By Malcolm Embree
Black History Monday was marked by a lone event, a spoken word set by Shaun Booth. In previous years, Algonquin has held an annual Black History Month Show.
The limited Black History Month coverage was due to lack of interest by campus students, according to SA events coordinator Bill Kitchen. Even the Shaun Booth event was associated with Black History Month almost by coincidence.“We were also looking for a tie-in,” said Kitchen, in reference to why it word was the only event on campus. “There was a bit of a natural fit there, again there was that desire to represent culturally diverse programming.”
Interest in Black History Month has apparently declined in the past few years. Formerly’ Algonquin has had a Black Student’s Union. Currently’ the only similar organization is the Algonquin African Club.“Interest has to do with demand. We try to have an active dialogue with student groups,” said Kitchen. Kitchen agreed that the SA would like to see something similar to the larger shows seen in the past.
Jamaal Rogers, a former Algonquin student and poet, performed with Booth on Feb. 11. “You would not believe at how disappointed I was in the promotion of the event,” Rogers said, referring to the sparse attendance and advertisement for the show.