Members of the Black Student Union hold up a poster during the Pan African Festival. The celebration included discussion about the Black experience and those in attendance were able to sample different styles of barbecue. Photos by Eric Devlin.
Montgomery County Community College students, faculty, staff and administrators celebrated Black culture and sampled delicious dishes from around the globe during the annual Pan African Festival hosted by the Black Student Union recently.
About 150 people over the course of the two-hour event dined on a menu of slow smoked
barbecue beef brisket, Caribbean jerk chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, collard
greens, smoked turkey, fried chicken, biscuits and baked cornbread, and also learned
about Black and African culture. The red, black and green stripes of the Pan African
flag, for example, symbolize the blood shed by generations of African people, the
Black community as a whole, and the green motherland of Africa.
Math Assistant Professor Durrell Jones, who is the faculty advisor of the Black Student Union, called the event an opportunity for students to discuss the Black experience.
“Both through a historical lens up to today thinking about the modern-day experience that many Black and indigenous people across the globe are continuing to have today,” he said. “What their plight is like. Not just in terms of economics but both political and social and all the things we have to deal with in terms of healthcare. This is an opportunity for them to say come together with us and let’s talk about those experiences. If we can get more people to learn about them, hopefully, we can normalize it, such that Black people’s experiences can be positives. I look at this as that kind of opportunity. And of course, bringing people together for food is always good.”
Black Student Union President Corey Jones, a Liberal Studies major from Ocean City, Mld., called the event a success.
“Today turned out to be so amazing,” he said. “I was stressed because I didn’t know what the turnout would be, but everybody’s having a good time.”
Jones, who became president of the club this past fall, said the event is meant to celebrate diversity.
“Let everybody understand we’re all family at the end of the day,” he said.
Students can visit the Black Student Union group on Montco Connect for upcoming meeting information.