By day, Winston-Salem State’s Java City is a coffee house where students and instructors gather to enjoy a cup of morning or afternoon coffee with the occasional pastry. By night, Java City transforms into the soulful Nugroove Café.
Dale Williams of the Office of Student Activities organizes events at Nugroove, including an Open Mic Poetry Night, Neo Soul night with a live band, and a Featured Author Night. The events take place between 7 and 9 p.m., a time when students can come and enjoy a relaxed and culturally stimulating atmosphere.
“Nugroove has its own following,” said Williams, “We try to do programming once a month in the form of cultured arts, poetry, authors, and music.”
Nugroove is a genre of music, similar to that of Neo Soul.
Open Mic Poetry Night, is the most popular event as Java City is always jam-packed with students with an ear for poetry listening to local poets “spit” their thoughts in flowing, lyrical verses. Both Neo Soul and Featured Author Night spotlight the creative minds of local authors and the sultry harmonies of live bands.
“I use a lot of local authors, authors contact me, alot of the bands are local. A lot of bands play in small venues,” Williams said.
To celebrate Black History Month, on Feb. 11 a Black History storytelling program featured Lorenzo Mecchum, a former WSSU professor. The art of storytelling is an ancient and large part of African tradition. Author and WSSU alumna Trice Hickman, will be on campus, Tuesday, March 4, to discuss one of her books. Williams said the atmosphere is important.
“We want to continue Nugroove at the coffeehouse. Coffeehouse programming is a current trend for students, creating a thought provoking, relaxed environment.”