Black history revived on campus

By Nate Seltenrich

The celebration of Black History Month has a significant presence on the Santa Clara campus, highlighted by a series of events that address the current and past experience.

The various events, all sponsored by the Center for Multicultural Learning (CML) and Igwebuike, Santa Clara's Black Student Union, are spread out across the entire month of February and include panel discussions, performances, a Spike Lee film series, and lectures by Santa Clara professors as well as visiting speakers.

Latanya Johnson, who serves as a Project Manager in the Multicultural Center (MCC) beyond her duties as an admissions counselor, has worked since last June with Igwebuike's Black History Month Chair, Jennifer Bradford, on planning this month's events.

Now in her fourth year helping to organize Black History Month at Santa Clara, Johnson has already begun to see changes in the way the university as a whole approaches the celebration.

"I think, more than anything, the change has been in consistency," she said. "Every year, we can look forward to a consistent grouping of events."

Another important change that she has helped to bring about includes partnering with a number of different departments on campus in order to plan a wider variety of events and involve a broader segment of the university in the observance of Black History Month.

This year, Johnson and Bradford teamed up with the School of Law, the Ethnic Studies Department and the Music Department in organizing events throughout the month.

Johnson's future goals for Black History Month include spreading events across the year rather than confining them to February and also presenting one keynote event or speaker that will encapsulate the rest of the month's proceedings.

"We want to expand it to the whole year," echoes Bradford. "We're getting pretty good at that, but getting funds for it is hard."

"The diversity in the meetings and lectures has been excellent. The turnouts have been really good," she added. "But I would like to see more people at the Spike Lee movies."

Local organizations and institutions such as the San Jose chapter of the NAACP and the Diocese of Oakland will also continue to hold many events for Black History Month as the second half of the month approaches.

Of particular interest is San Jose's Mexican American Heritage Plaza's Africa in the Americas Events. The events, which take place until Feb. 26, coincide with the celebration of Black History Month and will focus on the people and culture of Cuba, expanding the understanding of what it means to be "African American."

The festival is aimed at exploring the ties that bind Latinos and African Americans and includes ongoing exhibits, workshops, a dinner/dance and an awards ceremony.

The annual celebration of black history was first established in 1926 as a way to combat the ignorance and deliberate distortion of black history that existed in academic as well as popular venues.

Initially called "Negro History Week," the commemoration was later expanded to encompass the entire month of February.

February is significant in African American history for the birthdays of great African American pioneers and institutions. These include the birthdays of Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Eubie Blake, NAACP and the first Pan African Congress.

For a complete listing of upcoming on-campus events, visit the calendar on the Santa Clara Web site. There is also a Black History Month Showcase in Benson Memorial Center, which contains African American artifacts, documents, art and photos.

"The main goal is to continue to remind the community of the contributions and achievements of African Americans as well as helping everybody on campus to learn something new," said Johnson.

û Contact Nate Seltenrich at (408) 554-4546 or nseltenrich@scu.edu.