The Vignette is the official student newspaper and student voice of Nassau Community College It is published throughout the fall and spring semesters Membership is open to all NCC students. The Vignette welcomes letters to the editor as well as Opinions articles Letters should be limietd to 350 words Opinions essays should be limited to 700 words Letters and Opinions pieces must be signed and contain the author’s telephone number or campus extension The newspaper will withhold names on request The editorial board reserves the right to edit stories or letters for clarity and length Views expressed in letters and Opinions essays do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board The Vignette accepts classified and display advertisements from campus and off-campus advertisers. Publication of ads in the newspaper does not imply endorsement of products or services
Meet the Editor-In-Chief
Dear Readers,
It is with great pride that I introduce myself as the new Editor-in-Chief of The Vignette. As I step into this role my mission is simple: to make sure this paper is a platform where students voices are heard. Publications like this one are more than just ink on paper (or pixels on a screen) they’re a way for us to express ourselves, challenge ideas and start conversations that matter.
As we celebrate Black History Month, this issue reflects on the people who have shaped history and the voices that continue to push us forward today The fight for equality and justice has always gained power through words, whether through speeches, protests, literature, or journalism Now more than ever I believe we should step forward and embrace our freedoms. We must acknowledge that freedom of speech is not just a right, it is a responsibility. As students we have the power to question, inform, and inspire. As Editor-in-Chief my goal is to make sure that The Vignette makes every student feel empowered to use their voice. This Black History Month special issue highlights stories of resilience, innovation, and activism in the past and present, while reminding us that history is still being written
While you read this issue I invite you to think critically, learn something new, and most importantly, get involved. Your voice matters. Lets keep the conversation going!
Always in solidarity & truth,
Alexus Heiserman Editor-in-Chief, The Vignette
Adeline Mucci
HISTORY
From One Week to a Whole Month: Black History Month’s History
By Alexus Heiserman Editor-in-Chief
Black History Month started in 1926
The historian Carter G. Woodson saw a lack of Black excellence being taught in schools and wanted to change that America often depicted Black historical figures only as enslaved people or subjects of the empire.
He picked the second week of February to honor both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two key figures in the fight for Black freedom. Woodson believed that teaching Black History was essential for the survival of Black people in America
Throughout the 1930’s “Negro History Week” as it had been named, had to fight against a myth growing in the south, which argued that enslaved people had actually been treated well and that Black people had been better off under slavery
However, as the celebratory week persisted, it grew in popularity. In 1969 Black educators and students at Kent State University in Ohio proposed Black History Month. The first official Black History Month took place a year later, in a celebration at Kent State.
The movement caught fire, and by 1976, during the height of the civil rights movement, it became a full month of recognition. President Gerald Ford made it official, urging Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans."
Since then, Black History Month has evolved with the times. The ‘80s and ‘90s saw a rise in Black representation in politics, music, and media (shoutout to hip-hop for becoming the voice of a generation).
The 2000s brought even more cultural milestones, with trailblazers like Barack Obama proving that being the "first Black " was just the beginning. Today, Black History Month isn’t just about remembering the past; it’s about recognizing how history is still being made.
But here’s the thing: just because we’ve made progress doesn’t mean we’re done. Celebrating Black history is about more than MLK quotes and reposting infographics. It’s about acknowledging the systemic struggles that still exist and uplifting Black voices every single day It’s about making sure schools teach real history, not the whitewashed version. It’s about appreciating Black culture without appropriating it.
So no, Black history doesn’t start and end in February But this month serves as an unapologetic reminder: Black history is American history. Black stories matter. Black voices matter. And if you think we don’t still need Black History Month, well, respectfully, you’re not paying attention
A poster printed by the U.S. Work Projects Administration War Services, encouraging citizens to read and learn about African-American history, culture and contributions in the Schomburg Collection at the New York Public Library
Carter G. Woodson: December 19th 1875 - April 3rd 1950
On Nov. 18, 1968, black students leave the campus in response to the collapse of negotiations over their demand for amnesty from the Oakland Police Department sit-in days earlier. The walkout succeeded and led to KSU’s Black Studies program and other reforms.
Photo:KentStateUniversityLibrariesArchives
Photo:GettyImages
Photo:LibraryofCongress
HISTORY 4
Unsung Heroes: Beyond the Icons
Black History Month is more than just the names we all know, it’s also about uncovering the unsung heroes who shaped history in ways we often overlook. While icons like MLK and Rosa Parks get the spotlight, there are countless everyday people whose legacies are just as powerful From trailblazing firsts to quiet revolutionary acts of courage, these figures may not be well known, but their contributions laid the groundwork for the world we live in today. We’re shining a light on those hidden figures, because every story matters, and the impact of the unknown is just as lasting.
