This month’s Mawrtian of the Month is senior Zawadi Sankofa! Zawadi (’22) delivered the first fully in-person convocation speech of the school year in which she talked about her struggle with identity as a Black girl at Bryn Mawr and finding her voice. 

Q: How did you prepare to deliver your convocation speech and what was your thought process behind your topic?

A: Race, ethicicity, and cultural identity are topics that I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past several months: specifically the differences between them and how people experience them differently in different parts of the world. I’ve especially been thinking about how I fit into this as a Black girl in the United States so I wanted to write my convocation on how my own experience fits into this topic. 

Q: What was it like switching between the two cultures you talked about in your speech?

A: I really like the way this question is phrased because I feel like it’s more than code switching. Not only do I switch the way I speak with different people, but I also adjust to the huge difference in the environments everyday. The hardest part about code/culture switching is that when you do it so much, you start to lose your actual voice. If you spend as much time at school as you do at home, how do you know which version of you is really you? It’s so important for me to nourish my own voice, because I want to be able to always recognize my worth and validity as my own person without the input of a dominant group.

Q: Do you think Bryn Mawr has improved its approach to DEI? What do you think about the current initiatives?

A: I think Bryn Mawr definitely has made progress in its attention to DEI and as cliché as it sounds there is still more to do! I think right now the most important thing for Bryn Mawr to do is work on closing the gap between student, faculty, administrative, and alumni DEI initiatives. I really appreciate that Bryn Mawr and our DEI director, Ms. Nichols, have implemented a “DEI All School Council” with members from each constituent group so that we can close this gap and work together.

Q: What do you think needs to change regarding conversations about race and ethnicity and individual experience? 

A: I think these conversations need to start sooner. Little and lower school students are smart and they are seeing and experiencing instances that have to do with race and ethnicity. We do a disservice to them when we deny them access to the language they need in order to discuss what they are experiencing  in the world. 

Zawadi’s Convocation speech spoke truth about the lives of many Bryn Mawr students and her inspiration will influence many decisions towards diversity, equity and inclusion in the future and will hopefully help to facilitate broader conversations about racial and ethnic experiences at Bryn Mawr.