Nastazia Heholt believes representation matters.

She says if she were an adviser to President Joe Biden, she’d encourage him to put even more minorities in his already historically diverse cabinet. Doing so would position those who are most affected by social injustice to have the power to implement solutions.

“I think the time is now. The time is now,” she said. “We’re in a new day and era where there were many more young people and people of different nationalities and different races who came out to vote, and we’re all looking for a change.”

Heholt, a senior volleyball player majoring in finance at Alabama State University, played a role in bolstering the historic voter turnout for last year’s presidential election. She got 100% of her team registered to vote and then extended the effort around campus and to other teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The 22-year-old native of Houston, Texas, embraces opportunities to use her status to inform and empower those around her. She spoke recently with Alabama NewsCenter about being a historically Black college student-athlete who believes it’s important to be outspoken about social justice and issues concerning racial equity.

Nastazia Heholt from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

How did a Houston native end up playing volleyball at Alabama State? 

Nastazia Heholt: I’ve been playing volleyball since seventh grade, so I was very passionate about volleyball throughout high school. Alabama State reached out to me and offered me an academic scholarship, so I accepted and somehow ended up on the volleyball team, which I’m thankful for. I’ve been here for the past four years, and it’s been a heck of a journey, and I’m very grateful for the experience. I’m the first person in my family to go to college, so it’s a pretty big deal for everyone in my family. When I said I was going all the way to Alabama, everyone thought I was crazy.

What has been your involvement with social justice issues?

Heholt: My most notable experience last year has been partnering with Howard University’s volleyball team to get my team 100% registered to vote. It was basically a challenge, and once my team was registered to vote, we passed on the challenge to (Alabama) A&M’s volleyball team and other volleyball teams within our conference to do the same thing. We also passed it on to the bowling team and a couple of other teams on campus. It was really important for my team to do this because, at the time, there was so much social injustice with the George Floyd situation, all the protests and the riots. That was one way I could involve my team in taking the first step to being change in the country … somehow, someway.

What in your background or upbringing motivates you to be outspoken about social justice issues?

Heholt: My mom and father are immigrants from Jamaica, so they weren’t really aware of certain differences that America had, versus living in Jamaica where there’s majority Black people there. You don’t really face a lot of discrimination because everyone looks like you. Growing up, I wasn’t really taught about social injustice until I was actually in the situation for myself. It was a learning experience that I went through alone because my parents didn’t go through the same thing, I wasn’t really educated on how to deal with these things. Throughout college, being in different internships, having to go from an HBCU setting into corporate world, it was very different for me. I was in a program called Inroads and they talk about the different micro-aggressions you may face while being in corporate America. It stumped me because it shouldn’t have to be like this. That started the summer after my sophomore year. That’s when I really became passionate about making the change and trying to be the change and help put an end to this social injustice that people of color face every day.

Describe an experience when you personally encountered racism.

Heholt: I wouldn’t say this is blatantly racism, but I would say it’s a kind of micro-aggression. In my first internship, I was at a Fortune 100 company for the first time. Before the Inroads program, I wasn’t aware of how to deal with certain micro-aggressions that you face in the workplace and how to professionally resolve those situations. Me being an African American woman, I love my big, natural, curly afro. I love my hair, and I would do different hair styles. I’d wear my natural hair, then I’d wear my braids, then I’d come in with some extensions. I would always get the question: “Is this your real hair? Can I touch it? You always change your hair so much; why do you do that?” Being at Inroads helped me navigate through that so, “Can I touch your hair?” “No, you may not.” And it’s not impolite to say, “No, you may not.”

Nastazia Heholt plays volleyball at Alabama State University. (contributed)

How much does being a student-athlete factor into you acting on your convictions? How much responsibility do you feel to be a leader on those issues?

Heholt: I feel a huge responsibility. Being in an HBCU environment, it’s kind of a blindfold to what’s actually going on in the real world because we’re surrounded by so many people who look like us that we forget what’s actually going on outside of these HBCU walls. Bringing awareness to what’s actually going on is important to me because once we leave this environment, we’re going back into a diverse environment where there are a lot of people with a lot of different backgrounds. So shedding light on that and making sure my teammates are aware that once we leave Alabama State, there’s gonna be a lot more people who are very different from you. I feel like the College of Business has prepared us for that, and it’s important for me to take those lessons and instill that information into my teammates, so when they go into the real world, they’re not blindsided by being at an HBCU for the past four years.

What kind of response do you get from your peers? Do they see you as a champion, troublemaker or something in between?

Heholt: I’m involved in a lot of different organizations. When people want to go about making a change on their own, I’m the person they contact. In SGA, I serve as a senator. One of the other senators wanted to start her own voters campaign drive, so she came to me and asked me how did I go about it, where did I get the information. So, I think they see me as a point of contact, a person you can come to for information; a lot of people see me as a leader. I see myself as a go-getter and willing to be someone who can make change.

What post on social media or other action have you taken that got the most response, or that you’re most proud of?

