With great leaders in education, history and society to learn about, Black History Month has filled Sacramento State’s event calendar, leaving the campus with ample events to participate in this month.

There are more than 20 events dedicated to Black History Month on campus that are sponsored by numerous Sac State organizations.

Starting the celebration off last Friday, the opening reception in the University Union Redwood Room welcomed 2008 Black History Month.

“All the different organizations on the calendar will talk about events that will be going on,” said Patricia Holmes, Sacramento State Social Work Department office manager and president of Black Staff and Faculty Association.

The calendar with all the events for Black History Month is posted throughout campus and can be viewed at the Multicultural Center’s website.

Associated Students Inc. is having a month-long African-American Author book drive in the Union Student Life Services Center. This book drive is in honor of Black History Month and will allow Sacramento youth to learn more about black writers.

These books will be donated to local Sacramento schools to expand the knowledge of the youth.

Students, faculty, clubs, groups and the public are encouraged to participate. For each book donated, ASI is offering raffle tickets to a dinner for two to The Cheesecake Factory and a couple’s massage at Mellow Me Out in the middle of February to tie in with Valentine’s Day.

Although Black History Month helps celebrate the past, a few individuals will become a part of history.

One of the many events to attend is the Honorary Negro League Game at noon on Feb. 23 at the McAuliffe Fields right off campus. The event is sponsored by Morris League, which two young brothers started, said Karlos Santos-Coy, Sac State program advisor to Cultural Clubs and Religious Organizations in Student Activities, who praised the young founders of the club.

Sac State business majors and co-presidents of Morris League Dominic and Donte Morris started the sports club last fall after realizing that they didn’t want to just play baseball but be in the business of baseball.

“We are hosting the game because a lot of people don’t know about the Negro League and what it stood for,” Donte Morris said.

Furthermore, he said that it is important to participate in Black History Month because it allows people to understand the history of those who sacrificed for students to attend college and paved the way for many to be where they are today.

The twins, Donte and Dominic, will pass on the knowledge by having three guest speakers discuss the Negro League on the field.

The president of The Future: Building Awareness through Culture and psychology major Mishae Parker, former Negro League player Frank Williams of the Kansas City Monarchs and former Major League Baseball player Joe Dorsey will all make speeches before Williams and Dorsey throw the first pitches.

After the pitches are thrown, the two teams in the league will play the game in honor of the Negro League.

Other events will honor individuals who continue to be prominent in the black community.

“Brother Outsider,” a film of a man who was forced in the shadows during the civil rights movement, will be shown at noon, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. today in the Union Lobby Suite, said Sac State PRIDE Center co-coordinator Nicole Scanlan.

“The importance of showing ‘Brother Outsider’ is that Bayard Rustin was not only a great man, but an icon because he helped Martin Luther King Jr. advance civil rights…” Scanlan said. “He had to live behind in the shadows because he was gay.”

Tomorrow at 6 p.m., the use of the “N”-word will be discussed in the Union Lobby Suite sponsored by BSFA.

“This year, the ‘N’-word will be expanded to also stand for nooses due to Jena Six,” said Cecil Canton, criminal justice professor and faculty adviser for Africans For Reeducation, Innovation, Consciousness and Achievement.

Canton said that the “N”-word forum is a signature event of AFRICA and students always look forward to the forum every year since it began in 2000.

To celebrate Black History Month in an artistic way, Sac State’s West African Drum and Dance Club will be performing at 6 p.m. Feb. 15 in the Union’s Redwood Room.

West African Drum and Dance Club president and Sac State alumnus Tyehimba Kokayi said that although the club is struggling to stay afloat on campus because of the lack of participation, he’s excited to share the beauty of the African culture with people.

“People will have the chance to enhance their own lives by learning about the African culture,” Kokayi said.

Others agree that the African culture will enrich lives.

“The sound of the drum is so alluring that people can’t help but watch,” Canton said.

All of these events follow the second principle of Kwanzaa, a common theme of Kujichagulia, which is self-determination in Swahili, meaning “to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves instead of being defined, named, created and spoken for by others,” according to the Multicultural Center’s Black History Month calendar of events.

Last year’s theme was Umoja, the first principle of Kwanzaa.

AFRICA has been the organization coming up with the themes since it was established in 2000, Canton said.

Canton and Holmes said that most of the organizations tried their best to make all the events free, but there are a couple events that are not free of charge.

The Sacramento Black Art of Dance performance on Thursday, Feb. 28 will be $8 for general admission, Sac State employees and Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance members.

To attend the performance on Friday, it will cost $12 for general admission, $10 for Sac State employees and SARTA members, according to the campus calendar.

Tickets can be purchased at the Sac State Ticket Office.

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Contact Deur Julie Tcha in the

Features department

at (916) 278-4155.