That Megan Thee Stallion interview is a prime example of why we need to value not only the digital track of Mass Communications but ALSO the Strategic area. Communications isn’t just about broadcast and radio. If one lacks the basic understanding of interviewing they are unprofessional. As a Mass Communications major (I now identify as a Strategic Communications major), I think the strategic area of the study itself is devalued because people only see Mass Comm as just reporting, broadcast, radio hosting, etc when it’s more to the field.
As a Communications major you can pick to either be on the digital field or you can pursue the strategic field. As one who once wanted to be a journalist, I was only introduced to the digital areas of the study and it blinded me. However, even as a digital track Communications major, interviewing is BASIC knowledge that any media professional should’ve learned. I understand that radio can be a hobby for some but we live in a world where strong communication is essential to success.
RESEARCH is an important tool that every Communications major or professional in the field should have. You just can’t bring someone in for an interview without prior research. Honestly, you don’t even need to major in Communications to understand this. It’s that simple. You don’t speak on what you have no knowledge of. You don’t speak on what you don’t have facts on. You don’t speak on what you don’t know. The interview could’ve went well if it weren’t for him brining up her mother without having prior knowledge of her passing. But, this goes to show you how credible these radio hosts and their shows are.
This is where I think the study of Communications goes wrong. People don’t take it serious because of the lack of professionalism we often see on these platforms. Now, if you truly study Communication you’ll know that there are many different Communicaiton Theories that contribute to how we interact with each other. And that goes for those in the professional realm. These Communication theories I speak of are important to note when it comes to interviewing. This is the SECOND interview that I’ve watched with Megan Thee Stallion where the interviewer lacked professionalism in their communication approach. Trash.
The question we now have to ask ourselves is why aren’t these media platforms RESEARCHING before they INTERVIEW? You can’t pull this crap on CNN. Mass Media is important. But it lacks professionalism and I blame instructors for their lack of implementation of BOTH tracks; digital AND strategic. I feel like you can’t teach one without teaching the other.
I grew up in a household with a father who was a journalist and hosted his own radio show. Before he interviewed someone I can remember him up day and night researching the necessary information he needed before bringing someone in. YOU CANNOT TEACH DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS WITHOUT TEACHING STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS. THEY GO HAND IN HAND.
For one of my Communications Theory papers I wrote about Megan Thee Stallion’s interview where the interviewer asked about the authenticity of her body. I connected that to Expectancy Violations Theory. If you’d like to read it, you can. I only got a B+ though. Even though I want to pursue a career in Public Policy/Public Administration, Communication is very important to me and I believe it plays a major role in how we interact as humans especially in our society.
In closing, I believe it is the duty of these Mass Communications instructors and lecturers to emphasize the importance of not just digital media and communications but also the strategic side of the study. Students studying Mass Comm. need a versatile approach.
Professionalism in Mass Media is important. And I believe that professionalism is he strategic side. 🙂 But, that’s all folks! I’m only a rising senior in college so I still have much more to learn myself! Just wanted to share my thoughts. Feel free to follow me on LinkedIn, Elisabeth Bellevue! 🙂 I’m looking for an internship. I’m a rising senior majoring in Strategic Communications, minoring in Black Studies and obtaining a Pre-Law certificate. Be a blessing. Thank you!
Fort Valley State University held elections this past February to elect new student representation. Ryan Thurman, a senior Media Studies major from Decatur, Georgia, won the coveted title of Mister Fort Valley State University.
Thurman campaigned on the platform “Make Your Mark”, encouraging students to be civically and socially engaged during their time at their institution. His “Put In For The Valley” video was watched 12,000 times on Twitter and he hosted a Gym Jam where the price of admission was donating goods to the Feed Center of Fort Valley and The Vault in the FVSU Infirmary.
Thurman takes his position seriously and believes that it’s a blessing to be installed in the position.
“Being Mister Fort Valley is a tremendous blessing. I’m just very grateful for the FVSU student body to see me fit to be in this position.”
Thurman also takes pride in his appearance, wearing suits every Dress For Success Wednesday on campus.
“It’s really a culture thing now. 2 or 3 years ago suits weren’t the main priority for a campus king. Of course you have to look good but it wasn’t a big deal how it is now.”
Thurman has been installed in his position and will start his reign officially in the fall.
