Liberation is change COMPLETE

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This is the index page for my digital garden. My eventual goal with this is to grow it into something which will replace my website. This is the index page for my digital garden. My eventual goal with this is to grow it into something which will replace my website.
The [[Liberationist manifesto]] documents my personal perspective on [[Liberation]] and what being a liberationist means to me. The [[Liberationist manifesto]] documents my personal perspective on [[Liberation]] and what being a liberationist means to me.
I also keep a scratchpad of [[Ideas]] here.

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Who we care about is limited - this always has been and will be true. This is a foundation of our lives and who we think of ourselves to be - what we care about and how we act from that care. It is deeply important to liberation because liberation is fundamentally about economy - specifically building liberatory economies that meet everyones basic needs.
Moral circles - philosopher Peter Singer - the number and type of entities you give moral consideration - provides a model for
The seventh generation
The first thinking tool I mention is *seventh generation stewardship*, believed to come from the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.[^1] A phrase often attributed to the Great Peacemaker reads: “In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation... even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine.” Haudenosaunee faithkeeper Oren Lyons wrote, “We are looking ahead, as is one of the first mandates given us as chiefs, to make sure and to make every decision that we make relate to the welfare and well-being of the seventh generation to come... What about the seventh generation? Where are you taking them? What will they have?”
[^1]: The Haudenosaunee Confederacy or the Six Nations includes six Native American and First Nations peoples located in northeast America: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora; together they form the oldest extant democratic government in the world.
The eleventh concern

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Action and reflection oriented around creating radical change One difficult aspect of this liberated vision is the grief we experience upon realizing we havent attained it. This is a reasonable reaction to the worlds suffering — to the unnecessary pain, harm, or other afflictions we couldve avoided if we or those before us acted differently. But we cant affect what the human condition *was* before us, before we were even born, and we cant reverse the course of human history; we can only influence what it is and what it becomes. When weve sat with our grief and can openly confront how things truly are, then we can work to change them. What comes with our vision and our grief that it doesnt align with the current state of things is the call to act: to make our vision into reality. Yes, we are not free yet — but what are we going to do about it? Liberation responds to the material conditions of un-freedom and, with that being the case, it requires that we make change. Liberation *is* change.
1. Building collective power (coalition building), building alternative & more just systems and institutions to nourish communities, building communities based in solidarity & care Now, here comes caveat #1: You could go into your neighborhood or your friend group or your family and find plenty of people who certainly agree that change is needed. Its a whole other task, however, to imagine even what youre building towards and how you will get there. And when you or your group comes up with that, then you have to actually convince others to make it happen.
2. (Re)centering marginalized/oppressed/disenfranchised
3. Learning to be more radical and teaching others Then arrives caveat #2: Supposing you *do* convince some others, theres no hard guarantee that the change youre making — the vision youre building towards — is really whats needed or actually improves anything. Even if you plan carefully and think long and hard about it, you could make things worse, sometimes in ways that wont be apparent to you.
(There is, actually, another caveat. Caveat #3: Change will happen whether youd like it to or not — it is inevitable, irresistible, alive.)
This is why I say that liberation specifically needs *radical* change, driven by a cycle of action and reflection. Its a process that requires time, effort, care, intention, curiosity, and adaptability. I say “radical” because to transform peoples material conditions you have to examine their root causes and strike there. This is the same sense that Angela Davis uses when saying that “radical simply means grasping at the root” (echoing Karl Marx). This process requires a balance of action and reflection: action because without action, nothing is achieved and reflection because without reflection, the work lacks direction and intent. Theyre connected like this because as you act and reflect, you learn and adapt — this actually derives from Kolbs experiential learning theory. Learning goes hand in hand with making change; in the process of change-making, you are also transformed.
Ive written a little bit here about what our orientation to change as liberationists might be, but not about what actions actually come with liberation as a struggle. There are countless ways to spell it out but Ive made a non-exhaustive list of just *some* broad ideas for what to do:
1. Building — collective power, coalitions, shared agendas, visions, alternative systems to nourish and support communities, communities based in solidarity and care
2. Centering — change and building power, the marginalized/oppressed/disenfranchised, the human condition, material conditions, actions rooted in shared goals, a set of well-informed principles, and deeply held values
3. Learning from others and teaching others — deepening your own and others understandings, sharing what youve learned with potential companions in the work, critically examining

