In 1976, Gerald Ford became the first U.S. president to officially recognize Black History Month, urging the American public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
At Boston College, Black History Month programming surged in the following decades, with new lineups of theatre performances, lectures, poetry exhibits, and more. But even now, students feel the BC community can better engage with Black History Month.
Khazan visited BC as part of University Housing’s celebration of Black History Month.
“The goal of University Housing, in conjunction with the Residential Life Staff, is to show their recognition of the significance of Black History Month and the educating potential presented to all those who wish to partake in the programs,” the article read.
More steps still need to be taken to fully reach this “educating potential” at the University, according to O’Toole, including getting students outside of these multicultural clubs to be more involved.
“Getting people beyond just the self-definitions, getting people who don’t share those self-definitions to also be engaged—I think that’s an ongoing task,” O’Toole said.
A Community Not Fully Engaged (1990s)
The University took more steps to acknowledge and celebrate Black History Month at BC in the ’90s, but students continued to voice concerns regarding a lack of community engagement.
“I don’t think a lot of students engage with it who are not part of any other marginalized identities,” Ivana Wijedasa, the former co-director of the anti-racist group FACES, told The Heights after an event last year. “We’re doing [events] all throughout the month, but you don’t usually see a lot of the BC community really engage with them.”
On-campus reporting of Black History Month rose during the ’80s, as coverage of guest speakers, art exhibits, theatrical performances, and social events for Black History Month at the University increasingly populated the pages of The Heights each February.
James O’Toole, a retired BC professor and author of Ever to Excel: A History of Boston College , said this increase reflected greater cultural changes at both BC and in the United States overall.
“Getting people beyond just the self-definitions, getting people who don’t share those self-definitions to also be engaged—I think that’s an ongoing task.”
“I think with the general rise in awareness in American society as a whole that ‘Look, there’s a lot of racial injustice that’s been going on for a long time, and we’ve got to play our little part in trying to combat that,’” O’Toole said.
In 1989, civil rights activist Jibreel
In 1990, the Black Student Forum (BSF) and several other campus groups held Black History Month events throughout February, aiming to involve the broader BC community in the celebrations.
“My main concern is that the whole student body should know about our culture,” Anderson Manuel, the president of the BSF at the time and BC ’90, said.
Manuel said up until that point, no one had ever attempted to involve the whole University in Black History Month programming before.
Today, Manuel looks back at the Black History Month events he planned as an important opportunity where BC students introduced themselves to cultures different from
their own.
“It was a great opportunity to bring in, you know, the music, the food, the culture, and to provide kids an opportunity to really immerse themselves in it and ask questions,” Manuel said.
“Why is that music important to you? Why do you like this? Why do you like that? And … it’s because a lot of the
1976 United States President Gerald Ford First Officially Recognized Black History Month
was lacking.
“What is there is good, but there needs to be more of it, more publicity, and more involvement of the BC community,” Schuerman said.
New Millenium, Same Problems (2000s)
Nearly a decade later, a 2005 feature reported student concerns about the BC community’s continued lack of participation in Black History Month programming.
“Black History Month is good to recognize, but Boston College should make events more eventful,” Christine Mulligan, BC ’05, said.
Students also said that the University put too much of the planning responsibility on student groups rather than itself.
“We can make sure that students are not just, you know, coming in to have discussions— which is important—but are also just having fun.”
“The University tends to put it on groups like Black Forum and the AHANA Leadership Council. The University itself should address it, not student organizations,” Christine Crawford, BC ’06, said. “Students are worried about midterms, so BC needs to be more active in organizing the events.”
1980s Through Guest Speakers, Theatre Performances, and More, BC Hosted More Celebrations During Black History Month
1989 Civil Rights Activist Jibreel Khazan Visited BC as part of University Housing’s Black History Month Celebrations
1996 Students Call On the University to Better Celebrate Black History Month
things that I’ve found out is that these kids have never had an opportunity to be with a person of color.”
Manuel said this cultural exchange is a crucial experience for students to grow in their understanding of others.
“When someone has not had the opportunity to listen to someone’s history and to listen to some of the things that they’ve gone through, there is no way that they can really feel what that person is feeling,” he said.
Further into the decade, the same concerns surrounding the BC community’s lack of involvement with Black History Month persisted.
A 1996 Heights column titled “Viewpoints: Opinions from students on current issues” asked students whether or not they thought BC adequately celebrated Black History Month.
“I
hue said. “Obviously whatever functions the school has set up, there was not enough publicity.”
The first respondent Brad Donohue, BC ’98, said no.
“I think the fact that I don’t know says a lot,” Donohue said. “Obviously whatever functions the school has set up, there was not enough publicity.”
Another student Don Schuerman, BC ’97, similarly said that BC’s observance of Black History Month
“What We Do Is Not Just for Ourselves, but for Everyone” (2023)
Today, the same struggles to engage BC’s white students with Black History Month events and programming persist, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Because of COVID, I know a lot of culture clubs didn’t really get a chance to throw their annual events like, you know, they used to,” said Kaylee Arzu, treasurer for the BSF and MCAS ’24.
If anything, however, these setbacks give the BSF an opportunity to experiment with the programming offered this year, according to Arzu.
“We’re taking this chance to really rebrand and show that the events that we did in the past were great, but you know, we can make them better,” Arzu said. “We can make sure that students are not just, you know, coming in to have discussions—which is important—but are also just having fun.”
The African Student Organization (ASO) will hold its annual fashion show, a showcase of African culture through performance and visual arts, according to its vice president Osasenaga Owens, CSOM ’24.
“We invite everyone because we see it as a way to kind of educate our fellow peers around campus about how diverse the African continent is in terms of, you know, music and style, and it’s also just a fun night overall,” Owens said.
Arzu also highlighted the BSF’s “Wild’n Out” show, slated for the end of February, as a particularly exciting event on this year’s schedule for everyone on campus—not just the AHANA community.
“What we do is not just for ourselves, but for everyone,” Arzu said. n
2005 Students Urge BC to Take More Responsibility for Black History Month Celebration Instead of Delegating to Students
2020–21 COVID-19 Moves On-Campus Events Into Digital Spaces
2023 Students Call On Non-Minority Members of BC Community To Participate in Month’s Events
2023 Terrence Floyd, the Brother of George Floyd, Speaks at a February Event
Throughout the last five decades, BC’s Black History Month programming has shifted.
“We’re doing [events] all throughout the month, but you don’t usually see a lot of the BC community really engage with them.”
think the fact that I don’t know says a lot,” DonoPHOTO COURTESY OF HEIGHTS ARCHIVES PHOTO COURTESY OF HEIGHTS ARCHIVES
When Doxie McCoy started a minority student newspaper at Boston College, she was the first to do it.
When she played as a goalie for BC women’s hockey, she was the first to do it.
And when she became a BC athlete, she was likely the first Black woman to do it.
When McCoy, BC ’77, arrived at BC in 1973, the University had only become fully coeducational three years prior. BC was also a predominantly white school, but McCoy said she was used to this type of environment after attending a mostly white all-girls Catholic high school in Washington, D.C. McCoy said she and her older sister were the only Black players on the various sports teams they joined growing up. So, when McCoy arrived at BC, she did not hesitate to get involved.
“I didn’t really have hesitation against trying out for the teams at BC even though,
you know, a lot more than the women’s sports were, but I just wanted to go out and play,” McCoy said. “And so that’s what I did.”
One day, while McCoy was practicing as a goalie for the field hockey team, former men’s hockey coach John “Snooks” Kelley asked her if she wanted to play on the first women’s ice hockey team at BC. Although she did not know how to skate, McCoy gradually learned and served as the team’s first-ever goalie in 1973.
When Kathryn O’Leary, BC ’79, arrived at BC, she joined McCoy on the women’s hockey team. O’Leary played ice hockey on a private team and figure skated while growing up in Hopkinton, Mass., so she said she had a background in the sport that many of her teammates—including McCoy—did not. At the time, O’Leary said women’s hockey teams were only common in New England.
“The fact that she was from D.C., and she played on the women’s ice hockey team was just, you know, over the top,”
all of these challenges, O’Leary and McCoy still committed themselves to the sport, embracing what they did have and laying the foundation for future female athletes.
“At one point, they did give us some jerseys that the men’s team didn’t need anymore,” O’Leary said. “So we at least had jerseys that said ‘Boston College.’”
