Black Solidarity Day 2017

The Black Student Union Presents

BLACK JOY

The Vanguard The Vanguard is the official publication of the Black Student Union and it’s members. It serves as out literary voice through submissions of art, writing, and self-expression.

Get involved with the Black Student Union General Body Meetings 

Thursday, 6 p.m.



Location: Black student Union Lounge (UU006)

Interns 

Interested in interning for the Black student Union, send a letter of intent to Student Association Representative : 

Aminata Jaiteh, TheunionSArep@gmail.com

Submit to the Vanguard We are always looking for writers and artists! Contact the Black Student Union’s editor; 

Umu Jalloh, theunionpub@gmail.com

EXECUTIVE BOARD 2017-2018 Mone’t Schultz ………………………………………… President

Khalilah Suluki ………………………………………… Vice-President Jonah Liautuad …………………………………………. Treasurer Dior Lunsford-Barlow …………………………………. Historian Ian Farmer …………………………………………….. Political Correspondent Cyree Bowen …………………………………………. Educational Coordinator Umu Jalloh ……………………………………………. Publications Coordinator Nickyla Thomas ………………………………………. Public Relations Sasha Meus ……………………………………………. Secretary Aminata Jaiteh ……………………………………….. SA Representative Janiera Headley …………………………………….. Social Cultural Coordinator

Hair By: Kayla Phillip My joy is deeply rooted within the kinky coils growing from my scalp My hair holds more stories than I could ever say There is much to be said about my hair It is an inheritance from my ancestors In America and on the shores of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago It is the bond between my mother and I The nights I sat between her legs as she pulled my hair into huge plaits adorned with colorful bubbles and coordinating “I love Jesus” clips As well as the source of reprimand when I let others play with my hair My independence As I begged my mother to allow me to straighten it like other girls Slowly, it became my shame As the hairstylist brought out the white substance that forever changed my kinks Tried to relax the insecurities but my hair did not look as lustrous as the girls on the cover of my Seventeen magazines My superpower As my nonblack classmates marveled at it’s ever changing ness Shrunken to stretched Kinky to loose I found myself cutting off the shame self-discovery as I realized how beautiful my kinky coils were Source of resilience as it regrows healthier and stronger than ever Power in it’s natural state commanding the attention from those who don’t understand its beau Expressive as it illustrates my emotions An identity and reminder of how far I will go

UNBOTHERED

By Abimaelle Belizaire Black joy is revolutionary When black girl magic and black boy joy formulate and become one When both are apparent and present in the same room, I ask you honey, please cover your eyes, Our future is too bright, Move back, Your insecurities will not stop us.

Black joy is contagious So much so, everybody wants to be us when it’s the most convenient Call our cornrows ghetto, then fuck up and put it in the runway when it’s the most beneficial.

Black joy is immortal It is radiating happiness, always It is smiling and walking confidently despite being given all the reasons not to Black joy is: Finally achieving that perfect braidout, The durag under the hat, Swag surfing in the club, Black joy is: Every trending dance move Black panther coming out in three months, Proclaiming: “I’m rooting for anybody black” and not apologizing or it Black joy is: President Obama Colin Kaepernick Beyoncé Black joy is: Being alive right now at this very moment Black joy is achieving justice.

Black joy looks like me.

Looks like you.

Black joy is our dark melanin radiating with the color of the sun.

Being Too bright, too proud, too black and beautiful.

Woman’s Worth

By Anthony Pereira A woman’s worth is priceless She’s more than warm arms to spend those lonely nights with

When the world tries to break us She fights, using every tool imaginable to save us Through drought and famine, she’ll be down for it all Her love will remain constant, no matter how many kingdom’s may fall You’ll be in awe, as she slays while the world burns around her And she brightens your day with every encounter No weapon formed against her will prosper

She is a friend, ally, teacher, and doctor A woman’s worth is priceless, it is truly a grace We’re not deserving, so don’t let it go to waste.

Blackness is Gold

By Aminata Jaieh

This blackness is too pure for your fingertips,

these curves too smooth for your roughness.

These coils cannot be easily broken down by your violent words; so how dare you attempt to throw dirt on this uncut diamond?

Ration my body for the likes of your viewers?

Force my coils to bow down; remove my crown?

You forgot who made you, too soon.

Lost in me

By Aminata Jaiteh

My body is my temple, yet you yearn it.

My skin is your canvas and your lips are the brush, paint me My thighs can tell stories you may not be able to handle, read me

My juices can cause floods deeper than those given by mother nature drown in me.

I am asking you to yearn me.

I am demanding that you close your eyes to the rhythm of my body

and beg for more.

That Thing

BY YEWA (Esther Aloba) It’s been a long road for Afro-Americans Whites trapped in a history they don’t even understand Back in ‘55, we took seats to make stands Now we taking knees to shed light on the past God damn, how they think they really gon' pretend Our blood and sweat is in the soil of this land And they continue to try to silence our simple demands If we fought then, then we’re down to fight again Talking out their necks trying to speak from our lens, but that’s something they could never understand Don’t talk on the struggles faced by the black man Do they see this revolution already began?

Showing off they ass, Trump got it looking like a trend Come correct, Y’all not trynna catch these black hands You know I only say this ‘cause I’m truly genuine Oppression is ingrained in the law of this land And we know respect is just the minimum Few hundred years later and we still ain’t getting none But at the end of the day, this nation wasn’t made for us

Now, Yewa don’t got the solution But black solidarity is part of the revolution Let my words talk to your soul black empowerment is never old Despite what they think we still doing the damn thing Flexing in this black skin Turning misfortune into paths to excel in Come again (x2)