Logan Browning, the force that is Sam on Netflix’s Dear White People, has a lot to say after her two seasons on the groundbreaking show.
Out of all the amazing advice and inspiration I got at Her Conference 2018, getting to see everyone talk to Logan during the last keynote of the weekend was probably the most heartwarming.
Each keynote speaker that weekend had something different to offer—insight into the makings of a magazine, guidance on how to love others in your community, encouragement to break the glass ceiling—and Logan totally added to that. She gave the attendees her favorite pieces of advice. She made us laugh out loud at her genuine kindness and humor. She asked us to hold hands and take deep breaths together so that we all felt connected. She was AWESOME.
?? we asked @LoganLaurice of @netflix’s @DearWhitePeople how she feels about college women who can closely identify with the show.
here’s what she had to say:
✨ #HerConference #DearWhitePeople pic.twitter.com/QwgRgpYUVr
— Her Campus (@HerCampus) August 3, 2018
We all know that we aspire to be like Logan, in her activism and her talent, but it means even more too look up to her as a black woman myself. On my campus, I have seen nearly everything that is shown on Dear White People. There are white students with no regard for their own blatant racism, black students who are trying to be heard by the administration, journalists who are doing their best to tell the full story — and all the constant conflict that comes with it.
What I had to ask Logan encompassed all of this, when it came time for the Q&A portion: Black students on my campus tore each other down because they didn’t agree, even though we fight for a common cause. How can I change this?
Well, it was something like that, after I was done gushing over how talented and beautiful she is.
Logan and I got to talk a lot about this problem—we both knew how heavy this question was—but one specific piece of advice stood out to me: “If you’ve already spoken to them about it, they heard you,” she said to me. It was such a graceful answer to the frustrations that I, and her character Sam, experienced
“If you’ve already spoken to them about it, they heard you,” she said to me. It was such a graceful answer to the frustrations that I, and her character Sam, experienced.
As activists, we may feel like we are shouting at a brick wall, even when we’re talking to our own brothers and sisters. But we have to let them sleep on the truths we tell them and hope that, with time, they realize what you were trying to say.
Logan’s character, Sam, depicts how tired black women can feel at that age, trying to balance every fight and every micro aggression on their shoulders. It’s not easy. But Logan’s keynote speech rings true: White people still have the opportunity to use their privilege to elevate those who are silenced. Black students can still listen to and lean on each other. As women who are entering the working world, we are more powerful than we could’ve imagined.
Overall, she pointed out that you don’t have to talk to a TV star like her to rise above the problems around you—grab hands with the girl next to you and see how much better you can do together.