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Freedom from: injustice (oppression, exploitation, domination, alienation, etc.) Freedom from: injustice (oppression, exploitation, domination, alienation, etc.)
Freedom to: thrive (live as our fullest selves, connect with others) Freedom to: thrive (live as our fullest selves, connect with others)
## On soup theory
Before I fully explore this topic of freedom, I want to take a brief look at a simpler metaphor for explaining freedom within liberation, one called “soup theory.” As originally formulated by progressive minister Rev. Oliver Snow, soup theory asks “Do you believe everyone deserves to vibe and eat their favorite soup?”[^1]
[^1]: This was first presented on their TikTok page @revpoppopandfriends (where you can also find a playlist of discussions regarding soup theory).
This phrase has specific moral and ethical implications for what freedom means. It also implies a material vision for freedom, with social, ecological, environmental, political, economic, and cultural components.
(and believe me, it is material. Freedom is not built on thoughts and prayers)

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I adapt my perspective on love from bell hooks, who offered this definition by M. Scott Peck: “Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth... Love is as love does. Love is an act of will—namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.”[^1]
[^1]: M. Scott Peck, *The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth* (Simon & Schuster, 1978).
It is true that we cant exactly know what the future holds, but we must “greet the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding that *we do not know enough to be pessimistic*.”[^2]
[^2]: Hazel Henderson, *The Politics of the Solar Age: Alternatives to Economics* (Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Double Day, 1981), 411. Quoted from Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba, *Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care* (Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books, 2023).

