By Josie F. Abugov, Crimson Staff Writer

October 15, 2020

“Where are you really from?”

Kaya R. Bos ’20 used to answer “slave Black.” Jarah K. Cotton ’23 would say “regular Black.” But when Alexa J. J. Brown ’20 sent an email to hundreds of Harvard students, she started a process that gave them a more fitting response — and eventually culminated in the formation of the Harvard College Generational African American Students Association.

By Jasmine Palma, Crimson Staff Writer

February 27, 2023

Harvard students led a demonstration in Winthrop House’s dining hall to push for the house’s denaming during dinner on Sunday, citing both John Winthrops’ ties to slavery.

By Prince A. Williams, Crimson Opinion Writer

November 13, 2023

In Spring 2023, I was part of a research team of students from the Generational African American Students Association and Natives at Harvard College who wrote a report calling on Harvard to dename Winthrop House. The House was named after Massachusetts colonizer Governor John Winthrop and his great-great-grandson, an enslaver and previous president of Harvard, who bore the same name.

By Morgan H. Curtis, Contributing Opinion Writer

May 10, 2023

In February, the Generational African American Students Association, in collaboration with Natives at Harvard College, submitted a request to dename Winthrop House, accompanied by a petition which has so far accrued over 600 signatories. The request echoes much of the history the University has already admitted to, with the Winthrop name appearing 109 times in Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery report.

By Madeleine A. Hung and Joye E. Kim, Crimson Staff Writers

February 23, 2023

Almost a year after Harvard released a landmark report detailing the University’s ties to slavery, student activists are calling for the denaming of Winthrop House.

More than 200 Harvard affiliates have signed a petition demanding the denaming of Winthrop to kickstart an official denaming request. Organized by a group of more than 30 students — including members of the Generational African American Students Association.

By Leah J. Teichholtz, Crimson Staff Writer

November 1, 2022

“For those of us who couldn’t make it to D.C., still wanting to use our voice and create this echo rally is so important,” said Hash, who delivered a speech and led chants at Monday’s demonstration.

“It’s important that we have this catharsis and are able to come out and scream and yell and advocate for diversity,” she added.

By Elyse C. Goncalves and Matan H. Josephy, Crimson Staff Writers

April 11, 2024

Harvard College will reinstate its standardized testing requirement in admissions beginning with the Class of 2029, a surprise reversal that could leave some students scrambling to take SAT or ACT tests ahead of application deadlines in the fall.

The decision comes in the face of Harvard’s previous commitments to remain test-optional through the admitted Class of 2030, a policy that was first instituted during the pandemic.

By Jessica Lee and Christina T. Pham, Crimson Staff Writers

September 9, 2020

The Harvard Generational African American Students Association and the Harvard Coalition to Free Renty hosted an hour-long webinar Tuesday evening to discuss an ongoing lawsuit and campaign regarding Harvard’s possession of images taken of slaves.

By Maya H. McDougall and Garret W. O’Brien, Crimson Staff Writers

March 18, 2021

Content warning: This article contains detailed descriptions of physical violence perpetrated against Black individuals.

Tamara K. Lanier picked up the phone mid-conversation. She was talking to a voice on the other line about an upcoming hearing on H.R. 40, a bill which, if passed, would introduce a commission to “study and consider” reparations for American slavery.

By Madeleine A. Hung, Ella L. Jones, Joyce E. Kin, and John N. Pena, Crimson Staff Writers

February 24, 2023

The Generational African American Students Association organized events including a cross-cultural discussion called “Uncovering our Black Histories” with the Harvard African Students Association, a Black poetry workshop and discussion with the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and the inaugural Mardi Gras Mixer on Monday with Daylan Davis, Miss Black Massachusetts 2023.

Jaivyance G. “Jai” Gillard ’25, GAASA’s social chair, described the Mardi Gras Mixer as a “heartwarming” time to “be in community and fellowship with one another.”

“Celebrating Black History Month to us means recognition,” GAASA President Jordan K. Young ’25 said. “At the end of day, what we’re trying to do is create a space where we can celebrate Blackness.”

GAASA Events Chair Aimee R. Howard ’25 said Black History Month grew out of a “call for visibility” among generational African Americans.

“A lot of our celebration has been just that: a recognition of our past, but also celebrating how far we’ve come through joy,” she added.

Gillard said that, despite the designation of February as Black History Month, the celebrations will continue.

“As generational African American students, we live this story — we live Black History Month — every day,” she said.

By Summer Z. Sun, Crimson Staff Writer

February 12, 2024

The Generational African American Students Association is also planning a series of events throughout February, including hosting a Mardi Gras Mixer in celebration of African American culture in Louisiana and the southern U.S. and hosting a Queer Affinity Space in recognition of LGBTQ+ Black voices.

