Aspen Rush
Managing Editor
Every February, The College of Wooster community collaborates to create a month-long observance of Black history. To plan the celebrations, a committee made up of students, faculty and staff work closely to build programming that both educates and engages students in community building. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the committee resolved to hold most of the events virtually this year.
This Black History Month, the College took a multifaceted approach, incorporating both educational programming and community building. Ivonne M. García, the College’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, discussed the programming, indicating that the committee consulted Black students to guide the celebrations. Because of the recent increased visibility of the Black Lives Matter movement, this year’s events hold a particular significance. Black History Month at Wooster acknowledged this shift by both creating a space for community building and continued education.
To kick off the events of Black History Month, CDI and the CDEIO collaborated to produce the art wall, located in Lowry Center, entitled “Black Herstory.” The wall draws attention to contributions by Black women throughout American history. Each day of the month, a different woman was featured with a short summary of her accomplishments.
TQBIPOC support group took place twice this month, acknowledging trans and queer intersectional identities on the campus.
In educational programming, guest speaker Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries gave a talk entitled, “A Field of Dreams Deferred: Race, Nostalgia, and Housing in Brooklyn, New York.” Jeffries highlighted the ongoing struggle of gentrification in Black communities, as it continues to displace people of color. Jeffries engaged directly with his audience, encouraging everyone to turn their cameras on and to ask him questions about his experiences and on the topic.
On Feb. 8, the College hosted an interdisciplinary panel entitled, “Insurrection at the Capitol: Understanding its Dynamics, Meaning, and Consequences.” After the insurrection on Jan. 6, the College hosted this panel to acknowledge and process the ways in which we are living through history. The events of Jan. 6 were analyzed through a political, historical and religious lens.
On Feb. 17, Maresa Taté ’21 and Angela Danso Gyane ’21 hosted a justice dialogue. They named the talk, “The African Booty Scratcher: How You Got Your Black Card Revoked.” Taté and Danso Gyane wanted to make a statement with the title. Taté recalls, “We both had been called that name growing up in the States as ‘African’ kids, and it was not something uncommon for African kids. It is not solely used ‘against’ Africans, but was something negatively used in some Black spaces in my experience.” Danso Gyane remembered her own experience, stating, “It was a phrase that I was often referred to as during my 13-year stay in the U.S.; That and ‘fresh off the boat’ became a major part of my identity because I refused to conform to others’ ideas of normalcy or assimilation. I proudly spoke my native language and boasted about my culture which prompted attacks from a variety of people.” Taté and Danso Gyane brought different experiences and expertise to the table. “Angela attends to the history and the historical implications white supremacy and colonialism have on us currently,” Taté said. “I tie in what this looks like on a behavioral level. It’s really interesting how we can complement each other in that way.” In their dialogue, Taté and Gyane tackled questions of intersectionality, immigration, home and a variety of other topics.
The Black History Month committee engaged the community in a variety of methods and formats. In their further programming, the Black Student Association and Wooster Activities Crew co-hosted Black History Month Trivia night; “Gotta Get Down to It” was screened with an accompanying discussion and the Department of Theatre and Dance hosted the world debut of “Well Run Dry” (see A&E pg whatever). Further, Visiting Assistant Professor Rob Razzante and Elizabeth Testamark ’22 hosted a Civil Dialogue® interrogating the notion, “Do respectability politics work?”; BSA and the Multicultural Student Affairs hosted the annual Peace & Paint; García hosted a book discussion of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix by Jason Reynolds. García explained that “all events featured during this year’s Black History Month referenced the events over the past year, in one way or another.”
Through all of these events, the College navigated the complexity of acknowledging history and processed and contextualized the events of the past year while simultaneously interweaving community building. As such, this year’s Black History Month differed from every other previous year. Now more than ever, we must recognize Black life in all of its complexities and intersectionality. Black History is right now. Through continuing efforts such as this Black History Month’s events, we can foster growth in the student body towards a more equitable and inclusive campus. In the words of the author Reynolds, “There will come a time when we will love humanity, when we will gain the courage to fight for an equitable society … knowing, intelligently, that when we fight for humanity, we are fighting for ourselves. There will come a time. Maybe, just maybe, that time is now.”