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Collective liberation is, generally speaking, a pursuit of freedom for everyone. Liberation understands that our freedom is connected to and dependent on the freedom of others; realizing freedom requires that we work together and that we provide for everyones basic needs. It is the spirit which animates Fannie Lou Hamers words that “nobodys free until everybodys free” and connects that freedom to our basic needs. A liberationist is one driven by this spirit — one who works towards liberation. Collective liberation is, generally speaking, a pursuit of freedom for everyone. Liberation understands that our freedom is connected to and dependent on the freedom of others; realizing freedom requires that we work together and that we provide for everyones basic needs. It is the spirit which animates Fannie Lou Hamers words that “nobodys free until everybodys free” and connects that freedom to our basic needs. A liberationist is one driven by this spirit — one who works towards liberation.
I look at liberation primarily through five lenses: the result, which is freedom for all; the understanding that this freedom is intrinsically interconnected and, in our current environment, radical change will be necessary to realize it; the scope, which is the human condition and the future we are building together; the values, which are justice and love; and the means, which center on change-oriented action and reflection. I look at liberation primarily through five lenses:
- the result, which is freedom for all ([[Liberation is freedom]]);
- the understanding that this freedom is intrinsically interconnected ([[Liberation is connection]]);
- the scope that liberation acts within, which is the human condition and the futures we are building together, from a cultural and material standpoint ([[Liberation is human condition]]);
- the values that my liberationist perspective focuses on, which are justice and love ([[Liberation is justice and love]]); and
- the knowledge that this freedom requires radical, change-oriented action and reflection ([[Liberation is change]])
My writings on liberation are rooted in many different concepts spanning cultures and movements and radical traditions. The following is not a comprehensive list but documents some works which have been influential to me: My writings on liberation are rooted in many different concepts spanning cultures and movements and radical traditions. The following is not a comprehensive list but documents some works which have been influential to me:
- [[Kapwa]], a concept and core value in Filipino psychology which is deeply rooted in Filipino cultural notions of inherent unity and interconnectedness between oneself and others - [[Kapwa]], a concept and core value in Filipino psychology which is deeply rooted in Filipino cultural notions of inherent unity and interconnectedness between oneself and others
- The Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist lesbian socialist organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980, and their 1977 statement, powerful for a multitude of reasons but highlighted here for their view on oppressive systems (white supremacy, capitalism, capitalism, heteronormativity, etc.) being interconnected and on the centering of Black women in social justice causes: “Black women are inherently valuable, that… (their) liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because of (their own) need as human persons for autonomy…” - The Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist lesbian socialist organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980, and their 1977 statement, powerful for a multitude of reasons but highlighted here for their view on oppressive systems (white supremacy, capitalism, capitalism, heteronormativity, etc.) being interconnected and on the centering of Black women in social justice causes: “Black women are inherently valuable, that… (their) liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because of (their own) need as human persons for autonomy…”
- A Siksika (Blackfoot) perspective on human needs and a collective way of realizing them, which Cindy Blackstock refers to as community actualization — sharing responsibility for “the work of meeting basic needs, ensuring safety, and creating the conditions for the expression of purpose” — and which informed Maslows hierarchy of needs (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-06-18/the-blackfoot-wisdom-that-inspired-maslows-hierarchy/) - [A Siksika (Blackfoot) perspective on human needs](https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-06-18/the-blackfoot-wisdom-that-inspired-maslows-hierarchy/) and a collective way of realizing them, which Cindy Blackstock refers to as community actualization — sharing responsibility for “the work of meeting basic needs, ensuring safety, and creating the conditions for the expression of purpose” — and which informed Maslows hierarchy of needs
- A personal perspective (based on various other works) that economy is the system of how we meet basic human needs, culture is the storytelling which perpetuates economic systems while also being shaped by them, politics is the culturally rooted decision-making revolving around economy, and society includes the spaces and relationships in which these processes take place, change, and evolve - A personal perspective (based on various other works) that economy is the system of how we meet basic human needs, culture is the storytelling which perpetuates economic systems while also being shaped by them, politics is the culturally rooted decision-making revolving around economy, and society includes the spaces and relationships in which these processes take place, change, and evolve
- “What we mean by collective liberation,” an article which articulates a spiritual vision of what collective liberation entails and which comes from *enfleshed*, a spiritual organization focused on “creating and facilitating spiritual nourishment for collective liberation” (https://enfleshed.com/blogs/news/what-we-mean-by-collective-liberation/) - [What we mean by collective liberation](https://enfleshed.com/blogs/news/what-we-mean-by-collective-liberation/), a statement from *enfleshed*, a spiritual organization focused on “creating and facilitating spiritual nourishment for collective liberation”
- “all about love,” by bell hooks, a book which explores the subject of love within modern society, what our society teaches us about love, and what a more liberatory view of love might look like, presented alongside hooks own experiences with love - *all about love* by bell hooks, a book which explores the subject of love within modern society, what our society teaches us about love, and what a more liberatory view of love might look like, presented alongside hooks own experiences with love
- My experiences with the Unitarian Universalists, through whom I have been able to witness more of the spiritual aspects of collective liberation work in a face-to-face setting - My experiences with the Unitarian Universalists, through whom I have been able to witness more of the spiritual aspects of collective liberation work in a face-to-face setting
- “Let This Radicalize You,” by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, which provides “a practical and imaginative resource for activists and organizers building power in an era of destabilization and catastrophe” - *Let This Radicalize You* by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, which provides “a practical and imaginative resource for activists and organizers building power in an era of destabilization and catastrophe”
- “The Millionth Circle,” by Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen, which reveals a vision of womens circles as a means of liberatory transformation - *The Millionth Circle* by Jean Shinoda Bolen, which reveals a vision of womens circles as a means of liberatory transformation
- And a myriad of others, whose stories, theories, critiques, models, experiences, ideas, works, and art pieces all had a role in the development of my perspective on collective liberation - And a myriad of others, whose stories, theories, critiques, models, experiences, ideas, works, and art pieces all had a role in the development of my perspective on collective liberation
[[Liberation is freedom]]
[[Liberation is connection]]
[[Liberation is human condition]]
[[Liberation is justice and love]]
[[Liberation is change]]

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7. [[Personal evolutions]] 7. [[Personal evolutions]]
8. [[On soup theory]] 8. [[On soup theory]]
9. [[On symbols]] 9. [[On symbols]]
10. [[On theory]] 10. [[On thought and theory]]

