changing the landscape of what roles minorities can take on in the horror genre, Peele has not only demolished the stereotype of the Black character dying first, but he’s founded an entire new genre of films based on social commentary in a horror story. Still, the idea that Black characters have limited roles in the horror genre prevails in the public opinion.

Many film critics assert that the stereotype, which claims that Black characters die first in horror films, is untrue.

A study conducted by Complex in 2013 analyzed 50 of the most prominent horror films and recorded whether a Black character was the first to die.

The study found that only five out of the 50 films analyzed featured a Black character dying first, and often, the characters even survive until the film’s end. I’m not a fan of this study, though.

I noticed that some of the films on the list are forgotten movies that no one from my generation would watch, and some shouldn’t even be considered in the horror genre—I’m looking at you, Jaws: The Revenge.

Even if I look past their odd movie choices, the study states that of the included films, “0.1% (5 out of 50) of them have black characters who die first.” Five out of 50 films would be 10 percent, which is

a much more significant percentage than 0.1 percent. Maybe Complex just can’t do math, but the credibility of this study still needs to be questioned.

Rather than conducting another arbitrary study myself, I’ll speak to the modern horror films I’ve seen which need to do better in terms of their representation, as well as the horror films that have transformed the genre.

I’ll start with Warner Bros. and its terrible track record of representation in recent horror films. The studio, while successful at creating scary and suspenseful situations for the genre, has failed to give a storyline of any importance to most of its Black characters.

Some recent films, including The Nun or Five Nights at Freddy’s, seem to almost exclude Black characters from their casts altogether. I suspect this is partially for the purpose of staying faithful to a film’s source. For a movie like The Nun, it’s not likely that a Black person would be found in 1952 Romania. This could explain the exclusion of any Black actors in the main cast.

But would their inclusion affect the film’s watchability or appeal in any way?

No—the point of a horror film is to scare people, not to obsess over historical accuracy. Similarly with Five Nights at Freddy’s, the fact that the source material might not include Black characters shouldn’t restrict the film’s casting.

A number of films in the horror genre barely exceed the minimum when it

GRAPHIC BY PARKER LEAF / HEIGHTS EDITOR

comes to meaningful Black representation in casts regardless of source material.

A new wave of horror movies, placing minorities at their forefront, has recently swept through Hollywood to fix the glaring issue. Horror owes a big thanks to Peele.

Peele has risen to fame since his success in horror, despite only producing three films in the genre: Get Out, Us, and Nope. These films feature a Black cast at the forefront of the stories, and have proven to be successful with critics and audiences alike. The three films alone have grossed over $650 million at the worldwide box office.

Get Out began Peele’s transition into the horror genre with a horror film that plays much like a psychological thriller.

The film follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) meeting his girlfriend’s family for the weekend. The family turns out to run a covert racism operation, brainwashing Black people. Horror elements combine with thriller sensations as the story progresses. Get Out is not just a fantastic story, it’s also a commentary on society’s underlying racism.

Kaluuya is given plenty to do when he plays Chris, as he deconstructs the concept of racism and explores how a Black man navigates an overwhelming white society through a horror-esque lens. The horror, however, is really just an offshoot of how society operates, which is what really makes Get Out a scary film with Chris at the center.

Numerous films also include a Black supporting cast, yet these films don’t allow the characters to contribute significantly to the plot. This pattern was glaringly apparent to me after a marathon viewing of the 2018 Halloween franchise reboot this October. I watched Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends. I enjoyed them all as fun slashers, but there was an obvious problem with the trilogy’s Black characters.

Sheriff Barker (Omar J. Dorsey), the only Black character to be seen in all three installments, does nothing to help the protagonists at any point in the films’ plot. Vanessa (Carmela McNeal) and her husband Marcus (Michael Smallwood), a

Black couple, are introduced in Halloween Kills, but are among the film’s first victims, despite the fact that they make smart decisions—for a slasher film. None of them contribute to fighting Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney), and no Black characters receive any significant development.

Peele’s other two films are also insightful commentaries that use developed Black characters in main roles, and these characters were used more productively than any Black character from the entire Halloween franchise.

I saw Nope and Us in theaters because I was excited to see what Peele would do after Get Out, and these movies didn’t disappoint. In fact, they elevated the horror genre further. They star Black actors at the center of horror and thriller situations, and the characters are actually given depth, personality, and passion.

Peele’s films include plenty of examples where Black leads are at the center of horror movies, and they’re given much more than just filler plots.

The duality in Us between Lupita Nyong’o’s Adelaide, and her sinister alter ego Red, creates a perfect showing of the film’s classism by villainizing Red for her desire to live a life like Adelaide. In Nope, Keke Palmer plays the radiant and passionate Emerald—a badass woman in her own right who fights off UFOs to save her farm and her resources, revealing how society steals natural resources from those indigenous to the land.

Peele’s movie magic has left its mark on the horror genre. Recent horror films by other directors, like Nia DaCosta’s Candyman and Danny and Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me, put Black actors at the cast’s forefront. It’s an important distinction to ensure everyone feels represented on screen, no matter the genre of film.

I’m a believer that every horror film needs to have fear at its center, but a well-crafted story can make room for all types of casts and narratives. Peele is helping the horror genre finally take the necessary steps to go from a total lack of representation to a genre that thrives on diverse stories and casts. n

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Celebrating Black Voices

Newton’s Underground Railroad Stop The Jackson Homestead museum documents the history of the verified Underground Railroad stop.

CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

BY ELLA SONG Newton Editor

Toward the end of her memoir Annals from the Old Homestead, Ellen Jackson, a member of one of Newton’s founding families, recounted a night in which a friend of her father brought a freedom seeker to their home.

