Various NC State organizations are involved in the festival, which began Saturday night with the African Student Union’s Slap Back to Africa show. Other N.C. State groups featured throughout the week will include Dance Visions, the Black Finesse Modeling Troupe, and the African American Textile Society.
Isaac Owolabi, a senior in aerospace engineering, is co-president of the African Student Union, and said that the Slap Back to Africa kick-off show was a huge success. The event showcased a variety of components of African culture, such as music, fashion, and drama.
“It also included information about the different problems and issues going on in Africa,” Owolabi said. “We left it with a hopeful outlook on the future.”
Kornelius Bascombe, a sophomore in criminology, serves as chair of the Black Students Board, and said he hopes the festival will be educational for attendees.
“There’ll be dialogue in between each program and during each program to help people understand our history,” Bascombe said. “There’s the educational component, but also a social component. We want it to be interactive.”
The Slap Back to Africa show featured a variety of African customs, from belly dancing in North Africa to gumboot dancing in South Africa.
A tradition on campus, Owolabi summed up the history of the Pan-Afrikan movement.
“Pan-Afrikanism is the movement that happened after the previously colonized African countries decided they needed to band together if Africa is to move forward,” said Owolabi. “There is a lot of violence and division. If we’re willing to be humble to set aside our differences and focus on unity, there will be a better hope for Africa.”
Here at N.C. State, Pan-Afrikanism stresses unity among not only people with African backgrounds, but among people of all cultures, Bascombe said.
“We need to branch out and unify all cultures and religions,” said Bascombe. “We want non-African Americans to really take a chance to go to one event. The goal is for students to get a gist of what the African American community at N.C. State is all about.”
Owolabi said bringing unity across cultures is a primary goal of the festival.
“We’re a very culturally diverse university, and we try to embrace multiculturalism,” Owolabi said. “This week provides the opportunity for African organizations to showcase themselves and an opportunity to move past racial divisions of the past.”
Owolabi believes that the election of President Obama places a newfound importance on unity.
“Now with the first African American and multiracial president, it’s time to get over some of the dividers we’ve put between ourselves, and to enjoy other people’s culture for what it is.”
April Gaddy, a sophomore in math education, echoed Owolabi’s sentiments.
“Especially with the elections and everything, there’s an opportunity for people to come together,” Gaddy said. “It’s an opportunity for everyone, especially African Americans, to know that they can do anything they put their mind to.”
Gaddy is a dancer for Dance Visions, which will have its spring concert this Wednesday. In addition to modern, jazz and praise dance numbers, the group will be performing a traditional African dance.
“We’re going to be doing some Ghanaian dancing called pon logo,” Gaddy said. “It basically focuses on various movements all at the same time, using a lot of twisting motions.” Dancers will be wearing a traditional piece of African clothing called a lapa.
Dancing is just one of several ways the festival will showcase African culture and the Pan-Afrikan movement.
For Gaddy, however, Pan-Afrikanism is simple to explain.
“It’s about unity,” she said.
