On Wednesday February 26th, the SGA and Dr. John Riedl, professor of History collaborated to organize an event called, “Black History Month Discussion: African Americans and Labor”. This event took place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., in the Student Activities Area of the Student Services Building.
While attending the event, I discovered that according to Dr. Riedl, an African American named Carter G. Woodson developed an idea on how to change people’s perspective on the history of African Americans.
Once the discussion was over, I talked to some students who attended, and I asked them their thoughts. Christopher Williams, an employee at the MBI Cafe, eagerly shared his thoughts on the discussion.
“It was really good, and informative! It was a lot more informative than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t expect at the end of that discussion, I would learn a lot. Learn stuff I didn’t know. I think the most interesting thing I learned was about the different types of jobs that both enslaved and free Black people held. When you think about the concept of slavery, most people think about field slaves, you don’t think about boatmen, the ‘my men’, and the carriage drivers. I was very interested in learning about them.” – Christopher Williams
In 2025, the ASALH (Association for the Study of African American Life and History) focused on the importance of honoring Black History while teaching people the unknown facts.
Another student named Chidiebere ‘Chidi’ Oparah who briefly checked out the discussion had told me about his opinion.
“I thought it was a very informative. Also, given the fact that Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday were in a week, I believe. Their birthdays were close to each other as well.” – Chidi
Lastly, a young gentleman named Nnamdi gave me a lengthy yet riveting unknown insight on the relationship between slave owners and their slaves.
“I’ll give you, like three interesting facts that I found out. Sundays, if you looked at the communities, they have to spend Sundays at church, and that’s because during slavery, slave owners were Christians at the time. They believed that Sundays were the Sabbath day, so they wouldn’t make them work on Sundays, which over time has flown into the black communities. Another one was the company, ‘Brooks Brothers’, it was a shoe company founded during slavery.” – Nnadmi
It was inspiring to see people from different diverse racial backgrounds engaged in discussion, eagerly asking questions about the lessons. Overall, the event served as a meaningful way to celebrate Black History Month.
