Events to honor culture,
history
By Lynde Smith
Staff
Writer
To help celebrate the diversity of the black culture,
Purdue will be offering an array of events during
Black History Month.
These events, which will be held during February,
will be sponsored by a number of different departments on campus.
The events are open to the public and most of them
are free.
The Black Cultural Center will begin the celebration
of Black History Month today with "African Son, Rise!" An ensemble of
three men will perform this choreopoem, which is a theatrical production
written by James Chapmyn, the star performer.
The performance, which will last an hour and a
half, rose from a narrative poem performed by three characters. Chapmyn
has his own production program and has visited Purdue twice.
The events are usually fairly well attended said
Teju Omolodun, the assistant director of the Black Cultural Center.
The BCC has been on campus since 1969; but having
its own building, which opened in the fall of 1999, has made the center
more noticeable, said Omolodun.
More students are coming to the center because
of the computer labs, the library and classes, she said.
"The Black Cultural Center has a reputation of
bringing in great speakers and programs," Omolodun said.
The president and chief executive officer of the
United Negro College Fund, William Gray, will give the BCC Black History
keynote speech "Where do we go from here?" at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 in Stewart
Center, Room 206. Gray has been with the college fund since 1991 and
has previously served in the U.S. Congress.
"It's just really neat to be able to hear someone
like Gray who has had such an impact on our community," said Dorothy
Washington, librarian for the Black Cultural Center.
The program will give insight into the cultural
and historical significance of the black community and suggest possibilities
for continued development.
The address will highlight the national theme for
Black History Month, "Creating and Defining the African-American Community:
Family, Church, Politics and Culture."
Washington said, "People should attend the events
to broaden their knowledge base of other cultures and to learn the history
of what other cultures have gone through."
The Black Student Union will be hosting activities
in celebration of Black History Month during the week of Feb. 12 through
Feb. 16.
Events include a Study Abroad program, speakers
from diversity organizations and watching the film "The Hurricane."
"It gives me a chance to broaden my horizons even
if it is the shortest month of the year. At least black history is acknowledged
one month out of the year, " said president of the Black Student Union,
Maureen Duncan, a sophomore in the School of Liberal Arts. "It gives
me a sense of pride."
The African-American Studies program will host
numerous lecture series and conferences as well.
The studies program was established at Purdue in
1970. It was the first interdisciplinary program in the School of Liberal
Arts dedicated to the study of history, culture and literature of African
Americans and the African Diaspora in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The program's events include a discussion by Jamaica
Kincaid, a former writer for the New Yorker, a screening of the film
"Malcolm X: Death of a Prophet" and a keynote address by Ronald Walters,
director of the African-American Leadership Institute at the University
of Maryland in College Park.
Black history month began in 1926 and was originally
called "Negro History Week;" it was organized by historian Carter G.
Woodson. It changed to Black History Month in 1976.
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