Black History Month market closes the grand curtain with celebrations

By Felicity Guajardo

Blog Content Contributor

As Black History Month celebrations reach the end of February, Student Engagement and Involvement have planned a market for black-owned businesses and vendors to connect with the community and culture of Texas State.

The market is scheduled to take place on Thursday, Feb. 29 from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. in the LBJ Mall.

The market is pictured to be an event where all students can come and support Black excellence and engage with student organizations that will also be attending the market. Black Student Alliance, Golden Elites and Black Women United are just a few of the organizations that will be at the market to network and help guide students to find their interests.

Evan Bookman, coordinator for community engagement at Student Involvement and Engagement, gives a sneak peek about what will be available for students to take part in.

“This is a light come and go event that will feature several black-owned businesses and other community, students, faculty and staff groups. I think the event is going to provide the opportunity for attendees to hopefully be able to buy things from different vendors, get to connect, and engage with different student organizations,” Bookman said. “This can create an environment of community joy in that sense of belonging.”

Some of the vendors that will be featured at the market will include Sincerely, A.B.W (haircare), Black Fruit (artwork), Caribreiso (seasoning/spices) and much more.

Like the market day Texas State usually hosts monthly on The Quad, the Black History Month market will be a special celebration closing off Black History Month with a bang.

Texas State hosted various events for Black History Month including a soul food dinner hosted by Student Engagement and Involvement, the 2nd annual Young, Gifted and Black showcase hosted by the Department of Theatre and Dance and more.

Another event leading up to the market is The Importance of Black Storytelling hosted by the College of Education. Attendees can choose to read material written by Black authors silently, aloud, or within small groups. This event will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 27  at 4 p.m.- to 6 p.m. in the LBJ Ballroom. Extra reading materials will also be provided.

With Black History Month ending, it is important to keep in mind that Black success and excellence is always happening and should be celebrated year-round.

 “With less than a week left in Black History Month, I think the events and activities throughout the month really provided the conditions for students to you know get engaged and involved finding their community outside of the classroom and hopefully they will be more enthusiastic  and intentional about doing the same thing throughout the semester for other events and again next year for Black History Month,” Bookman said.

The webpage for Texas State’s Black History Month events can be found at

studentinvolvement.txst.edu