NUBIANMESSAGE NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY | RALEIGH, NC | THENUBIANMESSAGE.COM | THURSDAY, April 18, 2019
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Letter from the editor Hi everyone, My name is Yesenia Jones and it is my pleasure to be your next Editor-In-Chief for the 2019-2020 school year. I am proud to take on the responsibility of honoring the vision of our ancestors while continuing to document the excellence of the current black student body on campus. This issue is filled with excellence from the festivities of the annual Pan-Afrikan Week: the Pan-Afrikan pageant featured some of NC State’s most talented students, innovative designers were featured in the Annual Fashion Exposé presented by the African American Textile Society, and in the National Pan-Hellenic Council’s stroll off all of the Divine 9 brought their best to the stage.
THISISSUE 4
PAN-AF WEEK
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Q&A WITH DESIGNERS OF COLOR
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REPARATIONS
BSB hosted events to celebrate Pan-Afrikan Week. A Behind-the-Scenes Look at 2019 AATS Fashion Exposé. Candidates should not be cancelled because of reparations
cover photo BY Swathi Karthik /Nubian Message Members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority perform at the Pan-Afrikan Stroll-Off, hosted by the National Pan-Hellenic Council, on Saturday, April 13 at Talley Student Union.
I hope that you enjoy our final issue of the year and that you will continue to support our paper for many years to come. We have a few very exciting projects planned for the fall of 2019 so be on the lookout and be sure to follow all of our socials @NubianMessage.
The Sentinel of the African-American Community at N.C. State Since 1992.
In the meantime, I hope that you finish this semester strong and push through all of your finals.
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Yesenia Jones
Yesenia Jones
Editor-in-Chief
nubian-editor@ncsu.edu Kevin Moye
Managing editor
nubian-managingeditor@ncsu.edu Elikem Dodor Ugonna Ezuma-Igwe Layout designers
Mersina Boynton
general manager
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Only with the permission of our elders do we proudly produce each edition of Nubian Message: Dr. Yosef ben-Yochannan, Dr. John Henrik Clark, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, The Black Panther Party, Mumia A. Jamal, Geronimo Pratt, Tony Williamson, Dr. Lawrence Clark, Dr. Augustus McIver Witherspoon, Dr. Wandra P. Hill, Mr. Kyran Anderson, Dr. Lathan Turner, Dr. M. Iyailu Moses, Dokta Toni Thorpe and all those who accompany us as we are still on the journey to true consciousness.
news
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Royalty Crowned at 2019 Pan-Afrikan Pageant Yesenia Jones Editor-In-Chief As a part of Pan-Afrikan Week’s festivities, the University Activities Board’s Black Students Board hosted their annual Pan-Afrikan Pageant on Wednesday, April 10. The pageant crowned Maayan Eaves, a second-year studying communication with a concentration in media, and Jordan Bullock a third-year studying animal science, as the Pan-Afrikan king and queen. The pair competed amongst a group of six contestants who represented various colleges and majors throughout campus. The student contestants also shared diversity in their future aspirations, talents and wellthought-out answers during the question portion of the pageant. The night was hosted by the 2017 pageant winners Will Comer and Jakini Kauba who encouraged audience participation and cheered on the contestants. The audience members were first introduced to the contestants during an opening dance that followed the 2019 Pan-Afrikan Week theme of highlighting black kings and queens. However, being a king or queen in the pageant took hard-work, according to Eaves. “It took a lot more than I thought it would,” she said. “I kind of just did this because there was a talent portion and I like Emma Dimig/Nubian Message Maayan Eaves, a second-year student studying communication and arts studies, talks with Jordan Bullock, a third-year student studying to sing.” animal science, after the 2019 Annual Pan-Afrikan Pageant. Eaves was crowned queen and Bullock was crowned king of the pageant. The For her talent portion, the sophomore Pan-Afrikan Week event took place on Wednesday, April 10 in Talley Ballroom. and the first contestant created her own background music with an electric guitar high praises for her contemporary dance ing sociology, the goal of Pan-Afrikan Week begins almost a year in advance. and sang a cover of Beyoncé’s ‘1+1’. Many performance to the ‘Wifeable (Demo 3)’ is to give students a space to showcase their “Knowing that I had a hand in doing this audience members seemed to thoroughly by Masego. Contestant number three, attributes and be recognized as kings and since last semester when we started planenjoy the performance, as some even gave a Kaleb Lee, wowed the crowd with a cover queens. ning, all the way through to this week, it standing ovation. of ‘White’ by Odd Future. Contestant four, “This pageant has been going on almost means a lot to me,” she said. “Because I saw Bullock, who participated as contestant Naquana Sessoms performed an empoweras long as Pan-Af has been going on,” every bit and piece of it and