A series of biweekly dialogue-filled “Black History Fridays” will be staged at Point Park to honor black history month.
Black History Fridays, sponsored by the Black Student Union (BSU), will provide the Point Park community an opportunity to engage in meaningful conversation on key racial issues that negatively impact African American students.
“Expected topics include community connections, the truth about white privilege, and breaking down the black lives matter v.s. all lives matter debate,” says Christian Moore, President of the Black Student Union, who has been voted into this notable position at the end of last semester.
These events are free of charge and open to all Point Park University students. The first one will be held on February 12th in Lawrence Hall room 200 from 6-7:30pm. The second one will be held on February 26th from 7-9:00 p.m. and it’s location is to be determined.
“The purpose of these events are to create awareness about the social issues that affect African American students,” Moore said.
Students will be educated on each respective topic by a guest speaker. The guest speaker will then moderate a Q&A and open floor discussion. These events will conclude with engaging, individualized, action plan based activities.
“Ultimately, we want to inspire the Point Park community to be more bold, active, and consistent in the fight for racial equality.” Moore said.
The Black Student Union at Point Park University has a purpose to serve as the official representative organization for the concerns, needs and interests of the minority students.
“By joining this club, I got exposed to the black community at this school, which I didn’t initially think would have a lot of colored students,” Ashley Williams, member of the BSU, said.
The BSU also strives to create a positive environment for the minority students at the University.
“Clubs provide fun activities outside of class, and I joined this one because I felt I could be a vital part of it,” Ni’kyah Paskell, another member of the BSU, said.
If anyone is interested in joining the Black Student Union, they should get in contact with Christian Moore at cmoore@pointpark.edu or attend the meetings that are held every Wednesday from 5-6:00 p.m. in room 212 at the University Center.
Kaitlyn Smith, non-member of the BSU, says, “I think it’s important for all universities to have interest-based groups for students [where they] can form a community within a community.”