The energy in the Diablo Room was electric. The snaps, claps, and hoots of laughter conjured an atmosphere reminiscent of a family reunion, thawing the students’ timidity as they let their raw talent shine.
This scene was a snapshot of the premiere Rhythm & Roots talent show, organized by Diablo Valley College’s Black Student Union (BSU) on the evening of Nov. 6. Open to all DVC students, the event featured a variety of student performances, including spoken word poetry, an improvised praise dance and a duet by DVC basketball players.
Sophomore Deiondre Durham dazzled the audience with his tortured love poem, “King of Sorrow,” a semi-autobiographical narrative about navigating trauma and love as a young man growing up in San Francisco’s housing projects.
“It felt relieving just to be able to let go of some of my feelings or emotions,” said Durham, 25, who decided to share his poem after watching his friend Kristen Freeman receive a warm reception upon reading her own poem. He added that it helped to have a supportive audience that might be able to appreciate or relate to the story.
“It’s kind of like an insulated, secular thing,” Durham said, referring to BSU. “Nothing else matters besides whatever it is that you guys are doing in that room. It’s like the whole world goes silent while the voices in the room are amplified.”
BSU President Brianna Woodcock said the club organized the event to help students unwind and express themselves without fear of judgement.
“Since, I want to say, the first week of school, everyone’s been saying how much of a workload they have on their plate, whether it’s school, work, personal life,” said Woodcock, a 26-year-old dance major. “We wanted to just concentrate on creating and hosting events that will help people forget about all of that, even if it is just for a few moments.”
As BSU members rocked out to “FDT,” a diss of Donald Trump by rapper YG, they let the music, laughter and applause drown out any turbulent feelings provoked by the election results announced that very morning. The timing was coincidental, Woodcock said, but the event wound up providing a place of healing and support.
“I’ve received text messages saying, ‘I didn’t realize how much that election stressed me out and how much I needed this relief and just needed to be in a safe space or with other people that I feel like will actually be there for me,’ and protect them during these hard times,” Woodcock said.
Throughout the evening, the floor opened up for spontaneous dance numbers and group karaoke to songs like “Can You Stand the Rain.” Student soloists also performed songs such as “Rise Up” by Andra Day and “Almost There” from Disney’s Princess and the Frog.
The event shined a spotlight not only on performative talent but also on literary ingenuity, featuring a lineup of original spoken word poetry.
Jayden Adams-Thomas, the founder and former president of the BSU club at DVC, read his poem “Sankofa.” Before beginning, he explained how the title and theme of the poem derived from an African proverb about letting the past inform the future.
One student shared an original song and said he found the event enabled him to expand his fanbase and network with other musicians.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone to use this platform to release their music,” Woodcock said after the gathering. “And he was able to get new fans and new people interested in his music, and be able to even collab with some other people from the bay that do music as well.”
For Durham, who performed spoken-word poetry, the opportunity to share his personal craft with fellow BSU members for the first time was liberating. A computer science and physics double-major, Durham said writing poetry has played a big role in his life since he was six years old.
“I have ADHD, so sometimes I struggle with processing my thoughts when speaking and stuff like that,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to put things on paper and decipher it.”
Having been part of BSU in both high school and DVC, Durham recognized the benefits of connecting to a community on campus. “I think that spaces like [BSU] are needed for everybody, like all creeds, colors and studies,” he said.
Given the event’s success, club leaders said they hope to make Rhythm & Roots a BSU tradition in the coming semesters at DVC. Other events organized by BSU this semester included a soul-food Friendsgiving on Nov. 20 and a vision board workshop meant to help Black women organize their goals and aspirations for the new year.
As he pursues degrees in the STEM field, Durham said he plans to continue writing for personal fulfillment, and he encouraged other students to do the same with their own hobbies.
“Don’t let your passions or dreams take the back seat to anything,” Durham said. “Just continue to chase them until your legs hurt. When your legs hurt, shoot, start to crawl, keep going after it.”