now it’s come number six, took a different approach to his ing poem about the sexualization of Black Carter said. “Next year will be the 50th to life.” talent portion and performed an original female bodies. And contestant five, Vanisea year, so that’s exciting. We put this on to From choosing the contestants to seeing piece of poetry. The piece described his exMiles paid tribute to South-African culture give students a platform to really showcase the winners be crowned, Carter, as well as periences as a black male on the campus of by performing a combination of gumboot themselves. We don’t get a lot of chances attendees, were proud to be a part of the NC State and in America. His performance dance and stepping. for pageants like this a lot of times. They’re night. And the contestants were happy to be also gained him points in the pageant as Calhoun and Lee were later named Mr. usually through fraternity and sorority life. rewarded for their hard work. many audience members snapped in apand Miss Congeniality for their teamwork So this is kind of an embodiment of Pan-Af“Winning just means that I did what I had proval during some of his relatable verses. and dedication throughout the pageant. rikan Week and it gets a lot of people out.” to do in order to be successful,” Eaves said. Other contestants exhibited their talent According to the Black Students Board According to Carter, the planning that through multiple forms of art. Contestant Chair, Christian Carter, a third-year studygoes behind events such as the pageant number two, Danyale Calhoun, received
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features
Pan-Afrikan week:
SARAH COCHRAN & Emma Dimig/Nubian Message Left:The DanceVisions Company 42nd Annual Spring Concertin Kennedy-Mcllwee Studio Theatre on Friday, April 12. Maayan Eaves, a sophomore studying communication and arts studies, sings with the Uninhibited Praise Gosepl Choir. Center: The 2019 Annual Pan-Afrikan Pageant on Wednesday, April 10 in Talley Ballroom was an event during Pan-Afrikan Week, featuring six contestents competing to be king and queen. Jordan Bullock, a third-year studying animal science, performs a spoken word poem about culture. Right: CEO of Black upStart Kezia M. Williams speaks to an audience as part of Pan African Week’s Dinner with a Purpose on Tuesday, April 10, 2019 in Talley Student Union. Williams founded Black upStart, a group that looks to train aspiring African-American entrepreneurs across the United States.
Marissa Mchugh /Nubian Message
Bottom: The DanceVisions team dance in unity at The DanceVisions Company 42nd Annual Spring Concertin Kennedy-Mcllwee Studio Theatre on Friday, April 12.
features
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Swathi Karthik & Marissa Mchugh /Nubian
Message The Pan-Afrikan Stroll-Off, hosted by the National Pan-Hellenic Council, on Saturday, April 13 at Talley Student Union. Clockwise from top left: Members of The Mu Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. performed; The Kappa Omega Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. perform; Members of the Kappa Lambda chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; Members of the Mu Xi Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta.
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features
Q&A with Designers of Color: A Behind-theScenes Look at 2019 AATS Fashion Exposé The 22nd Annual Fashion Exposé was presented by the African-American Textile Society (AATS) on Thursday, Apr. 11 in Talley Student Union. Designers were curated from all over campus to showcase their original fashion lines. The Nubian Message sat down with three designers of color to discuss their experiences with fashion: Angel Parpard-Jacke, a fourth-year studying political science, Amber Winstead, a second-year studying fashion and textile design, and Deja Herelle, a first-year studying fashion and textile design. NM: How did you initially become interested in fashion? Herelle: I was always interested in fashion when I was a little girl. I took a sewing class in middle school... and then I kind of fell off because I was trying to explore other majors. But I still found my way back to fashion. Winstead: My aunt sewed, and one of my cousins was really interested in fashion. I spent a lot of time around her. I think that’s what got me really interested in sewing and making my own clothes. Parpard-Jacke: I started sewing around September or October, and it really took off. I would post some of my beginner things, and my friends were like, “Oh my god, make more stuff.” So then I’d go to thrift stores and buy things and make them into new things. I started off doing that, and I was getting a lot of motivation. NM: What is your line and what inspires it? Herelle: It’s titled “Untitled.” Actually, one of the three part projects we’re doing now in my studio class, we were assigned artists at the North Carolina Art Museum downtown. I got assigned an African-American muralist named John T. Biggers and I fell in love with a painting... he did titled, “Untitled.” So I used that for my collection as well. Winstead: “Bless the Night” is basically about a human fear of darkness. I had been talking about doing something like this for a while because I like talking about controversial topics--mostly colorism... I wanted to go off that idea.
