Black History Month each February is a time to observe, remember and further educate oneself on Black history.
Despite the restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, California Baptist University found opportunities to celebrate this month.
Both Community Life and the Black Student Union (BSU) held virtual events.
“Due to the virtual nature of programming at this time, we have been able to put out passive content each week through our Trivia Tuesday series,” said Taylor Altizer, assistant director of Campus Activities. “Each Tuesday, we put out different themed trivia questions related to Black history. So far, we have done questions about the creation of the month, important Supreme Court decisions and inventions by Black individuals that have impacted American society.”
Altizer also said Community Life worked on an event with BSU. The women’s basketball game between CBU and Grand Canyon University on Feb. 20 included videos about Black history.
“BSU hosted a virtual watch party of the women’s basketball game against GCU where they heard from different videos highlighting CBU students and their contributions to Black history,” Altizer said. “Before this game, Community Life handed out snack packs that had information about black history and the sport of basketball.”
Jordan White, junior sociology major and BSU treasurer, mentioned some of the events that BSU has put on throughout the month.
“Every single week we have done one or two events,” White said. “The last two events have been student forums for us to communicate and have those really cool or difficult conversations. Coming up, we have an event with United, another club on campus to have fun and cook together.”
Kene Thomas, freshman biomedical science major, expressed her gratitude to CBU for doing its best to create events despite COVID-19. However, she mentioned some things that could be shifted slightly for the next year.
“I appreciate Community Life and the university for recognizing Black History Month,” Thomas said. “I think they did their best given the current circumstances of COVID-19.
However, I do think there could be some improvements with educating people on broader topics. To know Black history is to recognize the pain, strength and resilience of my culture.”
Chef It Up, the cooking event with the United club, will occur at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27. @bsu.cbu will post updates on events later in the year.
