My mentee Foluke has always been a team player and a hidden gem behind the scenes in the LGBTQ+ community at John Jay and in my program Q’onnections. I like to showcase Foluke a little bit with my post because I believe fully in his work and I want nothing more than for the world to see this gem at work.

Foluke started as chief of staff within spectra (The John Jay lgbtq+ club), and while he is still in that role, he has currently gone on to work with John Jay productions. In addition, he co-founded a non-for-profit called Revolution Mental that combines mental health advocacy, education, and a safe space for students and planning to start a mentoring program plus other mental health advocacy projects.

Foluke was also part of the first-ever cohort of Q’onnections, spectra’s queer mentoring program. Now Foluke is returning as a mentor for the second official cohort under John Jay’s Center For Student Involvement.

I decided to sit down with Foluke and get more information about his journey here at John Jay; here is what he had to say.

My journey at John Jay has been an interesting one. Transferring to John Jay last fall amid the pandemic to endure another year of online learning was something I was not looking forward to. Unfortunately, like many, 2020 was probably one of the worst years I’ve lived through and experienced despite the immense darkness, bleakness, and lost hope. Yet, there were a few glimmers of light that somehow kept me going. One was joining spectra. After reluctantly attending the involvement fair that year and honestly not wanting to be there, Looking back, I’m happy I did. During the fair, Sams’ energy and vibe ultimately drew me into a loving community that feels like a home full of excellent and various walks of life and experiences. I have made unique connections and relationships through spectra, and I wouldn’t change for the world. Through the involvement fair, I was also drawn to another club, JJ Productions, since I create music but wanted to learn the ins and outs of music production Shoutout to Artem for his intriguing presentation and background that day. As well as to Artem and Daniel for teaching me everything they know. I appreciate both of you.

Through Sam and spectra, I became involved in Q’onnections as a mentee, a common theme of hesitancy and reluctancy begins. I joined about a month into the program’s beginning. Although late to the party, being a part of Q’onncetions honestly couldn’t have come at a better time. My mentee experience occurred during my first semester here at John Jay. During this time, I was heavily defeated due to COVID, watching the world burn, and being involved in frequent turmoil. In addition to feeling very lost in life and struggling to figure out and truly accept who I am. Which I still struggle with from time to time, but thanks to Q’onncetions, that picture is slowly coming along and becoming transparent. So thank you, Sam. I truly appreciate you!

Returning to Q’onncetions as a mentor this semester is something I’m very excited about. Returning to and giving back to a program that has done and provided a lot for me, plus being able to help students like myself, is tremendous. To my mentees, you all are amazing, and I can’t wait to begin/continue our journey together. Although I’m very excited to return to Q’onnections. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. Honestly, that sentiment can be applied to everything I’ve done here at John Jay. I never thought I would be in any of these positions, let alone starting a non-profit organization. After Q’onnections, I became an executive and served as the treasurer for JJ Productions. Once again, becoming a treasurer was met with immense hesitation and took a lot of convincing by those around me to do it. I was very reluctant because I am a huge perfectionist and very fearful of messing anything up. But as their treasurer for about two years now, it has been an interesting ride, to say the least.

To speak on my project a little, Revolution Mental began as a project within my Social Entrepreneurship 101 class during the 2021 Spring semester. The course was structured in which we, the students, select a social issue we are passionate about and want to reform. So my four other partners and I decided on Mental Health as our realm of focus. This in itself, albeit stressful, was a wonderful adventure to embark on, from conducting interviews with a multitude of experts within the field to deciding what products and services to provide, conducting and compiling research, website design, and more. Revolution Mental aims to provide mental health education and incorporate advocacy, awareness, support, and safe spaces for students. The plan is now to develop this further and spread this as far as I can. Built by students for students, feel free to check it out if you would like.

It truly surprises me from an introverted, quiet, and reserved kid to a still introverted but more outspoken individual. Honestly, everything I’ve done here up to this point has been an enormous surprise; frankly, I never saw myself becoming that kind of person or doing the things I am doing, but look at where we are today. But, of course, I couldn’t do it without many’s guidance, support, and love.

