THIS ROYAL PAIR STRIVES TO BE
THE ‘BIGGER’ VOICE FOR FELLOW RATTLERS BY [ Tanasia REED ]
On the field of Bragg Memorial Stadium, nothing could stop his school spirit: Not the sweltering Florida heat during football season, not the weight of the heavy snake head made of thick cardboard to hold its shape, and not the soreness of his throat as chants rang out cheering for his beloved FAMU. Underneath the suit of Venom, the FAMU Rattler mascot, KIMANI JACKSON always had a voice to lead his school to victory. Little did he know that his start as Venom, masked and hidden from the world, would lead him to the forefront for everyone to see as the voice of the school he calls home. Jackson is a self-described motivator, who hopes to encourage people around him to become the best versions of themselves. He said
he has always had the desire to be a leader; his past experiences have pushed him to do more for FAMU students and young Black men. In Spring 2020, he was voted in by his fellow Rattlers to become Mister FAMU, an esteemed and highly competitive position. “I decided to become Mister FAMU because there was something in myself to awaken,” Jackson said. “Being involved on campus allowed me to see all the things Mister FAMU did for the school and I knew I had a voice to be him.”
14 // FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY // A&M MAGAZINE
Jackson’s path to becoming the 21st Mister FAMU started long before the campaign season. He used his voice as Venom to be a symbol of school spirit and encouragement for students around him. Born in New York, Jackson founded and served as Howie the Mascot for Howard High School. Before entering college, he mentored under the New York Liberty and the Nuggets mascot Rocky. He gained experience in drawing a crowd and hyping school spirit, which he applied to his Mister FAMU campaign. Thoroughly invested and dedicated to his role, Jackson even wrote out a character analysis of who Venom was to him and to students on campus. “I am an actor,” Jackson said, “and Venom is a friend, a brother, a sister, an uncle and so much more to students. He is also noble and regal, and someone to look up to which are all the characteristics that Mister FAMU possesses.” Venom prepared him to take on the responsibility of Mister FAMU, said a friend, Shardai Sallye. “He’s been involved in a lot of organizations and held a lot of roles on campus,” said Sallye. “He cares so much about being an advocate for this FAMU family. I think that’s what makes him such a great Mister FAMU.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, students returned to a changed University: A novel kind of academic stress. Life and death worries and virus testing. No Set Fridays. No football season at Bragg Stadium. No Homecoming. They say during these times, they have needed Mister FAMU’s motivation more than ever. With spirits low, Jackson, along with Miss FAMU, ERIKA JOHNSON, devised a plan to uplift students, leading to the creation of “Bigger.” The royal students are both vocal performance scholars. They decided to use their melodic voices to relay a message that students could relate to. Their rendition of Beyonce’s Bigger reached tens of thousands of viewers on Instagram and was reposted by such popular pages as @hbcupulse and @hbcubuzz. The positive reception by viewers beyond FAMU’s campus surprised both Jackson and Johnson with how vast their influence has reached. “As a freshman coming in, I was really looking forward to experiencing all of college life and was disappointed when I couldn’t,” said Jada Haywood, a food science scholar. “But after listening to ‘Bigger,’ I realized that this difficult moment is only temporary; we have to continue to look for-
