Time Machine: Looking at Black UT Pt. 2 (2004-05 Supplement)

And we're back...

So I just realize how much i left out of that last entry... i mean damn, how much culture could you get in one year? simply... not enough. There were so many other important things about the year of '04 that must be discussed... some of which are a macro issue that any of my readers can relate to, and others that will grow to be interesting trivia facts.

Disclaimer: It's not my intention to be "messy", only honest. If you have an opinion, post a comment... cuz I guarantee you, I'mma keep goin with what i'm doing... I just know Ya'll can't wait for the '07 blog.... YIKES.

So..... 2004 was important for a few other reasons. Within my first year at college, all of the other stuff happened, but a few key things happened in between. First of all, we were a very politically invigorated freshman class, we had just turned 18, and we had a chance to participate in our first election (in a failed attempt to keep Bush from a second term... sad). People around campus were psyched... alot of things went into making sure people cared about what was important. African-American Culture Committee (AACC), whose actual purpose was to display AA culture to the campus at-large worked in conjunction with the Distinguished Speakers Committee to bring Chuck D to campus. He talked about voting, Flavor of Love (yea he clowned his boy), and activism in general... a very good quote from him:

"People are running around looking for rewards for voting. i don't congratulate you for washing your ass do I? Don't expect rewards for that which you are expected to do."

AACC also brought Busta Rhymes to Austin for a FREE Concert. This is just after Ludacris performed at 40 Acres Fest the year prior. People wonder why I'm so hard on the campus orgs today....until they can bring me a free Concert, i dont wanna discuss their 'progress'. AACC used to actually do a "Comedy Explosion" where comics who performed on famed shows such as Comic View, Def Comedy Jam, or Showtime at the Apollo would come and do shows.... the program still happens... it's just not AACC's anymore... it wouldn't be the first program jacked from them since i've been on campus.

The political climate also added to the ambitions of other organizations. SAAB tried it's best to build black male leadership as the year started so that they could have a successful "African American Male Summit" program. This was a day long mini-conference on becoming a mature black male... this particular year it was "co-sponsored" with the Kappas... it was noted that year that they paid for the pub and the food, but were nowhere to be seen during the program. At any rate, it did energize SAAB's membership... so much to the point that friendships were created and bonds were made that still exist today. I've met at least 4 of my closest friends through that organization... it's why i always want to see it succeed.

SAAB had heavy involvement in the Black and White Affair as well... it was a movement, and we knew it. SAAB would eventually organize a march to the voting polls located in the UGL (it's not called that anymore, but I'm old school). We actually marched from Jester with a group of at least 45 students... and other just jumped onto the trail of students as they saw us walking by. It was a really powerful moment....

I talk about these moments to prove that things weren't all bad tho... i loved my college career... but i hated things about it.... one thing I hated specifically was when the messiness of our lives would find an easier way to spread....***
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Every September meant one thing in Austin, ICEBREAKER... the Deltas had the juice and the reputation to get everybody in TX into one place for a show... it didn't matter if in the middle of the show somebody's drawls were flashed to the crowd... it didn't matter that the host didn't know the names of the orgs in the show (why do they ALWAYS get them wrong?)... it was still tight... but what did matter... (as I SMH)... was the fact that we were in a church.

The Caners (not spelled with a K, cuz i dont do that... yea it's a joke) decided not step, but to do a live commercial for their annual "Kappaween" party. This consisted of one of Austin's currently-most known DJ's headlining an exhibition with an afro wig, big ass shades, and a cape while calling himself "Negrodamus".... it was hilarious, but it got out of hand when "that guy" pulled out a condom and put it on his cane while thrusting as if it were his junk... WE'RE IN CHURCH BRO... But I then learned those guys would stop at nothing if they wanted to get something done... ambitious yet reckless.

This would come into play as I learned more about our NPHC and how it functioned... As much as NPHC is supposed to do, the only power it really had was governing a calendar for the Greeks that was loosely based on precedented reservations of the dates. Kappas usually have the week leading into the infamous weekend knows as TEXAS RELAYS... The issue is that the usual weekend was the first weekend in April, for 2005 Relays was set for the second weekend. When the Kappas couldn't get their week shifted with the event (because events weren't relative to events, but rather dates... i.e. founding dates etc.), they decided to make everybody else's year hell.

This isn't messy, it was so obvious to me as a freshman... so nobody should be mad if it's public knowledge. The Kappas intentional started throwing programs on dates that would place other organizations' in jeopardy of being successful or making a profit. They had (and still have) a unique ability to pack out every single one of their parties... regardless of if the Sigmas were having a free house party, or if you wanted to go the Que party that was publicized way before theirs. THIS IS FUNNY... the Ques were amped about their first party of the semester, but the Kappas decided to throw a party that was free if you brought a canned good. This was a direct infraction of the NPHC policy and a general hoe ass move. It was soon corrected tho... when one of the Omegas accosted a Kappa with a canned food item.... yea... you can never live down getting beatdown with a can of split peas.

This isn't the only Que v. Kappa story I know... "that guy" from Icebreaker was known to be a public drunk... and he was too big to be the kind of drunk he was... a falling all over the place drunk... he made a mistake of showing up in that condition to the Que's "Dollar Party" (that literally cost $1 to get into... we need that now in the recession). He was subsequently kicked down a stairway... I think this made him into a really over aggressive person... if you've ever heard stories about Sp. 05 Nupes (yes... with respect), you'd know what I mean.

