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Month-long Observances Include Thought-Provoking, Creative, Fun-Filled Events   

Engaging and educational programming that acknowledges Black Heritage, Black History and Black Excellence will be celebrated during the month of February at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Black Legacy: Embers of Resilience is this year’s theme. 

SIUE’s annual Black Heritage Month (BHM) will kick off with an Opening Ceremony from 4-6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3 in the Morris University Center’s (MUC) Legacy Room on the Edwardsville campus, according to Isaac Fa'amoe, BHM committee member and program coordinator for Identity and Belonging at SIUE’s Kimmel Belonging and Engagement Hub. The opening will include the SIUE Gospel Choir and art displayed by Mariam Adebolap Oladepo Ajagbe, teaching assistant and Master of Fine Arts textile student. Also, materials will be on hand to create a vision board for 2025. 

A few other BHM highlights include: 

• Monday, Feb. 10 – Renatto Carr, PhD candidate and adjunct instructor of Criminal Justice at McKendree University, will discuss his research on James Edward Person. Person was an honorably discharged Black World War II veteran who was found lynched in Edgar County, Ill., while enroute to Chicago from his home state of Tennessee. This event, “Come As You Are, Hoods Not Required: The 1942 Lynching of James Edward Person in Vigo County, Indiana and Edgar County, Illinois,” will be held from 4-5 pm in MUC’s Maple/Dogwood Room.  

• Wednesday, Feb. 12-Tuesday, Feb. 18 (Student Activities) – Black Business Expo hosted by The Black Student Union (5-8 p.m. Feb. 12 in MUC’s Goshen Lounge), The Black Girls Rock Fashion Show hosted by Black Girls Rock (5-7 p.m. Feb. 15 in MUC’s Meridian Ballroom), and the Black Hair Show hosted by Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and Campus Activities Board (5-8 p.m. Feb. 18 in the Goshen Lounge) are just a few of the many student programs taking place throughout the entirety of February to celebrate Black Heritage Month. 

“Black Heritage Month is important because it celebrates the achievements and contributions of Black Americans while educating about the history of oppression against the Black community and acknowledging this country's part in those systems of oppression,” said Fa'amoe. 

Another viewpoint was offered by BHM committee member Timothy Lewis, PhD, interim chair of the Department of Social Work, director of Black Studies at SIUE and associate professor in the Department of Political Science. 

“A significant portion of Black History, especially when discussing Black contributions to this country, is often, if not intentionally, omitted from American History curriculums,” said Lewis. “However, Black history is America’s history, and for many people of differing races, February will be the only time they learn about the rich heritage of Black Americans. Black Heritage Month is important because it may be one of the few times society is upfront about its treatment of Black Americans, and the resiliency of the Black spirit in spite of that treatment, and it may also be one of the few times society can truthfully assess itself to see how far we are from racial reconciliation.” 

Black History also helps chip away at those who are unaware of the problems that Black people face, noted Lewis. 

“One reason racism is sustained in this country is because of racial ignorance,” he continued. “Racial and cultural ignorance produces discriminatory outcomes where Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women, for example. If only for 28 days, Black Heritage Month education chips away at that ignorance. The images, narratives, and accounts re-humanize the Black Americans that racism de-humanizes; and, in consequence, may reduce the chance of a Black person experiencing some manifestation of racism.” 

Those contributing to the developing of the programming for BHM included: Fa'amoe, Lewis, Candace Hall, EdD, BHM committee member, assistant professor in the SIUE School of Education, Health and Human Behavior’s Department of Educational Leadership and program director of Higher Education and Student Affairs; J.T. Snipes, PhD, BHM committee member, chair and associate professor in the SEHHB Department of Educational Leadership; Nicole Franklin, BHM committee member and Communications Director in University Marketing and Communications and the SIUE Black Faculty and Staff Association. 

Other BHM committee members included: Tisha Brooks, PhD, associate dean and associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences; Kristopher Crosby, marketing associate in University Marketing and Communications; Dominic Dorsey, ACCESS director; Patricia Merritt, assistant director for media and communications in University Marketing and Communications; Earleen Patterson, PhD, associate vice chancellor for Student Opportunities, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Howard Rambsy II, PhD, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of English, Language and Literature; Stephanie Weiskopf, director of the Kimmel Belonging and Engagement Hub; and Simone Williams, assistant professor in Library and Information Services and Diversity & Engagement Librarian.   

Graphic:
SIUE Black Heritage Month logo.