By Sanjea Taylor, Staffer Writer
& Julien Bernard, Contributing Writer
As Black History Month comes to an end and our campus reflects on Black history and its legacy, many students may want to learn more and continue the celebration.
Luckily, an engaging event on campus not only allowed students to celebrate black history but also tested their knowledge and allowed them to walk away learning new things.
This engaging and fun on-campus event was Black History Month Trivia, hosted by the Campus Activities Board (CAB) on Feb. 24. During this event, students were able to come, spin a wheel that had a list of different Black history themes, and then were asked questions relating to the selected theme.
Judeah Moss, a senior majoring in economics with a minor in finance, and the Vice President of Activities of Student Government Union, shared more insight on this event while also discussing why she thinks it is important to celebrate Black history.
“The Black History Month Trivia Event was just a way to get students and faculty engaged, while learning about black history and honoring achievements of black individuals,” explained Moss.
When asked why she chose to organize this event, Moss shared the thought process behind planning and bringing trivia to life.
“I decided to do this event because I feel it will make people more aware. It’s an opportunity for students to learn more about black history, no matter your ethnicity,” stated Moss. “And it’s also a celebration of black culture, along with the achievements and contribution of black people throughout history.”
During the event students were asked questions based on different themes and black historical figures, whether they were athletes, activists, movie stars and more.
“The themes were based on sports, history, music, science and more. So, for music, students would have to finish the lyric of a song written by a black person,” said Moss.
If students were able to answer the questions correctly, they had the opportunity to win a very special prize, which added an extra element of excitement and motivation to the students participating in this event.
“During the event, the prize was a $7 Benedict’s gift card,” said Moss. But more than that, she continued, “they were able to learn something new.”
However, participants weren’t the only ones leaving the event with the reward of learning new things, as Moss shared, both her and her team learned new things as well.
“I learned a lot of new things about black history, because when I came up with these questions, I did not know the answer to some of them,” explained Moss “For example, I did not know that the person who invented the three-way traffic light was black. His name is Garrett Morgan.”
With the prize of learning new things about black history, overall, the event went very smoothly and well. When asked about her thoughts on the turnout, Moss shared her perspective on how the event went.
“I would say this event was very successful, I feel as though, despite the rain, we had a lot of participation,” stated Moss. “And I feel like that’s good, especially [considering] the day it was, I think not many people came outside today, but the event still had a great turnout.”
This event was much needed for our campus community and showed why it is important to celebrate Black History, highlighting the legacy black heroes shared in shaping the present. Moss was also able to share the importance of celebrating black history, sharing her views on the topic.
“I would say it’s important to celebrate black history because it acknowledges the contributions black people have made in society,” making “them feel seen,” explained Moss. “And it also fosters equality, especially on our campus, as our campuses is a PWI (predominantly white institution), so it helps to promote racial equality and it challenges stereotypes.”
So even though Black History Month is coming to an end, let us all continue to celebrate it and look forward to continuing the celebration in the future, because it does have an impact on our campus as it not only fosters equality, but also reflects on the progress being made in our society.
