Brooklyn College Celebrates Black History Month with Performance and Poetry at The Tow Center
Feb. 14, 2020
A reminder of the roots of the month-long holiday and a call to celebrate black history and culture year-round were key messages in the afternoon program.
Tunji Fussell, assistant director, Office of Diversity and Equity Programs, reminded those present that the anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing" opens with the command to "never forget the suffering and the obstacles of the past," while focusing on "meeting the challenges of the future with perseverance, courage, and faith."
Assistant Professor Malcolm Merriweather directs choir members from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music.
"Brooklyn College is a great place to celebrate Black History Month," said President Michelle J. Anderson at the opening of the celebration at the Tow Center. "There are reasons why, for a second year in a row, the college is ranked as having the most diverse student body in the entire northeastern region. It is a terrific accolade because it really speaks to who we seek to serve and who we serve as an educational institution."
Vice Chancellor Richard White, chief officer for risk, audit, and compliance, said that being at the forefront of diversity at Brooklyn College and throughout CUNY put people of color at the "forefront of decision making."
Associate Professor Prudence Cumberbatch, professor and chair of Africana Studies.
Alumnus Devon Webster entertains at the Brooklyn College Black History Month event at the Tow Center.
Alumnus Devon Webster entertains at the Brooklyn College Black History Month event at the Tow Center.
Vice President for Student Affairs Ron Jackson asked that those present "reflect on the past, appreciate the present, and be energized by the possibilities of the future."
Undergraduate Student Government Vice President Jessica Johnson, a double business major, said she looks to Charlotte E. Ray—the first African-American woman lawyer in the United States and the first to be admitted to the District of Columbia bar, and the first woman admitted to practice before the D.C. Supreme Court—for inspiration.
Associate Professor of English and poet Rosamond S. King called to the ancestors with her poem "Bring Back" and read from her forthcoming book, All the Rage, finishing with a classic Lucille Clifton poem, "Won't You Celebrate With Me."
Chief Diversity Officer and Special Assistant to the President Anthony Brown, whose team coordinated the event, thanked the campus community for participating: "It really takes a village to pull things off."
On February 6, members of the Brooklyn College campus community gathered in the grand lobby of The Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts to kickoff Black History Month. Hosted by the Office of Diversity and Equity Programs, celebration highlights included a performance by students from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, directed by Malcolm Merriweather, assistant professor and director of choruses; alumnus and violinist Devon Webster; and a poetry reading by Rosamond King, associate professor of English and director of the college’s Ethyl R. Wolfe Institute of the Humanities.
In her opening remarks President Michelle J. Anderson highlighted renowned alumni who themselves have contributed to history, including award-winning authors Gloria Naylor, Paule Marshall, and Paul Beatty; New York jurist Sterling Johnson and one of the newest district court judges in the United States, Jason Pulliam; New York City Public Advocate Jumaane William; journalist and CNN anchor Don Lemon, “and the person closest to our heart and the most outstanding alum that any institution could ever claim, Shirley Chisholm,” said Anderson.
Africana Studies Professor and Chair Prudence Cumberbatch invoked historian Carter G. Woodson, the creator, in 1926, of Negro History Week. “Woodson understood that having a sense of one’s history, or as he said, tradition, was critical to the future of the race. He said, ‘those who have no record of what their forbears have accomplished lose the inspiration that comes from the teaching of biography and history,’” said Cumberbatch. “While Black History Month is a time for celebration and recognition, it should also be a call for us to reflect on how little we know, and how that lack of knowledge is passed down through the generations. As we celebrate BHM, let us work to ensure that the mission of Woodson continues in a substantive way, not just in February, but all year long.”
Vice President Ron Jackson of the Division of Student Affairs spoke of being “unapologetically black,” and Undergraduate Student Government Vice President Jessica Johnson spoke of the feeling of community she has experienced. “In my very first semester here, I attended a number of black history programs; there was an entire calendar. I didn’t expect that,” said Johnson. “I [learned] I can be a black woman in this space and not have to worry about how I wear my hair, how I dress, how I speak. . . . Not everyone can say ‘I’m a black person, but I matter at my school.’”
Chief Diversity Officer Anthony Brown was last to speak, acknowledging members of the campus who had contributed to the program, including students whose art decorated the grand lobby, and President Anderson. “From day one, she has given me license to celebrate the great diversity that we have here at Brooklyn College, allowing me the privilege to be able to celebrate us,” said Brown and concluded, “Have a happy day!”
