Y2K FEST

An Ode to the 2000's: Bsbs y2k fest

Juicy Couture, Baby Phat, low-rise jeans, platform sandals, oversized jerseys, rhinestone baby tees, bedazzled sunglasses and chunky necklaces. These were just a few of the iconic clothing pieces shown off at the Black Student Boards “Y2K Fest” located in Talley Ballroom on Thursday, Sept. 15.

The early 2000’s was an iconic time period within American history and pop culture. Icons include: Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, The Kardashians, Sarah Jessica Parker, Avril Lavinge, Pharell, Usher, TIP, Nelly, Destiny’s Child and countless others. They were at the forefront of media and fashion and were key components in the trends we adore today.

According to Popsugar, brands like Sean Jean, Miss Me, Ed Hardy, Von Dutch, Kangol, among countless others, were heavily styled during this time. This created a time period where styling taste was at an all time high, creating a distinctive decade for fashion.

Many brands now are heavily influenced by the 2000’s culture, media and fashion. Creating some of our favorite clothing pieces that currently reside in our closet now.

The early 2000’s were truly a pivotal point in pop-culture history. So, there is no surprise why the Black Student Board chose to host a 2000’s themed celebratory throwback Thursday.

At the beginning of the event in Talley Ballroom, DJ Double-A played `` Like You by Bow Wow” featuring Ciara. There were fluorescent purple LED lights, a minibar in the back of the ballroom with Sour Watermelon and other tasteful Mocktails. Photo booths were stationed at opposite ends of the ballroom with enchanting backdrops.

As more people started to enter, people began to truly embrace the ambiance. The lines for the mocktails began to fill. Tables around the room also began to be filled with students in their 2000’s inspired outfits, where they were able to decorate CDs and socialize.

When 7 pm rolled around, the event MC’s and both members of the Black Student Board introduced themselves and the DJ. They then gave the run down of the activities that the event would be composed of.

One event was trivia, where two people from the audience would come up, stand on opposite ends of a table with a buzzer in the middle (real Family Feud-esque) and be asked questions on important news events that happened between 2000 and 2009. The trivia allowed for the audience to be engaged. Noticeably so when Kody Willingham, second-year Biology major, one of the Black Student Board’s MC’s for the event, asked the participants whose VMA acceptance speech Kanye West interrupted. The audience answered the question before the participants could even think about an answer causing an awkward silence within the stage.

The next event was Finish the Lyric. Similar to how trivia was set up, two participants would come up on stage and stand at opposite ends of the table with a buzzer in the middle. DJ Double-A would play a clip of popular songs from the early 2000’s and the two people on stage would have to press the buzzer and finish the lyrics that would've played if the DJ finished the song. This was another activity that included the crowd, which created such a compelling and amusing vibe, with people singing the lyrics along with the participants on stage.

The third activity was a lip-synch battle. The MC’s chose people from the audience to come in front of the stage to lip-synch a culturally significant song from the early 2000’s then decide who did it best. Songs included “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child, “Blame It” by Jamie Foxx and among countless others. To engage the audience, the MCs would point to the participant who lip-synched and ask the audience to scream if they enjoyed their performance.

The final was a Fashion Competition. The MC’s invited anyone who wanted to to come up on stage and let the audience critique their outfit. The criteria: who represented the fashion culture of the early 2000’s the best. Lots of contestants walked on stage and showed their swag. This allowed the audience to yell once the MC’s pointed to each contestant to help show how much they loved their fits.

One outfit that stood out on stage was Jadyn Mclean, a first-year Criminology Major. She walked onto stage with a two piece jean set, gold necklace, glasses, gold circle chain belt and light-brown heels. Their afro tied together their outfit. It represented Black people’s influence within Y2K fashion and culture.

