Black Family Day to celebrate black culture and community
The 45th annual Black Family Day (BFD), a free family event celebrating black family, culture and students on campus, is coming up on Saturday, May 21 from noon to 5 p.m. There will be over 30 vendors selling food and merchandise and sharing information about their organizations and clubs. There will also be music, performances, games and photo booths. The Cross Cultural Center (CCC), the organizer of this special day, is excited for everyone to come out and socialize. The CCC expects a turnout of over 1,000 people and believes that it is important for UC Davis to have events like this to recognize the accomplishments of the black community.
Christian Nesbitt, fourth-year political science public service and sociology double major, and co-coordinator of BFD, believes that Black Family Day is a significant campus event.
“This day is about encouragement, affirmation and acknowledgement of our existence, and what we may have gone through in terms of being black,” Nesbitt said. “It’s a way to bring visibility to who we are and feel like we aren’t alone and there’s a community.” She also stressed that it is an important and fun way to network and build community between the alumni, faculty and students.
The event is open to all students, and student staff at the CCC believe it is important for non-black students to attend to support the black community.
“As a non-black person of color I think it’s important to show solidarity and support to our fellow black students. Coming out to BFD affirms and supports the black students here on campus,” said Val Sierra, a third-year Native American studies major and the Native American Cultural Days Coordinator at the CCC.
The theme of the event this year is “Unapologetically Black” to encourage pride in one’s identity and self.
“We chose this theme because recently we’ve had a lot of anti-black crimes, and we wanted our theme to reflect student experiences and encourage students to accept and love who they are,” said Brina Sylve, BFD co-coordinator and third-year sociology and African-American studies double major. “We’re spreading the message that we are proud of who we are, what we look like. We are being unapologetic.”
For more information about the event, please visit the Facebook event page.
Written by: Sami Bass – arts@theaggie.org
