2008 Woodie Awards
BSA holds poetry, music event
Zach Waggoner
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Front Page
Harold Wallace says Black History Month doesn't have to come just once a year.
"This is Black History Month, but I'm a firm believer that black history is American history and we should celebrate this all year," said Wallace, vice president of the Black Student Association. "We are lucky it is a leap year, so we have an extra day."
To celebrate Black History Month, the BSA held a night of poetry and music on Monday, Feb. 17, attended by about 25 Pittsburg community members, mostly family and friends of BSA members.
The night started with Wallace reading poetry by Langston Hughes, and ended with music performed by communication professor and singer/songwriter Joey Pogue.
Pogue performed music that dates to the 1960s, but also told the audience how black culture influenced major artists such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles, saying black music showed white musicians how to play and write from the heart.
"Really American music, without the black ingredient, wouldn't go anywhere, because I think that blacks gave whites the ability to feel certain things that they really wouldn't give themselves permission to feel," said Pogue. "If there was no black music there would be no Mick Jagger, no Rolling Stones, there would be no '60s movement, no British invasion," Pogue said.
PSU senior Stephanie Moore attended the event for her class.
"I have to write a one-page paper on a diversity experience for my psychology adjustment class, on how it went and how it was different," said Moore before the event. "I like poetry so it should be fun."
Wallace says anyone is invited to join the BSA.
"Just come and have a fun time," Wallace said. "We try to do our best to get a family atmosphere."
Wallace and other BSA members often hang out at the Multicultural Resource Center on the first floor of Horace Mann. The room includes a computer lab with free printing.
BSA meetings are held every other Thursday in the Sunflower Room on the third floor of the Overman Student Center.
For more information on this story, including a video, go to www.psucollegio.com.
"This is Black History Month, but I'm a firm believer that black history is American history and we should celebrate this all year," said Wallace, vice president of the Black Student Association. "We are lucky it is a leap year, so we have an extra day."
To celebrate Black History Month, the BSA held a night of poetry and music on Monday, Feb. 17, attended by about 25 Pittsburg community members, mostly family and friends of BSA members.
The night started with Wallace reading poetry by Langston Hughes, and ended with music performed by communication professor and singer/songwriter Joey Pogue.
Pogue performed music that dates to the 1960s, but also told the audience how black culture influenced major artists such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles, saying black music showed white musicians how to play and write from the heart.
"Really American music, without the black ingredient, wouldn't go anywhere, because I think that blacks gave whites the ability to feel certain things that they really wouldn't give themselves permission to feel," said Pogue. "If there was no black music there would be no Mick Jagger, no Rolling Stones, there would be no '60s movement, no British invasion," Pogue said.
PSU senior Stephanie Moore attended the event for her class.
"I have to write a one-page paper on a diversity experience for my psychology adjustment class, on how it went and how it was different," said Moore before the event. "I like poetry so it should be fun."
Wallace says anyone is invited to join the BSA.
"Just come and have a fun time," Wallace said. "We try to do our best to get a family atmosphere."
Wallace and other BSA members often hang out at the Multicultural Resource Center on the first floor of Horace Mann. The room includes a computer lab with free printing.
BSA meetings are held every other Thursday in the Sunflower Room on the third floor of the Overman Student Center.
For more information on this story, including a video, go to www.psucollegio.com.
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