ETSU’s Department of Multicultural Affairs will be holding open the doors of cultural enlightenment all throughout the month of February. It’s time to learn for some, for others—to share and for all—to unify.
The Red, Black, and Green Ribbon giveaway is one of the kickoff events for Black History Month. This event will take place Feb. 1 and 2 on the second floor of the D.P. Culp University Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event, as well as many events, will follow throughout the month, including the official Black History Month Kick-Off Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Culp ballroom, a talent show, musical performances, films and photography and more will be conducted by the Department of Multicultural Affairs as well as Black Affairs, Africana Studies and Reece Museum.
With a sharper focus on Black History Month, the events are designed, overall, to allow for open discussions, multicultural advocacy, and most importantly: educating the masses on key components of a rich, underrepresented history.
The purpose of distributing the red, black and green ribbons is to communicate what civil rights activist Marcus Garvey communicated to the masses. The red represents the blood shed in the struggle for liberation, the black represents a connection between people of African descent, and the green represents Mother Africa.
Some of these events do focus on black and African culture, but Director of Multicultural Affairs Laura Terry emphasized there will be a variety of cultures represented in this month’s activities.
“We have a lot of different activities such as World Hijab day, which deals with learning about the meaning of wearing a hijab, culturally and religiously…We also have a Chinese Festival on Feb. 18, to celebrate the tradition of the Chinese New Year,” said Terry.
This month, the student body will be afforded a wide array of opportunities to experience the components of cultures outside our own life stories. In addition, we will be able to share the things that might make us different, alike, and most importantly: we may develop a basis in learning about each other’s cultures.
The overall purpose of these integral activities, according to Laura Terry are “to have a clear understanding that black history, or African American, history month is not only a month but something that we need to celebrate every day…we all need to just come together and build unity with each other.”
