BCC hosts Black Culture Awareness Week
The week's theme is "Race (Still) Matters."
Published Nov. 9, 2010
As part of its ongoing mission to combat racism, the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center is in the midst of hosting its 18th annual Black Culture Awareness Week.
MU began hosting the week in 1992. This year it will revolve around the theme of “Race (Still) Matters.”
“Theoretically, it’s fitting,” BCC Director Nathan Stephens said. “There are those who obviously believe we are in a post-racial society, but we’re not. On a personal level, I don’t think we’ll ever be. I think we’ll always have differences that will divide us.”
The week’s events began Sunday, when more than 100 people gathered for “Soul Food Dinner,” an event offering a free dinner.
On Monday evening, students filled Conservation Auditorium for Play the Part, an event Stephens predicts will see the week’s highest attendance. For the night, a number of students covered black musicians and entertainers.
“We have put a lot of hard work into this, but we really appreciate everyone coming out,” sophomore Donald Gilliam said.
Gilliam hosted the night’s festivities and impersonated Lionel Richie.
Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s discussions, “Race and Civility: Beyond the Streets and Into the Mind” and "The State of Black Mizzou," respectively, are the more serious events of the week, junior Lysaundra Campbell said. Campbell, along with the rest of the BCC’s student staff, planned this year’s awareness week.
“Getting those deep discussions going is really important,” Campbell said.
Stephens said Tuesday’s dialogue will outline the disparity between race and civility in modern situations.
“The ideology behind that is there is race and civility as it relates to classrooms and businesses, but then there is race and civility in the supermarket, at the bus stop,” Stephens said. “In those settings, I believe the level of race and civility differ.”
The following night’s State of Black Mizzou panel discussion will bring race issues at MU to the table, Stephens said.
“We will have students come together to discuss what they see as some of the more prevalent issues impacting black students on Mizzou’s campus,” Stephens said.
She said Play the Part and Thursday’s Jam Session are the more laid-back festivities the staff planned. The intent of both is to provide a relaxed environment where students can get to know one another, Campbell said.
“This week is a chance for students who may not come to the Black Culture Center on a daily basis to learn about different things,” Campbell said.
The Jam Session will feature a local R&B artist, followed by an open mic where anyone is welcome to read poetry, sing or rap, Stephens said.
Campbell said her cousin worked at the center when she attended MU, which inspired her to do the same. Planning awareness week is just another benefit to a job already important to her, she said.
“I just love reaching out to people,” Campbell said. “There’s just something about it. I like bringing a lot of people together for things like this, especially when they have fun and come ask us how they can get involved.”
Too frequently, Stephens said, student perspectives are left out of dialogue involving diversity. He said Black Culture Awareness Week presents an opportunity for the opposite to occur.
“I think that this week is an opportunity for students to have their perspectives put to the forefront,” Stephens said. “There will be conversations without adults necessarily being the primary folks involved with the dialogue. It’s students engaging with one another.”