Pyrrhus Concer: (1814-1897) was a formerly enslaved sailor from Long Island, New York. He would become one of the first Black individuals to enter Japan. Concer was enslaved by the Pyrrhus family until 1832 (slavery in New York ended in 1827), when he began working on whale ships out of Sag Harbor, NY In 1845, he was aboard the whaling ship Manhattan, when it picked up 22 shipwrecked Japanese sailors The American ship was allowed to enter Edo Bay Concer is depicted in Japanese drawings of the event His gravestone, engraved and written by Nobel Peace Prize winner Elihu Root, is in Southampton's North End Graveyard, and reads: "Though born a slave, he possessed those virtues, without which kings are but slaves "
Bessie Coleman: (1892-1926) was born in Waxahachie, Texas Her mother was African American and her father was of African and Native American ancestry However, due to discrimination in the United States, she went to France to attend aviation school to become a pilot. In 1921, she became the first American woman to obtain an international pilot’s license. Coleman returned to the United States and became a stunt pilot. She raised money to start a school to train African American pilots, hoping she could create opportunities for them that were not then available in the U.S.
Zeb Powell: (2000) is an American professional snowboarder born in North Carolina. He was adopted when he was 5 weeks old. He was the first African American to win gold in the entire history of the Winter X Games in 2020. He is currently partnered with Hoods to Woods to help bring more diversity to skiing and snowboarding while bringing new opportunities to people of color
www.xgames.com/athletes/zeb-powell
June Bacon-Bercey: (1928 -2019) was born in Wichita, Kansas. She was the first African American woman to earn a meteorology degree as well as the first to forecast weather on television She was an atmospheric scientist who went on to work for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, served on the Atomic Energy Commission as a senior adviser and was a radar meteorologist for the National Weather Service
www.blackpast.org/
Photo:Dan’sPapers
Photo:GettyImages
Photo:USAToday
Photo:NorthshoreMagazine
HISTORY
Bayard Rustin: ( 1912-1987) was an American activist He was a gay man who was a prominent leader in social movements for civil rights, gay rights, and socialism. He was the principal organizer of the March on Washington and was one of Martin Luther King Jr’s prominent advisors. He believed that all people were one and felt that injustice everywhere should not be tolerated and must be protested
www.blackpast.org/
Shirley Chisholm: (1924-2005) born in Brooklyn from Guyanese and Bajan parents, she was the first woman and African American in Congress and the first to run for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties After her win in Congress, “Fighting Shirley” introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation and championed racial and gender equality, the plight of the poor, and ending the Vietnam War Of her legacy, Chisholm said, “I want to be remembered as a woman who dared to be a catalyst of change ”
www.blackpast.org/
Neil deGrasse Tyson: (1958) is an American astrophysicist and author. He was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He studied at Harvard, University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University Since 1996, he has been the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City at the American Museum of Natural History, where Tyson founded the Department of Astrophysics in 1997 and has been a research associate in the department since 2003. Through his books and television programs he has been able to make science more understandable and fun for everyone “I think of myself not as a leader but as a scientist and educator,” says Tyson “The fact that people follow what I do, or count me among the leaders, is evidence of a growing curiosity permeating society for how and why science matters in our lives.”
www.blackpast.org/
Bree Newsome: (1985) is an American filmmaker and activist from North Carolina She is best known for removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house grounds in the aftermath of the Charleston church shooting The resulting publicity put pressure on state officials to remove the flag, and it was taken down permanently on July 10, 2015 “ Whenever I die, please don't allow my image to be coopted by the power establishment.” says Newsome “Don't let my name & likeness be used to argue for peace in the absence of justice. I believe uncompromisingly in the liberation of the black, poor and oppressed from systems of white supremacy.”
Photo:NBCNews
Photo:aaihs.org
Photo:GettyImages
Photo:GettyImages
FEATURES
WHY BLACK HERITAGE MONTH IS IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE
By Dr. R.A. Shabazz NCC Africana Studies Professor
Giving thanks to Dr Carter G Woodson, Harvard University’s second Black graduate, author of The Mis-education of the Negro and founder of “Negro History Week,” which has rightly grown to recognize February as Black Heritage Month.
As an author and educator from the Africana/Black Studies discipline, all of my interests in life are related to the mission of Black Heritage Month: to incorporate the missing contributions of the original Black/African humans to their rightful place as the originators of human culture and civilizations. Dr John Henrik Clarke, noted scholar of Black/African heritage, has said, “History is part of the memory and memory is a part of our minds; hence, a people that don’t know their history is a people that are out of their minds!” Marcus Garvey, the man in 1920s to create the largest worldwide Pan-African (Black unity) movement ever, said: “A people without the knowledge of the past heritage is like a tree without roots!”
