AKA asks Who Will Survive in America: an examination the State of Black America

On Thursday, October 13, UB's Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority incorporated held an event in the Student Center. It was in efforts to embed the community with African American history. Senior and President of the Beta Iota Chapter Duancia Evans explained that her sorors and herself felt that it was something missing from the younger generation, pertaining to black history.

In a recent New York Times article, it explains how much students in America knowledge of civil rights history has decline. Each state was given letter grades based on their academic standards of the civil rights movement. Thirty- five states received an F, leaving only eight out 12 states with an A, B, or C grade.

The Civil Rights movement is beginning to get shorten out of teacher's lesson plan to cover other important subjects of America. It is because each state's local district has a different curriculum of the required history standards. As a nation, it has become one of the weaknesses points in the teaching of American history.

Panelists included Rodney Reynolds (Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.), Caroline Vermont (NAACP President, Greater Bridgeport Branch), Lisa Slay (UB faculty member and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.) and Kraig Kelly and Malcolm Welfare (both of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.). The panel to addressed questions and issues about African American males and females, specifically issues pertaining to how they are perceived, concepts of love, and saving the black family. Students at the event discussed vaguely how they felt on each subject.

Junior Daemion Evans, felt that he benefitted by attending the program.

"As a black man, you have to take steps when becoming anything you want to be," Evans said.

The program allowed students to gain the views from both male and female and answer such questions as, " Why can't a successful black woman find a man?"

With the social media playing a major issue with the actions produced by the students here on campus, hearing from certain individuals influence them positively. Slay believed that students should start being mirrors to one another, to visually see and tell each other what we should improve about each other.

AKAs ended the night, by showing a video of how far African Americans have come. Overall, Alpha Kappa Alpha shined a light on a very informative and complex topic.