As part of this year’s Black History Month special issue, the News is working to highlight Black voices across our campus community. We spoke with five Black Yale students, who hail from various areas across the United States, about their experiences navigating Yale as Black students and maintaining their sense of authenticity. There was consensus on some issues and disagreement on others, but as you’ll read below, the conversation largely offered a real glimpse into the rich tapestry of perspectives within Yale’s Black community through the voices of students’ lived experiences.
While the transcript has been edited for clarity and length, an audio recording of the session is available if you’d like to listen to the full unedited conversation. We hope you enjoy, reflect and learn as much as we did — and we encourage you to continue such conversations throughout the year, not just during Black History Month.
Sebastian, Moderator: Describe yourself in three words.
Milan Acosta ’26 (Half Black and half Latina, Sophomore, New York): Loving, responsible and passionate.
How do you think someone you know would describe you if I asked them?
Milan: Serious when necessary, but a comedian otherwise.
David: Somewhat unconventional and funny.
Celene: Selfless and does too much.
Joe: Doesn't take himself too seriously but still a person who values having meaningful conversations and building close relationships.
Kyle: Creative and romantic—not in the relationship sense, but in thought.
How do you think you are perceived by people on campus?
Milan: Unknown.
Kyle: I like to think fashionable, ballsy and one of a kind.
Celene: Warm, approachable and friends with everyone—for better or for worse.
David: Down to earth and maybe a little confused by me sometimes.
Joe: Intimidating at first glance, as a bigger football player on campus, but maybe once interacting, they would see I’m really personable and try to get along with everyone the best way I can.
David, just to follow up on your response, you said people were “confused” by you. What did you mean?
David: Yeah well, just because I think my first week on here campus, a lot of people thought I was an athlete. And then they got to know me, and well, I'm not but some people were confused by that.
Celene, I also wanted to follow up on yours. You said people think you’re “Warm, approachable and friends with everyone.”
Celene: Honestly, yeah. I don't think I present myself as intimidating in any way. But I do think that maybe people assume that I'm a little bit one dimensional because of that. I feel like some people think I'm just like, “a la-da-da”, “happy go lucky girl” and there's not much more than that.
But that isn’t true?
Celene: Oh, definitely not.
Joe, you said people might find you intimidating because you're an athlete. Do you think that's the only reason why someone might find you intimidating? Are there other reasons?
Joe: Maybe not just because I'm an athlete. Maybe because I'm a larger Black man on a predominantly white campus. I think from that standpoint, it can be intimidating to interact with a person like that, especially if that hasn't been the environment you're used to in high school or wherever else.
What do the words visibility and authenticity bring to mind?
Milan: I’d say the AfAm House. I went to their monthly res-group meeting a few weeks ago and it was just really nice to be around a lot of people that were Black and looked like me. I hadn't been to the house in a while at an event like that, so it was really important for me.
Celene: To me, it means being able to be consistent in who you are, regardless of who you're hanging around. Whether you're hanging out with a bunch of white people, or you're hanging out with a strong Black community, I think visibility and authenticity to me is just having that comfort of being proud regardless of the audience.
Kyle: Those bring to mind how I love dressing up and being visible in my authentic self through what I wear. And I love that. So I make an extra effort to be seen in myself through that lens.
Kyle, what aspects of yourself do you try to portray in the way that you dress?
Kyle: Intention and open-mindedness. I am Caribbean American, and while there isn’t specific traditional dress from there, I pull what feels true to me off the shelves. Even if it’s a sweater with the American flag or snowflakes or something like that, I don’t feel like that can't also be mine.
David: When I think about visibility and authenticity, I think it just means being true to yourself not feeling pressure to conform to any standard. I don't think you need to exclusively have Black friends or exclusively be part of some community because of your identity. I think you should just do you, and I think that that's kind of the core meaning of those terms.
Joe: When I think of visibility and authenticity, I'll go back to the strong sense of identity. I think that's a really core foundation for navigating any environment because the environment you're in may change. But if you have a strong set of virtues and values that you know you're not willing to compromise, then the environment will have that much less weight on you.
Joe, are there any environments that make it difficult to maintain your sense of authenticity?
