BSU President Seeks Greater Role in Annual Black Family Barbecue Planning

FAIRFIELD—On Saturday, August 16th, the front lawn & patio of the Solano College Theatre were turned into an environment of community, camaraderie, and companionship for the annual Solano Black Family Barbecue. This event successfully brought members of the community together on Saturday, but for the Black Student Union, the event highlighted a missed opportunity and a gap in communication with college administrators.

This weekend afternoon started out with students and their families sprawled out in front of the theater, participating in the numerous yard games such as plastic axe throwing, cornhole, Connect 4, and more. As Kick Off Event Catering prepared the food, I sat down to talk to current faculty member, Alan Fleming, who works in the Academic Success and Tutoring Center, and his wife, Juanita.

Juanita and Alan welcomed me and invited me to sit down with them. Alan began by telling me that he’s been working here at Solano for at least the past five years, and about how this was his first year at the annual barbecue.

“I didn’t know about it until last year,” he admitted.

Alan then let me in on a conversation his wife and him were just having.

“We were just talking with V.P. Neely… and Dean [of Student Equity and Success, Heather] Watson-Perez, they were really pushing for more visible presence within the Black community,” Fleming exclaimed.

“They were thinking ‘oh this is the way to do it, to celebrate our students that are here’’.

After finishing up our conversation, I headed over towards the food and made myself a plate. As the music, the afternoon, and more people kept on coming, I took my seat as V.P Neely began introducing people to briefly share some words. This included the current Mayor of Suisun City, Alma Hernandez, and President of the Black Student Union, Imari Cutrer.

As Cutrer returned to her seat after speaking to the onlookers and their plates of brisket, I made my way towards her table to chat and see if there was any validity to the rumor that had floated my way: the B.S.U had no part in planning or organizing the Black Family Barbecue. When we began our conversation, the rumor had turned to truth.

“We actually didn’t have a role at all,” she told me.

“This is initially something that we did want the Black students to come together and just plan ourselves,”

Cutrer felt that the BBQ would have been a good time for a light to be shed on the Union, since, according to her, her intentions are to boost “representation and exposure”.

Since some of the students part of the union have an interest in event management & planning, she also believed that the opportunity to have students directly learn by planning the barbecue would’ve had a lasting positive impact.

“Events like these are a chance to give our students hands-on experience,” Cutrer remarked.

When diving deeper into how a number of the B.S.U students would’ve benefited, we were then approached by one of the very students she was beginning to mention. Cutrer introduced us to each other & continued.

“This member right here Jamari, who’s also our P.R, he’s interested in event planning…these are the types of events that I would like to take our students such as Jamari and put them in the mix so they can, like I said, get that hands-on experience.” she explained.

She went on to confess that even if the college wasn’t completely at ease with the idea of the Black Student Union planning the annual Black Family Barbecue, she would still appreciate one of the students at least being able to participate in some fashion.

“It may not be something that the school…will feel comfortable allowing us to plan on our own, but we would still want to have somebody shadow” Cutrer admitted.

“Solano’s supposed to be a training institution”

Further along into our conversation, Cutrer started to share some of her and the rest of the B.S.U’s ambitions & goals. She mentioned a few of the learning objectives they’re honed in on, such as successful work habits, the law of averages, and the five steps to a conversation while also telling me about a women’s health panel the union is preparing for in November.

She then touched on some collaborative efforts between Solano organizations. For instance, the B.S.U is partnering with Basic Needs to do a housing workshop, along with partaking in a Travis Credit Union financial literacy course with Girl Yes You Can, a program here at Solano that “equip women with the tools, confidence, and unwavering support needed to overcome challenges and thrive.” per their “About Us” section on the Solano CC website.

“If we want it ‘for us, by us’, we have to take initiative,” she stated.

Cutrer went on to mention the previous B.S.U President, Alexis Lusk.

“Alexis was our President last semester.” Imari reminisced. “She was amazing. It was our first semester as a BSU and she started us off on a great path,”

“I just want to take what she started and continue to run with it,” she told me.
As our conversation came to a close, I asked her for a final bit of knowledge and insight: Describe the communication between you, the President of the Black Student Union, and figureheads on campus such as Watson-Perez and Neely.

“I would say they leave room for a lot of improvement” she answered.