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I attended the session titled, Slavery and Trinity's Founding. The discussion was centered around Trinity's Primus Research Project. The Primus Project is named after Rebecca Primus. Her story typifies a black community in Hartford during the 19th century. She modeled an alternative way of thinking and learning which is one of the directions that the primus research looks to point at.

I learned many new things during this workshop but one that stuck out to me specifically was the story about the cannons on the long walk. Prospective students on tours are told that the cannons face our rivals Amherst and Wesleyan. However, the cannons face East, pointing towards the community outside of Trinity's gates. Wesleyan is positioned to the South of Trinity and Amherst is position to the North of Trinity. The cannons are indicative of a greater social issue that we must push to change. Dean Selders spoke about how important it is for us students to correct the narrative about the cannons and push the administration for change amongst the Trinity community.

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Sophia Belliveau

Bicentennial Padlet

November 14, 2023

One thing that I learned from the Bicentennial Group Session entitled “Slavery and Trinity’s Founding” is the false narrative about the cannon that lies on the quad near the Chapel that continues to circulate despite its research to prove it wrong. The myth is that the canon points to our “rival schools,” Wesleyan and Amherst; however, Wesleyan is south, and Amhert is north of the canon, with the weapon pointed West. Research presented in the seminar proved that the canon was gifted to Trinity as a monument of the Civil War, intended to acknowledge both participating sides of the Confederacy and the Union (as stated on its plack), and has never been designed to point at any school. The masking of this history through a fictionalized narrative is highly harmful and disrespectful, and it is up to us as the student body to discredit this living myth and inform the Trinity community of its true roots, tying back to the institution of slavery.

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At “What Data and Experience Tell Us about Women in Academia: Challenges and Changes,” I found it really powerful to hear three female professors talk about their experiences as women in their fields and how it has changed over the years. I especially enjoyed learning about the value of having a mentor, especially a woman mentor, that you can talk to while you’re going through everything they have been through in the past. Learning more about the programs Trinity has to offer related to mentorship and encouraging women’s work was great to hear. Also, hearing faculty and staff in the audience who were listening along with me and adding their own personal experiences within the system was really influential to how I'll remember this session in the future.

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One thing I that stuck out to me during Claudia Rankine's discussion "Framing Black Female Subjectivity: Desire and Vulnerability" was her urge to depart from relying on others inform you about certain topics. She emphasizes "thinking for the self" is something that has been lost with rise of social media. Although I did not essentially think of the bias that accommodates controlled learning, Rankine states that "the narrative is created by the people in power". When it comes to learning about specific systems in which groups of people are oppressed, one has consider where this information is coming from. Another thing that stuck out to me during her discussion was the need to end the belief that Black women are superhuman. She uses Justice Ketanji Jackson and Coco Gauff as examples of what happens when the world allows for Black women to be vulnerable while also being pioneers in their respective fields.

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I attended the book making workshop and it was a lot more fun and interesting than I imagined. It was not my first choice but it was the only workshop to be open to me. I wanted a more impactful workshop but this turned out to be more helpful to me than I realized. I learned about the power of words and creativity. I always struggled with word play and how to convey an image with words. Before the workshop, I was never into books nor thought of creating one. During this workshop I was shown how books are more than just words on a page. It could be someone’s escape from reality, someone reaching out, or someone’s life story that the world can learn from. I never truly appreciated books and words until after this workshop. From the notes and my experience with the workshop it was something I needed. It opened up a new world for me that I am excited to explore.

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At Memory, Presence, and Possibility, there was an excellent discussion about what Trinity College will look like in the future. One of the most important ideas discussed was the need to examine and understand in order to understand where the future can go. It’s a beautiful concept that reminds one of the interconnectedness of all time and events. Also, there was a great emphasis on what the mission of colleges, especially Trinity College, is and should be. The answer to this question remained unanswered but wherever it went was determined to effect whether or not physical college campuses survived the age of AI and Virtual Realty.

