Groups set for Black History Month events
By Lisa Hoppenjans
News Editor

> February 1, 2001

With the first day of February comes the beginning of Black History Month, a nationwide celebration of the culture, accomplishments and history of the black community.

Numerous campus organizations have planned a variety of activities to educate students and community members and promote the expression of cultural diversity.

The university’s Office of Multicultural Affairs has planned several major events to contribute to the celebration.

Nicole Burton, the assistant director of the office, cites several goals for the month. “The first goal is to educate about the accomplishments of the people of the African diaspora.”

Burton also said that Black History Month seeks to “promote respect and understanding of different cultures and encourage the celebration the of richness of diversity.”

The Office of Multicultural Affairs will sponsor an appearance by the Otesha African Dance Ensemble as a kick-off for Black History Month. The ensemble will appear at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 in Pugh Auditorium.

Later in the month, the office is sponsoring a Comedy All-Stars show featuring T.J. Cross, Chris “Funny Man” Robinson and Robert Dator. Cross played the part of Mirror Man in the movie Gone in 60 Seconds and has appeared on BET’s “Comic View.”

The Black Student Alliance is sponsoring a panel discussion with the New Black Panther Party and the Black Panther Collective. Junior Janel Ingram, the president of BSA, viewed the panel discussion as very timely.

“Being that we have a new president, a lot of things that affect our community are happening,” Ingram said. “There are many issues we have to talk about acting on and coping with.”

At 4 p.m. Feb. 9, the Student Government Executive Advisory Council on Race Relations will present a student-led discussion on affirmative action. The discussion was organized at the suggestion of freshman SG legislator William Perry, who said he saw a need for discussion of this delicate issue on campus.

Last semester, Perry had some of his public speaking classmates complete a survey on affirmative action as part of an assignment. “I wanted a general class opinion on affirmative action and was surprised to see that a lot of people had misconceptions,” Perry said. “I wanted to see if that was true for Wake Forest as well.”

Perry hopes that the discussion will help “students to gain a better understanding of one another and better appreciate one another.”

Members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority have taken a different approach to celebrating the month. Instead of following the traditional route of bringing in speakers and hosting panels, they have chosen to celebrate through their tradition of service.

One of these service activities will be an ice cream social and information session on diabetes at 5 p.m. Feb. 11 in the AKA lounge located in Collins Residence Hall. Junior Sandra Jenkins, vice-president and programming chair of AKA, said that students will be able to pick up information regarding signs and symptoms of diabetes.

“Diabetes occurs at a very high rate among the African-American population,” Jenkins said. “It has affected me personally since members of both sides of my family have been diagnosed with it.”
AKA’s other service activities include a canned food drive to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank on Feb. 10 and participation in Homerun volunteer service, in which students will have the opportunity to cook meals for less fortunate families.

AKA, however, insists that the recognition of black achievement occur year-round. During the month of January, they covered campus with signs recognizing the achievements of prominent black women who were also members of AKA. “We felt that Black History month is always seen as just February, but we wanted to change that perception by doing something in January to recognize that black history is more than just one month,” Jenkins said.

“This is a time to celebrate historical contributions, but it is important not to just confine it to February,” Burton said. “I would encourage people to call attention to it and celebrate it every day.”