But McCoy said she did not enroll at BC solely for the sports. The most important factor in her college search was finding a good communications program. So at BC, McCoy majored in communications and English. When she was not in the classroom or at practice, McCoy spent time writing for The Heights as a sports reporter. During her senior year, McCoy started Collage , a student newspaper focused on the lives of Black students and other minorities on campus.
“It was focused on Black students, African American students, and what they were doing on campus,” McCoy said. “It was just a way of covering subjects, issues, events, or activities that might not necessarily have been covered in The Heights.”
McCoy said she gathered a team of students who worked together to cover events, take photos, and make editorial decisions. Through Collage, she gave Black students a platform where they could report on events impacting their community.
“It was a good way for me to help hone my journalistic skills, as well as, you know, give opportunities for fellow students who were interested in journalism,” McCoy said.
After reporting for The Heights, Collage, and the campus radio station, WZBC, McCoy knew she wanted to continue pursuing journalism, but said she could not decide whether to dive right into the workforce or attend graduate school.
“I decided, because I was torn, that I would apply to Columbia,” McCoy said. “And if I got in, I would go, and if not I’d go look for a job, and I got in.”
After sharpening her reporting and writing skills at Columbia School of Journalism, McCoy said she was determined to become a TV reporter. She worked her way up in the journalism industry, starting off as a receptionist at a gospel music radio station and then securing a job as a news assistant at WTOP Radio, a radio station in the District of Columbia.
lished by African American women. In this role, Doxie said she works to foster a community for Black women in her area and help underserved communities in Washington, D.C.
“With the sorority it’s about service, and it’s also about sisterhood,” McCoy said. “You know, it sounds like a cliche, but that’s what it’s about—sisterhood and service.”
McCoy is also active in the National Association and Washington Association of Black Journalists, two networks for Black journalists of all ages.
Enid Doggett, a friend of McCoy who she met during her time at WTOP Radio, said McCoy acts as a mentor to many of the young professionals in these associations.
you know, I would be the only African American, at least on field hockey and also volleyball at the time,” McCoy said.
In 1972, the federal government passed Title IX, a law prohibiting discrimination based on sex within educational programs or activities that receive federal funding. But, BC’s journey toward equality for men’s and women’s sports was not immediate. McCoy was not slowed down by this reality.
“I’m sure the men’s sports were funded,
O’Leary said.
The team had nowhere near the funding it needed in its first years, McCoy and O’Leary said. They played in sweatpants and the little gear they could provide for themselves. They had no locker rooms, so they lugged their equipment and gear around to their classes, changing in the bathroom before hitting the rink for practice. When they played away games, O’Leary said they often slept on the floor in the rooms of their competitors. Despite
For Collage, McCoy wrote about a wide range of topics impacting Black students, from on-campus Kwanzaa celebrations to the Black Talent Program—a student-run program created by the University in hopes of recruiting more Black students to attend BC. Many students, including McCoy, pushed the University to implement measures beyond the Black Talent Program and make greater strides toward inclusivity. As a part of the Black Student Forum, McCoy participated in protests where she and other students urged the administration to admit more Black students.
“I recall having a number of protests walking through the campus,” McCoy said. “The goal was to have at least 10 percent Black students at the University.”
Since then, she has worked at various media outlets, including Black Entertainment Television (BET), where she said she worked on several different shows. In 2001, McCoy was awarded two NAACP Image Awards for her work at BET reporting on police brutality and the U.S. Census court.
“I’d cover, you know, things happening in Congress, and things that … would have been of national interest to a national African American audience,” McCoy said.
Eventually, McCoy pivoted to a career in government communications. She now works as a public information officer for the Office of the People’s Counsel in D.C., where she oversees the communications strategy for the government agency. McCoy also serves as the vice chair of communications for the North Atlantic region of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), the oldest sorority in the United States estab-
“It’s not uncommon to hear somebody in Atlanta or somebody in Chicago, who, actually, Doxie was a mentor to,” Doggett said. “I think that she’s been able to balance her life and strike that balance with what she gives and what she puts out in the community.”
Doggett pointed to one memory in particular that she said speaks to McCoy’s supportive character. When Doggett’s car broke down, McCoy came and helped her push it down Capitol Hill.
“My blue Volkswagen Beetle conked out on the Hill, and she got behind and pushed,” Doggett said.
On both a personal and professional level, Doggett said she has always admired McCoy for her drive and commitment to the people and issues she cares about.
“Before there was authentic, there was Doxie,” Doggett said. n
For Silvia Ballivian, Meenakshi
Menon, and Hannah Choi, the idea of a safe space materializes within the a cappella group Black Experience in America Through Song (B.E.A.T.S.).
“It’s the one place besides my room that I feel comfortable in,” Ballivian, president of B.E.A.T.S. and MCAS ’23 said.
B.E.A.T.S is Boston College’s only a cappella group that centers exclusively on music by Black artists.
The group seeks both to amplify the voices and culture of its members and the Black community in the United States within its performances and stands as an activist group for people of color at BC and beyond, according to its mission statement.
Ballivian recalls meeting a member of B.E.A.T.S who suggested she join the group.
Although she had planned to audition for an a cappella group her first semester of college, Ballivan didn’t end up auditioning for B.E.A.T.S. until her junior year.
According to Ballivan, during those first two years at BC, she felt like she didn’t belong. It wasn’t until joining B.E.A.T.S. that BC felt like home.
“As a person of color on campus, it’s very hard to find a place that you feel comfortable in,” Ballivian said. “I didn’t even feel comfortable in the dorm.”
Ballivan said the member of B.E.A.T.S who talked to her about the group described it as a safe space for people of color and highlighted the group’s inclusivity of all musical backgrounds.
“It’s better late than never,” Ballivan said about her decision to join.
Ballivian said she has always loved singing, especially R&B music.
She was a member of her high school chorus from sixth to 12th grade and became president of her school’s chorus during her senior year. Therefore, Ballivian said, it didn’t take much to convince her to audition for B.E.A.T.S.
I felt it was just such a safe space for people of color on campus,” Menon said. “I think we do a really good job of providing a warm environment to sing and make music and also express any difficulties we’re having with campus life.”
the group begins each performance with a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” commonly known as the Black national anthem.
“We specifically pick songs about Black empowerment, justice, Black love,” she said.
come back to BC for it’s B.E.A.T.S— to see the members, to speak about my experiences, to hear the songs, because it’s that important to me,” Ballivian said.
B.E.A.T.S was the only a cappella group that performed as an intermission act for ALC Showdown in 2022. Menon described the experience as being one of her proudest moments.
“I’ve been able to do things I would have never thought I would do, like performing in Conte in front of like 5,000 people,” Menon said.
Ballivan said she was honored to perform at the event.
“It was a huge adrenaline rush and a huge honor to you know, to be able to put our name out there and to be able to experience that with the group and the members,” Ballivian said.
Choi said some of her favorite moments spent with the other members of B.E.A.T.S. have been in rehearsals.
“I feel like my favorite moments are actually during practice, even though it gets a little difficult sometimes,” Choi said. “I feel like you can tell that we all care for each other. I think those moments make me realize how much I want to commit and stay in B.E.A.T.S.”
Similarly, Menon, a member of B.E.A.T.S. and MCAS ’25, said she began singing at age five and has continued to develop her passion for music through B.E.A.T.S.
“It’s made me connect with music on a completely different level,” Menon said. “I feel like I’m a lot more intimate with it now. And I feel like I’m immersed in it instead of just like singing, if that makes sense.”
But, according to Menon, music is just one of the reasons why she continues in B.E.A.T.S.
“I think especially as a freshman,
Choi, music director of B.E.A.T.S. and LSEHD ’25, said the welcoming environment of the group was a factor that drew her to B.E.A.T.S.
“I felt like I wasn’t really sure of where I fit in in BC,” Choi said. “Just because I feel like I didn’t really see a lot of people that I could connect with. So it just gave me a place where I could like express all parts of my identity and not feel super alienated because I feel about a lot when I’m walking around campus.”
B.E.A.T.S primarily sings R&B, hip-hop, and soul music. Ballivian said
But for its nine members, B.E.A.T.S is so much more than the songs it sings. Ballivian, Menon, and Choi described B.E.A.T.S as a family—a group bound through a common interest and through the care they have for each other.
For Ballivian, her involvement in B.E.A.T.S is the reason why she is glad she chose to come to BC despite her doubts about belonging on campus.
“So there’s many different factors why I don’t really feel like I belong in BC, but the one thing that I can say is that if there is something that I would
B.E.A.T.S performed twice in February—in the O’Connell House at the second event of the two-part series Living In Color on Feb. 11 and in Fulton for its annual Black History Month show on Feb. 18.
