The IDEAS Center kicked off Black History Month by hosting the Black Inventors Traveling Museum event in the lobby of the Henderson Campus Center on Feb. 1. The event was informative, showcasing the numerous inventions created by African American inventors and their contributions to American society as a whole. This was just one of many events scheduled for the month of February from the IDEAS Center and other student organizations at Allegheny.
Throughout the month, there will be panels, discussions, trivia nights, fashion shows and even a trip to a movie theater to see “Bob Marley: One Love” on Feb. 24.
“I am always amazed at Bob Marley and his contribution to the world and culture through music,” said Interim Director of the IDEAS Center Natalie Brown. “He has a really deep impact that he contributed and I thought it would be of great significance for students to go and learn about him, learn about the things he’s done outside of his music.”
The IDEAS Center will also be collaborating with the student group Advancement of Black Culture to host a soul food dinner on Feb. 22 in the Schultz Banquet Hall from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Anyone is welcome to stop by for a meal and a conversation about soul food itself. Brown believes this event, highlighting a staple of the Black community, is particularly important because of its dialogue on the origins of these dishes.
“It’s the ability to bring good food, good conversation, good fellowship and talk about the origin of a lot of food we come to love,” Brown said. “The sweet potato, the rise from Africa, the collard greens, the stories of how we took scraps and made meals. And so that will be talked about and we’ll also have a delicious meal.”
ABC will also be hosting a number of events this month. They began with tabling at the Black Inventors Traveling Museum to amplify their programming for the month, including a collaborative brunch event on Feb. 4 with Black Girl Magic. Anaya Harper, ’26, secretary for ABC, spoke more about further events and their significance to Black History Month.
“February 24 will be the Ebony Ball, which is a yearly thing,” Harper said. “ABC has done it every year consecutively and this year’s theme is Met Gala: Heavenly Bodies and we’re so excited for that. February 26 is when we’ll be making waist beads, because waist beads have a lot of cultural ties to West Africa and came here as a form of the culture during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, so we’re definitely excited for all the events.”
Harper also included her reasoning for why Black History Month is important not just in general, but specifically to Allegheny.
“I think it’s very important that we celebrate Black History Month because the United States, and just the world in general — but we’re specifically talking about America — is embedded on the backs of Black history,” Harper said. “This is a predominately white institution and we’re a minority on the campus, so it’s very important that we keep the culture alive.”
There’s a common misconception that these events are only created for Black students, according to Brown. This isn’t true in the slightest; it’s important for students of all backgrounds to participate in these discussions to better understand their peers. She stressed that all students, not just Black students, should feel encouraged to attend panels and discussions to learn about a perspective different from their own.
“There’s nothing like exposure to things other than what you’re used to,” Brown said. “That’s the aim and the goal, with any heritage month, especially with Black History Month, is to open the door to understanding our culture.”