CHSS Celebrates Black History Month FSU Style with Their ‘BHM’ Event
posted by Breyonna Hardy | February 27, 2023 | In NewsThe Fayetteville State University community gathered together to honor Black History Month with College of Humanities and Social Science’s “Celebrating BHM: Juneteenth and Black Innovation” on February 15.
The event occurred in the Rudolph Jones Student Center. The event had a variety of attendees there including FSU faculty, staff, students, family, friends, and the man of the hour, Dr. Leonard Moore. Dr. Moore is the George Littlefield Professor of American History at the University of Texas at Austin and the executive director of University of Texas’s HBCU Initiative.
A heartwarming performance by FSU Choir declared the beginning of the event as the choir performed two songs before CHSS Black History Committee Chair Dr. Dorrance Kennedy took the stage to welcome everyone to the event and introduce the next creative acts.
The next act of creativity was the dance ensemble where Ramone Thomas performed a modern dance solo to Nina Simone’s “Black is the Color of my True Love’s Hair.” After Thomas’s solo, Thomas joined BHM dancers Zoe Hare, Yazmyne Laster, Alitzah Mitchel, Iman Muhammad, and Aaliyah Cowan where they performed a mashup of greatest hits, including “Rock the Boat” by Aaliyah, “Big Poppa” by Notorious B.I.G and “Keep ya Head Up” by Tupac Shakur.
Hare gave the crowd poetic chills with her performance of “I Love Black Folks” by Tank and the Bangas.
Dr. Moore first asked the audience a question he asks his students all the time: “What does freedom mean? What does it mean to be free?”
He presented a PowerPoint that showcased the timeline and defined the meaning of being Black in America. The slides range from the Emancipation Proclamation to reuniting Black families, to establishing churches, schools, and business.
“50 percent of every transaction on the auction block involved the destruction of a nuclear family,” Dr. Moore stated. “25 percent of all the sales involved the destruction of a first marriage,” he continued.
The slide also showcases the establishment of Jim Crow. Jim Crow was an Era where laws where embedded to destroy the Black community because of the envy of African American success.
As Dr. Moore continued with his speech, he began to touch on a stereotype that has followed Black men around for decades but left unsaid, which is the athlete stereotype.
“The athletic stereotype is not a good one,” Dr. Moore said. “Black Men, you are not born to play football,” he added.
Dr. Moore left the podium with a standing ovation with Dean Cox asking the crowd would they be here for Dr. Moore coming to FSU to teach an African American History course in which the crowd responded with yes and loud cheers.
It would not be Fayetteville State University if the event did not close out with the alma mater.
The event was celebrated by Fayetteville community members as well as the FSU community.
“I appreciated how he was very direct and straightforward with the students,” Fayetteville City Councilwoman Shakeyla Ingram stated. “Given the times that we live in, we are celebrated more than we realize,” she continued.
“The purpose of the event and the goal is to educate our students and our community about what it is or what its like to Black and understanding the culture and the history and how we can move forward,” CHHS BHM coordinator Michelle Saunders stated.
Dr. Moore is the author of several books, including Teaching Black History to White People and Black Rage In New Orleans: Police Brutality and African American Activism from World War II to Hurricane Katrina.
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