Briana Blackwell

I had the pleasure of meeting this extraordinary young lady at the Peace Walk 2017. I was greatly impressed with all she was doing in the community and knew I had to share her story with all of you. There is so many wonderful things to say about Miss Blackwell that I do not believe a small paragraph will do her accomplishments justice, but I will try.

Miss Blackwell is a Senior at Penn State's Schreyer Honors College, triple majoring in Political Science, African American Studies, and Philosophy.

She has received an African American Studies Scholarship in Excellence and Leadership (2017); an intern at the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, under Margaret Burnham, a civil rights lawyer and first Black woman judge in Massachusetts at Northeastern University Law School (summer 2017); a recipient of the 2017 Rock Ethics Thesis and Research Award, and a 2017-2018 Honors Thesis Fellow for the Rock Ethics Institute.

Here is Briana's story. I hope you enjoy learning all about this truly inspirational young lady.

Do you see the things you are doing an inspiration and motivation for other women?

To be honest, I at first didn’t see what I was doing as inspirational, I was just doing what I loved. But I have been told that I am an inspiration, and I am honored each time to be told that. I give credit to God and all that He has allowed me to do and accomplish. I never wish to glorify myself, but tell others that I’m carrying out my purpose and passions. I do hope that my passion for social justice and racial equality is an inspiration and motivation for other women. I certainly don’t do anything for recognition, but once I began to realize the power that I have as someone with passion to take action and a loud voice, I owned it. I hope that motivates and reaches other women who are in the process of learning who they are and the power they have to make true impact in whatever field and spaces they are in.

As a woman of color, do you believe it is our responsibility to support other women of color?

I do. Society at large and even the people around us cause WOC to often be brought up feeling insecure about physical features, stereotypes that are forced upon us and shape our own self-image, and teach us to compete with women who have more Eurocentric or more “likable” physical and character traits to men. And where presence of WOC is already scarce, barriers may be created even more. We’re taught to hate ourselves, our skin, our hair, our lips, nose, criticized for our body shape, down to the archetypes that are placed upon us for being too loud, aggressive, etc., I will not blame WOC and say that we separate ourselves. But the reality is that White supremacy seeks to divide POC, and we are twice as oppressed by our “double jeopardy” of being women of color. Supporting one another can be from helping another WOC to love herself and feel more comfortable in her skin, to helping her be more successful in her field because we also need to share resources and support each other economically. But a simple conversation, acknowledgement, a compliment, or a smile, is our responsibility to other WOC, because we have just as many wonderful things in common as negative ones.

With all the negativity surround African Americans in the media, do you think those images are presented unjustly?

I’d call the presentation proof of racism perpetrated through the media, rather than unjust. When AAs are actually recognized and are in the spotlight, we are identified by the stereotypes and labels that white supremacy purposely puts on us. We are defined by mugshots, crimes, or Black bodies dead. Myths about black-on-black crime, for example, is maintained through the media highlighting those stories, but omitting the equally as frequent white-on-white crimes, and even spinning the narrative as calling the offenders mentally ill. Social media has brought A BIT more awareness to the recent accomplishments of African Americans, but the framing of Bad Blacks and Good Whites has and always will be prevalent in media. And truthfully, the only reason why we might see a story or two on our newsfeed about an African American student being accepted into multiple Ivy League Schools with thousands of dollars’ worth of scholarships, for example, is because African Americans are the ones posting that information to circulate the Internet, and are the ones dedicated to changing the unjust media framing. But it stops short there. The media excludes achievements and heroic stories of African Americans because racism exists in many news media outlets, and those with the power to change the narrative of African Americans choose to continue to propagate the stereotypes of us as criminals, low-achieving, uneducated, etc.

You are involved in a mentoring program at the high school. How and why did you start that?

