Destiny Iwuoma's Response to Photo with Janet Napolitano

Peace Community,

On March 22nd 2014, The California Alumni Association hosted an annual event called the Charter Gala, and we celebrated the founding of University of California at Berkeley.  I was personally invited by the Executive Director of the California Alumni association to engage in this celebratory event.

 My intent in going to this event was to connect with Cal Alumni and understand their experiences as Cal Students, not to meet Janet Napolitano. I did not have any knowledge that Napolitano was going to be present at the Gala. At the Gala I had a conversation with one of the organizers of the event. He enlightened me that Janet Napolitano was currently at the event. He said that he could get me an opportunity to meet her. Moments later Napolitano walked by and when she finished talking another guest, the organizer introduced me to her.

I introduced myself as Destiny Iwuoma. In our brief encounter I voiced how I felt the University of California did not meet the needs of students of color in higher education. After expressing that I am passionate about taking the steps necessary to make sure the University of California meets the needs of students of color, we took the picture and we went our separate ways.

As a senator one of my platforms is Cultural Competency where I encourage my peers to share their stories and understand different points of view and experiences. As a Senator I believe it is important to establish relationships with those you do not see eye to eye with on every issue. I believe it is the only way society will advance by having critical dialogues across difference.

I want to recognize that as an elected official I am human, therefore I am not perfect. However, I recognize that my decision to post a picture of Napolitano caused people to react and those reactions are completely valid. I recognize that community members feel Napolitano represents trauma, hurt, separation, privatization, militarization, deportations, criminalization and much more to community members. I apologize that the picture I took with Napolitano triggered community members to react as they did, and I would like to validate those feelings.

I recognize that it was not the best decision to post the picture on social media, especially with the lack of description in the caption. It was not my intent to undermine students who are organizing to get Napolitano out of office, and my personal choice to take a picture with Napolitano does not reflect the entire CalSERVE Coalitions stance on Napolitano’s appointment. CalSERVE as a coalition endorses the Students of Color Solidarity Coalition and the No2Napolitano organizing that has been done. 

Genuinely,

Destiny Iwuoma

For more information about student’s feelings toward Napolitano I direct you to a letter written by ASUC President DeeJay Pepito[1]

[1] http://www.dailycal.org/2014/02/11/dear-uc-president-hear-student-voices/

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Updates from Senator Destiny Iwuoma

Ever wondered what your Senator Destiny Iwuoma has been working on? Take a look at this video and hear about the I.G.N.I.T.E. campaign, Cultural Competency, and the Black Community at Cal.

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Take your Chance with this Rapper

CHANCE!!

Just started listening to Chance The Rapper, dude is my age and I feel like he speaks to my generation of hip hop heads take a listen

Btw Peep the IGNITE Campaign!! A prezi is attached in the link

http://www.dailycal.org/2013/10/17/asuc-senate-passes-bill-support-expanding-access-higher-education/

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[Reflection] Destiny Iwuoma's College Autobiography

I have finished my second year of college and it is my last day of my teenage years,  I will be turning 20 years old tomorrow on May 25th, 2013. Black Graduation at UC Berkeley is tomorrow and I will see a lot of my peer mentors move onto the next journeys in their lives.  I took a course this semester called African American Studies 109: Black Males in the US taught by Professor Quame. In the course we had the option of writing an Autobiography, I chose to reflect on my college experience. In college professors always tell you to "write" but in this class I was asked to "reflect". I struggled with this concept of reflection because I am always in the process of doing, whether it be rechartering the latest and greatest fraternity at UC Berkeley, Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. to winning the Student Government race with the most votes out of the entire school. In the midst of these goals  I often forget to reflect on what I have done. This autobiography was the opportunity for me to reflect on my past two years at Cal.  College has seriously changed my life and provided me with opportunities to achieve greatness. 

Controlling my own Destiny: College Autobiography Part 1

My journey through life has been an emotional rollercoaster of realizations that have led me to my sophomore year at UC Berkeley. The rollercoaster began to ascend with my acceptance into the University. When I was accepted I was excited and instantly thanked God for the opportunity. 

I always struggled with appeasing my Nigerian parents with my academic success. My parents were always hard on me about academics and they had a very narrow mindset of success in terms of being a doctor or lawyer. My passions did not always align with my parents about my future endeavors. My parents did not want me to play football because they thought it would distract from my grades but I understood that demonstrating leadership will get me to college in addition to academic excellence.

[Continue Reading] http://www.scribd.com/doc/143537034/Destiny-Iwuoma-s-College-Autobiography

If I learned anything in my years in college:

 "Keep God First, Faith outlasts all trials".

