California State University, Bakersfield
February 10, 2021
Vol. 47, No. 2
CSUB celebrates Black history By Zeltzin EstradaRodriguez Reporter Hoda Huzaibi, Associated Students Inc’s director of diversity and inclusion, believes that Black History is American History. To Huzaibi, Black History––specifically, in the United States’ education system–– is not heavily regarded in the way it should be. “Some parts of [Black History] are not stressed enough,” Huzaibi said. CSU Bakersfield recognizes and celebrates Black History Month every February. Provided the unfortunate situation that happened November of 2020 when ASI’s former Vice President of Campus Life, Nadia Mendoza-Mendez, made divisive, racist remarks to one of our own Black students, it seems important that the school make it an impressive celebration. In the wake of the social revolution that sparked May of 2020 with the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd and the U.S.’s first Black and female Vice President, Kamala Harris, the celebration and education of Black History is seemingly even more valuable than ever. Darius Riggins, Director of University Outreach and co-chair for the Black Faculty and Staff Association at CSUB, has been working closely with fellow co-chair Tamar Anthony to organize a remarkable Black History Month. The surge of the Black Lives Matter movement certainly had an impact on their goals for the celebration this year. “It definitely was a motivator because there’s so many issues you could tackle in the Black community,” Riggins said. “When it comes to Black Lives Matter and Black
History Month, there also is a connection in terms of relevancy and keeping in mind that history and those things that have happened in the past are still relevant today and should be talked about and not forgotten.” Riggins elaborated on the police brutality incident of Rodney King that sparked an uprising while he was in college and likened it to what still happens today as shown by the more recent police brutality stories of George Floyd and Trayvon Martin. Though Riggins emphasizes that it is important to recognize the repetitions of brutal incidents such as those that exist in Black history so that such issues can be overcome in the Black community, he also indicates that it is equally as important to learn about the positive, powerful
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myself...It really does feel good to learn these things because they’re not taught to you. And then you learn self-respect through the process,” Madrid said. Thus, Riggins, Anthony, and Campus Programming made it a point to incorporate many events that positively uplift the Black community and that educate those who attend the events about Black History in an inclusive and effective manner. On the itinerary, you will also see that it asserts 2021 as the “Year of the Black Woman,” highlighting CSUB’s attempt to put an emphasis on the even more hidden history of Black women. “Women are already a minority,” Huzaibi said, “So, for us to focus on Black women is extremely important because it’s like
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they have a struggle from both sides. So, they’re not only struggling because they are a woman, but they are also struggling because they are Black.” In the same vein, Riggins said, “I as a Black man, I also want to make sure that I’m understanding the wonderful contributions that women have made. Why? Because most of the contributions and accomplishments and big-time people that are all celebrated are all men...I would be a fool to think that there were not significant women that have done wonderful things as well.” During this month of appreciation and celebration, we can expect appearances from Grammy-nominated jazz musician Jarret Johnson, well-renowned actress and comedian Amanda Seales, and CSUB’s own
educators as they provide talks concerning race and ethnicity in education and the world in general. For a more detailed itinerary of what CSUB has prepared for Black History month, check your CSUB email for an email from ORG-diversity that provides a PDF version of the calendar, or check out the Black Faculty and Staff Association’s webpage on our institution’s website. Riggins advised to look out for updates to the calendar. Updates would include new or changed Zoom links and potentially new events. Huzaibi also disclosed that she is working on organizing a Black History trivia game night—perhaps also with a guest speaker— that will take place sometime this month.
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moments and accomplishments that are a part of Black history. “You have cultures and communities— and in this case we are talking about the black community— who may experience things or do things never even knowing that someone from their community helped create it or was a part of it or something, and that could lead to inspiration,” Riggins said. Hakeem Madrid, a Black student who is now senior at CSUB, agrees with Huzaibi’s and Riggins’ remarks. “In high school they teach you the bland, basic...you glance over these topics and conversations and like once that chapter is done then that’s kind of it. You don’t speak about it ever again. So, um, a lot of things I had to teach