By Jamari Jordan

The Black Affairs Council’s Cafe Soul signifies the raw talent present here at the University of Georgia

Singers sung their hearts out. Spoken word artists delivered gut-wrenching performances. Saxophone notes soared, a voice echoed through the room that would make Adele cry, and most importantly, life was given.

“A night like this just tells us what a great amount of diversity we have on campus, but also the extraordinary talents they all have,” said University of Georgia President Jere Morehead. “Great singers, great artists, great musicians, it has been a great experience.”

Cafe Soul 2014 was nothing short of awe-inspiring from start to finish. The Black Affairs Council left everyone attending in the packed crowd with a night of music, poetry, and dance few, if any, will ever forget.

“Tonight simply just confirmed how talented our students are,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Victor Wilson. “We have a talented group of students here with diverse talents. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg because they can do amazing things.”

The event was hosted by senior Mark Abere and junior Kalyn Wilson. From the opening sentence, they had the crowd in the palms of their hands. The duo worked very well together bouncing off one another all night.

“Cafe Soul is important because it shows the talent our students have outside the classroom,” said Abere. “We get bogged down with classes sometimes that we forget to express ourselves. Cafe Soul is one of those days a year we get to do that.”

Jokes were made about performers achieving ultimate LightSkin status, potential baes being found, and edges being snatched all of which had the crowd holding their stomachs for the duration of the night. In the end, the crowd, especially the hosts, were floored by the performers.

“These performances have given me life,” said Kalyn Wilson. “I respect the talent and the courage these performers have shown on the stage. We are multifaceted individuals. We are intelligent, but beyond that we know art and craft and how to express it.”

No one could tell that any performer was nervous as each participant commanded the stage with nothing short of grace and confidence. Some made us think about the one that got away, some made us rethink our past, and some took us to church.

“Performing leaves me speechless,” said sophomore performer Tifara Brown. “The person I want to be and the person I know I can be comes out when I’m on stage. It’s just indescribable.”

“Spoken word gives you the power to connect with people on an intellectual level,” said junior performer Darrell Ballard. “There are things in life that people go through that you go through as well. If you can put that into words, make it rhyme, create metaphors, it gives them the ability to express themselves through you.”

An event like this reflects on the effectiveness of the organization who throws it. The Black Affairs Council continues to provide the student body with diverse events for diverse audiences. Last night was yet another reminder of that as it was a celebration of different cultures.

“As a black student, I love seeing a group {BAC} promote black culture in a positive light,” said Brown. “It’s priceless. You can’t put a price tag on the effect that has on a group of people.”

You can follow BAC on Twitter to stay up to date with upcoming events @BAC_UGA