COSAM News Articles 2021 March COSAM OIED Ambassadors celebrate Black History Month

COSAM OIED Ambassadors celebrate Black History Month

Published: 03/09/2021

On Thursday, February 25^th, the COSAM Office of Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity (OIED) Ambassadors held a virtual event titled Remembering the Past, Living in the Present, We are the Future. This event commemorated Black History Month by highlighting major movements and figures, both past and present, that paved the way for African American Civil Rights. The event began with a chilling voice-simulated activity that allowed participants to partially experience what it felt like to be at the Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In. Specifically, the Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In was a highly influential act of bravery by four African American students from North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University who sat at a Whites-only lunch counter in 1960 and refused to leave after being denied service. For years to come, this protest sparked various other non-violent movements that pushed for the equal rights and treatment of African Americans. The COSAM OIED Ambassadors then facilitated a discussion that focused on various African Americans within the STEM fields who have made significant impacts on society. Attendees then had a chance to win prizes by participating in African American history trivia. The virtual event closed by giving attendees the opportunity to highlight ways they too can participate in the fight for social justice, both within and outside the STEM fields.