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Today I went to Claudian Rankine’s event, one of my biggest takeaways was the comment she made about the narrative in society. She talks about how whoever controls the narrative has the power to suppress certain information in that narrative and what information is frowned upon. I thought this was very informative and important in understanding how white supremacy is still evident in society. She also made a reference to the Israel-Palestinian conflict with how in the US it’s been conveyed that it’s wrong to emphasize that Israel killed people, but it is okay to emphasize how Hamas has killed people.

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Today I attended a panel called The Trinity Tripod and the Future of Student Journalism. Since I plan to study Journalism, I found this discussion very informative and interesting. Some topics that were discussed include the documentation of Trinity’s 200 years through the Tripod, and the empowerment that comes with having a student led newspaper. One of my favorite takeaways came from Mr. Gordon ’69 who said something along the lines of, “The individual student voice of the present shapes the history of the collective.”

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I enjoyed the Claudia Rankine discussion and found her address of Black female subjectivity to be important and valuable, especially at a PWI. She reflected on how Black women are expected to be strong, and that society reserves tears and sorrow for White women. Through the examples of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Coco Gauff, she illustrated that this stereotype must be dismantled, and Black women should be allowed to be vulnerable. The image she displayed of Coco Gauff lying on the ground, defeated after her tennis set was specifically striking to me. Through her ability to sob on court, she illustrated the humanity that society has attempted to rob from her for centuries. Society must normalize feeling and displaying emotion, especially for Black women without degradation.

*I submitted a response of another event i attended to the Drop Box on Moodle

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I found the Claudia Rankine discussion very engaging where she talks about how black women athletes and talks about how strong and determined they are. I also liked how she uses Naomi Osaka, Simone Bi and Owens and talks about their fearlessness in what they do which is what made them into a strong woman in this society we live in today. She uses these individuals as an example to show how these woman can carry themselves as humble human beings and always valued themselves more than anything in this world if it meant taking mental health breaks to really see vulnerabilities on the court.

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How do you make Trinity more accessible and inclusive within the community when Trinity is known for its prestige and exclusivity? The panel I attended was Trinity's Commitment to Hartford. This panel discussed the relationship between Hartford’s community and Trinity’s Community and what can be done to create a strong mutual relationship between the two communities. Something interesting that Jacquelyn Santiago Nazario–one panelist–talked about was how Hartford was perceived within the gates of Trinity. She recalled a time when she was a freshman at Trinity and couldn’t figure out how to get back inside the gates, so she went for a walk around the neighborhood and ended up at Aqui Me Quedo (a restaurant with great food). She was over the moon about finding Aqui Me Quedo because it made her feel closer to home, however when she talked about conversing with the “Hartford Locals” her peers were shocked and horrified by the idea of being outside the gates and interacting with the black and brown community. This stuck with me because as a black girl who grew up in Hartford, I weirdly understood her peers' astonishment. Coming to Trinity and taking a class here has been delightful and insightful, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge how entering the gates of Trinity felt like entering a different world; a world where I constantly question my intelligence, belonging, and my purpose. I can still remember the thoughts that were rushing through my head during my first class. Here are those thoughts down below:

“Wow, there's a lot of white people here…”

“I feel so out of place.”

“Damn, I might have to drop this class. I don't think I can keep up.”

“Am I smart enough to be here?”

“I can’t believe I’m taking a college class. "

“Just breathe.”

“I don’t think I belong here.”

“I can’t stop shaking.”

“Just breathe.”

I know Trinity is supposed to be prestigious, but I still can’t get over the fact that although this college is a five-minute drive from my house and a two-minute walk from my school; it feels so different; I feel so out of place in a place that should be my community. Of course, Trinity has done a lot to build a connection with the community as introducing the Trinfo Cafe, Community Garden, HMTCA tutoring, and even the dual enrollment program that I am a part of. Nevertheless, there is always more work to be done.