Mapping Our Black World program celebrates Black culture amid DEI crackdown

Since joining the University of Maryland in 2022, Professor Robert Graham has noticed a sense of disconnect and misunderstanding among Black students in his classes.

“I’d heard a rumor of there being a community for students, but maybe it wasn’t enough for me,” Graham said. “So, I took note of that.”

Determined to address this issue, Graham and other University Honors representatives set out to create Mapping Our Black World, a project dedicated to profiling and celebrating Black culture.

On Friday, the program hosted its first event, including a Black History Month Symposium, featuring presentations surrounding the theme Black History: Bridging Time & Space. The event comes amid ongoing rollbacks of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. 

For sophomore Mackenzie Clopton, the event served as a platform to share Black stories and experiences regardless of the DEI crackdown. 

“It’s important for us to still be able to have projects like Mapping our Black World where we can share our voices, opinions and stories, and just let everybody know that we’re here,” she said. “Regardless if we’re being silenced or they try to do stuff to filter and sugarcoat us out of the media.”

The community project comes a little over a month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order dismantling DEI programs in all aspects of the federal government deeming it to be “shameful discrimination.”

Clopton served as a student representative for Mapping Our Black World and conducted research with a group of other students on the connections between music and enslaved Africans. 

Her group’s findings were presented by her teammate, Mosiah Maddox, during the Black History Month Symposium in a presentation titled “The Soul of American Music”.

Following the symposium, the event had an Africana Market, inspired by the atmosphere of Caribbean and African street markets and featuring a variety of Black-owned businesses, from a crochet shop to a hair braiding business. 

Jordan Partlow, a mechanical engineering and human development student and vendor at the market, started her hair business after years of practicing on her sisters’ hair and doing her own. Partlow continues to broaden her hair portfolio, ranging from unique cornrow designs to knotless braids. 

Partlow appreciates the opportunity to be part of the Africana Market because she believes Black people deserve to have a space to showcase their businesses and uplift one another.

Aubrey Rosf, another vendor at the market and a public health science major, began her specialty crochet business, Whimsbre, in January 2024 and has since created a well-decorated catalog for customers to order from. 

Last month, she took marketing to the streets and hung signs around the campus to advertise her black-owned business. As a participant in the Africana Market, Rosf felt a sense of community. 

“I feel like it was [a community] because even amongst ourselves, we were looking at each other’s tables and what we have to offer,” she said. “It was also a good chance to show other people from school who are walking to class.” 

With the future uncertain for DEI programs, Graham makes it clear that Mapping Our Black World will be a continuous effort and that supportive communities for students won’t go anywhere. 

“It doesn’t have to be official to lift up people, lift up a group, lift up a community,” he said. “I think that’s what the times call for. If you see a need, just get in there.”