The Cardinal Divas adorned new costumes and sat front row in the student section at USC’s homecoming game on November 5th. The dancers were surrounded by students and when they left to use the restroom, students tried to take their seats despite the signs that read Reserved for the Cardinal Divas. One student waved another away, pointing at the signs and saying the seats were reserved for the dancers.

They performed multiple times to songs from the band and the stadium speakers including “Last Time That I Checc’d” by Nipsey Hussle. Their performances were shown on the stadium monitors twice during the game. Unless they’re looking for them, an audience member may not notice the Cardinal Divas in the sea of spectators.

Anyone hoping for a stand-alone halftime performance from the Cardinal Divas was dismayed. The band performed alongside the Spirit Leaders and Song Girls as the majorette dancers looked on.

Founder Princess Isis Lang was told that it could take up to three years until the team is allowed to step foot onto the field.

“We don’t get to go on the field and we won’t be able to go on the field unless we get invited by the band. They just said that these things take long processes… so we can’t expect anything right now.”

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It’s been almost two months since junior Princess Isis Lang’s tweet introducing the USC Cardinal Divas went viral. Since then, the team has graced television screens and been interviewed by local and national publications. More than the publicity, the Cardinal Divas were subject to intense discourse online about the complicated nature of their existence at a predominately white institution (PWI).

One tweet argued that the team is “literally mimicking other teams that have rich history and have been around for decades. This is why people gatekeeping HBCU culture. USC doesn’t need any more exposure.” Mentions of appropriation and safe spaces for communities of color, especially Black people, at PWIs were rampant. Criticism on every spectrum of the conversation was littered on timelines in the weeks following.

Lang was surprised to see that the team had gone viral, but even more surprised to see the backlash – and who was behind it.

“It was just like, whoa, this is crazy. Then, when I see people that look like me being the negativity, it was really crazy,” said Lang. “I was expecting it to be from USC and by their fan base because it’s such a traditional school.”

For Lang, who has been training as a majorette dancer since fourth grade, it means everything to have created this historical team.

“I just want to be able to be a Black voice and be able to uplift Black work,” she beams. “It just really makes me happy and proud of myself that I get to not only be a part of history but I get to show other Black girls that you are more than capable of doing anything in any area. It doesn’t matter if you’re a minority in that space or not.”

In response to those who don’t think a majorette team should exist at a PWI, Lang said, “I’m going to be Black anywhere I go. So whether that’s at an HBCU or at a PWI, I have the right to not only be a part of my own culture, but also showcase my culture.”

She also addressed the argument that she should have just attended an HBCU.

“Me going to an HBCU was not in the plans for me or my career path. And that’s O.K. too. But majorette has always been in my life, so it wasn’t going to just up and leave since I go to a PWI,” said Lang.

Following high-profile media coverage of the team, Lang is still fighting for her dance counterparts. She is looking for more support from the university.

“We’re not on the spirit teams, so we wouldn’t be getting support as they would. There’s a lot of different ways that [the university] been [saying] that they don’t have resources to support us or to get us involved with spirit,” stated Lang. “And that was really my end goal for the team.”

The Cardinal Divas are a student organization, but not a recreational sports team like the Song Girls or Spirit Leaders. They are also not allowed to perform on the field, which is a major draw for majorette performances at HBCUs.

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OTHER UNIVERSITIES CHIME IN

Lang’s effort adds USC to a list of other PWIs that offer majorette dance teams on campus.

At San Diego State University, the SDSU Diamonds were the first majorette team on the West Coast with an Instagram bio states the team is “inspired by the art of HBCU majorette dance.” In 2012, when the team was founded, it was difficult to adjust to a PWI setting.

“We got a lot of backlash. There was a hate page made for us and everything,” said Sakina Buycks, the team’s captain.

But after 10 years, things have settled down and the Diamonds have found their place in their community.

“The fans love us. At the football games, they cheer for the Diamonds. We’ll walk on the field, the whole student section will cheer for us. It’s really, really hype and we definitely feel the love,” said Buycks.

In regards to the debate over majorette teams at PWIs, Johvonne Roberts, the Diamonds’ co-captain, believes majorette dance is an aspect of Black culture that can be practiced and appreciated anywhere.

“I believe that we should be able to take our culture anywhere we go. If there’s something that the PWI lacks that we know we can bring to the table, I don’t really see a problem with that, especially if we’re appreciating it,” said Roberts. “We’re not diminishing or forgetting about where it comes from. As long as we still give credit back to where it came from, I think that’s all that matters.”

The Diamonds were happy to see the announcement of the Cardinal Divas, despite the controversy that followed.

“Having another majorette team on the West Coast is a big thing. I’m just really happy for them. I think, even though it was some bad backlash, they’re still getting publicity, still getting their name out there,” said Roberts. “So I’m just really happy for them and that’s a really great achievement to accomplish.”

The team’s captain, Buycks, appreciated the light that shined on the existence of majorette teams at PWIs, like the SDSU Diamonds. “Getting the word [out] that PWIs actually do have majorette teams was very big because obviously, no one else has had the platform [to do that], so to that aspect, I’m very grateful they got the exposure.”

