The Association of Black Students continued their 2020 Black History Month programming series, Feb. 25 in the Orchid Room, with the third annual “Black Talks, Black Thoughts,” which offered students and faculty the opportunity to give a 10 minute presentation on any topic of their choosing.

Photo by Curran Neenan

Six students and faculty members presented on a variety of topics ranging from showcasing their art, research and their own businesses, with the goal to “stimulate the Black consciousness and demonstrate the diversity of Blackness,” according to ABS executive member senior Daviona Sims.

“Black Talks, Black Thoughts” was one of six ABS events scheduled this month. Past events included Black Art Appreciation Night in collaboration with Ursa’s Nite Life, Feb. 21, and a Feb. 19 roundtable discussion with Ashoka, Washington University’s South Asian student association.

The night’s first speaker, fashion design BFA student sophomore Sparkle Whitaker, gave an inside look into her company, TOAO Design House. She explained her company’s mission to promote ethical fashion and allow her customers to openly express their identities through her merchandise. TOAO Design House’s product mix includes jackets, gowns, slides and t-shirts.

Sharing his progress on his senior capstone project on the development of friendship and love among young Black men, Daelen Morris read two original poems.

Morris described how while attempting to research Black masculinity and queer theory, while being inspired by the works of authors such as Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, he noticed gaps in the availability of Black academic resources.

“I’m trying to find stuff on Black boyhood, but I’m not seeing a whole lot of scholarship on it,” Morris said. “And I kind of thought that was interesting, just because it seems like such an area where so much of the public is concerned with figuring out how to, essentially fix Black men, is typically what I hear. And that’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of issues with the formation of Black masculinity, but I never really got any [analysis] of the more tender loving aspects of it.”

Sophomore Madison Williamson, founder of lip gloss brand Madi Mikay, also spoke at the event to promote her company and discuss the success her brand has experienced. In October 2019, Williamson won the Skandalaris Center’s Idea Bounce competition, securing a grant from JP Morgan Chase & Co. to further Madi Mikay.

She discussed the origins of the business, and her experience running her own company as a sociology major and a Black woman.

“There are way too many businessmen in the cosmetics industry and not enough sociologists,” Williamson said. “Because think about it, how many Black-owned makeup brands do you know outside of Fenty Beauty? As long as makeup has [existed], it should not be revolutionary that a brand has 40 shades that actually are inclusive to Black people.”

Junior Rob Hall spoke next, detailing the evolution of his music career, from the work he released as a member of the Bleeding Hearts Club collective and the music he has since released under the moniker Rob Apollo. His next project, Accords, is set to be released March 5.

Derek Holland, a Research Project Manager at the Brown School, explained how his studies of Black public health have inspired his process as a visual artist and allowed him to combine his creative side with his political side. He walked through one of his major projects that depicted several “social evils,” the products of injustices that have had lasting effects on the Black community in St. Louis, such as the disproportionate Black STI and infant mortality rates, depicted through several paintings.

His project culminates with a piece aimed to guide the work into a more personal, contemporary context.

“This was a piece where I wanted to have everyone who ever saw it to be able to look at themselves and look at themselves in that process, so I use a lot of broken mirrors as a metaphor for this piece,” Holland said. “It gets you to look at yourself in this process, because we are all a part of it.”

ABS first-year representative Aaliyah Allen was the final speaker of the night. As a Psychology and American Culture Studies major, she centered her talk around Black music history, specifically the popularization of trap drums in music over the last 40 years.

Allen criticized the dismissal of the growing hip-hop trend by older-generation rappers like J. Cole and the simultaneous appropriation of the style by white pop acts such as Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande.

“They defined the sound of more than one generation, they’re not just ‘the s–t that’s hot now,’ they’re not just something that Ariana [Grande] can put on a track,” Allen said. “They’re a part of a deeper history and I think that as a community, we have to be more careful with turning our back on things that we have created… and write it off as ‘Oh, anybody can do that.'”

Smith said she was impressed by the event and hopes to see it continue in the future.

“I had a great time watching students and faculty engage with each other’s work and have the opportunity to see what Black people on campus are engaged in outside of their coursework,” Simms wrote in a statement to Student Life. “Black faculty and students really took this opportunity to showcase their hard work and passions!”

ABS will conclude its Black History Month programming on Feb. 28 with a community service drive.