With Black History Month celebrations beginning in February, students and organizations are working together to recognize black heritage with a variety of events at UT.
“It’s good to see people celebrating and continuing to learn about our past,” said junior criminology major Justin Owens. “I feel like we don’t celebrate it like we used to in elementary school and middle school, so I’m glad to see organizations taking it seriously.”
Greek chapters like the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) are hosting three major events this week, the first of which will be Greek 101 on Feb. 6, consisting of a showcase to remember black history.
“It’s sort of like celebrating our heritage, our history, and just how far African-Americans have come in general,” said Nashown Williams, vice president of the NPHC and member of the Alpha Phi Alpha chapter.
A Greek 101 event takes place every semester, but each showcase is unique in that different themes are recognized at each meeting. This is the second year the council has hosted a black history themed Greek 101, and members are hoping to have an even bigger turnout this year. Last year’s event took place in the Austin Oak Room where all 40 seats were filled. This year’s showcase will be held on the 11th floor of West Kennedy where there will be about 60 seats available.
After the showcase, an open panel will be available for questions. The NPHC will also briefly discuss the history of the organization as well as significant Black History Month events. Prospective members are also welcome to come.
“We are always saying know your history before you can say that you are interested,” Williams said. “This would be a perfect opportunity to get to know the members of the fraternities and sororities.”
The NPHC will then have a “switch day” on Feb. 7 at the Plant Hall Veranda, where all of the chapters will switch roles and participate in signature dances and strolls.
“The fraternities are going to act like the sororities, and sororities are going to act like fraternities,” Williams said.
The last NPHC event will be a volleyball game in the Vaughn courtyard on Feb. 8. Time and other details are to be announced soon.
Aminata Baro, president of the NPHC, was born in America to African parents and believes Black History Month is significant to today’s society.
“A lot of slaves came from my country so I relate to it because slavery foreshadows where I am now,” Baro said. “My parents and I think it’s really important to know where I come from and know the history.”
Baro is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, one of the first sororities founded in the council. AKA was founded Jan. 15, 1908 at Howard University in Washington D.C. It wasn’t installed into UT’s Greek life until Nov. 7, 2003.
“It was definitely a great moment in history for black women, not only blacks, but black women as well as minorities to take control and try to make a difference in the world through community service and service to all mankind,” Baro said.
Last year, the AKA put on a live black history museum, where it held auditions for students to portray prominent people in black history. When people showed up to the event, the actors were frozen into place, just like they would be in a museum. The actors had the names of the person they were portraying along with facts and figures, like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. There was also a performance where the actors acted out for only a minute a pivotal moment in the person’s life.
“It was a really unique way to show what people did in history and how it all tied together to get where we are now,” Baro said.
AKA is planning on making the event annual and Baro hopes to repeat the act this semester. The sorority is also going to do community service in local shelters and will be hosting an event to fundraise money to donate to the NAACP for kids with incarcerated parents who need funding for college.
The UT’s Diversity Fellowship is hosting the annual Black History Luncheon on Feb. 20. The event is open to UT students, faculty and staff. Students are allowed to use one meal exchange to register for the event.
“Our annual black history Luncheon will celebrate and appreciate the cultural advances spearheaded by black men and women of determination and hope for a positive future,” said Shandra Washington, president of the Diversity Fellowship.
The UT community will first hear words from poet Clyla Boyd, and attendees will also learn about black historical events as well as modern testimonials from a guest speaker, not yet named. The event will include a performance from Blake High School’s Gospel Choir.
In previous years, the luncheon drew up to 100 attendees, but Washington said she hopes to boost that number to 150 this year.
“If we don’t push ourselves to expand our understanding of other cultures, then how can we move forward with anything?” Washington said. “There is never a warmer feeling than having someone ask questions about my culture, attend community service projects to support my culture and simply raise awareness about my culture.”
Mark Sugden can be reached at mark.sugden@spartans.ut.edu.
Kirby Jay can be reached at kirby.jay@spartans.ut.edu.