International & Multicultural
The Black History Month (BHM) committee is proud to announce “All Power to All People: From Black Panthers to Pan Africanism” as the theme for the upcoming Black History Month in February of 2014. In choosing this theme, we aim to return to the roots of Black History Month by acknowledging and addressing the contributions made by the people of the African diaspora while being critical of our current place in society, our future contributions, and what it means to be a Black person in America and in the world. This theme is also especially poignant as we come at an intersection of momentous understandings on race; we stand 50 years after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington, almost 50 years after Freedom Summer, a political effort in the American South, and just months distant from the Trayvon Martin Verdict, the addition of Assata Shakur to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorist List, and the gutting of the Voting Rights Act. As we move forward in solidarity and in strength, the Black History Month committee aims to look back in order to draw inspiration and learn lessons from our past so that we may reach forward for power in the current day.
In choosing this theme, we aim to use this opportunity to not only dispel any myths or misunderstandings concerning the history of Black individuals and political movements like the Black Power movement, but to also spread awareness of other, international movements that aimed to liberate people of color from the binds of colonialism and other forms of political, economic and social subjugation. “All Power to All People” serves as a call of solidarity across nations, genders, and sexualities, effectively invoking the myriad of identities that comprises Blackness, as well as a call for our allies to join in commemoration, celebration, and action as we mark this historic and important time.
As some are well aware, Columbia’s BHM activities and programs attract a wide range of participants and would present a great opportunity for your student group to engage in a discussion on Black politics, art, and culture with your group’s loyal attendees and new faces. With the BHM theme in mind, the committee would like to invite all student groups and individuals of Barnard and Columbia to participate in Black History Month by creating and/or collaborating on events that will go onto our official BHM calendar and by also working with the BHM committee to plan events if your group needs help in figuring out how to tie this theme in with potential programming for the month of February.
In choosing this theme, we aim to use this opportunity to not only dispel any myths or misunderstandings concerning the history of Black individuals and political movements like the Black Power movement, but to also spread awareness of other, international movements that aimed to liberate people of color from the binds of colonialism and other forms of political, economic and social subjugation. “All Power to All People” serves as a call of solidarity across nations, genders, and sexualities, effectively invoking the myriad of identities that comprises Blackness, as well as a call for our allies to join in commemoration, celebration, and action as we mark this historic and important time.
As some are well aware, Columbia’s BHM activities and programs attract a wide range of participants and would present a great opportunity for your student group to engage in a discussion on Black politics, art, and culture with your group’s loyal attendees and new faces. With the BHM theme in mind, the committee would like to invite all student groups and individuals of Barnard and Columbia to participate in Black History Month by creating and/or collaborating on events that will go onto our official BHM calendar and by also working with the BHM committee to plan events if your group needs help in figuring out how to tie this theme in with potential programming for the month of February.
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