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Hevin White, a BSU member, serves hungry students during Soul Food Friday.

The Black Student Union had been preparing for Soul Food Friday for weeks. From curating the menu to choosing the best old school R&B hits to play during the main event, Soul Food Friday was not an affair put on by the light-hearted. The Black Student Union worked hard to provide Community High School students with a lunch fit for a black family reunion, and provide they did. On Friday, Nov. 18th, Luther Vandross crooned through a Beats Pill as BSU members anticipated to treat their peers to their wide selection of eats. Students began to file in after fourth block, as the aroma of fried, baked and tasty trays of food filled the floor. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, greens, beans and three different types of sweet potato dishes decorated the tables, all ready to be sold to the growing line of hungry students waiting on the third floor for food.

Soul food is often the go-to food for gatherings in the Black community. It  can commonly be found  after church services and barbecues. The University Of Michigan’s Black Student Union even has it at their mass meetings. Soul food is known to bring people together so it was only natural that Community’s BSU share it with the masses. Teaira Majors, a senior popular for her generous servings of mac and cheese, says her favorite part of Soul Food Friday is the reaction it garners from Community students. She loves “the expressions on their face, and watching it go by fast, because it’s really good.”

Students and staff who enjoyed food can thank the BSU members who stayed up all night cooking.

Avani Carter made cupcakes and pound cake with her mother. Olivia Freeman, a senior and BSU member, made greens and sweet potatoes. When The Communicator asked Freeman if she was happy with the results of Soul Food Friday, considering all of the work she put in the night before, she responded with a passionate “Yes!”

While Soul Food Friday was lots of fun, The BSU actually planned it as a fundraiser. Historically, Soul Food Friday has been a lucrative event for the Union.With the money raised from the event, the BSU might buy merchandise or take a field trip.  “We are just going to raise as much as we can, and from there we will determine what we can do. Going to Cincinnati is one idea that we have talked about,” Tawiah Yalley said, a senior and the BSU’s vice president. Cincinnati is home to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a museum based on the Underground Railroad and the black experience post-slavery.

Yalley has been a leader in Community’s BSU since the beginning of the school year. Throughout the transition from last year to this one, he’s observed positive changes. “I’ve really become most involved this year. I think one thing that’s changed a lot, is that we’re getting more people to join. Even people that aren’t in the black community are joining and helping out,” Yalley said.

Quincy Jenkins, a sophomore and a new member of the Union praised the BSU’s teamwork. “I wasn’t a member last year, but this year it’s been pretty good. Everyone contributes ideas and gets the ball rolling.”

It was also Sophia Scarnecchia’s, a freshman’s, first Soul Food Friday. “I’m very impressed by the amount of diversity we embrace here at the school,” she said. “It really shows while doing Soul Food Friday.”

Hopefully, the BSU will provide Community with another opportunity to express its diversity with a Soul Food Friday in the near future. Janelle Johnson, a teacher who helped students organize this year’s first Soul Food Friday, made the mac and cheese and bought the fried chicken said its definitely happening again. The question on students’ minds however, is when? And how often?

“I would be very okay if this happened weekly. I know it’s not possible, but I would love that. If this happened every month I would enjoy it so much,” said Sam Uribe, a junior whose favorite dish was the mac and cheese. While Soul Food Friday probably won’t be a monthly occurrence, the Black Student Union  will definitely return to fulfill everyone’s fried, candied, and cheese-baked needs.

If you have any requests for next time, feel free to name them.