Black History Month: Expressing Black Culture On Campus

Ibra Roble ’24

Major: Management Information Systems

One way that I express my Black culture is through food. Cooking it. Sharing it. And enjoying what others have cooked.

My mom makes Somali food and usually I bring it back to friends. I really like sharing food with friends because I want people to have a taste of the food I was brought up eating.

And they seem to like it too. I’ve gotten comments like they want their mom to cook what I brought.

I also like cooking and asking my mom for recipes. By me cooking, it forces me to hold on to my heritage and develop the skills needed to eat the things I like.

I’ve also traded food with my African American friends. We share in each other’s food. My buddy Patrick Wright brought candy yams, sweet potato pie, pot roast, and collard greens. It was so good!

I really like talking while eating with my friends. It gives us bonding time and that’s really important. We can go ahead and share conversation and educate each other about our own backgrounds. That’s important to put yourself in other people’s shoes.

One thing that has been impactful to me in expressing my Black culture is connecting with Black men on campus through Dr. Jonathan Locust. The whole point is to have a place where Black men can get together and talk about future plans, current plans, and how to give back to the community.

The biggest thing that I appreciate about it is I’m able to get other people insights on current projects I have going on. It’s nice when you’re able to help a brother out in a project or goal they have. We’re able to share resources so we both can benefit from it.

I’ve always wanted to feel a sense of belonging in my college experience, and expressing my cultural identity is a way for me to achieve that. By sharing my heritage and stories with others, I hope to raise awareness about African American culture. At Winona State, I feel like that’s exactly what I’m doing.

I would like WSU to celebrate Black History Month by connecting with its students and showing that the university supports them, ideally by bringing in different speakers to educate and inspire students.

And to further celebrate Black History Month, I interviewed my fellow peers about how they express their Black culture and how they would like to see WSU celebrate Black History Month.

Abdi Mahamood ’23

Major: Public relations

I express my black culture on campus with how I dress and carry myself. Black is beautiful.

I would love to see WSU bring in Black speakers like Bakari Sellers, the Youngest African American Elected Official in the U.S., or Jemele Harris, an Emmy award-winning journalist who can talk to students about how they overcame the obstacles that hold us back and became successful.

Linda Muschenheim ’26

Major: Data Science

I celebrate my Black culture with my hair and sense of style.

I’d like to see WSU celebrate Black History Month with more events put on display and being broadcasted around campus, but by other groups or faculty members other than the Black Student Union.