- Idaho Black Community Alliance held its second annual Black Excellence Gala.
- This year's theme, Afrofuturism.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Black History Month is about focusing on the contributions that black people have made to our society while celebrating and appreciating the culture. I'm your neighborhood reporter Jessica Davis and this year's black excellence gala is showcasing everything from fashion to hair, clothing, and much more.
"This event is to celebrate who we are in this community we bring in all of the businesses we bring all of our talent our art and just all of our excellence to this community to show the community who we are and what we’re about,” says Trish Walker, CEO and Founder of the Idaho Black Community Alliance.
This year’s theme is an homage to the future of black people, known as Afrofuturism this blends the history of black culture and forward thinking.
Programs Director for Idaho Black Community Alliance, Shari Baber explains, "Afrofuturism is a collaboration of things from the past the present, and the future so you get to see where we came from where we are now, and where we may be going in the future.”
One of the biggest events of the night, was the hair show, showcasing different traditional styles with a touch of futurism.
This is I.B.C.A’s biggest event in February. Bringing all races, ages, genders, and ethnicities together some people even flew from out of state.
Aaron Paul currently lives in Utah, he flew to Idaho just for this event. He says, “I live in Utah, and coming to a place like this I said this is a great opportunity to network meet hang out with people who look like me.”
The event continued with spoken word pieces, a silent auction, and dancing, everyone celebrating black history and culture.
“Being black is not a monolith and being black in Idaho is such a unique experience I think it's so different from anywhere else in the country and it's amazing that things like this happen because people don’t know we’re here and we have been here and we’ve been here for generations,” says Claire-Marie Owens.
Idaho Black Community Alliance would like to thank everyone who attended.