With this being my final semester, what is next for me? I’m not 100 percent sure. But I plan to attend grad school for either clinical or forensic mental health counseling. When will that happen? I have no clue, but hopefully, it will occur sooner than later. Additionally, I plan to get my other mental health advocacy projects off the ground while furthering Revolution Mental.

All in all, my two-year journey here has been life-altering, and I wouldn’t change anything. Thank you to everyone who aided and supported me along the way. You are all amazing. Thank you, to my spectra family, for all their support throughout everything, plus giving me this opportunity, and thank you all for reading.

What moves us to engagement is often less a reasoned evaluation of all possible options that bring us to a rational decsion and more a felt response: It just seems the right thing to do given what we see, hear, and experince…We need to do activsm in a way that acknowledges the power of the sensual and the emotional…the goal of actvism is action to generate an effect.

Duncombe, Stephen. Art of Activism. OR Books, 2021.

Until recently I hadn’t known how many ways I have made changes for my community so here are all the ways I learned to support mine.

Thanks to the book “Draw the Line”, “The Art of Activism”, and “We wear kicks to work” which helped me discover myself in this process. Learn more here: https://drawthelinecomics.com/ & https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/the-art-of-activism/ & https://www.trillornottrill.com/product/book-we-wear-kicks-to-work/

Signing Petitions

Signing petitions might not feel like much but it has always been a crucial way to show representatives that your voice matters and can spark movement, action, and much more when you can see how many people stand by you.

PINS PINS PINS!!!

Becoming a living billboard lets your personal become not only political but loud enough for others to feel safe enough to see, and know there is allyship to be found! Fight the power that is by becoming visual, political, creative, and spread your message to everyone!!

Shopping local

Being Kind to Others

Two years ago I sat in the bullpen of John Jay’s student council. I exhaustedly slaved over project after LGBTQ+ support project. I wanted so badly to change something. The Student council president Amber Rivero nodded and held my chicken scratch notes: “No these are good Sam, yea you can do this keep fighting you and others deserve a seat at the table here.” I felt vindicated in my work, I craved more I wanted more. “Yea man nothing is stopping you just do it start it up.” Said my cohort leader Jon Salamak. I want to thank Student Academic Success programs Jay Chopra for helping me come up with a training program for my mentees.

Developing the program wasn’t easy, oftentimes I felt frustrated trying to figure out the path that the program NEEDED to take rather than where I wanted it to go. A lot of LGBTQ+ folx face a lot of interpersonal violence, mental strain, or this feeling they have to overachieve to be competitive in higher education. These are the types of things they don’t talk about when developing LGBTQ+ programs and how varied your obstacles are going to be. I wanted to tear my hair out sometimes I felt like I couldn’t get my mentors to get things done but that’s not on them. About 2 of my mentors went homeless and 4 got hospitalized for different reasons. It was frustrating, I’d be waking up at 8 am on Sundays trying my best to figure out last-minute changes. Most of my Sunday was just rallying everyone together to be ready for the morning and afternoon sessions. It was good having two sessions it let you understand when things needed to change or sometimes the energy difference meant you had to change up your facilitation style.

In the end, it paid off. All of the mentees created these really great projects! I mean I couldn’t imagine anyone failing them or these projects not getting these huge spotlights. These were topics I myself didn’t even think of! It blew me away.

We had this great graduation ceremony in gather.town and everyone had a great time. We were huddled together and like a real community and the smiles and feels were so genuine through the screen. The mentors loved their mentees and even though I personally felt I wasn’t rallying them enough in the end I found that that personal connection was still happening. These mentors called and stood by their mentees sides 24/7 and when mentees stopped showing up they were disappointed and hurt. That’s a realness you don’t get just anywhere.

