Despite the cold weather and wind Thursday, Jan. 11, Archer’s Black Student Union generated warmth through their pancake breakfast in the courtyard. BSU held the event to honor the legacy of the Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast Program, which took place regularly throughout the late 1960s and fed over 200,000 children across 19 cities in the United States.
BSU Co-president Sydney Curry (’25) said a month’s worth of planning went into executing the event. She emphasized the logistical aspects behind the scenes of the organizing process.
“In regards to planning, we started planning around December,” Curry said. “Most of it just included deciding who was going to buy the pancakes … how are we going to get the grill? And just deciding what would be the best way to honor such an important group.”
BSU adviser and English teacher Sala Bandele-Jackson said this event and many others hosted by BSU are planned almost entirely by the students. She said she and fellow BSU adviser Dani LeNoir enjoy seeing the students take charge.
“We just kind of sit there and listen and help the students however they need our help,” Bandele-Jackson said. “But really and truly, most of these ideas [and] these events that are being planned by BSU are all student ideas, and they’re all student-led.”
Freshman Milan Earl attended the pancake breakfast and said it was very fun, and that the event helped her understand the importance of helping others, especially throughout history.
“Giving is a thing humans should do,” Earl said. “Just helping others in hard times, like what the Black Panther Party did with yummy pancakes.”
Bandele-Jackson said she hopes the event helps students understand another aspect of Black history, which she said is deeper and more complex than people may realize.
“I really hope that students understand that Black history is not just about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and the names that we hear over and over and over again,” Bandele-Jackson said. “There are so many different ways that the Black community has contributed to its own community and others throughout our history.”
Curry said she was pleased to see how excited the community was to eat the pancakes and their eagerness to participate in the event.
“I think my favorite part would just have to be today,” Curry said. “Seeing moments like this when people are dancing and having fun, because, you know, that’s what it’s all about. It’s about a sense of community and caring for other people.”