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND - MARCH 07: Megan Thee Stallion performs live onstage 2019 WKYS Women's Day Celebration at The Fillmore Silver Spring on March 07, 2019 in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Photo by Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
Election season is wrapping up, which means that planning for the fall semester has commenced. Candidates vying for positions in SGA had platforms full of promises to either bring life and excitement to the yard or maintain the lit energy that previous administrations brought to the campus. Out of all the promises that SGA representatives, specifically the SGA president, has to make is the layout of homecoming festivities. I’ve seen the legacies of SGA presidents made or broken by the student’s reaction to the homecoming schedule. Homecoming plays a pivotal part in the regards of the student’s satisfaction with their elected administration.
It’s hard to deny this fact. Homecoming is akin to the NBA Finals for basketball players. Allen Iverson is seen as one of the greatest players in NBA history and shifted the culture of basketball with how he carried himself. Yet, if you bring him up as the best player to ever play the game of basketball, the first rebuttal would be “well, he didn’t win an NBA championship”. Homecoming is just like that for the legacies of SGA Presidents and their administration. Students hold homecoming to a high standard. They don’t care about the team that you have around you or the budget allocated to you. They care about the week of events planned. They care about the end game; students often skip the beginning of the story (planning) to get to the climax of the turn-up.
I witnessed first hand the pressure that the SGA President goes through when crafting homecoming. My second year in SGA at Fort Valley State University, we were tasked to put together the first homecoming concert in three years. We were being thrown names such as 21 Savage, Migos, Cardi B and performers that were asking for every student’s tuition payments plus the Title lll funds. Students looked at Howard, Southern, NCAT’s legendary GHOE homecoming line-up and FAMU and wanted something comparable. They wanted something that they could use to boast that their HBCU did it better than anyone. SGA couldn’t pull money out of thin air. Students that weren’t involved in the process couldn’t understand this.
SGA’s responsibility isn’t to make the yard lit. If anything, that’s the job of the Student Activities organization of the school. I mean, it’s in the name. Student Union Activity Board. Campus Activity Board. Student Government Association. The responsibility of SGA is to govern and use resources to advocate for the student body. Other organizations need money to function. There’s social and community service initiatives that SGA bankrolls. At some schools, the student activity fee becomes a factor. Either the activity fee is too low or there’s not enough students to give you the expansive student activity fee that’s necessary.
All the money can’t be poured into homecoming because SGA needs those dollars to operate. Yet, students want homecoming to be a huge spectacle with bells, whistles and artists that won’t even perform at the BET Awards anymore. Something has to be done to find a middle ground where the expectations of the students are met but SGA is still able to govern accordingly throughout the year. There’s only one solution to make things happen efficiently. And that means charging for homecoming events.
Now wait! Stop right there! I already know someone is gonna want smoke with me for even insinuating that the students should pay for homecoming festivities. Let me make this clear before I start. I didn’t say all the homecoming activities needed to be paid for. I think the events of value should though. If I’m bringing DC Youngfly and the 85 South Show or someone that you’d pay to see for the comedy show, you should pay to see them. If you want Megan The Stallion to perform at homecoming in October realize that the price is probably gonna go up from what it was doing Springfest because her career is about to hit another level. There has to be some type of give or take to ensure that homecoming can be as lit as it possibly can and to make sure that SGA recoups the money that it gave up.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to charge for certain homecoming festivities, especially a concert. If you go to Birthday Bash you’re paying for a ticket. At most music festivals that you go to you’re paying for a ticket. If you went to the Aubrey & The Three Migos tour, you paid for a ticket. The money you paid for the ticket didn’t go to anything that benefits you. But, paying moderately priced tickets for your homecoming concert will actually benefit you. Why wouldn’t you want to pay for your school’s concert, especially if the lineup is lit?
I look at Homecoming as the biggest recruitment mechanism and fundraising effort that student leaders can possibly put together. You’re literally displaying to the greater community around your institution and the world how lit you all are. I feel as if one of the biggest differences (and strengths) that HBCUs have over other institutions is the environment and social interactions of the campus. The culture of HBCU life is what makes students want to come to our institutions. The social environment is just as important as the academic environment. Homecoming itselfs aids in this environment.
