Publications
Overview
The 20th annual Ebony Affair, held on March 4th [1995], was organized by the Black Graduate Student Association. The theme, Celebrating the Sprit of Our Ancestors, was explored with an eclectic combination of contemporary dance, poetry, acting, and singing, all delicately mixed into an historical fashion show. During the dinner a funky contemporary dance, Movements in Time (directed by Robin Offley), was performed. The main event, The Cultural Explosion (directed by Shurronne Young), consisted of four acts: Birth of a Creation, The Struggle Continues, Renaissance, and The Finale. The evening concluded with a dance party, DJed by Steve Gousby, and a jazz performance by Scott King's Collaboration. Shortly after the event, The Thistle interviewed Araba Lamous'e-Smith (the main organizer) and Sean Daughtry (an attendee). The text of the interview follows.
Photo: Ebony Affair in 2016, Courtesy MIT Black Students' Union.
About The Thistle
The Thistle was a student-operated "alternative news collective" at MIT that ran from about the early 1990s to early 2000s.
The Thistle is an MIT-based newspaper that deals with contemporary social and political issues from a progressive/radical perspective. It is currently the only MIT newspaper that provides such a forum. Thus, we believe the Thistle is a vital and important tool for affecting social change at MIT, one that should be utilized by as many voices and communities as possible.
The Thistle was a now-defunct publication that shared office space with [the student humor publication] Voo Doo Magazine in Walker Memorial 50-309. It was dedicated to human rights work on MIT campus and across the globe, advocating for sexual assault awareness, gender and racial equality, and the elimination of MIT's support of apartheid and genocide in Africa in the 1990's. As one can expect, it was unpopular with many in the upper tiers of MIT administration and now no longer exists as an active student group.
"Ebony Affair: Twenty Years of Ebony, 1995." The Thistle Volume 9.05 (1995).