On Feb. 21, the Black Essence Festival served as the finale for the Black Student Union Spirit Week. BSU started the festival only four years ago, but has hosted events and performances to celebrate Black culture for decades.
Since its inception in 2021, the Black Essence Festival has invited students, faculty, staff and alumni to celebrate Black culture. This year’s festival, co-hosted by the Black Student Union and Trinity Diversity Connection, promised a unique “Dirty South” themed experience. BSU encouraged students of all cultural backgrounds to participate in the celebration.
In past years, Black Essence Festival hasn’t had a theme. This year, BSU decided to add a thematic element to shake up the event. Shea Bedminster, junior computer science major and vice president of BSU, said the “Dirty South” theme is open for some interpretation.
“Whether you want to dress up like a cowgirl, like a cowboy, channel that country energy or you can do like nineties southern R&B type of clothing, it’s really up for interpretation,” Bedminster said.
The fest featured an array of attractions, including a mechanical bull and a basketball arcade game. Urban Smoke, a local barbeque restaurant and longtime partner of BSU, catered for the event. In line with the theme, they served classic southern dishes, such as brisket, cajun pasta and mac and cheese.
“It warms my heart to see everyone involved in some way, especially with the … different vendors that we have this year,” Bedminster said. “I’m excited for the entirety of the event.”
Bedminster, manager of vendor logistics, said coordinating catering has been a key challenge for this year’s fest. Because the event is new, it was difficult to estimate crowd size.
“A little bit of a challenge is trying to anticipate how big the event will be because now we’re doing [Black Essence Festival] in a more centralized area,” Bedminster said. “So, trying to figure out how many people are going to come and how much food we should order.”
As co-advisors of BSU, LadyStacie Rimes-Boyd, director for business operations and project management, and Terris Tiller, director of alumni career engagement and networks, play a crucial role in guiding the event planners through such questions. Tiller’s connection to BSU extends beyond his role as advisor; in his senior year at Trinity in 2000, he served as BSU president and oversaw events similar to Black Essence Festival.
“During the 90s … we had a lot of slam poetry events, things like that,” Tiller said. “So it wasn’t quite Black Essence, but it was in the spirit of putting forward events that put on display the culture of Black life.”
Though “Essence Magazine’s” original New Orleans “Essence Festival of Culture” was in 1995, Rimes-Boyd said the first annual Black Essence Festival was held on campus in 2021, thanks to a proposal forwarded by BSU member Jasmine Janeé Mitchell-Williams.
“It came about because [Mitchell-Williams] was from New Orleans, and wanted to do something similar,” Rimes-Boyd said. “She was maybe in her first or second year, and was part of leadership with BSU and proposed it.”
Mitchell-Williams’s idea was a success. When Bedminster first attended Black Essence Festival, she said it was an exciting gathering.
“I just love the community that is within Black Essence Fest, especially my first year going to it,” Bedminster said. “It was just such a cool event to have. The performance and food and I was able to talk to friends and make new friends.”
Rimes-Boyd and Tiller said they believe the event is an important occasion for Black students and the broader community to celebrate Black culture.
“The mission of BSU isn’t about exclusivity. It is about inclusion. The event is open to everyone because it’s very much community-minded,” Rimes-Boyd said. “And what better way than to have an event where everyone comes together on campus and everyone is invited to be a part of the celebration, particularly during Black History Month.”