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s I started to develop my writing on liberation, one of the first questions I asked myself was: What values does liberation require? I wrote previously about love, hope, and vision. Ive also talked about connection, change, and justice, and I could fill a book with scrawlings about how this or that value relates to this work. Originally, I was going to do that now, starting with love. But when I encountered a TikTok talking about voting rights for convicted felons, I saw a better direction for this essay. In the comments under that video, someone shared a question for testing our readiness for change, more specifically social justice and *especially* more controversial questions like whether convicted felons should have voting rights. As you may have guessed by my title, yes, this one is about soup. As I started to develop my writing on liberation, one of the first questions I asked myself was: What values does liberation require? I wrote previously about love, hope, and vision. Ive also talked about connection, change, and justice, and I could fill a book with scrawlings about how this or that value relates to this work. Originally, I was going to do that now, starting with love. But when I encountered a TikTok talking about voting rights for convicted felons, I saw a better direction for this essay. In the comments under that video, someone shared a question for testing our readiness for change, more specifically social justice and *especially* more controversial questions like whether convicted felons should have voting rights. As you may have guessed by my title, yes, this one is about soup.
This question originally comes from Rev. Oliver Snow, a progressive Christian minister who goes by @revpoppopandfriends on TikTok, and it goes something like this: **Do you believe everyone deserves to vibe and eat their favorite soup?** This question originally comes from Rev. Oliver Snow, a progressive Christian minister who goes by @revpoppopandfriends on TikTok, and it goes something like this: **Do you believe everyone deserves to vibe and eat their favorite soup?**

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Theory exists to hone and deepen thought
Theory shapes and follows praxis (“Belief initiates and guides action”), and praxis shapes and follows theory
Through cycles of action and reflection (praxis and theory) we and our change efforts evolves
Theory when used to terminate thought stifles this evolution
Theory is only as powerful and effective as its application and dissemination
Theory should incorporate and invite critique, analysis, reflection, and pedagogy
Theory should be used to deepen thought, not terminate it. Theory used to terminate thought functionally becomes dogma, like the Bible in the mouth of the Christian nationalist. It becomes a tool of coercion, its purpose to pressure for obedience; it becomes a police baton, antithetical to liberation- only meant to subdue not to free or empower. Theory should be cited to invite further challenge & empower oneself and others, not recited in order to silence it or strike down dissent.
The master's tools will not dismantle the master's house—the master's ways may lead you to usurping the master, but they will never lead you to collective liberation. They can only continue the means of enslavement.
Even though I am currently writing what is ultimately a manifesto of sorts, I know that Ideology and theory will not save the world. It is not about what you have read or will read but what you have done and will do.
Are we serious about what we're doing?
Are we serious about building a community? We cannot take credit for revolutionary community building work if we are not actually doing what that work requires - which is to expand access and create a space which radically accepts difference. If you build a canon law of theory and ideology which people must strictly adhere to in order to belong in your space, you are nothing more than a cop.
Are we serious about freeing the world?
What have we built? Who are the people to whom you're accountable?
Are your politics born out of love or out of spite?
Just as anti-intellectualism and aversion to other perspectives is destructive to our organizing, intellectual superiority complexes in organizing spaces do nothing except reify white supremacist patriarchy.
Err on the side of liberation
We have to focus on the things we're building - these have more meaning than any ideology
We have to prioritize liberation above notoriety and vanity and superiority. We're not trying to be intellectually superior in our work for liberation. We want to win.

