Valley celebrates sneaker culture
- Kaia Mann
- Mar 2
- 2 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Umoja Back Scholars mixes it up, offering food, dance and photos to close out Black History Month.
By: Angel Martin, Opinion Editor
As students walked into the art gallery, passing through a doorway of streamers, they were greeted with music, lights and walls of sneakers.
“It really demonstrates what we stand for, what our mission is, what our values are,” said Academic Senate president Edgar Perez.
The second annual sneakerball was held in celebration of Black History Month, inviting Valley's student body, neighboring high schools and curious community members. Dr. Elliott Coney, the head of the Umjoa Black Scholars, collaborated with the LAVC Art Gallery to connect participants with sneaker culture, offering food, photo-ops and a custom keychain design table.
Dr. Coney hoped the guests would view the custom keychains as a reminder of the mixer, saying the keepsakes “will connect them to us.”
Gallery Director Janine Nagy is a long-standing partner of the Umoja program, helping put this and other events on during Black History Month, including a Paint N Sip where students completed sneaker-related artwork, heavily featured throughout the Sneakerball.
As well as artwork, the gallery walls were covered with over a dozen temporarily donated sneakers, ranging from $80-$160.
Whether this was their first introduction into the world of dunks or they were true sneakerheads,
guests were able to come and show off their kicks while indulging in a room surrounded by sneaker culture.
“I think it was a great outcome,” said Dr. Coney. “The purpose of this event is to be a mixer and celebrate not just internally on campus but externally within our community."
This article beautifully shows how sneaker culture brings people together and expresses personal style and identity. It’s amazing to see how sneakers have become more than just shoes and now represent fashion, creativity, and community pride. This cultural movement is as unique and expressive as modern trends like Noel Fieldings Outfits Collections.
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I love how the post highlights sneaker culture as a form of self-expression within our community. It makes me wonder, we become what we behold how do you think social media influences current sneaker trends in the Valley?