In celebration of Black History Month, Black Student Union (BSU) and ASB teamed up to plan unique events based on three themes: music, art, and fashion. Throughout the first two weeks of February, BSU and ASB held activities such as speed painting, played music in the plaza, and hung informational posters. Bethlehem Degef (12), president of BSU, said she hoped these activities would shed light on the impact Black culture has on the arts.

“We’ve been working with ASB to plan an event every day of this month,” Degef said. “For each week, we’ve been having a theme. For example, [the first] week, the conversation [was focused on] how Black music has impacted society because if you look at every genre of music, there’s a Black influence within it. I think it goes unnoticed a lot of the time. Overall [we wanted to] celebrate Blackness in our everyday life.”

BSU Secretary Lauryn Rowe (11) said they chose themes that would appeal to a broad audience and help consolidate the most influential parts of Black culture in society. The prevalence of Black culture in today’s fashion and music trends impacts the arts immensely, which Rowe said is the reason for the art-based themes. 

“There’s so much that we could talk about during Black History Month and we just wanted it to be organized,” Rowe said. “We wanted to not only remember the history, but to celebrate the [impact of Black] culture on music, fashion, and art. We see so many trends in the media, like micro-trends, Y2K, and stuff like that, which were based on Black role models who don’t get enough credit today.”

On Feb. 11, BSU and ASB held speed painting in the amphitheater to celebrate the role Black culture has on art.

“This year, we wanted to take advantage of being in person, so we thought that speed painting would be a great way to highlight some Black-inspired art pieces,” Rowe said. “We sent speed painting some ideas, whether from Pinterest or just Black artists that we thought they could draw inspiration from. We thought it would be fun for the students and really engaging.”

Rowe said she hoped that by displaying art inspired by Black artists during speed painting, other students would be inspired to dive deeper into Black culture and history. 

“Having [the art] in front of the students and letting them see it in person does have a bigger impact,” Rowe said. “When [Black History Month activities] were online, not everyone had access to it or was aware of it, but during lunch, everyone is out together, they can see the art, and all celebrate together. I really hope this opened up students’ eyes to celebrating Black culture.”

In addition to the themed events in the quad, BSU is holding meetings each Thursday throughout the month. According to Degef, Black Student Union at Westview has existed for a while but was relaunched more recently with the purpose of bringing people together to have meaningful conversations about Black culture. 

“Black Student Union is a cultural club that creates a space for black students and allies to be able to talk about current events, pop culture, music, history, and things going on in our current day,” Degef said. “The whole purpose of it is to unify students of all backgrounds and have productive conversations about race and identity in America.”

Degef said it’s important for students to recognize how Black Student Union is a club for people of all backgrounds and the cultural diversity within the meetings is what allows the club to have a widespread impact at Westview. 

“Because of the name, Black Student Union, [people might think] that it’s only limited to Black students, which is not the case at all,” Degef said. “I definitely see in our club turnouts that there are students of all backgrounds, but I think that is something that needs to be emphasized. I want people of all backgrounds to be able to come into our meetings and take part in what we have to offer. I think it would be even more impactful to have people of all backgrounds come in and be a part of the club.”

The club’s organization of celebratory activities are a large part of moving towards their goals of increased awareness and access. According to Degef, Black History Month is extremely important to celebrate and recognize because it sheds light on the intricacies of Black culture. 

“It’s an opportunity for people to understand Black history beyond stories of racism and slavery,” Degef said. “This month spotlights Black achievements [and] it’s a fresh reminder to give visibility to people and organizations that are creating change within our community, our country, and globally. Our campus especially is doing well in uplifting Black culture, but moving forward, we [should] continue to acknowledge the progressive achievements of the past as well as the present; celebrating the multidimensionality of Black individuals. ”

Additionally, in order to engage students, BSU wanted to focus their activities during Black History Month towards the celebration of Black culture, instead of only educational activities. 

“This year, we went more celebratory [because] it can be draining sometimes to just learn about the history, which is often negative,” Rowe said. “So, we are celebrating the culture as well as including the history so students can be more engaged and not be nervous to talk about it with others.”

For Rowe, Black History Month is about visibility, as Black culture is often left out of what students are learning in school. 

“As a minority, I think having a month where we can not only be highlighted but also just be remembered is really important,” Rowe said. “It’s really easy, especially in some of the curricula we have today, to be forgotten or overlooked and so I think having a month to celebrate Black culture allows students to be more open to it.”

After the Black Lives Matter movement picked up momentum last year, Degef said that it’s more important than ever to spread awareness about Black history. 

“This year especially, people are receptive to learning about different issues, following the BLM Movement and the momentum of it across the nation,” Degef said. “With this context, people are able to reflect and celebrate our history along with acknowledging that there’s still so much to do.”