{"id":149778,"date":"2026-02-10T05:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T05:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/149778\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T05:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T05:04:14","slug":"famu-bans-word-black-from-black-history-month-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/149778\/","title":{"rendered":"FAMU Bans Word ‘Black’ From Black History Month Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FAMU,Source: Jeff Greenberg \/ Getty<\/p>\n

Florida A&M University (FAMU) law student Aaliyah Steward is speaking out against what she describes as \u201ccensorship\u201d by the historically Black university as she and her organization attempts to promote and celebrate Black History Month.<\/p>\n

Aaliyah Steward said she was asked to omit the words \u201cBlack,\u201d \u201caffirmative action,\u201d and more from Black History Month promo materials.<\/p>\n

Steward, a final-year law student at the HBCU, said she encountered resistance while advertising events for the Black Law Students Association. In an interview with Click News 6, she claimed the university flagged commonly used terms<\/a> connected to the programming. According to Steward, words such as \u201cBlack,\u201d \u201caffirmative action,\u201d and even \u201cwomen\u201d were restricted in promotional materials.<\/p>\n

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She says the experience is especially troubling given FAMU\u2019s history and mission as an institution founded to advance Black education and inclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t use the word \u2018Black\u2019 in Black History Month. We would have to abbreviate it,\u201d she said. \u201cI was very angry and baffled because this is a Historically Black College and University, and for them to say we can\u2019t use the word \u2018Black\u2019 was kind of insane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what FAMU had to say.<\/p>\n

After Click News 6 brought the concerns to university officials, FAMU issued a statement addressing the matter. The university did not dispute Steward\u2019s claims and stressed it was also enforcing the rule to comply with state law.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida A&M University has consistently been in full compliance with Senate Bill 266 and Board of Governors\u2019 Regulation 9.016. We support and have implemented the policy direction established by the Governor, the Legislature, and the Board of Governors as it relates to DEI, and consistent with related federal court rulings,\u201d the university said. \u201cFlorida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) is committed to fostering a campus community that encourages the free exchange of ideas while ensuring an environment of mutual respect, safety, and awareness. The University recognizes that freedom of expression is fundamental to academic inquiry, personal development, and civic engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the explanation, Aaliyah Steward says the restrictions feel less like compliance and more like censorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t want us to be censored this way. Not being able to use the word \u2018Black\u2019 is very frustrating,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

How is FAMU allowed to ban the word \u201cBlack?\u201d<\/p>\n

The policies in question stem from Senate Bill 266, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in May 2023. The law prohibits<\/a> Florida\u2019s 12 public universities and 28 state colleges from using state or federal funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs or activities. In January 2024, the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees all of Florida\u2019s public universities, including FAMU, finalized the restrictions by adopting Regulation 9.016, formally banning taxpayer-funded programs that advocate for DEI or promote political or social activism.<\/p>\n

At the time, state lawmakers defended the measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity, equity and inclusion, like so many other terms adopted by the woke left, is being used as a club to silence things, to say that if you don\u2019t agree with them, you are somehow racist or homophobic or whatever other word that you want to use to criticize people,\u201d Rep. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, said <\/a>at the time according to NBC Miami. \u201cThe fact of the matter is these terms have been hijacked by those who want to use them to bully and use them to shut down debate, to actually do the opposite of what these words are supposed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Steward, the issue has overshadowed what should be a celebratory final year of law school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to promote the core mission statement diversity and inclusion for everybody, so it\u2019s very frustrating,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

RELATED CONTENT: Black Women Are Spearheading The Fight Against Book Bans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: Jeff Greenberg \/ Getty Florida A&M University (FAMU) law student Aaliyah Steward is speaking out against what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[72389,695,48241,7288,1814,15510,232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-149778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-banned","9":"tag-black","10":"tag-black-history-month","11":"tag-censorship","12":"tag-famu","13":"tag-newsletter","14":"tag-tallahassee","15":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","16":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}