Columbia Black History Month Committee Hosts Controversial Anti-LGBTQ Speaker
Dr. Umar Johnson, an activist and motivational speaker known for his opposition to homosexuality, spoke at the committee’s Winter Soulstice event on Saturday.
On Saturday, February 22, the Columbia and Barnard Black History Month (BHM) Committee hosted Dr. Umar Johnson as the keynote speaker at its Winter Soulstice event in Lerner Hall. Dr. Umar, an activist and motivational speaker, has drawn criticism for his fierce opposition to homosexuality in the black community.
Four days before the event on February 18, Dr. Umar appeared on the “Sy Ari Not Sorry Show” where he said “one of the reasons Barack Obama was made president is so he could normalize the LGBTQ agenda in the black community” and establish homosexuality as a “mainstream alternative to the traditional family.” Dr. Umar has openly disagreed with the LGBTQ “lifestyle” and believes that homosexuality is a “population control strategy” encouraged in schools to “stop the reproduction of black people in particular.” In 2016, Dr. Umar said on the YouTube channel VladTV that “the number one route to sexual confusion for black males is molestation, pedophilia, before the teenage years” and it takes only one encounter with a “strong member of the sexually confused community to bring someone who’s lonely, looking for a place to belong, to bring them on over.”
The Columbia and Barnard BHM Committee marketed the event as “a cross between an indoor carnival, a dinner party, and a showcase” for students to “mingle and celebrate the joyous aspects of Black Life @ CU.”
Dr. Umar focused on Pan-Africanism during his speech and underscored the importance of fostering a strong sense of community for black students at Columbia. He said students share a “responsibility to tear down the walls that divide and separate” black Americans from black Africans. “Get over your petty differences, get over your skin color issues,” he said. Audience members frequently cheered and clapped during Dr. Umar’s speech, according to a recording of his address obtained by Sundial.
The Columbia and Barnard BHM Committee posted on their Instagram story before the event that they “will absolutely not be tolerating ANY disrespectful or discriminatory comments, whether it be from the mouth of our guest speaker or by any students in the audience.”
Dr. Umar’s speech at the event did not directly address LGBTQ issues. However, several students told Sundial that they took issue with the committee’s decision to invite Dr. Umar as the keynote speaker because of his previous statements about LGBTQ people.
The Columbia and Barnard BHM Committee is made up of representatives from other student groups such as the African Students Association and the Black Students’ Organization. The committee did not publicly announce the speaker until two days before the event on February 20 in an Instagram post. Two students involved with black student life told Sundial that they had proposed alternative speakers to the committee like Cornel West or Marc Lamont Hill, but they were not selected.
The committee spent around $6,000 to host Dr. Umar at the Soulstice event, according to multiple students familiar with the funding process. A member of the Activities Board at Columbia, which funds the committee using student life fees, confirmed that the group received a total budget of $9,000 for the 2024-25 academic year. Several students who spoke to Sundial raised concerns about the BHM Committee’s transparency regarding their use of this years’ funding allocation.
A representative for Undergraduate Student Life wrote in a statement that the they “do not provide discrete approval or denial of potential speakers,” but such events must be approved by the Special Events Advisory Taskforce.
“While student groups have the right to invite speakers with a variety of viewpoints—even controversial ones—if they follow all the required procedures, advisers work with group leaders so they are cognizant of their event’s potential community impact and responsibility to make an informed decision regarding moving forward with any guest speaker,” the representative wrote.
Solomon Akaeze CC ’27 told Sundial he was shocked that a speaker who has accused the black queer community of being pedophiles and predators was paid to speak at an event intended to include the entire Columbia black community, and felt that providing Dr. Umar a platform was dangerous and irresponsible.
When Dr. Umar spoke at Soulstice about unifying the black community across the diaspora, Akaeze called out, “What about gay rights?” Umar continued to speak without engaging.
Laila Javery CC ’28 attended the event and said that she did not previously know about and does not align with Dr. Umar’s anti-LGBTQ sentiments. She stated that she would not fault the BHM Committee for hosting Dr. Umar “or hold them responsible for raising more awareness about that because as students, it is our responsibility to do research and be informed about who we are going to be listening to or being in the presence of at an event like this.”
Akaeze also approached Dr. Umar after his speech and asked if he stood by his past public statements about black gay people. Dr. Umar, visibly surprised, encouraged Akaeze to privately text him instead.
The Columbia and Barnard BHM Committee had previously published a post identifying all the involved groups and their representatives on their public Instagram page, but it was taken down shortly after the Winter Soulstice event. Sundial reached out to four committee members and Dr. Umar for comment, but they did not respond. The African Students Association and the Black Students’ Organization also did not respond to a request for comment.
Alexis Cartwright is the deputy managing editor for Sundial.
It’s also unfortunate that his adult daughter exposed him on TikTok for never being in her life.
It’s really unfortunate that Dr. Umar holds these views. Having said that, it sounds like the point of Pan-Africanism is to include all members of the diaspora, who will inevitably have differing religious and cultural beliefs. And I think it’s to Dr. Umar’s credit that he didn’t take the bait when asked about his views on homosexuality, instead focusing on unity.