Celebrating Black History Month

This years black history month has been a remarkable one. It started months ago when the first black president was elected south of the border and has continued on everywhere, since then. Here at Ryerson the party is still in full swing, but only through the combined efforts of the United Black Students at Ryerson, Tri-mentoring program, Ryerson Student Union and the Office of Discrimination and Harassment services that have spent weeks organizing these events. All of these groups have offered their free time and services to make this Black History month better than any other before. Throughout the month of February Ryerson has hosted and planned a dizzying array of events in honour of black leaders here in Toronto. Events like spoken word jams that gave Ryerson’s best artists the opportunity to express themselves in sold out shows to formal flag parties that showcased diversity found on our campus.

This years black history month has been a remarkable one. It started months ago when the first black president was elected south of the border and has continued on everywhere, since then. Here at Ryerson the party is still in full swing, but only through the combined efforts of the United Black Students at Ryerson, Tri-mentoring program, Ryerson Student Union and the Office of Discrimination and Harassment services that have spent weeks organizing these events. All of these groups have offered their free time and services to make this Black History month better than any other before. Throughout the month of February Ryerson has hosted and planned a dizzying array of events in honour of black leaders here in Toronto. Events like spoken word jams that gave Ryerson’s best artists the opportunity to express themselves in sold out shows to formal flag parties that showcased diversity found on our campus. The most inspirational of all these events was most definitely Ryerson’s annual Viola Desmond awards held this year in POD 250. The ceremony honored young black women here at Ryerson and in Toronto that have made a real difference. Among this year’s honored recipients was high school student Bai Rashid who received the Viola Desmond award for her charity work within the community. The award, she gushed, was the most "remarkable" gift she had ever received and“allows [her] to continue working." Bai wasn’t the only one surprised that night. Those in attendance that weren’t honoured with awards were treated to an intimate talk about race in the film industry by the cast of the hit series Da Kink in My Hair. The actresses were on hand to accept an honorarium for their hard work on the series that has addressed issues within the black community and talk about the changing face of black women in Canada. Although celebrations initially started with Obama it won't end anytime soon. As black history month draws close to an end there are still events offered through the UBSR and Tri-mentoring program throughout the month of March that will be sure to entertain and enlighten students. Ryerson, a proud supporter of student development, opens it doors for the next month and a half to those wanting to learn a little more about black history.