Black History Month has been honored by several events hosted by the Black Student Union. With the help of BSU’s board members, Black History Month Coordinator Ashley Owens has spearheaded several events such as Soul Food Dinner, Trap, Create & Paint, the “Dear White People” series, and the Black Panther premiere. All these events took place as part of Black History Month. Events such as the “I am Not Your Negro” documentary and “Ebony Weekend” closed out Black History Month. 

One event that sparked attention was the “Dear White People” series. Every Tuesday in Doudna Hall at 5:30 pm, BSU and UW-Platteville students gather together to watch the hit Netflix Series “Dear White People”. Topics such as police brutality, interracial relationships, LBGTQ community and feminism are discussed after each individual episode.

“It’s important that BSU and other organizations bring awareness of social issues and the tough things a lot of people don’t want to speak about to this campus,” senior biology major Ashley Owens said, “I think that BSU takes that responsibility very seriously. This open discussion proves that.”

During these events attendees discussed about current issues such as police brutality. They also discussed solutions to educate the public.

“Events like this helps educate those who are ignorant when it comes to discrimination, racism, sexism,” engineering major Abby Fuller said. “We can’t fix it, if we aren’t knowledgeable.”

Tuesday, Feb. 27, BSU closed out their “Dear White People” series. They closed out the series with the topic of colorism,and its plague on not only the black community, but other communities as well. With these events, BSU hopes to unite the Platteville community and the UW-Platteville student body.