In this episode of Michigan Minds, Elizabeth James, program assistant in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS) at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, discusses how race and social movements have evolved over the past several decades, and how inspired she is by the students who are speaking up against systemic racism in the United States.

Beyond her role at DAAS, James serves on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium Committee and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Staff Advisory Board, and is the advisor for the Black Student Union and the National Council of Negro Women—the latter two, she says, are her greatest joys.

James is also a doula, and compares the social movements happening across the country right now to birthing a new world.

“As Americans, we’ve really got to look very deeply within and say, ‘What are some of the things that I have taken in not even realizing that it’s been infused into my psyche?’ It’s going to be a long, hard struggle but I really feel like we hit a tipping point this year,” she says.

James recalls her grandmother taking her to the March on Detroit in 1963 with Dr. King, ., and talks about how it relates to what she is seeing now in the public and in the students she interacts with regularly.

“That energy was electric,” she says of the 1963 march. “And that’s the same type of energy I’m feeling now. That people are not going to back down. That people finally are ready.”

She also shares how inspired she is by the students and their commitment to making a difference in the world.

“There is a fearlessness that I see in them, that I really appreciate. They make me brave.”

Listen to the full discussion in this episode of Michigan Minds.