Collegiate Times

Virginia Tech’s Multicultural Programs and Services will host a variety of events to celebrate Black History Month 2007 with the theme “From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in the Americas.” Events began yesterday and will proceed through Feb. 24.

Events coming up this week include the first part of a multi-part series entitled “Surviving, Jiving, and Self-determination: 20th Century Black Empowerment Ideologies from Radical to Conservatives” on Wednesday and a program viewing and discussing the film “Panthers” on Thursday.

Virginia Tech Multicultural Programs and Services is a department within Student Affairs that focuses on leader development, cultural awareness, multicultural education, and community building.

“Our theme, ‘Africans in America: from Slavery to Freedom,’ explores the experience of black people that came from Africa to the United States, from bondage to freedom,” said Rosa Carter Jones, assistant director of programming, Multicultural Programs and Services.

On Wednesday, Dr. Ellington Graves, professor of sociology, will kick off the “Surviving, Jiving, and Self-determination: 20^th Century Black Empowerment Ideologies from Radical to Conservatives” series with a discussion of the historic debate between W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington. The Harlem Renaissance clash on poetic aesthetics between Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen and today’s departure on racial authenticity, black identity construction and social class values formation will also be discussed during the program.

“Most students have very little exposure to the vast social and intellectual history of African Americans and how the African American presence has directly influenced American history and development,” said Brandy Faulkner, Ph.D. candidate in political science who will follow Graves in a discussion on Jan. 31. “Knowledge of history and heritage strengthens one’s identity and shapes our collective future.”

The discussion entitled “The Black Panthers” on Thursday will be lead by Hayward Farrar, history professor, who will give a brief account of the origins, rise, and fall of the Black Panthers, show excerpts from the movie “Panther,” and finish with a discussion of the movie.

“All students regardless of their race or ethnicity need to know of the contributions African Americans have made to America,” said Farrar. “There is still too much ignorance about these contributions.”