on the web, on your tablet, or even on your smartphone. i'm joe torres. thank you for watching. we will see you next time on "tiempo." be well. >> "here and now," the program featuring the news and interests of the african-american community. here's your host, sandra bookman. >> coming up, racism on college campuses. the documentary "remixing colorblind," that takes a look at the issue.

at a time -- an arts and academic program in brooklyn. and later, making lasting impressions -- an etiquette coach on why social dos and don'ts still matter. that's all ahead on

>> there has been an apparent increase in race-related problems on college campuses around the country, sparking protests nationwide, as well. a new documentary, "remixing colorblind," examines how the educational system shapes our understanding of race and also takes a look at the nuances of race relations. >> if you can overcome the stigma, if you can acclimate yourself to what sometimes is a strange and alienating environment, and then if you can wrestle with and confront and overcome the biases and implicit biases that we'll be subject to as a student of color at a predominantly white

graduate and be successful. >> i actually didn't think about diversity when i was selecting a college, but now i wish i did. because when i came, i didn't realize, like, how the -- there's not much hispanics here. so, since i didn't realize that, it was a very, like, big culture shock for me. >> "remixing colorblind" was produced and directed by dr. sheena howard, an associate professor of communications at rider university, and she is with us today. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. >> why was this project an important one for you? why did you undertake this subject matter? >> i think a couple of things. one, i went to an historically black university for my phd program, and so that really opened up a whole new world to me, as far as educational experience and being around, you know, people of color in that way. previous to that, i had spent my time at predominantly white

kind of shaped how i thought about race. and as a young black professor at a predominantly white school now, i really started to think about some of the institutional practices that shape our experiences and our notions around race. >> and, you know, what are some of those institutional practices, and would you describe them as being racist? >> i would describe them as structural racism. things like the number of faculty of color at the university, the abysmal number of administrators who are of color. even when we look at core curriculum, i think that we need a place in the core curriculum that deals with notions of race, civility, social justice, and a lot of universities don't -- don't have that. those are the institutional things, but then there are the

like racist comments on campus, social-media apps, where students are using to be racist and use racial slurs. so, it's the institutional practices, and then it's just the everyday casual racism that we're seeing on college campuses, as well. >> and how do you get people to pay attention? if this is -- if they say, "well, these are the rules. this is the way we've always done it. i don't understand what the problem is," how do you get them to start to listen? >> well, that's one of the things that i'm trying to do with this documentary. you know, i'm a writer, i'm a researcher, but i thought that presenting the experiences of students on college campuses around race and faculty members with that visual element may start to get people to pay attention. because what i'm trying to do is prepare universities for the shifting demographics of students of color who are going to be appearing on campus and who have already appeared on

these institutional micro-aggressions and racism. >> mm-hmm. and, you know, what was -- reading -- looking at pieces of your documentary and reading some about the subject matter, i think one of the things that was interesting to me is that term "micro-aggression," where for a long time, i think we all just said, "well, that's the way it is and it doesn't really have to mean they're racist, but that's the way they've always done anything -- done things." what do you think has been the shift for college-educated students of color in this generation? why have they decided, or what made them say, "you know what? it's not okay. just because it's always been done this way, it needs to change, and we have to be the instrument of that change." what do you think is the shift in thinking? what made them decide to -- you know, to take on this subject matter at this point in time?

one, i think young people are being empowered by the black lives matter movement that we've seen over the last couple of years, two, the changing demographic, so by 2020 on the northeast corridor, there are going to be more students of color graduating from high school than white students, so we're seeing more students of color on college campuses, so they can coalesce around diversity in different ways now, in ways that we haven't seen in the past. three, social media. students are able to document the things that are happening to them on campus in the same way black lives matter is able to document police brutality with videos, with apps like yik yak, when you can say, "look, students are saying these racist things using this app." so, i think those three things are making a real difference in this issue really emerging to public consciousness, even though we know it's always been happening.

that say, "well, i think they're being overly sensitive, you know, hypersensitive?" >> i think, one, the conversation around race and higher education always misses the mark. so a lot of the things that we saw with the university of missouri, all these, you know, articles came out about freedom of expression and students should be able to say what they want. but that's -- that's not the main problem on college campuses, that if you look at the demands that students have on college campuses, they're not saying, you know, "we don't want to be called the 'n' word anymore." they're saying, "we want more investment in our black student union." they're saying, "we want apps like yik yak banned." they're saying, "we want more faculty diversity and administrative diversity." so, i think people are having the wrong conversations when they talk about race in higher education, and if they focused on the things that can actually improve the campus culture, we would be a lot further along. >> mm-hmm.