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# Gil's History of SILC
- I've linked articles here which relate to significant moments in Texas Tech student activist history of the past 9 years
- Many of these are inciting events for student groups, some of these just feature important events or people
- A timeline of diversity at Texas Tech (Southwest Collection): https://archive.ph/n6RMk
- # 2015
- **Greek life student death and "Slogan Incident" (2014)**
- https://archive.ph/8LFGh (content warning: rape culture, racial microaggressions)
- The "Slogan Incident" generated a lot of outrage about rape culture within Greek life
- This led into one of the largest Take Back The Night events at TTU
- It was organized by Tech Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance that November 2015
- Some/many fraternities were required to attend that fall (side note: that did not go over well)
- **Impact Tech**
- Becomes integrated with Texas Tech University under the TTU Risk Intervention and Safety Education (RISE) office
- Impact Tech was a peer health education student organization which was advised by Dr. Sofia Chapman
- Dr. Chapman in 2014 was the Managing Director of the TTU Office of Student Conduct; she is now an Associate Dean of the TTU School of Law and its Director of Diversity and Wellness
- I view this as a significant example of the University co-opting student efforts and institutionalizing them
- Not always a bad thing but transforms the work and changes its structure
- Often effectively reduces the power/impact of student voices
- e.g. what the RISE Office does isn't always "true" student leadership - the students have become more like employees in most instances
- After this point, university policy and higher ed administrative culture more strongly shaped the health education which peer educators provide
- # 2016
- Ben Sharp - 92nd Student Body President
- OCR Complaint filed against Texas Tech by former SGA Grad VP Saba Nafees - https://archive.ph/iCfzK
- The presidential election which took place this year was an inciting event for a lot of student activism
- The 2016-2017 academic year's political tumult was the climate which greeted many original SILCies like me when we first enrolled at TTU
- # 2017
- Dima Alhesan is arrested by Lubbock Police Department for highway obstruction
- Dima was leading a protest against the executive order on immigration
- I was in attendance at the protect with other members of the Tech Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, which Dima was also associated with
- Jody Randall becomes the director of the newly established Office of LGBTQIA, later renamed the Office of LGBTQIA Education & Engagement, which originally reported to both the Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and the Center for Campus Life
- This office began providing institutional support to organizations like the Gay-Straight Alliance (renamed the Gender and Sexuality Association in 2019 - I suggested that name, by the way)
- Robbie Meyer - 93rd Student Body President
- Statement against bigotry, discrimination re: Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally and car attack - https://archive.ph/w1uZD
- Lawrence Schovanec - 17th President of Texas Tech University
- https://archive.ph/7I0FA
- Active shooter situation on campus - https://archive.ph/sZkKu
- Sexism in the TTU Biology department https://archive.ph/jFf8i
- # 2018
- Sean Lewis - 94th Student Body President
- This year the then-Office of LGBTQIA hosted the first Big 12 LGBTQIA and Allies Summit
- **"Frat Chat" incident** (content warning: xenophobic statements)
- https://archive.ph/pc3Jd
- https://archive.ph/XQjLa
- https://archive.ph/XM8mP
- The "Frat Chat" incident - violently racist/xenophobic statements made on GroupMe by the Interfraternity Council (IFC) president - drew much attention to a climate of racism within Texas Tech's Greek organizations
- For many students this was a confirmation of what we had already believed about Greek life and what gave us unease around TTU's predominantly white fraternities and sororities
- Also around the time of this incident, many Black and Hispanic women formerly in Panhellenic (CPH) sororities shared stories about their experiences with racism within Texas Tech's Greek community on social media, some of which went viral among people of color students
- This event was just one of many similar incidents over the years, but the fallout of this incident inspired many students to get involved
- This coincided with significant efforts from Black students to get Texas Tech to provide institutional support especially to the Black Caucus
- These things led to the formation of the Council of Councils (COC), which later became Student Intersectional Leadership Council (SILC)
- Dr. Carol Sumner hired as VP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- https://archive.ph/CgU33
- Replacing Dr. Elizabeth Sharpe, Interim VP and Director of the Women's & Gender Studies (WGS) Program
- Oversees Office of Institutional Diversity (faculty/staff-facing office) and Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (student-facing office)
- Cross-Cultural Academic Advancement Center name is retired, Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion name becomes more prominent
- **Council of Councils**
- Began with I3LD (Intersectional, Intercultural, and Interpersonal Leadership Development) which grouped together the programs which eventually were named Raider Education and Student Intersectional Leadership Council (our offices were next to each other in Doak Hall) and later reorganized under the Office of Intercultural Education & Engagement
