The University of New Mexico Department of Africana Studies “41st Annual Black History Month Kickoff Brunch” started Black History Month off strong, with the Student Union Building full of smells, sounds and an electrifying sense of community that could be felt as soon as one entered the ballroom.
The Saturday, Jan. 31 brunch started off with attendees and speakers singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson; a hymn first written in 1900 and adopted as a rallying cry during the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
The afternoon began with brief messages from UNM students and Mr. and Ms. UNM Afro, Jayden Charter and Judie Oyinatumba, as well as a quick introduction from Albuquerque’s first African American City Council member, District Six’s Nichole Rogers…