During its Black History Month Show, the group sang eight songs, which the group began rehearsing in the fall semester.
Menon encourages all students to audition for B.E.A.T.S, but especially those who are looking for a place where they can find community.
“We will find a place for you in B.E.A.T.S,” Menon said. “It’s like a family.” n
But by starting a
student newspaper, she also wrote it.
Down 10 points to then-No. 3 North Carolina with less than 30 seconds to play, former Boston College men’s basketball guard Tyrese Rice couldn’t understand why fans at Conte Forum were giving him a standing ovation. BC—who was ahead by 14 points at halftime—was moments away from losing decisively to a championship contender in what had been a rather uneventful 2007–08 season prior to this matchup.
“I’m not even really understanding exactly why everybody is literally standing up and clapping or whatever, because I was just so in the moment,” Rice, BC ’09, said.
The 6-foot-6 junior guard, however, had just turned in a performance nearly unparalleled in BC history, leaving the audience in Conte Forum—including Hall of Fame North Carolina coach Roy Williams—stunned.
Rice finished the game with 46 points, tied for the second-highest single-game total by an individual player in BC history, and the highest total since 1964.
“It was a little bit of an out-of-body experience for me, to be honest with you,” Rice said.
But even as Rice hit shot after shot—23 straight, to be exact—he didn’t blink twice.
For Rice, March 1, 2008 was just another Saturday.
Rice has reacted to both the highs and lows in his life with a certain steadiness— whether that be notching a historic performance or learning that his best friend’s sister was suddenly dying from cancer.
Or finding out that his high school coach Randy Cave died before Rice’s first nationally televised college game.
Or facing the fact that two of his friends were murdered a week later.
Forty-six points against National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough was no sweat for Rice.
“I wasn’t one to complain about the situation I was in,” Rice said.
A Black athlete
at a predominantly white institution, Rice said racial issues weren’t at the forefront of his experience at BC.
“We were aware of what was going on at a lot of these schools, but we were so trained in our minds to ignore it and just kind of, you know, figure your way out, you know, all the way through it,” Rice said.
While Rice enjoyed his success on the court, he said he had to learn how to adapt as a Black student off the court.
“We didn’t have to change who we were, but we had to be cognizant of who we were, you know, on campus and who we showed ourselves to be while we were on campus,” Rice said.
Rice acknowledges that despite not thinking about the social issues that Black athletes faced during his playing days, the circumstances could have been different.
“Now the resources are different,” Rice said. “So I think, you know, it would have helped us live. And it would have helped us as athletes as well.”
During his playing days at BC, basketball was always at the forefront for Rice. He said it was just in his nature.
“You know what you’re there for,” Rice said.
Through four years on the Heights, Rice averaged 15.9 points per game and totaled 2,099 points, leading BC to the NCAA Tournament three times—in 2006, 2007, and 2009.
Even with BC’s 13–13 record heading into the Eagles’ 2008 contest against North Carolina, the matchup was highly anticipated—North Carolina was a powerhouse, but Rice said his sole focus was winning the game.
“It was sold out before the game even got ready to happen,” Rice said. “I mean, we were coming out for warmups and half the arena was full two and a half hours before the game.”
Though it’s possible that some BC fans had piled into Conte Forum to see a Tar Heels squad that would eventually reach the Final Four, the crowd very quickly began watching history unfold, courtesy of a BC player.
“That place was rocking,” Josh Southern, Rice’s teammate and BC ’13, said. “It was jumping. When he started hitting all them threes and we were up—I mean, it was crazy in there.”
Before the game was even over, spectators believed Rice vaulted himself alongside other BC greats.
“It was the kind of game that had people
whispering at halftime about [Troy] Bell’s legendary career-high 42-point game against Iowa State in 2003,” Jessica Isner wrote in an article in The Heights in 2008.
Between the first half’s 18:20 mark and 10:59 mark, Rice was the Eagles’ lone scorer—a stretch that included four consecutive 3-pointers.
“It was like throwing a rock in the ocean,” Southern said.
According to teammates and fans, no one could believe what they were watching.
“Anything he threw in didn’t even touch the rim,” Mary Mangraviti, a fan at the game and BC ’86, said. “It was one of the more memorable athletic performances I have ever seen—and I’ve been going to events since I was in high school with Doug Flutie.” Rice said he couldn’t believe it himself.
ed for a 22–3 run to snatch the lead away from the Eagles and hand BC a 90–80 loss.
“It was tough to have to sit back, and kind of watch in a sense, instead of being able to go out there and do everything that I thought I could have done in that moment,” Rice said.
Still frustrated, Rice said he didn’t let the loss—or his historic performance— change his mentality. Rice—in that moment and throughout the rest of his career—remained authentic to who he was.
“I was the guy that used to play intramural football games,” Rice said. “I would go to the Plex and play randomly and just engage with the students regularly.”
Rice said he didn’t seek any extra attention at BC. He roomed with non-athletes and enjoyed himself, but never to the detriment of the team.
“He did a great job of making sure guys
to take me, you know, through high school, being the all-time leading scorer in Virginia, all-time leader in threes, all-time leader points in the season.”
But Rice struggled to receive Division I offers. BC was interested in Rice, but throughout his first three years of high school, his GPA wasn’t strong enough.
But Cave did not let Rice fail in school. He set up Rice’s senior year schedule, and Rice began taking six classes—just enough to strengthen his GPA to be academically qualified to go to BC.
“You actually can’t even do that anymore,” Rice said. “He was the one who got me into BC.”
Rice said Cave was excited to watch him play his first nationally televised game on Nov. 29, 2006 against Michigan State, but Cave—who was battling cancer—never got to watch the game.
“He died that morning,” Rice said. “Everything he did for me all throughout high school—he never got to see me play one college game.”
Just a week after Cave died, two of Rice’s close friends were murdered.
On top of everything else, Rice’s first child was born next month.
“This was like ‘boom, boom, boom, boom,’ all my freshman year,” Rice said. “Just an 18-year-old just trying to figure it out.”
But Rice stayed the course—just like he had growing up. No tragic loss—or 46-point game—ever made Rice someone who he wasn’t.
“I think, you know, those situations, they stuck with me as a young man, and I had to grow up so fast that I knew that I had to do something with ball because that was all that I knew,” Rice said.
Rice said that mindset carried him through his college years, as a teammate and a leader.
“I know I’ve ran off a good amount of points before in a stretch,” Rice said. “But never 22 straight.”
Rice’s torrid run put BC ahead 54–40 at the half, and he had registered 34 points in the first half alone. He was 20 minutes away from a career-defining upset.
“I mean, I felt like I could win this game probably by myself,” Rice said.
But Rice and the Eagles never did, and former BC head coach Al Skinner opted for a different approach.
“He was a little more adamant about us continuing the offense and trying to get people into the game,” Rice said. “And when they ramped up their defensive pressure, it got to us.”
It didn’t take long for BC’s game-high 18-point lead to evaporate with Rice less involved. North Carolina explod-
were motivated and were still having a blast out there,” John Oates, Rice’s teammate from 2005–08, said.
Staying grounded was something Rice had been taught growing up, and he took pride in it.
“It’s kind of like the humble nature that I was, you know, taught as a young kid,” Rice said.
Rice grew up in Lexington, N.C., but played high school basketball in Chesterfield, Va., at Lloyd C Bird High School. He came from a blue collar family, and all the women in his family played basketball. His grandma was the best, Rice said.
According to Rice, hard work is in his blood. He desires to maximize every opportunity and isn’t one to sit around and complain about his situation.
“It was just about playing the cards that you was dealt to the best of your ability,” Rice said. “And that was able
“He was simultaneously very supportive but also made sure to hold us accountable,” Oates said. “He expected everybody to be at his level of effort.”
Rice said he took every opportunity head on and never backed down—not even against then-No. 1 North Carolina in 2009. BC took down the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, shocking the college basketball world.
“We were never afraid of anybody that we played,” Rice said. “We understood that we always had a chance—it didn’t matter.”
Now, as a 35-year-old father residing in Houston, Texas, Rice said he remembers his experiences as a young man with pride. His 46-point game is permanently etched in BC history—even 15 years later.
“I’ve never talked about this game before,” Rice said. n
For most hockey defensemen, totaling 29 points, registering seven multi-point games, and earning Hockey East Defenseman of the Year in a single season are once-in-a-lifetime accomplishments.
