While several events honoring Black History Month at Saint Louis University have passed, it is not too late for students to participate in the celebration.
“The theme of Black History Month is ‘Understanding Us: And Exploration of the African Diaspora,’” Charles Turner, president of the Black Student Alliance said.
“We are trying to focus on having events on that explore different parts of African American culture so people who aren’t African American can experience the culture as well as African American history.”
Clarence Lang of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shared some of this history on Thursday, Feb. 10, when he gave a presentation at SLU entitled “Civil Rights and Class in Postwar St. Louis: The Role of the Border in Black Freedom Studies.” Lang presented a compelling image of St. Louis as a microcosm of the greater struggle in the Black Freedom Movement.
“St. Louis is not a story in and of itself. Rather, its history makes broader claims on the events of the nation,” he said.
Calling to mind the many ways different classes came together in the struggle for equality and freedom in St. Louis, Lang mentioned Charles Sumner High School, Homer G. Phillips Hospital, and the St. Louis city charter struggle of 1957 as evidence of the common goal shared by all social classes at the time.
“History is never fixed; it is always open to reinterpretation. This reinterpretation brings St. Louis to the forefront of our shared history,” Lang said.
Throughout the month of February, students can learn more about this shared history by attending Black Student Alliance-sponsored upcoming events such as a Harambee Ball, Black Arts Night, and Black History for Kids.
As an extension of our shared and unique cultural and historical legacy SLU, Black History Month is an excellent way for students to become more culturally and socially aware individuals who can influence positive changes for equality and justice in their environment.
Turner extended an open welcome to all.
“[February] is an invitation to the entire SLU community to get an idea of the Black community here,” Turner said. “We want to educate people, because this is the best way to break down barriers and get an understanding of what we share.”
“Black History Month is a good thing because it keeps us from being color blind,” sophomore Anna Mazur said. “It allows us to have the sense that though we are different, who we are is neither better nor worse than anyone else.”
