Black
history celebrated on campus
By Martiza Diaz
On-line Forty-Niner
The
black studies department of Cal State Long
Beach has planned a series of events to
celebrate Black History Month that extends
to the end of March.
During the month of February the focus is
on all African-Americans, while in March
the emphasis shits to African-American women,
according to Ssendi Ssensalo, the chair
for the black studies department.
A Black History Month Committee was formed
in order to organize the events.
“It’s easier this way. It would be hard
having 16 people organizing the events and
it would be too much work just having one
person handle everything,” Ssensalo said.
Many of the events are built into the various
classes that are offered on campus. The
children’s literature panel discussion,
which will be discussing African-American
works, is taking place Feb. 24 and is in
direct correlation to the children’s literature
courses that are offered on campus, Ssendi
said.
“The main theme of this year’s Black History
month is [writer] W.E.B. Du Bois and his
works,” said Reiland Rabaka, member of the
committee and professor at CSULB.
On Feb.18 writer and journalist Playthell
Benjamin will discuss his book.
“Reconsidering Souls of Black Folks,” which
is a look at Du Bois’ work that was published
100 years ago.
In March various women writers will speak
on their works. African-American, Latino
and Asian women are expected to take part
in a multicultural poetry reading on March
13. All students are welcome to attend and
participate in the discussions.
“We are a department in a university. Everything
we do is for everyone on campus,” Ssensalo
said. “Don’t think that just because you
are not black the black studies department
has nothing to offer you.”
The committee has planned 11 presentations
that include a performance by the Ambure
dance troupe on Feb. 25. The committee is
most likely not going to add anymore than
what they have planned, Rabaka said.
“We are going to stick with the events we
have now. We have a lot of events,” Rabaka
said. “We might change around some dates,
but it’s pretty much as it is.”
With the events planned, the committee is
now working on getting the word out to students
about each individual event. They have contacted
the student organizations on campus and
plan to print out flyers to advertise the
presentations, Ssensalo said.
“We normally have a good turn out. It usually
depends on the subject,” Rabaka said.
Andre Crawford, a sophomore majoring in
accounting, has not heard much about the
upcoming events, but is willing to attend
some of them if his schedule permits.
“I’m interested in going to the poetry reading.
That sounds interesting,” he said.
Finding scholars and writers to participate
in the Black History Month events was not
every difficult, according to Rabaka.
“Having Dr. [Maulana] Karenga, who is the
creator of Kwanzaa, on the committee has
helped. People have been willing to come
and participate in the panels,” Rabaka said.
Dr. Sheila Henry was been in charge of bringing
in women scholars.”
A large amount of the funding for these
events came from the black studies department
and the office of the President, according
to Ssensalo.
“We are very grateful to President Maxson
and the other sponsors for all their contributions,”
Ssensalo said.
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