AU concludes Black History Month with Malcom X Day

Though Black History Month has come to an end, students like Keaton Lundie were sure to end it with an important conversation. (photo by Iana Crane)

By Iana Crane | Staff writer

For the last day of Black History Month, the Multicultural Student Engagement Center along with the African American Male Initiative program hosted an event that focused on a key Black history figure, Malcolm X Feb. 28.

Students met in the Jaguar Student Activities Center building to gather for a panel discussion on Malcom X and other movements regarding black history. The panel consisted of both students and faculty.

The event was led by Keaton Lundie, a senior and history major at Augusta University. Lundie serves as a lead mentor with the African American Male Initiative program, a program within MSE. The AAMI works to provide support for African American males at AU including resume help, scholarship searches and event support. Their goal is to encourage student success while also working to improve graduation rates.

“We did a Martin Luther King event earlier this month and I feel like he gets the respect he deserves but other leaders don’t, so I felt like the last day of Black History Month needed to be the best day, talk about Malcolm X and other leaders, so that’s why I decided to do this event,” said Lundie.

The discussion highlighted several aspects of Malcolm X’s life, from his birth, to his assassination in 1965. The presentation also included inserts from several of Malcolm X’s iconic speeches.

In addition to speaking about Malcom X, the panel discussed other significant leaders and activists in Black history including Ella Baker, Septima Clark and Langston Hughes.

“I think todays event was nice, it was a very good discussion and overall, it was AU’s first Malcolm X Day and I think it was amazing,” said Whittany Lewis, a junior and history major at the university.

Lewis served as one of the panel members during this event.

Dr. John Hayes, an associate professor of history at AU, said that educational institutions offer a great opportunity to speak about a range of topics.

“The good give and take of discussion on pretty focused issues were good. I think a college setting is an ideal place for that to happen.” said Dr. Hayes.

Both Lewis and Hayes kept the discussion going by weighing in on each topic and encouraging participation from the audience.

The AAMI program hosts events every two weeks including Man Cave Monday’s every other week.

For more information on the AAMI program and how to attend more of their events, you can follow them on Instagram at aug_aami and at aug_mse.

Contact Iana Crane at icrane@augusta.edu.