Jeovany Tzilin Gomez
Contributing Writer
The Resource Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity (RCSGD), the Office of Black Student Development (OBSD), and the Multicultural Center (MCC) collaborated to host the QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Cultural Showcase. The event was a time for students to enjoy food, learn about each other through small talks, and celebrate their diverse identities and cultural backgrounds.
The QTBIPOC Cultural Showcase took place on April 16 at the MCC. The event was coordinated by fourth-year Susana Nuñez (they/she) and fourth-year Den Earl Dulos (he/they). In an interview with The Bottom Line (TBL), Nuñez mentioned the importance of finding her community in the event.
Nuñez stated that she wanted to unite the QTBIPOC community at a predominantly white institution, explaining that “it’s very hard for [QTBIPOC] people to feel like they’re in [a] community. Speaking from my own experience, it was very hard for me to find my community and even find out what the RCSGD was or what all of these cultural resource centers were.”
She continued, “The purpose of the event was really just to be in community and celebrate one another on a cross-cultural level. And I think people really benefit from it, like just finding friends and like finding other people that they can connect with on a basic level and also like digging deeper and seeing how cross-cultural connections can be made.”
The QTBIPOC Cultural Showcase was separated into two parts: a speed friendship activity and the cultural showcase itself. The event featured vegan Thai food along with aguas frescas (from Super Cucas) and pan dulce for the estimated 48 guests to munch on throughout.
The speed friendship activity took place at the MCC Lounge. Attendees participated by answering questions on worksheets, talking with other people at their tables, and finally completing rounds of talking to different people from other tables to discuss what they had written in their worksheets. The questions featured were based on interests and hobbies, social preferences, lifestyle, and values and personality.
Azul Sanchez (she/her), a guest, commented to TBL about her participation in the activity: “It was definitely new [to me] … the questions that were asked just kind of allowed me to think of others in a new perspective, like get to know a new version of them rather than just, oh, like what’s your major?”
Sanchez also mentioned that “everybody was really kind, very welcoming [at the event].” She said, “I think just being able to share this space, like the Multicultural Center itself, just feels like a space that kind of embraces everyone.”
Sanchez was able to participate in the cultural showcase, where guests can sign up to walk across the stage, represent their culture, and pose for pictures at the MCC theater. She wore a Mexican traditional dress to present her heritage, and she explained how sharing cultures can help people learn more about the world around them.
Sanchez acknowledges that the space is where “gay, lesbian, bisexual [and other] people [of the LGBTQ+ community] are welcomed.” She emphasized that the guests’ cultures were “appreciated as well as their sexuality and their identity.”
After mentioning the current political climate, Sanchez said, “Everybody should love each other, so learning about someone else makes me feel joy. So I assume that by sharing my culture, someone else will feel joy.”
Nuñez had a similar response when she was asked about a key takeaway from this event. She commented, “I know right now there’s a lot of hard times like our current administration and everything else going on in our world. Resilience is joy and joy is resilience, you know? And I think just finding that community to like, laugh with and share space with is really important, like now more than ever.”
People can check out the MCC, RCSGD, and OBSD websites for more information on upcoming events and student resources.