The first time Aicha Sacko advocated for Black liberation and Black women’s rights was not in front of a large crowd of protesters and press.
At the time, she was simply sitting in her middle school classroom responding to ignorant comments made by her teacher. Labeled as a rebellious, outspoken pre-teen, Sacko’s experiences growing up served as a preface to her story as an activist.
“Although I didn’t realize it, I started my activism really young. I’ve always been doing activism work because as a Black woman it's almost embedded in you,” said 19-year-old Sacko. “It comes naturally, so when you’re older, you’re used to doing the work.”
The Syracuse University sophomore connects her role as an activist with the various layers of her identity. In addition to being a Black woman, Sacko holds strong ties to her family’s native land in west Africa. Before immigrating to the U. S., the Sacko family belonged to the small Sarakole tribe in Mali. Despite being born in Harlem and growing up in the lower east side of Manhattan, Sacko remains connected to her Malian roots through frequent visits to Africa and speaking not only her country’s national language, Bambara, but also her village’s dialect, Soninke.
As Sacko evolves in her career as an advocate, she finds herself comparing Black liberation issues in the U. S. to the Black liberation issues in African countries. Although there are several differences between the two cultures, Sacko identifies unity and collectivism to be the main goals for Black American liberation. In fact, James Ogude’s “Ubuntu” philosophy is at the core of Sacko’s work as an activist.
“Going to Africa, I learned about this term Ubuntu. Ubuntu means ‘I am who I am because of who we all are.’ The idea of Ubuntu is about collectiveness and community,” said Sacko. “This whole idea of individualism is not African culture. So, I always reach for unity and community instead of individualism because that's what my culture is about.”
Small communities within New York City have helped Sacko blossom not only as a young woman of color but also as an advocate for her community. In middle school, Sacko joined a clan of like-minded girls in The Lower East Side Girls Club. Helping her work through some of the difficulties she faced in school, the young female empowerment group became much more than just an after-school program for Sacko. As members transitioned from their pre-teens into their teenage years, the topics of discussion grew with them. Shifting from basic activities and homework help to in-depth discussions about social issues, the organization acknowledged that young women need to understand the questions that impact society.
“In high school, I started going to protests and marches and began understanding what it's like to be Black in America, to be a woman in America, but more importantly, to be a Black woman in America. I learned all of that through The Lower Eastside Girls Club,” said Sacko.
In addition to building up her sense of self, the female empowerment group connected Sacko to her mentor, Contessa Gayles, a 32-year-old independent filmmaker.
“To see her go from a 15-year-old to a 19-year-old coming into her adulthood and go through that phase of discovery and learning who you are outside of your parents and the environment that you grew up in is amazing to see,” said Gayles.
With the support of people like Gayles, Sacko was able to spread her wings far beyond the parameters of the Lower Eastside Girls Club. At just 15 years old, Sacko participated in Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, an initiative started to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization, and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of leaders. Working directly with the former NFL quarterback made Sacko cherish her work with the Know Your Rights Camp, saying it helped mold her identity as an activist.
“When I think about it, the Know Your Rights Camp really did affect the way I organized here at SU,” said Sacko.
As the community celebrates the anniversary of the NotAgainSU Barnes Center sit-in, Sacko, one of the many student organizers, has taken the time to reflect. Although empowered and proud of the work she has done for the Black Syracuse University community, she recognizes how taxing the experience was for her mental health.
“Organizing takes up a lot of mental strain, physical strength, emotional strength, spiritual strength, you name it, it takes a lot. And one thing people forget is that not only does it take a lot of that strength from the outside, but it takes it from the inside, from the very own people that you organize with, it mentally strips away your identity,” said Sacko.
Although Sacko felt the difficulties of organizing, Bushra Raqi, another NotAgainSU organizer and sophomore at Syracuse University, said she admired Sacko’s determination and passionate nature. She said Sacko inspired her both inside and outside of the NotAgainSU movement.
As Sacko continues to balance her well-being and her activism, there is one inexorable goal that she hopes to attain: happiness. Over time, she’s noticed how easy it is for activists to lose sight of joy. She says she is determined to not only find complete happiness but also to share it with those around her. Just halfway through her college career, Sacko hopes to transfer into the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and pick up a broadcast and digital journalism major.
“I am always going to be the person to fight for my people, whether it’s through poetry, doing interviews, or even being out on the field,” said Sacko. “I will always make sure that when I am moving up that the people around me are moving up with me.”