Belmont Kicks Off Black History Month

Last week, Black History Month kicked off with a reception and gallery talk in Gallery 121, a curated panel about Black entrepreneurship and philanthropy and a chapel address from Belmont’s inaugural Vice President for Hope, Unity and Belonging Dr. D’Angelo S. Taylor. 

Collaborating with university and city partners, the 2024 Black History Month Planning Committee has organized a month full of engaging events that provide a platform for education, reflection and celebration. This year’s Black History Month theme is Enlighten Our Present, Recall Our Past, Embolden Our Future.  

Black Business 

Co-sponsored by the Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship, The Black Dollar: Black Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy panel featured three trailblazing entrepreneurs who have fostered economic growth and inspired countless others to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. 

Belmont Vice Board Chair Harry Allen (’04, ‘10) is a sixth generation Nashvillian with a deep commitment to fostering entrepreneurship.  By partnering with entities and programs that help businesses in need, he supports small businesses and middle market companies as the co-founder of Studio Bank in Nashville – one of the city's fastest-growing companies with assets receiving $900 million. 

Alumna Kia Jarmon (‘06) guides high-impact, mission-driven initiatives as the founder and agency director of ME PR Agency. She's a visionary leader in the Nonprofit Equity Collaborative and a co-leader of the Black Philanthropy Initiative in Nashville. 

Quincy Banks is the president and owner of Graphix by Dzine Inc. which specializes in logos, branding, web development, unique event imaging and more. His entrepreneurial path has led him to work with highly successful and recognizable organizations including Common and the Common Ground Foundation, Dwyane Wade and Wayne's World Foundation, eight-time Star award winner and two-time Grammy nominee Jonathan McReynolds at Make Room Live Recordings, Nike and the McDonald’s Corporation. 

Allen, Jarmon and Banks shared their inspiration for becoming entrepreneurs, talked about where they found communities of support along their journeys and answered student questions.  

Vice President for Strategic Operations Ed Magee, who was the moderator for the panel discussion, also shared insights from the latest data on Black-owned businesses from The Brookings Institute to convey the need for more Black-owned businesses and show how Black businesses positively impact national capital.   

From 2017-2020 there was a 13.64% increase in Black-owned businesses, lending to a 0.53% growth for all businesses. The Brookings executive summary also states that if Black business ownership continues to grow at its current rate (4.72%), it will take 256 years to reach parity with the share of Black people in America. Reaching parity in 15 years would take a 74.4% growth rate. 

“Tonight, we're going to celebrate not only their heritage and achievements, but also the profound impact that black entrepreneurs have had on the US economy,” Magee said. “This is not a zero-sum game. This is how we make the pot bigger in our country. This is about the American pie becoming a bigger pie.” 

Belmont’s community will have the opportunity to engage with faculty and staff as well as guest speakers throughout the month, exploring the contribution of Black men and women across a range of topics including hair, health, music and politics. 

Black Art 

The art exhibition “Fifteen” will remain in Gallery 121 through Feb. 16. “Fifteen” is artist Omari Booker’s solo exhibition that speaks powerfully and directly to his story of incarceration, release and perseverance.  

“Fifteen is about a 15-year sentence for a non-violent drug charge,” Booker said. “And what it meant to be a human walking through, and coming out of, such a circumstance.” 

Several other events will focus on the Black community’s influence on the arts. Award-winning producer Drumma Boy visit campus (Feb. 20), the movies “King Richard,” “The Banker” and “Something the Lord Made” will be shown on campus for students, and much more.  

Black Inspiration 

Dr. Taylor highlighted the importance of being sources of hope in a world that is often hopeless as he reflected on the words and actions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the chapel session of Black History Month.  

Taylor shared how King’s legacy continues to impact the modern day, encouraged students to continually renew their commitment to making positive, long-term community impacts and spoke on practicing extended presence to become agents of purpose-driven change. 

“The practice of extended presence requires that we remain steadfast beyond the moment,” Taylor said. “We must ask ourselves what makes us similar, and not what drives us apart.” 

Taylor mentioned that, although he sometimes worries that the HUB’s goals seem impossible to reach, “[A]s I lay my head down each night, I reaffirm to myself that we owe it to ourselves to try. In the words of Dr. King, we are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.” 

New York Times bestselling author Jemar Tisby will return to campus for chapel to give a message on Courageous Christianity (Feb. 7). Rev. Dr. Howard John Wesley, senior pastor of Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va. Will also share a chapel message (Feb. 28). 

Black History Month events will also create space for open discussion through Student Only and Employee Only Real Talks (Feb 9), the inaugural Black History Month Oratorical Competition (Feb. 19), a social justice bus tour (Feb. 17), the African-American read-in (Feb. 16) and more.  

View the full Black History Month Schedule.