whenever we start to talk about this -- this -- the subject of race in this country? no matter what the context is, that everybody gets their feelings hurt. they go to their corner, and so they immediately think that you're just talking about me, so we end up just talking over each other's head and nobody hears what the other person is saying. >> right. >> so you never really get at what the real issue is, that there really is an issue. >> right. right. and if there wasn't an issue, you wouldn't have kids starving themselves to make a point. you definitely wouldn't have division i athletes protesting to say, "hey, this needs to stop." that's a really brave move on the part of athletes to say, "you know, we're going to take a stand." so, you have to know that the situation is a lot more deep than freedom of expression, and "we don't want to be called racially insensitive things on campus." >> so, you're hoping this documentary, "remixing colorblind," at least starts the conversation, informs

know much about the issue or needed or wanted to hear more? >> yes. absolutely. so, one of the things we talk about in the documentary also is affirmative action. you know, there's a big case at the supreme court right now around affirmative action. so, you know, we're not giving people necessarily conclusions, but we want this to be a starting point for conversations. now, there is going to be a supplemental piece that i will create for things that institutions can do to make their campus climate better for students of color. you know, i'm an educator, so i believe in higher education. i want to see institutions be places that lead in the actions that we can take for better environments for people of color. you know, i want to see individuals that run universities alleviate these problems before, you know, you see them in the media. so, that's what i'm trying to do. >> okay. sheenachoward.com. it's your website, so you can

about the work you're doing, as well as your documentary. and then remixingcolorblind.com is about the documentary specifically, and it'll have information about where you'll be able to see it. >> absolutely. >> thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. i hope we have a buyer for the house. me too! what are the neighbors doing here? bill! hey! come in, come in! i didn't know your home wifi could stream so many devices at the same time. dad, it's time warner cable. 300 megs. crazy-fast. and we were right across the street the whole time. the whole time. make your home as connected as possible with time warner cable.

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>> yeah, lot of energy. >> oh, yes, all day. >> a whole lot of energy. so, tell us about brooklyn united. what's the idea behind it? >> well, the thought is that young people really require a place to be, someplace to go after school where they know they're safe, they know they're welcome, know they're loved, and they get to kind of move out of the school environment and do something different. so, brooklyn united was designed with that in mind -- a place where we can create a community within a community, a family of students. you know, give the parents something to be proud of, something that they can tell their child, "i'm proud of you. good job, great work." so, bu, in its design, was really about that new family structure, that opportunity where young people just had a place to be and call home. >> yeah, and have alternatives, instead of something that they probably shouldn't be hanging out doing. >> definitely. so many choices, so many influences in their lives, so bu serves as one of those positive influences. >> and why is it and how is it

was the way to capture their attention? >> well, you know, for me, this is 22 years. when i was a young man, i was blessed enough to have the opportunity to be a part of a marching band, and i got a chance to see exactly what we did behind the scenes. you know, for some people, you see the performances and the horns and the drums, all the great things that we do, but for us, we were able to learn some really strong life lessons. and i saw marching band as the magnet, honestly. you know, it's the tool, it's the thing that attracts the young people. but once they're with us, we teach so much more. >> so, you know what it did for you, so you believed it could do for other people. again. you know, me, my peers, over the years, we've seen so many young people from crown heights, from bedford-stuyvesant, east new york, flatbush, all over the borough come into our program and just go into the world and be amazing citizens, college world, and just be leaders wherever they go. so, definitely, i know what it can do.

