Fisk University is celebrating the 135th anniversary of the Jubilee Singers. Nine students originally formed the touring group on this day in 1871 to raise money for the cash-strapped institution.
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Hundreds of students and alumni packed into Fisk Memorial Chapel this morning to hear a performance from the now-18-member singing group.
Author and civil rights activist Nikki Giovanni, who is also a Fisk alum, spoke as part of the Jubilee Day festivities. Giovanni has taken a recent interest in space exploration and asked today that African-Americans lead the charge to Mars.
Fisk currently produces the most African-American students who go on to earn P-H-D’s in the natural sciences. Giovanni calls on them to remember their slave ancestors who spent months on ships, sailing to unknown destinations. For that reason, she says African-Americans are uniquely suited for a mission to Mars.
“I’m a big fan of space. Obviously the most important thing that’s going to happen in this century is that we’re going into space. We are already there, but we’re going to Mars. We’re going forward. In order for us to go forward, for this planet to go forward, they’re going to have to call black people. They’re going to have to call black people.”
Because of its current financial situation, Fisk is in the middle of legal proceedings after considering the sale of several paintings donated to the school by Georgia O’Keefe. The university says it would use the 20-million dollars in revenue to fund building projects and boost the school’s endowment.
Giovanni said following her address that she is in favor of selling the high-dollar works if it means Fisk can become more financially stable.
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