The 28th annual Black Consciousness Conference kicks off today with a talent showcase at the Beach Auditorium.
The three-day event will also include a speaker series on Friday and conclude with a multicultural fashion show Saturday in the University Student Union.
The conference has been organized by the African Student Union in an effort to educate the Cal State Long Beach community on the issues faced by African people all over the world.
As the umbrella organization for all black student groups on campus, ASU’s planning of the event began in April and continued throughout the summer.
“We want to bring awareness to issues facing all people of African descent, especially people who are affected but don’t know it,” said ASU event planner Francisca Freeman.
The conference’s theme,”Africans and the Diaspora: Divided Yet United,” represents the ASU’s goal to raise awareness of the African presence in the local, national and global communities, according to ASU Vice President Augusta Imaku.
“We want to demonstrate the African influence in everybody’s culture, and this conference will do that while also bringing light to the issues surrounding Africans,” Imaku said.”The conference will help to promote the four main aims of the ASU, which are family, unity, knowledge and ethnocentricity throughout the community.”
The keynote speakers for Friday’s event will be historian and author Runoko Rashidi, who will discuss the African global presence, along with Toni-Mokjaetji Humber, a professor from Cal State Pomona who will speak on Africans in Latin America.
Activist Willie Ricks Mukasa will also talk about Black Power and the Civil Rights Movement. A panel discussion between black studies department Chairman Alosi Moloi and black studies professor Maulana Karenga also scheduled.
“These speakers will be presenting thought-provoking, controversial topics pertaining to people of African descent, and speaking on pertinent issues that affect us all,” Freeman said.
Along with the speaker series, today’s talent showcase will see a range of singing, dancing and poetry, with a first-place cash prize of $200.
Saturday’s multicultural fashion show will include dancing, modeling and modern hip-hop, featuring attire from all parts of the world, including West and East Africa, India and the Caribbean.
“We’re basically trying to show how traditional African fashion has tied into modern fashion,” Imaku said.
With high school students being bussed in from the local counties for Friday’s speaker series, the ASU is hoping for 250 to 300 people to each event.
A “Salsa and Soul” event is also planned for the spring semester, along with the Mahogany Awards that will show appreciation for black students who have excelled in particular areas and recognize all black organizations on campus.