The Black Student Union and the Black History Month Planning Team hosted the opening ceremony for Black History Month Feb. 2 in the End Zone.

The celebration started with the singing of the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson. The song has been adopted by the African American community as the Black National Anthem. Students picked out certain lines in the song and took a closer look at what the lyrics mean, and discussed the joy and hope that the song brought to those who sang it decades ago.

Marinel Martinez, assistant director for the Office of Student Development and advisor for the Black Student Union and other multi-cultural identity clubs, spoke about the origins and history of Black History Month. She explained that historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson started the celebration, which originally lasted for one week, in 1926. Dr. Woodson encouraged African Americans to study the history of their people during this week. 40 years later the week evolved into the month that we recognize today.

“With white history being the dominant narrative in America, the work of revolutionary Black Americans is often neglected” Martinez said. “And while it should be acknowledged all the time, February serves as a time to educate ourselves on the invaluable contributions of these trailblazers.”

Two students artfully shared their experiences being Black Americans. Freshman Kiara Vernon reflected on what the word black means to her, and senior Ille Mendez shared a personal story through poetry. Both performances were well received by the audience, who cheered in support of their peers sharing these personal experiences.

The event ended with a game of Black History Month trivia. Students got into teams of four and came up with a name for their team. Players competed against each other, answering questions having to do with prominent people and events in Black History. Team “Group 1” finished with the most points, taking home a $10 gift card for each member of the team.

Looking forward to the month’s events, junior Tyreke Israel, a member of the Black Student Union, said that he is looking forward to the Brown Bag Series next Tuesday, which will be a post-election dialogue.

“I feel like it’s going to be really emotional and it’s really going to be a positive environment for people to talk about their communities and how they’ve been affected” Israel said.

Israel commented on the importance of this Black History Month in particular.

“What’s going on right now is history in the making, so it will be a very interesting time to see what people do with the platform they have,” Israel said.

Junior Elinor Nelson said that she is excited for the Black Excellence Networking event next Thursday.

“I think it’s really cool that Iona is diversifying and offering these programs to get people involved,” Nelson said. “Things like this might not have been available years ago so I’m glad it is now.”