Michelle Foley, Illustrations Editor

When I took on the role of leading the spissue, I knew I did not want to have a theme. We too often find ourselves attempting to bound Blackness to terms. Beautiful, resilient, talented. We are all those things, so why just pick one for an issue that occurs once a year?

Instead of presenting some grandiose discussion on how the News needs to do better with recruiting Black writers and including our voices in the conversation, what it means for a newsroom to actually be diverse and inclusive, or even the intricacies of being a Black student at Yale, I will let the contributors’ works speak on their own. 

In this year’s spissue, read about a student’s experiences with racial profiling during two consecutive Yale-Harvard weekends. Enjoy a poem about a student’s heritage. Browse through photo essays that examine Blackness and comment on professionalism’s roots in anti-Blackness. Read about a student’s experience discovering Black Yale — and much more. 

Thank you to the contributors and everyone at the News that made this issue possible. I would also like to extend a special thank you to Michael Ndubisi, who is the reason I was able to spearhead an issue of this magnitude, and Solomon Adams, who encouraged me to take the risk of leading the special issue. 

This spissue is for us. No strings attached. Take it in, consume it, appreciate it. 

While growing up, my mom would always say, “I can show you better than I can tell you.” So here it is: the Black History Month special issue. 

We welcome and appreciate any feedback about the spissue. Feel free to contact us at editor@yaledailynews.com, or email me directly at the email address below. 

With love, 

Collyn Robinson is the editor for the Black History Month Spissue and serves as the Multimedia Managing Editor for the News. 

Writers

Solomon Adams

Muyi Aghedo

Deja Dunlap

Modupe Karimi

Maya Foster

Aminata Kamara

Madeleine Keenan

Miles Kirkpatrick

Seline Mesfin

Bayan Mohamed

Kemi Omoniyi

Ja’Juan Refuge

Alejandro Rojas

Kayla Samo

Sebastian Ward

Madison Williams

Contributors

Milan Acosta

David Adebogun

Celene Bennett

Joseph Nash

Kyle Shepherd

Illustrators

Milan Acosta

Michelle Foley

Photographers

Elishevlyne Eliason

Maxx Shearod

Photo Editors

Christina Lee

Production and Design

Carter Cashen

Maria Cestero

Laura Ospina

Jane Park

Yash Wadwekar

DEI Chair

Michael Ndubisi