there are four pillars you talk about with brooklyn united, some of the things that you're able to do and teach them in their lives. talk to me about those four pillars. >> well, one of the main areas that we try to work hard on is academics. young people come to us after school, and truthfully, they just need some assistance with their homework, some encouragement, really. you know, i think that homework serves as an excellent study tool and a good gauge for us to know how the young man and young lady's doing. so, academic support and academic encouragement is one of our major pieces. secondly, we have our mentorship piece, mentorship/character development, where it's just a reminder of some of the things that they may see that's not really the norm. and our opportunity to kind of, either, "a," reverse certain behaviors or, "b," encourage certain behaviors, where just at bu, we just don't do it that way. you know, when you come into bu, there's a sign at the top that says "be better." everybody touches that sign as they enter. and it's just that opportunity

here, certain things won't be allowed. so, discipline is really important to us, and it works. >> and do you have the experience -- well, look, you're dealing with kids. >> right, right. >> so, some kids are a little bit tougher nut to crack than others, i would take it? >> oh, yeah. and i like the tougher ones. send me the tough ones. you know, the thing about it is the tough ones come in tough, and when they get there, they get an opportunity to really just see the other ones kind of fall in place. so, it's not really that bad of a crack, because you realize that they're tough because of from. but when they enter the doors of bu and they realize that they can be themselves, they can relax a little bit, calm that down a little bit, and sometimes we put 'em in a corner and remind them. you know, but we have the pleasure of having young people from age 5 all the way up to 22. >> okay. >> so, there's always a mentorship opportunity, always a way for us to pull a young man and young lady aside and say, "listen, i used to be you." >> and one of the great things also about bu is the performance

allow them to show what they can do, and it also allows them to see places they may not ever have expected to be able to see. talk to me about some of the places you've performed, the people the kids have met. >> that list is going to be long. >> we've got time. >> but it's amazing the amount of opportunities that have opened up for brooklyn united. you know, one of the things that i've tried to do is really go after the bigger ones, go after the big shows. you know, let's show our young people they belong on the big stages, that they fit right in with all the big stars. so, brooklyn united has built some wonderful relationships where we're a regular at the barclays center. we've been to carnegie hall. we've been to the apollo. you know, pretty much anything large in new york city, it's the rockettes, it's the brooklynettes dancers, and it's the brooklyn united marching band. and we're excited about that. we want our young people to really, really just know what it's like to perform in front of huge audiences. and it kind of helps encourage

you know, "if you do this, if you do that, this is what's going to happen." so, as long as those phones keep ringing and people invite us to these great places, it gives us opportunity to motivate them to continue to do better. >> and when your kids, you know, they graduate kind of out of the program, do they come back and tell you? have you seen the sign, the evidence of how much you influenced that kid and pushed them on to do bigger and better things? >> man, it's really -- it's really a great feeling to talk to some of the alumni about bu and about the work that we've done. many of them mention that in their everyday life, in their workforce on their jobs, some of them are supervisors, how much -- how much the things that happened to them in bu just constantly reminds them of how to be and how to act. so, yes, it's great stories, and it's great when they come back and talk to the young people about being the same little trumpet guy, and now here i am doing xyz. so, it's a great feeling to see them come back and talk about the life lessons that they

>> so, if you want to find out more -- how many kids are involved with the program right now? >> currently, we average 200 kids a year. >> okay. all right. to find out more information about bu, how you can get involved, how you can help you with the work you're doing, it's bkunitedmb.com. >> yep. bkunitedmb.com. you can check out our website. it's a lot of great information there. >> yeah, take a look at some of those videos so you get a chance to see exactly how talented those kids are. >> very. >> such a pleasure to meet you, tyrone. >> thank you, again. >> and keep us posted on your good work. >> will do, for sure. >> all right. when we come back, building self-confidence with the help

stay with us.

lasting, and proper etiquette could make or break a business meeting or even a date. sharon-frances moore, the president of shances, is an etiquette coach who says it is never too late to learn the rules of etiquette. so nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. >> you know, it's funny. when i first heard about this interview, i said, "etiquette?" you know, 30 seconds later, a minute later, i thought, "you know what? i'm always complaining about how people, younger people don't necessarily know how to dress for an interview these days, 'cause maybe it's something they never did." and honestly, i think you hit the nail on the head. >> thanks. >> why -- why was this something that you're passionate about? >> well, i started teaching etiquette in college. the university asked me to teach other students proper dining for interviews, and it just morphed from there. i started getting clients in the entertainment field, and then corporations who really wanted to help their employees, especially those who are