Jadyn and another individual won the Fashion competition. Aaliyah Saunders, a third-year Nutrition Sciences Major, walked onto stage in one of the most

Micah oliphant enchanting outfits at the fest. The outfit Correspondent imitated Sasha, the iconic Bratz doll, winter-wonderland outfit. They walked onto stage in White Camel-311 Demonias, a white skirt, a dark colored off-theshoulder, zip up tank and a white fur hat. They did a 360 spin on stage, posed then walked off. They effortlessly captured the audience with their blissful appearance. After the fashion competition, DJ Double-A started playing music allowing everyone to dance together and just vibe as a collective. Throughout the event it was easy to spot the men/masculine individuals’ outfits Nenfot Goyol, a fourth-year Textile Technology student, really grabbed the crowd's attention. Goyol came to the event in an oversized, long-sleeved orange top, black jeans and orange jordans to tie the fit together. Their style and downright swag was something that was easy to gravitate towards. Another person’s outfits and overall vibe that caught everyone’s attention was Adrian Gibbs, a fourth-year, Science Technology and Society major. They came to the fest in the dopest NesQuik racer jacket, a white oversized tee, navy-blue denim jeans and white ‘clout goggle’ sunglasses. It was easy to spot Gibbs on the dance floor, living and vibing out to the music, pulling other students towards them with their immaculate vibe and smoove dancing. Their braids with clear beads flowing with every movement they made. Goyol, Gibbs and many other masculine figures stepped out and showed their appreciation for the male influence within Y2K culture. It is a fresh reminder that in a very woman-dominated industry where men’s fashion isn’t heavily represented, men’s fashion is still prominent and holds a place within the arts. Black Student Board’s Y2K Fest was a great success. Willingham agreed, telling Nubian Message that he would rate the setup and overall success of the event a “definite 10 out of 10”. The event has left many on the edge of their seats. What else does the Black Students Board have up their sleeves for the rest of the semester? They have a history of coming up with impactful events and even more unique themes, so nothing less is expected from this minority ran committee.

Kaela Belingon/Stafff Photographer Adrian Gibbs, a fourth-year in Science, Technology and Society (left), and Lance Patterson, a first-year in Exploratory Studies, dance in a crowd on Sept. 15, 2022 at Talley Student Union. Y2K Fest was a 2000’s throwback party hosted by the Black Students Board.

Find your Fire, Let it Burn

On Sept. 16, 2022,Alexis Lawson hosted a poetry workshop. he African American Cultural Center and the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies department co-sponsored the workshop

The event was on the second floor of the Witherspoon Student Center. Upon entering the room, guests were greeted with displays of Black art and Lawson’s poems. Four tables were lined at the front of the gallery room with pencil and paper for participants. The workshop started with casual chit-chat between Lawson and contributors.

Lawson powered up her slideshow titled “Find your Fire, Let it Burn” before delving into the workshop. First, she had people take turns introducing themselves. Next, Lawson explained the rules of the event with an emphasis on being comfortable and personal boundaries. Then the interactive portion of the event began.

The first activity was a 7-minute journaling session where participants had to include the words: lavender, cardigan, wrinkled hands, golden hour and popsicle. The journal could be a short story or poem. During the 7 minutes, Lawson played music to help soothe participants. After the time was up, people had the opportunity to share what they wrote.

The next part of the workshop explained the parts of a poem. Lawson identified lines?, stanzas and rhyme schemes as the essential elements of poetry. She then used different poetic styles to exemplify her lesson. For lines, the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes was used. For stanza, The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur. Lastly, the example for rhyme was Lose Yourself by Eminem. Lawson stated the most common rhyme scheme is ABAB. She then emphasized the importance of creative control stating, that it was okay “..to spell a word different to make [the audience] get it…”.

After explaining the parts of a poem, Lawson moved on to the process of developing an idea. She described different inspirations people have for writing poems. Lawson gave examples of lying big, having a conversation, and talking to yourself as ways to develop an idea. Then she gave participants time to brainstorm their ideas.

After giving time for guests to brainstorm, Lawson showed two spoken word poems. The first was Footnotes for Kanye by Jasmine Mans and the second

Jaz Bryant was Rape Joke by Belissa Escoloedo and Editor-in-Chief Rhiannon McGavin. Lawson took time to ask participants what they noticed about the poems and how they contrasted. Next, Lawson began to describe what it means to dig deeper into poetry. She emphasized that comparison is key. Additionally, she gave the example of personifying an inanimate object. In the final part of the event, Lawson showed a slide with different online sources for writing poetry, including RhymeZone, Syllable Counter, and others. She then gave guests 20 minutes to write a poem based on the ideas brainstormed earlier. Once again, Lawson played music while people wrote. At the end of the 20 minutes, people took turns sharing what they wrote and giving feedback. Alexis Lawson closed the Poetry Workshop with insightful remarks. She left the audience with the words, “There’s creativity in every kind of writing.” Nubian Message had the chance to briefly speak with Lawson after the event.

