Homes Away from Home: Cultural Centers, Black Students’ Activism, and Belonging at the University of Illinois

Homes Away from Home: Cultural Centers, Black Students’ Activism, and Belonging at the University of Illinois

In 2024, we launched the exhibit Homes Away from Home to explore and honor the history of African American Cultural Centers on college campuses in America and, specifically, within the University of Illinois system. African American Cultural Centers arose in the late 1960s as a result of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements and in response to the growth of Black participation in higher education.

Today, it is estimated that there are over two hundred Black cultural centers at predominately white colleges and universities around the country. While centers vary in size, resources, and programming focus, they collectively honor the legacy of student activism from the 1960s and ‘70s by centering the experiences, histories, and cultures of the African Diaspora and by creating homes away from home for Black students.

The Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign was established in 1970, followed by the African American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois Chicago in 1990/1991, and the Diversity Center at the University of Illinois Springfield in 2008. Homes Away from Home highlights our unique stories and our shared mission to create intellectually engaging and culturally affirming spaces for Black students and for anyone interested in the diverse cultures of the Black Diaspora.

As this exciting exhibit illustrates, we are dedicated to making our spaces true homes away from home.

For more information, contact cmblair@uic.edu