The University of Memphis chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), operating at the university since 1995, hosted a student led interactive history night with a theme of “Wild N’ Out”, inspired by the Nick Cannon MTV game show on Sept. 19. The event's attendees had the chance to engage with each other as a community during three different activities.
The first activity was an alphabet train in which the presenters played a beat and encouraged each attendee to name one famous African American and come up with a rhyme corresponding to the letter they were given. Some examples of African Americans named during this activity were Martin Luther King Jr., Claude McKay, Ernest Everett Just, and Rosa Parks. Following the alphabet train activity, the presenters reminded students to reflect on the importance of historical African American figures and why they are still significant today.
The second activity was a rap battle between the two sides of the room involving two poems shared by the hosts titled “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou, which is about a woman of color fighting against society’s expectations by being unapologetically herself, and “I, Too” by Langston Hughes, which signifies that all people are equal and that everyone deserves a seat at the table. After the poems were read by two NAACP committee members, they elaborated on what the poems meant to them and how they personally related to them.
Attendees were asked, “What do these poems mean to you?” Anonymous responses to the question included, “Maya Angelou’s poem shows that black women are able to adapt quickly in our society. Another response was “As I read ‘I, Too’, I notice the phrase ‘Eat in the kitchen’ and I see it as figurative language for them trying to sweep stuff under the rug, you know what I’m saying? So, when they put the black folks away trying to hide their stuff, it’s quite embarrassing.”
The last activity was a trap spelling bee, where the attendants were split into two sides and had to go head-to-head on spelling different words that related to historical events or moments for the African American community. The attendees had to spell words such as emancipation, amendment, renaissance, absentee, DuBois, and Mahogany Ball.
The Mahogany Ball is an annual ball that NAACP hosts during Black History Month. To find more information about the NAACP chapter at the University of Memphis, you can follow their Instagram page at @uofmnaacp; University of Memphis students can also visit their office on the second floor of the University Center in the Multicultural Affairs Suite room 218F. The next NAACP Mass Meeting is October 3, 2024, in the Psychology Auditorium.
