By Juan Ibarra/campus editor
Student-led group Historical Underground is hosting a series of lectures for Black History Month.
Throughout February, different presenters will speak at length about a variety of topics about history through the lens of black culture.
The focus of the organization is to be more than just 10 people arguing in a room together, said Somiari Tobin, SE student and Historical Underground president. The group hopes to modernize history through the use of pop culture and other relatable topics.
Tobin is opening the series on Feb. 7 and is speaking about the unintentional white washing of rock music and musical miscegenation through history.
“Growing up, I got teased for listening to rock music. My friends always told me it was ‘white people music,’” he said.
The first lecture will be led by Tobin, and the following lectures will have SE Campus history faculty leading the discussions.
“Professor Salas and Dr. Bradley Borougerdi are both fountains of knowledge with Salas having some of the wittiest pop culture references I’ve ever heard and an uncanny knack for relating them to history,” Tobin said.
Previous Historical Underground lectures have included a closer look at the film Black Panther and its connection to Black History through the political lens of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
“We want to rehumanize history,” Tobin said.
The first lecture revolves around music while the others will touch upon topics such as Malcolm X and black nationalism, the Black Panther’s involvement in the community and the prison-industrial complex.
LECTURE SERIES:
The McFly Effect: Exploring the Rift Between Rock Music and Black Culture
Somiari Tobin, Historical Underground president
Feb. 7, 2-3:20 p.m.
North Ballroom
The 13th Amendment, Convict Leasing and the End of Slavery?
Mike Downs,
SE history assistant professor
Feb. 12, 2-3:20 p.m.
Library Classroom ESED 1212
Fred Hampton on Your Campus: Portrait of a Revolutionary
Bradley J. Borougerdi,
SE history associate professor
Feb. 14, 2-3:20 p.m.
Library Classroom ESED 1212
Black Nationalism in the Mind of Malcolm X
Eric Salas,
SE history instructor
Feb. 21, 2-3:20 p.m.
Library Classroom ESED 1212
