Gathered Sunday morning at Russell Chapel CME Church, the men of the Mizzou Black Men’s Initiative began hosting Black Men Rising, its first week dedicated to the organization’s mission, with prayer.
“First and foremost, we want to empower, motivate and inspire black males through our events,” MBMI Coordinator Marcus Mayes said. “We want to engage them to learn more about themselves and being successful as a black man. This is the first ever ‘MBMI week,’ I guess you could say.”
The men have been united for two years, and Monday evening, they donned business attire for NDUGU, which member Zach McGowan said is Swahili for “friend” or “brotherhood”. For the event, influential figures such as business leaders, professors and athletic directors spoke to the men.
“The NDUGU normally consists of young black men mingling and networking with the older role models for guidance and additional information about the task of being a black male in society,” McGowan said.
McGowan said he is particularly looking forward to Tuesday and Thursday’s events, Welcome to MARS and Before I Self Destruct. Tuesday, the Men Against Relationship and Sexual Violence student group will highlight the issue of rape and sexual violence in the black community. Thursday is an interactive dialogue where actors will break free from stereotypes, an event sophomore Jake Mitchell said he is most excited for.
“The reason behind that is because it’s going to be one of the biggest events of our week,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to address some of the stereotypes that we as black men face. It’s a good thing that we get those issues out in the air and come together not only as black men but as a diverse crowd.”
To better reflect the nation’s growing minority communities in terms of blood donors, MBMI paired with MU’s five historically black fraternities to host the Blood Brothers: Blood Drive on Friday.
“There hasn’t been a blood drive on campus that I know of that’s been targeted at minorities in at least two or three years,” Mayes said. “It felt right that we do something like this.”
Later that evening, Houston-based musician and poet Tony Henry will visit The Shack in the Student Center for “My Soul is a River: Spoken Word Night.” Co-sponsored with the Black Programming Committee and the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, the performance is the first spoken word event of the semester.
Despite the week’s seemingly male-focused name, Mayes said he hopes and encourages anyone of any gender, race or ethnicity to attend the week’s events. Each event’s lessons are applicable to anybody, he said
“A lot of the things sound like they’re just ‘males, males, males,’ but it’s open,” Mayes said. “We’ll definitely bring some new perspectives to not just black males but everybody. We’ll open some minds and have a good time doing it.”
After the church service on Sunday at the Russell Chapel CME Church, Mayes said he has been anticipating this week for quite some time.
“I’ve been excited for a few months,” Mayes said. “I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
