McDonel Hall Black Caucus celebrates last day of Black History Month with performance

By Emily Wilkins | Originally Published: 02/28/10 9:51pm |Modified: 02/28/10 9:52pm | No comments

On Sunday, the McDonel Hall Black Caucus ended Black History Month by performing a play celebrating the achievements of historical black figures.

The show, titled “A Test of Time,” was a collaboration of singing, slide shows and a performance mixing live acting and pre-filmed segments. The main story involved a college student who, in a dream, relives important moments in black history and meets figures such as Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and President Barack Obama.

“We feel that everyone needs to know more about black history,” said Chavonna Savage, family community service senior and president of the McDonel Hall Black Caucus. Savage helped write and starred in the play.

“I think it empowers us, as African American students, to be strong and to know that we can go through any kind of challenge or obstacle that we have,” she said.

Although the play revisited most of the most notable events in U.S. black history, Savage said it was important to tell the stories many international students who live in McDonel Hall might not have heard about the movement.

“I think a lot of international students don’t know too much about African American history,” Savage said. “But hopefully with this program or any program that has to deal with everyone’s history … they might learn.”

Hospitality business junior Andrea Jeter agreed with Savage, saying she has met students who are uninformed about black American’s history.

“They’re from other races and they just don’t know,” Jeter said. “It’s important to see what people had to go through and where we are today.”

The “n” word was said several times throughout the play, and one scene suggested the sexual assault of one of the slaves on a plantation.

“At first, when they asked me, it made me feel uncomfortable,” said philosophy senior Curtiss Dixon, who had one of the lines with the offensive word.

“I don’t think anybody should say that word, but it’s not used in the play to put anyone down. It’s used to show the history of it and how far we’ve come.”

Journalism senior Tony Towns, vice president of the McDonel Hall Black Caucus and one of the writers of the show’s script, said the word’s history made it more important for its use to be ended today.

“Let’s change how it’s used and let’s move forward and not use it,” Towns said. “Black people too. We need to stop using that word.”

McDonel Hall Black Caucus officials asked audience members to bring items such as toothpaste, soap, shampoo, diapers, baby wipes, hand sanitizer and batteries to the event to be donated to victims in Haiti.

“We wanted to encourage and inspire people and educate people, but we also wanted to help somebody,” Towns said. “That’s what Black History Month is about — helping others.”