Last Friday night, students from all over campus joined together in a collaborative celebration of various African American art forms. From readings of Langston Hughes to liturgical dance performed by the Black Student Alliance president, most of the talents featured stemmed from a long tradition of African American creativity and culture.

This event kicked off Black History Month, which is celebrated throughout the month of February. Also known as National African American History Month, it is a celebration of achievements by black Americans and has been honored since 1976 (according to History.com). Although they are involved in numerous programs throughout the year, February is the Black Student Alliance’s time to shine and they fully embrace the opportunity to engage in campus events.

DU’s BSA has lined up the month with several engaging activities designed to attract students from every area of the university, according to President Cameron Simmons, a sophomore business major from Colorado Springs.

The group participates in a huge number of community outreach programs, with the most significant being “A Day At DU” which brings in high schoolers from Cherry Creek, Denver and Aurora Public School districts to experience college immersion at DU.

“It’s good for them to see that there is some diversity on DU’s campus because everyone has this impression […] that there’s no diversity but we’re here,” said Simmons.

As president, Simmons believes the campus’ low African American representation makes it even more imperative for the BSA to not only create their own resources for success of the program, but also to make a special effort to integrate themselves. He stressed the purpose of BSA to encourage African American students to make their presence known at the school and build community not only within their own culture but also with every other group on campus.

BSA has been doing a lot of partnering with other organizations on campus such as Latino Student Alliance, Muslim Student Alliance and Native American Student Alliance.

“This year we are branching out a little bit more and working with DUPB and the Health and Counseling Center, as well as Greek organizations,” said Simmons.

All of this collaboration enhances BSA’s goal to build community throughout the campus and be an inclusive organization.

“Black Student Alliance gives a support network for people of color but also for people who are not colored and want to learn more,” said Simmons.

They started out the month, which they have themed “Empowering the New Generation of Black Leaders Through Art,” with a partnering with DUPB to show The Butler on Thursday night, Feb. 6. On Friday, Feb. 7, they held the talent show entitled “We Speak,” featuring school-wide talent as well as local performers.

The talent show, which was attended by a selection of DU students and family members, showcased a wide variety of talent, including spoken word, poetry reading, liturgical dance, singing, a step routine, historical teaching and a capella.

On Thursday, Feb. 13, BSA will bring a poetry slam called “Spokentainment.” The event will be held in Lindsey Auditorium, again bringing in Denver spoken word performers, as well as some of DU’s own. The next week on Feb. 21, BSA is holding a “Stroll and Tell” which highlights the nine historically black Greek organizations, two of which are from DU—Kappa Alpha Psi and Delta Sigma Theta—and three others that will be coming from CSU. This event will include a dance followed by members of the organizations speaking about their groups. The month will round out with a Taste Of Africa, which will feature West African and Ethiopian food and a speech from Jonathan King entitled “Martin Luther King in my Living Room.”

All students are invited to attend BSA’s Black History Month activities throughout February and attend BSA meetings. BSA will also be holding numerous more activities throughout campus for the rest of the year. More information can be found through their Facebook page.