CASA fashion show is creating a sense of community

TheCaribbean African Student Association (CASA) held a fashion show on the Centennial stage at Bishop’s University to celebrate diversity on Feb. 4. They wanted to share their culture with students, families, and staff.

CASA’s fashion show staged multiple scenarios, including fashion walks from African, African American, and Indigenous designers, a poem recital, a dance battle, and singing performances. It is the first event organized by CASA for Black History Month.

“The fashion show honors [diverse] cultures,” said TJ Sweeny, host and CASA event coordinator. “[We aim] to share [it] with everyone!” Families, friends, students, and staff were invited to engage in sometimes difficult conversations about race and power. Indeed, after playing the song “This Is America” by Childish Gambino,

Solitude

I must be alone

I need breath in the cold

I need slow nights at home

Just me and the snow

I need hot tea and crackers

And chocolate and books

I need to spill words

Where nobody looks

To sleep like the bird

High above in a tree

With the noise and the chaos

Far below my feet

I will nap in the day

And wake up in the night

I will build me a temple

With candles to light

Fanny Essel, Arts & Culture Editor » thecampus.artsculture@gmail.com

Fanny Essel - Arts and Culture Editor

the first scene was about Black Lives Matter. CASA’s members wore simple black outfits and held their fists to their hearts.

“This line represents the struggle we still face, the happiness we hope to enjoy once liberated and the stand we take,” wrote CASA in their pamphlets. A slide with the names of people of color murdered by police brutality was projected behind the members on stage. Then, a fashion line designed by Victoria showed outfits inspired by Inuit traditional ways of building a garment. The models walked on stage with Indigenous nation flags on their shoulders.

The show’s finale started with the two hosts of the night singing acapella while the dancers and the models walked back on stage. The audience waved their phone flashlights in unison.

“CASA is a safe space for the African Caribbean community,” said Sweeny. “[It] is a home away from home.” Sweeny was adopted and raised in Quebec. Their family - or chosen community - has been helping them understand their culture.

CASA has been hard at work organizing special events for Black History Month, such as the Valentine’s Day raffle, a Black business fair, and trivia night at the Gait. All the events are listed on CASA’s Instagram @ubishopscasa. The student association was created to support diversity on campus while educating the Bishop’s community about different cultures.

Ode to an Exile

Colin Ahern - Opinions Editor

I will pray for my heart With its splintering edges

I will make it an altar And give it to heaven

There are hurts I can’t heal

With my own stubborn will There are blackouts of faith Where fear comes to steal

Encroaching on blissfulness

Bold and too proud, It leaves tracks in the snow

Of my holiest ground

So I’ll wait one more night

‘Till the snow falls again And the fear melts away Through the tip of my pen

My nose will be cold And my cheeks will be flushed But in ice, light will dance And the voices will hush

Remembering me For the thousandth time Coming to rest In knowing what’s mine

I’m the sunlight bursting Through a heavy soul The same youthful smile As a body grows old

The very thing That I cannot expressOne with all things Only needing to rest