Imago Dei cultivates conversation around racial injustice on campus
All photos by Annie Youther.
In response to the national reckoning with racial injustice, three Lee students have launched a video series titled launch ‘Imago Dei’ to promote healthy conversations when facing adversity. Imago Dei was created to cultivate a space where students showcase how to engage in difficult conversations.
Describing themselves as a “community that wants to bridge gaps among students.” Imago Dei focuses on influencing students to see each other as images of God despite different opinions. The video series will be on Instagram, revolving around race and diversity to inspire transformation.
Senior exercise science pre-athletic training major Dhuranique Ferguson and senior accounting major Kat Lange have been friends since freshman year. Lange has lived in California and Illinois while Ferguson is from the Bahamas. The difference in cultures brought forth many conversations with conflicting opinions alongside their friend senior elementary education major David Williams.
“This summer, we all have [had] conversations about the racial injustice that was going on today and just having tough conversations in general,” said Ferguson. “And from that, we were like, ‘We have to do something.’ We also were just like, ‘okay, we have all this information and all these resources, but what are we doing about our own backyard?’”
The three had a facetime call debriefing the racial injustice that has taken place in the U.S. and how they could begin to start a larger conversation on campus.
Williams was convicted by the racial movements that took place. This motivated him to work locally and challenge Lee’s mindset about these issues. He wanted to do what he could and use his voice to the fullest extent.
“We thought to ourselves, ‘how can we make that change,’ and I felt like I hadn’t done enough. I felt like I hadn’t done just about anything on campus, and I wanted to create my own avenue,” said Williams. “I think about what is it like here for me. What am I doing here to make that difference? Because it’s something immediate, you know, something that I can apply in my life.”
Imago Dei is looking forward to actively challenging their peers throughout their series and sparking conversation throughout campus. They encourage their peers to listen with open hearts and minds to reflect on their thinking.
“Something that’s been so beautiful is that all of us have come forward in a very open way, I would say, and we don’t shut each other down,” said Lange. “ We want to hear each other out, and so I think that’s helped us immensely, and that’s what we want to continue on: help grow that within ourselves, but then help others as well.”
Imago Dei uploads a new video every Friday to their Instagram. More information can be found here.