If you go to an institution that has 5,000-10,000 students and is getting to the bag, that’s perfectly fine. But, this is a solution for the SGA Presidents and their E-Board that have to get inventive to put together their homecoming lineup and don’t want to be in the red for the rest of the year.
When I first heard about the Grown-ish spinoff of Black-ish starring superstar activist Yara Shahidi I was super excited. I’ve been a fan of Black-ish since it came out in 2014. When people were trying to talk slick about the name of the show, I was in the forefront defending the potential of what it could become. I saw the modern day Cosby Show vibes that were on the horizon. And it exceeded those expectations. The topics that Black-ish has touched on has been amazing. And the nuance that they tackle these subjects with is one of a kind. It’s the epitome of intelligent satire. One moment, you’re doubled over in laughter, the next you’re embroiled in intelligent thought about the discussion of the night presented.
The prospects for what Grown-ish could be following this formula had me ready for January 2018 to come around the corner. The problem was, my high expectations for the show weren’t met. Grown-ish seemed to be more sitcom than satire. A mockery roast of the millennial generation more than a humorous view at the the kids of the information age. The characters seemed like caricatures to me. Even bigger caricatures than what’s seen in Black-ish. Plus, it seemed as if they were outlandish for no reason because their growth was suspended. The growth that they underwent by the end of one episode would be undone as the episodes progressed.
Don’t get me wrong now! I love Grown-ish! I watch it on a daily basis and rewatch it on the Freeform app and DVR. It’s wildly entertaining and hilarious. That doesn’t take away from my critiques though. Because I love the show so much, I want it to be the best that it can be. I want it to speak to the true realities of HBCU and PWI/PBI students alike and find hilarity in situations that extend outside of relationships, friendships and partying (and pills I’d choose to believe black people ain’t popping). Oh, the places that Grown-ish could go!
Let me also make this clear as well. I’m not picking on Grown-ish! The college based media of the past twenty years (post-A Different World) by in large hasn’t been an accurate depiction of black college life. Sure, it’s shown a sector of the black college experience but a hyper-sensationalized version of the black college experience that’s being portrayed. Because of this, I decided to conduct research on this topic that I presented at my HBCU Fort Valley State University’s 9th Annual Research Day. My presentation won 3rd place in the oral presentation section of the Arts & Humanities competition. You can watch it below!
We could go into my abstract and I could copy and paste my long research day proposal but let’s make things condensed and get to the point. There’s a reason why these media projects aren’t accurate. It’s quite simple. Those that are writing, producing and creating these movies and shows aren’t that well-versed on our generation. It isn’t their fault. They don’t have the time to keep up with Kodak Black’s new diss on T.I. or however many Deltas are campus queens this year. They have lives, bills, children and the responsibilities of fully grown adults. That’s our job!
I believe that if college students (that are part of the 18-25 demographic of viewers that these shows often target) were more involved in the creative process of these media projects it would be way more accurate. From what I see, college students aren’t in these rooms. If we’re allowed in, we’re doing intern responsibilities. Hence the reason for this disconnect. There’s a way for these writers and producers to produce more accurate depictions of black college life: sit down with college students, interview them, just listen to what they go through. That’s what I did to create my book A Queen’s Pain.
I had to lean heavily upon my many female student leaders, friends and campus queens around the nation to make my book A Queen’s Pain. The book is about a young lady named Raynetta Duram who aspires to be the 78th Miss Laketon State University and a member of the Rho Eta sorority on campus. However, she has a problem understanding her value. She believes that being Greek and a Campus Queen will validate her. She believes that securing these titles will give her purpose; something to live for. However, what she doesn’t realize is that her true value lies within her. Raynetta’s lack of awareness of this fact causes her mental anguish that threatens to derail her chances of being a Rho Eta and Miss Laketon State.
Now, think about this. I’m not a black woman, campus queen nor am I Greek. Yet, I conducted a poll on HBCU Pulse’s Instagram using the polling feature on IG Story. During the poll, I presented images and snippets of each of the college shows that I’m going to mention below. 83% of students polled believed that “A Queen’s Pain” was a more accurate depiction of HBCU life than Grown-ish (73% of college students surveyed voted that it wasn’t an accurate depiction of college life), Dear White People (70% voted no), and the relationship storylines of Drumline & Stomp The Yard (96% and 80% of students voted no respectively).