In the end, Q’onections caught everyone on campus eyes they loved that grassroots action we took. The Center for Student involvement and Leadership fought to fund our mentors. I handed off the program to my club coordinator Jon and now it’s his forever. It’s a mainstay in John Jay and fully funded by a stipend. It actually pays to be queer now. What a world.

I think my favorite thing to come out of Q’onnections is all the feedback from students. One mentee named Eashan told me constantly about how he told his friends to join and wanted loved the program. When he finished he said:

“Q’onections has given me a sense of community and belonging. The program has allowed me to expand my knowledge on what it means to be apart of the LGBTQ+ community. Being a part of something with people who have dealt with the same or similar situations has allowed me to feel more seen. To future mentees, if you want to be an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community this is the place to be. You’re understood and seen by folx just like yourself and its truly a beautiful experience.” – Eashan [Queer Mentee]

Q’onnections Morgan Q’onnections project was on athletics inclusive, she went on to present her project to President Mason and is now head of the Student Pride Network at John Jay.

Why do you feel it’s essential that John Jay have a queer mentorship program like Q’onnections?
Going to college is hard. Queer individuals in general face additional difficulties that are hard to understand for those who haven’t experienced it. Q’onnections goes above and beyond your typical mentorship program. The program creates a space where mentees can receive guidance and learn more about their unique identities. It goes beyond academics and specifically addresses issues faced by LGBTQ+ individuals. In our current virtual world, and with the current political environment, queer students are feeling emotionally exhausted. Q’onnections offers students a safe space where they can be their authentic self, be supported and can learn and grow without any fear. Q’onnections is about love, support, and acceptance.

“Q’onnections is about love, support, and acceptance.” —Morgan DeGlopper

For students who are considering booking a meeting with a mentor, what do you want them to know?
It’s not as scary as you think it is. I know before joining Q’onnections, I was afraid I wasn’t knowledgeable enough about LGBTQ+ issues to relate. I was scared that the mentors would look down on me, but that wasn’t the case at all. The mentors are great at meeting you where you are and making you feel comfortable. They have a wealth of knowledge and have been training hard to make sure they can help. Don’t hesitate to reach out.

After the success of Q’onnections and their mentees went on to advocate for an LGBTQ+ center and policy reforms.

Here we see the presentation our students made for an LGBTQ+ center and the other project proposed by the team. As of currently 2/27/2021 nearly 80% of these projects are nearing their completion.

Honestly, I don’t know where Q’onnections or the new LGBTQ+ center are going to end up. I suppose I have mixed feelings about writing a page in John Jay history, you know I get to say that now. I created a milestone, I am in the history books for that one in a way. I don’t know where those particular projects will end up, they are officially apart of the community, and where they end up depends on the dedication they have to the projects themselves. What matters is our voice is heard. This isn’t the end for my projects, I’ve taken up a chair seat on a committee in USS now, of course, I had to! Our projects are CUNY-wide pronouns, databases, and a how-to guide for students who want to bring an LGBTQ+ center to their campuses. That’s big you know! We all have a stake in that one. I want to thank Dr.McSpadden from Bronx Community College for taking me under their wing as a mentee this past month. We are working on a dissertation for the argument of an LGBTQ+ major at John Jay, we think the campus is primed for it. I also want to thank Mitch Draizin for creating the CUNY LGBTQ+ advocacy academy, with my current acceptance into the program, Draizin asked that I bring my experience with Q’onnections to the advocacy program itself and help define the curriculum. I will help in the first cohort of LGBTQ+ advocates for CUNY and the chance to develop with fellow peers is both a dream and anxiety-inducing. I am hoping these kinds of projects gain traction nationally and internationally, I hadn’t considered the international audience here, but if we’re talking about equity for education I want to see more. I’d like Q’onnections to help bolster a LGBTQ+ college pipeline for NYC and international students. I can’t say what future I am looking forward too with my project because I am not sure where it really lies anymore. I think in a way I am my own project now and I need to hone that.

Special thanks to JJproductions and Twitter.com/NYoption for helping produce the audio for this podcast.

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