The Vision

Whether or not the “No-Loan Policy” is an achievable goal for the University of Pennsylvania at this time, the fact that Penn continues to sell the fabricated existence of the “No-Loan Policy,” while subsequently ignoring the pleas of students who are forced to take out loans, shows a “determined ambivalence” on behalf of both the University and Student Financial Services.

Now, 16 years later, we find ourselves in the middle of Black History Month and UMOJA Week at a time where black unity and reflection are needed most. We not only find our nation in the grips of a raging debate in regards to systemic oppression and genocide of black bodies, but our campus community as well.

We must realize that leaders of civil rights movements are as human as we are — that we are as capable of speaking out, resisting unlawful practices and leading movements as they were and, more importantly, that they will eventually succumb to the limitations of human life and no longer be able to march alongside future generations.

One does not risk their time and safety fighting for the life of a person they have never met without love. Nor can students abandon their classes and approval of their peers to join nationwide protests without love.

At the request of Mr. Rohrback, we have compiled a list of facts that we deeply believe the PPA should rely on. It is our belief that “[p]olicing an open, urban, multicultural and densely-populated university environment such as Penn,” as the Penn Police department website states, requires a commitment to protect all its community members, especially when that West Philadelphia community is predominantly Black and Brown.

There are plenty of people walking around with fancy positions who haven’t accomplished much. And then there are those without any formal recognitions who will always be remembered for the impact that they have had.

This pervasive notion that black people have to change their bodies is ingrained in our society and makes it difficult to recognize how external forces have been internalized. Whether this self-loathing comes in the form of using makeup or chemicals to brighten skin tones or using heat or treatments to straighten hair, the goal has been to meet a standard of beauty that elevates one group of people and simultaneously demeans another.

Queer and gendered narratives are stripped from the black narrative, resulting in a solely heteronormative, male, black narrative, which effectively serves as an act of erasure. We are expected to drop our identities — identities that interact in ways that open us up to violence that is largely ignored. We are expected to silence our criticisms about our treatment in order to focus our attentions on the struggles of black men.

There are countless organizations on campus dedicated to promoting mental wellness. But many of these organizations don’t deeply explore the ways in which intersectionality may affect students’ mental health.

Whether in the bold declarations of humanity as displayed in the "I, Too am Harvard" Conference play or the solemn memorial of the black lives lost to state-sanctioned lynchings, it is an inconvenient fact that racism is America’s silent curse. If we are to ever move past this nation’s traumatic youth, we must be willing to endure the growing pains that shatter our complacency with our current state of affairs.