Celebrating Black History Month at HCC includes live performances by D’Mo Brass (Distinguished Men of Brass), Silent Praize, Alan B. Jones and so much more. The free events started February 3^rd in the Ybor Room hosted by SGA President Damon Arnold. This is the first of a four-day series of honoring and celebrating Black History Month.

  “My main goal when I do anything is pretty much to unite everyone. I’m all about unification and bringing people together,” Arnold describes.

  While the event was hosted once a month in the previous years, this time there will be four events students can attend. SGA hopes to reach each student by rotating events between Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every week of the month to accommodate irregular college schedules.

  “They want to try something new to give an experience for the course of the month,” Sherron Small, senator of SGA, explains.

  The theme of the first day was “Being Educated is the New Black”. Arnold opened with a story of his struggle in a class from a past semester that taught him the people in his life push him to pursue success and it is them that he credits for his current success, not himself.

  D’Mo Brass entertained students with exciting performances of popular songs including “Crazy in Love” and “Uptown Funk”. Dressed in black suits with bright blue bowties, D’Mo Brass brought people to their feet dancing and singing along with them.

  Silent Praize then came out to perform a gospel song wearing festive green and white face paint. Her humorous yet touching performance reached out to everyone who attended and ended with a roar of applause at the conclusion. Jones honored Nelson Mandela in the performance by playing out the different roles that made up Mandela’s life that made him a world renowned human rights activist. She emphasized his importance and celebrated the life he demonstrated for not just South Africans, but for people around the world.

  Arnold is hoping that while students are entertained, they are also able “to know where they come from, to know what the history is, to know the people that tread before them so that they can have all the opportunities that they have today, and know that it’s not just about being black, but that it is about equality on all levels,” upon attending the events.

  Every event is free for Hawk verified students which includes free food at the end as well. Future events will include a performance by HCC students with the theme being “Black History: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future.” Jan. 17’s theme will be “Black History is American History” and will include a panel of guests, followed by viewings of the feature film, Malcom X and, the documentary 500 Years After. The final week’s theme will be “Racial superiority is a mere pigment of the imagination” and will include more musical performances and a soul food tasting.