Showcasing Black excellence and debating Black love: Celebrating Black History Month with the Black Student Association

Featuring black artists and debating the conceptualization of Black love, the Black Student Association is putting black talent and issues front and center this month. 

The Black Student Association (BSA) is holding a Black History Month Gala February 27 in conjunction with MacEwan University’s African Carribean Alliance and Office of Human Rights, Diversity and Equity. The Gala will be held at MacEwan University’s SAMU Building with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. and the event happening from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The event is free, but requires registration. 

On February 24, the BSA is also holding a Blck Chat, a black history debate night with the Eritrean Ethiopian Students’ Association and the Nigerian Students’ Association. The debate night will take place in ECHA L1-140 at 5:30 pm. This event is also free for those who want to attend.

The Black History Month Gala will open with a speech from NDP MLA David Shepherd, followed by the African dance group Inyange, various black poets, local band Melafrique and a fashion show showcasing designs based on African, Caribbean, and African-American fashion. The event will also be catered by Zuhur, a local restaurant specializing in East African dishes and Zembaba, a local Ethiopian restaurant. 

For Céline Caruso Dixon, second-year political science student and BSA co-vice-president events, showcasing a variety of talents is an important way of also honouring local black individuals alongside classic figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X. 

“A lot of the time during Black History Month you’ll be talking about people who have been dead for 50 plus years, you’ll be talking about the African side or the Caribbean side or the African-American side,” she said. 

“Not only are we celebrating the past… we’re also celebrating people who are making a difference now within our own community, whether that’s through music, fashion, poetry, local business, and artists.”

The debate night will focus on the topic of black love: parental, romantic, platonic, and self-love. The event is aiming to not only explore different types of love, but also how it differs within different Black identities. 

“We want to put sand in the eye,” Caruso Dixon said. “We want to have conversations that are going to make people take a step back and think about why we aren’t having these kinds of conversations.” 

“We really want to touch on what it is like in an African household, what is it like in a Caribbean household? What is it like for people who don’t identify with either of those [and see themselves] as a black household? What is it like to be LGBTQ+?”

For Caruso Dixon, these events capture the multi-faceted complexity that is Black identity. 

“I think there are a lot of events going on during Black History Month, but it’s important to have these specific galas that showcase not only one side of being black, but also the entirety of being black all in one go because that way we are catering to everybody.”