“Everybody needs to be equal.”

That is the philosophy that the President of the Black Sistahood, Sunni Bates, lives by.

Bates created the organization in the fall of 2018 after the Black Brothahood disbanded when all but one of the members graduated. The Black Sistahood is comprised of black men and women who want to break down black stereotypes and create a unified community.

The organization strives to achieve this goal by hosting events that highlight the complexities and history of black people and culture.

Bates hopes that these events “bring awareness, not to just the black people within [the organization], but black people outside the Sistahood and people that are not black, so that they can see what we’re going through, so we can all work together to break the system that’s against us.”

The first event thrown by the organization was the Ideal Black Man beauty pageant in October 2018. The event sought to change how people perceive black men. They challenged the stereotype of black men only being one of two things: basketball players and thugs.

Multiple black men participated and who discussed their varied majors, skills, styles and personalities. The audience was able to see firsthand how different black men can be, and change their perceptions of what black men look and act like.

The event was a favorite of Afomia Abraham, a freshman who joined the club during her first semester of college. Abraham is also the visual artist for the organization and designs their posters and clothes.

Abraham joined the organization because she saw it as an opportunity to cultivate a family at school, which was exactly what she was looking for. She feels that the organization brings black people together and helps educates people on black culture.

“My favorite part is creating all these new bonds, and now I have more sisters,” said Abraham.

February is recognized as Black History Month in the U.S., and the Black Sistahood held three events to celebrate the month.

First was the Black History Experience, intended to bring awareness to black people throughout history who invented items that are used everyday. For example, Dr. Shirley Jackson invented the portable fax machine and the touch-tone telephone.

The second event was the Akilah Green Natural Hair Talk, which was a historical discussion on black hair and how its treated by society. They also had a black memorial last Tuesday, Feb. 26 to honor black people who have died and black neighborhoods that were destroyed.

On March 27 the organization will be  holding an event called the Ideal Black Woman, which will be similar to the Ideal Black Man event but focusing on black women.

The Black Sistahood currently consist of 38 women and 18 men, with new members joining each fall semester. If students are interested in joining, Bates encourages all potential members to attend events thrown during the rest of the spring semester.

For more information about events or involvement, students can visit the organization’s Instagram, @theblacksistahood, email [email protected] or stop by the Black Student Center in USU 4200.