Targum spotlight: Douglass Black Students' Congress highlights topics relevant to Black communities
The Douglass Black Students' Congress (DBSC) serves as a space for Black students in the Douglass Residential College to discuss and engage with topics and issues that affect their lives.
The organization, founded in 1968, hosts various social, service and professional development events. Paule Ndjikinya, vice president of the organization, said the frequency of general meetings varies between weekly and bi-weekly.
Such meetings are usually held on Tuesdays, with additional monthly meetings centered around discussions about Black culture, she said. Topics include Kanye West, domestic violence and the role the DBSC could play in addressing problems experienced by the Black community.
Lilian Agu, Douglass Governing Council representative for the DBSC, said the organization also hosts conversations,"Black Thoughts," about misogynoir, discrimination against Black women, financial empowerment in the Black community and DBSC alum who have improved the University and other communities.
Agu said the "Black Thoughts" meetings are some of her favorite events because they spark creative conversations around debated topics within the Black community, such as colorism, texturism, mental health and intersections between Black and LGBTQ+ identities.
Ndjikinya said this month’s "Black Thoughts" focused on the Black diaspora, with participation from members from the DBSC and other organizations like Rutgers Unión Estudantil Puertorriqueña (RUEP) and Rutgers Union of Cuban Americans (RUCAS).
The organization also hosts larger annual celebrations, such as Jazz and Java in the spring semester and Kwanzaa Ball in the fall semester. Ndjikinya said her favorite memories of the organization were from the ball.
"Being able to create an event for Black people by Black people, especially surrounded by Black women, was just so much fun," she said. "I got to learn more about Kwanzaa because I had not previously celebrated it, and it was just so nice to be in the community and to have that space during the holiday times."
The two board members also discussed the value of having organizations like the DBSC on campus, which hold space for Black people to discuss their experiences.
"Because the campus is so huge … we don’t really have that sense of community or that bond, and it may even make us feel isolated," Agu said. "It is very important to have these organizations in which Black women as a collective can come together and talk both about their experiences both to heal from trauma and also to uplift each other."
Both leaders spoke about other on-campus organizations, such as the Douglass D.I.V.A.S, the Africana House at Jameson Residence Hall on Douglass campus, RU Curly and Black Student Union (BSU) being additional spaces for Black people at Rutgers.
The two said they hoped Black students and students of color can find the DBSC to be a safe space that is specifically designed for them. The space DBSC holds can support these students, validate their thoughts and allow them to find a sense of community.
"I hope that students can find a place where they feel safe," Ndjikinya said. "I know that college is very very hard, especially if you are a minority … Knowing that there are people who are there for you, that want you to succeed, that know that you can, despite what everybody says, despite the obstacles you are facing."