Let’s discuss the reason for the poll numbers and why it makes as statement. First, I want you to read a chapter from A Queen’s Pain called “Strategy Meetings”. The chapter is about Raynetta’s anxiety to run to be Miss Laketon State University because her opponent Jessica Wilson at this point of the story is being rumored to be in the process of pledging the Rho Eta sorority before campaign week.
Tyler nodded. “That’s why Jessica crossing matters so much to you. You see her as your main competition and you feel like she’s about to be an Eta and come up off of your fall out with Alicia back Freshman year.”
I dropped my head to my chest. “Exactly.”
“That’s different. I must admit it. The Etas do have pull on the yard and all the new Etas coming out are going to have clout out of this world. That doesn’t mean you’re not gonna win though. We just have to be tighter in our campaign.”
“Did I forget to mention that she’s the Mu Theta queen? The Mu Thetas run the yard too.”
Tyler shrugged her shoulders. “That’s debatable. I feel like Lambda Phi does. The Mu Thetas are just more visible.”
“You don’t see what I see. If you’re talking about clout the Mu Thetas have it.”
She smacked her lips. “You’re just saying that because you want to be an Eta.”
“I could say the same thing for you. The Sigma Betas are the Lambda’s sisters.”
Tyler rolled her eyes again. “Your boyfriend is a Lambda man after all! Either way, It doesn’t matter what sorority you’re in. At the end of the day the students want to really know who you are. We care about the impact you make more than the clout you get for crossing.”
“I don’t think you believe that yourself. You already know Laketon State is obsessed with Greeks. Jessica being Miss Mu Theta is even more important than me being Miss Junior.”
Tyler hopped up out of her chair after I said that. She started pacing back and forth and shouted. “Really ‘Netta? Really? You really think being an organizational queen means more than being a Queen for the school’s court?”
“I mean, her being their queen means that it’s a given that she’s gonna be on-line to be an Eta. Plus, the Thetas are gonna campaign hard for her too.”
She walked up to me. “You must like feeling bad for yourself or something? If so, let me know so I can go on to bed and get this over with. I might need to go out after this and drink because you got me worked up right now.”
I leaned back in the couch chair and folded my arms. She rubbed her temple and leaned on the table in front of me. She patted me on the leg.
“Look at me Raynetta.”
I looked at her. She looked me in the eye and said, “I need you to stop stressing so much. . It seems like you’re literally finding things to worry about and that’s not ok. From here on out I want you to stop worrying about Jessica and what she does. I need you to focus on you. Let me worry about everything else. As your campaign manager, that’s my job.”
This chapter came from an interview that I did Keila Outen, popular YouTuber (AK.TV) and Spring 2018 Initiate of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. She also ran to be Miss Fort Valley State University a week after she crossed Delta and served as the second attendant on the FVSU Royal Court this past year. When I spoke with her for my documentary Election Season: The Story of True HBCU Queens. She said, “I don’t think that being Greek influences the election, simply because there have been Greeks on the Royal Court prior to me being on court…It doesn’t mean necessarily that they are going to vote for me. It just means they recognize me.”
Using my interview with Keila, I fictionalized her answer and added it in the context of the storyline. Because of this, it resonated with my intended audience. It’s not hard. Sure, I’m the author of four books but I’m not an Emmy-nominated writer or showrunner. This could be done easily. I even think that the easiest solution to the generational disconnect that’s often seen with college based media is literally making positions to allow students to be involved in the conversation.
Sure, as college students we don’t have degrees just yet nor years of entertainment or production experience. However, we could get it by working in conjunction with shows such as Grown-ish and movies such as Stomp The Yard or even a Burning Sands (which I left off the survey because how vehemently the movie was opposed in both the college and black Greek community.) There’s no reason to attempt to make college life more sensationalized than it already is. I mean, come on! Spend a day with us on the yard and you’ll see why I say this. Help us out! Create an associate producer spot to put us in the game. How about making a consultant on the series? I promise you, the shows would be more accrate and hit home more for college viewers.
To do better, we much know better. As millennials, we have to let our voices be heard. We must start to tell our stories and help those that want to tell our stories tell it as accurately as possible.
