During Black History Month, Ckyra your elected Vice-President, sat down with the EDI Projects Coordinator to talk about this month’s significance to her.
KSU: What does reclaiming narratives mean to you Ckyra?
Ckyra: Reclaiming narratives means to me, that it’s a chance to take back who you are, putting that power of control back into your hands, and reclaiming narratives in accordance with Black History Month means breaking all the stereotypes. Being from the Caribbean I look forward that this month’s theme will allows a modern of us to be represented which is not what is typically done and allows us to embrace our true selves.
KSU: And how are you doing that this month?
Ckyra: Well this month, I am working with Ines, the EDI Projects Coordinator at KSU.We’ve been playing Afro-caribbeanmusic in the KSU social space. Emphasising the wide variety of music for example, dancehall, reggae, afrobeat’s, amapiano, soca. As someone from the Caribbean I’ve really enjoyed showcasing the music from my culture and interacting with students about it.
KSU: What does having afro-caribbean music play in the KSU social space?
Ckyra: SO to me I’m really big on carnival. Carnival comes from the 1960s where black people were trying to reclaim who they were and to celebrate it. There’s a bunch of music which just represents who we are. So being able to hear that at university makes me feel supported, and Ifeel like music is freedom of speech. Soca music is from black heritage so hearing black instruments over a black vocalist and theirpoweful lyrics is just so comforting.
KSU: What’s your favourite song?
Ckyra: That’s a difficult one. I’ll do favourite artists instead so it would be Vybz Kartel, Machel Montano and the Voice
KSU: What’s your favourite thing about being from the Caribbean?
Ckyra: The food, I think it’s the food for sure. Goat Curry is the best!
KSU: How do you feel like KSU is supporting Black students?
Ckyra: I feel proud as a Caribbean, I feel lucky to have a voice. I feel lucky to see that KSU is representing us because I feel like that there has been gap between black student, but now KSU and black students are finally coming together through campus activities. For example, the pop ups have been quite good as we had music playing and students were also learning through trivia and facts. I feel like effort has been done. I feel like respect has been shown in a respectful way and that students have had a chance to reclaim it, and learn about it. Also during this month I have learned new things which I had never known. For example I now know that Maya Angelou’s first book was Why the caged birds sing.
KSU: After black history month, what do you want people to remember through the whole year?
Ckyra: I want people to remember that Black History Month is in October first of all. I want people to remember the importance of reclaiming narratives, and remember our culture is not a joke. It’s more than that, it’s a language, an identity, it’s a lot more. It’s CULTURE it’s COMMUNITY.