Reggae legend Bob Marely once sang, “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery/ None but ourselves can free our minds.” His words always ring true, but never more so than now, as February is Black History Month.
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson started Black History Month in 1926 with the goal of ending the general public’s ignorance and distorted image of African American history.
The month of February was chosen because it holds the birthdays of many great African American revolutionaries and institutions, including Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Eubie Blake, NAACP, and the first Pan African Congress.
Prior to 1926, there were not only prejudices in society, but also in teaching the history of African Americans, and thus Black History Month was created.
Although enormous strides have been made since then, our society will never be fully free of prejudice. Therefore, the goal of Black History Month- to educate, recognize, and celebrate the deep history of African Americans, is still very current today.
There are many events taking place on campus to commemorate Black History month, and not just in February, but the whole semester long. In January, there was a three day celebration of the life and works of Martin Luther King, Jr. with the theme “Reinventing the Dream: Creating a New Diversity Through Knowledge and Power.”
Activities included the January 22nd Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Relations Convocation speaker of black historian and political interpreter Dr. Manning Marable.
Marable spoke at the Regina A. Quick Center, which also currently houses an exhibit of Civil Rights era photography, by James Hinton in its Walsh Art Gallery. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Vision Awards were also presented during this celebration, a Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Leadership Workshop for area middle school students was put on, and Sodexho prepared a “culturally diverse” dinner in the cafeteria for students.
The beginning of this month brought contemporary artist Benny Andrews, who lectured on February 4th on how Martin Luther King’s life affects lives and his artwork.
Also in the art world, a new course, “The Black Experience: African-American Art and Criticism in the Twentieth Century, is being taught this semester by Dr. Diana Mille. Mille also lectured on African American Art in the 20th century on February 5th.
On Tuesday, February 11th, Samuel Cotton, Ph.D., a professor of U.S. Social Welfare Policy at the Columbia University School of Social Work and executive director of the Coalition Against Slavery in Mauritania and Sudan, presented a lecture entitled “The Modern Day Slave Trade and Its Impact on The World.”
The lecture was an eye opener to the many people who believed that slavery was over, while it still continues to thrive in some parts of Africa.
Umoja, the African American and Caribbean section of AHANA (African, Hispanic, Asian and Native American) is planning a “Black Expose'” for February 20th in the lower level of the campus center. This will be a marketplace with potential vendors including a hairstylist doing braids, people selling “soul food,” local merchant “Ashanti,” amongst many other things.
They are also trying to show a movie, and have the radio station play hip-hop and reggae music for their celebration. The Expose would be set up in the evening, so that many students could experience it.
Students on campus are recognizing Black History month.
“Black history month is a very under-appreciated experience,” said Adam Cataldo, ’05. “It is the opportunity for everyone, not just African Americans, to learn of this great struggle that is still taking place to attain equality for all people.”
Black History Month is a very important time, and its message is one that should be remembered and contemplated not just in the month of February, but throughout the whole year.
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