The Black Renaissance Movement is a student group striving to become a stand-out organization at Iowa State.

Nathan Taylor, one of the founders of the 70-member organization, said the purpose of The Black Renaissance Movement can be described in one word.

“Unity — we bring people together on one common thing,” he said.

That “common thing” focuses on group members’ artistic activities, whether they be in literature, music or performing arts.

Taylor, junior in graphic design, said he started the group in the spring of 1998 with fellow ISU students Jumoke Hodari, Daron Richardson and Rufus Lacey.

Taylor said the founding members felt the black community at ISU needed a forum where they could express themselves artistically and come together as a community.

Kamilla Collier-Mullin, board member of The Black Renaissance Movement, said that sense of community is an integral part of the group.

“[It’s] a lot of black people coming together in a more casual and loving environment,” said Collier-Mullin, freshman in psychology. “We support one another; it’s one of the greatest support systems on campus.”

Chandace Richardson, member of The Black Renaissance Movement, also said the group plays an important role for members of the African-American community.

“Being on a predominantly white campus, people tend to stick together, but there are a lot of separations in the black community,” said Chandace Richardson, sophomore in chemical engineering. “This gives everyone a chance to come together.”

Chandace Richardson said the group is a great educational tool.

“There’s a lot of blacks that really don’t know much about our culture,” she said.

Taylor said besides functioning as a community forum for African Americans, The Black Renaissance Movement also is a positive activist group.

“We realize the situation in the world,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that need to be done for change, [and] we can say what we want to say through our art.”

Some of the ways the organization’s members already are expressing themselves are through Uhuru magazine, which group members write and publish once a semester, The Black Renaissance Dance Company and other activities, such as the Kwanzaa celebration the organization coordinated last semester.

Chandace Richardson, one of the founding members of the dance company, said their activities will involve the 50 dance company members in different forms of dance from ballet to jazz. She said the dance company members also hope to put something together for the Harambi Week celebration in April.

Collier-Mullin said other plans include Open Mic Nights where students can express themselves vocally through reading, poetry or singing, and Free Your Mind sessions, which will be a forum for people to discuss ideas and issues. She also said the group has tentative plans for a celebration during Black History Month and activities for Harambi Week.

Taylor said all of these activities are organized by The Black Renaissance Movement’s Board of Directors in hopes of fulfilling the group’s manifesto, “The upliftment and education of African-American culture through art.”

Students interested in becoming involved in the organization can stop by the group’s offices in the East Student Office Space of the Memorial Union.