Umoja created various events to share information on Black History Month

Club informs the campus about African American history and culture

BY JOSHUA BLEIWEISS

Umoja is a word that originates from Kiswahili meaning “unity,” and during Black History Month the program created various events to share information on African American history.

For this year’s first pop up, a stand was setup at the Mall for students to hear about the importance of Umoja and learn about major African American figures on Feb. 18.

“We are American history, this country was built off of our backs,” student worker Janeeh Ford said.

“Regardless of the brutal history, I believe that this country was built off of the backs of people who started off as Africans. It’s important to bring the greatness of the culture, not just slavery.”

Cultural figures included Spike Lee, who received his first Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2019 for “BlackKklansman.”

Another was Matthew Henson, the first African American to reach the North Pole.

“The importance of this event, all our events, is to educate,” Ford said.

“We’re giving people influential African American figures so that they can learn, and fill out flags on why these people inspire them. We’re trying to bring awareness to influential figures and to people’s lives.”

While Black History Month is an important time, it also takes place during the shortest month of the year.

Student worker Salma Ubwa gave a brief history of the month itself.

“Did you know that Black History Month started off as Black History Week? It used to be from February 1st to the 7th,” Ubwa said.

Ford agrees in how the history of Black History Month itself is “awkward.”

“Black History Month is a cool time to celebrate but African American history is every day’s history,” Ford said. “It’s the shortest month of the year, some people only have a week or a day, but to give us the shortest month is a little bit of a jab.”

Ubwa followed with why it’s important to pay respect to Black people. “D.C. in itself was built on the backs of Black people, you wouldn’t have the White House, you wouldn’t have all these amazing places without black people who built them.”

Ford believes Umoja gives Pierce students a welcoming environment to have these imperative discussions.

“There’s no other programs like this on campus so we’re very resourceful,” Ford said. “We have a space where people can feel safe on campus, and we’re a big community where people feel like they have that space to talk to others.” am – 9:00 pm

Christopher Strickland is a professor who teaches the only two classes on African American history at Pierce.

“Black History Month is extremely important so that people recognize and learn about the various struggles and contributions of African Americans in this nation and throughout the world,” Strickland said. “It’s important here at Pierce for the same reason why it is important all throughout the world: to increase knowledge. Knowledge is power, and the more we know, the more we all grow.”