You’re listening to episode number 88. We Have the Power to Insight Change: Action, Contribution, and Committing to the Fight

In this episode I get to talk with Janaye Matthews. After receiving the Boettcher Scholarship in 2016, Janaye chose to attend Colorado State University. She is now going into her 5th year, studying Biomedical Engineering & Electrical Engineering, with a minor in Ethnic Studies.

She started to get involved with the issues surrounding students of color on campus during her second year (2017) when they started to see an increase in bias-related incidents. Most of it was informal, holding demonstrations and discussions to talk about how the incidents affected them. Since then, she’s also joined the President’s Multicultural Student Advisory Committee to take the conversation directly to administration.

In Fall 2019, following a peak of bias incidents on campus, her and a few others led a demonstration, of over 400 students, to make it clear that enough was enough. They followed up after six months of no progress with an 11-page document of demands to administration for change.

Outside of CSU, with the current issues we’re seeing in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, she’s spent some time in downtown Denver, and in Aurora, protesting and speaking out about the injustices BIPOC People, experience every day, in addition to what needs to change to stop police brutality. Janaye is also working on a project with her brother, based on educating our peers/communities.

Janaye is a wealth of knowledge and information and there were so many insightful moments for me throughout this entire interview. This is a fight for life or death and we have to be in it for the long run. Thank you Janaye for all you’re doing in this fight and for sharing your heart and insights with us!

Connect with Janaye

* TedxCSU- Watch HERE* Film_Fluent Instagram HERE

Want more of The We Podcast?

To listen to more awesome episodes, head on over to thewespot.com where you can find all of our episodes as well as The We Spot Blog! The We Spot is your place for intentional growth, connection, authenticity, and encouragement.

Connect with us!

We want to connect with you! Find us on Facebook and Instagram!

If you love The We Podcast, rate the podcast and/or write us a review! You can do that HERE! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss out on new episodes dropping every week. And don’t forget to share it with your friends!

Thank you for listening and being a part of this community! It means a lot to us!