Gonzaga Celebrates Black History Month

On Wednesday, February 2 the Gonzaga community came together in St. Aloysius Church for its annual Black History Month Assembly. Hosted by Onyx, Gonzaga’s Black and multicultural student union, the assembly featured several student poems as well as a keynote address by Congressman James Clyburn from South Carolina.

Born in Sumter, South Carolina, Congressman Clyburn is a former history teacher who is now the Majority Whip and the third-ranking Democrat in the United States House of Representatives. During his speech, he talked about Black History Month as a celebration of contributions of people of color, and an opportunity for all Americans to work together. "This month is about developing whatever it takes for us to step outside of our comfort zones, for us to sit down with each other, for us to recognize that this person sitting next to me may be a different gender, may be a different skin color, may be of different backgrounds or different experiences, but we are all in this experiment together," he said.  

When thanking Congressman Clyburn for coming to Gonzaga to speak, Father Lingan said: "Congressman, as an educator yourself, you understand that it is our objective as an educational institution to educate and form young men of competence, conscience, and character -- qualities our nation and our world desperately need. It is one thing to speak to our young men of the importance of these qualities. But it is a better thing to introduce them to someone whose life and life's work reflect and demonstrate these qualities." 

In addition to the keynote address, the following students read original poems, which you can read by clicking on the links below. 

 

We hope you enjoy these photos of a memorable day on Eye Street.