By Shannon Dyett
Women of Color (WOC) at Brooklyn College along with the Black Student Union (BSU) at BC hosted their very own rap session event, entitled “Rooted in Rhythm,” on Feb. 18 in the Student Center. Both clubs co-sponsored this event in honor of Black History Month and gave students a chance to unwind, relax, and create music together.
The event’s format allowed participants to collaborate on rapping about various topics, blending both fun and educational elements. During the event, each table was assigned a different topic and tasked with coming up with a rap for that topic, as the club is trying to divert from traditional lecture-based events.
“[…] We’re trying to have a bunch of events during Black History Month and we wanted to do something a little more fun, to stray away from lectures,” stated the vice president of both WOC and BSU, Abigail Edouard.
The rap session provided students with an opportunity to engage in creative expression while celebrating Black culture during Black History Month.
“We’re going to have people come in and each table is going to be assigned a topic and a beat where they’re going to rap about black topics. For example, we have a topic of Soul Food Sunday. We also have a topic of Black historical figures and impacts […] We have fun topics and we have informational topics where we just come and have fun with each other,” stated Dakota Mitchell, president of the WOC Club.
The event aimed to foster a sense of community and relaxation, while highlighting the influence of hip-hop as an integral part of Black culture. Kelsey Ganthier, president of BSU, stated that this event was important not just for coordinators from both clubs, but also for the students that took part in the event.
“During Black History Month, I think this is a good time to have students come and socialize. The month is really short, so we try to have as many Black events as we can. It is open to everybody, but this is a very good event, so everybody can network, and have fun, while school is going on and classes. This is kind of a relief break time for them,” Ganthier stated.
Both clubs wanted to host this particular event because of the extensive impact Black culture has had on music.
“Because hip-hop is a huge part of American culture, specifically Black culture, we took the time to try and create music of our own, listening to different beats and cadences and trying to have fun with it to see if we can make our [own] music,” Edouard stated.
Students interested in more information about Women of Color or Black Student Union can check their Instagrams: @womenofcolor_bc and @bc_blackstudentunion