Angelique Dina (left) and Wenricka Griffith (right) use social media to give voice to URI’s black population. Photos by James Singer.
“When you know you’re speaking your truth and you feel it in your chest–the fire that’s happening–that’s the best feeling because you know it’s organic and natural,” said Angelique Dina. “Every week we’re just two Black people coming together and being ourselves.”
BLACKGIRLCONVOS, an Instagram page started by Dina, a Rhode Island College student, and Wenricka Griffith, a University of Rhode Island student, is dedicated to giving a voice to the Black community through talking about the Black experience and long-standing inequalities that they have faced.
After the death of George Floyd last May, Griffith and Dina attended a Black Lives Matter protest in Providence before getting the idea to create their shared Instagram.
“I was so riled up [after the march],” Dina said. “I wanted to go on Instagram Live, but I didn’t want to go on alone and she said that she would join me. I just really wanted to speak my truth.”
After attending the march, the two friends decided to expand and make their chats a regular occurrence. A week after they attended the protest, Dina and Griffith started BLACKGIRLCONVOS. Since then, the account has amassed 431 followers.
The two stick to a set weekly schedule: they create the weekly topic on Sunday, announce their topic on Monday to their Instagram followers, on Wednesdays, they post “Women of Color Wednesday,” where they acknowledge a woman of color they believe deserves recognition, and on Fridays they hold live-streams.
“The protests were the final kick to get me to get into activism,” said Dina. “The Black Lives Matter protest isn’t a new thing though. This [inequality] has been going on since 1492.”
The page was made specifically for women of color to feel like they have a space to speak their truth and connect with others with similar experiences, according to Dina and Griffith. Some past topics have been white saviorism, Black women in history and the death penalty.
Griffith and Dina, both full-time students, have busy schedules. Griffith is a biology sciences major, and Dina is an Africana studies major with a double minor in theater and anthropology. They are, however, determined to make their schedules work because of what BLACKGIRLCONVOS means to them.
“We started in the summer and then we took a break for a semester, but we’re back running in the new year,” Griffith said. “I wasn’t always sure I’d do this type of advocating. It was a spur of the moment thing. But, as a STEM major, I’ve always been really into STEM advocacy, and I’ve always thought, how can I, a woman of color, help other people of color.”
Griffith and Dina hope that their advocacy will spread awareness of inequality, not only on social media but also in college communities. They hope to raise awareness on the need of staff and faculty of color, specifically advisors, who share experiences with other minority groups.
The two friends have big plans for the future of their platform. They hope to start a podcast soon and create Zoom calls for their viewers in order to open up conversations with others like them who want to share their experiences.
“If there’s one thing we want people to know it’s that we are continuing to educate ourselves on the Black experience and racism,” said Dina. “We hope others, not only people of minorities, can educate themselves through Black and Brown stories as well.”