For former Boston College women’s hockey defenseman Blake Bolden, they are just a brief glimpse into a career filled with everlasting impacts on the game of hockey.
In back-to-back games on Oct. 31 and Nov. 3, 2012, Bolden tallied a career-high four assists against then-No. 3 Boston University in a 7–1 road victory and then a career-high two goals and 13 shots against the Terriers in a 5–5 tie in Chestnut Hill. But Bolden does not even remember those games—she has no recollection of them.
“It doesn’t matter what’s going on with you, if you’re sick, if you’re ill, if you had a bad grade on your test—you’re showing up,” Bolden, BC ’13 said of facing BU. “I don’t even remember those games because I think I blacked out. I just was in flow state the whole time.”
Bolden said all that mattered was that she was taking away a victory from someone else in their own barn, as she always preferred to play on the road.
“Doesn’t surprise me that she said that from just the context of it felt like you’re professional hockey players on a business trip to go win games,” Molly Schaus, BC ’11, Bolden’s teammate during the 2009–10 season, said. “I think for her, it was an opportunity to rise to the challenge to prove to whatever team we’re playing, whatever coach, that she’s one of the best defensemen in the country.”
In the second of the two contests, Bolden took six shots in the first period alone—more than any other BC player logged in the entire game.
“They hit the net I guess,” Bolden said of her barrage of shots. “I loved when the puck was on my stick. It was a feeling of being a quarterback. You’re a defenseman, you have control of breaking out the puck, and I was fortunate enough to have a great shot. I used it to the full extent of my capacity.”
And whether it’s the Battle of Comm. Ave. against the Terriers, or a street hockey affair with Willie O’Ree—who broke the color barrier in the NHL—Bolden’s intensity and personality come through while playing, coaching, and expanding the game she dedicated her life to.
“That’s one of my favorite memories is playing street hockey with Willie O’Ree and Blake Bold-
en,” Schaus said. “Willie’s in his 80s just chirping us and winning faceoffs. Yes, they both understand and appreciate the position they’re in and the responsibility to be that voice and role model for others. But you put them on the ice and … they just love to play hockey.”
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Bolden was not born into a hockey family.
Rather, it became a family affair when her mother started dating a police officer who also worked as a security guard for the Cleveland Lumberjacks, a former professional team in the International Hockey League.
His favorite sport was ice hockey, and his relationship with Bolden’s mother led Bolden to discover a newfound love of the sport.
“Because of that relationship, I got
girl. Me and Megan Bozek were the only girls in that league for that age group.”
Upon entering college, Bolden became known as one of the best offensively minded defensemen in the country, according to BC head coach Katie Crowley.
When she stepped onto the ice for the first time in Chestnut Hill, her ability to control the blue line was clear.
“We had a little bit of a strange overlap where I was off at the 2012 Olympics when she was a freshman, so obviously heard a lot about her from teammates,” Schaus said. “But her work spoke for itself and she was able to produce. Obviously as a goalie, you want really good defenders in front of you, and we had a strong corner that she jumped into and it made a huge difference.”
As a freshman, Bolden played in 29
[Crowley]. She was [coaching] in the Frozen Four when I was 14 years old, and I’m like ‘oh my gosh, they’re going into three overtimes with Minnesota Duluth.’”
Bolden said following in Crowley’s footsteps was one of the pivotal reasons she chose BC.
“I had asks from all the different schools like Minnesota and Wisconsin and all the top dogs,” Bolden said. “And I was like, why do I want to go to like one of those top dog universities to just be another fish in their pond. I wanted to come to an organization and a program that I could maybe help build and change a little bit.”
BC’s hockey program was just the tipping point of Bolden’s adult career, but the Heights is where her run of firsts began.
Before her senior season in 2012,
the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), becoming the first Black hockey player to compete in the NWHL, which is now the Premier Hockey Federation.
“Especially in hockey in general, there aren’t a lot of Black women in the sport,” Crowley said. “She’s really created her own path. … She’s not even playing anymore, but she’s able to use her platform and promote Black women in hockey in general and I’m just so proud of her for that.”
In 2020, Bolden joined the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL as a growth and inclusion specialist and pro scout. She was the first Black woman to scout in the NHL, and just the second woman to hold the position—Cammi Granato being the first.
“There’s a future in hockey beyond playing, and I don’t think I knew that,” Schaus said. “I think it’s so important to realize [that] hockey is one piece of you.” Bolden was featured by Sports Illustrated in “The Unrelenting: SI’s list of most powerful, influential, and outstanding women in sports” in 2020 alongside Serena Williams, Simone Biles, and Billie Jean King.
“She is wise beyond her years,” Crowley said. “She was a mature person, even coming in as a freshman. She knew how to be light and funny, but she also knew when to be serious and when to be locked in. She didn’t need a whole lot of guidance. … I hope to think that her leading at Boston College has helped her in the realm that she is in.”
As a spokesperson for women’s hockey through the Blake Bolden Mentorship program, Bolden continues to make herself visible to Black youth.
to go to the arena,” Bolden said. “I got to have my little media pass, my lanyard to go into the tunnel, sometimes go into the locker room, meet the players. So from that experience, it turned into a family thing because he’s basically like a father figure … then I just was like, alright, well this is a sick sport, I want to learn how to play and then we immediately just started.”
Although hockey was not a big part of sport culture in Cleveland, according to Bolden, she began to develop her game at an early age.
When she was 6 years old—and still unable to stop on her left skate—Bolden began playing organized hockey with the Tri City Cyclones.
As her game progressed, Bolden started playing up, joining the Ohio Flames under-19 team as a 12- year-old.
“So it was like play up as high as possible or you’re playing on a boys team,” Bolden said. “And I think I was the only
games and led all Hockey East freshman defensemen with four goals and nine assists.
By the end of her senior season, Bolden ranked second all time of BC defensemen in points, goals, and assists.
“Very grateful that she was on our team and that I didn’t have to stop her slap shot,” Schaus said. “Until this day, she still has the fastest slap shot in women’s hockey. I got to watch that from afar.”
Bolden represented the United States prior to her career in college.
During Schaus’ sophomore and junior years on the Heights, Bolden played for the under-18 national team, winning gold in 2008 and 2009.
“I was in the national team program, and [Crowley] gave a talk to the girls and I was like wow, four-time Olympian, she’s incredible,” Bolden said. “I was kind of starstruck by
Bolden was tapped as BC’s captain, becoming the first Black player to ever earn the honor.
“She’s done a lot of firsts,” Schaus said. “But in doing so, she’s opened the door for a whole new generation behind her. And that’s the goal, right? That’s what [Crowley] did in ’98. [BC’s coaching staff’s] goal is to create really awesome people. Hockey comes second.”
Bolden went on to break several more barriers. In the 2013 Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) Draft, the Boston Blades selected her fifth overall. She became the first-ever Black player to be drafted in the first round of the CWHL Draft.
In 2016, she played for
She said she is honored to be an inspiration for the next generation of players, but acknowledged that she is just like any other person.
“I think the number one thing is authenticity,” Bolden said. “To know that a Simone Biles has a hard time in the Olympics and has to take a step back and a Serena Williams has a hard time getting back into her game after having a baby, like, we’re all just human.” n
By Eliza HErnandEz Projects Editor
When Boston College denied former professors Ed Reynolds and Charles Smith tenure in 1973, the BC Black Forum crafted a petition that called the decision “an extension of racist policy.”
“The university only has four black faculty and will lose two of them,” the petition read. “Last year there were seven and with only four this year there was a net loss of three. Boston College has displayed increasing neglect in luring and recruiting of Black faculty. The denial of tenure to Dr. Ed Reynolds and Dr. Charles Smith were the last of a series of racial insults.”
Despite the University’s decision, Smith did not leave BC. He went on to work at BC until 1996, when he became the first-ever Black faculty member to retire from BC as a tenured professor.
Throughout his career, he pioneered new programs and advocated for his peers by founding the Black Faculty, Staff and Administrators Association (BFSAA)—an affinity group with a vision to “promote the well-being and advancement of employees of African descent at all levels of the Boston College community,” according to the association’s website. Since 1973, the number of Black professors at BC has substantially increased. The BFSAA continues to carry out Smith’s vision by providing professional and
emotional support to all of BC’s Black employees. This academic year marks the group’s 50th anniversary.
“I think that even though life may be different now than in the 1970s, Black faculty and staff at BC are still a small percentage of the employees at BC, so that same sense of isolation is possible,” Akua Sarr, former co-chair of the BFSAA, said in an email to The Heights . “We are still very aware of ourselves as being Black at a predominately white institution—so the association responds to that reality.”
