Students, faculty and community members attended BSU's Read-In
By Olga Mosiychuk
Students flooded into the Commons Terrace Room on Monday evening to kick off Black History Month with the 21st National African American Read-In, sponsored by Black Student Union.
"The purpose of this event is to bring African American voices to life, to inspire hearts and minds," said Bethany Sills, UP's multi-cultural coordinator.
The reading consisted of a slew of diverse individuals, ranging from faculty members to high school students from the community.
Senior ASUP vice-president and BSU co-president Alyssa Schmidt-Carr was pleased with the event.
"I was really excited to have people from the community at the read-in," she said.
"It was such a diverse group. There were students, and Father Donato even came in and it was just awesome to have everybody there," Schmidt-Carr said.
Participants read everything from Maya Angelou's poetry to excerpts from the works of Booker T. Washington, while onlookers enjoyed their food and the readings.
Sophomore BSU co-president Marshawna Williams was involved with the planning and coordination of the event.
She reflected on the importance of introducing people to African American writing.
"The read-in is a cool way of presenting the words that were used to describe what African Americans thought and what they wanted throughout the years," she said.
This was just the kick-off to the event-filled month that Black Student Union has planned for the University of Portland.
The event organizers are thrilled for students to become involved.
"The black student population at UP is so small that it's good that we are doing something to recognize black culture," said freshman Kaileah Baldwin, a student involved with BSU.
Members of BSU have planned three more events this month.
The next one is on Feb. 11, featuring Caleb Rosado, an Urban Studies professor from Warner Pacific. Williams commented on the importance of such events and Black History Month as a whole.
"African Americans have such an interesting story," she said. "And it's our goal to make people aware of just how important our history and diversity is."
Along with the Rosado lecture, students will be able to experience some African American culture with the annual Soul Kitchen event in the Commons on Feb. 16.
BSU partners up with Bon Appetit to provide students with soul food and music.
"We want to have a variety of diverse music, not just hip-hop," said Williams. "I was thinking that it would be cool if we could show the history of African American music throughout the night."
The month will end with the author of "The Only Black Student," Lull Mengesha, speaking about minority students in predominately white universities on Feb. 24.
BSU may even throw in an African American movie night.
BSU urges students to participate in these events.
"We want people to experience another culture," Schmidt-Carr said. "People often overlook each other and that's why we put together these events."
