By Kirsten Kirtley, Senior Reporter
Student Support Services sponsored a free event on Tuesday called the “Black History Month Project.”
The event was from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Library Annex Room 221. The event consisted of an introduction, a video about the Tulsa Race Massacre, a trivia game about Black history leaders and an art project where the students colored Black history leaders on cardstock paper.
The video was titled “The Untold Massacre of Black Wall Street” and can be found on YouTube. The Tulsa Race Massacre took place in 1921. It was an attack on the African American community in Tulsa in an area known as the Greenwood District.
The Greenwood District, also referred to as “Black Wall Street,” was considered a successful district when it opened for business. On May 30, 1921, a Black man named Dick Rowland and a white woman named Sarah Page rode in an elevator together. Afterwards, several varying details about the incident began to be told throughout the community.
Rowland was arrested the following day on a rape allegation, and shots were fired between Black and white mobs at the courthouse. On June 1, white rioters looted the Greenwood District. Although there is not an exact number, research suggests that around 300 people may have died.
After the video was shown, students began working on their art projects. Some of the Black historical figures that students colored included Rosa Parks, Kobe Bryant and Malcolm X. Each cardstock was framed and will be displayed in Ryerson Hall. After the art is displayed for a period of time, the students will get the opportunity to take their projects home.
“It seemed like the students really liked the art aspect of it,” said Da’Mario Mattingly, project advisor for Student Support Services. “So, for the cultural event this semester, we tried to incorporate more art.”
Mattingly said SSS hosts events to interact with students in a group setting and make connections with the students.
Jacob Martin, a political science major, said the coloring sheets were his favorite part of the event.
“It’s an opportunity to teach about people one might not learn about in day-to-day life,” he said.
“For me, it was definitely the video because I feel like that’s not a topic that’s taught enough in public schools,” said Carmen Gonser, another political science major. “It’s really cool to expose people to that story.”
SSS sponsors a cultural event and informative event each semester to help students make friends and get involved with the program. The cultural event last semester was called the “Butterfly Project.” It honored the lives lost in the Holocaust. Each student painted a butterfly that included the biography of a child that died during the Holocaust, and their paintings were then displayed in the library.
All students are welcome to attend the informational and cultural events that SSS hosts, even if they aren’t members of the program. A few of the informative events that SSS has hosted in the past covered topics such as financial literacy, financial aid, mental health and time management.