ICYMI: I, Too, Am Harvard

By now, many of you have probably heard about “I, Too, Am Harvard”, a photography campaign inspired by an original play about the experiences of black students here at Harvard College. The campaign includes photographs of 63 black students, each holding a board sharing a racist remark made to or about them, or a message to their peers about the microaggressions they have faced both at Harvard and outside of it. The campaign has already been picked up by Buzzfeed and Colorlines, a news site that focuses on race.

The play that inspired the campaign, also called “I, Too, Am Harvard”, was written by Kimiko M. Matsuda-Lawrence ‘16. Created out of interviews Matsuda-Lawrence conducted last semester with 40 members of the black community on campus, the play will premiere this Friday as part of the 16th Annual Dr. Walter J. Leonard Black Arts Festival. A teaser trailer, created by Ahsante I. Bean ‘15, was released yesterday.

The play and photography campaign are hosted and sponsored by Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, and co-sponsored by a number of other student groups and organizations on campus, including the Black Students’ Association, Black Men’s Forum, the Association of Black Harvard Women, the Harvard African Students’ Association, Fuerza Latina, the Harvard Foundation, the Institute of Politics, and the Carr Center for Human Rights, among others.

Check out the campaign’s Tumblr to see all 63 photographs, and stop by their Facebook page for updates on the play, including photographs of the cast. There is also an active Twitter hashtag and account. The play premieres at 7 p.m. this Friday in Lowell Lecture Hall. Tickets are available for free from the Harvard Box Office with HUID.