MC promotes African American history with Black Facts Competition
Photo credit, Nafisatu Kabia
Vincent Intondi, professor of history and author of “Saving the World from a Nuclear War, signing his book for Justin B. Smith, communications major, after an Excalibur speaker event about the book. Smith is also one of the winners of the 2023 Black Facts Competition.
Boys to Men and the African & Diaspora Heritage Committee held an annual celebration to celebrate 2023 Black History Month. The event was open from Feb 1 to Mar 1 and was available to all MC students.
Boys to Men is a mentoring program offered to help MC student men of color achieve academic success.
The Africa & Diaspora Heritage Committee is a part of the MC International & Multicultural Student Center.
The committee’s mission statement on the International & Multicultural Student Center webpage, states that it “is a college-wide committee that promotes positive learning and understanding about the history, issues, culture, and diversity of peoples of African descent, worldwide.”
According to an advertisement flyer, the theme of the competition was “Black Resistance.” In an email sent to participants, some of the questions asked included “What is Black liberation theology?” and “Name at least 2 of its practitioners who led revolts against slavery.”
“When [they] could communicate directly with students via email in the early years, over 40 students would register,” said Griffin.
Griffin explained that “since the college stopped [them] from communicating directly with students via email, participation has dropped dramatically.”
According to Griffin, six students registered this year.
Participants received a set of questions every week via email and would have about a week to respond to them.
There was a tie for first place between two students, Justin B. Smith, a communications major, and Musa Sillah, a nursing major.
In addition to gifts from the office of Janeé McFadden, Dean of Student Engagement, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring Student Affairs, both students received two tickets to a Washington Wizards basketball game.
For more information about Boys to Men or the International & Multicultural Student Center, visit their webpage on the MC website.
Erin Koranteng joined the Excalibur as a staff writer in the spring of 2023.
Nafisatu Kabia joined The Excalibur as a staff writer in the spring of 2023. She is the Assistant Editor for the Excalibur in the fall of 2023.
