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It’s about the culture: Black History Month

The purpose of Black History Month can be described in three words: celebrate black excellence. Events this month hosted by numerous organizations are helping Bradley do just that.

Celebrations not only highlight prominent black figures and celebrate culture, but also provide tactics to help students thrive.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion organize and plan celebrations throughout the month of February.

Norris Chase, executive director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, worked individually with students to organize this year’s celebrations. He underlined the importance of this month’s celebrations.

“Black History Month is about highlighting the culture of African Americans, their achievements, their presence, their visibility in a way that students can learn more about African American history,” Chase said.

Student organizations work to plan their individual events, while the Office of Diversity and Inclusion helps advertise celebrations. They created a calendar listing for all of this month’s events. For individual organizations, this gives them an opportunity for promotion.

Junior public relations major Trijae Johnson helped organize the speech team’s Black History Showcase held on Feb. 15. She talked about how they advertised the event.

“It was pretty simple. We’ve hosted the BHS before, so we just got in contact with Office of Diversity,” Johnson said. “We do all of the planning, but the ODI helps get the word out.”

This is the speech team’s 6th annual Black History Showcase, where members of the speech team give performances relating to blackness or black history.

This year, the team is collaborating with another organization on campus. The black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha helps introduce the performers and teach the audience about the history of their sorority.

Organizations like AKA and the speech team often collaborate to bring a greater sense of community to campus, one of the many goals for this month.

“It’s important to celebrate Black History Month, especially on Bradley’s campus,” Johnson said. “We’re a predominately white institution. We’ve got to show students their history and their experiences do matter.”

Chase said events during Black History Month characterize Bradley.

“Black history is much bigger than the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, it’s about the campus community,” Chase said.

Chase talked about our university’s foundations of inclusion. When Lydia Moss Bradley founded this university, she ensured African-American students could attend well before others in the nation.

“Inclusion is part of our DNA,” Chase said.

February isn’t over yet. Events like Step Afrika, the Black Excellence Ball, Changing Attitudes of African Americans towards Abraham Lincoln and speaker Allen J. Bryson are all coming to campus at the end of the month.

To participate, Chase recommends taking a look at the event calendar, seeing what events you find interesting, and simply showing up.

Follow @budiversity on Instagram and @Bradleydiversity on Facebook to become involved with future events on campus.

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