Multimedia Episodes
on Black at Skidmore: Interviews with Asia, Brandy, & Destiny
At elite private institutions, Black students are beguiled by promises of support, success, and even social mobility but we are routinely met with microaggressions, hostility and cultures deeply entrenched in anti-Blackness. During a national reckoning of race relations in the United States, students and alumni in higher education and below are starting accounts with the title of “Blackat...”. These accounts encapsulate the constant negotiation Black students, faculty and staff are forced to do to survive in white spaces. It is a lesson in tightropes. We are frustrated, we are tired and these pages encapsulate our complex emotions.
The account formerly known as BlackatSkidmore now, bipocatskidmore, was created to “serve Black and POC students, faculty, and Alumni to share their experiences at Skidmore College.” BlackatSkidmore gained traction in the Skidmore community, amassing over 1,000 followers and 8,000 likes. I want to note that initially this interview was supposed to include a portion with BlackatSkidmore(bipocatskidmore) but they declined. Initially, I found solace in the account, even submitting my experience with a political science professor. But as the account grew, so did concerns. The concerns of Black people in the Skidmore community were largely centered on the audience and the name of the account. Although named BlackatSkidmore, the account posted submissions from non-Black people (it is important to note that the account did open its scope to non Black POCs). Often, the terms Black and P.O.C. are used interchangeably even when we are discussing experiences unique to Black people. Why are non-Black folks so hesitant to say Black but quick to feign proximity to Blackness?
Yes, Blackness is communal––it is shared. But we must also be cognizant of the ways white supremacy renders Blackness as a fetishized commodity, one that is cool and inherently transgressive. There is a social capital that comes with using “Black.” It strategically places the content in association with the legacies of Black resistance. Similar accounts have popped up bearing the names “Queer at...” and “Jewish at...” Accounts like these work to erase the complexity of Black identity, as if Black people can not hold either identities. These accounts also take up social media reslistate and ride the wave of energy from Black Lives Matter. The ways Black people have forged our own spaces has always been impactful, and I have to be transparent when I say that the fact that we have spaces like this, and why non-Black folks feel emboldened to take up space, is precisely because of the destruction of Black bodies.
I am also concerned with the politics of spectatorship. By this, I mean the social location and desires we view content with.There seems to be something deeply voyeuristic about the ways non-Black people want to “learn” from the stories of an affinity space. The experience I submitted to the account was liked by white students in the class, and I could not help but wonder why they were engaging in the content when in the face of anti-Blackness they remained silent, invested in white supremacy. If the account is made for BIPOC--especially Black people--then what are the reasons why non-Black people follow the account? Using our trauma to inform yourself about the ways you have perpetuated anti-Blackness does not make you a better ally, and it does not make you marginally different than those who aren't seeking these stories.
These issues manifested into formative discussions. Confused by the dissonance of the name and the actions of the account, current students Asia Quiñones, Brandy Smith and Destiny Donelson engaged in conversation over Twitter and addressed the concerns raised by folks with the following post:
I pursued this episode and article not to “expose” the people behind it, but to understand current students, the account, and larger cultural shifts. I also believe it is important to give the account, its followers and the people behind it grace, while at the same time recognizing that doing important work like creating affinity spaces does not absolve anyone from critique.The three stories below belong to Asia Quiñones, Brandy Smith and Destiny Donelson, They all self-identify as Black Women who currently attend Skidmore. All three highlight their thoughts on Black digital spaces, their interactions and opinions of BlackatSkidmore, and their own lived experiences.
Malchijah Hoskins:What is your name, pronouns, class year, and how do you identify?
Asia Quiñones:My name is Asia Quiñones, class of 2021. My pronouns are she/hers and I identify as a Black Latinx woman.
MH:What has been your experience with Black at Skidmore?
AQ:I submitted a post on their google form explaining my experience with a white woman at Skidmore, specifically a situation regarding a micro-aggression toward my boxbraids. The page, Black at Skidmore, posted my experience and an instagram user ignorantly invalidated my experience which led us to go back and forth on the post. I contacted Black at Skidmore to inquire about their core values and accountability ideals since no one from the page had commented anything back to show their support/defense for my experience (where they explained they did not yet see the comments). The page then validated my experience and gave me options on how they should handle the situation via their Instagram page. I chose for them to blast the comments on their media, which they did do & is now on their highlights if you have not seen it yet.
MH:What was it like having that non-black person question your experience?
