News Post

Visitation's Black Women's Society (BWS) has annually planned an assembly to celebrate Black History Month in a creative way: game shows, skits, and more. This year, BWS wrote a Miss Universe-themed show, performed last week, that highlighted its members and the cultures and communities of which they are a part. 

Executive Board member Anne-Sophie Gray '24 shared that the group begins planning for this end-of-February event in December each year.

Jessica Edem '24, also an executive board member, said, "We knew that we wanted to highlight different countries and wanted to find a fun, unique way; the pageant was a great way to do that."

Members of the club represented the countries and communities of which they are a part, ranging from Ethiopia to Jamaica to right here in D.C. Like a pageant, students were introduced as “Miss,” followed by the location they represented, but Ann-Sophie was quick to point out that unlike skits in the past, the participants were referred to by their real names - Noeme, Rehema, etc. - throughout the script. BWS wanted the audience to see the participants as who they are.

“It adds personality and emotion when faculty and staff know who they are teaching,” said Jessica, adding that the personal nature of the script made everyone feel more connected.

“We wanted to show that we are here, representing,” said Anne-Sophie.

“The theme was to share how although we are all from different countries, we’re all connected - food, fashion, music,” said Jessica. “You can even see it in the dialogue of the hosts, as they’re saying ‘love your dress,’ or 'I love reggae music.’”

“I was very satisfied to see people learned something, that they remembered,” said Anne-Sophie. “In English class, we were talking about ‘Brave New World,’ and how time is a social construct, and someone mentioned Ethiopia and how they are in the year 2016.”

“We wanted it to be educational and fun to watch,” said Jessica. “They really enjoyed it and it was fun … you never knew what was coming next.”

Both members are extremely proud of how underclasswomen got involved in the production. “Legacy,” explained Jessica. “It is important to incorporate them because they carry it on.”

Photos from the assembly are on Pixevety.