Carleton University students are kicking off February with conversations around Black joy, resilience and aspirations for Black history to transcend an annual observance.
Carleton clubs like Racialized and International Student Experience (RISE) and Black Student Alliance (BSA) are collaborating with other campus clubs to host weekly Black History Month events prioritizing community engagement and support.
“It’s not a month, it’s a movement,” said Ngeribara “Nengi” Onengiye, the administrative co-ordinator at RISE.
RISE is a student-run group for students of all racial, ethnic, cultural and international identities. According to Onengiye, RISE strives to gather, create and strengthen relationships.
Onengiye said she plans events all year and strives to organize Black history programs that extend past February.
RISE’s theme for the month is “Black Joy, Love and Hope,” which will focus on the resilience of the Black diaspora and community.
Onengiye, an international student from Nigeria, said she began learning about the Black diaspora and its history for the first time in 2016.
“I like that we’re being celebrated for our resilience. I like hearing about what our ancestors have been through and seeing [how] we’ve risen above that,” she said.
Onengiye said her entrance into Ottawa’s Black diaspora was a cultural change featuring different types of people with various belief systems, contrasting societal and racial expectations, differing ways to dress and a plethora of skin colours.
“The diaspora is more diverse. There are different shades, textures and voices of Black [people]. Back home, everyone around me is Nigerian. The most diversity will come from culture, but regardless, we are all Nigerian.”
She also said there is more history to learn than the repetitive yearly headlines that appear in mainstream media.
“We are moving past […] talking and rehashing our dark history [every February]. Now, we’re moving forward, but not forgetting our history,” Onengiye said.
The BSA is a multicultural organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of Black students at Carleton through personal development, community action and social events. Last year, the organization organized its first-ever fashion show, highlighting Black fashion throughout the decades.
“I’ve learned that the Black community is really supportive of each other, especially in this month,” said Maraki Assefa, a third-year criminology student who modeled in the show and is now the association’s social media executive.
As an international student from Ethiopia, Assefa said her perception of the Black Canadian diaspora continues to evolve.
“Being part of BSA, I’ve seen all the initiatives from Black students wanting to come together,” she said. “I didn’t know there was so much unity and [desire to] uplift one another. That was really beautiful and new to see.”
In her current role with the BSA,, Assefa said she regularly engages with the student community by conducting interviews and asking for students’ opinions.
Assefa said the club has provided her with many opportunities to socialize, make friendships and grow closer to the community.
“[We] try to have as many events as possible where we can allow all types of Black people on campus to come together,” she said.
Despite this rich and diverse history, Carleton students Annessa Thomas and William Migezo said there is a lack of Black history at primary and secondary levels of Canadian education.
With the enslavement of Black people a common subject, other subjects like emancipation, African history and literature and the fight for civil rights are often briefly covered.
The Ontario Black History Society, founded by Daniel G. Hill and Wilson O. Brooks, proposed the idea of Black History Month in 1978.
A decade later, it was first observed in Nova Scotia. In 1995, the celebration of Black History Month in February was officially recognized by the House of Commons through a motion brought forward by Hon. Jean Augustine, the first Black Canadian woman elected to Parliament.
Annessa Thomas, a second-year social work student at Carleton and Ottawa native, said she was taught Black history in high school, but remembers the subject’s short lifespan.
“For the most part, I educated myself. Even though I did learn a little [in high school], I didn’t learn much,” Thomas said.
William Migezo, a third-year business entrepreneurship student, said he didn’t like how the subject was taught in school. He said his formal education focused more on what happened to Black people instead of the different cultures within the Black community.
“I didn’t like the concept [of Black History Month] growing up.”
According to members of the community, the idea of love is also present within Black History Month.
The concept of Black joy has gained popularity in North America and describes achieving a newfound emotional, physical, and spiritual freedom in response to racialized experiences.
Timalma Abukari, a second-year business law student, said Black love brings the community together.
“[It’s] love for ourselves as a community. Loving who we are, our culture and being unapologetic about it,” he said.
Even though the Black community has a deep history that tells of trauma and pain, Abukari said the community continues to show up for each other with love and solidarity.
“The whole narrative of Black History Month comes from a place where no love [was] shown,” Migezo added.
“Love helps people to move forward from the pain they experienced.”
Featured image by Hannah Daramola.
