History and culture collided last night at the Nittany Lion Inn as the Black Caucus presented its annual Cultural Extravaganza.

The event was started 25 years ago as a homecoming celebration specifically for the black community.

"We're not trying to alienate ourselves. We still engage in other homecoming events. We just wanted a small piece for us," Black Caucus President Anthony Washington (senior-nursing) said.

The theme for the evening was "The Harlem Renaissance," which was a black cultural movement that occurred in New York City during the 1920s and '30s. The event included fashion shows, a comedian and two variety shows.

One of the popular performances was the Southwest Academy Middle School step team, accompanied by the Western School of Technology and Environmental Science drumline. Both schools are magnet schools from the Baltimore suburb of Cantonsville, MD.

"I just wanted to give them some exposure to a higher education campus," Naelis Ervin (senior-media studies) said. Ervin is a Penn State world campus student who works part time as a substitute Spanish teacher at Southwest Academy Middle School. She also works as a mentor for the students there, and assists with the step team.

"I keep them involved in the step team because it lessens the chances of them being involved in other activities on the street," Ervin said.

Audience members cheered and yelled when the step team jumped off the stage during their performance. Several people, including Ervin, joined in with the steppers.

"I think the atmosphere is beautiful here ... all their hard work and dedication really paid off," Ervin said after the show.

Comedian DeRay Davis was another of the popular acts. He has appeared in movies such as Barbershop, worked on two of Kanye West's albums and currently works on MTV's Wild N' Out and HBO's Entourage.

"I don't have no jokes. My life is just messed up, so I talk about that," Davis said.

While Davis said he is normally known for his colorful comedic style, he felt the atmosphere of the event required him to keep his jokes cleaner.

Jessica Givonne Smith (junior-broadcasting) said she appreciated Davis' restraint.
"It was really appreciated that he kept it clean," Smith said.

After Davis was done, the mood of the evening shifted to a more serious tone with a speech about the struggle for black equality from Will Dennis (junior-mining engineering).

In his speech, Dennis talked about the evolution of the black race to "greatness," repeatedly saying, "this is our story." Dennis said early hip-hop was responsible for helping to show the struggles of black people.

"Although it was a language of us, whites and other races started to see what we were going through," Dennis said.

The evening concluded with the "Futuristic Flood" fashion show, which showed what a new kind of black renaissance might look like.

Melissa Jackson (senior-telecommunications) said she thought the evening went well, although she said she thought the perception of Cultural Extravaganza as a minority event was incorrect.

"It's not just for minorities," Jackson said. "I look at the Cultural Extravaganza as being for everybody."