because etiquette really is about respect. sometimes people think it's old-school, but it's not. and that rolled into me helping people who were new in the workforce and students who often just -- they need the little tips and help to help them dress correctly or know how to walk into a room with confidence. >> yeah. you know what? and it's interesting -- i don't think that sometimes we -- we all kind of think of it as being an old-school thing. and so maybe there was that gap in there, when everybody decided, "oh, you just do your own way. we're all going to be casual, we're all going to -- you're going to be accepted exactly the way you are." and sometimes it's not really about being accepted the way you are, it's about being appropriate for that moment. >> it's always about being appropriate for the occasion. and it also gives people a great sense of confidence to walk into a room and own the room. >> yeah, and know exactly what to do and, you know, how to behave in a given situation. >> exactly, and some of those people won't even walk into a room, because they're so afraid of feeling awkward. and at shances, we help them

awkwardness and to actually know how to command a conversation or how to have a great dining experience. it's wonderful. >> and is there an age group that you focus on, or is it pretty much older, younger? >> i run the gambit. so, i teach high school students, college students, executives. my oldest client at this time is 70, and my youngest client is actually 6. the classes are meant to be fun. they're meant to be engaging, and they're meant to be a good time. but most importantly, they're meant for people to take home and teach their families. >> okay. so, are there some common etiquette faux pas? >> i don't think anything's common, but i think that people really need to just know that it's about respect, and it's about learning someone else's culture and just the proper way to behave. so, we talk about dining. we talk about proper conversation. social media is huge. >> mm-hmm. yes. >> how to clean up your social media and also how to behave on social media. >> so, that's part of the etiquette universe, too?

and also just to have a regular conversation with someone, how to be well-rounded. all of it falls under etiquette. >> okay, so, social media, because that's, look, everybody, old, young, these days... when you talk about social-media etiquette, what are we talking about? >> well, first, people always say that social media is a footprint, but it's not. it's a tattoo. it's permanent. so, it's teaching people that what you put out there will remain out there, and to kind of pause, take a comma in your sentence, and before you press "send," to think about what you're writing and to think about the fact that it's permanent, and perhaps rewrite it. >> and are there ways to redo some craziness that you've put out there that you really didn't want -- mean to? >> there are companies that will help you with that, but it's expensive and it's damaging, so it's better to do it before... >> okay. >> ...than to try to clean it up after. >> which is why you're focused on teaching them the right way to do it. >> exactly. >> what about the dining table? >> the dining is so much fun. i love teaching dining etiquette. we start with 28 pieces, and

front of a 28-piece place setting. but once you've sat in front of it, everything else is a piece of cake. we teach people the proper way to cut, to use their utensils, to identify wines, and to order food. >> and i think there are -- you know, there may be some people listening to this that will say, "well, that doesn't really have anything to do with my life." that's not necessarily true, though, is it? >> it isn't. your life should always evolve. and what's wonderful about etiquette is that it lets you walk into rooms and doors that you might not have thought that you'd ever walk in. we have a lot of social etiquette, as well as cultural etiquette, so we take classes to the opera, to the museum, to jazz shows. it's about just rounding out edges. >> and i notice you -- there's a section on your website, you talk to people about the appropriate attire. there's a reason that some things are appropriate in some places and other things are not. and it's not about necessarily infringing upon somebody's personal style.

it's really knowing the appropriate clothes to wear for the appropriate time. so, if you're going to the work, if you're going to work, you want to wear an outfit that fits in with your work environment, which will be different than something you might wear to a social function. and you want people to look at your professionally, just like if you're at the social function, you want people to know that you fit into that environment. >> and you could do that and still express your own personal style. >> always. >> now, i want to talk to you about your gofundme campaign, because you are doing this, because you want to be able to provide some of these lessons for low-income families and children? >> yes, so presently at shances, we offer a lot of classes to low-income students. we do a lot of classes in the bronx, in manhattan, and we just want to open it up to more people. so, we have a gofundme campaign, and we're asking people to sponsor a school, sponsor a student, and allow us to come in and teach them etiquette. >> all right, and we can -- and anyone can go to shances.com.

i hope they do. it's a free resources, and they'll learn a lot. >> okay. honestly, i found the website, you know, and i kind of think i know everything -- don't we all? -- but i really did find the website interesting and enlightening. >> thank you. >> it was such a pleasure to meet you. >> and i hope that you'll come to one of our classes. >> okay. well, we'll see. [ both laughing ] let me figure out what i don't know, okay? >> okay. fair enough. >> all right. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> it was nice to meet you. >> it was nice to meet you. >> we'll be right back. thank you for dining with us. hope to see you again soon.

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