Ozi Uduma will be entering her final year at the University of Michigan. She is majoring in Afroamerican and African Studies, with a minor in Applied Statistics. She serves as Co-Chair of the Coalition for Queer People of Color and Seba (i.e. Historian) in the Black Student Union (BSU). Ozi writes about her work with a group of HIV positive women. She calls it “An Air of Charisma and Confidence.” Enjoy.
Enjoy,
Nesha Z.Haniff
Director, Pedagogy of Action
An Air of Charisma and Confidence
By Ozi Uduma
When Dr. Haniff informed me that I was going to teach a group of HIV+ women, I made it a goal to be more open to a form of education that allows people to apply concepts to their lived experiences, and so I insisted upon teaching the FACTS and LUCK part of the module. FACTS and LUCK are the two most important parts of this module, because they are used as tools of empowerment for the self and the community and the power of FACTS and LUCK are found in the first letters of each section.
The ‘F’ in FACTS speaks to the idea of faithfulness to oneself and the ‘L’ in LUCK speaks to the idea of love. Although these two concepts seem very simple, you might be surprised to know they are not. As people, especially as women, we have been conditioned to think about these concepts in relation to other people, but very rarely in relation to ourselves, as individuals. Being faithful to and loving myself is, as at times, a very foreign concept for me to comprehend and I saw the complexities of these concepts playing out amongst the other women in my group. But, on Tuesday things changed after a woman by the name of Ianthie presented her version of the module to the group. Ianthie was one of the more quiet ones in the group, so I was worried that her silence would takeover and she would not be willing to speak. But, from the moment she took her place in front of us she presented herself with an air of charisma and confidence. Not only did she remember the entire module, but also she went above and beyond, using the module to speak of her lived experiences as a black Jamaican woman. Throughout her presentation, I could barely take my eyes off of her and in those moments, I felt like a proud mother.
Never have I met a group of women so willing to support one another and from this I saw the importance of being full invested and committed to my social justice work. Their dedication to HIV/AIDS prevention and their willingness to participate, physically and emotionally, in this pedagogical process is an act of sheer generosity. Although, I wore the hat of ‘teacher’ this week, these women were the real teachers.
