Rika Shabazz

Rika Shabazz, class of 2017, was born in DeKalb, Illinois but is now from Minneapolis, Minnesota. A young lady of many talents, she is currently a member of Ritmo Latino, Speakfree, and Gospel Choir. Rika is very involved on campus. She hopes to major in French and Psychology.  

I think people on this campus know of your many talents-dancing, poetry-writing, and singing because of the groups you’re a part of. However, I recently heard of another skill of yours: weight-lifting. Could you share with us how you got started?

I got turned on to weightlifting summer of sophomore year. Because my family had been homeless, and would still be homeless until my senior year of high school, I wasn’t able to be on sports teams in school. I would either transfer in during conditioning for the season or the actual season. It was horrible because I would only be at a place for about 6-8 months, so I would never be there long enough to participate. I knew I wanted to be an athlete but I didn’t know a way to get involved. So summer of sophomore year I was in a shelter and they had a teen center; and the man in charge of the teen center was in a wheelchair, but he was massive. He had lifted in the Paralympics for the U.S from 1990-1996. The first day was so stressful and so exhausting and I cried at the end and was like, “I am not coming back.” And then two days later I came back. I maintained it through the entire junior year school year. I would go to competitions; I had six competitions in my whole lifting career and I placed well. We get scored at competitions based on form, technique, and how much weight you do. It’s been fun. It’s always hilarious: people always come up to me and say to me “you look like a basketball player” and I’m just like “that’s cool, but nah I lift weights.”

Do you continue to lift?

I lift weights here. I did row crew first semester because I wanted the experience of being on a team for the first time and I thought crew was going to give me ridiculously exhausting workouts as I would have at home. I was not able to continue this semester though. I’m in the gym 5 days a week, sometimes 6 days a week, taking over upper Lasell from the hockey and lacrosse guys that are in there. There’s no [weightlifting] team here, but I’m working on getting the energy to start one. 

I noticed you participated in the “Love Your Body” project. Could you tell us about the project and your reasons for participating in it?

The project was started by Sarah Meyerhoff in order to have an exhibit at Claiming Williams to talk about body and body image. Something important to me is that body image is something that crosses all of the boundaries: socioeconomic, cultural, race, gender, etc. Everyone, everywhere, there will be multiple points in life where their body and how they view themselves can cause some tension or dissonance in their lives. I thought it was something that needs to be talked about on this campus. The reason I did it was because our JAs had challenged us to do something that makes us uncomfortable. So I emailed Sarah because this was the prime way to make myself feel uncomfortable. When I got to the art studio, Sarah told me I could be photographed with or without clothes, and I made the split decision of being photographed without clothes. Doing this project was important for me for a couple of reasons, personally because of my body struggle. Before I got to like myself, I was never girly enough to wear backless dresses: I didn’t have the shape, so why show my body? That was the first stage where I did not like my body. The second stage was going through puberty: acne was all over my body. It would be springtime and I was still wearing sweaters and long-sleeve shirts because I hated my body. Once I got into lifting, it became a source of pride for me. 

I think it’s amazing that you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone, especially for such a wonderful cause. A few Sundays ago you did Storytime, which I think is another great way to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Could you tell us about your experience with it?

Someone nominated me, I don’t know who, but thank you for the nomination. For me, I love speaking and talking to people; I love learning from people. You’re making a connection with people, that’s why it’s important. You are communicating, sharing pieces of information about yourself, whether it’s in body language, whether it’s in telling a story, or having an argument. You’re learning something constantly. If you are not nervous going through that process, something is wrong. So I’m always nervous when I get up and do any performances. However, because that’s how I learn, it’s always constantly changing. Sometimes I’ll get up with a script, sometimes I won’t have one. At Storytime I did have a checklist. I was really nervous because I’m used to standing up and relating a story or performing a poem about an experience that I’ve had, which isn’t intimate or personal. Sitting on the couch and looking at all those people, people I didn’t know, who were there because they want something shared. That was something that I had to respect, which is such a huge weight for someone who is in the role of speaking but I had so much fun. They had my favorite cookies there, which were white chocolate, for any of those reading this. It was amazing and at the same time it was a personal reflection time for me too because so rarely do I think or reflect on myself when I’m talking. It was a crazy 40 minutes sitting up there. It was amazing to be able to share and I’m thankful for whoever nominated me. 

Last question: what would you like to see more of at Williams?

I firmly support portable lotion dispensers during Winter Study for those of us that suffer from the “ash rash.” On a serious note, I think discussion concerning the pressure to be athletic on campus, simply because I know that feeling and I think that is something that crosses all boundaries. There’s this pressure to have this certain type of body, or, even if you’re not an athlete, that you need to owe athletic gear, paying a lot of money for this image. I think there needs to be more dialogue about that, and it needs to be respectful and honest dialogue. This pressure, in some cases, hinders students’ experiences here. I would also like to see black WGSS professors. And I would like to see more multicultural celebrations than I would single cultural events on campus. I think the divisive nature that comes from having separate, all by their-lonesome, cultural events, is what adds to a sort of stereotype about minorities on campus. I think it codifies the stereotypes people have. I think multicultural celebrations once every month would be amazing. One month having all of the coalitions come together and have a food night, and the next month, making it a music night, with music from everywhere, and have film festivals as well as fashion shows. I think students would appreciate it and I think it would create a more comfortable environment that’s inductive to more intelligent and respectful conversations. These celebrations firmly and actively deny the oppressive nature that stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination give to them, and it creates unity on campus too. Plus, I just like to eat, dress up, and listen to music.