Makeup Post Week 6 - Maya

my mother is tooro, indigenous to western Uganda, and whilst my blackness is what defines me on the surface to people, my mother's indigneity and its intersections with my fathers white/irish background is what is most defining in my internal experience. I have felt somewhat disassociated with the black community here at stanford, so it's been nice getting to know people who are a part of the native community on campus because I feel most in solidarity with the native community, and appreciative of the events and programming (like this class) within it, and am really grateful for the friendships i have made. I am always learning when talking with native students or at community events, and I recognize that this is not a patience that anyone has to be exercising. I would like to support the native community as much as possible without taking up unnecessary space. Being involved with the IDA and co-op community has taught me a lot about varying intersections of non-native identities with natives and non-natives. Ideally the non-native poc community could align itself in solidarity and support of the native community here. something that I see lacking on campus are more intentional alignment from non-natives. I would like to investigate/learn more about how these networks of solidarity and support can come to be, and be sustained without non-native students overstepping their bounds in the native community.