By Twahiba Kashe – Contributor 

Throughout the month of February, PULSE led a series of events to celebrate Black History Month at Bishop’s University. Each week was dedicated to a particular theme, accompanied by activities and events that brought students together. 

The month started with a focus on Black Creativity. PULSE hosted a movie night featuring The Woman King, a powerful movie centering women warriors that showcased Black history and resilience. The following days ensued a game night and a paint-and-sip workshop in collaboration with Residence Life and the BU Arts Festival. At this event, students enjoyed bissap, a Senegalese drink made of hibiscus, ginger, and lemon, while having insightful and meaningful conversations. 

Week two celebrated Black Love in all its forms. Students gathered for this week’s movie night, Queen & Slim, a movie about love, resistance, and systemic issues within society, followed by a trivia night the next day. One of the most anticipated events was the Kompa workshop, a traditional Haitian dance. Unfortunately, due to the winter storm, the workshop was postponed. However, through an Instagram poll, the community showed immense interest, and the Kompa dance event was rescheduled to the third week.

The third week’s theme was Black Advocacy, beginning with the much anticipated and long-awaited Kompa workshop. The week ended with a historical Rep Your Flag Gait Night in collaboration with DJ Bvibe, a well-known DJ within the Black community in Sherbrooke. This had been the biggest event so far, and students showed up in numbers. Rumour has it that this was the most attended Gait Night on a Thursday for the entire semester. Throughout the Gait, you could see different types of flags. As a result of the large number of attendees, the Black community is gaining recognition and engagement on campus.

The final week of Black History Month was themed ‘Flourishing Excellently’, where we highlight Black excellence all around. We hosted a game and trivia night to wrap up the activities, bringing the community together one last time before Reading Week. Everyone gathered to play a game of Kahoot regarding Black pop culture and Black excellence, and once again, everyone had fun. 

Despite initial concerns about attendance, PULSE was pleasantly surprised with the number of students who showed up. As the month progressed, attendance at each event grew, demonstrating that there is a large Black presence at Bishops, and reflecting desire by Black students and the Black community to have a space on campus to connect, celebrate, and thrive together. One participant, Youse Pierre, who participated in several events reflected on the significance of this month’s activities. “Prior to these events, I did not really interact with people. But ever since that first game night, which was one of the best experiences I’ve had at Bishop’s, I can say I made some good connections within the Black community here on campus. PULSE and these activities really made us come together and just have a great time with each other.” 

While February comes to an end, PULSE would like to remind the Bishop’s community that Black history should not only be recognized during a single month; Black history should be celebrated and talked about all year long. Every month is Black History Month.