Husker Dialogues 2020: Clare Kramper

Curt Bright Author

08/24/2020 Added

14 Plays

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Husker Dialogues is a diversity and inclusion event designed to introduce first-year students to tools they can use to engage in meaningful conversations to help create an inclusive Husker community.

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[00:00:00.051](bright music)
[00:00:13.552]The heart of anti-racism is vulnerability.
[00:00:17.020]Bernay Brown spoke these wise words
[00:00:19.050]in a podcast I listened to
[00:00:21.180]for Summer 2020 Cooper Conversations on Race,
[00:00:24.357]"A Way Forward."
[00:00:26.380]It summarizes my experiences
[00:00:28.210]for the summer-long conversations
[00:00:30.050]I participated in about all the different facets of racism.
[00:00:34.870]It took a large amount of vulnerability
[00:00:36.660]to sign up for this program.
[00:00:38.760]At the first session,
[00:00:40.070]my heart was beating in my throat
[00:00:41.680]and my nerves were through the roof.
[00:00:43.870]What was I,
[00:00:44.703]a new freshman in college, a white girl from the Midwest,
[00:00:48.400]a recent Catholic high school graduate
[00:00:50.640]doing a Zoom discussion about race?
[00:00:53.980]I left my comfort zone far behind
[00:00:56.430]when I signed up for the discussions.
[00:00:58.770]But when I hit play on the first podcast,
[00:01:01.350]I realized the opportunity before me.
[00:01:04.230]An opportunity to listen, to learn and to grow.
[00:01:09.060]As the summer weeks flew by,
[00:01:10.700]I listened to podcasts on the origins of slavery
[00:01:13.270]in the United States,
[00:01:14.800]if videos of black people dying were helpful,
[00:01:17.770]the arguments of blue lives matter and defunding the police,
[00:01:21.530]the role Colin Kaepernick played in the movement,
[00:01:24.210]and I read the book "How to be an Antiracist"
[00:01:27.400]by Ibram X. Kendi.
[00:01:29.470]It takes vulnerability to enter into a conversation or space
[00:01:33.440]where you are not the expert
[00:01:35.090]and triggering words like privilege, racist and bias
[00:01:38.610]are often used.
[00:01:40.530]The first step is actively listening to the stories
[00:01:43.760]that others have to tell.
[00:01:45.890]In the Zoom discussions, I grew the most
[00:01:48.700]while listening to the answers of the other participants.
[00:01:52.020]Their experiences, observations and questions
[00:01:55.750]offered new perspectives and different angles
[00:01:58.350]of situations I had previously thought unproblematic.
[00:02:02.550]After listening for hours,
[00:02:04.160]and occasionally offering my thoughts,
[00:02:06.330]I can confidently say
[00:02:07.990]that I'm actively working on being an anti-racist.
[00:02:11.590]Now, here I am as a freshman
[00:02:14.120]with the world at my fingertips.
[00:02:16.620]My learning and growing does not stop
[00:02:18.850]at the end of my summer Zoom sessions.
[00:02:21.790]We are the generation
[00:02:23.130]that will inherit a world of turmoil and division.
[00:02:26.770]As an individual,
[00:02:28.000]you have the ability to start the ripples of equality
[00:02:30.450]and understanding in your daily life.
[00:02:33.330]Do not settle for sitting in similarity and silence.
[00:02:37.260]With a campus full of opportunities,
[00:02:39.550]I ask that we take full advantage of them,
[00:02:42.160]listening to the stories being told
[00:02:44.220]and reconsidering our previous assumptions and beliefs.
[00:02:48.390]Be courageous in your words and actions.
[00:02:51.420]To all my new classmates of color,
[00:02:53.350]we see you, we hear you,
[00:02:55.520]and we want to amplify your voices
[00:02:57.440]and listen to your stories.
[00:02:59.870]To the whole class of 2024,
[00:03:02.090]we have an audience listening to us so speak up.
[00:03:05.251](bright music)

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Husker Dialogues 2020: Clare Kramper

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