The Black Student Movement
The Black Student Movement (BSM) was created on November 7, 1967, after growing dissatisfaction in the lack of action from the campus NAACP chapter. Preston Dobbins served as the first president of the organization, and the BSM quickly became a leading voice for Black students at UNC-Chapel Hill.
On December 11, 1968, the Black Student Movement presented their first list of 23 demands to Chancellor Sitterson, including a Department of African and Afro-American Studies, an office responsive to the needs of Black students, and increased recruitment of Black students. Following protests and sit-ins in support of the BSM, many of the demands were met within five years. The BSM has since continued to advocate for Black students, faculty, and staff at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Since its creation, the BSM has played a pivotal role in the 1968-69 UNC Food Workers Strike and the creation of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center in 2004. The organization started their own newspaper Black Ink in 1969, consisting of news, opinions, and poetry “expressing black ideas,” and published their own yearbook, Ebony Images from 1977-1978. Black Ink is still publishing digitally.
Currently, the BSM is the largest cultural organization at UNC-CH. The organization has over 10 central committees and five former subgroups, including the UNC Gospel Choir, Opeyo! Dance Company, Ebony Readers/Onyx Theater, Black Ink Magazine, and Harmonyx Acapella Group have become their own campus organizations. BSM hosts campus programs and events throughout the year, in addition to initiatives like the First-Year Class Council and the Black on Track Fellowship Program.
Read More:
- UNC Black Student Movement, “Mission & History”: https://www.uncbsm.com/history
- UNC For the Record Blog, “Black Student Movement Demands, 1968”: https://blogs.lib.unc.edu/uarms/2015/11/20/black-student-movement-demands-1968/
- UNC For the Record Blog, “A Sudden Ending and a New Beginning”: https://blogs.lib.unc.edu/uarms/2014/04/04/a-sudden-ending-and-a-new-beginning/
- Black Ink Magazine current issues: https://uncblackink.wordpress.com/
- Black Ink Magazine archive, official publication of the Black Student Movement, available via DigitalNC: https://www.digitalnc.org/newspapers/black-ink-black-student-movement-university-north-carolina-chapel-hill/
- Carolina Virtual Museum, “The Black Student Movement at Carolina”: https://museum.unc.edu/exhibits/show/black-student-movement