NIU’s oldest and most enduring non-Greek black student organization is the Northern Black Choir (NBC). Formed in 1968 by a student named Kenneth Moore Lenon and some of his friends, NBC provided a much-needed outlet for black students in difficult times.
Then as now, music was a unifying tradition. Yet the established NIU choral groups were not performing Afro-centric music, and some black students did not feel welcome.
Lenon was a music student. He convinced the School of Music to allow the fledgling group he started to rehearse once week in room 173. And from an initial 12 – 15 members, the group grew over its first several decades to upwards of 150 singers in the early 2000s.
“The choir for a lot of people was the only thing they had,” says long-time member Christopher Mitchell. “It was a church, a hospital, a home away from home. We ate together, lived together, we were family together.”
“I entered NIU in 1972 and became a member of the Black Choir,” says NBC alumnae Deborah Threlkeld. “It was like that ‘Great Gettin’ Up Morning,’ a time in one’s life that you just don’t want to miss. NBC was just that important.”
“The NIU Black Choir was a spiritual safe haven for me as I coped with being away from home,” says alumnae Karen Dunson. “If you walked into rehearsal with a heavy heart, it was sure to be lifted by the time rehearsal was over. The choir helped shape my life and kept me focused while in school.”
During its early years, NBC performed a variety of styles, from spirituals to show tunes. But over time, gospel became the group’s signature style.
Directed by student volunteers, NBC receives some modest funding from the Student Government Association to defray costs for transportation, sound equipment rental and so forth. The choir has been invited to perform across the country, and its members regularly participate in music clinics at other Illinois public universities. Many churches throughout the region bring in the Northern Black Choir for special services, and NBC typically performs at least one concert per semester on campus. They are also featured at NIU special events throughout the year.
And more than a half a century since it started, the Northern Black Choir is still rehearsing every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in room 173 of the Music Building. No audition necessary.
Here is a contingent from today’s Black Choir performing at the January 2020 Kick-Off Celebration of NIU’s 125th Anniversary:
