Anyone traversing Bridge Street, Downtown Oswego at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 was met with the single, unified sound of the seventh annual African, Latino, Asian and Native American Peace Walk. This was appropriate, since “unity” was the theme of the day and ALANA Week as a whole.

The goal was not just to forge relationships within the organizers of the event, the Black Student Union and the Latino Student Union, said Elaine Flowers, the former president of BSU. The broader goal was to increase the bond between the organizations, ALANA and the entire campus community. “We [make] it known that we’re very inclusive,” said Flowers, now a graduate student at Oswego State.

“Even though we’re called the Black Student Union, we’re not just only for black people.” In the two-plus years she has worked on the ALANA project, involvement has increased steadily, Flowers said. “The crowd keeps growing. The support keeps growing,” Flowers said. “Everything is more organized. The little things just keep increasing.” Magdalena Rivera, student involvement coordinator, said she felt the event’s inclusive atmosphere and increase in participants as well.

“I think the sense of unity has brought a lot of people together,” Rivera said. “Last year to this year, I think it’s growing. So therefore, that’s why the students [chose] ‘United we shine.’ They consider everybody together, not just one organization.” Though ALANA’s events run for one week each year, for those who plan ALANA Week, it occupies much more time. Planning for ALANA Week is an almost continuous effort, Rivera said. “There is a committee that meets throughout the year,” Rivera said.

“This year, when the conference is done, we take a two-week break and we start planning one whole year for the conference again.” Rivera has been the coordinator for ALANA Week since it began nine years ago and has helped coordinate all seven years of the peace walk. The planning, however, is done mostly by the students, she said. “The students vote on the themes, the keynotes that we’ll be bringing, the comedian and the alumni that will be coming back,” Rivera said. “So really the students have a heavy voice; it’s their voice.” The peace walk was no exception.

The chants for the walk change every year, and they pull inspiration from the overarching theme of the week, Flowers said. “We usually have a motto at the end of every program, so we break that up and that’s a part of a chant,” Flowers said. “We also look up popular chants, of course.”

Among the chants for Sunday were “U-N-I-T-Y stands for unity, U-N-I-T-Y” and “Who are we? We are family,” both of which reference the week’s overall theme. Although ALANA Week and the peace walk have both grown since they were created, LSU and BSU far exceed the history of the walk and the week’s other events.

“Those organizations, those are celebrating 50 years,” Rivera said. “LSU will be celebrating 50 years this November, and BSU will be celebrating 50 years next February. So that kind of says something, I think, about the unity and the students decade from decade wanting to continue to have this.”

Photo: Alexander Simone | The Oswegonian