Denasia Hamilton is a fourth-year student studying strategic communications with a minor in Asian and Middle Eastern studies.
“For my major, there’s not that many people of color, women of color, Black women who are Muslim. Last semester in one of the first classes, I got on Zoom and we kind of private chat and they would message me saying ‘Hey,’ and then we’d just have a whole conversation.”
“It’s just like building that support and just be like, hey I see you, you’re like another Black woman or you’re another Muslim or you another Black Muslim woman and I want to get to know you and we can get through this semester together and we can build a relationship. I think that’s just been really cool for me to have that continue on. It just gives me a lot of hope and a lot of happiness to have that support from people who I meet for the first time.”
She currently serves as the secretary for First-Gen Students, a student organization on campus. She is also a part of the multicultural greek sorority Alpha Phi Gamma. Additionally, she’s been involved with Design U since the fall of 2020.
“I think it’s just been a great experience. Like the clients, we get to choose our clients for the most part and so last semester I went through The Arc MN, which is like an organization that offers resources and support for people with, specifically IDD, which is intellectual and developmental disabilities. I thought that work was just really nice and insightful because I also have a disability and working on that project, it just opened my eyes a lot to what there is and the support that is out there.”
“Then this semester we’re working with The Kind Mind Movement, which is like a mental health organization that started, I think in January. It’s just like really great work and I really like my team and everything.”
Interview by Yoko Vue