As someone with little knowledge of the tech industry, I thought having dinner with Michael Belkin, creator of Distinc.tt, a social-lifestyle network for the LGBT community, would be a good introduction. Yet, I didn’t learn a single thing about Distinc.tt’s impact tech or Distinc.tt’s business practices.  I came away from this dinner with a greater understanding on Distinc.tt’s foundation on people – a lens which tech is never viewed through.

Michael was incredibly passionate about creating spaces for the LBGT community that he built a virtual one for individuals to engage with one another. He was highly invested about making room for the LBGT community that he dedicated his life to expanding this platform and making it more accessible to others. Even at this dinner, this business man, this creative genius cultivated a place for students, like me who have limited knowledge on technology, to understand this growing industry. Michael is the prime example of a person I would like to call a “space creator” or room-maker.”

I think we can all learn a powerful lesson from Michael. Creating space for people to come together is important, in fact vital. While Michael employs this within the LGBT community around the virtual world, this very same conversation is occurring in the black community at Cornell. Black Students United (BSU) hosted a General body meeting tonight titled, “Sold Out.” This conversation centered on “sell outs” in the black community, with an overarching question of “What is your responsibility to the community?” My answer to that question, much like Michael’s, would be to create a space.

Communities are meant to grow and that can’t occur unless we are ensuring that there is room and a place for new people to interact with one another. It’s not hard to be a room-maker, yet I find that so many people on this campus struggle with this. I’ve heard countless excuses for why the black community isn’t welcoming ranging from, “people at Cornell are awkward” to “people on the fringes need to make more of an effort” to “it isn’t my responsibility to personally invite all black people to black spaces.”

I’m tired and, frankly, irritated that in my short two years at Cornell, very few leaders in the black community are creating spaces. People often compare the struggle of LGBT folks to blacks in regards to how fast society and legislation has accepted and welcomed us. Movements led by the LGBT community, while tenuous, weren’t nearly as longer as those led by black individuals. I’m led to believe this had to do with the internal relationships that LGBT people have with each. Unlike black individuals they create spaces and create room for their community members.

I hope the black community at Cornell can look to the morals of Michael and begin to cultivate a place for individuals to be in communion.