AASD Retreat

So, I wanted to write about an experience that I had this weekend that was very powerful. However, to get to that part, I have to start the story from about a week ago.
About a week ago, I had lunch with a representative from the Black Student Union. She informed me that the AASD (African-American Student Development Office)  was having a Retreat and Summit. It was meant to be a chance for African American Students at Berkeley to gather together and build a sense of community while discussing issues that needed to be addressed within the community on Campus. At first, I wasn’t sure if I would want to participate  because I can be pretty shy and I thought that it would be strange. However, I went to the "Milk  & Cookies" session for the Black Campus ministries. Again, at this meeting, the retreat was mentioned. I decided to look into it further. I registered for the retreat on Wednesday but I still wasn't completely decided on whether or not I would attend.
On Thursday evening, I had conceded to not going. Instead, I would spend the weekend getting caught up on my reading. However, on Friday morning, it just sort of came to me that I should go. And so I got up and packed my bags and had them waiting for me when I got back from class.
Well, at 3:00, I booked out of my last class back to my dorm and dragged my two bags and a package of Pocky Sticks to Upper Sproul to meet the rest of the group.
We walked to the BART station in Downtown Berkeley, which is not too different from the Marta in Atlanta. (At least in the systematic way.) We traveled about 25-30 min. from Berkeley to Walnut Creek. From there, it has been a great experience.
The overall theme of the summit was "Miseducation of the Negro"
On the first night, we heard from a panel of African American Cal graduates about what issues they felt the black community at Berkeley was facing. They spoke about the ways that many students had become complacent in their purpose as black students at Cal. They also reminded us that our education was not for out benefit only, but that it was meant to be a way that we could contribute to our community and give back. It was a very innovative discourse to hear from peers, rather than from faculty. It reminded me, as a Spelmanite, of the duties that I have to fulfill once I return to Spelman in the fall. I have a community of my own to uplift through positivity and to promote more of a sense of responsibility. It is important to understand that a degree from any institution is useless if you only use it for yourself. Your work has to mean something for others.
After this discussion, we had our first workshop: Miseducation of Women. It was during this session that the male students and the female students were split up to have separate discussions. In the seminar for the women, we discussed the topic of respect. We were asked first, to sit in a circle and each of had to express what we hoped to get out of the session. For me, the answer was a sense of community.
Coming from Spelman, a school with a legacy of community and sisterhood, it felt strange to hear the young women actually expressing the need for sisterhood among themselves. Then it dawned on me…
I have been calling Spelmanites, not Spelman students, but my Spelman Sisters for the last 2 and a half years of my life. It is this community that has come to define the majority of my experience at Spelman College. I have had experiences where I have been on the highways of Charlotte, North Carolina, but when I see a Spelman Decal or license plate holder, I can pull up along side the car and will receive a wave from my Spelman sister. Our community is not just on the campus. It is a network that goes all over the place. We congratulate each other. Greet each other. Promote each other. And we always strive to reach out to each other. So, I have never had to worry about community. (However, I do believe that there are definitely times when our sisterhood needs to be reiterated. I will not proceed to say MY Spelman is perfect. But I love my Spelman sister enough not to lie to them about the state of our sisterhood. And sometimes, it is important to remind each other what that is supposed to mean and the history behind it.)
Anyway, once we listed our expectations and desires for the group, we split up into 10 groups of five. In these groups, we were asked to answer the following questions:
1. What does respect look like/ feel like?
2.  Do you feel like you are respected?
3. When is a time you felt most respected?
4. When was a time you felt most disrespected?
5. What are ways that we can show respect to each other in our community? What changes are we willing to make and what does it take to get there?
In answering these questions, we delved deep into our hearts and were vulnerable enough to share honestly with one another. It seemed like a strange thing, but talking about respect is truly an emotional topic. There were some girls who could not think of a time that they felt respected. It was hurtful to hear that because, everyone should feel respected. What was even worse was that sometimes, the greatest disrespect came those that were often closest to the young women that were sharing.
After this time together, we joined back with the young men to reflect on what we had discussed. Afterwards, we left for our rooms to have various activities until we went to sleep. Although these discussions were great, the greatest part of the weekend was yet to come.
We started the next days Workshops with a Session called "Mastery of Self" with Baayan Bakari. During Mr. Bakari's talk, he talked about restoring the respect and dignity to the identity of black people. No longer thinking that being black was synonymous with ignorance, unattached attitudes and an aversion to success. But rather, we came from a people who lived with pride and dignity. He also asked us to ponder the following questions:
1. Who Am I?
2. How do I see Myself?
3. What is my life's purpose?
After this lecture, we had a keynote address from the Berkeley Associate Chancellor Linda Williams. This was a speech that I thought correlated perfectly with my experience as a Spelmanite. Ms. Williams is the first African American female cabinet member of UCB. Her advice and experience was amazing to hear. However, I feel like she is probably a speaker that we might not ever have at Spelman, which is too bad. There are some very subtle differences in what you are going to hear at Spelman v. University of California Berkeley. Although I love our administration with all of my heart, there always feels like this distance between where we are as students and our administrations. However, Ms. Williams was able to remove the distance between student and administrator in her speech.
After this as a student led discussion called Joys and Complexities of the Diaspora which was held by the Nigerian Student Association. The topic was to look at the ways that Africans viewed African Americans and vice versa. It was also to resolve the negative connotations that have come from words such as "African", "African-American", ",Black" and "American".
The most important part of the retreat series was at the end when we had our group bonding activity to close. There was a yarn "ball" introduced to the group and each of us had to wrap it around our wrist while sharing something that we gained from the experience. As we passed the yarn from person to person, there was a web formed so that each of us was bound to each other. When we had finished sharing, we each cut our part of the yarn and tied it to our wrists as a reminder of the connection that we shared and the community that we had to build upon if ever we needed on another.
The retreat was overall and excellent experience and a wonderful way to recharge for another week
Yet another fine week here at Berkeley has come to  a close. And it has made me all the more sure that I am currently, exactly where I need to be. And, I know that I have MY Spelman, to thank for the opportunity.