Reflections on Equity & Inclusion Day
By Cydnee Greene, YLI Participant, senior at North High School
As the week approached, I found myself getting more and more excited for the first YLI session. We would be talking about Equity and Inclusion. Being a person from the Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) community, I was ready to learn more about myself and more about the peers in my class. At Drake, my opinions and ideas were challenged as we talked about social identity. We broke down categories such as Ethnicity, Gender, Socioeconomic status, and so on. I was able to understand why these things are always considered, but why they shouldn’t be the only things we as a society should take into account when meeting and surrounding ourselves with new people. I found myself asking questions like, “What’s the difference between gender and sex?” I asked myself a million questions, reflecting on past judgments and wondering why I had gone about it the way I did.
I had the opportunity to listen to others’ stories and learn about different types of cultures and social norms. I learned about intersexuality and how it is only the table of contents in our lives. We choose how we accept it and make the best versions of ourselves. No one person is the same. Traditionally, we tend to keep our more challenging and uncomfortable conversations to ourselves, but throughout the day the urge to share became more apparent. We were hearing others talk openly about their lives and how they overcame such difficult obstacles. The more that was shared, the more my peers became willing to share their own stories.
Being in such an encouraging space allowed us to voice our opinions and feelings. Having those opportunities to speak on things we may have not been able to do somewhere else was very refreshing and appreciated. So, thank you to all the speakers who were so open to speaking up and educating us through your own life stories.
At the end of the day and going into Monday night, Kelly asked us what things we needed to “Stop” doing based on what we learned. I made sure to make a goal to stop comparing trauma. Every person’s story is different. The world would be nothing if it wasn’t for every person to be unique in their own way. As my class and I take on roles as leaders, I have high hopes the goals we set for ourselves will be achieved and much more!