Alcorn State University’s Impact Club partnered up with the institution’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Chapter for their Unapologetically Black: A Discussion, event Wednesday, February 27th in the Medgar Evers Auditorium at the J.D. Boyd Library.
The event began promptly at 5:00 pm and lasted until 6:00 pm as a panel of students from both organizations asked questions and gave time for the audience to respond. The event was the first of its kind that the organization Impact had ever done and members of the group felt as though it should honor Black History Month. “We just wanted to celebrate Black History Month in a unique way and discuss different stereotypes that we’ve experienced as black people. A lot of times things go unspoken and just talking about those things amongst different people just gives you a better outlook on different stereotypes and how you can address them based off of the knowledge you gain from just discussing them with your peers,” said Melody Evans, a member of Impact and the mediator for the night’s event.
Some of the questions asked followed the lines of stereotypes that most African Americans are subject to such as “the Angry Black Woman Theory.” Other questions had the audience engage in conversations about police brutality on minorities, black Twitter and the war on black men. The first time event was very eye opening and inspiring for all that attended. It gave the audience and the panel an opportunity to see issues in the black community from a different perspective and even to talk to some people who had undergone discrimination in their lifetime.
The Unapologetically Black discussion also showed that black history is still being made and that the African American community is more tightly knit than any of us may have ever known. In the future, Impact plans to have events similar to the discussion where the student body will be allowed to voice their concerns about certain issues.
“I think the turnout was great. We didn’t have a lot of people but we had enough for a good conversation. Several people were vocal, and they expressed their opinions clearly, and I do foresee us doing this again next year,” said Evans.