Black Culture, Community Alive and Well at Merced College

“Black History month provides a mirror for us to question: Are we where we’re supposed to be?”

Orlando Taylor English Professor and Poet

By Luciana Chavez Special to Merced College We went to Orlando Taylor to ask an important question about Black History Month, observed each February. For Taylor—a poet, an academic, and a proud gay Black man—this month carries great meaning. We asked him why this month should matter, not just to the Black community, but to all of us? “In all honesty, the experience of Black America is very much tied to the history and proliferation of American culture around the world,” the Merced College English Professor said. “This month is important, and not only for the cliché of knowing who we are to avoid repeating mistakes of the past. … Black History month provides a mirror for us to question: Are we where we’re supposed to be?" Taylor, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Truman State University and a master’s in English Creative Writing from National University, has wrestled with that question for a long time, like while teaching in public schools and community colleges in both red (Texas) and blue (California) states. As a young student himself, Taylor found encouragement in an unabridged dictionary his older sister bought for him when he was a boy. Taylor remembers the size of it alone gave him “mental cardiac arrest,” but it became his most precious resource. Words filled his blood, books became a second skin and the local library, his other home. By age 12, Taylor had found mentors in the writers of the Harlem Renaissance. He learned to write and found mountains he had to climb through poetry. In English courses now, he encourages his students to do what he did: Seek out artists wherever they can be found, especially the voices that are rarely heard or appreciated in America. Many of those voices will surround us in the art, poetry and music we’ll all be taking in during Black History Month. “We need more of that right now,” Taylor said. “Looking at a piece like Guernica (by Pablo Picasso, showing the brutality of World War II), we understand that creatives have a strong hold on the issues of the time. The value of expressions of culture is that we see a society that continues to question itself and its moral compass.” Taylor has done that with his own hand by writing two books of poetry. He and his husband Christopher Carr are also building a media company called Kick Starter Studios LLC that will support other Black writers crafting stories from the African diaspora. Their first project is a sci-fi action comic book series for readers of all ages called Action Biters. For now, three of his poems are featured at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center’s (MAC) Black History Month Open Call Exhibition, which opened on Jan. 31. The kickoff event with all of the contributors—the youngest is 10 years old—was on Feb. 2. The exhibit will run through March 3. Two of his poems at the MAC exhibit come from his second book, “Black Music, Politics, and Word Bombs.” He wrote them in the wake of the social and political upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. A third poem—all of his poems were inspired by music from Black artists—is a key selection from his first book called “My Scars are My Birthmark,” in which he confronts his trauma growing up Black and LGBTQ+. The kickoff event with all of the contributors—the youngest is 10 years old— was on February 2. The exhibit will run through March 3. MAC Facility Supervisor for Galleries Katt Szyndler is curating the show. “We wanted to find hidden gems to show what this community wants to express,” Szyndler said. “We all have a different understanding of art. No matter which race we are, we all have a connection to Black history. I’m really grateful to all of the artists who have the guts to share themselves with the public.” Advocacy and Awareness On campus, Merced College’s Black Student Union and the Umoja and A2MEND programs are teaming up this month to stage events at the Equity Hub celebrating Black culture, history and experiences. The official kickoff, featuring food and music, is entitled “I Have a Dream” and will go off on Feb. 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students are encouraged to wear red, yellow, green or black. Black Student Union President Amarah Sayles believes campus groups need to push harder, even beyond February, to create “a comfortability for [Black] students.” “We all want to show students that your voice will be heard at Merced College, and if you need a home, we have a home for you,” said Sayles, a freshman nursing student. “We have many Black students on campus, but they don’t necessarily see the BSU as something to join. We want to advocate for them.” This is the first time that Black History Month has been arranged “by Black people for Black people,” said Communications Professor Janee Young, a 19-year veteran at the college and the faculty advisor for the A2MEND program. A2MEND and Umoja are academic and leadership support organizations for Black students, and both Merced College chapters came to the campus in the last 18 months to join the BSU. Asked how she feels after all of these years finally seeing a comprehensive approach to the month-long celebration on campus. “It’s tiring, yet rewarding,” Young said. “I tell students all the time, to make change on this campus or the world, we need more than Black people to push an agenda for Black people. You need all people to get on this train.”