Preserving the Indigenous sign languages of Nigeria

In Nigeria, the Indigenous sign language of Deaf communities is disappearing. Despite making up nearly a fourth of the country’s population, the Nigerian Deaf community suffers from numerous roadblocks when considering their less than egalitarian status in society. But Emmanuel Asonye, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New Mexico, is working on a project to help Nigerians who lack access to their native language.

Asonye, who earned his doctorate in linguistics and communications from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, has been studying and cataloging Indigenous Nigerian sign language for years. As the founder of Save the Deaf and Endangered Languages Initiative, Asonye has spent his career advocating for the Nigerian Deaf community.

Local Black-owned business wants microgreens on every plate

Papa’s Little Helpers MicroFarm is a local business with a mission to grow and promote healthy, locally grown food. Owner Rico Robinson has set a goal to better educate everyone — especially the Black community — on the importance of eating healthy.

While the business doesn’t currently provide a large variety of meal options, Robinson hopes that he can incorporate a delivery service with healthy meals in the future.

“It’s going to taste like soul food, but it’s going to be purely healthy food,” Robinson said.

Drag bingo takes center stage for SAC

The University of New Mexico’s Student Union Building kicked off the spring semester with a back to school bingo night on Friday, Jan. 29. Only four students attended, which is the lowest group Uni Nights have had since switching to virtual events. Coincidentally, the Student Activities Center (SAC) hosted a drag bingo night the week before with over 130 students participating.

While drag bingo isn’t quite the same as the more traditional event, the two are similar enough to question the scheduling process of events for both departments. Andrea Marquez, the SAC advisor in charge of coordinating events like drag bingo, said the SAC specifically planned its bingo night earlier in the term because students would have to quarantine after coming to the dorms from out of town.

Looking back at ‘Killer of Sheep,’ a small budget masterpiece

In 1977, Charles Burnett began production of his debut feature “Killer of Sheep,” a film following the everyday working class struggles of a Black slaughterhouse worker. 13 years later, it was one of the first 50 films deemed a national treasure by the Library of Congress.

With this film and his subsequent realist works, Burnett is regarded as one of the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, going on to inspire artists like Spike Lee, Barry Jenkins and Ryan Coogler.

“Killer of Sheep” puts the impoverished Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts under the microscope. The film was made 12 years after the Watts Rebellion, a six-day series of protests against police brutality in which 34 protesters were murdered. The aftermath of the state-sponsored violence echoes throughout the many scenes of children scampering through the ruins of old buildings destroyed in the decade prior.

Divine Nine orgs continue tradition of Black excellence

Brianna Edey is the current president of the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) and the University of New Mexico chapter of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. When asked about what makes the “Divine Nine” —a collective of historically Black Greek letter organizations, with eight of the nine active at UNM — unique compared to other organizations, she narrowed it all down to its rich history.

“In fact, our (individual) organizations were created because we weren’t allowed in existing councils,” Edey said.

All of the Divine Nine organizations were founded throughout the 1900s, when Black students in the United States were often ostracized and banned from joining primarily white Greek organizations on college campuses, according to Edey.

The Fro celebrates ‘Black joy and happiness’ for Black History Month

This year, the University of New Mexico’s African American Student Services (AASS or ‘the Fro’) launched Black History Month on Jan. 1 with the raising of the Pan-African flag at Scholes Hall, a symbol of “Black liberation” according to AASS. The event as well as the raising of the ‘Black History Month’ banner by UNM Health Sciences Center were streamed virtually on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. 

Other virtual events that were either streamed virtually or crafted on social media since then included: “Popular Hair Moments in Black Music History with Natelege Whaley” on Feb. 2, “CROWN Act Town Hall” on Feb. 4 and “National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day” on Feb. 7. 

The pandemic created the necessity for wholly virtual events, but the team at the Fro readily accepted the challenge.