Events fill Black History Month
Kevin Bonneville
To some February is just another month in a year, but to others, it’s much more than that. Black History Month was first introduced by a group for the study of Afro-American Life and History in 1976.
It has been widely popular throughout the country since its introduction, but some feel that more should be done to help promote it.
“I don’t think we do enough for Black History Month. We don’t focus on it enough,” said Dianka Moton, president of the MCC Black Student Union.
The BSU at MCC is doing everything they can do to get students and faculty involved in Black History Month.
On Feb. 20, the documentary version of “Blood Diamond” will be shown in the Kiva Room at the Kirk Student Center.
The documentary will talk about the dangerous diamond trade in Africa and how it effects the lives of African-Americans currently, including the hip-hop community.
On Feb. 22, the BSU will put on the African-American Youth Conference.
This will be held throughout the MCC campus.
The conference will consist of six different workshops, which will have a wide variety of topics that will be discussed.
The first two are “Preparing for the Community College or University Experience” and “Indentifying Financial Aid Resources,” which will help high school students get acclimated to the college life.
Two others, “Establishing Positive Male and Female Relationships” and “Preparing for Leadership Roles” will pertain more to people skills.
“They will be taught to be respectful of each other,” said Ontonio Ballard, faculty adviser for the BSU.
The conference will wrap up with two workshops called “Burying the ‘N Word” and “Being Accused of ‘Acting White.'”
According to Ballard, the workshop will talk to African-American students about not getting into trouble, minding their teachers, and doing well in school.
“Those are probably the two biggest workshops,” Ballard said.
The month long celebration will come to a close with a soul food potluck, which will be held in the Kiva Room on Feb. 29.
