Meet the President of Rutgers’ oldest and largest Black Women’s Organization

It’s that time of year again – Black History Month – and this year we’re bringing a few of Rutgers’ biggest black organizations into the spotlight. The first to be showcased is the Douglass Black Students Congress, or the DBSC.

The President of DBSC, Payton Cook, sat down with us for a moment to inform everyone of just how important and beneficial this organization is to the community here at Rutgers.

As their mission statement follows, DBSC was founded in 1968 to address all political, social, and intellectual needs of all black students at Douglass Residential College through social, innovative, and creative programming, roundtable discussions or panels, and through hosting events of substance. Their goal  is to bring the members of the organization and the Rutgers community together through the bond of friendship and sisterhood.

“DBSC is needed at Rutgers because it is an organization that was founded by women who are motivated to create a safe space for their voices, and for other women of color who may go through things that other organizations don’t cover or find important enough to cover because they cannot relate. So DBSC will always be the foundation of safe spaces for women of color to have a voice,” Cook said.

DBSC, the first women’s African American organization on Douglass, continues to prove its continuous value with every action it takes.

“We do events like Kwanzaa Ball, in which we use the principles of Kwanzaa to create this event so that people understand these principles in their personal life and in the college community. So we educate but also in a way give back. We also have women’s empowerment week which is coming up in March. We want to use these events to reach out to the women of Rutgers, not just Douglass women,” Cook said.

The congress also hosts what is called “Black Thoughts” on the last Tuesday of every month, which is an open forum discussion where one can give and gain knowledge about a topic that DBSC chooses. And here, anyone can give their opinion or viewpoint.

In response to the recent politically charged time since Trump took office, the congress have even held a Black Thoughts discussion — cleverly and uniquely named “RU Trump”— in which people showed up to disclose how they felt about the election and what they feel the African American community is losing now that Obama has left.

“DBSC — we’re very intellectual and we have a great understanding of what blackness is and what black academia is and what it means to the African American community, which is why we strive so hard to do events of substance and to always remain an intellectually stimulating environment,” Cook said.

“We reach far beyond trying to be popular or be praised for what’s new and we always create a foundation that starts from the past, from our predecessors, so we’re definitely keeping them alive. Being that both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were both strong African American intellectuals I think they would be happy that we’re also keeping education first. Education is always first in DBSC. I think they would be very proud.”

It’s thanks to these events and unifying actions that positive change has visibly and clearly been able to come about in people, president Cook explained.

“Like people, when they go to Kwanzaa Ball, they talk about the principles and they understand that Kwanzaa is not just a holiday, but that the principles of unity, self-determination, cooperative economics — things of those nature can be incorporated into your daily life. They get to take away valuable lessons that they can use throughout any aspect of their lives. Just to see people have that conversation, it allows me to know as a president that my organization is fulfilling our mission statement quite well.”

Still, there is much to do before President Cook is satisfied. She says she has one big goal before she graduates from Rutgers and the congress.

“Before I leave as president, my overarching goal is to get my organization to be more widely known within the Rutgers New Brunswick community so that way I can solidify a stronger foundation after my presidency is over and know that DBSC is in good hands. And of course, I want to keep fulfilling our mission statement and keep the organization motivated. I want to make sure everyone knows who DBSC is before I graduate,” Cook said.

If interested, you can participate in the women’s empowerment week, which starts March 21st. Flyers can be found around campus and more details will be coming out soon on social media from the DBSC.