Last Tuesday was marked by Smith’s 31st annual Cromwell Day celebration. This November the day’s events took place virtually, and this year’s theme, titled, “Tackling Anti-Blackness: Moving Past the Abstract,” brought the Smith community right to the frontlines of issues of race that the U.S. is facing today.
Cromwell Day, while a celebration of the lives and legacies of Otelia and Adelaide Cromwell, also serves as a time for the Smith community to contend with issues of racial justice and to ask how we as an institution can do better. President Kathy McCartney gave the opening remarks, citing this past summer of protest following the death of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. In her address, she said, “the U.S. is facing a long overdue racial reckoning.”
Floyd Cheung, VP of Equity and Inclusion, also began his speech with Black Lives Matter. He acknowledged the great loss that has weighed heavily on the country and the Smith community, from police killings, to the pandemic, to the ever present threat of climate change. “I fully recognize that the news is not abstract for some of us,” he said. He also acknowledged the first winner of the newly implemented Cromwell Fellowship, Camille Bacon ‘21.
Cheung shared an update concerning Smith’s plan toward racial justice that was released this past July for the community’s consideration. He highlighted that, since receiving feedback from students, faculty and staff alike, over 30 action items included in the college’s plan have “garnered sufficient consensus” in order to move them forward to the next stage of action and implementation. Some of these action items include an annual celebration of Juneteenth, embedding equity and inclusion curriculum within staff and faculty professional development and increasing mental health resources for community members, especially Black students, faculty and staff. The full list is available on the Office of Equity and Inclusion’s website.
Cromwell Day’s keynote speaker was Yamiche Alcindor, renowned civil rights journalist currently serving as the White House correspondent for the PBS Newshour. Her address touched on the aftermath of this contentious presidential election, and the significance of this moment in history against the backdrop of 2020, a year that she called “awful.”
Alcindor said that, in these incredibly polarized times, this is her strategy for coping: “For me, it’s about finding your purpose and being resolved in your life’s mission.” She urged Smithies to find their “good trouble,” in the words of the late congressman John Lewis — “Journalism is my good trouble, and I implore you to find yours.”
The rest of the ceremony included two performances by Blackapella, a remembrance of Adelaide Cromwell by Kim Alston, Program and Communications Manager for the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, Leo Smith’s ‘22 reading of the poem “Maven” by Nikki Finney, and a video detailing the Cromwell family’s history.
Several workshops were offered, including a Roundtable Discussion on Anti-Blackness with the Unity Presidents’ Council, and No Such Thing as Neutral: Racism and Technology Design. The celebration closed with the annual Arts Showcase; the theme this year was “Tackling Anti-Blackness Through Art.”
