Black Jumbos Zoomin’
Even though COVID-19 forced us all home, that didn’t stop the congregation of the Black community. Not even two weeks into the “stay at home” movement, plans were brewing from some of our community leaders and alumni to conduct group check-ins. The photo you see as the header was a snippet from our first gathering. It was filled with nothing but laughs, fun arguing, concern for each other’s well-being, and love for the Tufts Black community. Since then, the alums have conducted other Zoom meetings in an effort to enhance the current experience of Black Jumbos on campus by giving us advice on how to improve the social life on and off campus. Through this time, I have noticed that there isn’t much you can throw at the Black community that would prevent us from getting stuff done.
Clubs still are having virtual general body meetings. Elections have been held already and new E-Boards have been formed, and on top of the Black Jumbos Instagram page, people from the community have created a new social media account called @blackjumbosconnect primarily to start having profiles of everyone in the community and make connections to the incoming classes.
Although these are trying times, I feel like there has definitely been a support system that the Africana community has built. The Africana Center specifically has been a constant resource on and off campus. They have been keeping us moving and active through social media challenges and they have been keeping our taste buds satisfied with “Cooking with Dom” virtual cooking lessons. I miss being around all my friends on campus, but I’m glad to know that distance hasn’t stopped us from being great and I’m excited for the day we all get to see each other again.