You already know that Beyonce can do no wrong and this point in her career. She’s ascended to certifiable icon status. Queen Bey is in the rare bracket that artists such as Michael Jackson and Prince successfully reached. Beyonce transcends race, culture, gender, genre and even generations. Seriously, you can stack up the artistry of Beyonce against the artists of any generation of music (black or white) and she stands boldly.
My appreciation for Beyonce goes deep. She shifts culture. The most impactful things she’s done in her career has been her nonconformity in her rise to idolatry. She’s kept it super black. The epitome of black. Bliggity black! Even her crossover Pop and Country songs are black. At the root of it all, she’s still the Southern Texas girl and it’s beautiful to see that she hasn’t changed. If anything she’s made it a point to embrace her regalness as a black woman icon.
Being from the south, Beyonce knows of the cultural impact of HBCUs. So, it was only right that she gave a nod to the pageantry and talent that black colleges display every football and basketball game, tailgate and, of course, homecoming festivity. THe Beychella performance is one that will go down in the history of black entertainment, if not entertainment history in general. The Homecoming documentary, which was released with a surprise album of the same name, only solidifies this point.
The documentary itself is a reairing of the legendary Coachella performance with an inside look into the making of it and the HBCU inspiration behind the performance itself. Every mini-section that has a quote by a famous historical figure who also is an HBCU alumni such as Toni Morrison and W.E.B. Du Bois. With every snippet of the documentary, you learned more and more about the set-up of the performance and even the individuals that were blessed to grace the stage with Beyonce. She showed love to the institutions that inspired the performance and took the audience through the rigorous practice sessions that went into the crafting of this historic set. Through the film, I learned a lot about Beyonce and I grew a deeper understanding of her music. We also was blessed with the opportunity to see her dance rendition of Juvenile “Back That Ass Up” and the crowd’s glee to her performing “Swag Surfin’”. They didn’t know if they wanted to continue to watch the performance or start swag surfin’ in the crowd. If she went and did that at an HBCU, we would’ve been read to rock it!
I feel as if southern music is in some way influenced by HBCU band culture. Even trap music, from the hitting base to the snare drum sounds you often hear. Going to an HBCU has open my mind and ear in a way that it never has been before. Even watching Homecoming put me on game about the marching band influence on Beyonce’s musical catalogue. Just listen to “Diva” and “Crazy In Love” and you’ll hear the same thing that I now hear!
For Beyonce to use her expansive platform to shine a light on HBCUs is admirable. It’s what separates her from other artists in her field. To even hear that she’s called upon the influence of HBCU music on her artistry is powerful in itself. Beychella could be seen as the A Different World moment of our generation. I believe that Beychella, and this film, will drive HBCU enrollment up. I believe funding for HBCU music programming will increase. This is the power of media. We needed an iconic celebrity to wrap her arms around the HBCU community like Beyonce has. The byproducts of her doing this will be immense.
(Fort Valley, GA) Fort Valley State University recently celebrated the opening of Bishop Hall with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Bishop Hall is the home of the Media Studies department, which has been housed in Founders Hall for the past five years. Fort Valley State University launched a campaign to renovate the building in 2013. Bishop Hall houses a state-of-the-art radio and television station that students will have access to for coursework.
Students that are a part of the TV 10 and Powerjamz 96.9 team will also be able to have their own programming on both the radio and TV stations. Students are elated about the reopening of the building, announced to fully house Media Studies classes and operations in the Fall. Many students believe that the opening of Bishop Hall will make their goals of securing a career in the media a reality.
Gabrielle, Gabrielle, Gabrielle! Jackson State was in amazing hands with the Gabrielle Baker, the 79th Queen for the university. Gabrielle brought national prominence to the university with her Mass Communication skills, even working alongside CNN during the Elizabeth Warren Town Hall hosted at the university. On Friday, Gabrielle passed the crown to her soror Naysa Lynch, who is capable of continuing her phenomenal work representing the university.
Naysa did a memorable takeover of the HBCU Pulse Instagram for her camapaign and had one of our most popular posts when her and Gabrielle shared a moment of faith and solidarity after she found out that she won. In the other side of the ticket, Grant Broadway celebrated his win with the excitement that’s only seen during NBA Championships.
