Student organizations on campus will begin celebrating Black History Month on Feb. 1.
The Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Hall (REC), a Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) service centre, has a diverse set of events planned, including panels, parties, and closed discussions.
The theme of the month this year is “Beyond Black history,” and according to Diana Idibe, CUSA vice-president (student services), celebrating the month is a great way to build and form Black community, especially on campuses.
“I hope that it sparks a spirit of solidarity and collaboration between Black students on campus,” she said, “whether it’s various Black student groups or students just looking to get involved in something on campus.”
Winta T. Michael, programming coordinator at REC Hall, said the celebrations will kick off with the return of the highly anticipated Jollof Wars, a Nigerian and Ghanaian jollof rice-tasting competition.
“The past two years, Nigeria has won . . . so we’ll see if Ghana can beat them this year,” she said. “Everyone’s welcome to as many events as they want to.”
Some of the upcoming events also include an opening ceremonies party, a closed discussion on the politics of Black hair care, and a series of performances by Black Queer and Transgender people.
Although the events vary greatly from one another, Michael said there is one thing tying them together: celebrating Blackness.
“The events are very, very different, but they explore a lot of different aspects and celebrate a lot of different aspects of Blackness,” she said.
According to Hafsa Abdi, a first-year child studies student, Black History Month events on campus are a fun way to celebrate Black culture with other Black students.
“It’s important to see events for Black history on campus, because it can instill a sense of pride of Black history for me and all the Black students,” she said.
“It serves as a reminder to everyone of the difficulties, along with achievements, Black people went through in the past.”
“This history can be easily neglected and overshadowed, and this month sheds light on just that,” she added.
The first Black History Month event takes place on Jan. 31, and events will run up until the closing ceremonies on Feb. 28.