***This type of messiness was all spread through 3 venues... the X-Lounge, the Jester Concourse... and a new online social network that was blowing Blackplanet and Myspace out of the water... it's called FACEBOOK.

My freshman year, there were about 30 schools on facebook. All of them were PWIs. Facebook's functions were limited to adding friends, sending messages and signing walls... only with the oldest version, you could actually edit other peoples wall posts, because instead of it being setup like a guestbook, it was an open source message board. They eventually fixed that feature, beefed it up a bit and added a few more schools. Yet and still, people didn't use facebook at this time to pub events, instead they actually had to attend organizational meetings and announce them, or they would actually table and pass out flyers in Jester or the West Mall, or they used the annoying yahoo groups listservs that occasional sent out spam mail as well... this is one reason why organizations were more successful.

Some events needed no publicizing... Relays.

It was a full weekend. Thursday, the Alphas threw a party at the Sky Lounge (the first black party to be thrown there, until the football afterparties of fall 05). Friday, everybody was expecting a Kappa probate, but it was postponed due to allegations that were later disproved. What we did get was an SGRho probate ("ASAP" on the boom box), The Delta Happy Hour (discontinued in 2006), another Alpha party at Sky, and a Kappa party at the infamous Spiro's... they had a party there on Saturday as well. During the day Saturday, everyone usually caught up with each other at the Sigma Cooldown which can be found at whichever Riverside Apt Complex Pool they choose that year. There was also a Sigma probate where 2 really cool and respectable dudes came out (I had a great relationship with the Sigmas back in the day). Sunday, the Ques always have a BBQ... some things are just "tradition"... it was odd to most that the Nupes didn't have their probate.

It would come later in the semester on the same night as the Deltas. We started in the Main Mall watching 7 girls get off of a Fire Truck ("Countdown" by T.I. was the song), and ended in Jester (the only time it hasn't been over packed past capacity for their probate since I've been here... the Nupes song was "I'm supposed to die tonight" by 50 Cent). This would be when i realized that there was a strong dynamic, whatever it may be, between the Deltas and the Kappas... we would see it recur with Crimson and Creme Week, and the multiple co-sponsorships and power plays they would collaborate on throughout the next year. It was however always strange to NOT see that same relationship between the Deltas and the Ques... just sayin.

Other weeks that were notable to discuss were BSA's Unity Week and Speak Week, Hope Week, and "blank" Week... fill in the blank with the name of any organization... all of them had a week. NSBE, Texas Stars, and even TEXAS ONYX... they were the organization that organized pool seating for Black Students to watch Football Games TOGETHER.... this organization died after my freshman year... Due in part to the fact the newly elected President was only resume fluffing for Greek Life and never planned anything for the next year.

I guess it started to surprise me that somethings were on such a sharp downturn tho... I mean truth be told... TEXAS is the cockiest school in the nation. Most of the students graduate at the top of the HS classes, and even if they don't, when they get into UT they feel like the Shit... whether they are black or not... i understood the "swagger" (i hate that word, but it's fitting), and i even expressed it too... But it would be come an issue to watch others exhibit it when things started getting messed up.

PJ Tucker's speculative Academic Probation of Spring 05 is a great example... an even better example is the hoard of "backpackers" that were walking campus without being registered... even so much to the point that there was a man named "Rod" who lied about being a Grad Student and actually supplied bottles of Crown Royal to underclassmen in Jester in order to get in cool with them... it was really sad, especially when we found out he was actually trying to date all of the freshmen women... this nigga was 30.

It was also evident that people didn't know what to celebrate about themselves when we attended the debacle that was the 2005 Black Essence Awards... now back the, the awards were the culmination of a whole week of events. Including the usually church service, community service, and we added in a Black movie night (on Wednesday, we did this for all 4 weeks in Feb) and a program called Soul Feud that i personally chaired. The awards were staged as a banquet that honored students and faculty, however... the same people got all of the awards... it pissed off alot of people, and is part of the reason why AACC no longer throws the Black Essence Awards. Not to go too far in detail, BUT the people mainly won were workers in AACC... one who was dating a football player/Que and another who was once blacklisted from Greek life for talking to dude's teammate/LB (no names... if you went to UT in my time, you already know them).

Anyway... Facebook... did eventually gain enough popularity along with other social networks once the summer came around. As soon as students got the utexas email address the first thing they were urged to do was get a facebook account. I made quick work of adding everybody who got on facebook, because i knew it would help me some way some day. The most immediate result was when Facebook finally made it possible to post event announcements... I'm going to brag for a second. The first major black event at UT to be successful solely because of the influence of Facebook, was my 19th Birthday Party at Campus Estates, called "Dat Boi Tony's Do It Big"... I made sure people knew I knew how to throw a party, and how to make some drank... it wouldn't be the last time either.

Other social networks that attempted to thrive, used different services... one I've referred to in the past, is my xanga blog. Not too much detail here... but if you ever wonder what was wrong with communication with the BSA Exec Board in 05-06... go back and read the exec board's xanga blogs from Summer 05... You'll learn why we never had it together... I guess in summation, i learned about the selfishness of human nature... and how much UT could amplify it to a level where crabs in a barrel seemed like an understatement.

... Next one is gonna be juicy.