The Student Union and Leadership and Mentoring office will host events throughout the month of February for the UTRGV community to commemorate Black History Month.
Program Coordinator for Leadership and Social Change Vanessa Sandoval said it is important for students to be informed about Black History Month because it is a great opportunity for them to learn about different cultures.
“The majority of us are Hispanics,” Sandoval said. “And this allows us to learn about a different culture, experience it through either a food tasting, watching [a] film that celebrates Black History Month or celebrate an individual in the black community, and it allows us to accept and really see beyond our borders or our own culture.”
She said Black History Month, to her, is about celebrating the individuals who have paved the path to where we are today.
“I know we have a lot of famous individuals, such as Martin Luther King [Jr. and] Rosa Parks,” Sandoval said. “And those are all great individuals, but there are [many] more individuals who have fought and been activists and have played important roles, and so, celebrating them and celebrating the advancement that we have made and also recognizing there is a lot more needed to continue paving the path for our future generations.”
On the Edinburg campus:
–Cultural Movie Series: “Show Me Democracy,” from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday;
–Cultural Movie Series: “The Way He Looks,” from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 20 and;
–Black History Month Cultural Chat from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 28.
On the Brownsville campus:
–Cultural Movie Series: “I am Not a Witch,” from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday in La Sala;
–Cultural Chat: Coffee and Jazz from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Music, Science & Learning Center and;
–Cultural Movie Series: “Show Me Democracy,” from noon to 2 p.m. Feb. 25 at La Sala.
The Student Union will host a book club on “The Water Dancer: A Novel” at noon Feb. 27 in the Loft on the Edinburg campus and at the same time in La Sala on the Brownsville campus.
Sandoval said she wants students to feel included and recognized.
“Even though we are a Hispanic- serving institution, we do serve a lot of students of different cultures,” she said. “So we celebrate, even at the university, black history to provide inclusion and diversity and bring that celebration [to] both campuses through our events. … That’s our goal. To provide that for students to feel included and to know that they are here in our community and recognized.”
Yaw Sam, a marketing senior born in Ghana, a country in West Africa, said to him, Black History Month is about reminiscing and remembering ancestors and appreciating them.
“So, for me, Black History Month would just be going back and reflecting,” Sam said. “You know, just trying to see how we’re taking on that fight that they fought and how we’re making a change in our community.”
He said for people to think of Black History Month as not just a month, but it should be something they always think about.
“Kind of like educating people, inspiring people, you know,” Sam said. “There’s people who have fought for us in the past. How do we commemorate their memories, how do we help move the fight forward? And so, coming together as the people and kind of help move that forward and that’s very important for me.”