Kennysha Woods Managing Editor
Contributed by Angel Parpard-Jacke & Christina Pak Murashov Angel Parpard-Jacke, a fourth-year studying political science, poses surrounded by models wearing ensembles of her line, “Athlead.” Christiana Pak Murashov, a fourth-year studying business administration, created the photo shoot to help display Parpard-Jacke’s work. Parpard-Jacke: The name is “Athlead”. It’s athletic-inspired clothing. I was saying “athlete,” and sometimes I have a little bit of a lisp because of my gap, so it came out as “athlead,” and I said, “Oh, this works!” Then when you think about it, athletes are like leaders in our communities. We all look up to them. NM: What kind of work went into putting it all together? How did your idea translate or develop into reality? Herelle: From when I first taught myself, and I still use this method now, taking clothes that I have, putting it on fabric, tracing my clothing and doing it from there. I’ll draw out things and it doesn’t always turn out that way, but everything still came out decent from my drawings. I’m working off basic patterns still and taking clothes I already own and transforming them… Winstead: Picking the fabrics like
the leather was a big part of it... Trying to make sure everything fit so that while it was something out there and you’ve never seen it before, it was still appealing to the eye. The nature of the leather I used was interesting to work with and I had to make some sacrifices with that. Parpard-Jacke: I knew I didn’t have a lot to spend on mine. I just went to Reconsidered Goods, which is like a thrift store but for arts and crafts. So I went there and purchased [any fabrics I liked]. I was trying to think like, “How can I get 5 outfits out of this?” That’s where a lot of creativity came from. If I messed up, I couldn’t just go out and buy more since it’s all from a thrift store. NM: Is there a certain message you try to communicate with your line? When people see it, what do you want them to think or feel? Herelle: Self-expression. I’ve always
been kind of business-like, but at the same time, I like a touch flashy things... When people first meet me, they think, “Oh, she’s definitely an introvert.” So I always want something flashy because that reflects my personality. Winstead: I feel like so many times, we see or communicate darkness as ugly or connected to negative things like death. I wanted it to be overwhelming and just beautiful in how nice it was and how feminine it was. So many times in our culture, we associate darkness with awful things, that we then translate that onto people. Parpard-Jacke: I was also really focused on creating things that the average person could wear. When I was working with my models, I wanted to make sure they felt like, “Wow, I like this. I can rock this.” That translated when they were walking.
opinion
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Reparations should not be our Litmus Test One of the most surprising features of this election cycle thus far has been the unexpected amount of interest in the reparation platform for candidates running in the Democratic primary. Popularized by many members of the kevin moye Managing Editor black media like Ta-Nehisi Coates and “The Breakfast Club”, reparations have become a hot-button issue that just about every candidate in the race has opined on. While I do wish that more politicians would get behind the idea of reparations as a means to remedy the damage caused by 200 years of chattel slavery, I do not think that reparations should be the hill that progressives die on. Two of the most progressive candidates in the race, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have both displayed some reluctance in endorsing outright financial reparations. Progressives are right to question
the candidates for their lack of support for the program, but dropping them all together is a naive position. These two have been the most vocal about creating policies that would redistribute wealth to the middle and lower classes of our country, while others in the race, who have been much more open to reparations, have actively damaged the black community through programs like criminalized truancy and mass incarceration laws. Before we can expect presidential candidates to run a campaign on reparations, we must first engage in a larger policy discussion about the true logistics of the program. Reparations are mostly thought of as a form of repayment to black Americans whose families were victims of the U.S. crime of slavery. This definition of reparations would only seek to repay those with direct lineages to American slaves. Black Caribbean-Americans, Afro-Hispanics and Africans residing in the United States would all be left out of an American reparations policy. Even though they are
likely the descendants of slaves or families impacted by slavery, they would only be entitled to reparations from the countries that oppressed their people. If progressives are to reclaim the presidency in 2020, we must build a powerful coalition of voters that will storm the polls. Reparations would certainly do well to energize those of us that would benefit from the policy; however, such a program could potentially isolate many prospective members of a progressive coalition. In addition to the black Americans who would be left out, all other minorities who have historically been strong allies of Democrats may feel inclined to stray away from candidates that endorse reparations. Before pushing for reparations, we must advocate for policies that would uplift all black Americans regardless of their family’s national origins. Because there is such a high correlation between race and wealth in this country due to systemic oppression, such policies would include massive wealth distribution that disproportionately benefits
all members of the black community and other targeted minority groups. We should also be focusing our attention on ensuring that candidates have plans ready to reverse the damage the Trump administration has done to affirmative action so many more black intellectuals, like ourselves, can continue to flourish in the world of academia. Maintaining affirmative action will continue to uplift the descendants of slaves while also being a policy that a broader coalition of voters can still get behind. The idea of having a president that supports reparations is certainly one that we should pursue, but some degree of pragmatism must be involved in how we judge candidates based on their position. Reparations should not be the end-all and be-all of progressive politics. Before canceling a candidate or politician for the hesitancy in supporting reparations, we must really take a holistic look at their overall agenda to help bring both economic and social justice to black America.
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