FAIRFIELD – On Friday, September 19th, the Solano College Black Student Union hosted their R&B and paint event, filled with conversation and community. With the concept of students creating ideas by building a community, this event was used to build fellowship among BSU students as they created art and spent time communicating with one another.
Black Student Union Club Advisor Shanan Danley expressed the need for this event to raise awareness, hoping it would draw a large crowd. The event was organized during the summer for students to attend on their return during the fall semester.
As the BSU welcomed me, Club President Imari Cutrer stepped outside of the event briefly to chat. In order for this event to be planned over the summer, the Executive Board met to discuss student outreach to build the culture on campus. According to Cutrer, Dean of Student Equity & Success Heather Watson-Perez had been very supportive.
Cutrer believes that an event for Black students, focusing on representation, will help students coming into the BSU.
“You see us as you walk in and feel the culture being brought together,” she went on to add.
According to the Vice President of the BSU, Celina Jackson, R&B and Paint is important because it brings students together in a relaxing, calm setting, which is not a regular occurrence. Painting can be described as very therapeutic, and listening to R&B music is said to calm the soul. Thus, the organizers plan to have more events like this in the future.
As I walked around the event, I came across a couple of Solano College students who expressed their interests and expanded on them.
A Solano College Student who introduced himself only as Mason felt that the event was embracing and peaceful, stating that the idea of Black Student Union is “pretty cool”.
Another SCC student, Daryl Johnson, declared the event a great success.
Solano College student Timothy Ariquez felt that, as an African-American, as he walked into the event, he could see that Black Pride was all around. He wanted to touch on the things that in America are not as touched on and felt that “visiting events like these will definitely educate others more”.
“Seeing people paint and come together to create a great environment for the community was heartwarming because students could see themselves reflected without pretense,” Cutrer stated.
The College’s Superintendent-President, Dr. Kellie Sims Butler, also made an appearance at the BSU Paint event.
She was “very impressed by how the event contributed to team building and mental health mindfulness,” Butler stated.