The group hosts monthly meetings, speaker series, a yearly retreat, and its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast. These events are guided by the BFSAA’s goal to foster Black excellence and leadership, the association’s website reads.
“BFSAA strives to create an inclusive community where the perspectives of employees of African descent are valued,” the website reads. “We aspire to promote a culture of Black excellence and leadership at BC.”
Claire Johnson, current co-chair of the BFSAA, said that the monthly BFSAA meetings last about an hour and highlight a different topic or guest speaker each time.
“Sometimes we bring in folks from other departments of the University who have information that we think could be useful, sometimes we want to spotlight one of our own if they’re doing something like really neat and unique,” Johnson said. “If there’s an
event or something we want to cover, or get ideas on, that’s what we’ll do.”
While the BFSAA focuses on professional resources, Sarr emphasized the benefits of the group’s emotional support when it promotes Black employees’ careers at BC.
“For many of us, we may be one of the only Black people in our department, so it’s nice to get to know other Black employees across campus,” Sarr said. “This kind of emotional support, we think, helps to promote the advancement, retention and well-being of Black employees.”
According to its website, the BFSAA upholds seven values, including care, collaboration, commitment, community, development, integrity, and leadership. The association espouses its values in all that it does, Johnson said in an email to The Heights
“Whether it is the care extended to new members of the BFSAA, the commitment community found in our yearly retreat, or the leadership opportunities offered through serving on the executive board, our values are intrinsic to who we are and how we connect with one another,” Johnson said.
The BFSAA is open to any University employee who identifies as having Black ancestry, Johnson said. As a new BC employee, Johnson said she intentionally joined the BFSAA, as she had prior experience with the benefits of affinity groups in professional settings.
“I realized as a professional, I have to be much more intentional in seeking out and creating spaces for myself,” Johnson said. “So, I knew coming into BC that I needed to see what affinity groups were offered—if there were affinity groups offered—and then very much took it upon myself, and I was like ‘Oh BFSAA, say less.’”
Karen Miller, who taught African American history at BC from 1990 to 2022, said that when she joined the BFSAA, she was looking for a source of advice, but appreciated the group’s networking opportunities and tips on how to advance her career.
“I would never expect to know the president or the various chief financial officers, or various people in the hierarchy of BC administration, but BFSAA would invite those people to come and talk about the University,” Miller said. “They would also talk about, ‘Well these things are going on,’ or what they suggested for people looking for promotions.”
Miller said that during her 30 years of employment at BC, she saw the BFSAA evolve through its advocacy work.
“At first it was just sort of building the organization and grooming leadership, and then it was ‘What are the limits?” Miller said. “Then we advocated for all levels of people within the University to bring their concerns to people who were in a position to do something about them.”
Johnson said that the BFSAA
has allowed her colleagues to make new connections and strengthen old bonds, especially as BC has grown in size through the years.
“I think certainly as the University has grown obviously, everybody’s needs grow—student needs grow, professional needs grow, faculty needs grow, and you know, certainly all the organizations from every level from students all the way up,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s always trying to adjust to what’s new or what’s salient, and the BFSAA is no different.”
Reflecting on the association’s 50th anniversary, Sarr said she finds it hard to believe that the BFSAA was established half a century ago.
“BFSAA has gotten a tremendous amount of support from the university and we’ve been a model for other affinity groups on campus,” Sarr said. “So, I feel a sense of pride and gratitude that we’ve been going strong for 50 years.”
Johnson attributed the BFSAA’s 50th anniversary to its dedication to others—both in and out of the group.
“As support for Black students and other students of color have been essential to their success, so too has support for Black faculty, staff, and administrators,” Johnson said. “Our anniversary is a testament of our commitment to not only the Heights community, but also to one another’s success.” n
Karyl Clifford contributed to reporting.
On 21 Curve Street in West Newton, a quietly regal white building sits facing the road. The sign in the front identifies the structure as the historically Black Myrtle Baptist Church.
For 149 years, the church has been a cornerstone of the African American community in Newton, creating a space for worship, togetherness, and empowerment.
“I think, overall, the general sort of tenor of the community is very, very warm and welcoming,” Rev. Alicia Johnson, an assistant pastor at the church, said. “We are formally, officially, a welcoming and affirming community.”
Myrtle Baptist is unique as it has a history of activism and community work, allowing it to act as a haven for those that need it.
“The reality is that people are wrestling with a lot of thoughts, a lot of pressure,” said Anthony Crossan, the first vice president and chair of religious affairs at the NAACP Boston Branch. “The church often is the place where we can pour those things out in a place where faith can meet with answers … or at least to pray and believe.”
The church is uniquely focused on preserving its history, and it sees
its past as an important basis for its future.
“Myrtle has been a place that tries to reach out as well as care for those who come,” Johnson said. “That aspect of our history continues to drive us toward finding new ways to do that.”
Inside the building and above a balcony overlooking the main body of the church, museum-style panels depicting the history of Myrtle Baptist Church line the walls. It’s a part of a church project that started in 2014 as an effort to preserve and celebrate the church’s rich heritage.
“We’re very proud of our history, and I want to say that our members know our history,” Shelby Robinson, the church’s history committee cochair, said. “We always, you know, we celebrate our anniversary, we always
do a big reading of the history.”
Myrtle Baptist Church was founded in 1874 when a group of Black Newtonians left the church now known as Lincoln Park Baptist Church in Newton to create their own place of worship. Rev. Edmund Kelley, a former slave, was invited to preach to the group, and he became Myrtle Baptist Church’s first pastor.
“He was a huge activist, in terms of, obviously, the anti-slavery movement, and, you know, Black people having autonomy and things as such,” Robinson said. “He helped empower Black communities to begin their own churches.”
The creation of Myrtle Baptist Church was not without its opponents. Nathaniel Allen, a prominent white abolitionist and educator, criticized the creation of a Black church and insisted that it was a step back for the Black community, according to a letter Allen sent to The Newton Journal in 1874, provided by Robinson.
In response, Kelley wrote a letter in The Newton Journal defending the new church as a space for greater Black autonomy.
“We deny that there is any proscription in the colored churches, for they open to all classes … the differences being that [Black people] are as eligible to the front seats, as they are to the back seats in the white people’s churches when they are permitted to occupy any seats at all,” Kelley wrote.
According to Crossan, the church in general has played an irreplaceable role in mobilizing the African American community.
“[The church] was the one place where they could be free together, where they could worship, discuss issues,” Crossan said. “And that has been really long-standing, and when we look today, we would not be near where we are without the church.”
Despite Allen’s criticisms, the members of Lincoln Park Baptist Church were supportive of Myrtle’s creation and the departure of their Black members, according to Robinson. They completed church construction in 1875 on land gifted by D.C. Sanger, a deacon from Lincoln Park Baptist Church.
Church totally got it … it was all done, as they like to say, with love and support,” Robinson said.
In 1897, however, a fire destroyed Myrtle Baptist Church. There is speculation about whether or not the fire was lit intentionally, according to Robinson.
“There was a fire, okay, which Newton papers described as a fire of an incendiary nature,” Robinson said. “It was always thought that the fire was lit deliberately.”
Within the year, church members rebuilt the church on the same plot of land, where it remains to this day. Notably, the new structure included two stained glass windows, which now cut a striking image over Curve Street.
As the years progressed, the church acquired a generational history, according to Karen Haywood, wife of former pastor Rev. Howard Haywood.
“I used to look at the elders of the church and say, ‘Oh, you know, look at the elders of the church,’ and now I am them,” Haywood said. “So, a lot of people have passed on a lot of people that have had the same characteristics that I had passed on. There are many people that are born and bred.”
The church’s community, in addition to being home to a family-like legacy, also carries memory of its hardships.
See Church, A9
“The people at the Lincoln Baptist
“I think, overall, the general sort of tenor of the community is very, very warm and welcoming. We are formally, officially, a welcoming and affirming community.”
“Myrtle has been a place that tries to reach out as well as care for those who come. That aspect of our history continues to drive us toward finding new ways to do that.”SHRUTHI SRIRAM / HEIGHTS EDITORS
Between 1962 and 1965, the homes of 21 church members were taken by eminent domain and demolished for the extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike (Mass. Pike), according to History of a Church , a book outlining the history of Myrtle Baptist Church.
with several other communities around the world throughout its history. Under Haywood, church members went to Nairobi, Kenya to serve at the Kinyago-Dandora School Project, according to History of the Church
“We had a Missions Ministry at that time that was directly responsible for connecting us with other kinds of organizations,” Johnson said. “One thing that we recognize is that there’s no real need to recreate the wheel. And so it helps us to not expend so much energy trying to plan projects, but to join with organizations and initiatives that are already happening, or sort of fomenting themselves.”
