Sam Dunaway | News Editor
As February comes to a close, students reflect on events that stimulated engaging conversations, provided an artistic outlet and aimed to educate the public during Black History Month.
Organized by Black Student Union, Western’s Black History Month events were a time to engage in discussion and awareness of issues within the black community at Western.
“I think, in our culture, we can be passive about marginalized communities and minorities in general,” explained BSU president Marnasha Fowlkes. “I definitely think Black History Month is needed because that continuously happens. And until we can break out of that, this is definitely a time where black culture needs to be celebrated or else oppression is going to be this continuous cycle that is super detrimental to the community.”
Events during Black History Month included a poetry slam, Don’t Touch My Hair student panel and a display in Hamersly Library. The display was an arrangement of books and DVDs contributed by BSU members that highlight black authors and additionally raise awareness regarding the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Don’t Touch My Hair panel featured six black identifying students that shared their experiences, struggles and triumphs with black hair. The panel discussed topics like natural hair versus styled hair, being treated differently because of their hair, feeling self conscious about how it’s styled and others inappropriately touching their hair without asking.
Aminna Ackridge, a second-year psychology major, explained that her hair is a way that she expresses herself. “My hair is a huge part of my identity because it is part of what makes me black and what makes me look black,” Ackridge explained. “I spend a good portion of my life dealing with my hair. Your hair is part of what makes you unique, what makes you stand out, what makes you different.”
Fowlkes encourages all individuals, not just those who identify as black, to attend upcoming BSU meetings and get engaged in these conversations.
“Education is power,” Fowlkes stated. “Even though we do live in a predominantly white community, different perspectives and perceptions of the world throughout the various communities are always welcome at BSU meetings. The information is universal, whether it’s just learning and consuming that information and using it out in the world or giving your input in those discussions … We want to invite people in rather than exclude people out.”
Check out BSU meetings on Mondays at 5 p.m. in the Santiam Room of the WUC.
Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu
Photo by: Paul F. Davis
