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Throughout February, Harvard College student groups are commemorating Black History Month, coordinating events to understand Black history and celebrate Black culture.
2025 marks the 49th year in which Black History Month has been celebrated across the United States after President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized the event in 1976.
The Harvard College Generational African American Students Association held an Affirmative Action Teach-In in Harvard Hall last Thursday with the African and African American Resistance Organization, an unrecognized student group, to educate students on the history of affirmative action in the United States and its relevance today.
At the event, students participated in a discussion surrounding the creation of affirmative action in relation to Black American history from “Reconstruction, to the civil rights movement, to today.” The teach-in also covered the issues Black students in higher education may face due to ongoing attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, said Kylan A. Benson ’26, current president of GAASA.
“It was a great experience just to be in community with each other and to learn things that we didn’t know about, the legal cases and the continued onslaught that’s happening all across this country,” Benson said.
On Feb. 10, GAASA, the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, and the Black Arts Collective hosted a Harmony Hour where students could come together, sing, and make arts and crafts.
“One of GAASA’s pillars is advocacy,” Benson said. He added that it was important to make sure that “generational African Americans are represented not only on Harvard’s campus, but everywhere across the United States.”
On Sunday, Adams House hosted and funded a Black History Month dinner at the Inn. The event was coordinated by Sa’maia J. Evans ’27, the current secretary of GAASA. The event featured catered food from the Coast Cafe, a Black-owned restaurant in Cambridge.
“Myself and some other students, Black students on campus specifically in Adams House, wanted to make sure that something was happening,” Evans said.
Evans said that this desire came from the fact that “nobody really acknowledges” Black History Month at Harvard.
She and the other student leaders wanted to “fill that gap” for other Black students at the College.
“Harvard’s history is Black history, quite literally. In Cambridge, Cambridge history is Black history. In the U.S., American history is Black history,” Evans said.
Evans said that she felt frustrated that the University did not coordinate more Black History Month events.
“Unfortunately they’re all student-run and student-led initiatives. It’s like I said, the University is not interested in giving us anything during February or any other month of the year,” Evans said.
A Harvard College spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement that “Harvard College is committed to celebrating our students and all that they contribute to our community, recognizing that our diversity of backgrounds and experiences is a tremendous strength.”
Evans said that while “Black History Month is every month”, she thinks it is also essential that the history is acknowledged in the month of February.
“It’s important to not only be educated about how historically people have been able to make change and see progress and work towards liberation, but culturally, to also be able to celebrate that and come together,” Evans said.
Harvard students interested in celebrating Black History Month still have much to look forward to. On Feb. 26, the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery initiative, alongside the NAACP and Black affinity groups at the University, will host a film screening of “Becoming Black Lawyers,” a documentary film depicting the journey of five Black law students in becoming lawyers.
The event will feature an interview with the filmmaker Evangeline M. Mitchell along with a panel discussion of five Black lawyers and law students: Tanya M. Washington, a professor at Georgia State University College of Law; Sean R. Wynn, president of the Harvard Black Law Students Association; Ashley L. Upkins, president-elect of the National Bar Association; Howard University law professor Harold A. McDougall III ’67, and Nastassia A. Janvier, CEO of the National Black Law Students Association.
The Dean of Students’ Office Race Relations Specialty Proctors are also hosting an event on Thursday in the Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub to celebrate Black History Month. The event will feature food and a performance by local Boston ensemble the Jah Jah Drummers.
“There’s so much Black history on Harvard’s campus that isn’t seen or isn’t talked about, whether it be Richard T. Greener, or Alberta V. Scott, or all these other Black trailblazers who went to Harvard and had stories that just go untold,” Benson said.
Richard T. Greener ’70 was the first Black man to graduate Harvard College in 1870 and later served as an attorney and U.S. diplomat. Alberta V. Scott was the first African-American woman to graduate from Radcliffe College.
“We would just love to have people to get to know a little bit of Black history in our own backyard,” Benson said.
—Staff writer Alexander W. Anoma can be reached at alexander.anoma@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AnomaAlexander.
—Staff writer Chantel A. De Jesus can be reached at chantel.dejesus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @c_a_dejesus.
