Black Solidarity Day Features Array of Presentations on Social, Racial Justice

Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and community members attended more than 50 concurrent sessions in person and via Zoom in recognition of Black Solidarity Day Monday, Nov. 3 on the SUNY Plattsburgh campus.

The university has annually hosted a social justice teach-in day featuring programming for the Plattsburgh community and beyond about racial justice, anti-racism and social justice. Sessions were held in multiple buildings around campus on this year’s theme, “Meeting the Moment: Amplifying Our Voices and Efforts.”

In addition to art exhibits, demonstrations and a gallery walk celebrating Black artists in the SUNY Plattsburgh collection, participants attended such sessions as “Neurodiversity-informed Communications: Utilizing Language, Listening, and Presence to Better Identify and Meet Conflicting Needs,” “A Well-meaning White Woman Teaches African-American History,” “Standing Out, Fitting In,” “Healing Across Identities: Racial Trauma Workshop,” “Voices of First-Generation College Students,” and “Imagining Freedom: Building a Better Future Together,” and a final keynote live performance by the Montreal Steppers, among many more offerings.

Students speaking on the first-generation panel discussed what it meant to them to attend SUNY Plattsburgh and how important it’s been for them to receive support.

‘Realize Your Privilege’

Anny Nelzy, a biomedical science major from Brooklyn, N.Y., who arrived in the United States when she was three years old after emigrating from Haiti with her family following the devastation of the 2010 earthquake there, shared an emotional plea to students to “enjoy your journey even if you’re not so sure what you’re doing. Be passionate and be kind. You don’t know what someone is going through.

“But (most importantly) don’t take your position for granted,” she said. “You have to realize your privilege — the things you’ve been given.” She recounted what her family went through in Port-au-Prince at the time of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. “Be so grateful you’re able to be here and enjoy the privileges this country has afforded you. It’s the least you can do.”

Jessica Santos, senior counselor in the TRIO Educational Opportunity Program, thanked Nelzy for sharing.

“A lot of times we see students and don’t know why they move the way they do, which is why it’s so important to get to know them; you don’t know what they’re going through or where they’re coming from.”

All Connected Like Puzzle Pieces

In a session called, “Staying Connected,” education grad student Jules Coppola and Dr. Michelle Bonati, association professor and co-chair of education, discussed what makes a community — asking participants to think about where they see themselves in the community and how finding people who share similar experiences makes them feel seen and comfortable.

Participants were asked to decorate blank puzzle pieces to represent who they are while discussing things that make them feel comfortable and how they belong. The group then assembled the pieces into a larger representation of community.

“Community is like a bunch of pieces to a puzzle,” Coppola said. “We’re all different but in the end, we’re connected.”

She provided participants, who sat around a table in the university HUB, prompts for discussion, including discussion on places they felt safe, whether transportation was accessible to them, stories of meeting people on public transportation, and if there were environments where they felt comfortable talking to new people and what made them feel comfortable.

At the end of the session, they all held up their puzzle pieces and explained to the group what their images meant to them and how they represented who they are.

Roots in ‘Day of Absence’ Play

Black Solidarity Day was the brainchild of activist, and former SUNY Old Westbury professor, Carlos Russell, who in 1969 was inspired by Douglas Turner Ward’s play, “Day of Absence.” The plot focuses on a fictional town where the Black residents suddenly disappear, resulting in the white residents realizing how much of their lives rely on Black labor.

As part of this annual day, and to highlight their contributions to society, Black people were encouraged not to work and not to shop as a form of economic protest. Instead, they were encouraged to engage in educating and enlightening their communities.

At SUNY Plattsburgh, it has been celebrated as a day to meditate on the meaning of social justice and civic engagement in what could be a multi-racial democracy. Black Solidarity Day is meant “to highlight racial injustices, societal inequities and to illuminate how Black voices are integral to American life” and the SUNY Plattsburgh community. All students, faculty, staff and community members were invited to contribute a teach-in session that speaks directly to the meaning of Black Solidarity Day and/or that engages with social justice, broadly defined.

Social Justice Teach-ins were held on campus in 2017 and 2019 and four years ago institutionalized the Black Solidarity Day teach-in as an annual event, held the Monday before election day, in alignment with the university’s commitment to inclusion, equity, belonging and justice for everyone.

For more information on SUNY Plattsburgh’s Black Solidarity Day 2025 and a full schedule of the day’s sessions, visit https://www.plattsburgh.edu/plattslife/diversity/teach-in.html.

— Story, Photos by Associate Director of Communications Gerianne Downs