As attendees gathered in their best suits and dresses, throwback music played over the speakers and others started to sing and dance along.
People filled their plates with a buffet dinner of soul food including salad, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, flank steak and apple pie and settled in for the featured presentation as this past Saturday, the Black Student Alliance (BSA) club put on the fifth annual Black Excellence ball to honor and celebrate black culture.
The event included a performance of the black national anthem by Kory Turner, a junior public health major and junior music entertainment major Tia Baylor, also known as “Lady Rosze,” a powerful presentation on pettiness in black culture by guest speaker Venas Evans Winters and a singing and rap performance by Vin Chilz.
Evans Winters grew up on the south side of Chicago, and fought her way to become one of the most influential and decorated black women in Illinois. Not only is she a professor of education at Illinois State University, but she is also a psychotherapist in private practice, a licensed school social worker, licensed clinical social worker and a certified clinical trauma professional. Evans Winters has also written several books and been published in multiple academic journals.
In her speech, Evans Winters proudly spoke on her title of “Queen Petty,” given to her by family and friends because she is known to be very assertive when it comes to the importance of black excellence.
“Historically, everywhere, black people, being black, blackness, the black body has always been considered to be of little importance,” Evans Winters said. “So therefore, I make it my business to be petty as hell when it comes to white supremacy.”
Evans Winters said that was important for black people to be assertive, emboldened and petty.
The crowd awarded her with a second round of applause before Vin Chilz performed called “Skyhigh,” which encouraged audience members to join in with the title lyrics.
After an awards ceremony recognized the National Society of Black Engineers as the best organization on campus and other outstanding black students, music was put back on and everyone danced and socialized. Sophomore animation major Kristyn Stallings said this was her favorite part.
“This is just a good time to mingle with my fellow black students on campus because there’s so few of us on campus,” Stallings said. “It’s nice to come to events like this and to reconvene and be proud of who you are and look good and be excellent.”
Another attendee, sophomore health science major Amanda Davenport, was very excited to be attending this event for the first time, as she is a transfer student. She said her former college didn’t have much recognition of diversity, so events like this have been important and fun for her.
“Coming here and seeing actual representation makes me feel good,” Davenport said.
BSA puts on multiple events throughout the year, especially during Black History Month. While the takeaway is different for every person and event, their main goal is to make sure black students know how excellent they can be throughout their time at Bradley.
