Racial Discrimination & Black Experiences - Black students are more likely to experience racial discrimination than non-black peers, especially at less diverse institutions [2] - One in four (25%) black employees have experienced racial discrimination due to their race, based on a 2021 Gallup study [2] - Blackness is often discussed with a deficit-oriented mindset, exemplified by questions dismissing the continued relevance of addressing racism, HBCUs, or Black History Month [10] Poetry & Pedagogy - Poetry serves as a means to preserve history, share culture, tell stories, and inform the masses [13] - Poetry can be integrated with pedagogy to help students understand the nuances of blackness and black identity [14][15] - Freeverse, prose, and personal stories can be used to assess student learning, amplify black voices, and create spaces that center black joy and culture [16] - Poetry is passion, purpose, intellect, and resistance [17] Social Justice & Black Identity - Activism will continue to oppose systems that disenfranchise people within the African diaspora as long as acts of injustice exist [12] - Black experiences are real, and poetry transcends beyond the confines of a classroom [19] - Historically white institutions may be complacent in addressing the needs of black students, staff, and faculty [18]

Technology has so much power to spread love, hate, and everything in between. Let me give you an example. In 8th grade, I was on my phone minding my business when I opened Instagram and saw some kid from school had sent me some messages.Just a bunch of Instagram reels, random. And I opened them and the most recent one said, "Good morning, Negro. Have a good day, Negro." I was terrified and confused. I didn't understand why he felt the need to send me that.I closed the app immediately and just sat in my room ...