Afrobeats pulsed from speakers on the Engineering and Computer Science Lawn as Cal State Fullerton’s Black Student Union hosted their inaugural Black Amplified event on Friday. 

With local vendors, concert ticket giveaways, food trucks and photo ops, the event brought Titans together to celebrate Black excellence through music. Headlined by rapper Trinidad James and featuring performances from student artists, Black Amplified exemplified the importance of building strong community bonds on campus. 

Black Amplified was created by Seyi Alli, the president of the university’s BSU chapter and a fourth-year business major. Inspired by her recent work as an intern at Live Nation, Alli wanted to leave her legacy on the campus through an event that could foster growth in the Black student community at CSUF.  

“I wanted something that was my own, something that I brought to my community and something I could leave here and see grow past my time,” Alli said. 

BSU is an umbrella organization that has been on campus for over a decade and has consistently grown since its inception. Housing 12 separate clubs, BSU functions as a network to improve Black students’ experience on campus, aiming to push the needle forward through events and advocacy. 

In collaboration with Associated Students and Goldenvoice, BSU closed out Black History Month by highlighting student performers, established artists and Black-owned businesses. 

The event was a large production that entailed help from ASI volunteers and financial support. With such an ambitious plan in mind, Alli and BSU Vice President Joyce Folorunso enlisted help from all of their connections to bring the event to life.

Creating a space for Black students to connect and embrace their shared experiences gave way to a vulnerable environment in which spectators and performers saw eye to eye, regardless of the distance between them and the stage. 

“As I’m getting into spaces like this, performing more and connecting with community, I think it’s important to be more transparent and vulnerable so people can connect to it,” said Nascir “NCSR.” Vazquez, a Cal State Dominguez Hills student and performer at the event. “I felt like I was around family.” 

The overwhelming sense of community on display at the event was especially felt by students of CSUF and, more emphatically, by student artists performing at the event. One such performer was Phoenix Hodges, better known as Phoenix Wonder, a fifth-year communications major.

“It’s through my love for being Black that I found community with people who not only look like me but also have the same goals and aspirations,” Hodges said. “Me being Black, I feel a certain connectedness to all the other black students on this campus.”

The unity of Black Titans on campus extended from the stage to the crowd and beyond. With music as the driving force of the event, many came out to enjoy the festivities of Black Amplified. 

One of the attendees was CSUF President Ronald Rochon, who highlighted the camaraderie he’d witnessed among the crowd when speaking on his favorite aspect of the event. 

“Outsource in your community so then it becomes stronger,” Folorurnso said, speaking on what she learned while coordinating Black Amplified. “Our emcees are our friends, they’re on our board, they’re on a club within our club’s board, just ask around.”

Jordan O’Garro, BSU’s Retention Director and fourth-year advertising major, emceed the event alongside Kenechukwu Amete, a fourth-year graphic design major. Both recognized the privilege of being platformed to host the event and the opportunity it presented to not only give back to their community, but to inspire others around them. 

“I want people to want to experience things like this.” O’Garro said. “I want people from other clubs, races, other associations to be able to look at this and think ‘maybe we should do that for ourselves,’ and help the school become more communal.”