Student Real Talk: BLM activist Mallika Sille talks about racism

Hanze-students Aila and Naomi present Student Real Talk, a podcast about issues at Hanze that deserve more attention. What struggles do students face that are too often ignored?

In this episode, they talk with Mallika Sille, an International Communication student at Hanze UAS, who moved from Curaçao to Groningen two years ago. In the past year-and-a-half, she got more and more involved in activism. She is a member of Groningen Feminist Network, was involved in organizing the Black Lives Matter protest in Groningen, and just before the summer, she was invited to a meeting with the Hanze-board to discuss race issues at Hanze UAS.

What drove her to become an activist? Mallika explains that ever since she arrived in Groningen, and at Hanze, she has felt extremely self-conscious: ‘I felt very uncomfortable, and I really spent a lot of time unravelling this internalized racism, and it made me want to educate myself.’

So how did her activism lead to a meeting with the board of Hanze? How did that meeting go? And why does she think there is institutionalized racism at Hanze? Listen to Student Real Talk and you’ll find out!