50th anniversary of BSM celebrates decades of change and looks to future plans

The Black Student Movement celebrated its 50th anniversary last Tuesday, marking decades of profound change within the University. 

BSM is a group on campus that strives to create a community where black students can embrace their identity and culture. The organization was founded during the later years of the civil rights era, and the founders wanted to embody the black power mindset, said Dominque Brodie, executive assistant of BSM. 

“BSM exemplified, at its beginning, a sort of self-sufficiency and a sort of agency that black students had and wanted to take control of their own experience and provide a space to be black comfortably,” said Brodie. 

BSM provides a space reserved for Black students to decompress and bond over a common identity, said Alton Peques, vice president of BSM. 

“Students tend to find an attachment and love for BSM because the things they're able to gain from it aren't really available anywhere else on campus,” Peques said. 

He said members can relate to one another through a shared experience that comes from being a part of BSM. 

“It provides a community within a community,” Peques said. 

The 50th anniversary provides a chance to recognize the evolution of the BSM. 

“It's really influential and really important to recognize and commemorate how hard it has been, and how important it has been for BSM to exist and the student work we continue to do over 50 years,” Brodie said.

BSM has evolved from a more activism centered focus to concentrating on the individual’s personal experience and cultural expression. Brodie said the struggles of students have changed from combating overt racism to ensuring that rights and equality are upheld. 

"Those struggles have changed, but in a lot of ways they've stayed the same, which of course we hope they wouldn't,” Brodie said. 

The treatment and recognition of identity has also shifted BSM student involvement, said Dexter Robinson, an alum of BSM. The way people view identity has changed, as blackness is not the sole emphasis in identity as it was in the past, he said.

“There are so many things that comprise a person,” said Robinson.

Looking towards the future, the BSM executive team wants to ensure that when the current leadership graduates, the organization will continue to thrive. Fundraising for the 50th anniversary year is an essential way they are doing this. 

“For this year, we're really focused on highlighting our 50th year anniversary through different programs and events where we can reflect on our history as an organization, educate our members about our history and celebrate it,” said Peques. 

Robinson said BSM has changed from the time he was in school to where it is now. 

“It will continue to change, but the focal point should be, 'What are the students’ needs, and are their voices being heard?’” Robinson said.

@JessySnouwaert

university@dailytarheel.com