• OVC Social Justice Resource Page | #OVCforChange Engagement Series Archive
As part of the
#OVCforChange initiative, OVC student-athletes, coaches and administrators will engage in dialogue to help shape a course of action and invoke change on a variety of social issues impacting their lives.
This week's feature is with Austin Peay Associate Director of Athletics Communications
Colby Wilson. An APSU graduate, Wilson worked as a student assistant before later returning to Austin Peay in a full-time role in 2012.
Why is it important to be an advocate for social change/justice?
"Because I have a responsibility to future generations to be better. Because my son is half-Hispanic and hearing the phrase, 'Oh but he looks white,' is infuriating because that is not how this is supposed to work. Because I can. Because maybe I can use the white privilege I do not deserve to help in some small way. Because maybe when my son asks me what I was doing during this time, I won’t have to lie like my parents and grandparents when we asked them what they did during the civil rights movement."
What are the responsibilities of the individual in regard to issues of social justice?
"The same as they should be to one another. Be kind. Be understanding. Know your experience may not have anything to do with someone else and allow that maybe you live in a position of privilege that not everyone enjoys."
What should we be doing as a society to combat social inequality?
"Lifting minorities, being an ally, being there to support. It is not just about the African-American community, it’s all minorities—people are disenfranchised based on race, sex, sexual orientation and a host of other reasons that boil down, in essence to, 'Not a straight white male.' And it has to stop."
What other emotions would you like to express about the current state of our society?
"Depression. I spend a lot of time talking to my therapist about how disgusting this is, how I feel culpable if I do not go out marching or donate to every Black Lives Matter initiative that hoves into my field of vision. We’re so divided as a country, and I can’t believe we wound up here because to a not-insignificant number of people, anyone who doesn’t look and think like them is the Enemy."