Black Student Union and Fish Interfaith Center discuss Black trauma

The Fish Interfaith Center and speakers from the Black Student Union joined together for a Sept. 25 Zoom conference to openly discuss the struggle of Black students continuing to fuel the Black Lives Matter movement. Panther Archives

While most viewers congregated remotely from their own homes, Reverend Nancy Brink, director of Church Relations, led the “Taking Care of Community: Standing with Students of Color” event Sept. 25 from inside the Wallace All Faiths Chapel. Chapman’s Fish Interfaith Center collaborated with the Black Student Union (BSU) to offer the virtual safe space and give a platform to several student and staff speakers who opened up about their shared trauma and hardships fighting for inclusion on campus. There were over 90 people in attendance, including members of Chapman administration such as Associate Vice President for Student Affairs DeAnn Yocum-Gaffney.

Brink was at the forefront of planning the event and organizing student speakers with BSU, garnering speeches from BSU Social Media Chair Sage Okolo, Student Government Association (SGA) Diversity Student Organization Senator Isaiah Jeannot and SGA President Philip Goodrich.

Brink elaborated to The Panther that the event was inspired by the Fish Interfaith Center staff sympathizing with students leading Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Orange; the event was created to show solace both spiritually and emotionally.

“Many believe that the Fish Interfaith Center is only responsible for representing and applying the spiritual pillar of Chapman university,” Director of Muslim Life Shaykh Jibreel Speight said in the event’s introduction. “We, the chaplains and staff of the Interfaith Center disagree; it is arguably responsible for all of Chapman’s pillars. This gathering seeks to apply all of Chapman’s pillars by assisting our future leaders.”

Okolo began her speech with 30 seconds of silence for Breonna Taylor, whose justice is being called for by BSU members, as two of the officers involved in Taylor’s shooting continue to walk free without charges for assault or manslaughter. Both Okolo and Jeannot described their exhaustion carrying the BLM protests on their shoulders, but also emphasized the importance of persevering and constantly evaluating how one can help.

“I am the student, the educator and the activist,” Okolo said at the event, touching on the struggles of being a Black woman. “The heaviness that I feel walks with me every day, and it will until there is peace.”

Director of Contemplative Practices of Wellbeing Jay Kumar continued on, leading the gathering in a meditative centering exercise to emphasize the importance of self-care in times of strife. As Black lives scream “I can’t breathe” across the country, Kumar elaborated that the ability to breathe is a gift we shouldn’t take for granted.

“There are so many crises unfolding simultaneously: the health crisis, the economic and financial crisis, the climate crisis, and we are on the grips of a racial and social crisis as well,” Kumar said. “We have all been experiencing trauma … for the past six months and we need to acknowledge that we are hurting.”

As the event took a more spiritual turn, Reverend and Associate Director of Church Relations Cisa Payuyo explained that normally, the Fish Interfaith Center offers an open table with a journal and candles to write down a prayer or words of encouragement. Given the remote circumstances due to COVID-19 regulations, Payuyo instead urged speakers and spectators to take to the chat with words of gratitude for the actions of others in the forum. Many sent sentiments of support for BSU members and other BIPOC students and faculty on campus. 

The event concluded with Brink offering a church blessing from within the Wallace All Faiths Chapel, surrounded by a circle of empty chairs symbolizing the remote viewers. Similar to Kumar’s centering exercise, Brink invited viewers to inhale and exhale deeply with guided scripture. Functioning in part as an opportunity for students and Fish Interfaith Center staff to meditate and find mindfulness, the forum presented an array of ideologies and first-person perspectives from Black individuals trying to make a change in the Orange, California, community.

“Black Lives Matter,” Goodrich said. “And until our society reflects this sentiment, and every soul on this Earth believes this with their beating heart, we have a lot of work to do.”