By Kathleen Polesnak
Special to The State News
Colored lights and a map of Africa splashed a quaint stage in the Wharton Center on Saturday, awaiting the start of the African Student Union's Gala Night, the finale of the group's annual African Culture Week.
When the lights dimmed, beating drums reverberated throughout the theater, and an evening of African culture commenced before an audience of more than 200 people. Many in the diverse audience wore traditional African clothing or cheered when their country's flag was walked across the stage.
African Culture Week featured vendors selling African clothing and jewelry at the International Center on Tuesday and Wednesday, a showing of the movie "Sankofa" on Thursday and a lecture on Pan-Africanism by Ali Mazruifrom Binghamton State University on Friday. A dinner at the Wesley Foundation in East Lansing took place after the Gala Night.
Through their performances at Gala Night, group members said they were trying to portray a more positive image of African women and stray from images of war and famine in Africa. At the event, African female roles were revealed in three skits, which highlighted true stories of heroines in African tribes that fought against dictators and foreign countries threatening to take over.
"They emphasized the importance of women behind the success of every nation of Africa," said telecommunication, information studies and media senior Christopher Ifeanyi-Nwanze. "It reminded people that women did important things to help."
The event also included performances by African Student Union's, or ASU's, dance team and drama troupe, the Arab Cultural Society at MSU, the Caribbean Students Association at MSU and other dance groups from Ohio and Detroit.
"We are trying to promote culture at MSU to let people see first-hand what African culture is all about without a bias," said mechanical engineering freshman Chuka Orji, International Students Association representative for ASMSU Academic Assembly who performed during the night.
Many people only hear about wars and famine in Africa, and the challenge is being able to spread the right word about the continent, said Ifeanyi-Nwanze, a Nigerian native.
Ifeanyi-Nwanze and accounting senior Adanma Okoro, the event's masters of ceremony, both praised the ability to maintain their African culture away from home through their participation in ASU events.
"It is touching and encouraging as individuals to put on a show for a good cause," Ifeanyi-Nwanze said.
