USF Black Community Council hosts Social Hour and Half Time Show
Photo by Samantha Avila Griffin / SF Foghorn
JOHN LINDROOS
Marking the beginning of Black History Month, the USF Black Community Council hosted the men’s basketball social hour on Feb.1. Both the Black USF fraternities and sororities performed during halftime of the men’s basketball game vs Washington State University. During the social hour from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., around 100 black alumni, faculty, staff and students gathered in the lounge on the fourth floor of the University Center, enjoying food, music and conversation with one another. The social’s theme was “Labor and Love in the Time of Resistance,” mirroring the national Black History Month theme, “AfricanAmericans and Labor.”
Vice Chair of the Black Community Council Lamonte Stamps said, “I think this year, we, as a Black community,came together and rallied around a central theme. Labor can be a myriad of different things. You think about Black labor in terms of who built the United States of America. You think about women in labor, you think about just how much we’ve contributed to this country, but also thinking about where we are now as a country,” he said. “We’re really divided and so really focusing on the idea of resistance as a way of resisting turmoil, tragedy, pains, but also celebrating our success.”
Throughout the event, attendees ref lected on the importance of celebrating Black History Month. Senior civil engineering major and Vice President of the National Society of Black Engineers Leah Shaw said, “Black History Month to me personally is bringing everybody together. I came from a very cultural household, so everybody [is] just having a good time, telling our downfalls and how we overcame them,” she said. “I like hearing everybody’s stories and just how we try together, [and] how we grew together over the years.”
Senior engineering major and Black Student Union Member LaPrecious Shannon said, “I think it’s important to remember Black history because that’s something, especially with Trump’s administration, [that] is trying to get erased. I think it’s important to remember our history so it doesn’t get repeated, or can appreciate the things that our ancestors did for us,” she said. “Also, we’re a part of Black history with ourselves right now. Black history is more than just February.”
Following the social, attendees filled the Sobrato Center to watch the men’s basketball game.
During a break in the first half, USF honored many of their Black leaders, including Treasurer of the Black Community Council and Assistant Director of Graduate Operations April McKay, Black Alumni Society Board member Keith Mincey, and Senior Director of Black Achievement Success and Engagement Emille Lawrence.
To celebrate the significance and importance of the divine nine fraternities and sororities in the United States and in the world, the Black USF fraternities and sororities showcased their performance of stepping and strolling during halftime.
One by one, starting with the Upsilon Rho Chapter, each organization was introduced and called up to perform a solo step or stroll. For the finale, all the organizations joined to perform together.
Junior public health major and Upsilon Rho Chapter member Isaiah Raglin talked about the importance of the performance, saying “Stepping and strolling has a lot of ancestral significance in their origin, because this used to be the ways that our ancestors used to communicate with each other when we weren’t necessarily allowed to speak to each other if there were language barriers,” he said. “So communicating through movement is one of the ways that we communicated with each other, and is one of the things that we do in our organizations to kind of keep that tradition going.”
Junior politics major, President of the Eta Sigma Chapter, and member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Molly Kirkwood talked about the history of her organization Alpha Kappa. The organization was founded in 1908 at Howard University and was the first Black Greek intercollegiate sorority for Black women.
“Black joy is love, it’s resistance, and I’m excited,” said Kirkwood.
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