“Black History is American History…”

The Champion Miller Center has organized several events for black history month focused on moving equity and inclusion forward on campus.

“Talking about issues as they relate to equity and inclusion is hard,” said Director for Student Equity, Inclusion, and Community Regina Johnson.  “We hope that people feel comfortable with coming in and participating. Even if you don’t speak up it is still great to listen to the discussion that may be going on around you. We are an increasingly diverse and global society and that is not going backward it’s going forward. It is important at this pivot that we all learn to be able to engage in hard conversations that make us uncomfortable.”

For three Thursdays, the Champion Miller staff will lead discussions centered around clips from documentaries. The first documentary, Who We Are-The Chronicles of Race in America, as well as the second documentary, Hello Privilege, It’s Me Chelsea, have already been discussed. Both are available on Netflix for further viewing.

“At the end of the month, we will be discussing the last documentary, Selma,” said Johnson.  “We have the men’s retreat coming up in two weeks. Also, we are going to be doing a speakeasy night that will be in the Grier underground. My interns are going to start pushing out some information to get students to sign up to be the opening acts for John Stanford from the class of 2018.”

Keep an eye on your emails for more information on the events occurring this month hosted by the Champion Miller Center staff. “Black history is American history and our history. I am a big believer that we must look at all dimensions of history not just the good. The bad tells us just as much if anything it helps us recognize the struggles of each person and where they came from. Black history month is a reminder that structurally we still have some work to do,” said Johnson.

Emilie Cain - News & Opinion Editor