After a month of celebration, Thursday night's closing ceremony marked the end of Black History Month. Utilizing the theme, "How Rich is our Black Culture?" the Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO) decided to showcase a lesser celebrated aspect of black culture: fashion. The elegantly decorated Sherman Function Hall not only brought together members of BBSO for the event, but attracted several members of the community of varying ethnicities in support of their fellow students as well.After opening remarks from BBSO co-presidents Shalwah Evans '05 and Alana Hamlett '06, the evening commenced with the inspirational words of speaker Jimmie Davis. Currently an engineer, Davis is a graduate of Morehouse College and Georgia Tech with a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. He began his lecture by defining the word 'black' with a quote from former black activist Steven Bikko-"Black is not a matter of pigmentation. Black is a reflection of a mental attitude." Along the lines of Bikko's message, Davis went on to say how every black student in the room was here to make a difference, a change in the world.

He structured his speech like a church sermon, encouraging the audience to respond to his enthusiastic questions and statements. At first, most were quiet, used to the usual manner of audience participation in a lecture, mainly listening quietly. After a lot of urging for interaction from Davis, the crowd was much more relaxed and willing to chime in with responsive remarks.

His lecture focused on taking advantage of the opportunities given to black students at Brandeis. He insisted that the audience respect how many African-Americans struggled before them to pave a path for today's students. He urged students to make the most out of their time at Brandeis because not only is it a way to gain a valuable education but it is also a way to discover one's self. He stressed the importance of learning, stating it is time for black people to be known for something other than entertainment-it is time for them to be known for their intelligence as well.

Davis finished his speech with a comment on the reality of existing intolerance. He encouraged students to not buy into hurtful words and rise above the prejudice instead. Davis received strong applause, and judging by the facial expressions of several crowd members, his words struck a chord with many of the students in attendance.
Following Davis' lecture, Evans introduced the fashion segment of the ceremony. The fashion show was meant to display another aspect of black culture and to prove that black people can be creative and successful in any endeavor. All of the clothes modeled were created by black designers including Sean John, Enyce, Rocawear, Akweevyah Yisrael, Moshood and Akademiks.

The show also featured the BBSO:RBG line, created by Evans herself. Evans explained that RBG stands for Red, Black and Green. The red represents the blood and struggle of the people, the black represents the people and the green represents the land of the people, whether the origin is Africa, Jamaica, America or any other country. Evans included her own work in the show to demonstrate "how easy it is to get creative with your own self."

With lively hip hop music playing in the background, compliments of DJ Mark Brescia '04, the models began to strut down the "runway" in the middle of the function hall. The models, all members of BBSO, hammed it up for the audience, as each model flirted with another model of the opposite sex in passing. Each model received enormous support from the audience, including a few cat calls and hollers. The models sported a wide variety of vibrant and colorful clothing. The outfits ranged from trendy track suits to classy sweaters for men and chic dresses for women to traditional style African tunic-like dresses and suits. Among the outfits were a few of the BBSO designs, which featured a few colorful tops with the letters "RBG" and ribbon sewn into the shirts to give them a unique flare. Another RBG design was a khaki skirt slit in several places and held together with gold colored chains.

The ceremony ended with dinner, dessert and a toast thanking everyone involved with Black History Month. The event was an appropriate end to a month celebrating the richness of black culture. BBSO was successful in bringing together members of the community along with its own club to demonstrate the obvious impact black culture has made and will continue to make in modern American society.