African Explosion IV: A Night of Enchantment; A Royal Affair |
| Written by Gboyinde Onijala | Share on Facebook |
| Thursday, 29 November 2007 | |
|
Firstly, guests will partake of Africa’s richness through dinner, which will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Authentic African cuisine of diverse backgrounds will be served. Guests will have a chance to eat popular, traditional delicacies and network with students, faculty, staff, family and friends of diverse ethnic backgrounds. After dinner, guests will be ushered to the Chesapeake Rooms at 6:30 p.m. for the show. The show will consist of three segments: ancient Africa, fundraising and modern Africa. The African Diaspora Club hopes that preconceived notions and stereotypes of Africa will be challenged as guests view the diverse talents and passions of Africans through dance, song, skits, spoken word and fashion.Aside from the enchanting, culturally diverse entertainment, the club will also be raising funds for the women of the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These women, rape victims and victims of female genital mutilation, are brutalized and tortured by soldiers. Their villages are burned down, their children are murdered and they are often left for dead. The Panzi Hospital, run by Dr. Denis Mukwege, is the only hospital in that area that can treat the women. A Night of Enchantment; A Royal Affair promises to be an event that will touch hearts, break boundaries, entertain and enlighten. It will be an event that will positively impact the lives of all who attend and bring greater recognition to Africa in the Towson community. For over a year now, members of ADC and the executive board have been working extremely hard to prepare for the fourth annual African Explosion. As you probably know by now, this year’s theme is, A Night of Enchantment; A Royal Affair. Many of you may be wondering what the meaning is behind that theme. We, as an organization, strive to positively portray the great continent of Africa. As we all know, most of what people hear about Africa is usually grim and depressing and very biased. We are bombarded with news about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, starving children, genocides, civil wars, lack of basic resources and so on. While I am not denying that these problems exist (as they do all over the world), our problem is that there is not enough coverage and information available about the positive things that are happening in Africa. As I stated before, we have made it our mission to break the negative stereotypes of Africa, and we knew that the best place to facilitate this change would be our university. Events like African Explosion, Rebirth of Great Nations, human rights awareness days and even our weekly meetings help to bring greater recognition to Africa and sheds light on the talents and diversity of African’s in our community. By doing so, not only are we making a statement that Africa is more than the news of death and destruction that you might hear, we are educating and enlightening members of our community so that they may be better informed. That is why we decided upon the theme: A Night of Enchantment; A Royal Affair. By highlighting the royalty of the continent of Africa and its people through song, dance, skits, fashion segments and so on, it is our belief that people will leave the event taking away with them something valuable; something that they did not have when they first walked into the room. Whether it be learning about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and donating to the Panzi Hospital or the latest Ndombolo dance moves; we will be able to say as an organization “mission accomplished.” |
|
