As a field, Africana Studies was founded in response to students affirming their right to respect, inclusion and safety on college campuses. Our very existence is a testament to solidarity, struggle and resolute resistance. As we near our 5th decade, we know that such founding values are as necessary on our campus today as they were in 1969. The recent presidential election has caused many among us to feel like strangers in their own home. Too many in our community fear for their future and are subject to rising levels of harassment, intolerance, and hatred here at Cornell. This reality necessitates that we stand together, offer sanctuary, and affirm community. We in Africana Studies stand with our students who are undocumented. You are our community. We stand with all who are Muslim. You are our community. We stand with the disabled, and the gender nonconforming. You are our community. We do so as a testament to our shared humanity, but also because we know, that as James Baldwin wrote to Angela Davis in 1970 while she was incarcerated, “If they take you in the morning, they will be coming for us that night.”
