February 2, 2022

Lifting Every Voice for Black Heritage

Campus gathers for flag raising, events marking ‘Black Firsts: Pioneers of Greatness’

University police walking flags across campus — University police escort members of the campus community gathered for the flag raising ceremony.

A flag raising ceremony on February 1 marked the beginning of the observance of Black Heritage Month at Montclair State University, the first in a series of special events to honor the many contributions African Americans bring to campus, and the legacies and achievements of generations past.

This year’s theme, “Black Firsts: Pioneers of Greatness,” is a celebration of black success, and in speaking to the crowd gathered for the midday ceremony, Professor Saundra Collins elevated their voices recalling “the spirits of the ancestors upon whose shoulders we stand, whose words indeed give us counsel in this endeavor to empower ourselves.”

Her list included activists for human and civil rights, political leaders, black cultural leaders, abolitionists “and many others who took a bold place on the front line in the fight for freedom.”

Bintou Akeisha Ndoye, president of the Black Student Union and a senior majoring in Public Health, reflected on those trials and added others brought on by the pandemic. “We celebrate our resilience and stand tall amidst adversity.”

Reading from a proclamation, President Jonathan Koppell recognized African Americans and other people of African ancestry who serve the University and are well represented in the student body. “They play a valuable role at the University and have enriched our campus with the highest levels of leadership, intellectual growth and artistic achievement,” he said.

A presentation by Leslie Wilson, associate dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, followed the flag raising, providing the origins of Black Heritage Month, which at Montclair will be observed with a series of events and activities on the Black experience, healing and social justice. (Find a full list of Montclair’s Black Heritage Month events at Engage, compiled by the Center for Student Involvement).

Highlighted events include a February 2 discussion by Educational Foundations Professor Zoë Burkholder on the history of school integration in New Jersey, with a special focus on the history of school desegregation and Black educational equality in the Montclair Public Schools.

Strange Fruit by Donald Byrd Spectrum Dance Theater will be performed Thursday, February 10 through Sunday, February 13 in the Alexander Kasser Theater. The piece draws its title from the 1937 poem and song of the same name by Abel Meeropol and made famous by jazz singer Billie Holiday – which metaphorically addresses lynching as a tool of racial terrorism during the Jim Crow Era.

The Jersey Four, a panel moderated by Professor of Justice Studies Jason Williams on February 16 on social justice and community charity.

A panel discussion, “Black Wall Street: A Model for Greatness,” on February 22 will feature the artist Ajamu Kojo, whose first solo museum exhibition opens in the George Segal Gallery, in conversation with Montclair professors and the galleries’ director. The exhibit, Black Wall Street: A Case for Reparations, is Kojo’s ongoing series of large-scale paintings that capture the imagined lives of Black professionals in the Greenwood District before the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Photo Gallery

speaker at microphone — Psychology Professor Saundra Collins elevates the legacies and achievements of generations past to begin the month-long observance of Black Heritage Month.

speaker at lectern with President Koppell in the backgorund — University President Jonathan Koppell listens as Psychology Professor Sandra Y. Lewis, director of African American Studies, adds a libation in honor of African ancestry in the Yoruba language.

In speaking to the crowd, Bintou Akeisha Ndoye, president of the Black Student Union, said the month’s theme, “Black Firsts,” celebrates the “individuals who throughout history stood tall and represented our beliefs and culture.”

attendee taking photo with phone — A participant records the ceremony of Montclair’s flag raising to commemorate the beginning of Black Heritage Month.

Leslie Wilson, associate dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, lectures on the origins of commemoration of Black history to advance social change and build community around a shared commitment to diversity, inclusion, justice and equity.

Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters.