Junior kinesiology major  Amber Galloway performed an original poem during "Concrete Jungle." Galloway is a first time performer at the event and expressed admiration for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's informative performance event.
Raymond Paul/ The Lion's Roar 

“Concrete Jungle” is hosted by the university’s student chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People annually.

The purpose of this event is to give students an opportunity to showcase their talents and bring awareness to a dangerous infection.

The current president of the student chapter of NAACP Trai Snyder explains the legacy behind the event.

 “While it is something fun for the student body to get involved with, we also want to inform them on where it started,” said Snyder. “We host this event in honor of HIV awareness week.”

During the event, students performed poetry, sung and rapped in front of an audience.

This year, the event’s location was held in the University Center Room 139 rather than on a stage in the Student Union.  The stage was covered with red balloons to represent HIV awareness. The room’s lighting was dim and included a spotlight on the stage.

Sophomore political science major Sy’teria Collins explained how important the setting was for the event.

 “By ‘Concrete Jungle’ being more intimate, it gives the performers the opportunity to interact with the audience compared to a talent show with a larger crowd,” said Collins.

Throughout the show, NAACP members presented facts about HIV to the audience.

Senior sociology major Mikayla Times shared her perspective of the non-performance aspects of the event.

“I am glad that they told us how the disease is transmitted from person to person and where the disease originated,” said Times.

 According to aidinfo.gov, the disease is transmitted when “certain body fluids come in contact with a mucous membrane, damaged tissue or if it is directly injected into the bloodstream from a needle or syringe.”

shared her perspective of being a first-time performer during an event that she considers to be significant on campus.

“I feel great about my performance,” said Galloway. “It was a great weight lifted off of my shoulders because I have never performed before. Being able to perform at such a positive event and have such a great audience made me really glad that I did it.  It is important to help people be cognizant of what HIV actually is to be aware of ways to contract it and to know of ways to prevent contracting it.”

Engineering technology student Datron Matthews performed an original rap song during "Concrete Jungle."
Raymond Paul/ The Lion's Roar