Category: Event Reviews

Today, February 28, 2024, I attended an event called “African American Sport and Civil Rights”. This was held in Park Center Hall of Fame Room 1118 and led by Professor Susan Rayl. During her presentation and lecture, she discussed several African Americans since the Civil War, who not only were distinguished athletes, but also those who challenged the racial system and tried to create better for not only themselves, but everyone around. She included athletes of both male and female, as well as their stories, hardships, and what they did to change the status quo developed in earlier years. Some of these athletes include, but are not limited to, Isaac Murphy, a jockey, Tidye Pickett, a track athlete, and Jackie Robinson, a baseball player. All of these people have clearly demonstrated the struggles of being an African American in the 1900’s, during a time of segregation and discrimination, but what many of us don’t realize is that they helped pave a way for others to pursue their dreams. But they also helped to change the world outside of sports as they pushed for equality and showed just how similar they are to the white Americans who were prioritized over everyone.

            One person I would like to highlight from this event is Tidye Pickett. Pickett was an American track and field athlete who ran the 80-meter hurdles. She had qualified for the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 but was unable to compete due to the color of her skin. She was forced to sit and watch. But, in 1936, she qualified yet again for the Olympics, this time held in Berlin, Germany. Here, she became the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games, while also being an inspiration to others to follow their dreams no matter who tries to stop them.

            Although being a former athlete myself, I have never truly inquired about how interracial sports came to be. I have found this presentation to be very insightful as I have learned the stories of many that helped create the world of sports as it is today. I also believe we can relate this topic to our course. We are taught about the many who came before us and inspired the work of literature in the colored community. We can relate it to the topic of Civil Rights as these athletes pushed for more when they were not given anything. I believe “A Raisin in the Sun” deals with a similar story. The Youngers are an African American family who move into a white neighborhood. They are subjected to a form of racism as the community attempts to shut down their dreams of moving to a better home. But they go against the wishes of others and move on to prove that they are worthy of living in such an area. Both the Youngers and these African American athletes have pushed through the barrier of segregation and went on to prove that they too should be considered as an equal, not an object that can be thrown down.

         Within the event I attended Black History month which was hosted by the head of the sociology department Dr. Marcus Bell, we discussed certain issues within and outside the police system. To start off the meeting off Dr. Bell gave a few personal stories where he was victimized at a young age for the color of his skin. When one incident was him walking to the store with his older brother and another black man ran up on them and robbed them at gunpoint, he was only a child at the time and this was not his only incident. Another time he was on his way to football practice with a  few of his brothers and one of them had a cap gun (which are fake), the bus driver called the police and next thing they knew he and his brothers were all at gunpoint.  These two incidents show a very good representation of what Dr. Bell means by overpoliced, did the police think twice or did they only see the color of their skin? There comes a line where policing is protecting the good from the bad, but here are times where police protect partially all of society although from a racial bias they lead their decisions with. The overlying issue is that police are protecting people from what their beliefs contain. Another takeaway from Dr. Bell’s discussion was the fact that children should not have to live in these atmospheres where they are walking home, or on the bus going to football practice and lives are immediately on the line. They should be able to live within a protected safe atmosphere and have a comforting trust that the police are not there to cause harm. 

            To further add onto this, under protected areas are at a greater risk for crime whether it is interracial or not. Inter racial crime is often demonized which then puts a label on one whole race. We discussed the inter racial crime rates and how the “ghetto” was created by the government as a place for low income housing, this was then labeled as “black neighborhoods” which then developed into “the ghetto”, this entire process includes demonizing a race. If the ghettos are such a high crime rate area, why doesn’t the government do more to try and help protect/ keep these areas safe? One issue as to why this can be difficult is because many do not trust or like the police due to issues from their past, social class, beliefs. etc. This can be due to how society focuses mostly on police murders and when they kill someone unarmed. If society focuses on killings we normalize it and it is not good between community and law enforcement. Although the actual killing may be rare, the violence police choose to use against black minorities is daily. Whether it is hitting them when they are already in cuffs or hitting their head while putting them in the back of a cop car. It is the little things that go unnoticed by those it does not occur to. Although policing is nowhere near considered an easy job, we further discussed how police officers go out to work everyday not knowing if they will make it home. Not all of law enforcement should be labeled for the bad actions of certain officers. Although those officers should be held accountable for the horrible things they have done.

          Overall the meeting outlined certain issues within and outside of law enforcement and the defying reasoning as to why our society is overpoliced and underprotected when it comes to those of African American descent. This will continue to be an ongoing fight but when will justice be served?

Firstly I would like to inform you what BSU is. BSU stands for “The Black Student Union”. BSU  is a club organization that brings people of color together. Their motto is “One people. One love. One Destiny. They throw events to get to know each other, and to get to know your peers. They throw events like ( Toxic Therapy, Red table talk, writing letters to incarcerated men, Black and bougie and etc) these events are meant to relax you and kinda take away your mind from work or school work. My first event I attended was The Toxic Therapy event that was presented by “The Hermanos of La Unidad Latina, Lambda upsilon Lambda Fraternity Inc. alongside the sisters of Omega Phi Beta Sorority Inc, Women of color and curly Kinky Coily” where we talked about toxic relationships, which is seen as a red flag to some people. There is a huge difference to how men and women view life and relationships, women are more emotional and intellectual than some men are. During the toxic therapy session where some men and women felt like some women should be a stay at home wife and take care of the kids while the man of the house goes out and provides for the family. One reason why some agreed with this was because of culture and the way they were raised and brought up.  It was amazing to relate to so many people you didn’t know you could relate to, it felt like a getaway from the real world for a minute and to just talk about things mentally that matter. I definitely found out that everyone has a purpose as to what they are here for, some people made it known that they are just in college for their families or that they think college is the only way they can become successful. It was nice knowing I wasn’t the only one who was stressing and feeling like they didn’t belong at some point.

Black and Bougie is an all formal event that BSU throws every year. It is usually a theme that is incorporated into it kinda like a prom or dance. There’s food and drinks that are provided and it gives people a chance to dress nice and loosen up from all the school work and studying everyone is doing. The event happens for everyone that wants to come and dance and have a great time. On feb, 23 2024 at 10:00pm the theme was Masquerade masks were provided and everyone mainly had on black and looked so beautiful. Some people were dancing and talking to each other and getting to know everyone that was there. There was even a  “king and Queen” that would win best dress. Overall the event was nice and made me want to come to more of their events that are happening all throughout the week if you can make it.