Several church members also helped those affected by Hurricane Katrina in collaboration with the Newton Housing Authority.
“That was the Black community,” Robinson said. “That was where everyone lived. Everyone went to church there. Everybody knew each other. It was a whole community. And then it was the issue of the Mass. Turnpike coming, and homes were taken by eminent domain.”
Many residents were not getting fair prices for their homes and were shut out from renting in Newton, according to Robinson.
“It was just a really bad time,” Robinson said. “They weren’t paying people what their homes were worth. They wouldn’t pay you. They told you that you couldn’t know how much they would pay you until you actually left your house. I mean, it was just a lot of shady stuff that went on, it was very bad.”
The Mass. Pike is 50 yards away from the church, across the back parking lot, according to Robinson.
“Our concern when the Mass. Pike came was that we would lose the community, and we would lose the church and everything,” Robinson said.
The eminent domain issue, however, impacted the church’s community in an unexpected way.
“Wherever people went, they came back to the church and they brought, you know, neighbors and friends,” Haywood said. “The church grew because of the, you know, the taking of the homes, you know, the Mass. Pike, but again, the struggle was, you know, how can I afford to stay here?”
The memory of the eviction of church members is still recent to a lot of church members, according to Johnson.
“It was my great grandparents’ home, my grandparents’ home,” Johnson said. “My mother lived there. Our homes were taken by eminent domain. So it’s not like it was so far past that people don’t remember it.”
Since the expansion of the Mass. Pike, the church has committed itself to providing Newton with affordable housing, creating Myrtle Village, which converted two homes built over a century ago into seven affordable housing units, according to the city’s website.
“We really wanted to take some of the additional property around the immediate neighborhood of the church that had been part of the historic Myrtle Village and really retain that property,” Johnson said. “One of the biggest pieces of [Haywood’s] legacy was wanting Newton to take affordable housing for all people more seriously. And so Myrtle Village came out of that effort and really is a way of calling back to the community that existed there before the Mass. Pike came through.”
“Several families came to Newton by way of the new housing authority,” Karen Haywood said. “And because my husband was on housing committee, he, myself, and several other people were responsible or volunteered to find the housing to find everything that was needed in those homes—you know, bedding, everything from square one because they came here with a lot of them with nothing but the clothes on their backs.”
This activism is important to church members, especially in that it honors their history as a community in Newton.
“Those kinds of efforts are ways not only for us to acknowledge our history as a community, but also to be able to then continue to work for justice and equality now,” Johnson said.
The church is partnering with Historic Newton to celebrate its 150-year anniversary next year.
“We are going to be working with them to see about getting a grant for an archivist to come and to look at our paperwork to see how it can be preserved in the best way,” Robinson said. “And then we’ll be filing for a grant jointly with Historic Newton, and they are going to help us archive our paperwork. It is a huge project, and it’s great.”
By Olivia JOung News EditorTarik Lucas’ first brush with local politics came in 2017, when he decided to help campaign against a charter commission proposal to eliminate ward-elected councilors in Newton.
“It was a very competitive ballot question back in 2017, and I fought against those changes,” Lucas said. “We prevailed in the election, and we still have local representation.”
That same year, Lucas ran for the Newtonville Area Council, and he won one of the nine positions in a competitive election.
Since then, Lucas has climbed up the ranks of local politics.
In March 2021, he was elected as Ward 2’s city councilor-at-large, becoming the first Black city councilor in Newton in nearly 40 years.
“Newton is a primarily white city, and I think the last Black city councilor—or then, alderman—was in 1987 … so it’s been a while,” Lucas said.
Lucas has been a Newton resident since 2009, before he became involved in city politics.
In 2008, he began his work as a royalty specialist for publishing house Harvard University Press—a job he still has to this day.
“[That] essentially is what pays the bills, and I take a lot of pride in my day job,” Lucas said. “But you know, when the clock strikes five, you know, I have to put on my city council hat, and I have to respond to those emails that built up during the day.”
Balancing his time as a royalty specialist and a city councilor is a challenge, Lucas said, but it’s one that he is more than willing to take.
around during his childhood, Lucas said the issue of housing stability is a personal one. When it comes to voting on housing projects or zoning changes, the possibility of someone being displaced from their home as a result often plays an important deciding factor in Lucas’ decision, he said.
“[It] is not fun for a family, a family that doesn’t own their home, and it’s something which I hope all my colleagues take into consideration when making a decision on this,” Lucas said. “How is it going to affect the people who are going to be essentially most affected—the most vulnerable people in our society?”
As city councilor, Lucas said he is always listening to his constituents and building relationships with Newton residents and business owners.
“You know, that’s my approach—just following up with people, calling them up, sending them emails, meeting them in person, meeting them at a site visit, and just being there really,” he said. “Being present is really helpful to developing relationships.”
According to fellow Ward 2 City Councilor Emily Norton, Lucas’ willingness to connect with residents is what makes him a good representative of Newton.
“[He] explains things to people,” Norton said. “He does a newsletter—[an] excellent newsletter—that explains what the issues are that are being considered and voted on, and what the sort of various angles are around those issues and where he is leading.”
In addition to these relationships with his constituents, Norton said Lucas’ position as one of the few Black elected representatives in the history of Newton is a significant accomplishment for the city as a whole.
on the council,” Albright said.
Lucas noted the importance of his involvement in Newton government, recalling initial reactions from residents while canvassing for his first run for office in 2019.
“I would give my opening speech or, you know, my opening elevator pitch, and then someone at the door would say, ‘Oh, okay, alright … wait, wait, you mean Boston City Council?’ I’m like, ‘No, Newton,’” Lucas said. “So they just couldn’t understand that someone who was Black would be running for city council.”
As a government representative, Lucas said he aims to represent everyone in the Newton community, regardless of their cultural background.
After a surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lucas helped draft and ultimately pass a resolution in 2022 urging the city to take action and “invest in multiracial community health and safety.”
According to social worker and Newton resident Betty Chan, who spearheaded the resolution, Lucas’ support was essential to getting it unanimously passed by the city council.
Chan said she is still working alongside Lucas to address systemic racism and that his election to city council is a step in the right direction.
“Asian Americans are the largest minority group in Newton—it’s around 16, 17 percent and growing each and every year, and, you know, as far as … racial justice, that is something that is always in the back of my head,” Lucas said.
Myrtle Baptist feels that its future involvement with the community will always be connected with its rich history, according to Johnson.
“I don’t think that history defines our activism, but I do think that it continues to inspire people to want to continue to sort of make history in different ways,” Johnson said. “I think that knowing that the founders of the church and that many generations of people have worked in the past for the betterment of the community continues to show that that ethos continues to enliven the kinds of work that people choose to do.”
The Black church is a prime space for developing these kinds of initiatives, where community members can come together and mobilize for causes they share, according to Crossan.
“We’re talking about ripe opportunity to strategize together, to consider what are the issues in our community, to get a pulse from people, to present messaging to be shared out,” Crossan said.
But ultimately, the church and spaces like it offer a kind of solace through their intersection of community and spirituality, he said.
“It creates this weight, this value, that’s different than what’s common on a normal basis … to understand this isn’t just when we get there, but this is right now,” Crossan said. “This is present in some of the tenets and principles that are useful to get people to a place of peace over trauma, a place of love over a lot of the chaos that we’re
“It is a lot of reading, it is a lot of work to do, but I like it,” Lucas said. “This is what I want to do. I want to give back to the city—the city that has been very good to me ever since I moved here in 2009.”
Susan Albright, president of Newton City Council, commended Lucas for his dedication to his work as a city councilor.
“He always does his homework— he comes prepared for meetings, he understands the issues,” Albright said. “And, you know … I can’t say that every councilor does his homework, but Tarik always does his homework.”
Lucas said he primarily attributes his work ethic to his parents.
His father is a retired postal worker and his mother is a nurse who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If you put in the work, you will see results, and, you know, hard work pays off—that’s just a fact that applies to everything,” Lucas said. “And, you know, that’s something that my parents did when they were young to achieve the status that they’re at now.”
Though he currently resides in Newton, Lucas and his family spent the better part of his early life living in lower-income housing in Allston and later Brookline.
