SMC Celebrates Black Joy During Black Student Success Week
From April 22 to April 26, the Santa Monica College (SMC) Black Collegians program celebrated Black Student Success Week (BSSW) with a self-care workshop, on-campus events, and networking opportunities. BSSW is an annual event created in 2020 by advocates within the California Community College system. This year’s theme was Black Joy, and SMC Pan African Alliance leaders presented a week-long series of events to honor and uplift SMC’s Black students, professors, and faculty.
On Monday, April 22, Dr. Kenji Jones-Lane, Black Collegians Program Community Therapist, hosted a workshop titled “Centering Black Joy.” Its purpose was to give Black Collegians students a space to discuss what joy means to them. Students shared their thoughts and ideas about Black Joy, while Jones-Lane led a discussion on prioritizing happiness amid personal and external crises.
On Tuesday, April 23, Black Collegians hosted the “Black Block Party” on the SMC Main Campus Quad during their usual club meeting time.
Jackie and James Rice of J&J Soulful Steps led line dances in the grass. The couple has been line dancing for 28 years of their 47-year marriage and teaches line dancing classes at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza on Monday evenings.
Fish, chicken, steak, and turkey tacos were provided, and snow cones were served under a tent in the quad by the team from Fluffy’s Sno-Balls, a New Orleans snow cone shop based in South Central LA. Wright Direction Inc., a nonprofit supporting schools and communities with exercise forms like hula hooping and double dutch, provided participants with hula hoops and jump ropes.
Jada Roper, a cosmetology student at SMC, said she attended the block party because “I like seeing people who look like me, and I wanted to have some fun, and meet new people and get my jitters out.”
On Wednesday, April 24, students were invited to attend a networking lunch with David Anderson, an SMC alum who transferred to the University of Southern California (USC), Annenberg School of Communications. He received his master’s degree from USC’s Marshall School of Business and currently serves as the Executive vice president and COO of the Los Angeles Urban League. Anderson led students through his journey from SMC to USC and advised them about serving their communities.
Leisha Smith, student President of Black Collegians, attended the lunch as an accounting major at SMC.
Smith said, "I think the biggest thing I took away was knowing that I do have power to make a change; that is something that I tend to struggle with, understanding that I do have the power to help my community.”
While Black Collegians held no events on Thursday, April 25, the program participated in the SMC College Fair, one of the state’s largest community college transfer fairs.
On Friday, April 26, the Pan-African Alliance hosted the first annual Umoja Games on the Corsair Field. Events included a 100-by-four relay race, 400-meter race, 200-meter race, tug-of-war, and kickball. The kickball game and races featured two evenly split teams, while men and women competed in separate tug-of-war games.
Pan African Alliance faculty competed as Team Red, and Black Collegians students competed as Team Green. While Team Green won all three races, Team Red won tug-of-war and kickball.
Sydney Holmes, a Nutrition Sciences major, said she attended the events to connect with other students and flex her skills. “I wanted to connect with my community, and I used to do all these things when I was younger, and I just thought it would be a great opportunity to do it now, in college.”
Many students came to support SMC’s Black Collegians Club. Cameron Terry, a Sociology major, said, “I’m here to support Black Collegians in any way, shape or form I can. And part of that is being out here today.”
