As NIU students walked the streets of DeKalb in costume, Friday night was a “Night of Black Elegance” for some students.

Hosted by the Black Student Union, the event honored several black organizations, as well as highlighting many issues black students face in their daily lives.

“Tonight we come together not as individual organizations, but as a union,” BSU President Darrell Nelson II said as he addressed the crowd in the Altgeld Ballroom. Nelson’s speech focused on the importance of preventing the crime that has plagued the urban areas of Chicago and the surrounding areas.

“Our teens cannot walk the streets and fear that death is around the corner,” he said. “We must come together and be the long awaited change.”

Nelson’s speech was followed by a reading of the poem Eugene Useni Perkins’ “Hey Black Child” by Chris Williams. The poem calls on individuals to stand up and realize their full potential.
The keynote speaker at the event was Yahcolyah Muhammad. Muhammad is the director of Curriculum and Instruction at Muhammad University of Islam in Rockford. He spoke of the importance of embracing fellow brothers and sisters and stopping violence.
“When I was growing up, there was a sense of community,” he said. “It seems that we have lost that feeling.”

Muhammad believes that violence can only be stopped by people caring about each other.
“The problem of violence is not a political problem or an educational problem; it is a spiritual problem,” he said. “You must produce a generation of love, and that will stop the violence.”
Awards were presented to groups for their general excellence. E.B.O.N.Y. Women won the “Best Female Organization” award while the Black Male Initiative won “Best Male Organization.” The “Outstanding Faculty Adviser” award went to BSU Adviser Derrick Smith. The group Liberated Minds was also recognized.

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