SMC MOCAN BBQ: Food, Fun, Connection, and Community
Santa Monica College’s (SMC) Men of Color Action Network (MOCAN) hosted a Barbeque at Virginia Park on Sept. 26, their first off-campus event of the year. Students were able to meet counselors to discuss educational opportunities, chat with other students of color, organize soccer and basketball games, as well as enjoy free pizza, drinks, and other snacks.
In a world that is frequently skewed against men of color, SMC recognizes MOCAN as an “active support network which advocates for SMC’s Men of Color while focusing on the academic, political, and social change needed to cultivate a learning environment that optimizes the success of male students of color.” That includes direct campus support in the form of equity programs, services, and resources.
All in an effort to create and support an environment where student potential is realized, maximized, and able to be presented to the world. “Men of color” isn’t just limited to African American or Latinx either, they accept students of Asian American, Pacific Islander, Desi-American, and Indian descent. “Anything that is men of color”, said MOCAN counselor, Armanti Weeks.
MOCAN counselor, Dr. Paul Jimenez, describes the idea of MOCAN as a community of students, faculty, and staff where trust is emphasized. A place where if “young men of color are feeling lost or need some support on campus, that they feel confident about asking us for help.”
He said, “Just with our own experiences, as men of color we are not the best at asking for help, but if we get to know each other and create that trust within each other it is easier to ask for that help.” This mindset was put to use throughout the event, with student interns being urged to not hang around who they already knew, but to meet someone new that day as well.
Speaking on MOCAN, Weeks said, “we are always here to fill in that gap and stand in the need of helping those who are seeking to further their education, seeking to go into careers that will enable them to take care of their families, help them move up the socioeconomic status, and really just have that community and brotherhood with one another.”
For first-year SMC student Curtis Carter and others, it was their first SMC affiliated event of the year. Students chose to support and make their first appearance at an event centered around men of color and brotherhood which highlights how MOCAN inspires students to be more open to meeting each other and forming early bonds by providing an inviting environment for those who look like them.
“When I’m seeing people that are in Black Collegians at school or walking around… I got comfortable,” says Carter. For many other students like him, learning about MOCAN and other affiliated programs before the semester started made them comfortable enough to come and see what they had to offer once the semester began.
He recommends that if a student is a person of color who needs guidance at any point, they should join. “All the counselors, all the black counselors and teachers, they help you, whatever you need help with. Having people there to support you in what you want to do helps a lot.” Later, students headed to a pick-up soccer game organized by the counselors and students.
Just before the group photo for all the attendees of the barbecue, James Castro, a board member of the Santa Monica College foundation, was attending his first event with MOCAN as well.
He said, “We can’t really achieve our best on our own. We have to lean on other people. If people are willing to lend their resources and lend their hearts, take it, because someday people are going to lean on you.”