Penn State Student Black Caucus presentation goes ‘beyond’ history

Students who attended “Beyond Black History” last night learned there is more to black history than Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.

About 30 people attended the presentation on Tuesday night in the Hosler Building. The Black Caucus, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) sponsored the presentation.

The event discussed the past, present and future of black history, the “unsung heroes” and the history of the three sponsoring organizations.

Christopher Nock, president of the Black Caucus, said the event was meant to educate students about black history. He said there are a lot of cultural celebrations during black history month, but the educational component is often missing.

“In black history one thing that gets lost is black history,” Nock (junior-public relations) said.

The program marked the first time in memorable history the three organizations have come together to put on an event, Nock said.

“There’s unity in the community,” Nock said. “This program is one the first times we’ve been able to assemble everyone under a common cause and assemble so many people.”

The event began as six actors representing an “unsung hero” gave monologues about their historical figure’s life. They ended their monologues asking the audience who they were. The “unsung heroes” included Matthew Henson, Charles Houston and Claudette Colvin.

Chelsie White (senior-biobehavioral health) portrayed playwright Ntozake Shange. White chose to represent Shange because she thought the author isn’t as well known as she should be.

“It’s really important to get the unsung heroes like her out there,” White said.

After the monologues, representatives from the Black Caucus, NAACP and NPHC told the audience the history and purpose of their organizations, their influence on black history, and the lesser-known participants who were a part of their group.

Kenya Goods, political action chair of the Black Caucus, said the Black Caucus is “a multitude of things” but one of its primary purposes is to make sure people feel like they are a part of Penn State and that they belong from the beginning.

“[The Black Caucus is] here for assistance, friendship and family,” Goods (senior-African and African-American studies) said. “Black Caucus is here at Penn State because you are.”

Shadiyah Haines, NPHC president, said the NPHC serves as an umbrella organization for the Divine Nine. The Divine Nine are the nine official NPHC sororities and fraternities, all of which has a chapter at Penn State.

Haines (senior-industrial engineering) said all of the past and future NPHC members are “true leaders” because they “dream big, went against the grain, they were inquisitive and they refuse to fail.”

Kourtney Pulliam, president of Penn State chapter of NAACP, said her organization is not outdated but has a place for young people to get involved.

The NAACP is the “longest, oldest and the baddest and the boldest, the most loved and most hated and the most feared and revered, the most cussed and discussed Civil Rights organization in America,” Pulliam (senior-political science and sociology) said.

The audience was then divided into three groups to discuss topics pertaining to black history. The topics were: From Pyramids to Projects: Our Stolen History, Integration vs. Segregation and What will we teach our children about black history in the future.

To conclude the evening, audience members were asked, “What is the future of black history?” and were told to open a black bag they had been given earlier. Inside was a mirror.