Fashion is Black

This past Saturday night, I was fortunate enough to attend the UMOJA, BU’s Black student group, Impact Fashion Show. This year the title and theme of the show was Fashion is Black. This was one of the coolest events I have attended at BU in my two years here, and I would never have attended had a friend of mine not have been in one of the participating dance groups. UMOJA and Fashion is Black do not make it subtle at all that their purpose is to create a place for the Black students at BU as opposed to a forum for students of all races.

The show was incredibly well done and entertaining, and the event had a very fun, upbeat vibe so I did not worry whether or not I was out of place for the majority of the event. The event began with the singing of the Black National Anthem, which I had never even heard of before. Listening to this anthem being sung was fascinating and eye opening for me, because it dawned on me that this group, or at least the author and singer of the anthem felt the need to create a separate national anthem. It also occurred me that this is an incredibly rare occurrence, and that it must not be easy being an African American at Boston University. According to the BU website, BU is only 4.2% African American. Therefore, it only makes sense that the Black Students of BU have groups like UMOJA that promote unity amongst Black students on the largely white campus. However, I left the UMOJA event thinking that if only this event had been catered to the entire BU community, many students of different races would have gotten a lot out of it. Either way, I am so glad I attended Fashion is Black, and hope to attend the future Impact Fashion Shows as well.