Iota Zeta’s Self HEELing dance class empower Black women during women’s appreciation week

Angelita Pollard, a spring 2019 business management graduate and current Miss Black and Gold, stretches with participants before teaching a heels dance workshop hosted by the Iota Zeta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (Rayonna Burton-Jernigan/The Black Explosion)

Black women from the University of Maryland stormed TerpZone and tackled their inner sexy while dancing to Summer Walker’s “Stretch You Out” in heels. 

The heels dance class hosted on Oct. 15 by the Iota Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in partnership with the Iota Zeta Royal Court was one of five events during the chapter’s Women’s Appreciation Week dedicated to empowering Black women.

“We wanted to do something where we create a safe space for them to come and uplift themselves and rebel in their Blackness because there’s not a lot of things that they get to celebrate on this campus,” Olatoye Olamide said, senior public health major and chaplain of the chapter. 

Being in a predominantly white institution, Olamide feels that there are not enough events dedicated to African American women on campus to celebrate being themselves, and he wanted to provide just that. 

Participants buckled up their heels and click-clacked their way to the front of TerpZone’s dance room, as the current Miss Black and Gold and workshop leader, Angelita Pollard introduced herself. Pollard wanted to establish a comfortable environment for participants. She encouraged guests to have fun and gave them the option to change any part of the dance they did not feel comfortable with. 

“I think dancing in heels has a different effect on Black women,” Pollard said. “It’s really empowering. It’s not overly sexual, but has some type of ‘I’m that girl kind of feeling.’”

The idea of the heels class stemmed from Olamide observing his sister’s interest in beauty and fashion. He thought he could make an impact at the University of Maryland by helping women feel confident in heels while also empowering them.

“Black women get the short end of the stick in society these days,” Olamide said. “I just wanted to do something that inspired the women of color on this campus… because we don’t necessarily have many programs that are tailored towards Black women.”

It is common for Black women in society to be viewed as lower-status individuals and treated differently in society because of the prevailing treatment of African Americans and women. At UMD, there are a few Black student organizations dedicated to Black women, which include The Sisterhood of Unity & Love, A Woman’s Worth, National Council of Negro Women and two greek sororties in the National Pan-Hellenic Council. 

The dance started with two freestyle poses, and Pollard demonstrated examples. Participants slid their arms across their legs smoothly as they stood up straight and moved their hips left to right to Pollard’s counts. The room filled with laughter after everyone attempted the entire dance to the full music for the first time. 

For some students like Apryl Ogallo, it was their first time doing a heels dance class. Ogallo said the heels brought her out of her comfort zone, which she enjoyed. 

The planning process for the week was not easy for the chapter, due to the large number of logistics, limited resources and only having four members in the chapter. With the help of the Iota Zeta Royal Court, each chapter member partnered with a member from the royal court to plan and execute the week’s events.  This was the second Women’s Appreciation Week the chapter has hosted. As a historically Black fraternity, the chapter tries to service the community in any way they see fit and appreciating women was something not done enough. 

“We thought as Alphas, it’ll only be right to set the trend and create something that resonates with all the organizations on campus,” Olamide said. 

The fraternity and court were one step closer to their ultimate goal of building up and supporting women’s confidence as participants left the heels class feeling better than when they came in. 

“I think it has impacted my confidence,” Ogallo said. “Having a fraternity that targets a whole week that’s just for us, I think it’s amazing. I love to see that they’re even appreciating us as women.”