El Camino College hosted the 18th annual Taste of Soul event on Tuesday, March 3, in the East Dining Hall, celebrating ECC’s last spring 2026 Black History Month event.
Campus organizations such as the Social Justice Center, Associated Student Organization, Black Student Success Center, Men of Color Action Network and Black Student Union brought activities throughout the months of February and March to honor 100 years of celebrating Black culture.
Black History Month dates back to 1926 and was originally just one week in the middle of February, created by historian Carter Godwin Woodson. In 1976, President Gerald Ford extended the celebration for the entire month, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Student Services Specialist Wiley Wilson hosted the Taste of Soul event in an effort to bring soul food to El Camino College.
“We are trying to make sure students, faculty, staff and community members are well informed about the cultural significance of soul food,” Wilson said.
English major Evan Guan, 19, came into the event not having tried collard greens. After enjoying a new food, he began thinking about the similarities between his Chinese culture and the culture behind soul food.
“It’s interesting to think about the interconnections between different cultures because ultimately, as marginalized people in the United States, I think it’s inevitable that a lot of food culture ends up similar,” Guan said.
Soul food has a Southern heritage. Members of the Black community, often in enslaved individuals, developed a cooking style that utilized limited staples like cornmeal and molasses, and discarded cuts of meat, according to USC Dornsife.
The event was catered by A Family Affair Southern Cuisine, a local business near Inglewood. Family Fair Southern Cuisine provided fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens, candied yams and cornbread muffins.
The previous seventeen Taste of Soul events, Wilson said, he used an alternate catering company, Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen. He then switched over to something more favorable and diverse to the ECC community.
“It is black female-owned, and [A Family Affair Southern Cuisine] are ECC alum, and as well as…more affordable,” Wilson said.
The Family Affair’s table spread brought 24-year-old business major Simon Bartolom’s favorite dish: collard greens.
He felt the event was a positive experience and enjoyed his time there.
One of the attendees, Jennifer Jones, brought her own soul into the room when she sang the Black national anthem, called “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” She approaches her 4th decade of professional singing.
Jones is of African American background and grew up eating traditional soul food from her mother, whom she believes makes it the best.
“It’s fun, people get together, have good food, and it brings people together,” Bartolom said.
