Black Love, Care, and Community Steer Bowdoin’s Black History Month

"Our main goals are to foster community and to ensure everyone feels cared for, and to offer a political education and overall historical analysis of all the Black achievements we've had across the diaspora," said Jickinson Louis '26, president of the Black Student Union (BSU). He added that the theme for the whole month could be wrapped up in two words: Black love.

"We're not just celebrating and taking care of ourselves within a community of our peers, we're also showing that we are people with cultures that we are open to sharing," Louis continued. "We want to show that we belong at Bowdoin, and belonging at Bowdoin includes bringing in many of our different identities that we're prideful of."

Other collaborators worked with the Black Student Union to create a full month of talks, panels, skiing, cooking, networking, community service, and fun. These included Africa Alliance, Students of Caribbean Ancestry, Black Men's Society, Center for Multicultural Life, and Bowdoin Outing Club.

"We wanted to make the month as fun or impactful as possible and have a lot of events that people wanted to go to, to bring the community together," said Anthony Bernier '26, vice-president of the Black Student Union.

Bernier organized a mental health panel for Black men, and also noted that this year, a Portland pastor, Kenneth Lewis of Green Memorial AME Zion Church, had been invited to give a sermon in the Bowdoin chapel, open to all faiths. "We're bringing him because we want to bring people together who might have different values," Bernier said.