DeKALB — Sisters Interacting Soulfully through Thoughts Emotions and Realism to attain Self-awareness will host the 41st annual Tribute to BLAK Men 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. The event will be held in the Duke Ellington Ballroom at the Holmes Student Center, 340 Carroll Ave.

According to the events webpage, Tribute to BLAK Men is an award ceremony that the S.I.S.T.E.R.S. organization for short, host every year in order to recognize young black male leaders on and off campus. Nominations and voting for this event were conducted in October.

There will be music, performances, and a following reception. The event strongly recommends wearing formal attire.

S.I.S.T.E.R.S. is an organization that was established in 1975, that seeks to foster positive interactions among African-American women. Their goal is to serve the NIU community and surrounding areas through various activities, according to their webpage.

One of the major purposes of S.I.S.T.E.R.S. as an organization is to have positive interactions among African-American women. They are also heavily involved in contributing to African-American men of the community as well. 

Nekaybaw Clark, who heard about the event is an NIU student studying biochemistry. Clark had very strong feelings about why this event is so important.

“Black men are one of the most hated in the world,” Clark said. “There’s a lot of hatred towards black people.” 

Clark said the event provides an opportunity to show a different side for black men. She said black men heavily influence of a lot of sports, music and art.