Sam Adams went to UNM's kickoff for Black History Month because the celebration brings out feelings of pride, passion and belonging for him, he said.
On Saturday, the Africana Studies Department held a brunch titled "From Civil Rights Activism to the Election of Barack Obama."
The department invited a panel of speakers, including Dick Gregory, a political activist and comedian from the 1960s; Sonia Rankin, a lecturer in the Africana Studies Department at UNM; and Hakim Bellamy, a poet and activist in Albuquerque.
More than 100 people attended, filling every seat in the SUB Ballroom, forcing some to sit along the edges of the room.
Sherri Burr, head of Africana Studies, said she was amazed to see the crowd. "Normally only 60 or 70 people attend, and we were not expecting to sell out our tickets," she said.
Gregory began the brunch by thanking the people who made the event happen and by declaring that he was not thrilled to be on a panel talking about the painful past.
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"It's hard to be on a panel when I was there for the event. I was validated by The New York Times and The Washington Post," he said. "I know where all the bodies are."
When asked whether Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream had been fulfilled, he said there's still more to be done.
Rankin said America's youth are becoming desensitized to black history but that she hopes that will change during Obama's presidency.
Bellamy said young people had a huge impact on Obama's election - even bigger than the media was willing to admit.
"Youth only made up 18 percent of the vote," Bellamy said. "There was an increase, from 17 percent the year before that and 17 percent the year before that. There was an increase for sure, and although the media will try to minimize the youth impact on this election, what they don't say is that of the over 3.4 million additional voters in this election cycle over past election cycles, we made up 60 percent of the increase. They don't say that."
Adams came to the event after hearing about it on the radio and said it seems to him that King's dream of racial equality is in the process of being fulfilled.
"It's a start," he said. "Obama has a lot of stuff on his plate, and everything is not going to change overnight. Everyone thinks it's going to happen overnight, but it's going to take at least two terms."
A couple students came to the event as well, hoping to gain some insight from the speakers and voice their opinions.
Mayor Martin Chavez was also at the event to celebrate Black History Month and the recent inauguration of Barack Obama.
"I attended the inauguration, and as President Obama was sworn in, I heard the sounds of the chains breaking. Not just the chains of slaves, but the chains of a nation," he said.
Africana Studies will host another event in honor of Black History Month on Feb. 28. "Black Women Authors, Black Women's Lives" will be held at 4 p.m. in SUB Ballroom B. Tickets are $25 for adults or $10 for UNM students and are available at UnmTickets.com
