Guest speakers, read-ins, inspiring music, celebration, representation, education: these are all parts of an important time of year, Black History Month. February is Black History Month, an annual event that includes the honoring and remembrance of past milestones in black history in order to inspire those today. South will be holding some events this year.
At South on Feb. 13, author Dawn Knight will be coming to speak about George Taliaferro, an African-American player on IU’s first football team during Panther Plus. On Feb. 23, students should wear all black to represent the last Friday in Black History Month. On Feb. 28, students can celebrate black musical contributions by going to the listening party during Panther Plus.
On Feb. 5 at IU, there was an annual African-American Read-In where anyone could go and either read out loud African-American poetry, or even participate in the open-mic at the end.
Sophomore Naomi Young performed a song called “Love Has No Color.” “It is about love being the base of everything, the base of unity, and how we shouldn’t dwell on each other’s race or gender or anything,” Young said.
Senior Jerome Stenson participated in the open-mic session. “I reminded people that we aren’t victims, we are survivors. I reminded caucasians that just because you see a black man walking down the street and he doesn’t seem to fit in, doesn’t mean that he’s a troublemaker,” Stenson said.
There are a multitude of reasons why Black History Month is important and why we should continue to celebrate it.
Young said, “Black History Month is a time to celebrate people who advocated for us… they marched, they went out and spoke, they fought for our rights; it’s a time to celebrate the people who have been through the struggle.”
Stenson said, “It’s simply a thing that we as Americans need to celebrate and not forget. Black culture affects everything and everyone in some way.”
