Students and staff gathered in Goodrich Hall on Feb. 24 for the Black Student Union’s (BSU) Renaissance Gala to watch a series of student performances, speeches, and the unveiling of an original student artwork.
The gala, emceed by Esther Eboh ’26.5 and Jeffrey Zigbuo ’26, was divided into a series of thematic acts. “I really wanted the gala to encompass the state of the Harlem Renaissance here on Williams campus, which means cultivating Black life and Black art,” Zigbuo said. The gala, he added, was split into three acts — “Black Identity,” “Black Beauty,” and “Black Resistance” — to emulate Beyoncé’s latest three-act project, which began with the release of the Renaissance album in 2022.
During the planning process, Zigbuo came across an article describing the three acts of Beyoncé’s Renaissance project and realized that the gala could be entirely reimagined from BSU’s gala last year. “I wanted this to be an event that meant something for the community,” Zigbuo said. “I wanted it to tell a story.” Zigbuo worked with the Society of the Griffins board and other members of the BSU board to make the gala a reality.
Nyamekye Akosah ’25, a member of the Society of the Griffins board, reflected on the planning process for the gala “The BSU and the Society of the Griffins set out to create an event that would set the standard for events for the Black community,” Akosah wrote to the Record. “I’m happy to say that we did.”
During Act 1, Ayanna Columbus ’24 gave a speech on her experiences of marginalization in the Black community as a queer person. She was then followed by a performance by student dance group Kusika, which performed “Sinte,” a coming-of-age dance from Guinea, and Kuku, a drum rhythm used to celebrate the harvest also from Guinea. Act 1 was then concluded with a speech by Xavier Wills ’27 that discussed how being queer fits into the Black identity.
To start off Act 2, Uchechi Ibewuike ’27 gave a speech discussing Black hair and the power that Black hair contains. The Williams Black Creative Collective then presented a video that compiled a series of photos and interviews discussing where students find and express Black joy. After the video concluded, Dialogue Facilitator Dre Finley presented an original spoken word piece, “A Love Letter,” expressing his admiration for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and first-generation students at the College. Zigbuo and Wills followed by singing a duet of “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, which Manu Thompson ’27 accompanied on the piano. To finish Act 2, Percy Tonha ’26 unveiled an original artwork of his entitled Gauius Bolin, which depicts Gauius Bolin, Class of 1889 — the first Black graduate of the College. The piece utilizes acrylic paint, colored pencils, and oil pastels and was inspired by works from the Harlem Renaissance, Tonha said.
At the start of “Black Resistance,” the third and final act of the night, Assistant Vice President for Campus Engagement and Co-Director of the Davis Center Bilal Ansari presented a speech on the history of Black people in the Berkshires and how their existence served as a means of resistance. Ansari’s speech was followed by a performance of Alica Keys’ “Unthinkable” by the R&B a cappella group Purple Rain, featuring a solo by Mafoudia Keita ’24.
Onyeraluobu Chibuogwu ’26 provided the closing speech for the gala, touching on Black itellectualism as resistance. “In history, when Black people resist, the media often finds a way to shift from reality — stereotyping Black people as violent, calling us animals, and promoting us as less than,” Chibuogwu said during his speech. “However, resistance is the opposite of all those things. Resistance is about love and empathy. Not only on a personal level, but as a revolutionary force that obtains the power to transcend hate, build bridges, and drive social change.”
In an interview with the Record, Wills said that the event served as a celebration of the College’s Black community. “[During the gala] I thought of the different ways that Black people are beautiful — Black people are not a monolith,” he said. “Seeing the different ways that we all contribute to moving beyond the academic space while here at Williams and how that was showcased very, very well at the gala.”
Zigbuo expressed a similar sentiment. “I cannot imagine going anywhere else because this would not have been able to be possible if we were anywhere else other than Williams,” he said. “I’m just so grateful that I go here and can do stuff like this here.”
