To Our Black Students, with Love, is a series of letters from the SLCC student body to our Black students. The Office of Diversity & Multicultural Affairs started this letter campaign to show solidarity with our students in response to the Zoom bombing that occurred during the Black History Month Poetry Slam hosted by the Black Student Union in February 2021. Read more letters here.
Dear Black Student:
My mother’s heart hurts for you as I heard about the recent attack you experienced during the Black History Month Poetry Slam. As a mother, I would gather you in my arms, smooth your hair and whisper in your ear: “I am glad you are here. Your presence makes my life better in this college setting. You belong and are teaching me what I need to learn to be a more loving and supportive human being.”
Thank you for the courage and focus and effort it must have taken you to get up the next day and push forward toward your dreams. Thank you for your patience with us white folks, who may not be the hurlers of ugly words, but who still have so much to learn about inclusion and love. When you speak up in class and tell your story, you help me know how I can connect better. I hope you will not let this recent darkness silence you, because I need to hear what you say.
Thank you for all your hard work and persistence in passing your classes and persisting even though so many things don’t fall neatly into place. I am not your mother, but I am here supporting you from afar, and if I knew what your favorite treat might be, as a mom, I would make a double portion and sit with you as you savored every bite. I would hope that the sweetness of that dessert and the love in which it is baked could enter into your heart and act as a salve on the bitterness the racist world has cast your way. Even though I’m not sitting with you, I AM here sending angels to surround you and protect you. I believe in YOU!
Love, Maria
