Clark University’s Caribbean and African students demolish stereotypes

By Kaiomi Inniss From Odyssey

All Africans are whaaat?

Stereotypes; they are everywhere. Usually perpetuated by the mass media, stereotypes usually become labels for certain cultures, races, ethnicities and/or religions. Caribbean and African students at Clark University, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, have decided to be proactive in the fight to demolish stereotypes related to their respective cultures, in the best way possible.

The Caribbean African Student Association (CASA) funded by Clark University hosted a photo campaign in which to demolish stereotypes and reframe how their specific country or region is portrayed. The idea stemmed from a member of the CASA E-board, Blessing Ojini, who represents Nigeria. Blessing conceptualized the idea after visiting Haiti earlier this year and realizing that her perception of Haiti had been skewed and false. Before traveling to Haiti, Blessing had been told to “be safe” and everyone was scared for her. When she got there, she realized how beautiful Haiti was and related it to peoples’ misconceptions about Nigeria. Blessing returned to Massachusetts eager to debunk misconceptions about not only Haiti, but the entire Caribbean region, along with all the countries in Africa. After presenting the idea of a photo campaign to the president of CASA, Adwoa Anno, Blessing was able to put her idea into motion.

A survey was sent out to the general Clark University population to collect public opinion about the Caribbean region and the African continent. The responses by Clark students were then used to enable the debunking of the stereotypes. Some of the responses received were, “Caribbean people are overly sexual,” “All Africans are black,” “Africa is ravishing with AIDS,” “Caribbean people speak bad English,” “Haitians do voodoo,” etc. These responses, while infuriating, were helpful in creating constructive rebuttals that would, in turn, help to change public perception.

The photo campaigned was displayed in Clark University’s Red Square, which is located in the center of campus. The photos were accompanied by a variety of Caribbean and African music that helped to set the scene. Many students, professors, and community residents walked through the square and stopped to look at the campaign.

The photo campaign was a success and received media coverage from the New York Times. A New York Times writer/photographer happened to be in Worcester that week to write a piece on diversity in Worcester, and the campaign caught his eye. Thus, not only was the campaign a success in creating awareness amongst Clark students, but with the New York TImes’ coverage, the campaign has potential to reach an even wider audience.

Attached are some of the photos that were presented at the campaign. All the photos were taken by Linh K. Vu.

For more on this story go to: http://theodysseyonline.com/clark-university/clark-universitys-caribbean-african-students-demolish-stereotypes/422122