2006 - 2007

State of the BMF Address (January 2007)

Brothers-

I want to congratulate all the freshmen on the completion of their first Harvard semester, as well as officially welcome everyone to second semester. The purpose of the following is two-fold: 1) to review the first semester and 2) to give you an idea of what to expect in the months ahead. While the first semester was, I believe a good start to the year, I fully believe that this upcoming semester will be incredible.

The year began well and it was truly a pleasure to see so many of the freshmen take a genuine interest in the organization and all that it offers. It was especially exciting seeing the turnout in opening meetings as we addressed many of the larger issues that affect us as black men. These meetings were mixed well with meeting that addressed life at Harvard; everything from classes to a collaborative meeting with the sisters of ABHW about relations between guys and girls on campus. We began the year in a new way with the annual BMF Paintball Outing in October and followed with a number of classic events, namely the BMF Trip to Canada as well as the 2nd Annual BMF/ABHW Cocktail Party.

With that said, I will be the first to say that this semester was not without its setbacks. First and foremost, as mentioned previously, we as an organization have failed in our commitment to service. I will not linger on this subject, but will say that service is the crucial aspect that separates our organization from most. It is in our understanding of what we, collectively and individually, offer to the world around us that makes the BMF the prestigious and respected organization that it is. With that said, the minimum of 3.5 hours of community service over the course of the semester will be reaffirmed. Records will be kept, but I do not want you all to find this daunting; 3.5 hours—to give you all an idea of what that amount of time means—is the equivalent of participating two times in the David Walker Program. I will emphasize that this requirement is a minimum and truly hope that every individual who considers himself a member of the Black Men's Forum will be doing more than just this minimum.

Our second setback, I feel, has been with members of the freshmen class. Those of us in the upper classes have had the opportunity to get to know many of you, but I feel as if you all may not feel the type of bond and unity with the older guys as we all would hope. I will say, perhaps we got off on the wrong foot, and for any of you freshmen who felt a bit turned off over the course of the first semester, I truly encourage you to give us another chance. I know in my heart that you won't regret it.

With the first semester officially history, I want to give you all an idea of what the next several months will look like. Over the span of roughly three-and-a-half months we will be holding a number of the organization's premiere events, namely the 13th Annual Celebration of Black Women (CBW) in March, Volume VI of "Get Yo' Jollies" and our 2nd Annual BMF Alumni Weekend, to be held in April and May respectively. And I can promise you all one thing: the "BMF Senior Roast" that will be happening in early May will be an event you will not want to miss. Please believe it.

In addition to these now-staple-events of our organization, we will also be a part of some truly new and exciting events. In February we will be collaborating with the Harvard Foundation, the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (OSAPR) and the sisters of ABHW to present and discuss Byron Hurt's "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," a documentary that explores the effect that Hip Hop is having on society today, specifically black youth. In April we plan to partner with the Harvard AIDS Coalition (HAC) and the South Asian Men's Collective (SAMC) to throw an incredible AIDS awareness event that will conclude with a benefit party in which all of the proceeds are donated to an AIDS clinic, still to be named. Finally, we are planning on collaborating with the black men of the Harvard graduate schools for a true "Black Men's Forum" in which we are able to discuss some of the issues that we share as Black Harvard Men. Truly there are some exciting events down the road.

In addition to these events, there will be other additions to the second semester calendar. The reaffirmation of our service commitment has already been addressed, but we will be offering many opportunities for service over the next several weeks. As Oduche mentioned, the David Walker Program will be up and running by the middle of February and in addition, we will be launching several new opportunities that will give you a choice of the area in which you would like to do service.

We will be bringing back some of the true BMF Classics, including MAC Takeovers as well as the BMF/ABHW Challenge (featuring a Spades tournament perhaps..). Joining these classic events, we will be launching a few BMF Gaming sessions, for all of you who claim to be destructive in Halo, Madden, or Diddy Kong Racing.

Truly I could go on and tell you about all the other great things coming down the road: the release of a brand new "REMIX" in mid-February, the launching of a new (and quite improved) BMF Website or the creation of a feasible and well-structured model that will help our organization acquire an endowment over the course of the next 18 months.

However, I don't want to spoil all of the surprise…

Before closing, I want to mention two final points.

This organization has so much exciting work over the next 3.5 months, but it cannot be done on the shoulders of only a few. I encourage you all to get involved, whether that means helping out with the planning of existing events or proposing events of your own for the organization to help you undertake. As I mentioned in our very first meeting, this organization has a board which manages day-to-day and larger events, but ultimately it is about you. The organization is you. If anyone is looking for ways to get involved, please let me know because I will give you several possible options; to start, the CBW Planning Committee is at the final stretch and there is a lot of important and exciting work to be done over the course of the next seven weeks.

My final point is simply the following: we, the BMF board will be making a commitment to having more events where you don't have to pay. Period. Obviously, we can't make every event free, as nice as that would be; after all, we are an organization, not a business and thus our budget will not always cover every event we want to throw. But I can promise you a better and stronger commitment to making the events ones in which money is not coming out of your pocket, because that's not what coming to BMF events should be about.

I have said a lot, and I hope I have not taken up too much of your time, but I want to thank all of you who have been committed to this organization over the past semester. I truly look forward to sharing with you all what promises to be a fun, exciting and historic next three months.

Seven,
Chas Hamilton
President '06-'07