Michele Meyers
In Motion Staff Writer
Brightly colored African clothing swirled amid yoga pants and jeans on The Landing at Daytona State College in one of several festivities staged in honor of February’s Black History Month.
Men in African dashikis and women in the traditional Kitenge, used for head wraps and baby slings, enjoyed a variety of wellness checks including free blood pressure testing, provided by DSC’s Health Sciences students. Phaleisa Canidate, president of the African-American Student Association, danced in a vividly printed green shirt, arms outstretched, to music bumping in the background by DJ Crsroli.
Black History Month officially kicked off at the College on Feb. 6. According to Daryl Michael Scott of the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a graduate member of Omega Psi Phi and his fraternity brethren, established Negro History and Literature Week to honor Africans and their descendants’ achievements. The year was 1924.
The celebration naturally occurs in the February because that is the birthday month of two prominent advocates for the abolishment of slavery, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Woodson believed that the celebration should honor a civilization, not just two men, so the ideology of an annual theme emerged.
Civil rights icon and educator Mary McLeod Bethune, for whom Bethune-Cookman University is named, encouraged Dr. Woodson to publish the Negro History Bulletin, promoting his idea. With a shift in social consciousness in the 1960s, activists and intellectuals pushed to increase black history education. In 1976, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, founded by Woodson, expanded Negro History Week to Black History Month. Every president of the United States since has endorsed the ASNLH’s promotion of Black History Month.
In honor of that tradition, Marcellas Preston who is with DSC’s Office of Co-curricular Activities, successfully provided DSC with a February filled with events. The Feb. 6 activity invited the public to learn about healthy living alternatives, including a table displaying the breathing capacity of a hearty, pink lung alongside a smoke damaged, black lung. On Feb. 13, Preston brought in Debbie D and Vintage Now, who provided soulful renditions of rhythm and blues classics along with some happy-go-lucky pop hits. In between the band’s flow, the mic was graced with students belting out songs, raps and poetry. All performances were heartfelt and soulful, luring the audience into eruptions of applause.
Phaleisa Canidate attended almost every event. Always dressed in the traditional, vibrant African clothing, she commanded attention at AASA’s table, where she promoted the association’s beliefs of leadership through education. She became president of the organization when the former leader graduated.
“I felt it was important for me to step up and become president to stress the importance of education. I believe all children, no matter their race, can be taught and will be given the best foundation through education.”
Canidate has her Associate in Science degree in early childhood education and is currently attaining her bachelor’s degree in supervision and management. She strongly believes, “It takes a village to raise a child and we are raising tomorrow’s leaders.”
Dr. Anthony Dixon, the founder and president of Archival and Historical Research Associates and a history professor at Bethune-Cookman University, presented a historical overview of the African diaspora in Florida at the Nunamann Hall on Feb. 15. From the matrilineal relationships of the black Seminoles and Africans to the Afro-Caribbean workers, Dixon presented an eloquent lecture on black history in Florida. In closing, Dr. Dixon commented, “This has been a broad overview of the history of Florida, but I have to reiterate one last time, the state of Florida has had a relationship with black people unlike any other state and we need to continue to use those things and look at that relationship as we move forward.”
The month-long celebration at DSC culminated with Black History Day on Feb. 21, with the aroma of down home cooking offered by Lil’ Mama’s Kitchen drifting throughout The Landing. Meanwhile, BCU’s Devine Nine and Saxman Danuiel Fuqua jammed in the background.
Few could escape the sense of community pervading every aspect of the activities.