Start a Revolution- Save Africana, Latin and Women’s Studies at our Colleges!!!!

With our nation’s economy in shambles, everyone is looking for ways to cut back on spending and budget cuts are the name of the game. Unfortunately thanks to poor government spending (i.e. - a crazy war with no end in sight) the country’s universities are really feeling the pinch. In their haste to cut costs (and preserve the lofty salaries of some school presidents) some schools have placed Africana (African, African American. Black, Diaspora etc.), Latin American and Women studies Programs on the chopping block. Claiming that the programs have so few majors that it’s not worth the costs.
Students in these programs are up in arms (particularly at my Alma Mater the University of South Florida), writing letters, signing petitions and leading rallies to preserve the departments that they hold dear.

To close these departments would be a travesty to those who have fought for diversity on college campuses. This is a slap in the face pioneer students and educators who pushed to have the study of women and minorities featured at a university level. In one fail swoop the University’s “task force” is seeking to destroy the hard work of these individuals. As both woman and a black person, it also feels like the University is saying that the study of people like me (either in gender, ethnicity or shared minority status) isn’t worth keeping around and that’s an insult.

On another note I am fully aware that none of these departments have a truckload of majors, they don’t have and research grants or at to the University’s long lasting quest to become “Research college” (at the expense of the rest of the college) but you’d be hard pressed to find one student at USF or any other college who hasn’t taken a course in these departments and you’d have an even harder time finding a student who hasn’t benefited personally from being a student in that class. I also doubt that there are a ton of Philosophy or geography majors lurking around the campus but we haven’t heard about them consolodating that department

I took a few classes in both Women’s studies (Women and Communications, the Female Experience in America) and in Africana Studies (Racism in America, Gender Race Communications). I can honestly say that every course that I took has played an imperative part in forming who I am and how I view others. It gave me the clear words to explain the murky things I saw around me.

No class has had a larger impact on me than “Major Black Thinkers”, a course about all of the leaders and modern day philosophers of the Black America. I woke up every Monday and Wednesday at 6 am to make it to class at 8, in the summertime just to take this class. And I would do it again. The things I learned about (Ida B. Wells, the REAL Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X. Dubois vs. Washington etc) are gold nuggets for Black Americans but too many of us never get a chance to learn about them until college if we ever learn about them at all. This history is imperative to the survival and growth of African Americans (and should be taught in Elementary school) and it is vital to increasing the understanding of non-minorities to the struggles that others face.

These departments cannot be eliminated or diminished! We must all fight for the growth and longevity of these departments and those like them. If you’re still in college check on the status of your African/Women/Latin/Asian or Native American studies programs. If they’re on the chopping block, organize. Petition, write, rally and make a ton of NOISE so that your school knows that these departments are important to you.

Alumni ( especially those of us from PWI’s), please keep in contact with your school, join your alumni associations ( yes, even if you ran across the stage, think they jacked up your financial aid, or screwed up your net check). We a lot of other departments have very powerful, strong alumni, donors and companies to stand up for them. We need to do the same!

If you’re in Tampa come out and support the rally today 1pm- 3pm.

The REVOLUTION starts with you and may be blogged, youtubed or podcasted.