by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
A conference this weekend will bring African-American culture alive like never before at UNM, said Scott Carreathers, director of African-American Student Services.
"It's just a great way to have people become culturally aware," he said. "You're not always going to experience things like that in the state of New Mexico."
Registration for the first Marsha K. Hardeman Black Cultural Conference begins today in African-American Student Services.
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The conference costs $20 for students and $30 for members of the community, but money shouldn't keep anyone from attending the conference, Carreathers said.
"We'll work with you," he said. "Especially if you're a student and you can't afford something, we'll work with you."
Alumna Niki Gill, conference coordinator, said it is the first of its kind in New Mexico.
"It's turned out to be a lot bigger than we thought," she said.
More than 200 people are expected to attend the conference, she said.
Gill said she has been working on the conference since May along with African-American Student Services, Black Student Union and Black GPSA.
There will be plenty to do, so participants won't get bored, Gill said.
"I'm looking forward to every aspect," she said. "Nothing is going to be the same."
The student service will host an event tonight at 5 p.m. for participants to meet each other before the conference begins.
It goes until Saturday night and includes keynote speakers, a gospel music concert and a Greek step show.
Gill said the marching band from Langston University, a historically African-American college in Oklahoma, will provide entertainment for the conference.
"It's nothing that UNM has seen before," she said.
The band will perform Friday at noon on the west side of the SUB.
Gill said entertainment is a small part of the conference.
"The main purpose is to inform people about the contributions of blacks in New Mexico," she said. "Contribution is more than just history."
Carreathers said the student service hosted a similar conference about five years ago, but it wasn't well-attended or as organized.
"It just seems to be different (this year). It seems like the timing
is right," he said. "Our vision is, if this works well, we'll
branch out."
Michelle Touson, president of Black GPSA, said the shooting and killing of Sean Bell by New York Police officers on his wedding day in November is a reminder that race is still an issue.
"Every day, black America has to wake up in a white world," she said. "We need to make sure we know who we are as black men and women."
Touson said most people aren't aware of how African-Americans helped make the United States. Slavery is usually the extent of a person's knowledge of black history, she said.
"There's so many things black people have contributed that you don't hear about," she said. "Washington, D.C., the seed of democracy, was built by
black men."
Jay Tillman, president of the Black Student Union, said the keynote speakers will motivate students to succeed.
Tillman said the keynote speakers will set standards for young African-Americans to strive for. Being exposed to new experiences is how people grow, he said.
"Maturity is about exposure to things like this," he said. "It's something that hasn't been done in Albuquerque."
Keynote speakers
Professor Cortez Williams, expert on African-American history in the Southwest, will speak Friday at 9:30 a.m. in SUB Ballrooms A and B
Alumnus Victor MacFarlane, senior partner at MacFarlane Partners, will speak Friday at 1:30 p.m. in SUB Ballrooms A and B
Brandon Neal, former national director for the Youth and College division of the NAACP, will speak Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in SUB Ballrooms A and B
Conference highlights
Gospel Extravaganza: Friday at 6 p.m. in SUB Ballrooms A and B
The Duke City Marchdown: a Greek step show, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at UNM's Continuing Education Building
Black and White Party: Saturday, after the step show, at the ElegantÇ Hotel at 2020 Menaul Blvd. N.E.