Ja’Lynn Steen, a Long Beach native and member of Howard University’s Ooh La La! Dance Line, is also supportive of the Cardinal Divas while still having reservations about the existence of majorette dance teams at PWIs. “The fact that [they were] able to start a major team in the first place at a PWI is amazing in itself, but I feel like I’m kind of on half and half,” Steen shared. Steen believes HBCUs are made to protect Black culture and keep it within the Black community. She worries about what majorette dance will look like outside of Black cultural spaces.

“If you start to incorporate it at PWIs, our culture doesn’t have the same symbolization. The feeling and the meaning of being a majorette dancer isn’t the same,” said Steen.

Specifically, Steen is concerned about the style of majorette dance being diminished to appeal to a non-Black audience.

“For majorette dance, how it’s big moves, how it’s getting low and just more of a vibrant, loud dancing. You put that at a PWI, I’m scared that is going to kind of water it down in a way,” said Steen.

A member of Tuskegee University’s Marching Crimson Piperettes, Errenous Evans, also sees that possibility and hopes the Cardinal Divas don’t allow their environment to temper their culture.

“If they’re going to utilize and share the fruits of our culture at the PWI, then do it wholeheartedly. Don’t do it scared,” said Evans. “Don’t dumb yourself down or reduce anything that you’re doing because somebody at that school doesn’t get it. If you’re going to showcase your culture, do it big, do it loud, do it to the best of your ability.”

Evans felt that the online backlash the team received was unnecessary, saying it’s not an issue for non-USC students to concern themselves with or act negatively towards the women involved with the team. However, she has her own concerns about the inclusion of a majorette at a PWI.

“Majorette dance is almost entirely intertwined with Black culture and bringing that Black culture to a university or an area which may not be open to accepting or even understanding where it came from would make it lose its effect almost,” Evans stated. “We march because we’re members of the band, and that comes with a certain amount of pride. And for me, I feel like that aspect of it is lost when you don’t have the accompanying instrumentalists who share the same complexion as you.”

In comparison, while they feel like a family with the band, the SDSU Diamonds have a different attitude regarding the music they dance to. Buycks shared, “The songs they play in the stands, you know, they’re gonna play their own music, but we’re going to figure out how to dance to it.”

Many who disapproved of the team online made the argument that, if you want to be a majorette dancer, you just have to attend an HBCU. While Steen acknowledges that you can still incorporate Black culture at PWIs, she argues it’s not the same.

“You have to go to HBCU to really get the full culture. To really engulf yourself in the proper culture, in the proper way, go to an HBCU,” said Steen. “But if you want to translate it and still be comfortable at a PWI, make your space with your people the best you can.”

Evans does not understand why those interested in majorette would not attend an HBCU. “If there was already an HBCU team and the purpose of your team at a PWI is to mimic the exact same style, when afforded the opportunity to attend an HBCU to get the authentic culture, why did you not attend?”

However, it is important to note that not everyone is afforded the opportunity. HBCUs are primarily concentrated in the south and the largest percentage of those institutions are located on the East Coast. For some in the West, moving across the country and paying out-of-state tuition to attend an HBCU is impossible.

“It’s not as accessible to everyone to go to HBCU. A lot of people that I’ve met at San Diego State are in-state students,” said SDSU’s Buycks.

While this is a debate and conversation that captured many people’s attention and will surely continue, Steen believes that the true heart of the matter was lost.

“I think we kind of forgot about how hard she had to work to even get the dance team approved. For it to be a whole bunch of brown faces in the stands at a PWI, I think we forget…it was a Black woman who was able to start a dance team and have it be successful,” said Steen. “So, [applause] to her because, whether it’s at a PWI or not, she still did her thing and she still is, in a way, fighting for us.”

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THE FUTURE

For fans of the team, Lang asks that they continue to be vocal about their support to help the team achieve its goals.

“For those who want to support and continue to support us, just keep letting people know that. Keep letting us see that you want us to be showcased properly and get on the field and have our own section and be a part of spirit.”

Lang does recognize that many may not understand majorette dance, but she hopes that once that obstacle is overcome that the team will finally be given equal opportunities as other spirit dance teams.

“I think it’s just really hard to understand what majorette is and how it’s totally different because a lot of people have been trying to compare it to other sorts of organizations, and they don’t want anything to seem like we’re getting favoritism and things like that,” said Lang. “But in general, majorette is just a totally different entity in itself, and it’s not really comparable. I feel like once USC can really understand that and grasp that once [they] accept this team, things do have to change, then we can really get somewhere and be able to further the dream of USC fully working with Cardinal Divas and making sure that we’re on the same platform as the other spirit teams.”

While they have received national media attention and raised over $14,000 through their GoFundMe, the Cardinal Divas are still fighting to be officially recognized and supported by the university. Only time will tell if the team will be given a platform to shine or if they will always be regulated to a few rows in the student section.