One token making change

Every college admissions brochure has its black person.\nI'm that black person.\nOK, not exactly, but I did offer up smiles for the noticeably diverse admissions Web site, which makes me -- as my girl Ronnie has declared -- "officially, a University token."\nAnd since I'm Black, Filipino and female, my value's triple-the-average. It's like getting three-for-one at the "Multicultural, day-after-Christmas sale."\nI'm just a regular old Lisa Turtle, and then some. You know -- there was Zach the prankster, Slater the jock, Kelly the cheerleader, Jessie the brainiac, Screech the nerd and Lisa the black chick.\nNow that I think about it, every show on the Saturday morning, TNBC (Teen-NBC) line-up featured a token minority. "Hang Time" had Anthony Anderson pre-"My Baby's Daddy" days, City Guys had the the Asian dude and "One World" was just a regular old United Colors of Benetton ad.\nBack then, the only thing I cared about was eating my Golden Crisps before the milk turned brown. And in retrospect, the fact that I related to Lisa, though we had nothing in common except brown skin, brings me to the conclusion that diversity sells. \n"Black is not a personality type," says LA Times writer John H. McWhorter.\nBut somehow, it's not "Lisa the shopper."It's "Lisa the black chick".\nAnd that was homegirl's selling point. Don't get me wrong, A.C. Slater had sexy arms, but part of why I related to the show is because subconsciously I recognized the presence of a sista.\nAt a university where, in proportion to the latter population, there aren't enough brothas and sistas to fill a cup -- all black folk are likely to be recognized for skin color first and accomplishments second.\nLet's say you're heading to the IMU. You happen to pass a campus tour, and in the crowd of 20, there's a single black kid. \nHe gives you that "Hi -- I'm happy to see another brown person" smile, and naturally, you reply. Inadvertently, you've become an unintentional walking, talking selling-point.\nYour presence says "Hey dude, you too, can deal with being the only dark person in a class of 200. You too, can attend parties secured by uncooperative security. And doggone it, you too, can deal with a roommate who asks how you got your hair that way." \nRealistically, IU's brown folks are all bound to be tokens as long as there are so few of us here that success makes us "examples" and not the norm.\nLook up "token blacks" on Google and you're bound to find www.tokenblacks.com, featuring satirical ads like:\n"... we can have a token black agree with your views and expand on them! For one token black, this service costs $495.97 per hour."\nThe Web site's alluding to some shucking, jiving Sambo. And trust me, I'm nobody's Sambo.\nI simply realize that this "UniDiversity" thing works both ways. I can use my face to advertise to young sistas the idea that dropping a cool $2,300 every semester on Cream and Crimson is worth the dough. And you best believe my participation in this mission for diversity requires IU to hear me out when I, as a black student, air my concerns. \nI won't be anybody's pawn, but since I'm here, I will use my face, my column, my story, whatever -- to become actively involved in diversifying this campus -- not because it works for the IU agenda, but because as rapper Snoop Doggy Dog said "Ain't no fun if the homies can't have none." \nAnd besides that, when tokens work together, they're bound to make change.