In a ceremony that honored the achievements of African Americans and other people of color, United Black Students (UBS) kicked off Black Awareness Month on Monday at the Shalala Student Center, continuing a tradition that began in 1962 when the annual month-long observance of important people and events in the history of the African Diaspora began.

“This year we’re celebrating our immense history,” said University of Miami junior Imani Callan, chair of this year’s Black Awareness Month (BAM), which features a Black By Popular Demand theme. “We looked at every decade and century to learn about the important impacts blacks made at various points in history.”

Callan and her team then incorporated those achievements into events like Monday’s opening ceremony, where students and performers entertained the audience with African American-themed talks, poems, dances, and songs representative of different decades. A presentation featuring facts about the influence blacks have had on American culture throughout the decades also was given. For example, during the performance of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” pictures were displayed of African-Americans who received prestigious awards in Hollywood, such as actress Halle Berry.

“Anyone who comes to BAM events this year can expect to learn something about black culture and be immersed in it,” said Callan.

Henson Destine, one of the chairs for BAM’s opening ceremony, agreed, saying this entire month is a way to “expose the UM environment” to black culture.

UBS began organizing BAM events last March, and this year’s festivities run the gamut.

For those who enjoy theatrical performances, UBS will participate in a viewing of “Motown: The Musical” on Friday, February 5 at the Adrienne Arsht Center (a ticket is required). The story is about Motown Records and how its creator, Berry Gordy, launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and other notable black entertainers.

Students interested in attending medical, law, or graduate school can participate in the Life After Undergrad Panel in which graduate students will provide insights and information on post-baccalaureate degree options. The panel starts at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 15 in the Shalala Student Center’s Activities South Room.

The month will end with a day of service at the Overtown Youth Center as well as a BAM Family Reunion with soul food, fun, and games.

View a complete schedule of events during Black Awareness Month.

UM News

Award-winning jazz vocalist and UM alumna Nicole Henry performs at Black Awareness Month Opening Ceremonies not the UM campus. Photo by Andrew Innerarity.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (February 5, 2015) – Growing up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, acclaimed jazz vocalist Nicole Henry pursued the arts early on, singing in school and church and studying cello and ballet. But when she enrolled as a freshman at the University of Miami, it was advertising, not music, that she studied.

She would still put her expressive and soulful voice to use while at the University, performing in talent competitions and as a member of the UM Inspiration Concert Choir. Now, with three top 10 albums and accolades from Moscow to Madrid, Henry is known the world over.

Last Thursday, the 2013 Soul Train Award winner for “Best Traditional Jazz Performance” shared with a UM audience her musical gifts and doled out advice to students as the headline act for Black Awareness Month (BAM) Opening Ceremonies at the Student Activities Center Ballrooms.

“Think of the life you want to live” was Henry’s message to students. “Make a list and get to livin’ because it goes by so quickly.”

Henry has a busy schedule, with performances at New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club and Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church coming up. Then she’ll return to the studio to start work on a new CD combining contemporary jazz, soul, and originals—a work she’s “excited” about.

Sponsored by United Black Students, Multicultural Student Affairs, and the Black Alumni Society, BAM continues throughout February with a number of other events, including a forum on the challenges and triumphs of minorities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields, a poetry slam, a discussion on the portrayal of blacks in the media, and an oratory contest. For a complete roster of events, click here.

About 50 University of Miami students, faculty, and staff gathered at The Rock in front of the UM Bookstore on August 28 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream’ speech. Photo by Chelsea Wortham.

Tiffany Ford wasn’t alive when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. But having learned about the address from history books, video footage, and stories told by her grandmother Beatrice, the 21-year-old University of Miami senior is well aware of its importance as a turning point in the American civil rights movement. Read the full story

Prior to his lecture, Benjamin Chavis talks with, from left, students Arlesa Hubbard, co-chair of UM’s 2012 MLK Celebration Committee, and Dara Collins, president of United Black Students, which helped bring Chavis to campus; Renee Dickens Callan, director of Multicultural Student Affairs; and student Yasmin Assar, MLK Committee co-chair.

Much older today but still consumed with a youthful passion for equality and justice, noted civil rights leader Benjamin Chavis Jr. stood behind a podium inside the University of Miami’s Newman Alumni Center on January 18 and recounted for an audience of mostly 19- to 21-year-olds one of the little-known facts that defined the character of Martin Luther King Jr.

So concerned was King that the shoes worn by some protesters on one of his long freedom marches had begun to wear out that he purchased new ones for them, allowing them to continue their trek. Read the full story