YEP’s existence began before I added the mentoring aspect. A common misconception that I actively try to correct is that YEP was designed to be a mentoring program, when its mission statement is to target vulnerable youth who possess leadership potential but lack opportunities to develop it in a positive way. So with goals to expand the organization and reach more members in the community, I took a friend’s suggestion to begin mentoring. There are mentorships that exist with freshmen and upperclassmen at Penn State for POC, but YEP focuses on developing youth within the community that are not affiliated with Penn State. For me, I was passionate to get this started because I experienced racism, classism, and bigotry growing up in a predominately white are K-12. My hometown has diversified somewhat over the last 5-10 years, but the area’s resistance to change speaks greatly to the systematic issues that are deeply rooted there. I realized, in hindsight, that I felt forced to assimilate and had little knowledge about Blackness, other cultures, and we were not encouraged to embrace that. I did not speak up against racism and bigotry, and I had little understanding of even the difference between the two. Only when I came to college could I properly articulate the years of buildup resentment I had from having to fight against racism day-by-day, and feeling as though I missed out on the opportunity to truly love and embrace my Blackness. I became extremely interested in African American history, racism, police brutality, etc. At this same time, I met a professor whose son was involved in The Diversity Club. As he shared the stories about the racism he faced within the school to the jaw-dropping racial incidents his son faced, I knew that it was my purpose to step in and take this opportunity to involve myself in these students’ stride toward equality and change within their school. I combined the personal connections I had to introduce myself to the school, so that we as students could work within the school, get into the system, and fight side by side with students through the then relatively small Youth Empowerment Program.

Do you believe this program is beneficial?

I do believe this program is beneficial. It’s still new and we are still actively finding ways to expand and serve even more youth in the State College community, but The Youth Empowerment Program serves several purposes. In a predominately white community, where the educational institutions mirror the disproportionate ratio of white residents and POC, we have to show the students that successful, community-oriented students of color exist at Penn State. We know that students of color are HERE, but the great works, leadership, and community service gets omitted from the narrative of Black, Latinx, Muslim, and Asian student leadership and student organizations within our campus and community. We hope to serve as role models, add descriptive representation of what the PSU population looks like, and get these students excited about higher education. These students are so bright and driven on their own, we just serve as guidance to the already existence motivation to change their high school – hence why EMPOWERMENT is our biggest notion in what we do. And by empowering others, we as college students also learn a lot about ourselves, such as our strengths and weaknesses, our ability to lead, definitely professionalism, and building up OUR own confidence in order to effectively build others’. Everyone in YEP truly benefits from the program.

Would you be interested in starting a similar program in the middle schools?

Yes, definitely. As we are growing as an organization, raising money and building funds, we want to travel to middle schools and elementary schools more in the future. The high school was the easiest connection for us to make, but after hearing about all of the bigotry and discrimination that occurs in grades 5-8, the need to educate students there and mentor in those institutions are just as important. Not only is education for diversity, inclusivity, and such significant, but we also have realized from a mentoring perspective that a lot of internal issues are planted from harassment, bullying, feelings of exclusion and isolation based solely on race, religion, etc. that carry on with students for years. Those internal struggles are also what we focus on in YEP and are just as crushing for me to hear from students. We recognized that a lot of the unacceptable behavior and comments begins far before high school, and is deeply rooted and engrained into the educational systems before grades 9-12. There is work to be done there, and we hope to help students

Since being a student at Penn State, have you encountered any negativity because of being a woman or because of your skin color?​

Of course. And it occurs from the smallest interactions – being left out of discussions, excluded from leadership roles, my intelligence questioned because I am a woman – to being told I was only accepted into Penn State because I’m Black, advisors recommending me to take the easiest coursework possible my freshmen year, and even doubting my ability to be accepted into the Honors college and pursue my three majors. I could speak on isolated incidents for the whole duration of the interview, because the list is so extensive. Many stick out vividly in my mind, some are blurred in my memory because I used to cope by brushing the microaggressions and slurs off. That, actually, is a big part of why I love what we do in YEP, because I believe that no student should have to shrug off microaggressions, have their feelings minimized, or be told that they are paranoid, sensitive, “making it about race”, etc. I was told all of those things in my predominantly white high school, and I no longer stand to accept that now. I’ve found my voice to stand up in any environment I am in.

