Photo by Dexter Bercero

Black Consciousness Conference successful

The 17th annual Black Consciousness Conference was "pretty successful" in its effort in providing college students with networking opportunities this past weekend, said Thomas Muhammad, president of the Black Student Union.

"(This way) students have somewhere to look after they get their degrees," he said.

He added, "The goal of the conference was to re-establish a relationship with the African-American community and college students. It was pretty successful."

The conference started Friday at Cal State Long Beach with guest speaker Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, who gave a speech on the theme of the conference, "Community, Unity, Campus, and Struggle: Building on the Best of Black Culture."

Friday's agenda also included the female rap group, Da Five Footaz, whose latest sound-track is featured in the movie "Set It Off" and rapper Warren G.

Saturday's program included an all-day bone marrow drive and health issues such as AIDS and the current state of health care for the African-American community.

A gospel concert breakfast and spiritual healing were part of Sunday's morning program.

Maulana Karenga, chairman for the Black Studies department and one of the founders of the cultural celebration Kwanzaa, ended the conference on Sunday performing a "libation."

"A libation is an African tradition in which the whole event is blessed," Muhammad said. "It's where we thank those past leaders who paved (our) future or built the bridge for us, in what we're doing today."