After several months of planning with around 50 U of M faculty, staff, and students, the first of the 26 activities to celebrate Black History Month begins today.
"We really worked hard on events that would draw a variety of people," said Alicia Golston Black History Month Chair.
The opening reception at the Rose Theatre will include two presentations. Officials will unveil the 2005 Midsouth Black History Month Poster at the reception. Regional artists competed for the honor.Larry Finch, Sr., the winningest basketball coach in U of M History, will receive the Arthur S. Holman Lifetime Achievement Award during the second half of the ceremony.
The Black History Month Committee selected Finch after he was nominated by a number of students and faculty. He will be honored for his work on and off campus.
"Larry Finch is an icon. He has meant so much to the community," said Lonnie Latham, Associate Dean of Minority Affairs.
"Lost Heritage/Lost Culture" is the theme the BHM Committee coupled with the national BHM theme of "The African Diaspora."
"Overall, we as a culture have lost a lot of things," said Jason Dickson, BHM opening ceremony chair. "A part of that is understanding who we are as a people. We have failed to realize our strength as a people.
"Because of that, there is a lot of discord among us," he said.Dickson said this year's Black History celebration will showcase the strengths and achievements of African-Americans connected to The University of Memphis.
"Current students may not know, but there are a lot of successful people that attended The University of Memphis," Golston said.She feels the opening reception and other events planned to recognize African-American alumni will boost attendance for many of the programs in February.
Despite attendance in years past, students like junior communications major Myla Young are looking forward to celebrating Black History Month.
"I don't think African-Americans get as much recognition as they should," Young said.
"But this is the one time that people zero in on the positive instead of the negative. There are a lot of good things African-Americans have done," she added.
For a list of events, contact Minority Affairs at 678-2054 or visit people.memphis.edu/~minority.
