Daily Staff Writer

Editor’s note: In honor of Black History Month, the Daily is running a five-part series on influential and prominent African-Americans in the ISU community. Today’s story profiles artist Daron Richardson, junior in art and design.

Daron Richardson is a “born artist.”

“That’s my first love,” he said. “I’ve been drawing since I was, like, 2 years old.”

Richardson, junior in art and design, was one of the original four founders of the Black Renaissance Movement two years ago, which was formed “as a platform for artists on campus of African descent.”

“Our main goal is just to be a vehicle for black students and, more specifically, black artists on campus,” he said.

He said the movement showcases three categories of art: written, visual and the performing arts.

“It’s an organization on campus to bring out different arts as far as African-Americans on campus and to speak about important issues affecting the black community,” said Nathan Taylor, co-founder of the movement.

Richardson said the movement was formed out of necessity. “We felt there wasn’t really a strong presence of expression because Iowa State is a technical university,” he said.

The group puts out a magazine called Uhuru, which addresses topics outside of Iowa State, such as a recent issue about slavery in Africa, he said. The magazine also includes an artistic section.

He said the Black Renaissance Movement discusses matters that are important to African Americans but are not limited to the black community.

“The goal is to stimulate the arts from that perspective, but we have a constant intermingling of cultures,” he said. “It’s about a lot of different people together.”

Richardson said the group also does a big celebration for Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday lasting from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. The Black Renaissance Movement performs seven different acts, each containing different elements such as singing, acting or poetry.

“We try to vary it from performance to performance,” he said.

Kwanzaa gives the group a chance at “touching a community and something alien to Iowa State and making it familiar to ISU and the community,” Richardson said.

Richardson is also one of the moderators of the “Free Your Mind” open forum, which is similar to a debate. The last several forums, which are held at the Black Cultural Center and explore controversial topics, dealt with spirituality vs. religion as well as love and relationships.

He is proud of “the things we’ve accomplished and the people that we’ve educated and inspired.”

“The Black Renaissance Movement is the main passion I’ve been involved in as far as Iowa State is concerned,” he said.

Richardson said he has faced the challenges that most students must deal with at Iowa State, although it has been a different experience because the university is predominantly white.

“I can’t say that I’ve felt the odds are heinously against me,” he said. “There are a lot of agents for your success here if you choose to use them.”

He said it all depends on someone’s willingness to succeed. “Most people’s biggest obstacle is themselves,” he said.

Richardson said the most inspiring person in his life has been his mother, who is a single parent.

“It’s been me and her from age 3,” he said.

He said his mother is a little less than 20 years older than him. “The beautiful thing about our relationship is that we’ve grown together,” he said.

Richardson described his mother as a strong person. “She’s sacrificed a lot just for me to succeed,” he said.

Richardson said his most memorable moment was going to church when he was 9 years old. However, he said he has strayed a little from religion and more toward spirituality.

Taylor agreed about the importance of spirituality in Richardson’s life. “He’s a very spiritual person,” said Taylor, senior in graphic design.

He said Richardson could also be described as honest, talented and reliable. “He can achieve many things,” Taylor said. “He’s always been a faithful and giving friend to me.”

Richardson said in the future, he would like to start a clothing line with Taylor. He would like it to provide both entertainment and information to the public.

“We’re taking the Black Renaissance concept worldwide,” he said. “The clothing line is basically my passion. Other than that, I just want to create art.”

Richardson would love to stay involved with all kinds of art: music, poetry, hip-hop and dance. “If it’s a way to express some kind of emotion, make anything abstract manifest, that’s what I want to do.”

Richardson said he would like to share one piece of advice. “Live life for you,” he said. “Don’t be validated by other people’s theories and other people’s laws and other people’s perceptions.”