- This group of students began meeting on weekends during the Fall 2018 semester
- During this academic year, Council of Councils, based on the Council of Coalitions at Dr. Sumner and Jade Silva Tovar's previous institution, Arizona State University, focused a lot on leadership education and intersectional development
- Our first Director, Nefertiti Beck, along with Jade Silva Tovar, who was then Senior Director and is now Assistant Vice President of DEI, were focused a lot on guiding the group towards organically recruiting other student leaders
- Council of Councils included students from the Raiderland Native American Student Association, SACNAS, Black Student Association, the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities, African Students Organization, Filipino Student Association, Gender and Sexuality Association, the Tech Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, the Women's Leadership Initiative, Tech Iota Iota Iota (WGS Honor Society), Student Government Association, and the Residence Halls Association
- At peak, CoC had about 30-40 student contacts
- Most of this group's activities were focused on determining the appropriate structure and recruiting others
- This effort took a *very* long time
- It took almost an entire year and a half to make meager progress on our first constitution and bylaws
- By the time we had renamed ourselves SILC, a lot of students were already disillusioned (or had left/graduated)
- # 2019
- David Rivero - 95th Student Body President
- In March 2019, Council of Councils hosted the first ever **Phenomenal Women of Texas Tech** event
- **Tech Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance**
- https://archive.ph/Axvvm
- I organized this year's Take Back the Night in collaboration with IFC, Panhellenic, RISE, GSA, and some other students
- This year's TBTN was a little controversial because the Director of RISE had reached out to Matt Wells, our football coach at that time, to be a speaker at TBTN without furnishing notification to Tech FMLA
- The ensuing fallout from that brought me into SILC
- I had an emotionally charged confrontation about that incident prior to the LGBTQIA Summit
- That year, the plenary speaker Dr. Tracie Gilbert gave a talk about intersectionality and held a private space for queer/trans students of color
- In that private space, I introduced an idea for a "marginalized students union" at Texas Tech, and after the discussion ended, Amelia Xie invited me to join Council of Councils - renamed SILC in May 2019 at the same time the first representatives had been elected
- **Student Intersectional Leadership Council**
- In May 2019, SILC elected the first set of presidents and vice presidents for each Coalition:
- **APID** (Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi - Arab was added later this year)
- MC de Guia (P)
- Gil Locaylocay Caley (VP)
- **LGBTQIA+**
- Matt Hernandez (P)
- Blessen Brocke (VP)
- **Women**
- Ariel Bellatin (P)
- Karla Quiñones (VP)
- **Latinx**
- Alex Figueroa (P)
- Erika Galindo (VP)
- **Black/African**
- Kenna Miller (P)
- Isaiah Mayfield (P)
- **International**
- Nanette Kaye Dolera (P)
- Rosa Salazar (VP)
- **Indigenous**
- John Kabl Psakwne Wilkerson (Kaheeka)
- Martha Bejarano-Moreno (Kaheeka)
- **Indigenous People's Heritage Month 2019**
- https://archive.ph/BAav3
- https://archive.ph/skHdr
- Our first IPHM and the first heritage month planned by SILC from start to finish
- Having been dissatisfied with how SILC had slowed down a lot in the fall, I wrote a four page letter about SILC and what I felt needed to change
- Nonetheless, the conflict during the summer had run its course by that point, and many members had made the decision to quit that November 2019
- This left SILC with only four members - myself (APIDA), Nanette Kaye Dolera (International), Blessen Brocke (LGBTQIA+), and Daniel Pimbi (International)
- **Tech eSports Discord Incident** (content warnings: racism, hate speech)
- https://archive.ph/wTmJR
- https://archive.ph/hJPPM
- Allies United was a student coalition I helped form during this time, in coordination with some former SILC members, other student leaders on campus, and the person who originally brought attention to the incident and highlighted their harassment within the Tech eSports Association
- Allies United's demands for better DEI policies at Texas Tech were co-opted by the Black Student Association, which presented its own similar set of demands at a townhall with university administrators in January 2020
- These demands and the townhall provided the impetus for the planning and building of the Black Cultural Center
- Later plans for a Hispanic Cultural Center, an Intercultural Center, and an Interfaith Space were added
- Around this time, some of my peers and I had 1:1 meetings with Dr. Sumner in her office about the incident and about our efforts - after my meeting, I redirected a lot of my energies into SILC
- # 2020
- Hunter Heck - 96th Student Body President
- https://archive.ph/d5G4h
- https://archive.ph/5XPDN
- # 2021
- Faisal Al-Hmoud - 97th Student Body President
- https://archive.ph/7Hfcu
- https://archive.ph/v38oe
- # 2022
- Austin Phillips - 98th Student Body President
- # 2023
- Joel Rivero - 99th Student Body President

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Are we really free if we cant eat our favorite food?
Are we really free if we cant have good food, good sex,
good music, or good rest?
My country, tis of thee,
I dont believe that were really free
Like Fannie Lou said “nobodys free until everybodys free”
Like Bambu said “the basic needs should be free
I been sayin that shit.”