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As many have advocated throughout history, looking to the past can help us progress our efforts towards racial equity today. Research from the student newspaper at San Francisco State in the late 1960s chronicled the Black Student Union's political activity on campus. Extensive reading through the publication's archives taught that organizing could not be done alone or exclusively within an affinity group. Success came from institutional change.
San Francisco State was the first higher education institution in the nation to develop a Black Studies program. To achieve this success, the BSU worked with a larger multiethnic coalition—the Third World Liberation Front. Similar learnings showed that arts, education, and community service go hand in hand with movements fighting for political change. SF State's BSU was active in the Bay Area, the epicenter for the Black Power Movement, and was also inspired by the Black Arts Movement in Chicago. The group was persistent in demanding that the student government provide more funds for its neighborhood after school program and for visiting professor, renowned poet Amiri Baraka, to oversee its Black Arts and Culture Series.
As we do our part to advance racial equity, it is imperative to reflect on the grounded approaches from the past to accomplish our goals. In January, we take the most concerted time to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dedication to eliminating racism. Consider his legacy a road map to the social change we can make happen today.
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