Last Friday, The International Civil Rights Museum (ICRM) was host to their College Night First Friday Performance event. The program went from 6pm to 8pm and was held in the governmental square, down the street, instead of inside of the Civil Rights Museum. N.C. A&T’s own Brandon Brockington, senior english major, served as the MC for the evening.
Upon arrival, students were directed to a table where they were to present their college I.D. to receive a raffle ticket. The first 30 minutes of the program was spent listening to music the DJ on stage blasted. As the music faded, a group of students performed a narrative about africa, the middle passage, the civil rights movement, and modern times which was titled “Transcending Music Through Time.”
Brockington came on stage and gave a formal introduction of himself and educated the audience on the history of the museum. He emphasized the importance of Feb. 1, 1960 and the difference that four college students made while encouraging students in the crowd to believe in themselves. He also gave away a few raffle prizes to winners before introducing the next performers.
The rest of the student performers for the evening included two spoken word performers, one of which was Micah Graves from GTCC who performed his original poem entitled “Who Will Save You Now.” Tyson Carr played the saxophone to Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” instrumental just after Rhythmic Manifesto and Odyssey’s dance performances. The last of the student performances was a band named Dalton Village, who received a lot of crowd participation from their upbeat song “Nightlife.” Right after their performance, the DJ closed out the evening with the “Wobble” which got the crowd out of their seats to dance before the refreshment lines were opened.
Janean Bryant, a first year law student at Elon said, “the performances were really good and it’s nice to come together with other college students and celebrate black history.”
Raffle prizes given away at the event included restaurant passes to places like CiCi’s Pizza, Libby Hill, and Mellow Mushroom. Also Carolina Theatre passes, school supplies from Staples, and ICRM hats and tickets. Pizza, sandwiches, cookies and punch were some of the refreshments offered at the end of the event.
Ziris Savage, freshman journalism and mass communications major at A&T said, “students missed an opportunity they would’ve enjoyed, it was pretty good,” making reference to the low turn out for the event.
It was a great chance to enjoy entertainment from local colleges and universities, enjoy refreshments, and for students to collect free welcome back surprises from local businesses. It also offered a forum for students to interact and connect with each other, and with ICRCM who handed out surveys during the program as attempt to know students interests and how the Museum can better serve them.
- Courtney Matthews, Asst. Online Editor