On an unseasonably warm Wednesday, USC students, faculty and staff gathered at McCarthy Quad for speeches, dance, food and music — all part of USC’s Black History Month SC Family Reunion Celebration. 

The event was organized around the theme of “A Century of Black Commemoration: Preserve, Promote, Protect,” marking 100 years since the origin of Black History Month. Anita Dashiell-Sparks, associate dean of community and culture at the School of Dramatic Arts, opened the event alongside Provost Andrew Guzman.

She spoke about historian Carter G. Woodson’s work to create what would become Black History Month, the impact of Black Americans on United States history and life, and the idea of sankofa, a symbol from Ghana she said means “go back and get it.”

“I very much believe that history is active and alive and in constant conversation in the present moment that we are in and also impacting our future,” Dashiell-Sparks said in an interview with the Daily Trojan on Thursday. “We don’t actually have to reinvent how [we are] going to move forward because there is such a vast system, vast array present.”

Local vendors also attended, including Simply Wholesome, a South Los Angeles health-food store that has participated in the celebration for three years.

“We’re here to represent minority businesses. And we’re just really grateful to be able to connect with the next up and coming movers and shakers of the world,” said Mia Kimiko, co-manager of Simply Wholesome. “We’re just grateful to be here and create that strong foundation that health and wealth [are] possible.”

Dashiell-Sparks said she noticed a mix of Los-Angeles- and campus-based organizations attending the event, including restaurants, Black-owned businesses and community nonprofits.

“That was really a powerful kind of synergistic and intergenerational and community representation,” Dashiell-Sparks said.

Kimiko said the event had a wonderful atmosphere, especially because of the sunny L.A. weather.

“It’s definitely a home vibe. Everybody is out laughing, hugging each other, saying hello. People are networking and engaging,” Kimiko said.

The early part of the event featured arrangements of gospel songs, with keyboards, percussion and multiple singers. Bakhari Nokuri, one of the students playing drums, said he hopes future events are more widely publicized because he hadn’t heard about it prior to his involvement in the event, in part due to the location of the music school.

“We don’t actually — a lot of time[s] — hear about things like this,” said Nokuri, a junior majoring in composition. “So it’s always good when we’re called for a gig opportunity, a planning opportunity, to come and play for events like these.”

The event also included tables for shopfronts and for student groups — among them, Black Women of Kaufman, a group founded in January to build community among Black women at the Kaufman School of Dance. Ryan Pecorella, the club’s vice president, said the event gave them an opportunity to show what their group does.

“Because of the name, sometimes it sounds like we’re very closed off to only Kaufman students, but that’s not the case. We’re really open to any woman or any body — especially any Black woman — coming in and joining our general body meeting,” said Pecorella, a sophomore majoring in dance. “It’s nice to put names to faces and get our name out there.”

After the remarks from Guzman and Dashiell-Sparks, as well as the gospel music, the event featured groups of students, faculty and staff dancing in the middle of McCarthy Quad. Emoni Milton, who tabled as a co-owner of a sea moss business — a health supplement — said she appreciated being able to learn dances that she hadn’t had a chance to learn before.

“I mean, every month there’s a new one,” Milton said. “So you got to try to keep up on your skills and know which ones they will pop out with at the function.”

Ria Ghosh, an attendee and freshman majoring in neuroscience, said the event was an opportunity to see how USC interacts with different cultures.

“With Black History Month, it gives us a reason to be able to come out and interact as a culture in the community, which is really, really cool,” Ghosh said. “The amount of people that it was able to bring out from, not only just Black people, but also like other cultures, too: I feel like that’s something that embodies or shows how we embody culture in this school.”