With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, some campus organizations are changing their agendas to the language of love.
“Love is very special in the black community because it’s communicated in different ways,” Cal State Long Beach Africana Studies Student Association (ASSA) secretary Darrel Patterson said.
In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, the ASSA hosted the event Occupy Love: A Black Male and Female Relationships Panel Discussion on Monday night. The event dedicated time to the discussion of black relationships and their complexities.
Romantic slow jams played to set the mood as the University Student Union ballroom gradually filled to its capacity. Many of the students filling the room attended the event hoping to gain insight to the success of black relationships.
Freshman communication studies major Linda Brown said she attended the event to learn about her male counterparts and to hear a guys’ perspective on relationships.
“I’m observing that the black man hasn’t been showing interest in the black woman,” Brown said.
The event’s panel comprised of two ASSA officers and included Patterson; freshman journalism major Taylor Jeffrey; and junior environmental science major Darrel Patterson.
The unity among members of ASSA was palpable as they spoke freely about their experiences and concerns as well as lessons learned about each other as individuals and as a community.
The first questions asked addressed light matters, such as the ideal type of man or woman or places to meet singles. As time passed, however, questions became touchier and arguments grew hotter.
Students passed around a microphone and discussed the importance of honesty and communication, the troubles of cheating and the differences between the terms “attractive” and “thirsty” when approaching the opposite sex.
“Honestly bro, if you’ve got to message her on Facebook, it’s a wrap,” Patterson said.
The questions became more open, and as the men and women originally arguing from opposite poles began to acquiesce, the room filled with nodding heads and utterances of affirmation.
Casual banter then turned into passionate monologues, backed by historical and scientific evidence about black hardships and social issues.
“A problem we have today is that we sexualize each other,” a voice said from the crowd.
The discussion soon delved into the scientific aspect of relationships in general. Eyobe Abay, a senior microbiology major, vouched for men’s animalistic desires.
“We are basically programmed to spread our seed and procreate,” Abay said. “For most of us men, we try to get that out of our system before we settle.”
Jadon Past, one of the Founders of ASSA, made a surprise visit to the event and stressed the importance of unity amongst blacks. He said that before the civil rights movement, 80 percent of black families were whole, while today single-parented households are much more common.
“We continue to talk about sex, but we are not moving forward as a people,” he said.
Taharka Anderson, a senior sociology major, questioned the difference between black and other racial relationships.
“When we talk about relationships, we are talking about our identity and center as African American people,” Anderson said. “We need to understand the conditions of black people … How is your union with someone else going to improve that condition?”