“One night between 12 and one o’clock, I well remember father was awakedned by pebbles thrown against his window,” Ellen wrote. “He rose asked what was wanted? Bowditch replied it was he, with a runaway slave whome he wished father to hide tillmorning, and then help him on his way to Canada, for his master was in Boston looking for him.”

The Jackson Homestead under Ellen’s father, William Jackson, was a stop on the Underground Railroad, meaning it gave illegal lodging and assistance to those escaping from slavery.

“The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad, but a secret network of Black and white abolitionists working to help people escape from where they were enslaved to where they could be free,” reads the Historic Newton exhibit on the Jackson family’s participation in the Railroad. “Boston was one of the key Underground Railroad centers in the North.”

According to Ellen’s manuscript, the homestead’s role in the Underground Railroad was far from minor. “[William] did indeed give his time, money and much of his thoughts to the abolition of slavery,” Annals from the Old Homestead reads. “Thus the

Homestead’s doors stood ever open with a welcome to any of the workers against slavery for as often and as long as suited their convenience or pleasure.”

A letter from William Bowditch, William’s family friend and a conductor for the Underground Railroad, provides further evidence for the Jackson Homestead’s regular participation in the Railroad.

“We had no regular route and no regular station in Massachusetts,” the letter reads. “I have had several fugitives in my house. Generally I passed them on Wm. Jackson at Newton. His house being on the Worcester Railroad, he could easily forward any one.”

According to Historic Newton’s Education Manager Allison Pagliaro, the homestead would have been a convenient stop for the Underground Railroad due to its proximity to the literal railroad.

“The convenience of the railroad was very important, especially thinking about if people wanted to go to Canada or further west in the United States, the railroad could get them there relatively easily,” Pagliaro said. “Especially considering the access to other areas of the country, and then also the access to Boston, being so close to abolitionist activity in Boston … some abolitionists who were practicing in Boston lived here and Newton and then just commuted in” Although limited documentation of the Jackson Homestead’s Underground Railroad activity exists, written documents shed light on the logistics of harboring and assisting freedom seekers.

While a popular oral tradition says the Jacksons hid freedom seekers in the well in their basement, Pagliaro said the reality of providing assistance was likely less dramatic.

“The people who were freeing themselves from slavery were often not hidden in underground places or anything,” Pagliaro said. “Like when they came to the Jackson homestead, they could have had dinner with the family and they could have slept in a bed.”

The Jackson family has a long history in the city of Newton—John Jackson was the first Jackson to settle in the area, having bought 18 acres of land near what is now the Newton-Brighton boundary in 1639. His brother, Edward Jackson, joined him from England three years later, and William and Ellen are directly descended from him.

Despite Edward having been a slave owner himself, the Jackson family, with William as patriarch, was strongly abolitionist. Many family members gave their time and resources to abolitionist efforts.

“It seems like that many of the Jackson family—so William’s generation as well as his children—were pretty big abolitionists,” Pagliaro said. “And so they were active in various community groups or fundraising organizations … it was important to them, I suppose you could say.”

William, in addition to assisting freedom seekers, sought to help abolish slavery through politics. He helped found the Liberty Party, a political party with abolitionist goals. His brother, Francis Jackson, was disillusioned with government as a means for change, and

instead did work for the Boston Vigilance Committee, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, and the American Anti-Slavery Society.

“He became more active in these smaller societies where he could allocate funds or he could keep track of funds,” Pagliaro said. “[The brothers] sort of differed in how to abolish slavery, but agreed that it should happen.”

Abolitionist activity in the household was not limited to the two brothers. Two of William’s daughters, Sarah and Hannah Jackson, were a part of sewing circles and sewed clothes for Union soldiers during the Civil War, as well as for freedom seekers. And Ellen, whose memoir is the primary source of information on the homestead’s Underground Railroad activities , eventually became president of the Freedmen’s Aid Society.

“I’m not sure if we have records of their opinions on how to abolish slavery, but we do have records of what various abolitionist [work] the Jacksons did,” Pagliaro said.

The City of Newton bought the Jackson Homestead in 1949, and Historic Newton has been using the home as a museum since 1950, preserving and sharing the history of the Jackson family and Newton as a whole.

The homestead is part of National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, which is a National Park Service program that registers locations with confirmed connections to the Underground Railroad.

“Through its mission, the Network to Freedom helps to advance the idea that all human beings embrace

the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression,” reads the website.

Currently, Historic Newton has an exhibit called “Confronting Our Legacy: Slavery and Anti-Slavery in the North” in the Homestead and an online exhibit called “Seeking Freedom in 19th Century America” that explore the Jackson family’s story in addition to the many other complex slavery and anti-slavery stories that took place in Newton. Historic Newton curator Marya Van’t Hul emphasized the importance of preserving these histories in a place like Newton.

“There still are many of us here in the North who don’t recognize that slavery was a northern issue as well,” Van’t Hul said. “There’s a tendency for us to think, ‘Oh, we were the good guys here in the North’—and it’s not true.

We had enslaved people here, right here in Newton right in this piece of land and many other pieces of land.”

Van’t Hul also emphasized the importance of recognizing the bravery and efforts of Black Americans in these stories.

“It was enslaved people themselves and African-Americans who were already free who did most of the work,” Van’t Hul said. “Yes, there were some white people, like William Jackson, who were leaders in the white people’s groups and of abolition groups and did a lot including with their money—which they had more of—but the ones who took most of the risk and risked life, limb, and everything they had were for the most part African-American.” n CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

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Celebrating Black Voices February 20, 2024 This special edition of The Heights celebrates the Black individuals and groups shaping the Boston College community and beyond. All stories featured in this edition are available at bcheights.com.

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