At the age of 12, he and his family were displaced from their apartment in Brookline by their landlord, who wanted to convert the building into luxury housing. Before that, Lucas’ mother and her family were forced to move out of their home in Roxbury to make room for a highway that was ultimately never built. Because his family frequently moved
“He’s the only person of color on the city council, and that is a big deal—it’s a big deal for representation,” Norton said. “I know … anecdotally there are young people of color who are really happy that Tarik is there.”
Albright also emphasized the importance of Lucas’ position as city councilor.
“We welcome any background and of any diversity, and it’s great to have that
Lucas said he expects to be held at the same standard as his white colleagues, noting that the city’s Black community—though small—has held prominent positions of power in the past, most notably former Newton Mayor Setti Warren and former Newton School Committee Chair Tamika Olszewski.
“As Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘By the content of their character, not by the color of their skin,’” Lucas said. “And that’s the way … I treat people, and that’s the way I expect to be treated in return.” n
In 2021, Tarik Lucas began his historic tenure as Newton’s first Black city councilor since 1987.Myrtle Baptist Church has worked
seeing.” n
“It was just a really bad time. They weren’t paying people what their homes were worth. They wouldn’t pay you. They told you that you couldn’t know how much they would pay you until you actually left your house.”
“We’re talking about ripe opportunity to strategize together, to consider what are the issues in our community, to get a pulse from people, to present messaging to be shared out.”
“I used to look at the elders of the church and say, ‘Oh, you know, look at the elders of the church,’ and now I am them.”
of its past and present.
Most members of the BC community do not know much about BC’s historical Black presence, but this does not mean it has not been prominent and impactful, Frederick said. This is why she wanted to memorialize events integral to BC’s history through the Black BC Walking Tour.
“This is BC, not necessarily in the Black version, or the brown version, or the white version,” Frederick said. “It is part of the BC experience, so I wanted to raise that to, I guess, the general consciousness of the University.”
Frederick said the most profoundly interesting detail she highlighted in the tour is the Black Talent Program, which led to the eventual creation of the Black studies department.
but Frederick said the conference eventually faded out. By bringing it back in 2016, Frederick said she reinstated an important event at BC.
“That was a regular conference that put BC on the map, in the city, but also nationally and internationally,” Frederick said. “We had very important folks participate in it.”
Through efforts like the Blacks in Boston Conference or the Black BC Walking Tour, Frederick said she hopes to create an archive where Black history at BC is celebrated and memorialized.
she has found that her perspective on Blackness has expanded as she continues to read different books following different Black characters.
She illustrates the concept of Blackness as “fantastical” in her book, Evidence of Things Not Seen: Fantastical Blackness in Genre Fiction, which was published in July 2022. In this book, Frederick analyzes how Black people shape their identities.
By spencer steppe Magazine EditorAsst.
Throughout her 25 years at Boston College, Rhonda Frederick has watched the on-campus conversation about Blackness evolve, shaping her identity as well as her colleagues and students. Today, she said she prefers to describe Black identities as “fantastical” and believes discussions around Blackness should be approached with admiration and optimism rather than pity.
Historicizing the experience of Boston College’s Black students, faculty, and staff is one focus of Frederick’s work at BC. In the 2019–20 academic year, she curated the Black BC Walking Tour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of BC’s
African and African Diaspora Studies (AADS) program. This tour is laid out on a website that showcases stories linked to different locations at BC and a timeline of Black history at the University.
“To recognize a long-standing and durable presence at BC, that’s where my initial motivation came from,” said Frederick, an associate English professor. “Every part of BC has some kind of history, and I wanted to document that.”
When she is having conversations about the history of BC, Frederick said most of what she hears revolves around its Irish and working-class origins. She hopes the BC community will expand these perceptions about BC’s history to include everybody—that way, the University can embrace the many facets
The University started the Black Talent Program in 1968 as an attempt to recruit more Black students to attend BC, Frederick said. These students then ended up forming the Black studies program in 1969 and even took on administrative responsibilities within the newly created department. The Black Talent Program also advocated for BC administrators to hire more Black faculty members. Frederick said all of these events are outlined throughout different locations and dates on the Black BC Walking Tour, solidifying their importance in BC’s history.
“Students as activists on this campus really had touched very different parts of the University, and from my perspective, shaped the University in really progressive ways,” Frederick said.
Beyond advocating for BC’s Black community through her work creating the tour, Frederick served as the AADS director from 2009 to 2014.
During her time in the position, Frederick said her most proud moment was reviving the Blacks in Boston Conference. The Blacks in Boston Conference started under BC’s first Black studies director, Amanda V. Houston,
“I wanted the University and every member of the University to understand how Black students, faculty, and staff changed this institution,” Frederick said. “BC is BC because of the contributions of everybody, but this is a contribution that I think folks tend not to know.”
Throughout her time teaching at BC, Frederick has also mentored many students and colleagues, including assistant professor Jovonna Jones, who said Frederick positively impacted her confidence and identity.
“We’ve constantly been learning from each other, and I think that’s just made me feel settled here, confident, like I’m valued here, and like what I am bringing is valued here,” Jones said.
According to Jones, one of Frederick’s greatest strengths is her creativity. She is both an artist and a creative thinker, and Jones said she optimizes these skills to help those around her.
“She has this creativity, plus these high standards, and encourages or guides students to feel like they can do the same thing,” Jones said. “Her strength is being able to share that creativity and pull it out of other people.”
Frederick has used this creativity in her classes when discussing Blackness through the lens of fictional characters. As a professor in the English department, her classes focus on Black literature, and
“The ability of Black people to be able to be something other than what was prescribed is fantastical,” Frederick said. “That is a skillset, to be able to know oneself as not limited by oppressive circumstances.”
This perspective is important because it does not focus on the victimization of Black people, but instead highlights the ways in which Black people define themselves, Frederick said.
Frederick exemplifies the lessons she teaches by demonstrating confidence in her identity, said Kristin Reed, BC’s assistant director of education and training initiatives and BC ’10. Frederick was a mentor for Kristin Reed when she attended BC, serving as her thesis advisor senior year.
“She’s really incredible at being honest and authentic in her self-expression as a Black woman but also as an academic person, and she holds those together very well,” Reed said.
Frederick first connected with Reed as her mentor in the Benjamin E. Mays Mentoring Program at BC, a program providing support for AHANA, multiracial, and Options Through Education freshmen.
Reed said Frederick gave a lot of practical guidance, but she also served as a role model for how to be a successful Black woman on campus.
“So, I think she modeled a lot for me, the kind of woman that I hope to be,” Reed said. n
For the Black Leadership Initiative (BLI), Black History Month is not just the month of February—it’s all 12 months of the year.
“We’re very focused on the history of Black communities,” Samuel Bradley, co-founder and co-director of the BLI, said. “The history of Black communities is oftentimes an overlooked aspect of the work, but how can you know how to stage for the present or the future without understanding the implications of the past.”
In the fall of 2021, the Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW) enrolled an inaugural cohort of 15 student fellows as the first class of the BLI.
These fellows participate in programming where they learn about how social work practices can be applied to help Black communities.
The program was co-founded and is co-directed by Tyrone M. Parchment and Bradley, who work together to admit master’s of social work (MSW) students into the BLI.
“This is a multi-year graduate program,” Bradley said. “This will be the first year we graduate students participating in BLI, and the students go into fields from politics to mental health counseling.”
The program consists of three custom classes, monthly meetings emphasizing community and featuring guest speakers, and an annual retreat.
The goal is to create a community within the cohort and build a network of Black social workers, according to Lujuana Milton, the BLI program coordinator.
“Throughout the year I bring in BCSSW alums who are Black-identifying, or of the African diaspora, and they speak about their work and the way in which they engage in practice,” Milton said. “Some themes have included selfcare, practicing as a social worker, and unique experiences that Black social workers have through clinical and macro practice.”
Teaching the history of the Black community can be difficult, Bradley
said, so he sees the program as a march toward justice. The program teaches about the histories, philosophies, and cultures of the Black community.
“Our classrooms are filled with deep discussions, and they feel like community, like family, while also being full of rich knowledge, history, and culture,” Mattie Harris, a BLI student and BCSSW ’24, said. “We all have a shared experience of being Black in the United States … our professors do a great job of taking these experiences and translating them into how it will make us great social workers.”
Bradley said the BLI also takes an Afrocentric approach to social work for MSW students, working to elevate people’s social and emotional well-being.
“And in particular, we’re trying to train our students with the best evidence-based practice, specifically for Black communities,” Bradley said.