Joe: At this point, as a sophomore, I'd say not so much. But when I was younger, being in a predominantly white environment really tested my identity, and I definitely felt pressure in some ways to conform to the environment. But as I matured and developed a stronger sense of self, the desire to conform to my environment or whoever I was around diminished.
What one word comes to mind when I say Black Yalie?
Kyle: Yalie.
David: Interesting.
Celene: Inspiring.
Elaborate.
Celene: I think every single Black person that I've met on this campus inspires me because I think Black people are beautiful and I already feel that connection and pride just looking at someone else who made it the same place as me in a different way. But I also think non-Black people on this campus often look at Black people on this campus as incredible, and rightfully so. But I think it's very often that I'll have a non-Black friend tell me like, “Oh my gosh, you know, this person?” “They're great!” or “They're amazing!” And nine times out of ten, they're Black. I think they're inspiring to everyone.
Milan: Real.
Joe: Persistent.
How often are you reminded of your Blackness on campus, if at all?
Joe: Honestly, just going through the hectic day-to-day, my Blackness isn't really something that I reflect on a lot. But I will say, whenever I walk past the Beinecke Library and I see DuBois and Langston Hughes, knowing that some of their work and history is here. It's definitely inspiring to me. And it definitely causes me to reflect on my Blackness and how far I've come. It motivates me.
Milan: I would say, fairly frequently, because I'm in a Black sorority. So I think it's really nice to get together with my line sisters and just the other lines in our chapter in a room full of powerful Black women is a really a nice experience. We meet pretty often, so I have a lot of time to reflect on that.
David: I think just like sometimes in my classes, or in seminars or discussion sections, I'll notice that I'm the only Black student in the class, or one of a few. But I definitely don't get too in my head about it. As a sophomore, I've gotten to be a part of some more diverse classes and I think I've gotten used to how the school works now.
Has the awareness of being the only Black person in a class had any effect on you and your time at Yale?
David: A little bit, but I don’t think much really.
Milan: To add on to David’s point, in classes, especially seminars, when you make eye contact with the only other Black person in the class and you just know immediately that's your connection right there.
How many of you think that if you weren’t black, you would be perceived differently
Kyle, you’re the odd one out. Why not?
Kyle: Yeah, I just think the perception of me has little to do with my Blackness. This may evidence my detachment from a certain reality, but I would like to think that assumptions made about me aren't held based on my race and that people don't treat me better or worse because of it.
Celene: I think if I weren't Black, I'd be perceived differently anywhere. Like it's not specific to Yale. I just think being Black in the United States automatically comes with a certain level of perception that reveals itself in different ways depending on where you are.
Milan: I was just thinking about, I guess how the Black community would perceive me if I weren't as much a part of the Afam community as I am, right now. So I didn't have like specifics, I was just thinking, like, that would be a big part missing for me.
Joe: I would agree that if I wasn't Black, my perception in any environment would change, but I think that's why I value having a strong self perception so much. That can never change, but the outside perceptions will often change depending on where you are.
David: I just think it's like a visibility thing, whether you can blend in easily or not. So I think it would change by virtue of that.
Are there moments when you feel pressured to hide or downplay certain aspects of your identity? To avoid discomfort or judgment and spaces on campus?
David: When I first came on campus, I was in my head about that a lot. But if I had to be honest, I think during my time spent on this campus, I've been able to be pretty open about anything and have uncomfortable conversations. I feel like most people aren’t engaging in topics like that anyways, whether it's their coursework or just their day-to-day conversations. So I think I definitely feel comfortable, and I don't feel like I have to downplay any aspect of my personality or individual self.
Kyle: Semi-self-inflicted is the fact that I'm in a conservative Yale Political Union party, and more than having to downplay my Blackness, I do feel like I have to downplay my queerness.
Did you come in knowing that you'd have to downplay your queerness or were there certain moments where you felt this is something that I have to do right now?
Kyle: Again, this was kind of self inflicted and I expected it. And that's not something you should do to yourself… but I don’t have any regrets. It’s definitely been psychologically stressful, and your mental well being should be a priority, but I feel great that I'm able to exist in the conservative political party space—queerness, blackness and all.