Blacks/Africans are the cultural founders of Math, Science, Religion, Agriculture, Astronomy, Sacred Architecture, the Original Priesthood teaching moral conduct to preserve one’s soul for Eternity, and more! However, Black/African culture and heritage have been ostracized and vilified in U.S. culture since before 1619 (during English colonialism). For that reason, as a Black doctorate of Africana/Black Studies, all of my contemporary societal concerns as a man of African ancestry and educator are connected to researching, teaching, writing and restoring the original African and Indigenous human ideals that would repair and rectify the victims of the colonial onslaught that Europe has visited upon the peoples and the cultures of the non-European world for over the past 500 years
Black Heritage Month and the Africana Studies discipline both present a cultural-historical critique of this Western onslaught while also presenting redemptive approaches for the human reconstruction and reconciliation of relations between the downpressed and the downpressor, based in truth and justice. I believe it is with the honest and open sharing of the African/Black-centered perspective during Black Heritage Month, and beyond, that human reconciliation and redemption truly begin as we examine our earliest African/Black cultural roots and begin to honor the fathers and mothers of humanity, culture and civilization. As the Bible states: “Honor your fathers and mothers that your days may be long on the land.”
Black Heritage Month and the Africana Studies discipline are in perfect alignment with SUNY system’s prioritizing of equity/diversity mandates that, as an educational institution and a constituent college within the SUNY system, NCC should continue to support. Moreover, NCC’s Africana Studies courses offer an important component in serving the entire community with the heritage of humanity and civilization’s founding Black peoples and cultures to be explored during Black Heritage Month as a foundation for a lifetime of remembering humanity’s Black roots.
Dr. R.A. Ptahsen-Shabazz is an NCC Professor of Africana Studies and author of:
Power from the Podium: The Story of Black Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos (https://sites.google.com/view/powerfromthepodium/home)
Black to the Roots: Reggae’s Rise, Downpression and Reascension (www.blacktotheroots.net/links/order.htm)
By: Shanice Brown Advertising & Business Manager
Spotlight on NCC Staff!
Dean Oyero Takes Center Stage in We Press On: A Legacy of Leadership
Dean Oyero makes his debut in We Press On: New York State Celebrates the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In this documentary Dean Oyero speaks about being the first cohort for the SUNY Black Leadership Institute. SUNY’s Black Leadership Institute mission is to identify, foster, and support the development and retention of current and emerging leaders for an increasingly diverse university system and nation. The documentary states that “currently SUNY’s leadership at campuses does not reflect the diversity of the student bodies.”
Dean Oyero is currently the Dean of Students at NCC. He is here to advocate and encourage all students. In this documentary Dean Oyero states “ It is so important especially for young African American students to see us in these positions so that they understand that they can be there too.” We acknowledge Dean Oyero’s great contributions to our campus and his leadership that inspires every student.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjAktewX_UE
Robert Graham Carter’s 50 Years of Art and Reflection
Robert Graham Carter, a former Professor of Art at NCC where he taught for over 50 years, has a solo art exhibit at The Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, NY from February 2 through May 25.
The solo exhibition is titled Robert Graham Carter: The Art of Reflection. Carter is a visual artist, mainly working with mixed media. Carter’s pieces often speak to systemic societal issues with influences from his own experiences, including from his upbringing in the Jim Crow South. Selected works from his six decade long career will be presented in The Art of Reflection
Carter remarks: “Artists are often credited with grand and creative energies that result in works to be admired. If truth be told, struggle and toil brought them to an acceptability. Looking from a distance through the lens of time helps bring focus and an objective look at the creative process.” We acknowledge Robert Graham Carter’s life long career in art and the decades of influence and inspiration he has had in our campus community.
Photo:ncc.edu
Photo:ncc.edu
6 Books You Should Read This Black History Month
Ready to dive into some thought-provoking reads this Black History Month? Whether you're feeling like challenging the status quo, exploring deep cultural connections, or just soaking in some love and beautiful storytelling, this book list’s got you covered.
Narratives of Resistance: Jamaica, Trinidad, the Caribbean By Brain Meeks
An analysis of contemporary social, political and intellectual resistance in Caribbean societies. Beginning with the Henry Rebellion in 1960, Brian Meeks shows how popular resistance to domination was manifested in Jamaica and Trinidad until the end of the 20th century.
