With the start of February comes Black History Month celebration here at Ramapo College. To kick off the month of festivities and celebration of black history, Ramapo’s Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Compliance (EDIC) invited students and faculty to the Opening Proclamation for Black History Month. The proclamation was held in Friends Hall on Feb. 3 and was open to anyone on campus who wanted to join.
Throughout the month, events from the EDIC, Black Student Union, the College Programming Board, Dining Services, Students of Caribbean Ancestry and many other organizations on campus will celebrate African-American history and their achievements.
To start off the proclamation ceremony, Ramapo’s CantaNOVA and Chorale choirs sang “Black National Anthem” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
The performance finished with a standing ovation and was followed by a short speech done by Vice President for EDIC and Chief Equity and Diversity Officer, Nicole Agard. She emphasized that this month should not be the only month in which we recognize and celebrate Black history, rather it should be a whole year celebration.
She says, “Black History is American history and that we should educate ourselves about the experiences and struggles that we experience.” The only way to learn is to listen and celebrate. She also emphasized the need to honor the past in order to embrace the future for new possibilities and new achievements.
As she was speaking, a PowerPoint presentation that honored a selection of African American people that made a difference in our country and deserve to be recognized for their contributions played.
After her speech Agard welcomed to the stage President Cindy Jebb to read out the proclamation for the 2025 Black History Month. President Jebb opened the proclamation to share the importance of acknowledging, recognizing and celebrating Black history.
“Black History is American history and that we should educate ourselves about the experiences and struggles that we experience.”
– Nicole Agard
President Jebb moved on to talk about the history behind Black History Month, stating that it dates back to 1926 where Carter G. Woodson produced the first Black history week to honor the achievements of African Americans. It was not until many years later that the one week turned into the now month long celebration of Black history and their achievements
At the end of the proclamation, President Jebb urged the community we have on campus to gather and to foster relationships to pay tribute and to create a culturally rich community.
After President Jebb spoke, she welcomed guest poet and speaker RADI, a Black lesbian poet who is known for her slam poetry. She performed three poems all dealing with the history and emotions of not only herself, but others in her community. Her poems were brought with emotion and presence to the stage, earning her a standing ovation for her powerful words sharing her experiences.
To end the proclamation, Kyree Robinson-Banks, Student Trustee on the Board of Trustees for Ramapo College shared a short speech to end the proclamation. He shared his experience within his own life where he found “the ground beneath him breaking.” He found that he needed to find a way to fix it and to make sure that he would have a voice and story to improve his own community. To end the proclamation, he said, “We all have a voice and power, we just need to take it.”
Closing out the proclamation, guests were offered homemade pineapple upside down cake and banana pudding and encouraged to watch the slideshow of the African Americans who had made history in our society.
Black History Month has only just started here on campus, so look for special events and festivities honoring and celebrating black history. All are welcome to join and participate. Check out https://www.ramapo.edu/edic/ for the special events happening all month long.
rbleich@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Rebecca Bleich
