The ongoing legacy of Black History Month

Since 1976, when “Negro History Week” grew
encompass the entire month, February has been
considered “Black History Month.”

For today’s black Americans ? such as presidential
hopeful Sen. Barack Obama and television personality
Oprah Winfrey, now among the most influential
Americans in mainstream culture – is Black History
Month a tradition out of sync with a multicultural
society?

Some VCU students and officials say despite the
success of public figures like Obama and Winfrey,
the accomplishments of blacks still should be noted
every February.

“It’s definitely necessary,” said Ijuanzee Isom,
an education-support specialist with the Office of
Multicultural Student Affairs. “Everyone needs to
be aware of the contributions of African Americans
to American culture. It is also a source of pride for
African Americans.”

VCU’s OMSA grew out of the Office of Minority
Student Affairs less than a decade after the latter was
founded in 1988. The Office of Minority Student
Affairs was created to give a voice to traditionally
underserved and underrepresented minority groups
at VCU, according to OMSA’s Web site. The site
states that OMSA advocates cultural understanding
and diversity on campus.

OMSA, which provides an extensive calendar of
events scheduled for Black History Month, is working
to provide similar calendars for Latino and women’s
history months.

“We have received positive feedback from students
and faculty,” Isom said. “All of our events have been
well attended.”

OMSA is not the only organization at VCU
sponsoring events to acknowledge elements of black
history.

VCU’s Muslim Student Association recently sponsored
the program “Legacy of the Black Panthers,”
which featured former Black Panther Party-member
Jihad Abdul-Mumit.

Abdul-Mumit drew a standing-room-only crowd
to the University Student Commons Feb. 6. He said
the Black Panthers is a group usually considered too
controversial to discuss but whose contributions to
black history cannot be ignored.

“This whole aspect of history is still sensitive,”
Abdul-Mumit said.

Abdul-Mumit acknowledged the contributions of
Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black History Month
heavyweights but also paid homage to Black Panthers
such as Fred Hampton Jr. and Huey P. Newton, who
some argue are militant when compared to other
black leaders.

“The media made us look menacing,” Abdul-Mumit said. “The Black Panthers built up character for people to fight ills in their
own community. Where there were Black
Panthers, they were not selling crack
cocaine and heroin in the street.”

Free meals, child care and health care
were provided by the Black Panthers-a
fact rarely mentioned by the media,
Abdul-Mumit said.

“There are a lot of good things about
this country, but it doesn’t mean you
can’t speak out,” Abdul-Mumit said.
“People stood up to make the good
things happen.”

VCU junior Kelly Crone attended
Abdul-Mumit’s discussion.

“(Racial problems) are something that
a lot of people think were taken care of
in the past, but that’s not true,” Crone
said. “It’s something that a lot of people
don’t want to directly confront.”

VCU student Lyndsey Blow said more
people are becoming more knowledgeable
about the contributions of blacks
in American history. However, it is still
important to highlight the contributions
of black Americans, despite the de facto
racism and discrimination that endured
until 40 years ago, she said.

“Most of our history is embedded
in slavery, so Black History Month is a
time for people to focus on lesser-known
blacks that you wouldn’t necessarily
learn about in history class,” Blow said.
“(Black History Month is) always going
to be necessary as long as racism and
sexism are still alive.”