"You must sacrifice in order to be great"

"Love people, Hate what is wrong"

"Bible will get you threw tough times"

"Rely on yourself more than anyone else"

"Mentors will mentor, when Mentees ask to be mentored"

"Black is Back at UC Berkeley"

--

Iwuoma, Destiny

UC Berkeley, Sophomore | Senate-elect 2013-2014* | Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC)

American Studies w/ a concentration in Education , Public Policy & African American Studies

Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. |Gamma Zeta| Chapter President

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36)

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A Better World Is Possible [Reflection]

Finals are over, I am at home, watching the Steelers game for the first time all year and decided to put out some blog posts that I have been sitting on for awhile. I now realize why it takes Artists a little longer to put out their projects, and push back release dates, delay tours etc. because it takes time. Experiences are Golden, that is one thing I have learned in my journey through life. 

One of the first courses I took when I got to college was African American Studies 39E with Professor Quame and we read two books that changed my life, more specifically kept my life on track. The Alchemist and The Four Agreements, I won't go in depth, but I learned that "Life is Journey" and we shouldn't be too focused on the end result because the beauty of life is when you are living in it. I believe my generation is too caught up in this fad of Social Media where they take pictures of EVERYTHING, but do not learn too much. We share so much information but it is not the information that will lead to some consistent change. Facebook is power, Instagram is power, Twitter is power! On a recent road trip down to LA my Nigerian Brother Ikem recently said that "we have access to information, without direction, which leads to misplaced knowledge". 

For instance CHRISTmas is coming up, I am sure a chid will be receiving a Smart Phone, but with what guidance is the child given with the phone. My guess is NONE! Mainly because "She knows how to use the internet better than her parents" -Lupe Fiasco, Bitch Bad...Lupe does an amazing job with his music video getting this point across.

This is not the fault of the parents it is the fault of society not recognizing that with the growing age of technology we must have information on how to use that technology. WIth great knowledge comes great responsibility! So with Great access to knowledge should come someone explaining the responsibility of the knowledge.

 I believe this issue comes with Capitalism, we now have people whose motivation and 1st thought is to produce something to make a profit. There is not much consideration that goes into the well being of society and that is my knock against capitalism and the society I live in that values machinery more than humanity.

I am grateful for a family who loves me, my relationship with God, and the educational opportunities that have led me to greater knowledge.

As for the purpose of this Blog, I think I know what I want it to be now, because not many people get the experience of going to college. I am going to write about my experiences in college and write about what I learned. Hoping that another person reading this Blog who does not have similar opportunities can still learn from my experiences. Infinite Knowledge. 

Un Mundo Mejor Es Posible |A Better World Is Possible Inshallah|

Music that has influenced me lately:


Erykah Badu - Baduizm

Jetpack Jones - The Oddyssey 

Lupe Fiasco - Bitch Bad [referenced this earlier]

The Poem that inspired me to change the world

Books I referenced:
The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz  - http://www.toltecspirit.com/
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho


Twitter: @OWtDestiny

--

Iwuoma, Destiny

diwuoma@berkeley.edu

UC Berkeley, Sophomore

Sociology Major w/ Double Minor in Education & African American Studies

Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. |Gamma Zeta| Chapter President

Black Recruitment and Retention Center, Northern CA Recruitment Coordinator '12-13

"It is our duty to fight for our freedom" -Assata Shakur

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Set the 1% on fire

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[Black Cooperative Economics] Sh*t Black People Should Do

It is a low down dirty shame that it took 18 years and my 2nd semester of College to actually learn about my people, Black People. Why is this? Well the injustices in the system of public education will be another Berkeley Storm post. But this post is dedicated to one of my favorite classes I have taken at Cal, African American Studies 5b with Professor Robert Allen. By writing this paper I learned that writing is a process, I remember when I used to intern for Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (44th District)  he told me that "Writing is Re-writing" and after many drafts of this paper I finally understood what he meant. This is the final paper I wrote for this class:

Cooperative Economics: The Road to Black Independence

Over the course of this semester, we have covered many topics relating to the life and culture of African Americans in the United States. For example, a recurrent theme in our class discussions has been the phenomena of African Americans blaming white people for the problems of Black America. It was pointed out that Black people have been historically subjugated by the white power structure in America. Specifically, a large part of the blame has been directed to how the actions of the white community during slavery have led to the proliferation of contemporary issues. These issues include high incarceration rates for Black men and poor public school education for African American children. I will further investigate the economics of black people because “black people are undergoing a process akin to that experienced by many colonial countries” (14). The efficient way for the colony of Black America to thrive is to separate from the white power structure.

[Continue Reading] http://www.scribd.com/doc/96995750/Black-Cooperative-Economics

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