The Black Empowerment Student Alliance held a “Black Out Day of Solidarity” Friday to celebrate Black History Month and honor the Black Lives Matter movement.
Junior James Mite, head of BESA, said he hoped to raise awareness about black history and create a more inclusive environment at St. Thomas.
“Instead of it being Black History Month, well, this is American History Month,” Mite said. “Everybody benefits from this. We’re just hoping to make our celebration everyone else’s celebration as well.”
Professor Todd Lawrence, faculty adviser for BESA, said he hoped the day will also demonstrate the connection between history and current events in the Black Lives Matter movement.
“One of the things BESA wanted to do was to shed some light on some of the things that are going on every day in our world and in our lives,” Lawrence said. “And to connect those things to some of the things that we always talk about during Black History Month.”
Earlier this week, students picked up shirts that read “Black History is American History” to wear during Friday’s event.
Mite said the group received a lot of support, passing out 149 shirts. Some students also wore black shirts on their own.
“It was great just to have support to show that people do feel like we belong here and this is our campus as well and that Black History Month actually matters,” Mite said.
For junior Gold Vu, the “Black Out” was a way to show that everyone is a part of American history.
“It may not be very evident in the history books or what we learn in school, but if we look around, it’s pretty apparent everywhere we go,” Vu said.
Junior Rahel Lemma said also it’s important that this event brought awareness to the current issues revolving around the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I feel like it’s not really talked about in this community a lot,” Lemma said. “So the fact that people are coming to this event, showing their solidarity with it, shows a sense of community.”
On Friday night, BESA, along with Student Diversity and Inclusion Services, the Office for Mission and the English and American Culture and Difference departments, held a slam poetry contest. Several participants and audience members wore BESA’s shirts and showed their support for Black History Month. Mite earned the first-place title for the night.
Kaja Vang, who tied for third place in the contest, said events like the poetry slam help form a closer community. She said she decided to participate in the “Black Out” movement to show the participants that they are not alone and that everyone is connected.
“To show solidarity is to be ‘Hey I’m with you, don’t be afraid,’” Vang said. “‘When you turn around I’m going to be there. Keep moving forward. I’m still with you.’”
Rebecca Mariscal contributed to this report.