Celene: I think not so much anymore. But when I first came here, I was definitely intimidated and felt the pressure to downplay in some ways when people outside my tax bracket would talk about certain things. I felt a little bit like maybe I shouldn't say anything, or hope that they don't ask me about a common experience they share when talking about their summer homes or fancy career opportunities or experiences I didn't grow up with and people around me didn't grow up with. But I don't think I ever felt shame, it was more like wanting to stop myself from entering the conversation because I couldn't relate. And now it's more like I can contribute however I want and oftentimes it's enlightening for other people to hear what else there is.
Kyle: To follow up to that, I feel very okay when people are mentioning their ski trips and vacation homes. I'm like, what? And I want to do that because they need to know how privileged they are.
Joe: My answer would be no. I felt I was very much prepared in high school to be here. As a junior, I was one of two Black kids in my class at a private, conservative school. So I felt I was comfortable navigating a predominantly white environment, so I haven't really felt the pressure to assimilate to the culture here.
Milan: My experience is my experience, and I only have what I know to speak on. But sometimes I don't want to be seen as that person who always talks about race or makes everything “a Black thing” or something. I used to be more cautious of that, but now I've kind of learned that doesn’t matter.
Did you ever get the sense that people in your class were getting tired of hearing you talk about how things relate back to Black issues? Did anyone ever say that to you explicitly or was it just felt?
Milan: Honestly, it wasn't always like a disinterested thing. A lot of times, people just couldn't relate, and they'd be like, “Wow, that's crazy that people actually go through these experiences.” So a lot of times, I've had the token stories and it's not really a thing of like, “This is so boring,” but like, “This is crazy.” “She has a different life.” And it's not like I’m trying to be unique or different, I'm just speaking on what I know.
Okay, so how do you define authenticity for yourself? In predominantly white spaces, and what does it mean to live authentically to you?
Joe: I think for me, it's not allowing anyone to kind of put me in a box and define me based on the exterior.
Celene: I'd say doing things for your own happiness without considering what others would want from you.
Kyle: Heavy on those two answers.
Okay, I know we’re running low on time, so feel free to answer either of the following questions: what actions or behaviors from others help you feel seen, heard and understood for who you truly are in a PWI? Or how can people from many backgrounds work to create an environment where everyone feels like they can express themselves without fear of judgment or discomfort? Two similar questions, but I think that they stab at different things.
Kyle: On behavior, don’t always hang out with the same type of people. Maybe I have my own biased perceptions, but I see very uniform groups sometimes. And I feel like I could never even try to approach them.
Uniform it terms of?
Kyle: Racially. When I see that, it makes me think that I cannot approach them or shouldn’t. I feel like that they don't want to talk to me or wouldn't want to talk to me or be friends with me.
Joe: If I were to answer the first one, as far as actions and behaviors that helped me feel seen and understood,that happens through an open and honest conversation, whether it's a personal conversation or a conversation in a group where a person really tries to understand me, understand the experiences I've had and what I've been through in my journey. And I think open dialogue where people don't feel judged if they say the wrong thing. It’s very hard that when you grow up a certain way, programmed to think a certain way, see things a certain way, people may want to change their views, but it can be hard if they don’t feel like the environment is conducive to that. So I think having an environment where people aren’t pressured to say the right thing, but to learn and not be judged for saying the wrong thing. I think it takes saying the wrong thing and messing up and that discomfort to grow.
Milan: I think it's kind of similar to what Celene mentioned earlier, events like the Black Harvard-Yale event, or things like Steppin’ Out and Dzana and Sabro performing. The energy from the audience makes me feel really seen even though I'm not part of those groups. It's just like such a great community, and it makes me want to try harder to be a part of these groups. But, yeah, I just love them so much.
Celene: Would say on feeling seen and understood, just ask me to elaborate. Regardless of who I'm talking to, whether I say “Oh, I came from class,” or “Oh, I had a meeting,” when you ask me, “What was it for?” or “How did it go?,” helps you get to know me better. Demonstrating that interest is what makes me feel seen and understood by people within my community and without because if you don't ask to elaborate, that usually means there's an assumption of what you already know or think you know about me and my interests.
Thank you all for coming and talking with me today.
Sebastian Ward is a sophomore in Timothy Dwight College. Contact him at sebastian.ward@yale.edu.
Michael Ndubisi is a sophomore in Saybrook College. Contact him at michael.ndubisi@yale.edu