Elon University celebrates 100 years of Black history

Students, faculty, staff and members from the Elon Black Alumni Network gathered together for the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education’s Black History Month Kickoff and Black Table Talk event. Around 100 people united together in the McBride Gathering Space, inside the Truitt Center, to discuss the theme for the night, “History In The Making: Roots, Routes, and Resistance.”

The event kicked off with Abdul-Malik Harrison, assistant director of the CREDE, encouraging the crowd to incorporate civic action into how they vote, organize and show up on campus. 

“Civic engagement is not a performance,” Harrison said. “It is a practice. Hope, right now is not soft. Hope is discipline. Hope is action.” 

The theme of the night was “History In The Making: Roots, Routes, and Resistance.”

“Black roots are not just what country we are and they aren’t distant history,” Harrison said. “They’re in our families, our neighborhoods and the stories we grew up hearing.” 

Harrison said routes aren’t just about the places people go, but they are about the choices made in the past that people are still defending. He also said resistance is all about refusing invisibility, documenting what those in power hope won’t be seen, and organizing when institutions stall mutual aid when systems fail.

Attendees planted seeds in miniature pots symbolizing their roots, painted on canvases highlighting the different routes taken as African and African Americans and interacted with one another after hearing from the EBAN.

Alumni Kenneth Brown Jr. ’19, Sydney Harrison ’20, Fredrick Evans Jr. ’20, and Shalexzandra Dunkley ’22 shared advice, in a video format, to current students on faculty members to lean on, ways to get involved and ways to stay engaged within the black community. 

Elon seniors Elijah Pegues and Maleah Proctor said it is important to have dedication, determination and confidence when trying to carve your path to success. 

Elon University's predominantly Black a cappella group, Melanated Melodies, performed their own rendition of the National Black Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James and John Johnson, as well as “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae. 

Student organizations such as the Black Student Union and African Diaspora tabled throughout the entire event, along with students and faculty from the CREDE and Carol Grotnes Belk Library. 

The executive board members were dressed in different forms of Kente and African clothing, showcasing one element of African and people of African descent’s roots. 

Elon sophomore Melia Rush, a student coordinator for the CREDE, discussed the importance of the event and what she hopes the greater Elon community took away from the event. 

“My main goal was to help people who are struggling to find their community and hear from alumni to find spaces and resources that they can go to and feel more comfortable at,” Rush said.

Harrison said Black History Month is not recognized as a federal month this year, but he said he feels blessed that the university has stood its ground and allowed for cultural events like this to take place. 

“We didn't have kickoffs,” Harrison said. “When it was Black History Month, it was just spirit week and the BSU put on a party. Now, students get to come into this place and see people who look like them celebrate history that celebrates them.” 

The next Black History Month event is the Tiny Shelf Concert on Feb. 13 in Carol Grotnes Belk Library at 5:30 p.m.