Students who are interested in history should take note of this month’s events.

To celebrate Black Heritage Month, NIU will focus on the cultural heritage of Africa. All NIU students should pay attention and try to attend at least one of the events this month in order to help them better understand the African American culture.

While everyone on this campus has their own backgrounds and political beliefs, it is beneficial to them to try to understand where other people are coming from. People attend college to learn about different ideas, and sitting in a residence hall room with friends who all think the same is depriving people of a chance to broaden their minds.

In many history classes, students only learn about history from the aspect of the European white male. Only recently was there even recognition that minorities and women have made significant contributions to history.

Van Amos, programming coordinator of the Center for Black Studies, said the goal of this year’s theme, “The Afrocentric Mind: Redefining negritude” is to focus on black culture through the arts, representing the essence of blackness.

Whether students believe in the validity of a black heritage month, they should check out some of the events planned, because you can’t criticize what you don’t understand.

And, who knows, they might just have a whole new perspective on the matter.