Black Culture Week presents new perspective

_{By Amy E. Greenberg}

_{Boston University’s annual Black Culture Week began with} singing, at a concert of the University of Pittsburgh Gospel Choir and the Boston Area Gospel Choir last Sunday.

Workshops, seminars and speakers held during the rest of this week will all deal with its theme, “Moving Deeper into Blackness.” Events span a wide variety of topics, ranging from yesterday’s workshop on “Blacks in the Penal System”, to a discussion of the Black Medical Perspective to be held on Thursday.

Jointly sponsored by UMOJA, the King Center, the CBS student government and the BU lecture series, the Black Cultural Week will last until next Sunday, April 20.

The purpose of the week, according to Bonnie Nance, the program coordinator of the week, is twofold. Its first aim, she said, is “to meet the needs of the BU community”, which she feels “is not overladen with the black perspective.”

Secondly, Nance said, it aims to provide “a sense of where black people are at, and where they’re going.”

Nance also said that although there have been black programs before at BU, that “they weren’t from the black perspective.” She hopes that by holding these events during this week, a better understanding of the black perspective can be obtained.

Nance also stressed that these events are open to the entire community, which means white people as well. She feels that many of the programs can be beneficial to whites also, as they are primarily informative programs. She pointed out that such a program as “The Black Medical Perspective”, could provide helpful health care information to a person of any race.

This year, for the first time, a series of student meetings was held before hand to plan out the program. These were used, Nance said, “to help tap the resources of every BU school and college.” In this way, she explained, every group could be represented and have a say in the planning.

The programs held so far, Nance said, have been highly successful, and very well attended. The gospel concert Sunday night, in particular, attracted a large audience.

Today, Black Cultural Week continues with a workshop at 2:00 on “Black Engineers and Businessmen” in GSU 315. Also at 7:00 tonight, “Boston’s Little Rock–1975 … The Busing Crisis”, will be held also in GSU 315.