The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: black

  • Unpacking Black Joy with Kirby Moss

    Unpacking Black Joy with Kirby Moss

    By Carlina Grillo

    If money is the root of all evil, when do people feel joyful about it? Kirby Moss, a professor and head of the journalism department at Cal Poly Humboldt, asked nearly 20 students and community members last Tuesday, Feb. 13. It left people stumped. 

    Topics discussed were Black representation in the media, feelings around finances and money, how to navigate being a first generation student while saving money for college, and hypotheticals about splurging on a life experience or saving and investing said money. 

    Rather than lecturing, Moss guided a conversation by asking plenty of thought-provoking questions. 

    “We’re in college, this is an academic setting, this is a setting of intellectual exploration. Do you think we should be learning more about money or not?” Moss said. “This conversation today is about money, but it’s not about material stuff. It’s about autonomy, it’s about options.”

    Aundrea All’love is a community member and business owner who was invited to share their experiences. One experience they have as a Black business owner is balancing mental health and community value, while still recognizing their worth and being paid a sustainable amount. 

    “From going from homeless, to some stability, to slowly growing my business now, the biggest shift I did was to focus on what brings me joy. Having faith in my ability and understanding my value,” All’love said. “I have been choosing more opportunities to make money and less scrumping down on my savings.”

    Jeremiah Keys is a sophomore at Cal Poly Humboldt who shared experiences about college being the foundation for the rest of his life. 

    “It’s not just going to be college then careers. It’s like college, then another college, then career and then struggles in between those things, but I’m still going to get through it,” Keys said. “Providing for my family and friends suits me, because I love doing it. That’s the expression that we love. Do something that suits you, but don’t push yourself to where you end up judging yourself more and more and more, and not looking at all the good that you’ve already done and all the good you can possibly do in the future.”

    This event was a part of a month-long series of events for Black Liberation Month, held by The Umoja Center for Pan African Student Excellence. For more information on upcoming events the Umoja Center can be found on Instagram at @umojahumboldt.

    “Money is not power. It’s all about us,” Moss said.

  • Here to Stay: AACAE Hires Permanent Director

    Here to Stay: AACAE Hires Permanent Director

    Bridging the cultural gap between the campus and community

    Douglas Smith drove up to Humboldt State for the first time in 2013 as a transfer student with big eyes for a small school.

    Smith was seeking same the small school feeling that he got while attending College of the Canyons, away from his home in Los Angeles. At first, Smith experienced anxiety about being one the few people of color in Arcata, but he found a way to adapt and thrive in time.

    Today, he’s the director for the African American Center for Academic Excellence, and is four months into his new role. Smith holds his own college experiences as reference when approaching the job.

    “My big benefit to coming to Humboldt State was that I had these opportunities for cultural exchange with different kinds of people,” Smith said.

    Smith believes the center should be a place that highlights the black experience and culture, a space where students and community can freely speak and learn. Smith hopes the center will strengthen the campus community and bridge the gap between the campus and locals.

    Smith emphasized intercultural exchange as an important part of learning. One way the center achieves this is through Talking Drum, a safe space that gives students the agency to converse over the issues that matter to them.

    HSU sophomore Brooklyn Reed is the new facilitator for Talking Drum. She met Smith tabling in the quad and offered some of her ideas on how the center’s discussions could be run.

    “I talked to him about how to facilitate it, about what I wanted it to look like, how I wanted to build community,” Reed said. “He was just very, super supportive. Just yes, like, ‘let’s do this!’”

    Reed wants to run the discussions the way she learned back home in Los Angeles. She also wants the chief of police to attend some meetings so that the center can hold the police accountable if they disagree with their conduct.

    Smith’s approach to working with Reed speaks to how he wants to take a step back when it comes to campus dialogue. For his first couple of months, Smith said he spent the majority of his time listening to student feedback.

    “I’m trying to come in with this idea of like, ‘Okay, I have some ideas for things,’” Smith said. “But I really want to learn and listen to what students’ needs are, and identify those needs before I go in and start making decisions here and there.”

    In Talking Drum, students have a safe space that gives them the agency to converse over the issues that matter to them. | Photo by Michael Weber

    This approach allows the Dean of Students Office to be informed by what the center is doing, versus managing from the top down. Letting students take control of the dialogue means that they will be directly influencing the Dean of Students.

    “I have been wanting every [discussion] to be student-led, student-driven, and have that peer to peer connection,” Smith said.

    Smith promotes the free exchange of ideas because he believes dialogue and cultural exchange is important to becoming part of the community.

    One of Smith’s most profound influences on the way he approaches intercultural exchange occurred in his senior semester spent abroad in Santiago, Chile. When he landed, Smith recognized the feeling of being alone and started to familiarize himself with the local area.

    “My experience in Humboldt County and at HSU as the ‘other,’ and learning how to move from a perpetual state of survival mindset to adapting and thriving prepared me in so many ways for my time abroad,” Smith said.

    Smith’s directive for the center is a culmination of his experiences learning about other people.

    “Having that cultural exchange and different kinds of people allowed me to have more diverse viewpoints,” Smith said. “I’m an extrovert. Inside, I might feel anxiety about me, but I’ve always kind of pushed myself to engage with people.”