The student representatives for the largest public HBCU in terms of enrollment is set! NCAT’s Royal Court and SGA made waves this past year. Their Greatest Homecoming On Earth (GHOE) festivities were top line as always thanks to the planning and leadership of Dalaney Vandergrift and her SGA Executive Board. Jada Brown stood up for Bennett College and sparked a movement that had queens around the nation using their social media followings to push for donations towards the #standwithbennett movement. On top of it all, NCAT won the Celebration Bowl for the second year in a row and Jada Brown did a takeover for us to showcase their greatness. The new student representatives at NCAT have huge shoes to fill. However, I’m confident that they will more than live up to expectations!
Mister N.C. A&T-Armani May (@armanimay__)
Miss N.C. A&T-Diamond Mangrum (@dimeeee__)
VPIA- Courtney Baskerville (@bask_n_robs)
VPEA- Victoria Lawson
Attorney General-Brenda Caldwell
SGA Secretary- Aaliyah Wright
SGA President-Allison Gilmore
Elections Committee- Eliama Brown
Judicial Council-Chelsea Green
Senior Class President- Devin Henry (@DevTheChosen)
Senior Class VP- Kenyan Spurgeon
Senior Class Treasurer-Antonia Bruce
Miss Senior-Jordan Lisbon
Junior Class President-Kendall Rooks (@MareeRooks)
When I speak on the HBCU Pulse Instagram Story, I always say, “Those that don’t write their history are doomed to be erased from it.” Election season is one of the most important times in HBCU life. Students are charged with scheming up elaborate campaigns with ideas that cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to be implemented. I’ve seen many impressive campaigns over my years in college, especially this Spring. Alacia Brew, the newly elected Miss Southern University and our Queen Ambassador, comes to mind for her “Class Act” Miss SU campaign. She stayed on theme! I could go on for paragraphs talking about the other stand out campaigns that I’ve seen but I’ll leave that for later on in April when everything’s said and done. However, this article is for Jakhia.
Jakhia had the best election campaign that I’ve ever seen, SGA included. Jakhia set the standard for what a campaign could be and how far it can travel. The support that Jakhia drew around the nation for her “Golden Ticket” campaign is immeasurable. Students vying for positions at their own institutions stopped to marvel at the historic greatness that Jakhia has displayed. The fact that I had the chance to meet, network with and even befriend Jakhia before this campaign is amazing.
I met Jakhia by happenstance. She reached out to me to let me know how much she loved the brand of HBCU Pulse, specifically the IG story. “I watch it every day!” she told me. Immediately, ever the forward thinking media entrepreneur, I asked if she could cover Alcorn’s campaign life. At the time, I didn’t even know she was running. I thought she was a graduating senior, with all of her prior accomplishments and vast networking connections. We then proceeded to speak more and she hinted that she was running for a position. I correctly guessed that she was running for Miss Alcorn, knowing that was the only position that would fit a woman of her caliber. I knew that she would come with the heat. I didn’t know she’d make history though.
I don’t even think Jakhia fully realizes what she’s done. As I write this, she’s still on the emotional high of finding out that she’s won the position she’d worked so hard for. I know phone literally has hundreds of notifications of her peers congratulating her and giving her well wishes. After announcing that she’d won on Twitter and Instagram, I know that I’m contributing to the vast amount of notifications that she’s getting. As Jakhia processes her win and we bask in adulation and wait in anticipation at her reign, let’s recap her campaign and confront why it’s the best ever.
She Had Social Media Popping Popping
Don’t you hate when everyone is sharing the same flyer or video over and over again? Jakhia didn’t have that problem at all. She started out on the morning of March 18th with a motion graphic that looked like a promo from Scandal. The sheer quality of the graphic mesmerized Alcorn students and HBCU students at other schools alike. They were tuned in to her campaign. Immediately they had the urge to post about it themselves on their social media. You know what Jakhia did? She started to share the posts of people talking about her! Her IG story was full of people cheering her on and even outwardly promoted her.
Her Twitter was on fire too, just not in the way you’d think for campaign week. Normally, you see the campaign team on their pages and the school hashtags reposting the same verbiage over and over again. However, you saw a change with Jakhia. All I saw throughout the week was people willingly tweeting about her contributions to Alcorn in her time in student leadership. Hashtags were started such as #howIMetJakiahG. She started a thread listing everything that she’d done in student leadership. She even made a thread asking students what they wanted to see in the upcoming year.
