Blast from the Past- AACS



AACS following our cultural show
Photo taken by Charisma Ricksy

 During my senior year, I was the president of the African-American Cultural Society, otherwise known as AACS. Throughout my years in high school, AACS always had such a bad rep. Each cultural club was expected to give a performance that reflected some aspect of their culture, be it food, music, dancing, etc. AACS, however, always seemed to either cancel their shows at the last minute or throw together a poorly organized show that made a mockery of many well-known stereotypes of African-Americans. During my year as president, however, I was determined to change our reputation! I wanted other students to actually appreciate the African-American culture. I wanted to disprove any beliefs that our club could not "get our stuff together" and that we could actually perform a successful and thought-provoking show. And in February of 2011, we did just that. The members of AACS and the executive board collaborated on an original show that truly changed Hunter College High School's perception, not only of AACS, but also of the experiences of minority students at Hunter. The show sparked a discussion about race unlike any other in Hunter's history and truly made an impact on my schoolmates. I was honored to have been a part of the organization and humbled by the impact our show managed to have on our community.
I mention this story because as we discussed kairos in class, I was reminded of this kairotic moment in my high school career. (I was also reminded of this story because last night, I received an email from the advisor of AACS, Mr. Joffe, and he notified me of some updates regarding the organization.) AACS seized the opportunity to discuss an issue when the "time was right". Granted, we could have continued to wait, as many students have, until something happened. Instead, however, we decided it was best to create this kairotic moment ourselves. Throughout my 13 years at Hunter College Campus Schools (my school also had an elementary school, which I attended as well), the racial imbalance has always been a pressing issue but few have done anything to try to make it better. It's always been the elephant in the room. That is, until AACS decided to address it!
Can you think of a kairotic moment in your life, whether you created it or were a part of it? What impact did that moment have on your life and the lives of those around you? How did that moment make you feel?

Until next time! :)