The Office of Black Student Development hosted its third annual Black History Month opening ceremony on Feb. 3 in the Student Resource Building’s Multipurpose Room. 

This year’s Black History Month theme was labor, history professor and Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, Daina Ramey Berry shared its significance. Iris Guo / Daily Nexus

The event marked the beginning of Black History Month, which spans the month of February. 

Around 100 people attended the event which was held from 5-7 p.m. It began with a meal catered by Caribbean Haven Restaurants and included oxtail, mac and cheese and Jamaican patties. Attendees were also served drinks and cookies.

Julianna Swilley, the event’s lead organizer and Coordinator of Black Student Life at the Office of Black Student Development (OBSD), opened the ceremony by leading attendees in singing the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson. Live music was performed by “Reprieve,” a five-student band.

History professor and the Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, Daina Ramey Berry delivered a keynote address. Berry’s speech explored the history of Black History Month and Black people in the Americas.

“Black History Month was officially established by Carter G. Woodson in 1926,” Berry said. “They called [Woodson] the father of Black history. His goal was to recognize the contributions of African Americans in the aftermath of slavery. Woodson chose February because it coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.”

Berry highlighted Juan Garrido, the first documented Black man on U.S. soil who arrived in the Americas in the early 16th century. Garrido was born around 1480 in West Africa, and as a young man traveled to Lisbon, Portugal and Seville, Spain, where at the latter he converted to the Roman Catholic Church. He sailed with the Spanish as a free person, as a conquistador and spent three decades in service to the Spanish crown. 

“He died in 1550, almost 70 years before the first enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown,” Berry said.

“This is the first record of a Black person setting foot in what is now the United States. What does that mean? It means that there was a space that people of African descent could occupy that wasn’t exclusively being a person of bondage,” she said.

Berry emphasized this year’s Black History Month theme of labor. She said the theme explores how work, “both free and unfree, skilled and unskilled, vocational and voluntary,” has shaped the shared experiences of Black people over time.

“African people were free before they were enslaved. When we look at U.S. history, they often show us arriving as enslaved people. But we came here exploring the terrain, helping identify places, rivers and maps — contributions that aren’t always included in our textbooks,” Berry said.

After her keynote address, Berry addressed questions and comments. She was followed by a poem recitation by fourth-year film and media studies major Taelen Cobb. 

The final portion of the event unveiled a painting of Elroy Pinks, the former executive director of OBSD who passed away in June at 52 years-old. 

“Many of us have been able to grieve and mourn, but we haven’t had a space for students to do that yet,” Swilley said. “Students took it upon themselves to remember him and memorialize him in their own way.”

The painting, created by artists from AtlantiQ, an Afro-Diasporic Queer Artists Collective, was unveiled by fourth-year art majors Açucar Pinto, Mikayla Kellum and Mercedes Ellis.

“Art is used to learn, process and grow. Today, we are displaying a work-in-progress of our posthumous portrait painting of Mr. Elroy Pinks, a sincere and patient man who loved many,” Pinto said. “Once this piece is finalized it will be located in the OBSD, and we invite you all to visit this space and honor [Pinks’] life and impact on the community.”

Following the unveiling, Pinks’ fraternity brothers from UCSB’s Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and his family members delivered speeches remembering his life and legacy.

“[Pinks] made a commitment to make a difference in the lives of other people and to champion for other students,” one of Pinks’ fraternity brothers said. “He was not the director of OBSD by accident.”

The event concluded with an overview of the various events OBSD plans to host during this year’s Black History Month.

“I’m always down for Black culture,” said first-year economics major Ashtin Sterling. “My dad is Black and I grew up around a Black family. I’m glad I can see my culture represented at UCSB.”

Event attendees said they had the chance to deepen their understanding of Black history.

“I learned that Black culture is more than just what is currently going on. The roots started long ago and continue to build on one another,” Sterling said.

Fourth-year sociology major Jolie Pierre Louis also appreciated Berry’s keynote message. 

“Although it seems very simple, usually when we remember the history of Black people and African people, we think about slavery as one of the first things,” Louis said. “In reality, there was a whole history before that, just as there is history after that.”

A version of this article appeared on p. 4 of the Feb. 13, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.