USU students get a taste of soul food and black history
The Ballroom in the Taggart Student Center was filled with reggae beats and smells of good, home-cooked food Friday evening, the night of the Black Student Union’s Soul Food Dinner.
Soul food means “soothing, comforting food that brings back memories of family,” said Jene Robinson, a member of the Black Student Union. The term has developed to mean African-American cuisine, she said. Friday’s dinner included Southern dishes such as candied yams, fried chicken, cornbread, beans and rice, collared greens and peach cobbler.
The dinner was held in honor of Black History Month and drew about 90 diners. February is set apart each year to honor the men and women who made black history notable and to honor the struggle for racial equality fought in America since its founding.
Michael Styles, the director for black affairs in the state of Utah, traveled to Logan to attend the dinner.
“We always want to make sure people – and especially students – know they have our support,” he said. “We try to bring all the ethnic communities together. I think the ethnic community needs to realize the only way to change policy is to empower themselves. The people who show up are the people who make the decisions.”
Shannon Stevenson, an undeclared sophomore and an organizer of the event, said she enjoys the dinner for what it can teach people.
“It’s always good to educate people about Black History Month and get together and eat,” she said.
A member of the Black Student Union explained the history of Black History Month to the dinner participants. Black History Month was established as Negro History Week in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson as part of his goal to include blacks in the history books. Over time, it developed into a month-long tribute to black history.
The Black Student Union at USU has about 160 members, of which about 20 are active. Being such a minority in Cache Valley, Jennifer Gowon, a business major and president of the Black Student Union, said black students still face stereotypes and insensitivity.
Riding the LTD bus one day, Gowon said she was studying quietly when a woman got on the bus. Standing in front of Gowon and clearing her throat, she waited for her to raise her head.
“Could you move?” she asked.
“I will never forget that day for the rest of my life. This isn’t the ’60s,” Gowon said. Thankfully, Gowon could refuse to move without risking being arrested, like the famous Rosa Parks did in an almost identical situation.
Gowon, who is originally from Nigeria, said another common stereotype she often encounters is that if you’re a black student here, you’re either Mormon or an athlete.
“I get that a lot,” she said, laughing. “People ask me if I play ball and I’m like, ‘No I’m actually here on academic scholarship.’ We don’t all play ball.”
Gowon said she has more stories than she cares to tell. But she said she tries to take it all in stride and not let it bother her.
“It’s important to educate people,” she said. “There is a history behind black people. We didn’t come up from nowhere.”
Other activities planned for Black History Month are the delivery of Candy Grams, which can be bought for $4 or $6 in the TSC and will be delivered on Valentine’s Day, and a Black Out Loud Forum on Feb. 20 in the Sunburst Lounge, which will focus on AIDS and STD awareness.
-ella@cc.usu.edu