The Black Student Union [BSU] shares their thought process when choosing the dress-up days for their first spirit week which honors Black History Month.
By: Anel Lua
In honor of Black History Month, the Black Student Union (BSU) honors the month with their very first spirit week, which consist of dress-up days such as ‘Jersey Day’ on Monday, ‘Culture Day’ on Tuesday, ‘Hip-Hop Day’ on Wednesday, ‘I Have A Dream’ on Thursday, and ‘Rhythm and Blues’ on Friday.
Just like every other club, teamwork and collaboration is highly important, especially when planning for a week like this.
BSU’s advisor, Ms. Amber Rodriguez says, “This was a very student centered, student lead event.”
Photo courtesy of Rodriguez
Ms. Rodriguez adds, “The dress-up days [were] based off of a certain committee of students. It was led by Xavier and Javion, they came up with the dress-up days, and they were super creative.”
Ms. Rodriguez explains how the students wanted to “really represent what Black History Month means. It’s not just tokenized, ‘Let’s check off the box of blackness,’ but really look [and] lean into the giants who came before us and into their ideas and insights.”
This week is not just about celebrating, but bringing more attention to the history behind it.
Rodriguez says, “I think [this week is] very significant. It should be Black History Month every month, but this month [specifically] is organized to bring awareness that a lot of labor has been used, exploitation of people, systemic ideas, and concepts of oppression. It’s not like one day we woke up and racism is over.”
When asked why they decided to incorporate dress-up days for the first time this year, Rodriguez says, “We tried to do it last year. I don’t know if we didn’t get the flyer out or what happened, but we [plan] to do it every year.”
The committee of BSU believes that this week has many purposes to it.
Alyssa Vasquez, ’26
Photo A.Ceballos/Gigantea
Vice-President of BSU, Alyssa Vasquez, ‘26, says, “We wanted to use this as a time to represent black history, black culture, and we just wanted something fun to do on the campus to show that we are a club here.”
President of BSU, Javion Richardson, ‘25, adds, “It is important to connect with our culture and show the importance of Black History Month.”
When choosing the dress-up days, the club was very clever with their ideas.
Vasquez says, “We tried to think of something that was inclusive, but also fun, and [goes] along with Black History Month and what it stands for, so like [Hip-Hop Day], that’s something that was created by African American people. We [also] have [MLK Day], so wearing pajamas because of his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.”
BSU’s Community Outreach leader, Xavier Willhite, ‘26, explains that the club wanted to incorporate black culture along with other cultures, which is where Culture Day comes from.
Willhite says, “It’s a day for anyone to show up and show off their culture.”
Anel Lua
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