The Tripod

Media Credit: Courtesy of Muslim Chaplain Sohaib Sultan [Click to enlarge]

Islam Awareness Week and Caribbean Heritage week were held on campus from March 24 to March 28. While Trinity tries to promote cultural acceptance of all cultures, two of them stood out this past week: the Islamic and Caribbean cultures. Each had its own unique way of raising awareness and shedding light on the different practices and what sets it apart from other cultures. Started by Trinity's Muslim Chaplain, Sohaib Sultan and interested students, Islam Awareness Week was hosted for its third year and was started with "the idea that there needs to be a greater level of intellectual engagement on this campus about Islam as a faith and civilization," according to Sultan. Various events around campus were held including lectures such as "Islam and the Struggle for Human Rights" and "Islamophobia" by visiting professor Dr. Farid Esack (Western Cape University) and author Dr. Peter Gottschalk. After attending Esack's lecture, my hunger for more knowledge on the Islamic culture needed to be satisfied. I was on the prowl for information. I contacted Fatimah Finney '10, Muslim Students Association Chair, in hopes that she could satiate my desire for a better understanding. After being bombarded with questions, she gave me the answers I was looking for.

Unfortunately, just like all ethnicities, the Muslim culture is typically stereotyped. Veils and backwards society are two of these stereotypes. When asked about them and what they typically encompass, Fatimah responded by saying. "Typically, people associate a fair-skinned female in a veil from the Middle East with being a Muslim woman, not African-American. My way of dealing with this is simply informing people that they have been misinformed. Being Muslim is not simply a dress code." She explained that, as a whole, Trinity needs to foster a better understanding and teach students to stop stereotyping students of ethnic backgrounds.

Trinity students were fortunate enough to not only be informed on the Muslim culture, but the Caribbean culture as well. Caribbean Appreciation Week was hosted by The Caribbean Students Association, (CSA). In an attempt to raise awareness and appreciation about the Caribbean culture, events were held from March 24 to 28. Events varied from movie screenings such as Chercher Le Vie, a Haitian movie demonstrating how the country's import and export system is a major source of its poverty to lectures on the Rastafarian culture to the CSA's third annual fashion show with feature guests including Trinity's own step and dance team, SHONDAA, as well as Sexual Chocolate, an all-male dance and step team from Boston College. I attended a lecture on the Rastafarian culture, by Negus Amlak from World of Jah, located in Hartford. Before attending, I believed and associated the culture with marijuana and Bob Marley. Amlak shattered these misconceptions taking students and the rest of the audience through a Rastafarian timeline by discussing its evolution as a culture and its significance in today's world. I approached Amlak and asked him how Rastafarian culture, although gaining in popularity, yet still "underground," was able to promote itself in Hartford. Amlak replied, "Rastafari has been promulgating itself here in Hartford since at least the 1960s. There are various Rastafari groups and associations here in Hartford. We have a regular Rastafari program that airs on public access as well as community events and activities that are sponsored by the Rastafari community, all which lends themselves toward education and empowerment."

Trinity, according to many students, has not completely had the best track record of cultural acceptance. According to Sade Lake '10, CSA's Social Chair, "It's obvious that Trinity is a culturally segregated campus. Many of us, students and faculty, have based this cultural difference on race alone but neglect other social factors such as class and demographics. I think that a possible solution to this cultural gap is to reconsider recruitment tactics." Many believe that improved recruitment tactics and more events like these cultural awareness weeks in which students have the ability to further their understanding and learn about new cultures will help our school promote appreciation for an ethnically diverse community.

Trinity can sometimes foster a reputation as a culturally divided campus. This may simply be due to a lack of knowledge about different cultures. The evidence is right before our eyes and in the places we step foot in every day, such as Mather Hall. Separated not only by different tables, we divide ourselves by our physical appearance and ethnic background. Caucasians sit together, rarely integrating themselves with the Black, Latino, or Asian students at our school and vice-versa. One ethnic group is not to blame for this separation. We seem to have gotten into this bad habit and we continue the practice of separating ourselves on a daily basis. These awareness weeks have sought to raise appreciation for different cultures, yet unfortunately, although progress has been made, especially with the development of clubs such as the Muslim Students Association, (MSA) Tnity's biggest challenge, according to Sultan, is "building a culture of pluralism where all these different communities are interacting and cooperating with one another in an open way."

Islam Awareness and Caribbean Heritage weeks were by many accounts a smashing success at Trinity. With events ranging from lectures to prayer services, Trinity was able to embrace the Islamic and Caribbean cultures and come together in one of the only weeks where we can openly promote different cultures, especially those that have a history of being stigmatized. Instead of repelling each other based on what makes us unique, let's be like magnets and let our different qualities attract those opposite to us. Who knows? Maybe we will learn something different our favorite professor here at Trinity can't teach us in the classroom.

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