Tag Archives: identity

Collaborations Shape CRSL’s Spring Semester

The spring semester was a whirlwind of spirited activity. Many collaborative ventures stretched our intellect, consciousness, and empathy, including the Engaging Identity series with the Wellness Education Office; The Refugee Resettlement Project with the Jandon Center for Community Engagement; the … Continue reading

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My Islam:
An Exploration of Identity

“My Islam 2017: An Exploration of Identity” was an open mic event for Muslim students and students racialized as Muslim. The program served to highlight the diverse experiences of Muslims and center those whose voices that are usually left unheard, … Continue reading

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MLK & Justice, Identity, and Social Change Initiative (Part 2)

After the opening remarks on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the American Friends Service Committee hosted two panel discussions on racial justice. I was proud to moderate the first panel of student fellows for the Justice, Identity, and Social Change Initiative … Continue reading

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MLK & Justice, Identity, and Social Change Initiative (Part 1)

Over January Term (or J-term), two students participated in a fellowship for with our Center as part of our Justice, Identity, and Social Change (JISC) initiative. These students, Raven Fowlkes-Witten and Lucy Tucker, serve on our JISC advisory board. The … Continue reading

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Wednesday Weekly Vigil, Halloween Edition
Cultural Appreciation vs. Cultural Appropriation

On a cool and drizzling Wednesday afternoon at 12:20, a couple of students gathered on Chapin Deck by the Campus Center to participate in a special Wednesday Weekly Vigil. This Vigil centered on the issue of cultural appreciation verses cultural … Continue reading

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The Justice, Identity, and Social Change Initiative:
Spiritual Life Meets Social Justice

  It feels like the World is burning. This is what Sensei Ryumon Baldoquin, Community Religious Adviser, said at our first “Peace Meal,” a gathering for dialogue and discussion of difficult problems. Certainly in the last few weeks, with the … Continue reading

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Our Inescapable Network of Mutuality

Amidst the cacophony of all that I am reading, hearing, and taking in response to the verdict in the Ferguson Grand Jury deliberation,—which I am, like many of us, just barely beginning to sort through—I have little, if anything, different or new … Continue reading

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SWANS: Beyond Atheism, Agnosticism, and Religion to Spiritual Intersectionality

The first week in February was the United Nation’s “Interfaith Harmony Week”. While Smith will be commemorating this week later on in the semester, this is a good time to begin to talk about the what and why of “Interfaith Harmony.” Three … Continue reading

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My Black Friends Laugh When I Tell Them I’m Black
30 Poems In November

I’m black! … your skin is light but I’m black! … well your hair is too curly but I grew up around all black people … yeah but you got mad Spanish cousins and y’alls accent gets too thick when y’all talk fast Anyways what chu know about being black? What chu know about slavery Your people didn’t go through Jim Crow or the middle passage Martin Luther King wasn’t your king. Rosa Parks did not sit for you. So what chu know about being black? You don’t even smoke weed! Or perm your hair When’s the last time you got a weave? If you can still get tan in the summer then you ain’t realllllyyyyy black You said you put sofrito in your ramen… Man you ain’t black! … Continue reading

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Smith Explores Model of Interfaith Cooperation

In the first year of my interfaith fellowship at Smith, I have used the idea of Interfaith Cooperation as a guiding principle, operating within the belief that college students both long for contexts to explore and develop themselves spiritually; but … Continue reading

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