The Culture Fest: A Trip Around the World Event to End off Black History Month

sarah griffths THE SOUTHERN DIGEST

To end the Black History Month program on campus with a kick, Culture Fest was held to celebrate Black culture in its totality. This was done with music, dancing, and delicious food.

After an initial realization that there hadn’t been a Black History Program in the last decade, all hands were on deck. This was to bring the students an engaging event that connected them to Black culture. The event was hosted by Darby Smith, director of the office of Community Outreach and Inclusion, in collaboration with Cedric Noel, director of Smith- Brown Memorial Union, and Nala Anderson, coordinator of the office of Student Leadership and Engagement.

Before this event, the collaborators planned a month of programming including events from Kickoff on the 1st, Zumba, a movie series, and alike. “We wanted to bring more of a culturally enriched and educational point of view. You guys have lots of fun events, but we would like them to be fun, educational, informational, and culturally enriching,” said Smith. The host delved into detail about her office’s desire to reach out to the community. She wanted to welcome them onto campus to indulge in all things Black love and Black health.

The vendors that participated in this festive event included Southern Style Bistreaux on the Geaux, Southern Café, Geaux Ride Baton Rouge, the student- intermission was unfolding, the DJ turned on some line dance music, and no Jag could sit still.

At last, the host announced the last round of modeling, which was formal wear. The contestants then show off their snazzy formal wear. The crowd was loving the pageant contestants outfits. The round concludes and colorful lights start flashing in disco style rhythm, and a live band starts to play for the audience. After that, everyone is enjoying the music played by the band, and the energy skyrockets. A SU student Inan Mckinley, a sophomore political science major from Houma, La said,” I enjoyed the live band, they sounded really good! And it was just a pleasant pageant all around.”

After the performance, the hosts called all the contestants to the stage and the room grew quiet. The announcer stepped on the mic, and yelled,” CONGRATULATIONS! Amya Winborne, you are our new 2023-2024 Miss Krimson & Kreme.” Winborne then covered her mouth and cried as a group of people came to hug and congratulate her.

Finally “Shimmy Like a Nupe” was held in the event center. Upon entering the stands, there was plenty of space for all students at the event to sit. However, the seats on the floor closer to the Nupes led Elite Fashion Society, We3Kings Cultural Corner, and Royal Taste of Jamaica. Royal Taste of Jamaica sold oxtail, jerk plates, and rum cake. “We were very happy to come because students are the future, and we have to support the future,” exclaimed David, the owner of the restaurant. Another fun addition and all the activities were packed. The host then came on the mic and said, “There will be 3 teams of dancers, and 3 categories of music for them to dance to.” The announcer then continues on to say, “The team with the highestquality songs for those categories and choreographing will be the winner of Shimmy Like a Nupe.”

He then revealed the categories the contest would be participating in, which were New School, Old School, and Slow. The New School performance was first and Team One took the stage. They then started to perform and mid-performance they started to shimmy like a Nupe and the audience loved it. After leaving the stage, Team Two took over. The dancers formed a line facing each other which formed a cool pattern. Then performed the same Nupe dance move and combine it with their own dance moves to blow the audience away. They then exited the stage and Team Three came in and did something that blows everyone away. As they exit the stage, they form a pyramid mid-dance and shimmy like a Nupe as they lean the pyramid. The crowd compliments them with admiration as they shimmy.

The second round of Old School begins. All teams played old school classics from Mindless Behavior to Chris Brown. The audience energy level was the performance by the Watoto’s of Kombuka. This increased the energy levels in the atmosphere, attracted students passing by to watch the talented African women perform traditional African dances, and invited students to join the dance.

Annessa Whitlow, a junior from Houston, TX majoring in Interdisciplinary studies, immediately participated. She finished with a solo. Having come from a PWI, she expressed the joy of being at Culture Fest on the last day of Black History Month, explaining, “I love it because I really need to experience this culture after coming from one.” I had a blast doing this with people who have been doing African dance, getting into their culture, understanding it, and experiencing it for a while!”

Another student, Nyla Thibadeaux, a freshman from Lafayette, La, described her experience at the event. “It feels good to be at an HBCU already; you feel the love and a homey feeling. If you came from that and you come here you’re still with it. This event specifically emphasizes that feeling.” increased due to song selection, and until the end of each team performance, the audience energy level did not die down. In the final round, the Slow category, all the teams’ dancers performed eyecatching and breath-taking moves in sync. The highlight of the performance category was when three female dancers from team three pulled three Kappas in for the show. They sat them down in chairs and danced and performed with so much grace that the audience couldn’t control their excitement.

The round concludes. While the judges decided on a winner the Kappas and dancers stroll all over the event center. Meanwhile, the audience is dancing and having fun in the stands. All teams then assemble in the middle of the event center and the announcer comes on the microphone and said, “In last place he has team 1,” he then says, “The winner of the Shimmy Like a Nupe is Team 2.” The team then runs around the event center in excitement and the event concludes.

Carrie Algobaga, one of the dancers on team 2, a sophomore music education major from Houston, TX says,” All the performers did their all, but I feel we deserved the win because of the dedication and work me and my team have been putting in all week.”

GIVING from page 9

Lanus, a freshman responded that she wasn’t impressed. She said, “This week is boring and I’m not surprised.” She also expressed, “It really didn’t feel like anything was occurring this week. It felt like a regular week on campus.” actually introduced me to an upcoming rapper, Deetranada, who she said is extremely underrated and believes to be a fantastic lyricalist.

Student, Dashaleah Lewis, a freshman responded, “It’s giving hot like the sun. It’s giving it can be a bit of fun. But at the same time, it’s giving its dead. It’s giving I like fall semester better than this!” She expressed that she wishes this week could’ve been exciting. According to certain students, Kappa Week was giving… mixed reviews.

Dajuan Francisco, a sophomore political science major from Marksville, Louisiana said that he liked Lola Brooke. “Lola knows what to say and how to get people’s attention just like Beyoncé,” Francisco discussed.

Simeon Hill, a freshman political science major from Jacksonville, Florida said his favorite is Flo Milli. Simeon said, “Flo Milli is very versatile and she’s for Nicki [Minaj].”

Anzabia Roberts, a sophomore psychology major from Atlanta, Georgia said she also liked Lola Brooke. Anzabia expressed he liked Lola Brooke because, “Her flow is just like Nicki’s flow and she really rides the beat, so she knows how to execute a beat unlike other up-andcoming rappers.”

According to the students, all these rappers bring something new to the table.

Anzabia stated, “Women empowerment…when you’re a female rapper you make the statement that just because you’re a girl you don’t have to be prissy all the time. She adds to the message that a woman can rap about things other than her genitalia and still get a point across.”

Dajuan agreed and added, “She really knows how to pull a younger audience’s attention without being provocative.”

Simeon stated, “Flo Milli contributes to the rap game because she’s a dark skin woman. It’s different when you’re light-skinned. She’s putting it on for dark skin girls.” These rap queens are making waves through their music.