Bruce Cypress and alumnus Michael Green play during a 2016 Chapel with author Drew G.I. Hart. February's Black History Month Chapel features civil rights activist and speaker Bob Zellner, who grew up in a KKK-affiliated family in Alabama and joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in college. (EMU file photo)

Black Student Union plans events for Black History Month in February

by Randi B. Hagi

Black History Month begins in February, with a host of events both new and traditional planned by Black Student Union (BSU) co-presidents Tae Dews and Oksana Kittrell. The month, first officially designated Black History Month in 1976 by President Gerald R. Ford, grew out of a week of recognition which coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

“My favorite part of Black History Month is bringing awareness to our campus about black history because I believe that we have been shielded from the truth about the history of black Americans in the U.S., and that we are not getting the whole story,” says Kittrell. “It is a story that needs to be heard.”

Black History Month Events

Town Hall on Race was held in Common Grounds on February 4th, 20
The first Town Hall on Race, which included students, faculty and staff, was held in 2016. (Photo by Andrew Strack)
  • Feb. 6, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Showing of 13TH, Common Grounds. The 2016 documentary by Ava DuVernay which “challenges your ideas about the intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States,” according to the New York Times. The documentary earned Best Director, Best Documentary Feature and Best Political Documentary at the 2016 Critic’s Choice Documentary Awards.
  • Feb. 8, 10 a.m. Chapel, Lehman Auditorium with civil rights activist and speaker Bob Zellner, who grew up in a KKK-affiliated family in Alabama and joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in college. He went on to grassroots organize for civil rights across the South and participated in the 1963 March on Washington, the site of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
  • Feb 8, 4:30-6 p.m. “Who Got Next” Workshop III. Join licensed professional counselors Tom Miller and Dr. Greg Czyszczon for an afternoon thoughtfully addressing the problems and potential of multiculturalism.
  • Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m. Town Hall on Race, Common Grounds. “This time will provide space where we would focus on issues that we face as students and faculty of color pertaining to diversity and race relations on campus,” says Dews.
  • Feb. 15, 8-9:30 p.m. Poetry Slam BHM Edition, Black Box Theater. The slam carries on the Black Student Union’s precedent of inviting attendees to “share poetry, spoken word, song, or any other form of expression! BSU encourages you to be yourself and just share!”
  • Feb. 16, 9-10 p.m. Hangouts, Game Room. BSU will gather informally for a time of friendship and discussion.
  • Feb. 22, 10 a.m. Chapel, Lehman Auditorium led by BSU members under the theme of “Hotep,” an ancient Egyptian word which most closely translates to “peace.”