By Abigail Vidals
“Truth is always the precondition of transformation.”
Wise words spoken by keynote speaker Frank Leon Roberts at the Students of Color Conference, SOCC.
Held in Yakima, Washington this conference is where community colleges all around the state come together to provide students with the opportunity to become more active in their own education and life choices.
They support students in becoming agents of change (advocates).
SOCC provides students with a safe environment for students of color and their allies.
I have attended SOCC several times because it allows me to be in a different kind of world than the one that we live in.
When you first step into the building you feel an automatic sense of acceptance.
There is a unique community built by all the students that attend, that embrace everyone’s different background.
The conference offers workshops with themes in identity development, awareness of others, social justice/activism, and personal development.
It’s a place where you get claps and snaps for just being yourself. The Students of Color Conference has become a second home to me.
This kind of experience has given me the chance to grow as a person.
It allowed me to be able to empathize with diverse people from different backgrounds and to walk in their shoes for a weekend.
SOCC is like a whole new world where you become “woke”.
One of my favorite parts of attending SOCC is the inclusiveness of the conference.
They even converted a regular bathroom into an all gender bathroom and had a single use bathroom for anyone who wasn’t comfortable in that setting.
Through keynote speakers and workshops you learn what you can do to combat today’s oppression.
“Don’t tell people what to do, show them how to do it and why they should do it,” said by Luis Ortega during his speech at the 2017 Students of Color Conference.
He created the movement known as Storytellers for Change which is dedicated to creating positive social change.
In his speech he talked about his hardship as an undocumented person.
As an undocumented student he was able to achieve the opportunity to attend college at the University of Washington.
Through his story he spread the message of “What are you going to do for others.”
A message that can help in creating social change.
His words left an impact on me in showing that the first step in building a better community is empathy.
“We were never meant to survive but we (people of color) did anyways.” Stated by keynote speaker Frank Leon Roberts.
Roberts a college professor and an activist from NY, came to speak about the Black Lives Matter movement.
During his speech he explained how the movement is not about segregation but of affirmation that black lives do matter.
This movement does not attack people it attacks ideologies.
As Roberts stated, “the only way to cure a culture of apathy is to build a movement of empathy.”
By attending SOCC I became enlightened and empowered.
I was able to find my voice and learn about social justice.
I have been able to find support and attend workshops that prepare me to combat issues like racism and sexism.
Though I still keep myself in check from time to time on my own -isms, I strive to learn and grow from the ignorance of the world.
If only we took the time to understand each other and embrace what makes us different we would make a better, stronger country.
You can only be as good as you are in this moment so make a difference. Change might take time but it will still happen.