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Sacramento State hosted the opening events for Black History Month, Wednesday, Feb. 1. “African Americans in Education,” at noon, and “Standing on the Shoulders of Greatness,” at 7 p.m., featured guest speakers and performers in celebration of blacks’ contributions throughout American history.

Forrest Davis, professor for Bilingual Multicultural Education Studies, and Paula Shelby, assistant professor for Kinesiology, spoke early about the role of African Americans in education in the Sacramento area.

“We wanted to educate African Americans about our status on this campus, in Sacramento and in administrative roles,” Shelby said.

Shelby spoke about the role of African American women in administrative positions and dealing with the personal conflicts entitled to the job.

According to Shelby, an important skill to know when having an administrative role is the ability to deal with interpersonal, cultural and other conflicts that may arise when dealing with peers and students.

Davis shared his analysis on the education of African Americans from the past to the present. The major danger Davis sees today is the failure of junior faculty and undergraduate students. His answer to the problem is for the experienced to share their information with the ones learning.

“Every black person here should have a mentor,” Davis said. “In the schools and in the community.”

Local poet Rodzilla performed a spoken word poem of influential African American civil rights leaders, including Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association later that evening.

“Marcus Garvey and the U.N.I.A. was Pan-Africanism at its greatest,” Rodzilla said.

Following was a dance performance by Melinda McClain and a speech given by Kali Akuna Williams.

Williams ?” a member of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the Black August Movement ?” said he’s been working for over 10 years going to public events and advising today’s youth to give back what students have learned from their education.