Jamaica Road
By Lisa Smith
A transformative love story about two best friends who fall for each other, fall apart, and try to find their way back together in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community.
New
Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America's Second Civil Rights Movement
By Juan Williams
Juan Williams holds a mirror to the present by reflecting on past movements in this urgent call to action. Unflinching and meticulously researched, Williams reminds us that there is always more work to be done.
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People
By Imani Perry
Imani Perry studies the color blue in all its history and hues in this remarkable analysis. From West Africa to the American South, Black in Blues examines the color’s relation to Blackness and culture from the award-winning author of South to America.
Women, Race & Class By Angela Davis
From one of our most important scholars and civil rights activist icon, a powerful study of the women’s liberation movement and the tangled knot of oppression facing Black women.
In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Space
By Irvin Weathersby Jr. Weathersby journeys around the United States, taking readers along a trail of public art and installations that alternately glorify or condemn our country’s horrific white supremacist past. From Louisiana to South Dakota and more, In Open Contempt will change your perception of some of our most famous monuments.
Things to do: Upcoming Events for Black History Month & Beyond
Be sure to make it to The Met’s Artists on Artworks Talk —Josanne Francis, Friday, March 7, 6-7 pm Josanne Francis is an award-winning steelpan musician, known internationally for her technical mastery and energetic and emotional complexity. Join her as she discusses her life as an artist and what inspires her in The Met collection. Admission is FREE with SUNY ID.
NCC presents: The Power of Presence: Black Male NCC Leaders. Feb 27th, 11:30-12:45pm in room CCB-252.
Join Hempstead’s own African American Museum for First Fridays, a monthly live music performances highlighting Jazz. The Museum is located at 110 N Franklin St, Hempstead. Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm. Entry- $5
Don’t miss this years African Diaspora International Film Festival from Feb 28th- March 2nd at Teachers College Columbia University. ADIFF interprets and educates about films that explore the human experience of people of color all over the world in order to inspire imaginations, disrupt stereotypes and help transform attitudes that perpetuate injustice. For more info and tickets visit, https://nyadiff.org
Coming up soon Black Queer Dance: Gay Men and the Politics of Passing for Almost Straight at the New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsBruno Walter Auditorium, April 3rd at 6pm. Admission is FREE.
Get involved: The State of Emergency in Black Education on Long Island: It Takes a Village March 20, 6-9pm, Helen Butler Hall, 565 Albany Ave. Amityville. Discussions on: Local elections and the impact of policies, Employment equity, Systemic racism in education & more.
OPINIONS 9 NCC Talks: Thoughts On Black History Month
Q: What does Black History Month mean to you?
It is a month I tend to find reflective, to see where I am in the world and how I move through the world as an African American man, born and raised in Selma Alabama That is the lens in which I look through my life and life experiences I do find it concerning at this particular time in the world, because everything that I think meant something to people and to the world, the contributions of African Americans, seems to be reduced in this new paradigm of America
- Demetrius Watkins
It is an opportunity to have a spotlight not only on foundational Black Americans but also Black immigrants We have to work extra hard to even be acknowledged Black History Month is a time where we don’t have to fight to be seen and that means a lot
- Alawoya Eniola
Black History in general means greatness! The perseverance that we have, the strength that we have, the intelligence that we have. From the beginning others felt that we were less than them, however Africans and then African Americans have built this country, they are inventors. We live among the great great grandchildren and descendants of people who thought we were sub human. There is greatness in the Black community and there always has been.
- Robin Williams
Never forgetting the triumph, struggles, and resilience of Black people throughout history
- Michelle P
The past inspires the future We have to learn from the past so that we know we are NEVER going back!
- Crystal M
This is a time I need to recognize people outside of my race and stand by them so everyone can have the same opportunities
- Leo M
It’s about recognizing the achievements and accomplishments that were hidden.
- Anthony V.
Q: Where do you want to see NCC’s Black community in the future?
I want to see the Africana Studies major come back. Its removal is going backwards and I want NCC to move forward Black students and staff should be able to see themselves in academics I also want unity for the Black community on campus.
- Alawoya Eniola
I want us to come together, we are all from the same stock If they stole one African family from Africa they took the mother to Haiti, the father to Jamaica, and their child to the U.S. We are all connected. We have different cultures and we can learn all about each other
- Robin Williams
I want to continue to see the excellence that I know is within the Black community The excellence that I know is within the NCC community. I want us to get to a place that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often mentioned. “Not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character.” I wish this would be front and center with other human beings. We are all experiencing a human experience. To value one type of human over the other, and to dismiss, dismantle, and disrespect the contributions of one race of people is deeply concerning.
