1.
Providence is not
your playground

2.
Introductions
- Name
- School
- One way that you orient students at your
school to your city

3.
Pre-Season 2017
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
-Swearer Overview
-Community Building
-Bonner Overview
-Identity
Development
-Providence Context
-Community Partners
Day 4 Day 5 Day
-Match Day -Walking Tours -On-Site Meeting
-Reflection

4.
Workshop goals
1. Learn a (brief) history of Brown in Providence.
2. Contextualize ourselves within that history.
3. Establish some guidelines + norms for working
within Providence communities.

5.
Definitions
We will use power as a catch-all term
for ability, influence, and access,
granted and reinforced by institutions,
structures, history, and individuals. It is
distributed inequitably.
Power

6.
Definitions
Unearned power enjoyed by a dominant group, giving
them economic, political, social, and cultural advantages
at the expense of members of a marginalized group.
Source: The Anti-Oppression Network
https://theantioppressionnetwork.com/resources/terminologies-of-
oppression/
Privilege

7.
Reflect:
- Did you interact with student
volunteers who provided you with a
service?
- In what context?
- What was that experience like?

8.
Turn and Talk:
- Did you interact with student
volunteers who provided you with a
service?
- In what context?
- What was that experience like?

9.
Group Share:
- Did you interact with student
volunteers who provided you with a
service?
- In what context?
- What was that experience like?

10.
History of Brown
in Providence
An abridged version
2

11.
2
3
1 Forced Displacement of Native American Communities
The Transatlantic Slave Trade
Gentrification of Fox Point
4 Property Taxes

12.
“
“Which said piece of land contains about four acres, and
became the property of us, said Moses and John Brown, by a
deed of bargain and sale … the present grantor’s
great-grandfather, who received it by descent from his
father Chad Brown, who was one of the original proprietors
after the native Indians from whom it was purchased … “
- The Charter of Brown
University, 1765.
Source: Remembering Race at Brown.
Forced Displacement of Native American
Communities

13.
Po Metacom Camp
- Summer 2017

14.
Brown’s role in the transatlantic slave trade

15.
Martin Puryear
Slavery Memorial, 2014

16.
Definitions
Gentrification is a general term for the arrival of
wealthier people in an existing urban district, a related
increase in rents and property values, and changes in
the district’s character and culture. The term is often
used negatively, suggesting the displacement of poor
communities by rich outsiders.
Source: Benjamin Grant, PBS.org.
Gentrification

17.
The Cape Verdean Community in Fox Point

18.
Compensation?

19.
Pause

20.
Contextualizing
ourselves
What are the implications of
Brown’s history for us?
3

21.
I am Olivia Veira
I am a 21-year-old woman. I am Black +
Caribbean-American. I was born in
Washington, D.C. and raised in Atlanta.
Hello!

22.
I am Juan Carlos Carranza
I identify as a queer, Latino man from a
low-income background. I’m a first-gen
college grad. Home is San Diego, California
and Providence, Rhode Island.
Hello!

23.
“
The concept of translocational positionality addresses
issues of identity in terms of locations which are not
fixed but are context-, meaning-, and time-related and
which therefore involve shifts and contradictions...
Floya Anthias
“

24.
Conceptualizing Brown privilege
◉ Political Power
◉ Economic Privilege
◉ Social Capital

25.
political power
Power here references our
capacity to “get things done.”
It is influenced by systems
and institutions and is
inequitably distributed.
Political power describes our
ability to influence and control
politics.
Former mayor Angel Taveras, mayor Jorge Elorza,
and Christina Paxson symbolically digging at the site
of Brown’s expansion into the Jewelry District.

26.
economic privilege
Resources and advantages that
have monetary value. Examples
are the resources available
specifically to the Brown
community that aren’t afforded to
other college students/community
members.

27.
social capital
Refers to the connections between
individuals and entities that can be
economically valuable, directly or
indirectly. These relationships
between individuals and
companies can lead to a state in
which each thinks of the other
when something needs to be
done.

28.
Turn and Talk:
How do you think Brown’s political
power, economic privilege, and social
capital will impact you in your time at
Brown? How might it affect your work in
Providence?

29.
Rules of Engagement
Things all Brown students should know before doing work in Providence

30.
1. Learn
But do not expect to be taught

31.
2. Listen
With the intent of learning, not responding

32.
3. Ask why?
Be critical of your actions and the space you take

33.
4. Ally is a verb.
Not a badge of honor. It works in the present.

34.
5.Understand that
you have power and
know when to use it.
(hint: the answer is not all the time)

35.
6. Take an asset-based
approach
Value local expertise, knowledge, and experience

36.
7. Know that Brown is a
center of knowledge,
not the center of
knowledge in RI

37.
8. Own impact
Expect to be held accountable for your actions. Welcome criticism.
Acknowledge and apologize for harmful actions.

38.
9. Change

39.
10. Consider Brown’s role
In constructing and supporting systems that create and perpetuate
inequality

40.
Any questions ?
Thank
You!