Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy (late) Valentine's Day from BSU!! Hope yours was as eventful as mine!

Behind the Scenes: More Pics from the Dances!

February 6th: The Black n' White Dance:

Olivia, our historian, plays shy and hides from the camera

Nick and I, getting picture happy

Laetitiah stands tall

Ben Wu, from the Intercultural Center, who helped made our night a success!

Me, in vertigo

January 23rd:

Yonas and Tumi discuss the playlist for the dance

Olivia, Allan, Tumi, and our advisor Nadine Knight flash their bright smiles

BSU Dance Pt 2: Black n' White

People, people!

After much request, BSU put on an unheard of second dance this semester!

As you may all recall, the speakers blew out at the last dance and while the night was saved, BSU members overheard, were texted, facebooked, and received many requests for another one. We appreciated the love and after careful planning, we made it happen! Again.

Yeah, we're cool!

As Black History Month was fast approaching, we came up with the genius idea to open our event-packed month with the dance! The theme this year for BHM is "The History of Black Economic Empowerment" and Tumi, one of our co-presidents, tossed some ideas around for a dance theme that would blend with our month theme.

Allan listening to Tumi toss some ideas around

At last, we decided on the theme of Black n' White, which not only fits our theme, but looks cool and is classic--literally.

As was to be expected, the dance was another great success, and this time when party-goers walked out of the Ballroom's double doors, they did so feeling satisfied.

Yeah, wassup!

We also raised another thirty-five dollars towards Haiti and Partners in Health for a grand total of nearly 600 dollars! Way to go Whitman, and BSU!

People to Know: Michael Eric Dyson

Michael Eric Dyson is the author of sixteen books, ranging from Tupac to Bill Cosby to Martin Luther King, Jr., on issues facing Black America. He is celebrated for his interest and discussion of hip-hop and the culture that surrounds it, as well as its roots in African and African-American cultures and its influence on American popular culture. In addition to his writing career, Dyson juggles the great responsibility of being the University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University.

Check out some of his famous works like Why I Love Black Women, Holler If You Hear Me, Know What I Mean?, and Come Hell or High Water on his website www.michaelerickdyson.com.

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People to Know...

Name five famous African-Americans.

This statement stumps many people, not just around America, but right here on our Whitman campus. In an effort to abolish a stigma that has been created about Black people, namely that they are only basketball players, rappers, singers, football players--athletes and entertainers, essentially--and not people that have contributed to the world in many other ways, BSU is taking the initiative and addressing this issue with its People to Know in February. A big part of celebrating Black History Month is by raising awareness of Black peoples' accomplishments. Whitman's BSU is doing its part by celebrating a list of African-Americans we feel are inspiring and in some cases, not very well known.

Every week, we release at least two of these inspirational people with a brief description of their work and why they are (0r should be more) famous. These will be distributed around campus. Hopefully by the end of this month, the answer to this simple question will not only yield "uh...Barack Obama? Beyonce?" and Lil' Wayne, but some of the other less-known ones such as Michael Eric Douglas, Mae Jemison, and Michael M. Burns.

Look out for these on campus. Stay tuned.

BSU Dance Pt 1: Lil Jon and Dance for a Difference

"To the windowwwww, to the walls!"

Remember that?

Those were the infamous last sung lyrics at our BSU Dance on January 23rd. But let's start from the beginning.

The Men's Basketball game was that night and it was pretty exciting. Many of our members ( I saw Sarah, Yonas, Laetitiah...others) were there supporting our team.

So understandably, the night was off to a slow start considering when the dance started, the game wasn't even over yet.

Whitman's Justin Artis and Brandon Shaw puttin' it on at the game

But the night got better. By eleven, people started trickling in and by 11:20, the party was in full swing.

Partay!!!

Then around 11:40 pm while the crowd-pleasing hit "Get Low" was playing, the music cut leaving the crowd at a loss.

Our fantastic DJs Chris Barton and Graham of The Indestructible Space Hamsters didn't know what to do.

Graham and Chris, at a loss

Turns out we had some "technical difficulties", namely, there was too much current going through the same circuit and the speakers blew out.Thankfully, we were able to fix the problem and get the music back thumping.

view from the top

The night came to a slow but definitely memorable end as the Indestructible Space Hamsters closed with their trademark Journey's "Don't Stop Believing".

On a more accomplished note, BSU marketed our "Dance for a Difference" to encourage donations for Haiti, inspired by the devastating earthquake that left Haiti in rubbles just a mere week and some days before.


Whitman Students enthusiastically donated towards BSU's stand with Partners in Health, a non-profit organization that has been established in Haiti for more than twenty-five years!

BSU members Olivia Ware, Bao-Tram Vo and Laetitiah Magara accept donations for Haiti

Their eager donations came as a surprise and throughout the night, donations came flowing in!

BSU members Nick Chow, Allan Okello and Adam Delgado of Haiti Relief Initative accept donations for Haiti

By the night's end, we had raised a whopping 525.14 dollars for Haiti!

Yaaayyyy! Sarah Deming, our Secretary, counts the money we've raised

All in all, the night was a smashing success. We can't wait to do it again!

Black History Month: The History of Black Economic Empowerment

It's that time of the year again where we not only look forward to the heart-shaped candies, pretty cards or beautifully decorated bouquets, but reflect back on the accomplishments of our great grandparents, the trailblazers from whom our current nation's temperament has been inherited.

Black History Month, fathered by Carter G. Woodson, is a month marking the commemoration of bold African American men and women who, in an unfavorable climate characterized by omnipresent bleakness, fought with unbridled passion and determination. This month we celebrate the contributions of both renowned and underappreciated figures such as Federick Douglas, Benjamin Banneker, Guion Bluford Jr., Toni Morrison etc.

Please read this excerpt provided by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which gives an elaborate account of the theme of choice.

The 2010 Black History Theme

The History of Black Economic Empowerment

The need for economic development has been a central element of black life. After centuries of unrequited toil as slaves, African Americans gained their freedom and found themselves in the struggle to make a living. The chains were gone, but racism was everywhere. Black codes often prevented blacks from owning land in towns and cities, and in the countryside they were often denied the opportunity to purchase land. Organized labor shut their doors to their brethren, and even the white philanthropist who funded black schools denied them employment opportunities once educated. In the South, whites sought to insure that blacks would only be sharecroppers and day labors, and in the North whites sought to keep them as unskilled labor.

Pushing against the odds, African Americans became landowners, skilled workers, small businessmen and women, professionals, and ministers. In the Jim Crow economy, they started insurance companies, vocational schools, teachers colleges, cosmetic firms, banks, newspapers, and hospitals. To fight exclusion from the economy, they started their own unions and professional associations. In an age in which individuals proved unable to counter industrialization alone, they preached racial or collective uplift rather than individual self-reliance. The late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed an unprecedented degree of racial solidarity and organization.

In 1910, a group of dedicated reformers, black and white, gathered to create an organization to address the needs of African Americans as they migrated to the cities of the United States. The organization that they created a century ago became what we all know as the National Urban League. For a century, they have struggled to open the doors of opportunity for successive generations, engaging the challenges of each age. ASALH celebrates the centennial of the National Urban League by exploring racial uplift and black economic development in the twentieth century.

*Source: www.asalh.org and Tumisang Mothei