{"id":2225,"date":"2016-02-13T12:31:23","date_gmt":"2016-02-13T17:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/?p=2225"},"modified":"2016-02-13T12:31:23","modified_gmt":"2016-02-13T17:31:23","slug":"gardner-webb-freshman-brings-awareness-to-black-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/?p=2225","title":{"rendered":"Gardner-Webb freshman brings awareness to Black history"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Chelsea Sydnor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freshman Rachael Meachem was inspired to draw attention to accomplished African-American alumni and authors, after she wrote a reflection based on Dr. Albert Brinson\u2019s visit<\/a> for Dr. Paula Quall\u2019s Old Testament class. Meachem\u00a0has created displays for the library for the month of February, as well as a guest post about lesser-known individuals<\/a> that have made a difference for civil rights.<\/p>\n

Meachem was looking for ways to become more involved on campus, so when the idea presented itself, she took advantage of it. \u201cI wanted to bring awareness to Black History month, because it\u2019s not always advertised,\u201d said Meachem. \u201cI figured the library would be a good place because a lot of people go there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The display includes notable Gardner-Webb African-American alumni\u00a0due to inspiration from a teacher from\u00a0Meachem’s high<\/p>\n

\"Meachem<\/a>
Meachem stands with her display in the library.
Photo by Elizabeth Banfield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

school. She started with Artis Gilmore, a basketball player from the class of 1969, then\u00a0found information about many more African-American athletes that had also graduated from Gardner-Webb.<\/p>\n

However, this project\u00a0required a lot of responsibility because Meachem\u00a0was acting by herself, rather than as a part of a group effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to balance work study, class work and the project,\u201d said Meachem. \u201cBut, I wanted to be able to find clear, precise information and condense it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Meachem was encouraged to complete her project by her family, and others around her at Gardner-Webb.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe asked me if I thought people would come [to see the displays] and I told her \u2018I would\u2019,\u201d said Ary Bottoms, one of Meachem\u2019s supervisors for her work study job in the library. \u201cI\u2019m proud of her for carrying out the project even without support from an organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she wasn’t working with an organization,\u00a0Meachem was able to call\u00a0on the support of another student, senior Heaven Watson-Weary, for help with her research. Watson-Weary was excited to contribute, and provided information about the portion of the project centering around authors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have this month to highlight things we don\u2019t learn [about] on a regular basis in our classrooms,\u201d said Watson-Weary.<\/p>\n

Meachem hopes that her work will begin a discussion about the contemporary issue of race, as well as the influence of these people from the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes even I overlook Black History month, so I\u2019m sure that a lot of other people do as well,\u201d said Meachem.<\/p>\n

Two of Meachem\u2019s displays can be viewed in the front lobby of the library, along with one more that is still in progress.<\/p>\n

\"Rachael_BHM_flyer(1)\"<\/a>Meachem is also organizing the Black History Month Poetry Slam at Broad River Coffee Shop, Feb. 29, at 7 P.M. For more information, contact rmeachem@gardner-webb.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Chelsea Sydnor Freshman Rachael Meachem was inspired to draw attention to accomplished African-American alumni and authors, after she wrote a reflection based on Dr. Albert Brinson\u2019s visit for Dr. Paula Quall\u2019s Old Testament class. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[597,576,53,114,599,22,598,596,501,42],"class_list":["post-2225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-black-history","tag-black-history-month","tag-chelsea-sydnor","tag-elizabeth-banfield","tag-freshman","tag-gardner-webb-university","tag-library","tag-meachem","tag-student-leadership","tag-student-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}