Harvard Students Add Voices to Black Activism Conference

Harvard students trekked to New York University this past weekend to participate in the second annual Uprising Conference, an event bringing together black activists, entrepreneurs, and students to network and promote solidarity.

“The Uprising Conference is about social change, career, and identity, and drawing a connection between all,” said Riley Jones, chief financial officer of BLOC, the collective behind the event. “Most times as black students, we often segment into one of those three but rarely we do we have a space to talk about all three with each other.”

According to Jones, BLOC has previously hosted similar events across the country. In addition, the group is developing a web application aimed at increasing these events’ reach.

The group’s funding comes from corporate sponsorship and conference registration fees.

BLOC cited “I, Too, Am Harvard,” a 2014 multimedia campaign that brought attention to issues of racial inclusivity on campus, as one of its partners.

“[BLOC talks] about what is important to black students and make sure that we’re strategic about it,” said Paige R. Woods ’16, one of the “I, Too, Am Harvard” organizers. “Something we say is that knowledge plus networks equals power.”

The weekend event featured career- and activism-oriented keynote addresses, mixers, workshops, and panel discussions featuring more than 30 speakers. The subjects of these talks included government, visual and performing arts, entrepreneurship, journalism, research, social advocacy, and business.

According to BLOC, approximately 350 people participated in the conference’s programs.

“It’s really great that black students are able to come together to discuss ways we can promote black unity,” said Alicia Jones, a participant at the conference. “We don’t get to talk about all of these issues all at once as often as we should, and having all these people converge really puts all of these ideas side-by-side, creating an discussion that is ultimately more fruitful.”

BLOC’s Jones said that the collective tries to bring together a diverse group of speakers.

“The main thing that BLOC is trying to accomplish is that black students, not just at Harvard, but all schools, have the resources that are available in our community that are available for everyone,” Jones said.

—Staff writer Ignacio Sabate can be reached at ignacio.sabate@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @ignacio_sabate.