Most reoccurring negativity occurs in classroom settings in my smaller courses where opinions are open, and the ignorance pours out. I also have felt myself having to make my argumentation twice as good as someone who has the privilege to speak before they think, without the possibility of being seen as stupid, loud, aggressive, and such based on their gender or race. That too, I am learning to let go of. But it’s a reality that I constantly face. Intersectionality makes it impossible for me to solely say if most my negativity is experienced because I am Black or because I am a woman, but trust me, there’s a story for almost every day.

Who are some of your inspirations?

Truthfully, my inspirations are people that I see and speak to on a daily basis. My professors, my advisors, people within my church, and my closest friends. I used to admire celebrities and follow up with everything that they do, wishing I could have a body like them, and be rich like them. But now, I value character, and there are many amazing women and men surrounding me who inspire me to be a better me each day. I look up to the people around me who have identified their God-given purpose and who work hard to carry out that purpose each day. I am inspired by anyone and anything that betters humanity and gives spontaneous acts of love and kindness each day, despite what they sacrifice. I am inspired by those who are dedicated to fighting white supremacy and unapologetically make that mission in life known, as well, as I believe that is a part of what I am called to do.

What do you see yourself doing in your future?

In the future, I see myself going into civil rights or public interest law. I’m hoping that these passions will lead me to do activist work and defend those who are victims of racism, hate crimes, or police brutality. I then would like to become a judge or law professor. I’d like to continue my mentoring and community service involvement, and I have thought about establishing a program for Black, low-income students and adults interested in law in the future. I would also like own my own law firm so that I have the ability to take POC under my wing who may be unable to find employment, are struggling financially, and give them resources. I have always had a passion for helping those who are homeless, so I know that I will incorporate that into my future somehow.

I also see myself doing other work alongside with my future legal career. I see myself writing a book in the near future about some experiences that have shaped me to be who I am. I believe that stories and testimonies are so powerful and meaningful, and I plan to soon begin working on a book that shares my deep and personal struggles and how I overcome them through God. So, that although that isn’t related to law, I believe my story is inspirational and can help other women come closer to Christ and realize how special and important they are.

What changes, as women, do we need to make in order to be treated equal to men?

The responsibility or burden to be treated equal to men should not lie on us as women to prove that we aren’t inferior. Men who don’t view women as equals are the ones who need to make changes.

Do you have any words of advice for younger women of color?

For younger women of color, I encourage you to know yourself so much that whatever anyone tries to label you as, will never affect you enough to define who you are. That applies your personality, your flaws, skills, passions, and of course your race, ethnicity, culture, and all that comes along with you. Once you identify who you are, no one else can. And once you learn all the great things about yourself and what you can offer to the world, what YOUR purpose is in life, you will begin to realize how unique, special, and needed you are. No one can be you and you can’t be anyone else. The moment I realized I am different and embraced it, and stopped trying to fit in but ALSO learned how to love others’ uniqueness, is the day I stopped seeking approval and became free to be my best self. We all have a specific purpose, and we are all fearfully and wonderfully made, and the world is waiting on you to give us your talents… So start today.

Do you believe being a Black woman will affect how far you will go in achieving your goals in your future?

I won't let any type of racism or discrimination stop me. I know that being a Black woman will create obstacles, even if I am working with predominately people of color. I know that within law school and the different positions I may want to put myself in so that I can make that change, I will not always be working with people of color. I know I will face some issues, but I will not let that hinder me. I won't let it stop me from reaching my goals. I am sure it will test my patience, it may make me want to give up and question why I am putting myself in these spaces, but that is when I will know I will need to be in that position the most.

Briana told me she was honored to be able to share a piece of who she is and to be a part of the women I have identified as inspirations to other women. But it is always me who is honored to have the opportunity to meet these amazing women and share their stories with others.

If you enjoyed this post, please like, share, and subscribe. Depending on my health, I will try my best to put out biweekly posts on inspirational women and social issues that involve women.

Until next time, be the inspiration all women need!