“There is still so much that happens to people of color that we should be upset about and protesting against. There is still so much work to be done before PWIs can truly be safe spaces for students of color too. Even though that is the case, my challenges being at a PWI taught me that I should not feel guilty for taking care of myself first. I learned about the importance of safe spaces and community.”

“All the years of watching American films and listening to American music could not have prepared me for the culture shock and loneliness I experienced during my time there. But despite some of the challenges I went through while trying to navigate predominantly white spaces, I found such incredible friends. It warms my heart to know that through it all we held each other in love, in care, in kindness.”

“Being black and queer, and of African descent, is an identity that shaped some of my college experiences,” writes Nhlakanipho Khumalo. “These individual identities are woven within each other, and isolating them was often a challenge when I interacted with white people on campus.”

“The only time I was noticed in any space was when topics related to blackness arose. Otherwise, I would be deemed intimidating and unapproachable at first glance.” Cynthia Lanor reflects on her experience at a PWI.

“You have the privilege to choose when you want to listen, reflect, and act on diversity in STEM. Because you have chosen, for now, to listen, can I make a suggestion? Rather than replying with sympathy, stories, and silver linings, develop a plan for what you’re going to do to change.” In his contribution to our Surviving PWIs for POC series, Charles Scaife writes a letter to white scientists.

To break the awkwardness of a group discussion, a student asks, “how was your weekend?” For Namarig Kram, the question from a white classmate was a window into the dynamics of racism on and around her university campus in northern NY. Read her story in the latest installment of our Surviving PWIs for POC series.

In the latest installment of our Surviving PWIs for POC series, Karen Chalamilla reflects on her postgrad education at SOAS (University of London). “Simply being critical of Euro-patriarchal thinking will never be enough,” writes Chalamilla. “Its dominance runs too deep. If this is what academic institutions consider to be decolonization, then we ought to question whether the project is worth our energy at all.”

By Jarrodd Davis

Jarrodd Davis on the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight: "What had I gotten myself into? We gathered in a white space to watch America’s race relations play out on a literal stage and in real time."

By Cordenne Brewster

"I still felt skepticism when someone told me there was no racism in Massachusetts, even after they had told me the white supremacists I had heard about '[weren’t] a big deal,'” Cordenne Brewster writes in the first entry of Surviving PWIs for POC, a new series from Weave News.