According to Milton, taking an Afrocentric approach to social work means centering teaching around the experiences of individuals who are of the African diaspora, as opposed to more typical Western social work teachings.
“When I was a social work student, many of the teaching theory frameworks are basically taught from a eurocentric and Western lens that often denies people’s cultural experiences,” Milton said. “We have to educate ourselves through slavery, through some of the experiences that Black people had to experience.”
When Milton first spoke to Bradley and Parchment about their work developing the BLI, Milton said she realized it incorporated everything that she, as a Black social worker, felt was missing in her practice and education.
“By participating in a program like this, it really puts into words what many social workers are already doing in the communities,” Milton said. “It is able to frame their experiences in a way that is different from traditional westernized ways.”
Bradley said that when he joined the BC community, he had a desire to connect with other Black graduate students. He wanted to create oppor-
tunities for students to engage in their own culture and take classes geared toward the Black community.
“[Students] who were looking for themselves in the curriculum, the books, and activities and maybe not always finding it,” Bradley said. “It created an opportunity for me to seek out like-minded folks within the school so that we could work together and build a partnership.”
The most rewarding aspect of working with the BLI, Bradley said, is the human connection element.
He said getting to know students, creating opportunities for them based on their passions, and coaching them are the most important parts of his role.
“If I can make each one of my students feel like there’s somebody in their corner who cares a lot about them and wants it to be successful, I think half of my job is done,” Bradley said. “The other half is to connect them with opportunities to impact the world, and also just engage in self-exploration.”
Harris said the BLI taught her to implement the West African concept of shared consciousness—a set of shared beliefs and morals that operate as a
unifying force—into social work.
“It gives a different perspective on the many different cultures within the Black community,” Harris said. “We meet and talk with social work professionals who embody the characteristics of BLI students within their own fields of practice.”
Harris’ experience in the BLI is one she would not be able to get anywhere else, she said.
“We have students from California, from Atlanta, from Nigeria, I’m from Louisiana, you know, the list goes on,” Harris said. “I have definitely taken a lot out of the BLI, especially with understanding each of the different cultures within the Black community and all over the African diaspora, because it’s not a monolith.”
The BLI was the main reason why Harris decided to come to BC and move to Boston—she said it was her saving grace.
“It was something that no other program in the United States had,” Harris said.
For Harris, being a part of the BLI also helped her adjust to life in Boston by providing her with a community of
friends who share similar life experiences.
“Being able to meet these beautiful, intelligent future social workers who are Black like me, and who aren’t Black like me, I’m beyond grateful,” Harris said. “To be able to share spaces of knowledge with each other, to be able to go out with each other outside of BLI too.”
Gabrielle Nash, a BLI student and BCSWW ’23, is a member of the inaugural cohort, and she said the BLI was her favorite part of studying at BC.
“Being able to have more candid and honest conversations in this safe space is really special,” Nash said. “Dr. Parchment is actually a SOCA-certified workout teacher, which is like Zumba with Afrobeats, and one month he led a class—we do fun activities that also deepen our bond.”
Nash said the specialized focus she is learning from the BLI will provide her with a well-rounded approach to her social work. The BLI has shaped her entire experience at BC, both professionally and personally.
“BLI just really allowed BC to feel like home for me,” Nash said. n
When student photographer Kaylee Arzu walked through the Dior exhibit of the Brooklyn Museum last winter, she admired the classic style and iconic poses depicted in the art on the walls.
But one thing stood out to her: The photos in the exhibit predominantly reflected white women.
“It made me realize that at this time, the pinnacle of elegance and beauty and high fashion was white women,” Arzu, MCAS ’24, said. “And of course further along in the exhibit [there were] photos of super popular Black models like Naomi Campbell, but there’s more to that than just the token Black model. I wanted to explore what elegance looks like for me.”
Arzu decided to portray elegance through her lens in her photo series, Noir , to show that Black youth can embody the same characteristic. The two-part series published on her In stagram Kaptured by Kaylee in June 2022 proves that, in editorial-style photoshoots, elegance can be sensual, gender fluid, and Black, according to the caption.
In the first part of images challenge the idea of elegance being inherently exclusive to fem ininity, as she opted to use a male model draped in an intricate pearl necklace instead of a female model. The second part of partly in black and white and plays with the intersection of sensuality and elegance.
Noir was the first series in which Arzu took the initiative to reach out to models that she specif ically wanted to work with and executed her idea from start to finish.
“It’s probably some of the images that I’m most proud of to this day,” Arzu said.
According to Greer Muldowney, an art, art history, and film professor at Boston College, Arzu is a “photo beast.” Muldowney said she is always impressed with Arzu’s work.
“She fit right into [the photography community at BC] and was really passionate, especially when it came to portraiture and thinking about identity issues within her work and other people’s work,” Muldowney said.
Arzu specializes in portraiture but is becoming more interested in fashion photography, as seen in Noir and To Be Young, Gifted and Black , a recent series that she shot while in Paris.
Arzu focuses her photography on the experiences of young, Black college students. While she mainly photo -
ty to travel to Paris through the African and African Diaspora Studies program’s Amanda V. Houston Traveling Fellowship.
“That project was mainly to just explore what the young Black creative experience looks like outside of my immediate environment,” Arzu said.
Arzu said she chose Paris because she had studied the Black renaissance that occurred there and wanted to explore the same community that many Black artists and literary figures had visited. The title To Be Young, Gifted and Black was inspired by a Nina Simone song of the same name.
“[The song] just really spoke to reaffirming and reassuring young Black people that they are gifted, that they have talent, and that their voice is important,” Arzu said.
To create To Be Young, Gifted and Black , Arzu reached out to models in Paris over Instagram and TikTok and approached people on the street to take their photos.
She said it was exciting to scout people who were willing to be a part of her project, especially in another country. Arzu said capturing what the young, Black experience across the world looked like was also extremely important to her.
For part of this series, Arzu photographed young Black people celebrating Pride Radicale, a Pride month celebration in Paris that emphasizes anti-racism and anti-imperialism. In one image, the subject of the photo poses with their hands placed on either side of their chest and their tongue almost sticking out of their mouth.
The background of the portrait is blurred, but the fuzzy outline of a pride flag is still visible in the background. The photograph exudes a carefree and joyful energy.
In the same trip, Arzu shot
at various locations around Paris.
One of the images portrays the two photographers, seated back to back in foldable chairs, each with their legs crossed in their laps, wearing monochromatic outfits. They are positioned against a white backdrop with a blossoming tree in the middle. The symmetry in the photo is striking. While Arzu is currently focused on fashion and portrait photography, she first became interested in photography through her mother, who was a videographer for her church. While Arzu said she did not want to pursue that same exact path as her mom, having a camera in her household pushed her in the direction of photography.
Her moment came when her high school’s photographer—someone Arzu was also close friends with— graduated and encouraged Arzu to apply for her old role. Arzu then started taking photos of school events and her friends. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she pursued her interest further.
“I had the camera that my school had given me, and a whole bunch of really, really good equipment,” Arzu said. “And I was like, you know what, I still have this interest in photography and literally all the time in the world—I might as well dig deeper into it.”
In addition to pursuing her own projects, Arzu also does birthday photoshoots, personal shoots, and conceptual shoots, according to her website. Arzu is involved in every aspect of her shoots including the creative direction and styling.
According to Arzu, what the model is wearing can make or break the shoot, so when it comes to outfits, she likes to be as involved as possible.
Depend -
ing on how experienced her models are, she has poses for them in case they need more direction.
For Arzu’s photoshoot with model Angel Davis, the process of posing and styling was extremely collaborative, but Arzu had a clear leadership role according to Davis. The photoshoot was inspired by the beach and simplicity, Davis said.
“She’s definitely just a vibe,” Davis said. “We had a good time. We were playing music and while it was really cold because of the water it was still fun because, you know, she would allow me to kind of move freely, which I really do think is important with photographers.”
The photos depict Davis in a white dress and flowing shawl against the bright blue background of both the sea and sky. In some shots, Davis poses on rocks near the water’s edge. In others, she stands statuesque in the water.
The two met through a mutual friend and decided to collaborate for this creative project. This was not the first photoshoot Davis has done, but she said it was one of her most fun and comfortable shoots.
“[Arzu] is another Black woman photographing a Black woman … so I just felt more comfortable expressing myself through my poses, how I spoke, even just how I carried myself,” Davis said. “I felt more comfortable with her for sure, because it was for fun and to create this image that she wanted, [and] that I wanted to be part of.” n
