The Black Student Union had its 52nd annual Black Explosion Fashion and Cultural event at the Buffalo Marriot Niagara Hotel. It was held on March 7th with appearances from DJs PVO sounds, Flute Performer Flute Fingers, rapper Sleepy Hallow and his crew including Cheff G and social media influencer Cleotrapa who also hosted the event. The event was attended by more than 500 UB students, The main theme of the event is “Rebirth” which shows appreciation to the Black Panther Party. This is a huge departure from the Last year’s Black Explosion, Which was titled “3067” which mostly showed an exciting future world, This is important as the Black Student Union was started right after the Black Panther Party was founded, thus it had a huge influence on the formation of the union.
The show also had students modeling clothes from designer brands such as Faceless and traditional African clothes from Glenroy March. These were also an appearance by the flute group “Anwar Overton”. They showed off their musical prowess to the audience to great applause.
There were step performances by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the UB’s Step team had a great performance that highlights the mistreatment of black people in prisons. Between each of the performances, different groups of student models would display designs by designers, they would form around the stage and start applauding whilst wearing the latest designs.
Floyd, A junior in mechanical engineering at UB said that the event had “a strong spoken word about Black beauty, Black Strength and Black soul.” He also said that the event was worth being known as “the biggest fashion show in all of Western New York,” But he also felt that, since the show’s theme was the Black Panther Party, The show did not showcase music or fashion from that era which he felt should’ve been an important inclusion. Vijay Maheswari, A junior in Business said that the show had a slow start but started gathering steam towards the middle. He also added that the event gave him a great foray into black culture and its significance today.
Overall, The event was a great success. It helped highlight the power of unity in the black community by the means of entertainment and fashion and how it was influenced by the events of the Black Panther Party. The BSU’s intention of the show being both entertaining as well as informational was fully realized.
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