This Friday, February 9, the Black History Month festivities continued with a “Know Your Heritage Bowl” that took place in the Student Union Ballroom. Six teams participated, representing various organizations across campus, in a multi-round, bracketed quiz bowl with questions focusing on the achievements, history, and experiences of black people across the globe.
With categories ranging from simple concepts like athletics, movies, literature, inventors, and medical — which all highlighted achievements of black people across a variety of fields — to categories like say his or her name, a series of questions devoted entirely to atrocities committed against African Americans, both historically and in present times, this quiz bowl covered a wide variety of topics. Teams took turns answering questions, choosing one of three responses provided on the screen. Of the six teams that started the game, four continued on to the next round.
In the first game of the second round, the Alphas played against the Stars. This game initially ended in a tie between the two groups, but Stars took the win after correctly recalling that Greensboro, North Carolina was the site of the first restaurant sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement. The second game featured the Swans and the Black Student Union, which ended with the Black Student Union as the clear winners.
The final round of the Know Your Heritage Bowl was a fierce competition between the Black Student Union and Stars. With the last round of the night ending, once again, in a tie, the teams were on the edge of their seats waiting for the tiebreaker to determine a winner. The tiebreaker question asked for the name of the first female African American member of the House of Representatives, and the Black Student Union took the win with their correct answer of Shirley Chisholm.
“It was important to understand and know the different influential African Americans that have affected America and the world, and the specific areas they affected,” said student Grace Negron, a member of the Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS) at UIS who attended the Heritage Bowl. This event highlighted important events — both good and bad — involving black citizens that have affected not only the United States, but the world. The entirety of Black History Month is meant to celebrate history and promote social change, and events like this hope to inform students of this history in a fun, interactive, and memorable way. The Know Your Heritage Bowl was an obvious success amongst attendees, and an important event for UIS this Black History Month.