Carleton’s Race, Ethnicity, Cultural Hall (REC Hall) hosted a variety of different events throughout the month of February to celebrate Black History Month (BHM).
REC Hall is a Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) service centre under the jurisdiction of vice-president (student services) Adil Tahseen.
Kareen Onyeaju and Faisal Ghali, the two REC Hall co-ordinators, have been working “tirelessly to bring a month’s worth of informative speakers,” Tahseen said.
In addition to CUSA sponsorship, Onyeaju said the campaign also worked with a team of “over 20 volunteers” and found a “strong partnership with the Womyn’s Centre that we were grateful for during BHM.”
“Overall, BHM went really well. We engaged with many students from various backgrounds and we were able to spark a lot of critical conversations within the workshops and events at the service centre,” Tahseen said.
Onyeaju agreed with Tahseen, and added a lot of time and preparation has gone into the organization of the month’s events.
“REC Hall has been planning these activities since December,” she said. “This past month has consisted of an anti-racism campaign, a cultural awareness week, and various discussions on black identity, police brutality, black love, and more.”
Both Tahseen and Onyeaju placed an emphasis on the hard work of the dedicated volunteers that helped the month come together.
Ruvarashe Godza, a first year bio-medical and chemical engineering student, was one of the students who volunteered for the month’s events.
Godza said his favourite part of the month’s initiatives was the food week.
“During that time we distributed food to people in the atrium for donation,” he said. “Just that event opened up a conversation across the races and within the different black cultures that were tabling. There was music and the volunteers were often dancing too.”
Godza said her experience with Black History Month was “enlightening and fun,” a mix which Onyeaju said was just what REC Hall was aiming for during the February campaign.
Onyeaju said REC Hall ensured a majority of the events this year included either a dedicated discussion portion or were simply open conversations among students.
Tahseen said perspective and comment-based activities were his favourite events.
“I really enjoyed our anti-racism campaign where the co-ordinators asked various students their perspective on different issues that deal with race, culture, and ethnicity and hung up their answers on the third floor landing of the University Centre,” he said.
Next year, Godza said she would like to see “more involvement across the races because [the month] is not meant to just target black people it’s to bridge the gap between races.”
“I can’t reveal what I have in store for next year,” Onyeaju said. “Everything will be bigger and better. I am quite excited. We are extremely lucky.”
