'Tis the Season For Black Nativity

Every year, the talented students of North Carolina A&T’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts give us their rendition of Black Nativity.

Black Nativity, a play written by Langston Hughes, depicts the birth of Christ and the first Christmas featuring an all black cast.

Entering into its twenty sixth season, it has been both a fall tradition and favorite amongst the students. From its heart racing dances, to its toe-tapping songs and hymns, this play offers non-stop excitement and wonder for everyone.

“It’s such a great play, said Alyson Frink, a junior at A&T. I remember my first time seeing it with my friends and how we when it was over, we danced all the way back to our dorms”.

Black Nativity opens in Harrison Auditorium the first week in December. The show goes from Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. and has a special showing on Sunday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. With so many showings, there’s certainly no reason anyone wishing to see the play should miss it.

The timing of the play is also well placed at the end of the fall semester, and the weekend before finals week. “It’s a great way to shake off the semester slums and get you ready for the stress that is finals week”, says Essence Adams. Essence is a junior, majoring in sports medicine.

“After watching the play, I always come back to the room dancing and humming, said Adams. This wouldn’t be a problem accept my roommate is usually studying for her finals.

Black Nativity, is a great way to bring in the holiday season. Whether it’s your first time or you sixth, it's a play that students can and will enjoy again and again.

Just ask Aryn Collins, a sophomore at A&T who has been enjoining the play since she first became a student. “I go to see this play twice every year and it never gets old for me”.

Aggies Jump, Bounce, and Move to Relieve Stress of Finals Week

On Thursday, A&T held one of its two final gym jams of the semester in Moore Gymnasium.

With finals week approaching fast, students are now under a lot of stress to do well. So before the exams begin students were encourged to come out and "bounce" their stress away.

Inside the gym, four seperate moon bounces were set up, giving students a variety of ways to unwind and go bonkers.

"It was big, colorful, and very original, said Taylor Collins. I've been to quite a few gym jams since i've been here, but never to one like this". Collins is a senior majoring in computer science.

When you first enter into the gym, you're greeted by some of the students and asked to sign in. Once signed, you have four different moon bounces to choose from.

The first is a giant volleyball bounce where up to, but not recommended, ten students on each side can battle it out in the most extreme and unstable game of volleyball ever.

Ashley Covington, a junior majoring in Business Management, spent most of her time in the extreme volleyball cage. "It's like being in a insane asylum, Covington says jokingly. Studing for these finals can make even the best of us go crazy and in here you can really unwind and let yourself go."

The next was a lazer tag bounce and If you thought hunting down your oppontents was hard enough, wait till you try it while you're all bouncing.

The dodgeball bounce was a favorite by Makeda Kirby, a junior majoring in computer science who found it hard to leave this play pen. "Just making it through the semester can hard enough between your social and academic life, said Kirby. And studing for exams is a different kind of hard all together. So what better way to relieve your frustration than a few hours in an inflatable bouncing room whacking balls at each other".

Finally, you could have the chance to show your inner american gladiator in the pillar knock-off ring. Two opponents face each other on top of a pillar in a fight to see who's top dog.

The gym jam was a huge success. Even if you didn't try all of the attractions, there was still fun to be had. The Dj kept the students jumping and moving with upbeat tunes. And an unexpected battle between The Couture modeling troop and some talented A&T students had people screaming for more.

All and all, students left relaxed, energized and ready to take on the world. Not a bad way to end the week and shake some of the stress of finals to come.

Four Seasons Mall, The Centre of Black Friday Madness

It's four in the morning, on any other night this home would be silent, but not this time. The sound of bustling about for keys, newspapers, and coats is heard. The door to the garage opens and with a quick turn of the key the car starts up and heads out to the mall. Black Friday, has come at last.


Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is one of the most anticipated days of the year and has become even more popular than some holidays. That's because no other day has more to offer Americans than Black Friday.

This is the only day where businesses open their stores extra early, some as early as midnite, and drop their prices unbelievably low to attact customers.


Customers line up outside of stores as early as 3 a.m. and some even camped out in their cars in order to catch "early bird" specials and door buster deals.


Kevin Coberly, a 22 year-old employee at Moe's Southwest Grill in Greensboro, spent his moring shopping for a digital camera and scooters for his girfriend and two nieces. He smiles as he recalled his adventure.

"I was up at 3:00 a.m, he said. I spent four hours at one store. The first hour I spent waiting outside in the cold. and the next three hours were spent finding the gift and waiting in line".


Though every store in the Triad experienced the non-stop rush of customers, no store had as big a turnout than the Four Seasons Mall in Greensboro. Every where you looked there were hundreds of bustling customers, eagerly searching for the best deals on clothes, jewlery, electronics, and various accessories.



The Four Seasons Mall, opened it's doors to customers at 4 a.m. and didn't close it's doors till a little past 10 p.m. During which time, hundreds of shoppers hunted for sales and door buster deals.


Black Friday is the day most people do all or most of their shopping for the holidays. This is also the day when stores get the most business. And if you think this day was big for customers, then you can imagine how serious it was for those working in the stores.



Tiffany Davis, a store managers at American Eagle located in the Four Seasons Mall, was one such person.


"It's kind of exciting to see so many people out this early just to shop, said Davis. Excitng, but scary, because you know that all these people will soon be flooding your store".



And with so many stores to choose from, it's almost impossible to know where to start first.
LaRonda Puryear, a black friday shopper, gave some excellent advice. "The easiest thing to do is to start from the bottom and work your way up".



The Four Seasons Mall, with its three stories of various stores and sales booths offered non-stop consumer consumption and excitement. One could easily spend their whole day just perusing, as most did. One shopper and his family said they had been at the mall since it 10 a.m. and had only made it to the second floor.