More than three decades after the first Black Power Rally at MSU, members of the black community are still asking, "Are We Free?"

That question is the theme of this year's rally, which begins at 7 p.m. today in the MSU Auditorium. Black Student Alliance is hosting the event.

"It's really important, specifically for black students, to realize things are still going on that went on when the rallies first started," said Curtis Williams Jr., black caucus director of north and east complexes.

The rally started in the 1960s as a celebratory consciousness-raising event, said Tammye Coles, the African-American student affairs coordinator in the Office of Racial Ethnic Student Affairs.

This year, the rally features the Black Poets Society, dance troupes Spartan Soul and Urban Dreams and keynote speaker Malik Shabazz, a minister with the Black Panther Party.

Several other speakers and Detroit-based musical group Black Bottom Collective also will make appearances.

The rally moved back into the Auditorium this year after being held at the rock on Farm Lane last year because of unreliable Michigan weather.

A resource fair will begin at 6 p.m. and run until the rally begins.

"We're trying to be more of a resource this year to point students in different directions to get help," Williams said.

But Programming Director Geneva Thomas said the event isn't just for members of the black community.

"I would really love to see a diverse crowd, because people look at the word 'black' and think that it's separatist, but it's just a celebration of our culture," she said.