This Black History Month, UW-Eau Claire will feature five on-campus events put together by the Multicultural Student Services.
These events were put together by faculty and students, including associate professor Stacey Jackson, living learning community coordinator Laken Jones and student services coordinator Katie Streckert, whom Jones said organized last year’s event.
“This year, we’re really student driven in the programming that we’ve decided to put on for Black History Month,” Jones said.
Jones said the events come together through a lot of teamwork and contributions from several sources.
“It’s been a good amount of work, but it’s been good teamwork,” Jones said.
The first Black History month event, the “8th Annual MLK Day Celebration,” took place at 4 p.m. on Feb. 4 at Schofield Hall.
The event highlighted the civil rights movement. It included a piano performance and a presentation where Jackson received the Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Leadership Award.
“She’s part of a lot of different EDI boards and initiatives in the community as well, so [she] was an excellent candidate,” Streckert said.
The previous year’s event put focus on Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech while this year put emphasis on the Montgomery bus boycott, according to Streckert. Second-year social work student Jay Duell said the event highlighted the relationship between Martin Luther King Jr. and Langston Hughes.
Duell was one of the students helping organize the Black History Month events. He said he suggested they emphasize the friendship between Hughes and King.
Duell said that Hughes and King kept their relationship private, but felt it was important to highlight at the event.
“Take pride in those little friendships that help you along the way because no one can do anything alone,” Duell said.
The second event, “Black Essence: Highlighting Local Excellence,” will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 in the Ojibwe Ballroom.
“I think I’m looking forward to this Tuesday the most just because there’s so many diverse people that are going to be there in regards to what they do and what they offer to our community,” Jones said.
Jones said this event will feature local vendors and a remembrance corner
“It’s the easiest and most extensive show of black culture in the Eau Claire area that we can give,” Jones said.
The third event, “UAC Film: Queen of Katwe,” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 15 in Hilltop Recreation Center.
The 2016 Disney film, “Queen of Katwe,” is based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi. It follows Mutesi’s journey to the junior chess championship of Uganda.
The film stars Madina Nalwanga as Mutesi along with David Oyelowo and Academy Award winner, Lupita Nyong’o.
The real Mutesi is now a graduate of Northwest University and a business strategy analyst at Microsoft.
The film received 30 nominations and won four awards after release. For those who cannot attend the event, it can be found on MyTV10 for students or on Disney Plus.
The fourth event is a Blugold Dialogue titled, “What it Means to Be Black, Black Black and Blackity Black Black: Finding the Beauty in the Struggle,” to be hosted from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 20 in Centennial Hall 1920.
This will be a discussion held by Jackson with opportunities for students to join in and ask questions.
Another upcoming Dialogue in the series for those interested will be “Our Inter-Racial Identities,” hosted from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on March 27 in the Multicultural Student Services RC Room.
The final event of the month-long celebrations will be the African Dinner from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 in the Ojibwe Ballroom of the Davies Student Center.
The dinner will be a showcase of artists as well as a feast of assorted African dishes.
“You will be able to taste food that maybe you haven’t before and understand your peers’ cultures better,” Streckert said.
A previous event featured poetry reading, bingo, a dance competition, paintings for sale and live music by local performers, and ended with a fashion show of outfits inspired by different African countries.
Jones said the Eau Claire band “That’s Unimportant” will be performing at the dinner.
“I hope that they understand that Black history isn’t just Black history, it is American history. We hold space here too,” Jones said.
Curtin can be reached at curtinem5864@uwec.edu.
