Black Student Union hosts a Black Love Trivia

On Feb. 13 at Minnesota State, the Black Student Union hosted a Black Love Trivia event. The event took place in the Multicultural Center, which quickly filled up with around 20 students and several staff members. It was free to attend and candy was even available for students to snack on.

During the first part of the event, simple trivia questions popped up on the TV, asking about famous black people throughout history and their spouses. Things took a turn for the second part of the event. The questions were no longer multiple choice and sparked debate among the students. Should women propose? Can wives be the breadwinners? 

Emily Hodge, Learning Community Coordinator for the Multicultural center, said she enjoyed this social aspect.

“This event is very communal. I’ve never gotten to have this question and be so down-to-earth with people in this community, which is really cool,” Hodge said.

Freshman student Atrinity Tipton also said she likes the social aspect.

“The vibes are very chill and welcoming. Everyone feels that they can share their opinions and join in. So that’s nice to have a space to be able to express your thoughts, your opinions and stuff like that at events like this one,” Tipton said.

The Black Student Union is a student organization that hosts a variety of events throughout the year centered on the black community at MSU. Since February is the month all about love as well as Black History Month, they had the idea to collaborate the two.

Although the BSU is catered towards African-American students, they welcome all diversities. The organization’s Secretary, Fadima Daramy, believes it’s important for all students to celebrate love during Black History Month so they know they’re acknowledged and loved across communities. Daramy then went on to talk about the deeper meaning of Black History Month and why it’s important.

“Black History Month means to me basically acknowledging all of the hard work that our black pioneers done to bring us to where we’re at here. Just basically appreciating them and keeping that knowledge, reinforcing our knowledge throughout the university and making sure that it keeps being repeated and being brought up so that it’s not forgotten,” Daramy said.

The Black love trivia event certainly did a great job of raising awareness and increasing knowledge. Celebrating both black culture and love can also help create positivity within the community. Freshman student, Amir Evans, talked about the negativity sometimes felt and how it changes in the month of February.

“When race comes up I know there’s a lot of negativity that kind of gets brought up with this so having to focus on love instead of the negatives and think about the things that we love that are a part of black history like the different art, the different people and then the relationships that we have with each other I feel like kind of pushes a better outlook,” Evans said.

The Black love trivia event is just one of the few Black History month/Valentine’s day events that MSU offers. But in case you missed it, the event will return next year, according to Daramy.

Photo caption: The Black Student Union hosted a trivia event to increase knowledge and raise awareness on Black culture while also having fun. (Davis Jensen/The Reporter)

Write to Jack Harding at jack.harding@mnsu.edu