(Black Student Union/Pierre Young)

By Pierre Young Social Media/Web Editor September 23 2020

This year has been hard for us all, especially students in clubs and organizations who have shifted their activities online. I spoke to future graduate and former President Natasha Jones as she gave her insight on how the Black Student Union will move forward in their organization remotely. 

“We plan to have new officers that we elected and plan out new events online with our new fiscal budget for the 2020–2021 school year,” Jones stated, “and this will be a new team with better communication with no toxicity.”

The new BSU President Jeremiah Collins and Vice President Malaysia Abdi have filled the void and taken on the responsibilities for the role. The BSU will continue meetings that students can attend virtually and the group will speak on issues in the black community, police brutality and racism that will engage students to join the meetings on zoom. 

Bernadette Suwareh, the Student Success Coordinator for African and African American Students, once again is the BSU advisor and will be helpful to the organization with budgeting for events and creating workshops with the department of Health and Wellness. Additionally, Michael Self Sr., Ph.D., assistant provost, has supported the group, giving the organization learning outcomes that will help grow the team.

The fall semester plan that the BSU has decided to prioritize involves community resources, grievance policy and community engagement. They intend to bring police and black store owners in as guest speakers. The BSU has also made a new logo and will create new gear for the members to wear. They recently participated in the moment of silence for the roundtable discussion on the shooting of Jacob Blake, which shook the Metro State community to the core. It has furthered the discussion of changes that need to be made for black people in America. 

The BSU will expand their goals to the members at Metro State and beyond. They are looking to open up the difficult conversations of Black History, colorism and race relations with warmth and respect, putting perspective out there.  

The first meeting will be held sometime in October for students to come and join the conversation. To join the BSU, check out their engage portal page and social media pages.