THE
alestle
Auction of Edwardsville greenspace sparks protest
Valentine’s Day date ideas
Tennis undefeated after arrival of new coach
PAGE 2
PAGE 5
PAGE 8
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
the student voice since 1960
Thursday, February 10, 2022 Vol. 75 No. 20
FRANCESCA BOSTON reporter
Black Excellence in Action is the theme for this year’s Black Heritage Month, with programs ranging from history to politics to theater to fashion and more.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Black Heritage Month, more commonly known as Black History Month, started as a week-long celebration called Negro History Week in 1926. Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard graduate and Black historian coined the term, wanting to educate the general public about the achievements of Black Americans. Woodson chose February as both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were born in February. But more importantly, since Lincoln and Douglass’ death, Black communities had celebrated both men’s birthdays. Woodson built Negro History Week around those existing traditions ensuring that he would not be creating a new tradition but rather having the population extend their knowledge for a few more days. Negro History Week was adopted by Kent State in 1970 by Black students and educators, and by 1976, it was formally recognized by the federal government, when President Gerald Ford recognized it during the United States bicentennial.
IMPORTANCE
Timothy Lewis, an assistant political science professor, said Black Heritage Month can be both a great time to showcase Black excellence, but it is also limited, people only caring for a single month rather than all of the time. “It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” Lewis said. “It’s a chance to showcase Black historical excellence. Sadly, for a lot of people, [Martin Luther King Jr.] is the only well-known Black figure.” Lewis said for a better picture, people should consider James Baldwin, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ella Jones, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Shirley Chisholm and other famous Black Americans as well. “It’s a time to celebrate, honor them and also inform society of these people’s contributions to American society,” Lewis said. However, Lewis said it also limits us, because it become performative. “There is no real investment in honoring these people beyond February, there’s no investment in learning more about them,” he said. “It’s a chance for Black people to showcase Black excellence, but then the double edge is that we’re sure our white allies are taking this beyond just a level that is performance.” While Black History Month is the more familar name, SIUE has chosen to alter the name slightly to Black Heritage Month. J.T. Snipes, president of the Black Faculty and Staff Association said he wasn’t a part of the committee who decided to name the month, but to him, the word “heritage” connects the past and the present closely. “When I talk about my family, I think
follow the alestle
| Sean Pavone, Shutterstock
about heritage, I don’t think about history. Sometimes history can feel distant in that way. When we talk about heritage, it evokes, for me, images of [connecting] a specific culture in a specific lineage, that it’s not just something floating out there, but it is something that we embrace,” Snipes said. Snipes said Black Heritage Month also allows for the excitement and exploration of Black futures and that is the idea that makes him more excited. “My colleague and friend, Dominic Dorsey, has been really pushing us to think about Black futures. When we talk about Black history, there are times that it can feel or be shaped as a finished project,” Snipes said. “I’m more compelled, thinking about black futures. When we think about Black futures, to me this radical act of imagining, not only the creativity and ingenuity that Black folks have explored, or embodied in the past, thinking about what Blackness looks like 1000 years from now. I’m excited and dreaming of even moments of even greater liberty.” Snipes also said he acknowledges the lack of AfroLatinos being represented by the events throughout the month. He said his colleague Angel Jones, a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, had pointed out the exclusion of Afro Latinos and Latinas. “There was a noted absence of sessions on Afro Latinos this fall, and then on the calendar this spring, during Black History Month, Afro Latinos are absent in the conversation,” Snipes said. “There’s still work for us to do inside of our community.”
ACKNOWLEDGING BLACK HISTORY MAKERS AT SIUE
Snipes said he believes it is important to honor the Black history makers on campus, as Black history is not an abstract idea,
@alestlelive
@TheAlestle
but something we can see within our own community. As examples, he cited Howard Rambsy, who was recently named as the first Black faculty member to be designated a Distinguished Research Professor, and James T. Minor has been hired as the first Black chancellor in SIUE history, “Having Dr. Minor as a history maker, thinking about Dr. Harris, who was our first ever Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Sheila Caldwell, who’s not on campus, but is the first ever Vice Chancellor for diversity, equity inclusion for our system,” Snipes said. “Lakesha Butler, who’s named the first Director of Diversity in the School of Pharmacy as well. Black history is being made here.”
EVENTS
SIUE is putting on 17 events throughout February, ranging from theater performances to lectures to trivia. “From Jimmy to America: An Ode to James Baldwin,” is a theater performance produced by SIUE Theater Department, Arts and Issues, and guest dance company, NU-World Contemporary Danse Theatre. Christopher Page-Sanders is one of the artist collaborators of the show as well as an artistic director of NU Contemporary Danse Theater. He said the show is an adaptation of a closing show done at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, when the university shut down their theater department. He said that show is highlighting the life of James Baldwin, whom Snipes calls the “Black Bard.” “‘From Jimmy to America’ takes a look into James Baldwin’s work and his words, his poetry, his prose, his speeches, his books and what he was writing in the ‘60s, and how relevant it still is in 2022 and how even in 2022, we are still seeking justice and empathy and love for Black people in America,” Page-Sanders said.
@Online Editor Alestle
@thealestle
The show involves music, acting, dancing and costumes as James Baldwin was a complex man and they want to showcase the diversity of his work, according to Page-Sanders. Page-Sanders said having events that center Black creativity during Black history month is just as important as lectures and difficult conversations. “We are creative people. In our legacy in America, we had to take nothing and make something out of it. Our joy is a reflection of our creativity, our sorrow is a reflection of our creativity, our anger is a reflection of our creativity,” Page-Sanders said. “It allows whoever is watching to connect on a level that is deeper than what necessarily can just be said through words. I think it’s important that we continue to have Black voices of creativity come forth and touch the world.” The Campus Activities is also putting on the “Waves, Braids n Curls Hair Show,” co-sponsored by Gamma Beta Chapter and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Senior psychology major Dana Merritt, from O’Fallon, Illinois, is president of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. She said that the Waves, Braids, n Curls Show is an important event because hair discrimination is still legal in parts of the United States and this show allows students to acknowledge the history and importance of Black hair. “Black people, we have to embrace our hair, because it’s something that’s not widely accepted,” Merritt said. “It’s very important that we showcase these hairstyles, and the history behind them because a lot of people don’t know some of the histories behind these hairstyles. I just think it’s very important to shine some light on that because it’s not always something that’s talked about.” Lewis is also one of the faculty working on a talk called “Black America, White American: A Conversation about Present-day American Segregation” which is the fourth Annual Political Science Black Sociopolitical Lecture Series, which is supported by the Black Heritage Committee. He said the conversation is about the larger disconnect between the white Americans and Black Americans. “We have segregated lived experiences. Black people have a certain set of experiences and white people have another set of experiences and those experiences shape how we see the world, how we behave, how we think, how we engage in politics and political institutions,” Lewis said. “So that’s what this conversation will get. It will get at those different lived experiences.” Snipes said the Black Faculty and Staff Association is putting on their third Annual Black State of the Union Address, but the date is currently undecided. Visit The Hub’s website or GetInvolved for more information on other events during Black Heritage Month.
See you on the Internet!