Walden hosts Black Renaissance festival

By Sol Ayala

Online Editor

More than 20 vendors set up booths featuring art, soaps and clothing in Boone Convocation Center as jazz bands played and food trucks served everything from jackfruit sandwiches to corned beef at the second annual Black Renaissance. 

“For me, it’s just an opportunity to have a group of African American entrepreneurs coming to Trevecca’s campus to share the diversity of their products and services… I really enjoy the vendors,” said Iris Gordon, adjunct professor in the Center for Social Justice and faculty advisor to the Walden club, Trevecca’s club for Black students. 

But the rescheduling did not limit the event. 

“This is our rain date, and we had even more vendors and entertainers than we did last year,” Gordon said. 

Students who attended got a ticket for the chance to win raffle prizes coming directly from the participating vendors along with a goodie bag.

Each of the vendor’s tables featured items like artisan-made candles that smelled like your coffee order, hand-made jewelry, make-up, books, clothes, accessories and art.

“We have African American businesses, and we have food trucks that are representative of soul food, so literally, when we say you come to the Black Renaissance festival to taste the actual culture, you do so in every way, every sense of the word,” Gordon said.

As the event went on, each one of the participating vendors were given time to share about their businesses and life.

Attending this year was artist Charles Key. He is the creator of public murals at the Tennessee Justice Center and portraits of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jocques Clemmons and Daniel Hambrick–all Black people who were killed by police officers.

“I believe there is really not such a thing as Black history. I believe Black history is intertwined in American history, so if you talk about American history, there will have to be Black history intertwined,” said Key. “I want to make a picture where maybe I can start a dialogue about why this person is the way this person is or why is this person up on a wall. I love to do my murals, which are located down the street from Trevecca, to show that these people are a gallery type of people. I like to do 20, 30 feet paintings just to show the broadness and the bigness of it. I think I kind of use the walls in the city as my art gallery.”

Key painted and showcased some of his art at a lower price for college students to afford.

“I was blessed by Dr. Iris. I came out to show some of my work; actually give some of my work away at a cheaper price for some of the students and just to inspire somebody and show my creativity off to the world. That was the purpose of today,” said Key.

Students, family and friends shop, support and dance for the whole night and will be able to continue to do so as now the Black Renaissance becomes part of Trevecca’s experiences they have commitment to bring to campus as its diversity continues to grow. We will be seeing the same and different vendors next spring.