As student Andiel Brown began singing his second song Friday afternoon, rain started to fall and spectators ran for cover under tarps covering booths ringing the EMU Amphitheater.
But Brown danced down the steps off the stage into the rain, singing soulfully over a DJ-spun beat.
Brown performed as part of the Black Student Union’s Black Arts Festival – which displayed paintings, sculptures and jewelry made by student artists, as well as poetry, music and acting – a showcase of the positive aspects of black culture, BSU co-director
Abrina Wheatfall said.
Referring to the controversy and protests surrounding the University’s Diversity Plan, Wheatfall said the recent racial tension on campus made the event necessary. She said that while the group did not plan the event around the recent controversy, the timing helped to alleviate tension and show students that support groups exist on campus.
Brown, a Duck running back and participant in the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program, said he wrote the two songs he performed to sing his support for relationships that consists of courtship and then marriage. He said he sang to show people from other cultures what the black community has to offer.
“We need to be united at this campus,” Brown said. “It can
only help.”
Madgesdiq, a Portland-based rapper and poet, also performed
at the event. Born Antoine Stoudamire, Madgestiq played
basketball for the Ducks when he attended the University in the early 1990s. He released his first album, The Rebirth, in 2002, and he plans to release a book of poetry in the summer, he said. While personal, his music addresses spiritual and social issues. He said he wants to promote balance and understanding among people polarized because of conflicts in society.
“Music is such an important vehicle right now,” Madgestiq said.
Performing the only song he had ever written for the first time in his life, student Giovanni (G-Bats) Battles rapped on stage as well.
Battles said he wrote the song about growing up in northeast Portland, which, he said, is as close to a segregated ghetto as Portland neighborhoods come.
“If money talks, then crime do pay; what a broke nigga do who gotta get paid,” Battles rapped.
Battles, in an interview, said “I’m not saying commit crime, but do what you gotta do,” explaining the lyrics.
Three historically black sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta, had booths near the amphitheater.
Student Rita Ogbeama, a member of Delta Sigma Theta, said the
sorority is different from the traditional sorority because it’s not collegiate, does not have a house on campus and concentrates solely on political, educational and social issues. Through events and action promoting community and health, the sorority builds awareness and reaches out to young people, especially incoming freshmen in need of guidance, Ogbeama said.
In the ending moments of the event, the emcees called everyone down into the center of the amphitheater to dance the Electric Slide, a popular dance from the 1970s. While performers and
spectators grapevined in unison, the sun broke through the cloud cover for the first time in hours, bathing the dancers in warm light.
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