The “Village Time: Giving Black Women Their Flowers” event aimed to create a space to celebrate and empower Black women by recognizing their contributions to hip-hop culture and providing a platform for their voices to be heard on Feb. 12, in the ASHÉ Center at Sacramento City College.
“This is just taking a second to appreciate one form of our media, one form of our culture and just celebrating the ways that we made history,” said Taleyah Rushing, the vice president of Sisters Helping Each Other (SHE) and peer mentor at the ASHÉ Center.
As students walked in, they were treated to an array of snacks and Valentine-themed cookies to enjoy while the event commenced. The event was directed by Student Support Specialist Lisa Hayden. To kick off the activities, Hayden introduced the surprise guest speaker for the day, psychology professor Chipo Ashe. Ashe then dove into the historical and ongoing contributions of Black women in hip-hop, shedding light on their often overlooked influence in shaping the genre.
As the event went on, Ashe also covered different topics affecting both the hip-hop industry and women’s everyday lives. These topics included the importance of bodily anatomy, the sexualization of African American women in the music industry and how the prevalence of the patriarchy is not only in lyrics but in everyday spaces as well.
“Just be aware of the patriarchy and how it shows up in different spaces, lyrics, our moms and our internal thinking,” Ashe said. “These are all very important things to have in our minds.”
The presentation encouraged students to interact and share their thoughts or experiences regarding the topics covered. This created a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone to have their voices heard throughout the event.
Ashe covered the importance of music and hip-hop in people’s daily lives. To Chanel Brown, the president of SHE and a peer mentor at the ASHÉ Center, “It’s not only motivation but could also be used as therapy.”
Events like “Village Time: Giving Black Women Their Flowers” mean everything to people at the ASHÉ Center; the energy, atmosphere and connections are all very important.
“It means everything to us, like as peer mentors, having this program … for us Black African American women to be able to come in and have a safe space to just connect with one another every semester,” Brown said. “It gives us that relief from the stresses of studying for classes.”
As this event came to a close, students were welcomed to use the plethora of resources at the ASHÉ Center. These resources include noise-free study spaces, future events, peer mentorship, counseling and much more. The president also delved deeper into the contributions they have made to their community through the program.
“Last semester we did a partnership with River City Bank.” Rushing said, “We got to help out during the holidays.”
In addition to providing resources for the community at the ASHÉ Center, events like this help to create important connections and give students the opportunity to celebrate African American history in a welcoming environment.
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