TRU Students are gearing up for another Black History Month, kicking off this February.
The commemorative month is observed annually to honour the legacy and contributions of Black communities and individuals in Canada.
This Black History Month is a landmark for several reasons. This year, 2026, will mark 30 years since Black History Month was introduced in Canada, 50 years since the month was nationally recognized in the United States and exactly 100 years since its precursor, “Negro History Week,” was first formed in Chicago, Ill.
“Canada does not teach about Black history a lot,” Stacy Ogbuehi, education and advocacy officer at the Afro-Caribbean Association (ACSA), said. “And if they do, they teach about it from a detached perspective.”
Ogbuehi is a Canadian-Nigerian who, in Edmonton, led her local high school’s Black Students Association. This experience, she said, opened her up to advocating for and educating about the Black community.
Still in her first year, Ogbuehi has already taken an executive position at the ACSA.
“I’m just really passionate about this,” she said. “When I saw they had a vacancy, I was like, ‘I have to join.’”
Groups like the ACSA, the largest Black student association on campus, have been organizing nonstop in anticipation of the coming month, collaborating with on- and off-campus groups to create programming that supports education and community building.
“We are very excited, but also anxious,” Ogbuehi said. “We have a lot of events planned for February. They’re about education, but also a place for students to enjoy connections with one another.”
The ACSA’s line-up for Black History Month includes a movie night on Feb. 6 featuring the biographical American drama Sarah’s Oil, which follows a young Black girl in the American South who discovers oil on her land.
On Feb. 7, the association will hold a reception for the Black History Month exhibition at the TRU Art Gallery. The exhibition, titled The Black Canvas, showcases local artists in celebration of the Government of Canada’s theme, “Black Brilliance Across Generations”.
The ACSA will also be hosting a financial literacy seminar on Feb. 13.
“We’re having a two-sided month, where we’re educating people and also just making sure people can have fun and build community,” Ogbuehi said.
Finally, on Feb. 28, to cap off the month, the ACSA will host a Black History Month Gala with the theme “Rhythms of the Diaspora.” The hope, according to Ogbuehi, is to create a space that celebrates Black students and community members across all places, cultures, lifestyles and identities.
Along with the ACSA’s events, TRU will also host a talk by Marva Ferguson, an associate professor in the Child Studies and Social Work faculty at Mount Royal University, on Feb. 10. The talk is titled Black History Month: Silencing and Silent in Fugitive Spaces, and will address racism and anti-racism in the context of post-secondary institutions.
Despite all of this and the several other events within and outside of the campus, many TRU students feel frustrated with how the month has been commemorated in the past.
“Last year, there was this big event in the Campus Activity Centre,” Abdullahi Mutiaru, a second-year data science student, told The Omega. “They invited all these companies, as well. It felt a lot more like a networking thing.”
Mutiaru, unsatisfied with that sort of program, insisted that Black History Month should be about celebration and education, not career advancement and networking.
Some students reported being either unaware or only vaguely aware that such events occur when February arrives.
“I don’t think I see them,” Yin Ajuwape, fourth-year PR student, said. “Maybe I just haven’t been in school for those events, but I don’t see them.”
Though second-year computer science student Tomi Fatunase had experienced a few events here and there, he insisted it wasn’t “anything big.”
Some students hope this year’s efforts to recognize and celebrate Black History Month will be better and handled with greater care than in years past. Others aren’t so optimistic.
“I’m sure it’s going the same way it went last year,” Mutiaru said.
According to the ACSA, open communication exists between club executives and the broader community. This ensures that they meet as many needs as possible.
The club’s plans for February seemed to reignite some level of excitement amongst the TRU’s Black student body. For them, the celebration of Black History Month is an opportunity to connect cross-culturally across the diaspora.
“I think, in these events, you meet so many friends that, regardless of culture, you guys just know each other,” Fatunase said.
Auwape agreed. “I feel like it exposes you to different cultures, but it’s also not so different. You’re all still sisters.”