#HowIMetJakhiaG
Jakhia and I took a class together our freshmen year. Though we never had an actual conversation, she used to always say hi. The energy was mutual. Eventually, we stopped saying hi and started hugging. Now, I’m a member of GC; a women empowerment organization💛🦋
As a student leader, I have implemented things on the campus of Alcorn State University…before running for campus Queen☺️ catch this thread I’m about to start.
The variance of these posts, along with the cool movie clips that she superimposed her image in, caused people to discuss her more. As they discussed her more on Twitter, her name became a trending topic in the HBCUSphere. As her name started to trend, the mystique of her campaign started to rise. Perception was reality. Jakhia had too much support to lose. If she’s garnering this much love from around the nation, how could she?
Jakhia is no slouch when it comes to social media. Her following on IG before the campaign was 6,000+ with thousands of people that would like her pictures and videos every day consistently. Her Twitter has 5,000+ followers with a video of her dressed impeccably that has nearly 90,000 views and it was posted on January 7th of this year. Jakhia wasn’t a rookie to this and her and her campaign team took on Twitter and sparked national attention that’ll follow her into her reign.
I swear, if you were reading a post from Jakhia or watched videos featuring her, you could feel the energy that she exuded. She wanted this. It didn’t take a conversation for you to see that! Her spirit was infectious. You could tell that she was having fun with everything but still took her campaign seriously. This describes every candidate vying for a position at their institution, especially the ones that are already extra. Jakhia had a different type of intensity though. With her excitement and vivacious energy came tact. You could see the poise oozing from her as she walked across the stage at the Miss Alcorn State pageant. I could sense a passion that rivaled that of an athlete in a championship game.
That tact and attention to detail by her and her team leads to one of the most noteworthy points of why Jakhia’s campaign stood out from the rest.
Every Event Mattered
The way that Jakhia and her team planned out the “Golden Ticket” themed events was brilliant. From the majorette style performance in the cafe that had social media going crazy to the circus event that looked more like a circus than a real circus, every event mattered. She even teased that a golden ticket would be given out at every event and that the golden ticket would be a gateway to a bigger price. Often times at our institutions, all we want to do is have a dope experience. We want to see events on campus that are different and push us out the box. Jakhia was able to deliver that flawlessly, within her theme, and created a feeling amongst Alcorn students that drove them to vote for her.
Speaking of driving, the Carpool Karaoke theme that her campaign team came up with was amazing in itself. Once again, it allowed them to put something else on social media that would be able to promote Jakhia’s campaign while also giving prospective voters the ease and convenience of driving to the polls to vote.
All in all, everything that Jakhia did just worked. This win couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person, as her kindness and love for her university traveled further than she even could imagine. Jakhia has to be commended for her winning efforts. I urge the HBCU world to formulate your own opinions and take us down memory lane to other HBCU election campaigns that broke the mold. There’s a reason why Jakhia’s went national and stayed that way. The standard has been set. Now that the Golden Ticket has been secured, one can only imagine what else is in store.
I hope this article helps people and gives them a template to create winning campaigns. Although I am retired from running elections, we will be offering elections services via our A Queen’s Series brand moving forward. The services will include styling, event creation, theme ideation and overall guidance on what to do to have an effective campaign! Follow @aqueensseries on Instagram and email [email protected] for any inquiries.
Commencement season is the time where HBCUs pull out all the stops to get heavy hitters to speak and this year is no different. Morehouse recently announced that nationally renowned Pastor of House of Hope in Atlanta, Georgia and alumnus Dr. E. Dewey Smith will be their Spring Commencement speaker. If that wasn’t an huge announcement, SCSU went on to deliver groundbreaking news to start the morning.
Booker, who announced his bid for President on last month, will be speaking at South Carolina State University on May 10th. South Carolina is a key primary state and he previously visited Bulldog country last year to headline a forum on the importance of voting in the midterm elections. This is an interesting move by Corey Booker, as he attempts to build an African-American support base for his presidential campaign.
The topics that he confronts in his commencement address will also be something of note. Ill he use his time to hammer home the importance of voting and throw shots at Trump, affirming his candidacy? Or, will he take the traditional approach of commencement speakers not on the campaign trail and impart knowledge on the Spring 2019 graduates that affirms them as they start their adult life?
