politics

Black Fraternity and Sorority Members in Minnesota Take The State’s Capitol for African Heritage Day on the Hill

Every year, African Heritage Day on the Hill happens at the capitol in Minnesota highlighting the contributions of Black Minnesotans and addressing their questions and concerns.

This year, members of NPHC fraternities and sororities showed up in large numbers to make their voices known and have their numbers seen.

“The NPHC has done this for a while here. I think this year being an election year heightens the importance even more. When Black folks gather collectively to directly address our lawmakers, it helps them and ourselves see how much power we can actually have,” Isaiah Potts, a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, told Watch The Yard.

“Several times throughout the course of the event at the Capitol our elected officials called out the fact that the building we were in is too often lacking the presence of Black people and as a consequence often lacking advocacy for ideas or policies that center the experiences and the wellbeing of Black people,” Ernest Comer III, a member of Phi Beta Sigma, told Watch The Yard. “Being present for African Heritage Day on the Hill was a powerful reminder of the value of our unity and the capacity we have as a people to overwhelm the systems, institutions, and ivory towers of our society and bring about changes that benefit our communities. When we answer the call to gather together in fellowship or in action we activate a weapon that has gone underutilized – the collective strength that forced our country to outlaw gatherings of Black people in the first place. Our great-great grandparents left it in our DNA to leverage unity for the good of our people. That’s why I showed up.”

Check out the photos from African Heritage Day on the Hill below: