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At UMass, Students Connect Over Culture, Community—and Hip-Hop
For decades, Black students at UMass Amherst have found their voices and a sense of belonging through the Black Mass Communication Project.
Pictured above: Members of the Black Mass Communication Project public relations team head social media and outreach for the student-led group.
Community and Belonging for Black Students
For college students, feeling accepted, valued, and included is critical to their success, both in and out of the classroom. At UMass Amherst, our cultural centers and groups are vitally important. The Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success (known as CMASS) fosters a commitment to serving students of color and other marginalized groups. The many cultural centers under its umbrella have similar missions to honor culture and sustain community.
Black cultural organizations evolved on college campuses during the 1960s and ’70s. These organizations—like the Malcolm X Cultural Center at UMass—represented then (and still do) a beacon of community for Black students, faculty, and staff who seek representation and belonging.
Members of the Black Mass Communication Project circa 1980. Photo courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives.
Alongside institutional cultural organizations, student-led affinity groups began to form as students sought connections around shared heritage, identities, and cultures. Around the same time the Malcolm X Cultural Center opened at UMass Amherst in the early ’70s, a student-run group called the Black Mass Communication Project (BMCP) took shape.
Established as an educational and informational outlet for Black students, the BMCP played varied roles over the years, hosting cultural events, lectures, workshops, and social gatherings to help keep Black music alive. Throughout the 1970s, the organization played a prominent role in providing programming to WMUA, the student radio station, with offerings that highlighted African American music and current affairs.
There are dozens of reel-to-reel audiotapes of BMCP radio broadcasts aired over WMUA during the 1970s and early 1980s, many of which have been digitized. Recordings include a lecture by the nation’s first Black congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm, and interviews with writers from The Drum, the university's Black literary magazine.
The Legacy Continues
It may be one of the oldest Black registered student organizations (RSOs) on campus, but the BMCP today is thoroughly modernized. “We wanted to bring the radio show back in a new way,” explains Hayden Previlon, an English major and BMCP president. As a “callback” to the BMCP’s radio presence in the ’70s, today’s members host a podcast that explores Black culture and music—especially hip-hop.
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"We're an organization that brings together the community through music and dance," Previlon says, and the group does this in innovative and effective ways. Beyond the podcast, BMCP members expertly manage their public image and foster student engagement by leveraging social media as a key communication tool and social forum. Their savvy content creation and lively in-person events—almost always produced in partnership with a network of cultural organizations and clubs across campus—demonstrate a keen understanding of how to connect with their peers. Signature events include SoulFest—a week of social gatherings and performances each spring (produced with other RSOs, including Students of Caribbean Ancestry, the Cape Verdean Student Alliance, UMass Latinos Unidos, Student Bridges, the Black Student Union, the Haitian American Student Association, SoulTV, and more)—and an annual cookout (hosted last year in collaboration with the Malcolm X Cultural Center and the Residence Hall Association).
Adinson Rios, BMCP's vice president and a managerial economics major, breaks down the significance of these events to students: "In a predominantly white institution, it can be difficult as a minority. These events can make them feel more important on campus and really showcase their culture and their experiences to the rest of the campus."
SoulFest and the BMCP cookout will take place in April 2025. For more information about upcoming events, check out BMCP's Instagram.
The Afrodites dance team performs at the 2024 BMCP cookout.
Hip-Hop Lends Voice to the Black Experience
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In BMCP, "everyone's in the loop about hip-hop and Black culture," Previlon says. More than just the music, hip-hop encompasses dance, fashion, and language, and it is a powerful form of cultural expression that reflects the diversity and creativity of Black communities.
"I'm an inner-city kid," points out Zyian Rosso, a junior economics major. "Hip-hop was very ingrained in my life and my culture, and everybody around me growing up understood it," he explains. For students like Rosso, the cultural norms they grew up with are unfamiliar to many of their new peers in college. "That cultural bond you have with people is very helpful. ... BMCP is a place where you can regain that connection," Rosso emphasizes.
"To have people that you can turn to and talk to who understand you, it's really essential," agrees Somfenna Enwerekowe, a junior computer science major focusing on cyber security. "It has really helped my college experience grow."
BMCP, Previlon adds, "is the place where we can find each other."
At UMass Amherst, there are hundreds of registered student organizations (RSOs)—student-led clubs, sports, and cultural organizations. No interest is too niche. Whatever fun looks like to you, you can find it here.