Heholt: I mostly use Twitter and Snapchat. Recently, I haven’t been posting a lot about social injustice. I recently got a job offer, so I’ve been trying to keep my social media as clean as possible. I know that this deals with politics and political views, so I make sure that I keep myself out of the mix of that. Previously, I was posting a lot about social injustice. It sparked a lot of conversations that need to be held. On my Snapchat I made a video … it was kind of aggressive, I’ll say that. I said that, “If you’re keeping your mouth quiet about social injustice, then you can go ahead and keep your mouth quiet about talking to me.” It was brought to my attention from my friends at home who weren’t Black that they were being quiet about the situation. The ones who came to me, I really appreciated because more and more people are getting out of the mindset that the people who came before us had, that people of color are less than. With George Floyd, it made me realize that it’s time to speak up and use our voices and not be scared to say what we really want to say about feeling oppressed. We’re working on it, and I love the progression and the change that we’ve had on the team because of it. It’s heartwarming.

Who is your role model and why?

Heholt: (ASU volleyball) coach Penny Lucas White, because of the different things that she does. In the sports world, she loves the sport of volleyball. It’s just “I’m gonna go out there and do my best and leave it on the court.” I love that aspect of her. In the real world, she’s very aware of the things going on around her. She’s knowledgeable of different topics. She’s very knowledgeable about social justice, about the things that are going on with corona(virus). She has so many connects with different people, and it makes her so marketable and positive to be around. She’s a phenomenal woman. I look up to her and look to her when I need advice on anything.

What are your thoughts about what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and how does it factor into your views about race and social justice?

Heholt: There are a lot of people who are in denial, mainly due to the fact that there’s a woman who will be in office and on top of that, that she’s an African American woman. A lot of people do not want to see Black people progress, which is kind of sad when you think about it. But it’s also a large step in the direction of people like me who are African American women, and whose parents are immigrants. It pushes you every day to be stronger and go out of your comfort zone and try to do things that you haven’t done before. No one would have thought that in 2021 we’d have an African American woman serving as our vice president. So, with the riot that happened, I’m grateful that it happened because it opened my eyes so I can see and understand that it’s not a matter of people who are being blatantly racist. I think people just genuinely don’t understand and don’t take the time to ask questions to be able to understand.

What are your thoughts about the NBA players choosing not to play as a form of protest when George Floyd was killed last year?

Heholt: I thought it was amazing. Many athletes before, for example, Colin Kaepernick, have been doing this as a sign of protest. My team, we knelt during the national anthem, and I think it’s powerful. I think it got a lot of attention, and I think it opened up many people’s eyes to realize that there’s a legitimate problem in the United States that needs to be fixed. As an athlete, I commend them because I know it probably wasn’t easy sitting out from the sport that you love. It wouldn’t have been easy for me, so I commend them.

Maya Moore set her WNBA career aside to work to free a Black man who was falsely imprisoned. How important is self-sacrifice when it comes to fighting for racial equality?

Nastazia Heholt is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, like U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. (contributed)

Heholt: I believe that is everything. When it comes from the right person, it can have a tremendous impact. If we had more people who understood, if we all as a nation would self-sacrifice and put ourselves in each other’s shoes and try to genuinely understand, a lot of these problems wouldn’t be problems. So, I think what Ms. Moore did was phenomenal.

Kamala Harris was just inaugurated as the first woman vice president, first Black vice president and the first South Asian vice president in our nation’s history. What does it mean to see representation in the White House?

Heholt: I love it. It’s a step in the right direction for every race. I remember watching on CNN when Van Jones was crying, and he was saying that this is a big step in the right direction for American people to realize that people are not the color of their skin. People are their character and who they portray themselves to be. If we all just take a step back and look at how everyone lives their lives and just take away the color of their skin and think about the person, it would solve so many of the problems we face, with social injustice being at the front of that. That’s one of the easiest problems to solve that we are still bound by. We’re all here for the same goal, to be able to provide for our children and the future. I’m so grateful to have Kamala Harris, the first African American woman, the first woman of Alpha Kappa Alpha – my sister – in office.

If you were an adviser to President Biden, what would you suggest he do in his first 100 days that would start to address your greatest concerns about the racial divide in America?

Heholt: I would advise him to put more people of color in places of power. If we give more people of color opportunities to be leaders, they’ll solve a lot of the problems that we’re still facing today. I know that our nation’s laws and the Constitution balance us, but we can push people in the right direction and end social injustice. … I feel like this could be the perfect time, and what better time to do this than when we have an African American vice president in office.

What’s next for you? Are there any other social justice/equal rights activities on your calendar?

Heholt: I was recently chosen to be president of Beta Pi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha at Alabama State. I plan to implement more awareness to social injustice. That’s one of my platforms that we’ll be working on until May when I graduate. I think it’s important to use my organization as a tool to bring out more people and reach more people. The problem with the whole social injustice situation is that we don’t take the time to listen and understand everyone else. After I graduate, I want to get involved in politics, but I’m not really sure about that yet. I just know that I could be a great vessel because of my different experiences. My background of being third-generation American, I’ve had to look at it from both sides. Attending HBCU and having ties to working at a Fortune 100 company, I feel like I’ve had so many different experiences poured into me that I would be an amazing vessel to help push forward people of color and help us get past having so much social injustice in the United States.

During Black History Month, Alabama NewsCenter is celebrating the culture and contributions of those who have shaped our state and those working to elevate Alabama today. Visit AlabamaNewsCenter.com throughout the month for stories of Alabamians past and present.