African-Caribbean students parade on campus celebrate Black History Month

By Ashar Memon, February 11 2019 —

Members of the African-Caribbean Students’ Association (ACSA), playing drums and holding signs that read “Black Lives Matter,” marched across campus on Monday to celebrate Black History Month.

A group of several dozen students marched from Science Theatres to MacHall around noon, garnering cheers from onlookers. Then, in the MacHall courtyards, the parade erupted into a flash mob as club members performed choreographed dances. The event was done in collaboration with the Nigerian Students Association.

ACSA co-presidents Ife Adedipe and Benyat Abdulwahab said the club wanted to raise awareness for Black History Month, which lasts through February.

“We literally see nothing about it around campus and I feel like it’s part of our responsibility to make it known,” Adedipe said.

The parade is one of the many events ACSA is holding to mark Black History Month. In the past, the club has auctioned off dates to collect money for charity, as well as ‘Speak Your Truth’ meetings where they invite people to discuss sensitive topics.

“People might think that racism and the discrimination that comes with being black aren’t relevant,” Adedipe said. “But we can still see the effects of it through how we live on the campus and how people interact with us, and that’s mainly why we want to bring this up and make it known that even though we’re a minority on campus, we still matter.”

“We’re not saying that other lives don’t matter,” Abdulwahab said, referencing the club’s Black Lives Matter signs. “We’re saying that we matter too.

“I feel like sometimes, on this campus, it gets forgotten. I know other students, especially for people who are experiencing being a minority for the first time, it doesn’t feel like that,” Abdulwahab continued. “We’re here, we matter, celebrate us.”