Every other week, The Talon interviews a member of the Oklahoma Christian University community, a “Newsmaker,” to answer questions about their role on campus.
On Feb. 24, The Talon interviewed Coach Chad Johnson, the Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach and the director of Intercultural Development. Johnson spoke to The Talon about his role in celebrating Black History Month on campus.
What benefits have you seen from celebrating Black History Month?
“I’d say the opportunity to educate. I think education is so important. One thing that I’ve come to know is that it’s not anybody’s fault for not knowing something. We’re all ignorant to a certain degree, but whether or not you choose to stay ignorant is a choice. There are avenues and outlets to research and learn, but sometimes you have to bring that information to people. So it was my opportunity to not only bring that information to the community here on campus, but to really be intentional about the messaging in which I did it. I think that it’s important to be knowledgeable of all people, specifically black historians. It’s not just the ones that everybody knows about, but the people who have laid the foundation for those people, or people who were instrumental.”
Looking beyond Black History Month, what are some things that students can see implemented in chapels?
“One of the things I wanted to really be intentional about is making this month an opportunity for people to think. We are all conditioned to think a certain way. We all have our own set of beliefs, and that in itself is not necessarily a problem. I think when you’re unwilling or you’re not open to accept another set of thoughts, whether you agree with it or not, and not being able to hear somebody out is where you run into a problem. We can see how that can really be detrimental to society. Beyond this month, I think it’s just really the opportunity to create those conversations, be able to have the necessary dialog so that people become more comfortable and can say that they understand where others are coming from. I might not be able to ever truly grasp what you’re thinking and feeling, but I can at least understand where you’re coming from, because we’ve had certain conversations. So now that I’m more aware, now that I’m more knowledgeable, now that I understand some of the fights that you’ve gone through, or maybe some of the things that you’re wrestling with, I have a better perspective.”
What type of reactions have you encountered with the chapels emphasizing Black History Month?
“Fortunately, all the feedback that I’ve gotten to this point has been positive. I’ve had several people say that they didn’t know about a specific person, and so they were just grateful that they got to learn something. And if nothing else, that’s all I do. I would say that so far, it’s been a success. I’ve even had a staff member give me a black history fact that I actually put on the slide that I didn’t know about. It was just nice to know that people were actually attentive, and they were even giving some advice for some historical facts.”
How did the chapels about Black History Month originate?
“It originated with our spiritual life director, Scott Young. He came to me and asked me about speaking in chapel. I told him I would love to do that. Specifically as it related to the topic in which I spoke on, that was purely just out of my own heart, my own will, and what I felt like God was leading me to touch on again. It has helped me be more mindful of what I’m doing, what this is all about, and how I can really try to make a difference in whatever I’m doing, whether it has anything to do with Black History Month or not. I want people to be able to say that they made a difference and left this place better than they found it. So when I was speaking, I wanted to be very intentional about taking this month and this opportunity to really be mindful of this. I know we’re living in some very volatile times in our social climate. Everybody has an opinion, and everybody has a belief. That’s actually pretty normal, but I think we are going in a direction where people are hiding behind opinions. People are becoming so infatuated with their opinions that they’re unwilling to listen and be receptive to another person’s perspective. So for me, I felt like that was just an opportunity for me to remind everybody that at the end of the day, regardless of how you feel about something, we are all the same in a lot of aspects.”
What are some ways that we as a campus can support the Black Student Union?
“The first thing is just being intentional about being involved. I know that being involved looks different for a lot of people, but the one thing that I would say is it’s not necessarily about the organization itself, whether it’s BSU, Latin American Student Social Organization, or really any organization on campus. It’s about building community. I think that when we think about community, there’s a lot of different backgrounds, a lot of different demographics, and everybody has their own path to getting to where they are now. It’s about being able to use your personal experiences to come together as one, and be able to not only recognize those differences, but to be able to use that to learn more about one another. Then, just support everybody who is trying to put their best foot forward.”
What are some long term goals that you’re hoping to fulfill?
“I want to get to a point where, regardless of the month that we’re celebrating, every race and every ethnicity feels like they are seen, felt, and heard. I think that it’s super important when you’re trying to build community. We talk about being a kingdom university here at Oklahoma Christian University, and I think it would be a great opportunity for us here on earth to practice being understanding of all of our own demographics and all of our own differences. As it relates to Black History Month, one of the things that I would love to do is make the month very intentionally driven towards centering around Black History Month, whether that be in chapel, whether that be different events on campus, whether it’s highlighting different students or past students who have gone on to do things currently in their professional or educational journeys. I want to be intentional about highlighting them, because at the end of the day, we are all on our own journeys. I think it’s important to highlight people, especially while they’re here, while they’re on campus, so that they know that they did make a difference.”
How have you seen the acceptance of diversity grow at Oklahoma Christian University?
“I would love to say that it’s grown exponentially. I don’t know if that’s true, but I think there has to be a lot of intentionality in creating diversity, whatever that looks like to you. I know we are living in times where diversity, in and of itself, has pushed people along a different way. And I think that it’s their plight to walk. But I do think that if we’re truly trying to be a Kingdom University, and we’re truly trying to emulate the lives of Christ, and we understand that was a large point of who Christ was, he would eat and interact and socialize with the least of people. For me, the one thing I want to be intentional about is just making sure that I am helping those who I feel like I can help and reaching those who I feel like I can reach, regardless of what they look like. It does not necessarily matter if they look like me. That is irrelevant to me in the grand scheme of things, but I will say that I’m much more mindful of helping people who look like me, because I know a lot of times the minorities, in general, are much more marginalized. So if nobody else is going to speak up, I’ll be the person to speak up.”
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