AQ:Honestly, it was infuriating and annoying. Read the room, non-black people, read the room. Black people are constantly fighting various battles daily. Why would one ever question or try to invalidate an experience one cannot fathom to understand because they’re not Black? Why do Black people need to constantly carry the burden of educating the ignorant? Box braids are roots of African ancestry that black womxn wear as protective styles. Aside from the experience I shared, I’ve constantly received strange questions/comments about my hair all over Saratoga, as I’m sure MANY Black people have. There are so many racial injustices going on in America right now. While reading the comments, I sat there and thought to myself, “has this person seen what’s happening to Black people in America? Would they invalidate those experiences too or do they think racism has limits?” I saw white people and non-black POC from Skidmore liking the comments of this ignorant person as well. I even saw a Black woman comment on the post saying my experience wasn’t racist. Racism doesn’t have limits. A micro-aggression is a micro-aggression. There’s no issue that “wasn’t racist enough” to be validated. 11 times out of 10, if a Black person feels like something is racist, it probably is. If you can’t see that, you need to take those privilege shades off & read the room.
MH:Did you feel supported?
AQ:I feel supported by anyone that can clearly see this was a micro-aggression. I appreciate my peers and strangers that liked/commented in my defense as well. Often people can invalidate your experience and make you feel like your experience was inadequate, but I saw the community understood and supported my experience which helped. I felt supported by the Black at Skidmore page to an extent. I had to reach out to them in order for them to step in (hours after the comments between the Instagram user and myself) and I’m not sure if they would have stepped in otherwise.
MH:What type of response were you expecting from the post of your submission?
AQ:I didn’t really have any expectations. I really just wanted to share my experience. I think it’s very common for non-black people to be shocked when they see a Black person constantly change their hairstyle or make ignorant comments about our hairstyles generally. I’ve spoken to many Black womxn at Skidmore that share how non-black people analyze them or make unsettling comments when they walk into a classroom with a new hairstyle and how uncomfortable it makes them feel. I think I just wanted to share in case anyone could relate and to acknowledge that even moments like mine are not okay.
MH:What are your thoughts on Black at Skidmore?
AQ:I see the intention of the page, but the message is truly lost. Black people constantly have to fight for spaces. We don’t have any space of our own anywhere. Originally I thought this page was exclusive to Black experiences, but then the page began sharing experiences of POC that are non-black. Non-black POC experiences are important too, but they’re not synonymous with Black experiences. The page either needs to change its name to be inclusive to all experiences or only focus on Black experiences if they keep their current name. The page also needs to be run by Black people exclusively (if they remain to only serve Black people) to create comfort and a safe space.
MH:Who do you think the audience of Black at Skidmore is?
AQ:Definitely non-Black POC and Black students are the primary audience.
MH:What are your thoughts on black digital spaces?
AQ:They’re a great platform. Social media is how most of society communicates and a black digital space really can amplify the voices of Black students, if facilitated correctly. Though Black digital spaces must be run by Black students and be exclusively for Black students or else it is not a Black digital space.
MH:Can there truly be black digital spaces?
AQ:There absolutely can be! In the same way there are Black Student Unions, there can be black digital spaces. Though, there must be transparency. Users must know it is run by Black people and for Black people.
MH:If there is anything that I have left out please feel free to talk about it!
AQ:If you want to talk to Black people, have Black friends, a Black significant other, etc.—learn us. Black people have to learn everything about white people; how to behave in white spaces, how to live in white spaces, how to not seem like a threat in white spaces. We had to learn this to progress in jobs or school and even to get into PWIs such as Skidmore. Why can’t y’all learn how to not be a threat in our space too?
Malchijah Hoskins:What is your name, pronouns, class year, and how do you identify?
Destiny Donelson:I'm Destiny, she/her/hers, class of '21 and I identify as Black/African American
MH:What has been your experience with Black at Skidmore?
DD:My experience with Black at Skidmore has been mixed. First I wanted to submit something, but I was reading through the experiences on the page and saw that it didn't look like a space just for black people so I got uncomfortable and decided against it... I then commented on their instagram post explaining my take and why it makes me uncomfortable that their name is "blackatskidmore" when it isn't the point of their page, and me nor anyone else who commented have heard anything in response.
MH:What are your thoughts on black digital spaces?
DD:Black digital spaces should be inclusive to all Black people and only that. Black people should have spaces to themselves since somewhere in many, many cultures, anti blackness exists.
MH:Can there truly be black digital spaces?
DD:Absolutely. It is up to the people who run the page to curate that as a black space. Black people have to bear burdens of other people all the time, so where is our space to be in community with each other?
Too many times, thoughts by black people, memes, expressions, LANGUAGE has been taken and spread by so many people at Skidmore who are non-black. Where is the place we can talk about that? When I first saw Blackatskidmore I was excited and ready for some radical action and traction towards how people treat and have treated black Skidmore students, faculty and staff... but it seems like someone got nervous or insecure about the fact that if black people share their experiences, other people may feel left out. But it also seems like they didn't stop to think about how this action itself can make the same black staff, faculty, alumni, and students feel not included in something that was supposed to be for them to begin with? Doesn't that sound familiar to anyone?