Dressed in white, hundreds of Howard students, faculty and staff gathered on The Yard Aug. 28 to celebrate the life and legacy of Chadwick A. Boseman during the university’s fifth annual Chadwick A. Boseman Day.
The College of Fine Arts marked the occasion with a week of commemorative events centered on this year’s theme, “A New Dawn of Purpose,” including a dance workshop, reflection ceremony, panel discussion and student performance showcase hosted by Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor Anthony Anderson.
Students wore white as a symbol of peace, purity and remembrance as they gathered to honor Boseman’s legacy.
For some students, such as Jordan Bowman, sophomore criminology major from Clinton, Maryland, the celebration offered an opportunity to reflect on the personal impact Boseman had on their lives.
“Chadwick Boseman was someone I looked up to from a very young age,” Bowman said.
For Micah Settles, a sophomore psychology major from Columbia, Maryland, performing with the Howard University Jazz Ensemble at the celebration was an opportunity to honor Boseman alongside the Howard community.
“Even in his honor, it’s just amazing being able to be here and celebrate him,” Settles said.
The crowd was also guided in song by the College of Fine Arts Choir, with affiliations including the Afro Blue Jazz Ensemble, the Sassy Ensemble and the Howard University Jazz Ensemble.
Chris Moore III, a junior music performance major from Macon, Georgia, sang the gospel piece “Safety” with the choir.
“There’s peace, healing, love and safety that’s mentioned in the song, so hopefully those words resonate with people,” Moore said.
Moore said Boseman was an advocate for the College of Fine Arts, highlighting his inspiration for the $5.4 million endowment created after his death.
Jayda Richard, a senior legal communications major from Oakland, California, echoed this description of Boseman’s lasting impact.
“To me, [the day] symbolizes legacy; just because he’s not here does not mean that he didn’t leave something in the world,” Richard said.
This celebration of Chadwick Boseman’s life signifies the College of Fine Arts’ start of the year.
As part of a cross-generational program, the College of Fine Arts held a reflection, followed by a discussion panel composed of Howard graduates on Aug. 27.
Nyla Nunu Oseibonsu, a freshman acting major from Orlando, Florida, was emotional as she listened to the group of four panelists pay tribute to Boseman’s life.
“I truly started tearing up because of how they were speaking about Chadwick Boseman and how his essence still lives in us,” Oseibonsu said.
Oseibonsu says that she intends to enter the industry “as soon as possible.” She added that she has anxieties about her career plan, but the panelists’ encouragement reframed her thinking.
Boseman was Oseibonsu’s primary inspiration. She described him as the figure who “lit the flame” and enabled her to try acting.
“His character of Black Panther truly awakened [me], because I’ve never seen a Black superhero before that has such a great impact on the community,” Oseibonsu said.
Zenobia Kelley, a senior photography major from Arkansas and the vice president of the College of Fine Arts Student Council, said the student-run West2South dance company was leading the workshop on Aug. 26.
Hosted in the reading room of the Armour J. Blackburn University Center, Kelley said her hope was for attendees to “let the stress out and just have fun.” In her view, this echoed the spirit of dance.
Jaedyn Givens, the treasurer of the council and a sophomore acting major from Los Angeles, added to Kelley’s perspective.
“I’m really hoping people walk away with a sense of community, belonging and togetherness,” Givens said.
The impact of Chadwick A. Boseman Day is felt far and wide, reflected in the hundreds of attendees across the celebration’s events, many of whom are students in the school that bears his name.
For Givens, the remembrance was about “honoring somebody who was deeply involved and pushing our stories forward, pushing our history forward, and pushing our legacy forward.”
Copy edited by Sydney Middleton