Kannan Stickel, vice president community for the Student's Association of Medicine Hat College, is excited for the events planned during February for Black History Month. Stickel was photographed beside one the many whiteboards on campus that feature black individuals of note.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
reporter@medicinehatnews.com
Medicine Hat College Student’s Association has partnered with the MHC human rights advisory and working committee for February, which is Black History Month.
Kannan Stickel, vice president community at SAMHC, explained they will be “providing students with educational opportunities. That is what we do at MHC, it’s an educational institution, we are always striving to give students an extra boost to their knowledge base.”
While exploring ideas for Black History Month, SAMHC stumbled upon the ASALH, a widely respected American organization which studies African American life and history.
“Their theme was black resistance, which is how black individuals have been able to resist historic and ongoing oppression in all its forms. As an educational institution, MHC thought it would be prudent to focus on intellectual resistance, which is done through creative media such as books, films, academic achievement, papers and teaching,” stated Stickel.
SAMHC wants to bring awareness throughout the college.
During the month there will be different whiteboards set up around campus that feature historical black individuals of note. Additionally, a window display has been set up beside the SAMHC office.
Beyond that, both the Medicine Hat Public Library and the Vera Bracken Library at MHC have reading lists available. Vera Bracken library will also have a book display to celebrate black authors and their stories.
“Another thing that is really exciting that we’ll be putting out on our calendar soon, is the ASALH is hosting live events on YouTube where they are talking to black authors about the books they write. One of the things we care about greatly is making sure this knowledge is accessible for everyone. We tried very hard to find different free opportunities for students, both local and international, to explore this theme,” said Stickel.
Later in the month, SAMHC will be showing a curated list of films at MHC. For more information, follow SAMHC on Facebook or @saofmhc on Instagram.