Nubian Message: What inspires you to be creative?

Alexis Lawson: I think life being boring inspires me to be creative because I am too extra to live a dull life…Trying different arts and things helps me make my life more exciting because I’m in charge of my own life…Being creative allows me to try different things without the pressure of being perfect at it…

NM: Why do you think it is important to inspire other people to write?

AL: I think that over the years we have lost a lot of the meaning behind our words and behind how far a story can go. And not just a story in what we traditionally think of a story [or] a book but someone’s life story or someone’s conversational story that you leave behind when you speak to a person. I think we have forgotten how impactful those things can be…I am always 1encouraging people to write. If not write, speak. If not speak, think because…[if not] we will live in a world where people are always conflicted.

Alexis Lawson hosted a poetry workshop where participants were able to hone their writing and learn new skills. To hear more thoughts like this, follow her @HerBlackHand

The Curl Conundrum

Quick question, what is the natural hair community doing? Every single piece of advice is contradictory or outdated and it has basically become a space to go if you’re ready to be judged. Don’t even get me started on the hair chart that people take as the word of God. At this point, I don’t view it as a community, more so a perfectionist cult.

I remember when the natural hair movement really kicked off and to be honest, I don’t think this is one of those ‘the good ol days’ situations. I vividly remember there not being a common meaning of the term ‘natural.’ Some people viewed it as not having a relaxer but other things such as color were fine. Others thought that it was when you simply left your hair as is after washing. People fought to have their hair considered natural because when your hair is ‘natural’ you’re suddenly put on a high pedestal. This is ironic because when I think of the standards of the Black community, I don’t think many people are kind to hair in its natural state.

The Black communities standards on hair are suffocating. Long, loose and precisely defined curls or coils with no frizz. That is simply not how hair is going to magically behave all the time. Especially when trying to learn how to do your own hair is basically like navigating a labyrinth.

In my opinion, the natural hair community has somewhat screwed themselves in the sense that everything is so overcomplicated. Why do I need to use several different butters, creams, oils, etc. every single wash day and spend multiple hours styling? Can it even really be considered a wash n go after being manipulated to behave a certain way for hours on end?

There’s a lot of outdated advice that people treat like law which is pure insanity. So many of these techniques came from before 2016, posted by people who aren’t even hair professionals wanting to just share something they personally do. An example is co-washing which is just wetting and applying conditioner on your hair. Why is this considered washing when in reality, it is just moisturizing hair? I have no idea, but the whole point is a select group of people on YouTube have a whole community in a chokehold with the idea

that shampoo is bad. The borderline religious view on these hair rules has made the community a headache to deal with. If someone were to post their routine that differs from the norm, be prepared to read comments about how blasphemous what they are doing is. In a space with little wiggle room, Milan Hall Staff Writer where people are not granted the luxury of a learning curve, there is bound to be a lot of judgment. I mentioned before how having natural hair is put on a high pedestal and the irony behind it. When you are a black woman with natural hair, it means that you love yourself and that you’re confident. But if natural hair is not absolutely perfect, then you’re lazy and messy, you clearly don’t care about how you look, you must not like your hair because you do not know how to do it. Because bad hair days are absolutely not allowed. To avoid the fear of a bad hair day, people will resort to wigs, straightening their hair or wearing a protective style. Those come with benefits such as less effort having to keep up with hair, being viewed as put together, you’ll get compliments. But of course, women cannot do anything without judgment so when your hair is straight then you must hate yourself and want to be white. When your roots grow out in your protective style then clearly you’re too broke to fix it up. There is also absolutely no room for experimentation out of fear of disgracing the sacred status of being natural. This is a reflection of a bigger problem that the black community faces and that is that we are too judgemental and hard on ourselves. I believe that this is a result of racial discrimination (as most issues the black community faces are). When constantly facing discrimination based on our appearances from non-Black people, it is hard for that not to be internalized. We don’t want to look broke or messy. Then those internalized statements get passed down and that’s how you end up with a generation not knowing how to do their hair because it was straightened their entire childhood. The natural hair community was initially supposed to fight back against this but even then you can still see these standards creeping in.

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