The Black Student Union held its annual State of the Black Union Thursday as part of BSU Week.
“It is important to have a State of the Black Union here at the University of Alabama because it just lets students know what’s going on with the students of color, and not only about what the state of what we’re going through here at the University, but also what is going on in the United States,” said Jordan Stokes, president of the BSU.
She said she believes it’s important for students of all ethnicities and nationalities to attend the event to gain a better understanding of Black culture at the University.
The speaker, Mario Bailey, is a University alum and member of the University Division of Community Affairs Board of Advisors.
“When you have a dream, you must have a ‘by any means necessary’ attitude,” Bailey said. He said that his father wouldn’t drive him to orientation his freshmen year, as his memory of the University was of then-Gov. George Wallace blocking Black students Vivian Malone and James Hood from entering Foster Auditorium to register during the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door. Instead, Bailey took a Greyhound bus there.
Bailey said that his “first love” on campus was SGA. He said that during his time in SGA, he helped create legislation for a dining hall on the north side of campus and establish the campus trolley route.
“But I also made a mistake that I’d later regret,” Bailey said. “I voted in favor of legislation changing the SGA founding date from 1996 back to [1914]. I hadn’t fully considered the paper history behind why the SGA was disbanded in 1993.”
In 1993, the SGA was disbanded after Minda Riley, an independent candidate for SGA president, was attacked in her home. “That incident exposed the darker side of campus politics,” Bailey said. “I realized how vital it is to truly understand history before advocating for change. I ran for vice president of student affairs, hoping one day to serve as SGA president.”
Bailey said that he was approached by a University official, promising him a role in SGA if he joined the Machine, saying they would “make sure” he would win. The Machine, or Theta Nu Epsilon, is a not-so-secret organization of select historically white fraternities and sororities designed to influence campus elections and policies.
“There’s no way that I was gonna accept that, because I didn’t want to compromise my integrity,” Bailey said.
He said that his campaign manager received death threats and her tires were slashed, leading to a law school faculty member helping him “file a petition about the illegal activity that was happening.”
Bailey said the experience gave him a fear of public speaking that he didn’t overcome until working on a congressional campaign.
“I really wanted to get back to something that I love, that I felt, that God had placed on my heart: politics,” he said. “I had to remember that Greyhound bus ride when I first realized how some people, although they love you, care about you, they truly don’t understand your vision.”
While the candidate he campaigned for lost, he was offered a role as chief of staff for a Florida legislature the next day. “I came from losing, having nothing, to having a leadership role,” he said.
Bailey said that “resilience, faith and integrity will always carry you through.”
“This is your moment to shape your own future,” he said, “but your future and also the future for the students who will follow you in these same seats.”
