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BLACK STUDENT ASSOCIATION
BSA Week events continue today Canned food drive, games and more serious issues are among activities STAFF REPORTS
The OU Black Student Association kicked off its annual BSA Week with campus events every day from Monday to Saturday. The first event of the week is a canned food drive that started Monday and continues through today. Students can donate canned goods at the Student Life suite on the third floor of the Oklahoma Memorial Union. The donated goods will benefit Norman food pantries, said Brittny Dike, BSA’s special projects coordinator. On Wednesday, students can gather at the HendersonTolson Cultural Center for some soul food and games from 7 to 9 p.m. Students can socialize with each other while playing cards, board games and other activities like Twister, Dike said. Thursday’s event, called “Black & Brown Lives Matter,” is a
commemoration of the victims of police brutality that will be held at 7 p.m. in Dale Hall. The event will include a moment of silence and a candlelit prayer, Dike said. Berthaddaeus Bailey, political science and economics junior and the winner of last semester’s Mr. Black OU Pageant, will also speak at the event. Rashid Campbell, an African and African-American studies senior, will perform a spoken word presentation. On Friday, students can watch and listen to their fellow students at OU’s first official rap battle at 7 p.m. in Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Meacham Auditorium. BSA Week will conclude with the Show-N-Tell at 7 p.m. Saturday in Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Meacham Auditorium. Members of the BSA’s umbrella organizations — including the Essence Dance Team, the National Society of Black Engineers and Women of Power — will provide performances singing, dancing and more, Dike said. After BSA Week, the next annual event the BSA will hold is their Thanksgiving dinner. Next semester, BSA’s events will include a conference with similar organizations throughout the Big 12 and the Mr. and Miss Black OU Pageants, Dike said.
AT A GLANCE BSA Week Schedule Canned Food Drive When: Yesterday through Today Where: Oklahoma Memorial Union’s third floor Student Life suite Soul food and games When: 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday Where: Henderson Tolson Cultural Center “Black and Brown Lives Matter” When: 7 p.m. Thursday Where: Dale Hall
Rap Battle When: 7 p.m. Friday Where: Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Meacham Auditorium Show-N-Tell When: 7 p.m. Saturday Where: Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Meacham Auditorium BSA’s next annual event will be a Thanksgiving dinner.
INVISIBLE DISABILITY
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TONY RAGLE/THE DAILY
Biology and letters Senior KC Poe balances school, research and arthritis every day. Despite what many people see on the outside, she and many others power through their days with chronic illnesses weighing them down.
Some students’ hardships are missed at first glance DANA BRANHAM CAMPUS NEWS REPORTER @DANABRANHAM
W
hen letters and biology senior KC Poe uses the elevator, even just to go up a few flights of stairs, it’s not because she’s lazy. She has arthritis that affects many of her joints. Some days, stairs are her obstacle. Other days it’s typing a paper. While the arthritis makes her joints painful to use, for Poe, the lack of understanding about her disability can be a bigger problem than the pain. “There are a lot of problems that can come with [arthritis], but what I get out of this as the biggest issue is that if I’m hurting, people can’t always tell,” Poe said. “What they will assume is that I’m lazy, and that’s not fair at all.” Invisible disabilities, Poe said, are handled differently than visible ones — say, if someone was in a
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wheelchair. Throughout Poe’s time at OU, her invisible disability has been an issue with professors and fellow students who don’t understand that although she may look OK, she’s suffering. And Poe isn’t alone. In 2010, approximately 21.1 million people aged 15 to 44 who live in the U.S. reported they have some kind of disability. Those individuals didn’t classify their disabilities as severe and didn’t specify they needed assistance, according to the Americans with Disabilities 2010 report. Because people don’t realize Poe has arthritis, sometimes she has to tell them herself, which is often stressful and not something she wants to do. Poe’s been in situations that if her disease had been visible, nobody would have commented.
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“Some people are very cautious with people who have visible disabilities, because they’re afraid of saying something that would hurt their feelings or something that is a very sensitive topic,” Poe said. However, because strangers can’t see her disease they’re more prone to say something, such as the time she was chastised for taking an elevator to a low floor. Then she feels she must explain herself. “It’s hard to talk about, I’m sorry,” Poe said. “It’s personal. It’s something I have to work up to.” Invisible disabilities can also create difficulties in the classroom, Poe said. For instance, Poe must always tell her professors about her disease and also work to complete assignments on time despite arthritis flare-ups. SEE DISABILITY PAGE 2
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