Home EMU Black Student Union plans events for Black History Month
News and Views

EMU Black Student Union plans events for Black History Month

AFP
emuBlack History Month begins in February, with a host of events both new and traditional planned by the EMU 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

  • 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.

 
 

 




Featured Video

 

AFP

AFP

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora and YouTube. Support AFP by signing up for our newsletter and/or powering our work with a one-time or monthly contribution.

Latest News

UVA Basketball Aaron Roussell
Basketball, Go 'Hoos

Women’s Basketball: Virginia runs away from Drexel in 81-39 win

budget CPI household housing
Local

Waynesboro: HERO attacks homelessness issue from a different angle

I was today years old when I learned about the existence of an outfit named HERO – the Housing Emergency Relief Organization of Waynesboro – which has the aim of working to get ahead of homelessness by helping residents through temporary financial emergencies before a setback becomes a housing crisis. HERO has provided more than...

medicaid
Virginia

Richmond couple gets jail time for bilking Medicaid out of a million bucks

A Richmond couple is getting jail time for orchestrating a scheme to overbill Medicaid for mental health services to the tune of nearly a million dollars, and using the money to purchase luxury cars, fund a vegan restaurant and make lease payments on their residence. Erica Jackson, 39, was sentenced on Tuesday to four years...

data center virginia
Politics, Virginia

Pause to Protect coalition calls for moratorium on data center construction

newspaper online news AFP mobile phone newsfeed
Local

Thought exercise: How Waynesboro is different, if Augusta Free Press never existed

tony elliott
Football, Go 'Hoos

UVA Football: Tony Elliott filibusters his way through a 14-minute answer to a question

uva basketball nolan adekunle
Basketball, Go 'Hoos

UVA Basketball Notebook: Adekunle adjusts to U.S. game, tempo on overdrive