GAASA President Ricardo R. Razon IV ’25 said GAASA feels “a duty to really, really uplift” Black stories.

“The stories don’t often get told — unless you’re taking a history class or a class in the [African and African American Studies] department at Harvard,” Razon said.

“When you have an opportunity to shape how your history gets told, why not take as much of a role as possible in that?” he added.

By Michaela K. Glavin, Crimson Opinion Writer

(2023-2024 Harvard GAASA Vice President)

February 17, 2023

To be a descendant of slavery is to be an “other” within the Black community at Harvard. The time is now to dig beyond the surface of a diverse community and interrogate all facets of Black representation: Who is being left behind and how can Harvard reimagine what diversity looks like as it remembers the mark that slavery has left on its descendants?

By Cara J. Chang and Meimei Xu

May 26, 2022

Just after midnight on June 2, 2020, Jordan A.W. Lloyd received an email that changed her life.

“I have reason to believe through archival records that you could be the descendant of Tony and Cuba Vassall, two slaves taken from Antigua by a founding member connected to Harvard University,” it read.

By Zion J. Dixon, Crimson Opinion Writer

July 4, 2023

Two years ago today, I was brainstorming my Harvard supplemental essay. I turned to Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” speech to fully grasp the meaning of this holiday to me, a descendant of slaves. For Generational African Americans, it is hard to celebrate the Fourth with fanfare when the independence it symbolizes is deeply linked with this country’s history of slavery and oppression.

This Fourth of July, I am shaken by the irony of my supplemental essay. Less than a week ago, the Supreme Court ruled that Harvard’s race-based admissions practices are unconstitutional.

By Nia L. Orakwue and Eric Yan, Crimson Staff Writers

December 16, 2022

Kiersten B. Hash ’25, political action chair of the Harvard Generational African American Students Association, said Gay’s Haitian heritage is especially significant in light of the University’s Legacy of Slavery report released in April. The report detailed how slavery “powerfully shaped Harvard” and acknowledged the profits Harvard reaped from the slave trade and plantation labor in the Caribbean and American South.

“To see that someone that is descended from what Harvard profited off of is now leading the University speaks volumes, but I also think that it shows that Harvard has a legacy that it has to reckon with,” she said. “I think this is a good sign that progress can continue to happen.”

Hash added she hopes Gay will work to build relationships with Black student organizations.

“I would hope that we can get more time to interact with her and learn about her and find ways that we can collaborate to just make campus a better place,” she said.

By Sydnie Cobb

May 3, 2023

In 2020, as institutions across the United States grappled with a legacy of white supremacy, Harvard was not spared: Students and other Harvard affiliates began to call for the university to examine its relationship with slavery and racial oppression.

The Harvard Generational African American Students Association seeks to provide a space both to foster community on Harvard's campus and to raise awareness/spark social change in issues pertaining to the legacy of slavery in the United States. The Harvard Generational African American Students Association Facebook feed highlights events and topics of interest to the community. Social media collected by the Harvard University Archives as part of the records of the Harvard Generational African American Students Association.

By Jaylen Cocklin

March 7, 2023

In her 1970 song “Young, Gifted, and Black,” Nina Simone sings:

YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK

OH WHAT A LOVELY PRECIOUS DREAM

TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK

OPEN YOUR HEART TO WHAT I MEAN

IN THE WHOLE WORLD YOU KNOW

THERE’S A MILLION BOYS AND GIRLS

WHO ARE YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK

AND THAT’S A FACT

“YOU ARE YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK”

WE MUST BEGIN TO TELL OUR YOUNG

THERE’S A WORLD WAITING FOR YOU

YOURS IS THE QUEST THAT’S JUST BEGUN

With Trymaine Lee, Ife Adedokun, Mariah Norman, Kimani Panthier, and Camille Z. Charles

December 2, 2021

Trymaine Lee: What does it mean to be a Black American on the campus of Harvard?

Mariah Norman: Ooh. I think being a Black American on the campus of Harvard is, that's a good question. (LAUGH) I feel like it's about acknowledging the privilege that you've been given, and taking that and doing the most with it in order to give back to the people, like, at home, and the people and your ancestors that came before you.

Because to me, it's hard to reckon with, like, the complicit nature of my presence here on campus, and being at such a historically white institution, one that has had so much ties to the history of slavery. And I think those identities are constantly in tension with one another. So my answer is I'm honestly still figuring it out, what it means to be a Black American here. I'm interested to see what my answer would be as I leave this place. But that's as best as I can give you for right now. (LAUGH)