FIU’s Black Student Union recently hosted a “Culture Fest” in honor of Black History Month Feb. 24 on the Biscayne Bay Campus. The festival celebrated different cultures from the black community through art, dance, and food.
The festival showcased the cuisine of various black communities, ranging from African-American soul food to Haitian cuisine.
Also available were activities such as designing a bag with the face of black cultural icons such as President Barack Obama and Langston Hughes.
“Overall, I think it [Black History Month] was very positive,” said BSU Vice President Tranae Robinson. “I think our [BSU] theme embracing the community really allowed our members and the community [to] take part in what we do at FIU.”
LaJayah Blair, an attendee of the event, said she noticed different clubs celebrating Black History Month.
“All month every day, something new [was] going with BSU and Student Programming Council,” she said. “So I felt like that was a good way it was celebrated.”
February has been a controversial month with Gucci’s blackface sweater scandal to the alleged Jussie Smollett hate crime or hoax.
“With all the drama I’m seeing going on with different celebrities, everybody was just like reschedule Black History Month,” said Brea Jones, an attendee at the event, on how people were discussing the controversies on Twitter.
Other attendees felt the media portrayed a positive light on Black History Month this year.
“I saw a lot more kids getting involved with black history month through social media,” said Blair.
She said it was “cool” seeing young people posting quotes of famous people online.
Robinson said she saw on Twitter people sharing stories about lesser-known black figures who often go unmentioned under the hashtags #BlackHistoryMonth and #DidYouKnow.
“I think as a platform there was a lot of highlighting that we don’t know about,” she said.
