Submitted Photo Dr. Nyle Fort discussed many topics with SUNY Fredonia students during a Zoom talk last week.

State University of New York at Fredonia students and interested community members had the opportunity to learn about Critical Race Theory, protests, democracy, and other issues from Dr. Nyle Fort. Fort gave a Zoom talk entitled last week, and shared stories and knowledge from his experience growing up.

Fort began by telling a story about his mother, who is a mortician in New Jersey. He said his mother would come home every night, after a day of consoling grieving families, and would sneak into Fort and his sibling’s room to tell stories. The stories his mother would tell were influential to Fort, and provided him and his siblings with an escape from their reality.

Fort said.

While Fort isn’t sure his mother knew the extent of what she was protecting them from, she knew how hard the struggle could be. Fort, who has his degree from Princeton, came prepared with statistics. He said the United States has about 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the incarcerated population of the world. Fort also said that every 28 hours, a Black person in America is killed by a police officer or vigilante.

he said.

But the story that matters most is the story this country tells, according to Fort. A number of states have introduced bills that instruct teachers on how to teach racism, but some states are also expanding how to teach racism, which all comes back to Critical Race Theory.

he said.

Fort continued, telling the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, and how the Dr. King that is taught in schools is not anything close to the Dr. King who actually existed. He then gave more statistics detailing injustices Black Americans face, using financial numbers from his home state of New Jersey.

said Dr. Fort.

As to how white people can help the cause, Fort said the first step is realizing supremacy is bad for everyone. Fort said people often think of racism as only bad for Black people, but that isn’t the case, and more people realizing it’s not the case will be pivotal in how society evolves beyond the current structure.

he said.

Dr. Fort ended his talk by encouraging attendees to assess what stories their lives are telling, and to dream of the world they want to see grow in the future. he said. “Will they say we drove nice cars and graduated from top schools? Will they say we were eloquent but silent on the most pressing moral issues of our time, or will they say we spoke truth to power and stood in solidarity in the most vulnerable times?

he continued.

David White, SUNY Fredonia’s director of Multicultural Support Services at Fredonia, was thankful that Fort was able to speak to the school’s students and community members, as the topics discussed are ever prevalent with what’s going on in the United States.

said White.